Ch.115Kingdom (2)

Affection or longing.

Complex, intertwined emotions make the body hot.

The girl recalls the warm stew.

The kindness of a stranger that came like a miracle when she had fallen to rock bottom.

Now it felt strangely distant.

“Everyone, eat slowly. I’ll keep making more food.”

The table that fed the hungry foxes.

At the time, she had been wary, thinking there must be hidden motives, but looking back now, it was the moment when all miracles began.

Now he had become part of her life, someone she completely depended on.

She hoped that someday she would become just as strong.

She hoped that just as she depended on the boy, he would come to depend on her too, that she would become someone he needed.

So she wouldn’t be abandoned.

So she could be loved, even a little.

“…I’m thinking too much.”

Irene shakes off her needless thoughts.

The corners of her mouth curl bitterly.

After much hesitation, her hand finally selects the simplest menu.

The decided dish was none other than beef stew.

This seemed better.

Rather than handling a menu she couldn’t manage and burning everything, it seemed better to serve a modest but decent meal.

That person would surely compliment even her poor cooking skills.

She smiles without meaning to.

The girl moved with lightened steps.

“……”

Shadows swirled like heat haze.

Unaware that someone was following her from there.

***

At the same time.

In an alley untouched by human footsteps.

A strange woman was peering out. Her yellow eyes followed the retreating figure of the fox.

Mana spurts into the air along with her flowing hair.

Her enchanting lips move.

“Hmm~ So that’s the target, you say?”

Her speech had a uniquely relaxed tone.

Though she wore a robe to conceal her identity, it couldn’t hide the aura of a powerful being.

A cutting tension filled the alley.

The woman mutters as if pleased.

“Her face is quite to my taste.”

Her identity was as follows:

The Unjust, one who does not rely on others.

A prominent figure carrying out the fourth sword of the monarch.

Originally her role was to assist her master as a royal guard, but today she had specially infiltrated the academy on orders.

That order was to bring the recently troublesome snake to the “Kingdom.”

The Unjust quietly licks her lips.

‘Indeed… it’s too dangerous to approach the snake directly. And he’s not the type to follow along obediently when asked.’

The war that took place in the empire’s shadows.

The usurpation.

Having experienced that incident, the Unjust knew how cruel the snake had been.

Even now, he appeared in her nightmares.

He was part of a myth.

Single-handedly crushing criminal organizations spread throughout the shadows, and in the end, even reducing the “Kingdom” built by the monarch to ashes.

The monarch, who had reigned as number one at the time, had to give up his right arm.

A one-sided defeat.

He was truly a monstrous figure.

The Unjust needlessly wipes away cold sweat.

‘I never wanted to face him again…’

She chews on a brief complaint.

She still had nightmares.

That cold, sunken gaze.

If she were to face those eyes that seemed inhuman again, the Unjust was confident she would wet her skirt without hesitation.

That’s how strongly the snake was imprinted as a figure of intense fear for the woman.

But.

She couldn’t disobey orders.

Instead, the Unjust decided to use a trick.

‘It’s probably easier to target those around him?’

She examines her surveillance target.

The target was a servant known to have been living closest to the snake recently.

Fox ears and a tail were positioned on her head and behind, respectively.

From what she heard, she was a fox demi-human taken from a businessman’s auction house, but the reliability of this information was questionable since it came from the untrustworthy Disbelief.

The Unjust fiddles with the whip hanging from her fingertips.

The plan was simple.

The master had ordered her to bring him quickly, but hadn’t placed any restrictions on methods or means.

Even if she did something violent, it would be fine because she had insurance.

The snake cares for those around him.

If she were to snatch one of them and flee, he would have no choice but to chase her to the Kingdom to get them back.

Even if there was a confrontation, it would be fine because she had her own insurance.

The woman hums happily.

“And the hostage is just my type~ Should I have some fun while he’s chasing after me?”

The Unjust was quite strong.

Though her abilities weren’t offensive in nature, making her no match for the combat power of other royal guards, she could still twist a student-level opponent with a single finger.

After all, she too was one of the five negations protecting the monarch (Roi).

She could erase a girl who was still a fledgling from the world without anyone noticing.

The Unjust continues her surveillance leisurely.

‘Should I pounce when she enters the dormitory?’

She waits for the hostage to willingly become a mouse in a trap.

The fox moving with a shopping basket in her arms.

When her delicate steps finally enter the dormitory building, the Unjust immediately tears through space and leaps to attack her target.

The shadow appears in the air as if teleporting.

Crack-!

“Peek-a-boo!”

The woman smiles brightly.

The Unjust swings the whip in her hand sharply.

The fox’s eyes fill with confusion.

“…!”

The girl reacts to the surprise attack belatedly.

But.

The Unjust had already narrowed her focus to striking distance.

The whip flies at supersonic speed and strikes.

Thwack-!

A dull bursting sound colors the air, and a shadow collapses to the floor.

Weak groans accompany knees buckling.

Truly.

It happened in an instant.

***

The academy I returned to after finishing my work.

When I opened the door to the dormitory with my tired body, I had to feel an indelible sense of incongruity on my skin.

It was because of the thick darkness.

“……”

Only silence occupied the space beyond.

The world had long since met sunset, yet it was strange that the interior lights were still not turned on.

I move while suppressing my presence.

I waited for a moment, but the voice that would normally come out to greet me was also not heard.

At that point, I sensed that something was wrong.

Rustle-.

A shopping basket was lying at the entrance.

While picking up the meat and vegetables spilled on the floor, I suddenly catch a faint presence brushing past my ears.

It was a sound coming from the innermost room.

-Ugh, hnngh…

A faint groan.

At first glance, it sounded like sobbing.

I immediately run toward it.

“Miss Irene…!”

Bang-!

I roughly kick open the door visible at the end of the noise.

There was not a moment’s hesitation in that movement.

The hot air pooled in the room makes me frown as the door shatters into pieces behind me.

I hurriedly examine the interior.

What greeted me there was none other than…

“Waaaaaah!! I’m sorry! I was wrong!”

A loud wailing voice.

In the corner, a yellow-haired girl was kneeling with her arms raised as if being punished.

Her face was covered in tears and snot.

As if she had been playing with fire somewhere, black soot was smeared all over her body.

I raise a question mark.

“…?”

What’s this?

As I stand frozen with my brain stopped for a moment, suddenly a girl casually greets me.

Beautiful flames flutter around her.

“Welcome back. You’re a bit late today.”

“Miss Irene?”

The fox stood at the center.

Her once orange hair was now dyed red, and her mana was burning with intense heat.

The noble crimson flame dominated the atmosphere.

Similarly wrapped in fire, the black sword was merciless, its tip pointed at the kneeling little girl.

I question the incomprehensible situation.

“What happened?”

“I was ambushed.”

“And?”

“I won?”

“…?”

My head tilts again.

The girl explains.

“I thought it was strange that someone was following me from the shopping district, and when they suddenly attacked me, I just knocked them down.”

Bonk-!

The fox strikes the woman’s crown with the back of her sword.

A terrified reaction returns.

“Hii, hiik…! I-I’m sorry! I was wrong!”

The trembling woman rubs her hands together.

No matter how you looked at her, she was barely over ten years old.

I silently turn to the fox.

She awkwardly avoids my eyes, then mutters as if explaining her crime.

It was an explanation added almost inaudibly.

“…I think I hit her too hard.”

As if to supplement that one sentence, the woman bursts into tears she had been holding back.

Large tears fall drop by drop.

“Ugh, hnngh… I won’t do it again, s-so please, stop the hot thing…”

“……”

“……”

A fragile voice crying as if the sky were falling.

We looked at each other silently.

“Miss Irene.”

“……”

“Have you ever heard of child abuse?”

“She was originally an adult… As we fought, she kept getting smaller, until she ended up like this.”

“What about excessive force?”

“……”

The fox remained silent.

We had to stand there for a while in awkward silence.

Until the kidnapper stopped crying.