The day of Rio’s departure for Whitnash finally arrives, and by sheer coincidence, Nils, Ido, and Ammon are also assigned to escort the same merchant. (Nothing like turning “work” into a road trip with friends.) Along the way, they enjoy chatting and taking in the scenery.
When they finally reach Whitnash, the merchant thanks them and explains that he’ll be staying for ten days. After his business is done, he’ll need their escort for the return trip. Until then, they’re free to do whatever they want—which, of course, means festival time! Rio and the others rush off to devour as many food stalls as they can find, probably challenging their stomachs more than any dungeon.
The next morning, the Imperial convoy arrives in Whitnash as well, though things get delayed when one noble forgets his paperwork. The guards scramble to verify his identity, and in the meantime, Oscar is stuck waiting. (Imagine being one of the Empire’s strongest mages, only to be held hostage by someone’s bad filing system.) Sitting with him in the carriage, Durjan asks about the mission’s true purpose. Officially, they’re just here for the festival, but Oscar doubts the king would send him and the commander just to sample street food.
He suspects the king might be using the opportunity to quietly deal with nobles who oppose the royal family—dirty work that Princess Fiona doesn’t need to see yet. The emperor dotes on her since she’s both his youngest daughter and a prodigy, but Oscar reminds himself: officially, his only job is to guard Fiona. Imperial politics? Not his problem… at least, not until it explodes in his face.
That evening, a grand banquet is held, attended by Prince Conrad and Princess Fiona. Conrad apologizes to his sister for dragging her along since he knows she hates such gatherings, but she insists it’s fine. Still, when he offers to handle the rest of the event without her, Fiona couldn’t be happier—she bolts for bed like it’s the finish line of a marathon. Her maid, Marie, helps her loosen her dress while Fiona grumbles about formal parties. She’d much rather be in the training yard swinging a sword than pretending to enjoy polite conversation.
Marie gently reminds her that while Conrad may be charismatic, Fiona herself is unmatched in swordplay and magic—something worth being proud of.
The next day, Rio and his group head out to enjoy more of the festival. As the parade rolls by, they spot Abel sitting nervously in the guest stands… right next to Princess Fiona. (The poor guy looks like he’s about to faint from noble proximity.) Just then, Rio notices Sera and the rest of Abel’s party, so he asks why Abel is stuck in the royal hot seat. Sera explains that Abel was asked to fill in for the guild master as a representative until Hugh McGrath arrives.
Meanwhile, Lihya studies the guest stands and notes that a powerful wind barrier surrounds them—far stronger than a typical one. Turns out the Lord of Whitnash’s family owns a magical device that can generate such barriers, though it burns through energy like a noble at a wine tasting. Translation: incredibly effective, but absurdly expensive.
Normally, they wouldn’t deploy their heavy hitters, but with the Imperial family attending, every possible defensive measure is necessary. After all, if something were to happen to Princess Fiona, it could spark a full-blown war.
Speaking of the princess, Ria recalls that Fiona is actually the commander of the Empire’s magic division. And if she’s here, that means her infamous lieutenant—the Inferno Magician, Oscar—must be here too.
Rio thinks “Inferno Magician” sounds ridiculously cool (like, who wouldn’t want that title?), so he asks Ria to tell him more. She explains that Oscar is so powerful he could incinerate a thousand troops in an instant. He even roasted a wyvern with a single attack—something no magician could pull off… except maybe Rio himself. After hearing all this, Ria firmly decides she wants absolutely nothing to do with Oscar, and warns Rio and the others to keep their distance.
But of course, literally ten seconds later, Rio accidentally bumps into none other than Oscar on the street. (Talk about terrible timing.) Naturally, Rio has no idea this is the Inferno Magician Ria just warned them about, so he just says “sorry” and keeps walking with his friends.
Oscar pauses, narrowing his eyes. There’s definitely something unusual about Rio, but he can’t quite place it. Before he can ponder further, Jurgen calls him over—they’ve got work to do. And that “work” involves buying out half the festival food stalls. Princess Fiona, stuck watching the parade from the stands, begged Oscar to grab her all the street food she’s missing out on. Jurgen reminds him there’s still a long shopping list, so he better hustle before Fiona gets back to the castle.
Meanwhile, over by the stands, Abel bumps into Prince Conrad. Conrad recognizes him as the adventurer acting as the guild master’s proxy, but he also wonders if they’ve met before—Abel looks awfully familiar. Abel brushes it off as coincidence, but quickly shifts the topic. He admits that Princess Fiona caught his attention earlier. Conrad teases him, asking if he’s falling for her, but Abel clarifies that he’s far more interested in the fact that Fiona’s presence means Oscar must be around too. After all, it seems pretty strange for the Empire to bring their most dangerous military asset to a festival of all things.
There’s clearly something fishy going on here. One of Conrad’s comrades tells Abel he’s not at liberty to discuss such matters and politely excuses himself.
A little while later, Princess Fiona drags herself back to her room and collapses on the bed—exhausted from the festival. But soon after, there’s a knock at the door. In walk Jurgen and Oscar, carrying armfuls of festival food. Oscar looks just as worn out as Fiona. He hates crowds, and to make matters worse, he nearly bumped into a random kid earlier. To his surprise, the boy was quick enough to dodge. Fiona is intrigued—it’s rare for Oscar to praise strangers—but he could tell that Rio wasn’t exactly an “ordinary” person.
Anyway, Oscar warms up the food with a flick of his magic (who needs a microwave when you’ve got Inferno Magician powers?) and Fiona gratefully digs in. While happily munching, she thanks him and calls him “Master.” Oscar groans and reminds her that she really shouldn’t be calling him that—he’s technically her subordinate. But Fiona shrugs it off, saying that Maria and Jurgen already know about their arrangement, so what’s the harm?
The next morning, the festival continues in full swing, and Rio’s group decides to enter the archery contest. Ammon goes first… and is hilariously awful. The poor guy doesn’t even get close to the target. Next up is Itto, who somehow manages to be just as bad. Rio finds the whole thing pretty entertaining until he notices that Niels didn’t even sign up. When asked why, Niels admits he’s never touched a bow in his life, so missing the target was a guarantee.
Abel, who happens to overhear, chuckles to himself. Rio scolds him for laughing, but Abel clarifies that he wasn’t mocking Niels—he was just reminded of his younger self, who used to be hopeless with a bow. Then Abel steps up for his turn… and immediately nails a bullseye, strutting off with a smug little grin. That grin disappears quickly, though, when he spots Ria in the crowd. He had promised to spend the day with her but totally forgot. Let’s just say… she’s not amused.
Meanwhile, back in Lon, Sarra is wandering the city looking for Rio. She checks all his usual hangouts but comes up empty, so she heads to the guild. Nina is surprised to see Sarra since she rarely comes by, and asks what’s going on. Sarra explains she’s been trying to find Rio all day and hopes Nina might know where he is. Nina tells her Rio is out of town on a mission. Sarra assumes that means he’ll be back tomorrow, but Nina corrects her—he won’t return for at least a week. Sarra’s heart sinks at the thought of not seeing him for so long, but she thanks Nina and leaves.
Meanwhile, in Whiten, Rio is getting ready to watch the boat race. The participants? None other than Niels and Alone.
Turns out Dan is at the festival too—and he and Niels still have some serious beef to grill. Things are about to get way more entertaining as the boat race kicks off.
From a distance, Fiona and her group watch the spectacle. Fiona wonders aloud why there are separate races for adventurers and civilians. Maria explains that in the adventurer race, competitors are actually allowed to attack each other with no penalties. It’s a bit too dangerous for normal folks—though magic is still strictly forbidden.
The race begins, and, predictably, Niels and Dan immediately start whacking each other with their oars, completely forgetting that this is supposed to be a race, not a grudge match. Despite their antics, the two somehow maintain a lead for most of the course… until both of them snap their oars in the final stretch. Not wanting to give up, they steal the oars from their crewmates and continue clobbering each other. Naturally, those oars break too, and the two devolve into full-on fistfighting—while the rest of the competitors sail happily past them.
Eventually, their little brawl capsizes both boats. They lose the race, but hey, they win the crowd’s hearts—and a special “Comedy Trophy” for providing the best entertainment. Of course, they immediately start fighting over that too.
Rio and the others wisely decide to leave Niels to hash out his grudge and instead head off to check out the boat show. By this point, Hugh McGrath has arrived in Whitish, and he excitedly explains the new ship’s cutting-edge tech. Powered by magic stones and alchemy, it uses both wind and water magic for propulsion. Hugh admits he’s never actually seen it in action, but for the staggering price of 370 billion, it had better be impressive.
Later, Rio, Ammon, and Itto swing by a weapon shop since Itto wants a proper weapon to make himself more useful in combat. The shopkeeper takes one look at Itto’s miserable bow skills and suggests something more his speed: a custom crossbow with a switch. This beauty can rapid-fire bolts like a magical machine gun—no aiming skills required. Perfect for Itto.
That night, another banquet is held at the castle, and Abel once again attends as the guild master’s stand-in. He’s uneasy without his weapons, but with the barrier up, he figures it’ll be fine. Unfortunately, in the barrier control room, one of the technicians notices something is seriously wrong with the artifact powering it. The entire defense system is on the verge of collapse. He rushes to report the issue—but before he can, a mysterious group ambushes him. Moments later, the barrier drops… and the banquet is suddenly under attack.
