Rogi & Agnes (1)

The persuading side,

That is, the female knight with the blonde ponytail, raised both hands and slowly closed the distance.

Whenever she did so, the brown-haired woman made a gesture of pulling the dagger and stabbing her neck.

The female knight stopped as if she had no choice.

This repeated several times.

As the brown-haired woman, whose back was only visible until now, turned her posture, Ethan was able to see her side profile.

‘She’s an incredible beauty?’

Beauty that matched her elegant attire.

Along with the female knight who seemed to be her escort.

‘Is she a daughter from a wealthy family who ran away from home?’

It would be rational to think so.

However, the runaway itself didn’t seem to have been meticulously planned.

The woman’s attire, a long dress, wasn’t advantageous for running away.

The bag slung over her left shoulder looked barely big enough to hold simple personal items, seeming too small to fit even minimal food and clothing.

‘I don’t know what happened, but.’

An opportunity arose to witness a quite tense scene.

Ethan, who had been feeling bored due to the relatively peaceful times recently, handed the shopping bag to Levi.

“Want to go ahead?”

“What about you, Ethan-nim?”

“It looks interesting, so I’ll watch for a bit before going. Tell them not to touch the magic tool. If that’s touched, I’ll be trapped here.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Levi disappeared into the portal.

Ethan lowered his posture and moved away from the portal.

He couldn’t see properly from there.

He moved silently through the bushes and

Continued watching the makjang drama from the optimal seat.

“My lady, this is troublesome. Didn’t you say we’d just stop by the clothing store and return?”

“I told you not to come!”

When she lightly cut her neck, red blood trickled out.

At the same time, the female knight stopped completely.

“My lady…”

“Don’t call me that while pretending to be friendly and following that trash’s orders! You and your precious father are all the same!”

She shouted at the top of her lungs.

The hand holding the dagger trembled and scratched her neck additionally.

More blood flowed.

“Your lady’s father is truly worried about Lady Rogi…”

“Shut up!!!”

“……”

“Who’s my father? How can that man be my father!!!”

She burst into tears and wailed.

Even so, she didn’t lower the dagger at her neck.

The female knight could only stamp her feet, unable to do anything.

‘What a messy family.’

[The World Tree’s root wonders if this is really entertaining.]

[‘Maintenance’ suggests looking up the category called ‘Morning Drama’ in the user’s memories.]

[The World Tree’s root asks why it wasn’t told about such fun things earlier.]

[‘Destruction’ rages that the heavily made-up villain is too hateful.]

‘Hey, be quiet for a bit.’

Just as Ethan was momentarily regulating the local broadcast transmission of the roots,

The woman ran quickly.

“My lady! Stop!”

The female knight surrounded her hand with aura, then

Waved her hand towards the air.

-Tswat!

-Thud thud thud!

“Kyaa!”

She knocked down a tree far from the fleeing woman to block her path,

Then quickly started to follow her.

“Hiyah!”

Then the fleeing woman, as if she had no choice, turned direction and ran.

‘Oh no, she shouldn’t come this way.’

When she was almost caught by the female knight,

As if she’d rather die than be caught,

The woman jumped forward without any plan.

“Huh?”

Her eyes met with Ethan’s, who was watching from under the bushes.

“Aah!”

She fell rapidly.

Ethan had no choice but to catch the woman.

Crash!

They rolled about two turns due to the momentum after catching her.

“Ouch ouch.”

“A-Are you alright? Oh my, what should I do. I’m sorry!”

“I think you should worry about yourself rather than me.”

The woman turned her head to where Ethan’s hand was pointing.

The female knight had jumped over in one go and drawn her sword.

And,

“Get away from the lady! You scoundrel!”

“?”

Unfortunately, the aggro was drawn to Ethan.

Ethan raised both hands and stood up.

“I didn’t see anything.”

He did see.

He even overheard the messy family history of this dysfunctional family.

But,

He had no intention of insulting them by saying ‘Your family is a mess.’

The preliminary survey of Heikel had ended successfully, and

Ethan only had to return home now.

He had no intention of getting involved in troublesome matters voluntarily.

But,

The brown-haired woman held Ethan tightly.

Her arm strength was amazing, unlike her appearance.

“Excuse me… why are you holding me?”

The woman whispered quietly.

“I’m sorry, but could you help me? If you could buy me a little time until I shake off Agnes…”

“I don’t want to.”

“…Don’t you know who I am?”

“Why should I?”

The woman looked Ethan up and down with an expression of great shock.

‘She’s pretty, but she seems to be an overly self-conscious woman.’

She was stronger than he expected, but

Not to the level of being able to subdue Ethan.

So he tried to use force to free his arm, but

“Y-You’re that person, right?”

“???”

“Thank goodness. I thought I had mistaken the contact point because I couldn’t see you.”

The woman started acting nonchalantly.

“You said you could easily subdue someone like Agnes, right? As expected, you must be the person carefully chosen and sent by the higher-ups.”

“What are you…”

“You bastard, what are you doing!!!”

Before he could even make a proper excuse,

The female knight shouted and charged at him.

“P-Please listen…”

“Shut up!”

Thanks to the female knight’s movements being typical of Heikel NPC sword techniques,

It wasn’t a level he couldn’t dodge by turning on <Thought Acceleration> and moving his body skillfully.

[The World Tree’s root conveys its opinion to take out the sword and armor.]

‘No, don’t take them out.’

If weapons suddenly appeared out of thin air, she would be surprised at first, but after coming to her senses, she would certainly find it more suspicious and attack with all her might.

Ethan didn’t want to fight the opponent seriously.

He was tired from touring the city all day.

Of course,

‘Still, I have to do what needs to be done.’

He didn’t forget to apply ‘Maintenance’s mana blocking and ‘Destruction’s debuff.

After dodging about seven sword strikes,

The female knight called Agnes frowned while catching her breath.

“What trick did you use?”

“If you’ve calmed down a bit, let’s talk…”

“I have nothing to say to filthy rebels!”

Rebels.

Probably referring to the resistance organized by remnants of the citizen faction.

‘Seems I’ve been misunderstood.’

When he glanced back slightly,

The woman who had thrown the female knight at Ethan had long since disappeared.

“I’m not a rebel or anything, I’m from Etrion. If you’d just listen-“

A sword passed over his head.

“Shut up. What were you planning to do with the lady?”

“You really don’t listen, seriously.”

He felt his irritation rising gradually.

[The World Tree’s root asks if it’s time to take out the sword.]

‘Yeah, I should probably take it out soon…’

“Ethan-nim.”

“Levi?”

“You weren’t returning for a while, so I came to check, but.”

Levi appeared behind him.

While emitting a quite ominous aura.

“Who is this woman?”

Somehow, it felt like half of that aura was directed at him.

As Levi received the luggage and stepped into the portal, she thought.

‘What could it be?’

The uncomfortable feeling she had felt before.

It was as if a sharp thorn was growing in her chest, piercing her heart.

Of course, she knew it wasn’t a side effect of the curse, having checked her body several times with her power on the day she was freed.

Then it must be just an illusion, but

‘It’s bothering me.’

It was the same when that vixen Hwarin tried to snuggle into Ethan’s arms last time.

And when the princess who followed from Etre was being annoying.

‘What on earth is causing this?’

Levi handed over the luggage to Albert.

“Where is the boss?”

“He’s a bit late. I’ll go back and bring him. Ethan-nim said not to touch the magic tool.”

“Huh? Ah, yes.”

Was it because of blind loyalty?

Or was it because she dared to harbor feelings of love for Him, like Hwarin?

Levi couldn’t be sure of anything.

‘Still… just in case.’

She recalled the woman Ethan had been staring at blankly, and

Undid her hair that she tied up every day.

Yet she didn’t understand why she was doing this.

That’s because,

Levi had been called the ‘most pure blood’ from the moment she was born and received special management, separated even from her parents.

She had never had normal conversations with people.

Of course, she had no memories of playing with peers.

The only people left around Levi were scary elders and servants who bowed their heads respectfully to her.

Her way of dealing with others was always vertical, and

She only learned how to use subordinates efficiently.

‘Because of this cursed power…’

She clenched her fist.

Thanks to Him, she was liberated from the filthy curse, but

The broken inner self remained the same.

Levi’s emotions were like a dry desert that had never been touched by a single drop of rain in its lifetime.

But at this moment,

Levi was learning emotions slowly but steadily, little by little, while thinking of Ethan.

And,

As she was about to pass through the portal again,

“Oops!”

“Huh?”

The brown-haired woman she had seen earlier jumped into the portal.

“W-Where is this?”

Smack!

Levi struck her vital point without hesitation.

For some reason, she felt refreshed.

But He who should have returned was nowhere to be seen, and

Only some strange being had crossed the portal alone.

‘Something must have happened.’

“Ah, miss?”

“Tie her up. Apply potion to the wounds.”

Levi spoke coldly and threw herself beyond the portal.

Ethan briefly explained the situation to Levi.

At the same time, he urged Agnes to calm down.

“I have no intention of fighting, so put down your sword and let’s talk.”

“Was that young child all you were waiting for while wagging your tongue?”

Ethan was frustrated.

‘I feel like giving her a good lesson.’

Come to think of it, that didn’t seem like a bad idea.

It was annoying to do it himself, but

Levi had just returned, so

‘She won’t be able to use aura since I blocked her mana, and Destruction’s debuff should have considerably limited her nimble movements.’

Wouldn’t she be good as a practice opponent for Levi?

Such thoughts occurred to him.

“Levi.”

“Yes, Ethan-nim.”

“Want to have a go at her?”

“Are you telling me to kill that person?”

“…No, don’t do that.”

“I understand, if it’s your order.”

Ethan shook his head.

“Order sounds a bit stiff. Let’s make it a request. How about it?”

“A request… you say?”

“Yes, a request. Since I’m asking… um… I’ll grant you one wish when it’s over.”

Then,

Levi’s expression, which had seemed somewhat sullen, melted softly.

“Alright, I’ll accept Ethan-nim’s request.”

She smiled brightly and took out the whip tied to her waist.

“Ha!”

Agnes was dumbfounded.

What a pathetic man, to use a girl far lacking in skill, ability, and age as a shield.

He was utterly contemptible.

“As expected of rebels. I heard you brainwash orphaned children and use them for various terrorist acts, so it was true.”

“I’m telling you we’re not rebels.”

“Shut up! Where do you get the gall to-“

Crack!

Levi drew a line with her whip.

-Thud thud thud thud!

The line that cut through the air instantly felled dozens of trees around.

The cut surface was smooth like well-polished marble.

“What did you say?”

“…What just happ-“

In front of the surprised Agnes’s nose,

The girl with the eerie expression thrust her face.

“Shall I end this as quickly as possible?”

Agnes’s gaze spun around.