To celebrate their success passing the dance re-examination, Glenn suggested everyone to organizing a party.

"I'll take care of the place and the food!" Glenn thumped his chest. Lana and Neil thought it was going to be a tea party but the event was held in the backyard, with lots of meat prepared. Even without telling them, they all know how this will go.

"As I thought, grilling meat was the best way to celebrate!" said Glenn as he quickly set up the stone and iron grill before starting to grill the meat.

Lana was more engrossed in this than expected. As the daughter of a wealthy merchant, she curiously watched Glenn grilling the meat. If Lana didn't stop Glenn, Neil, and Monica, who were easily influenced, would simply watch in silence.

"I guess these things are easier to make than I thought."

"I somehow manage it with whatever I have on hand. Although portable grill has good performance these days, they are a bit expensive for personal use."

The meat was browning on the grill dripping with juice.

The juice dripping under the steel mesh crackled as the fire grew stronger. Lana let out a small squeal of surprise, but Glenn flipped the meat as if he was used to it.

"I think it looks pretty good."

After adjusting the heat by moving the wood, Glenn distributed the skewered meat to Monica, Lana, and Neil. He then picked up a skewered meat for himself before holding it up.

"Okay, since everyone already got your own portions…  so to celebrate passing the re-examination for me and Monica… Let's eat!"

With that, Glenn opened his big mouth and took a bite of the meat.

Lana was used to it, but Monica and Neil chewed their meat in a perplexed manner.

The browned lamb had a slight odor, but the spices made it taste good. Even Monica, who is not a fan of strong-smelling food, found it to be delicious.

"I… I'm not good with lamb meat… but, I think this is very good."

Monica voiced her thoughts in a whisper, and Glenn snorted proudly.

"Hmmm… It was thanks to the secret spice of my Dudley family. You could buy it in our stores, so please come visit us!"

After hearing Glenn done his advertising with a strong commercial spirit, Neil then gave his honest opinion.

"In these days, obtaining spices have become easier in some areas. As my parents live in the mountains, we still having trouble getting some of it. So, instead of using spice, we tend to use herbs to remove the smell."

"I also know a lot about herbs," Neil said coquettishly, and Lana stopped eating the skewers then added.

"From what I heard from my Father the amount trading has increased after Southerndoll expanded their second and third ports. Also, since their emperor empire in the east has been replaced, many turmoils have happened while merchants are taking a wait-and-see attitude. Some of them are staying in this kingdom's ports near the empire."

"Depending on the new policies they created, there is a possibility of merchants flowing to the empire at once. I've heard that the current emperor has innovated a lot of policies."

As Monica listened to Lana and Neil's conversation, she thought absentmindedly.

Since the empire lifted the ban on medical magic, many magicians have been flowing to the empire. Similarly, it won't be long before merchants will also flow to the Empire. Where people gather, commerce is born. And the empire surely will grow even more in the future.

On the other hand, in the Kingdom of Ridill, a conflict has arisen between the central nobles who desperately want to maintain the old system and the local nobles. Furthermore, the factions have been divided into the First, Second, and Third Prince factions.

The king sometimes mediated the conflict between the nobles, but for the most part, he remained silent.

That sort of power struggle… I dislike it.

As one of the Seven Sages, Monica has been granted the right to meet and speak directly with the king.

The Seven Sages sometimes serve as advisors to the king. In other words, Monica can be directly involved in politics. However, Monica has no interest in power or the future being of the country. The reason why she became one of the Seven Sages was because of the recommendation of those around her.

What Louis wants me to do, I wonder…

If he wanted to guard the second prince, he should have chosen someone better suited for the job.

And yet, the fact that he sent such a poorly qualified Monica as his bodyguard leads her to the worst possibility.

Don't tell me… by sending me, a useless person, to the second prince,  he had planned to make him fall into his destruction.

What made Louis Miller was frightening was because that kind of"possibility" could happen.

As Monica shivered, remembering Louis' wicked smile, Glenn glanced at Monica's face.

"Monica, your hand has stopped eating! You are too small, you need to eat more!"

"Ah, I'm sorry…"

Monica's hands were sticky with the juice from the meat because she had been absentmindedly holding the skewers vertically. She hurriedly wiped it off with a handkerchief, then Lana exasperatedly said…

"Hold the skewer horizontally. If you hold it vertically, the juice will drip down on your hand."

"I-I will… You seem pretty knowledgeable about it, Lana…"

"My hometown often organizing many festivals, so the culture of eating and drinking is rather well established. Well, many people who grew up in the capital are not like that, though."

Monica, who had grown up in the capital, was shocked. And she was not accustomed to the culture of eating outside.

What if she were going to ask me further about that, Monica worried inwardly, but Lana didn't pry any further, only looked at the skewer seriously before muttering…

"I've found many roasted chestnuts and fruit stalls around the capital, but not for grilled meat. I think it would be very popular if we set up such stalls here… but the regulations here were very strict, so I don't think it would easy to open some store or stall or something…"

Monica just recently realized that Lana was not only knowledgeable about popular things but also has a strong business spirit.

Such an unexpected side of a person cannot be easily understood until you talk to them in person.

In the past, when she was attending the magician training institute, Minerva, Monica refused to socialize or to get to know other people. She even thought that such things were "useless".

Back then, she had never imagined that the day would come when she would secretly grill meat in the backyard like this and eat it with someone else.

Although Lana has a lot of pride, she actually cares for others. She also has a penchant for trendy things.

Glenn was a little too free-spirited, but he's surprisingly observant and caring, despite his clumsiness.

Neil was easily influenced, but he was a kind person who would do everything he could to help when asked.

The meat tastes delicious.

Monica's mouth broke into a smile and she nibbled on the meat with happiness.

Having finished the meat twice as fast as Monica, Glenn then happily began to grill the next batch of meat.

Seeing this, Neil exclaimed, "You're still going to eat?" while widening his eyes.

"I haven't eaten enough!"

"I think I've had my fill!"

As Neil held his stomach, Glenn sniffed with excitement.

"You need to eat more to grow!"

"I had a feeling you did just call me short? You did, didn't you?"

Glenn finched after being pressed with a blank expression by Nell. Another new side of him was revealed.

Looking at their exchange, Monica and Lana were laughing…

"Hey, you look like you're having fun."

Everyone held their tongue and looked back at the voice.

Standing there unaccompanied was the student council president, Felix Ark Ridill.

Neil's face paled quickly.

"Um, President, you know, we're just…"

"Geez… brazenly violating school rules, with two two student council members at that."

When Felix let out a lamenting sigh, Glenn bravely held up a skewer and countered.

"There's no school rule that says you can't grill meat in the back of the school building!"

"According to Chapter 3 of the school rules, it is prohibited to cause disturbance to the scenery of the school building."

"What does it mean to cause disturbance to the scenery?"

Ignoring Glenn's question, Felix added with a smile.

"Also, if you're going to create a fire outside of the designated areas, you need to apply a permit to the student council."

"Then, since you, the president, is here, I guess there's no problem! President! Please grant us permission!"

It was refreshing to see how he kept his own pace.

As everyone looking around in suspense, Felix folded his arms fixing his gaze on Glenn.

"You're supposed to apply for those things with proper forms at least one day in advance."

"Is that so? Oh, would you like one too, President?"

With a fluid gesture, Glenn offered Felix a skewered meat.

How fearless! While Neil and Monica gasped, Felix stared at the skewered meat, and…

"Yeah, I think I'll have some."

…picked up that skewer.

"You are going to eat it?" Neil screamed in a small voice. Monica seconded.

Monica had thought Felix would throw the meat away in front of Glenn, but contrary to her expectations, Felix dexterously took a bite of the meat on the skewer. Unlike Monica, he didn't hold the skewer vertically letting the juice drip on his hands.

"Yep, it's delicious. I like the way it's spiced up."

After finishing the meat on the skewer, Felix looked at Neil and Monica, who were stunned, and gave them a wink.

"Now I'm an accomplice. Will you keep quiet about this?"

Neil and Monica nodded furiously in silence.

Glenn smiled pleasantly.

"There's still more, so feel free to have some! I'd also like to thank you for helping me dance! …oh, by the way, do you want to invite the vice president too?"

""Don't do that, please!""

Monica and Neil shouted in unison.

If Cyril Ashley, a very sensitive and nerve-racking person, were to see this situation, he would obviously yell at them with bloodshot eyes.

In order to prevent the smell of grilling meat and smoke from flowing into the school building, Monica secretly adjusted the direction of the wind with her no-chant magic.

For now, she wanted to spend this happy time undisturbed.