How to Suck Honey at a Warrior’s Party

It was so cold.

Reg and Herrin hadn’t returned until after dark, and the house was icy.
Herrin glanced at me, shivering under the covers.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I was practicing….”

‘Why the hell are you not collecting firewood but cultivate instead?’

I was furious.
What was worse was that I didn’t have the energy to be angry.
I had just woken up, so I was still sleepy, and it was freezing cold.

Isn’t this the perfect situation to freeze to death?

The stove had been fired up for a while, but it would be a while before the house was smoky.

“Hale, are you cold?”

The warrior looked at me with a pitying look.

He touched the ends of my hair.
As I stared at him, I realised he was wearing a different shirt.
I looked around and saw that I was the only one who was freezing, even with the duvet on.

Somehow the excuse came out.

“Where I come from, in the village… it doesn’t get this cold.”

The warrior just smirked.
I felt the sting of everyone’s gazes.

I should have used magic to regulate my body temperature in the first place.
If I hadn’t been so cold as soon as I woke up, I would have been able to weave quietly into my role without attracting attention.

I was too cold to use my magic later.
It was as if I had dug my own grave in the hope of impersonating a novice wizard.
No one would notice anyway.

Somehow, I felt a little stupid after leaving the tower.
Was it because I didn’t have the dean’s fearsome watchful eye?

‘I’m just trying to make sure everything goes well.
Don’t feel sorry for yourself….’

I felt goosebumps all over my body at the thought of the dean.

Stop the lab!

“Why don’t we sit in front of the fire?”

I nodded with a sad face at Reg’s suggestion.

Fortunately, the fire was warm.
I shook my head, feeling sleepy again.

“I think I’ll take a look around, in case there are any unwelcome visitors who see the chimney smoke and come looking for us.”

The warrior volunteered to scout.
He was sincere, handsome, and a true warrior.
I was impressed that he noticed something I hadn’t thought of and took the initiative to fix it.
One pick after another.

“Warrior.”

“You were supposed to call me Mohan, Hale.”

“Uh, yeah.
Mohan.
Then please call me Cylon.”

“Yes, Cylon.”

After a long time of socializing, I reached out to him.

I was worried about your skills to send you off on your own.
You were better than those two tweeters next to you, but you still couldn’t kill a slime with a single shot.

Besides, the demons that had been caught by the detection spell during the day were much stronger than the slimes, judging by their size.
I shook my head slightly and took the hand of the warrior who approached me.
His hand flinched slightly in mine.

“Be careful.”

I cast a protective spell that would be completely undetectable to a third-rate slime.
I threw in a casual greeting, lest he get suspicious.

I let go of the warrior’s hand after I felt the disposable protective enchantment subtly wrap around his body.
The warrior’s face went rigid as he looked up.
His violet eyes seemed to glow with flames as he stepped closer to the fire.

“…Aren’t you going?”

“Ah… I’m going, yes.”

Blinking a few times quickly, the warrior walked out of the house.
He could feel the magic chamber, still connected, stretching out before him.
It seemed to cover a fairly large radius.

“Hale.
May I call you Cylon?”

Herrin, who was clasping her hands together, spoke up.
After I nodded my head in approval, Regs, who was next to me, said he wanted to call me Cylon too.

They were all very friendly, and I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to befriend a wizard in drab robes.
I wondered if this was called camaraderie.

I fidgeted with my hands in my quilt and ran them through my hair.

I realized my head was too cold.

I realized I had taken off my robe.
I thought it was murderously cold, even in my robe with its temperature-regulating magic, but apparently it wasn’t.

“Wow.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I must have been really sleepy and cold.”

“Yes?”

“I thought I was wearing a robe….”

There was silence in the house.
Reg and Herrin exchanged glances for a few minutes, and then Reg coughed.
It was a bit of a snowball fight, and he was losing.

“Hey, Cylon, is there a particular reason you’re wearing a robe, or are you just trying to hide your face?”

Reg and Herrin scrutinized my face.
Their narrowed eyes suggested I might be a celebrity.

“…Are you curious?”

“Yes!”

Herrin’s eyes lit up.

“It’s… unobtrusive.
It’s quiet, like I’m not there.
It’s perfect.”

“…Aha?”

“I don’t want anyone to notice me.”

“…Oh?”

The two of them had a strange look on their faces, like they were smiling but their eyebrows were furrowed.

They didn’t speak for a long time, so I thought the conversation was over.
This time, as I dozed off as I felt the warrior move toward the valley, Regs spoke up cautiously.

“But do you really think it works?”

It was a very strange question.

“Of course, all the non-entities are wearing robes.”

“…Really?”

Even Herrin looked puzzled.

“You’ll see.
It’s an immutable law in this world, if not elsewhere.”

“…For a mage, you sure do have a way with words.”

“Reg, beware of prejudice…!”

“Is this prejudice?”

See, you’ve gone from talking to me to being in a world of your own in no time at all.
You’re not wearing your robes anymore, but the effects of wearing them must be showing.

I cheered up a bit and squared my shoulders.

Noticing, Reg looked back at me, and then made a puzzling suggestion.

“Since I’m not much of a talker, let’s ask the warrior.”

“Ask him what?”

“Whether that robe really does make you invisible.”

“Okay.”

I was so confident.

Even though the warrior had stuck by my side all day, it was clearly for the sake of a fellow outcast.
Besides, there was a part of me that believed.

This world, this fantasy world, where all the extras with powers but no parts wear robes, and my hundred were countless fantasy writers from past lives!

So the three of us huddled around the fire and waited for the warrior.
He had been in the valley for a while and was on his way back.
He would be here soon, for the valley was not far from the house.

“He’s coming.”

They both nodded at my words.

It was as if they had made a bet.
What was at stake was my pride, or something?

Squeak-

“I’m back.”

The warrior still wore his shirt.
I’d heard that Moroccan estates were warm all year round, and he seemed to be quite resistant to the cold.

“Warrior, come on over here.”

“What is it?”

The warrior smiled crisply as he approached.

“Cylon told me why he wears robes.”

“Oh….”

The warrior clenched his fists.
He nodded, his face serious.

I think I’d already told the warrior once during the day, but not in detail.
Regs seemed to have grown serious.
I glanced at him.

Does he really have to be that serious? No wonder drab robes are such a must-have for hiding your presence….

“He says it’s good to be inconspicuous in a robe.”

“….”

“He also said that no one would notice him.”

“That’s because all the things that don’t have a presence in this world wear robes.”

Herrin interjected, adding to Reg’s comment.
He grew impatient at the warrior’s lack of a straightforward answer.

“Mohan, come on, tell me, am I right?”

The warrior’s eyes flickered for a moment, and then he looked me straight in the eye, his fingertips gripping the hem of his robe as they scanned the top of my head before returning to his face.

“…I see.”

The fire must have been too hot for him.
His face flushed red.

“See, I told you I was right.”

I smirked and looked at Reg and Herrin.

But to my surprise, Reg, with his hand on his forehead, and Herrin, with his head bowed, were shaking their heads in unison.

“…on this issue, let’s move on.”

“You’re not admitting what I said…?”

“Yes.”

Herrin, who had been so nice the whole time, answered firmly.
I felt a little resentful.