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The sun had begun to turn considerably to the west, but it had not yet taken on a reddish hue.
It was still too early for dusk; there would be enough time to visit the government office and return by nightfall.

"Shall we go, Snow?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Coai took her hand, then slowly stood up, and they left the inn, still holding hands.

The two of them walked without any detours to the front gate of the government office, which stood in the central part of the castle city of Argun.
In front of the gate, several lightly armored humans holding what appeared to be spears were gathered.

"Is this the government office of this castle city?"
Coai stepped a few paces in front of Snow and, from a position as if to shield her, spoke to one of the men who looked like a guard.

"Huh? What else would it be?"
"Hey, hey, you'll get yelled at again with that attitude... Anyway, what can we do for you?"
The one he had spoken to and another one nearby replied to Coai.

The humans seemed to have a careless attitude... yet their gazes were fixed sharply on Coai.
Also, Coai felt as if... the hands holding their weapons had tensed slightly.
However, there was no scent of magic worth noting.

"I was told to bring this letter and meet with the magistrate."

There was no joy of battle there. Simply making sure of one thing—that they wouldn't point their weapons at Snow... Coai offered the letter he had been entrusted with by Sody.

"'Magistrate'... you'll get yelled at for being disrespectful."
"Aren't you being pretty disrespectful yourself?... Anyway, can we see that letter?"
As they spoke, the others who hadn't responded to Coai's question also gathered around, save for one.

"You can't read, even if you look at it."
"This letter looks well-made and doesn't seem like nonsense... I was thinking I should go get the captain."
"Ah, then I'll go get him. While I'm at it..."
"If you need to relieve yourself, do it after you bring the captain back."