Having long since accepted the fact that she was stranded in another world and unable to rejoin her team, Emily Thompson now relied heavily on Mark Benson, the local expert.

She had always maintained a go-with-the-flow attitude in her interactions with this sky knight who possessed identities in both worlds, and had never considered using coercion or manipulation to force him to reveal more about this world or himself.

From the very beginning, the two sisters had regarded Mark Benson as a completely trustworthy partner and comrade. So even after his identity in their eyes underwent an unbelievable transformation, he was still, in every way, much the same as before.

So what if he was a true dragon knight?

That didn’t change the fact that he was also the deputy squad leader of the aircrew in the “Nightfall” Special Operations Unit, a national-level ace pilot.

“A slave girl! Even the lowest-ranking dragon knights are meritorious nobles. As a dragon knight’s slave girl, you’d be under his protection and would have every reason to reject any improper advances from others!”

Mark Benson offered what he thought was a perfectly reasonable suggestion.

In any world, nobles are synonymous with “debauchery.” Having grown up here, he was well aware of just how depraved and shameless this class of well-dressed beasts could be.

Emily Thompson and Grace Thompson, the two sisters, were both stunning beauties—and rare identical twins at that—making them easy targets for the lecherous gazes of certain nobles.

The Twin Stars sisters both blushed at his words, never expecting Mark Benson to come up with such a suggestion.

“A slave girl? Dream on! Absolutely not!”

As expected, the younger sister Grace Thompson jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

The Twin Stars of the “Nightfall” Special Operations Unit’s intelligence team, acting as slave girls?!

Who knows if this guy would take the opportunity to take advantage of them! She couldn’t believe he’d been corrupted by this feudal and decadent lifestyle so quickly, his mind full of filthy thoughts—wishful thinking!

“Uh! Let’s try something else, then!”

Considering things on a deeper level, Emily Thompson shook her head. It wasn’t that she minded the identity of a “slave girl,” but rather that it was simply too difficult to pull off.

You couldn’t really blame her sister Grace Thompson for reacting this way. The era in which she and Emily Thompson grew up had long since left slavery behind; even for special missions, playing the role of a slave was out of the question.

A slave girl meant unconditional obedience to her master, yielding to any demand. Just looking at her sister Grace Thompson’s indignant reaction, Emily Thompson shook her head inwardly.

Even if the two of them were willing, they could never convincingly play the part of proper slaves.

“All right then, I’ll think of something else…”

Mark Benson shrugged. To be honest, he wasn’t thinking what Grace Thompson suspected; he truly was considering things for the sake of these twin sisters.

……

“Stop! City entry tax, one copper per person! Huh?! Outsiders? Sorry, three coppers per person!”

At the gate of Cedar Town, a soldier suddenly blocked the path of Mark Benson and his two companions as they prepared to enter.

“Three-Eyed Charlie! Take a closer look—do I look like an outsider to you?”

Mark Benson glanced at the man, who wore shabby leather armor and held a not-so-straight spear, its tip seemingly crudely made—just a symbolic point, really. As for how much damage it could do, that was up for debate.

Thanks to the natural barrier of the Azure Mist Forest, the remote and peaceful Cedar Town didn’t seem to care much about military preparedness. For this town, sticking a piece of iron on a wooden stick was more than enough.

“Ah! How do you know my name and nickname? Who—who are you? Hmph! Even if you know me, don’t think you can just sneak in. If you want to enter the town, pay the copper coins. Otherwise, the spear in my hand isn’t just for show.”

Clearly, the soldier with the perpetually sleepy panda eyes quickly lost his look of surprise, as if he was used to people trying to get chummy to save a few coins on the entry tax.

Still, he was a bit wary of the heavy knight’s armor on the other man, which meant he was no ordinary visitor. If it were anyone else, he’d have charged them ten coppers to get in.

“I’m Maureen!”

Mark Benson looked over this childhood acquaintance. The man was nothing like he remembered from his youth, but the vertical scar on his brow, like a third eye, made him instantly recognizable.

Although Charlie’s father had died the year he was born—killed by a steel-tusked berserk bear while logging in the Azure Mist Forest outside town, leaving behind only a broken axe handle and some bones and tattered clothes—life as an orphan with his mother, though hard, was still luckier than Mark Benson, who had been alone for as long as he could remember.

“What Maureen? Never heard of you. Hand over the coppers and don’t waste my time.”

The town guard played the part of the petty bureaucrat to the hilt, acting as if his minor authority trumped all.

But as he spoke, his tone suddenly changed, and he eyed Mark Benson up and down with suspicion, stammering, “Uh, wait! What did you say your name was? Maureen?”

“That’s right! It’s me, Charlie!”