Cheong eyes Mandalo, assessing him.
This guy is being overly serious. Not that it’s really that serious, but still, the ones caught need to be properly held.
There’s no way Mandalo snuck in past the elite warriors of the Imperial Guard after they were dispatched for emergency duty due to the royal orders.
It’s more likely that he was let in from above.

"......Instructor."

Mandalo looks at Cheong with a deeply stiff expression.
His usual frown, the one that always made him seem like a bitter little brat, is gone now, replaced by a completely deflated …