Observing Class (1)

Hwarin bit her lower lip gently while guiding the outsider.

-She doesn’t seem to have any hostility.

‘We’ll see about that as time goes by.’

Elkar, who had shrunk and perched on Hwarin’s head,

Unlike usual, he hid his appearance and

Carefully observed the changes in Rogi’s expression as she followed.

-…Is it alright?

‘No.’

The day before, Hwarin had sent Elkar to observe Ethan’s surroundings.

It was to train synchronization with the spirit,

And to check where Ethan was going alone with Levi.

And,

The training was successful.

Through Elkar’s eyes and ears, Hwarin

Vividly witnessed and heard the various events that happened that day.

Of course, without Ethan and Levi noticing.

Naturally, she saw the woman following behind her and

The blonde woman who was making a fuss trying to catch that woman.

It was quite a spectacle.

They didn’t even listen to people properly,

Just selfishly doing and saying what they wanted.

She couldn’t understand why He left such shameless people alone.

Hwarin couldn’t understand.

-It’s His business to handle.

Levi’s words were right.

So she didn’t inflict any harm and just did her duty.

-Knock knock knock.

“Ethan-nim, I’ve brought the guest.”

“Good work.”

After letting the woman in,

Hwarin closed the door and sighed deeply.

‘Surely He hasn’t been captivated by that beauty?’

She was worried about that inside.

The woman was that beautiful and mature.

Elkar chuckled.

-That seems like an unnecessary worry.

‘Why?’

-Because in my eyes, my contractor is much better.

‘Flattery won’t work.’

Hwarin replied coldly.

-Oh, please.

Hwarin went out to the backyard.

Today was the day to summon a new spirit she had been waiting for.

“Please sit down.”

The coldly settled tone.

Rogi tensed up unnecessarily.

She sat down without even properly making eye contact with the other person.

“Um, excuse me…”

She had to apologize and say she was sorry.

Just as she was carefully trying to speak up,

‘Eek!’

When her eyes met with the fierce girl standing docilely behind the man,

Smiling but not happy,

She involuntarily gasped.

A moment of silence.

Ethan filled that gap.

“Let me introduce myself first. I’m Ethan.”

“…I’m Rogi.”

“Yes, Ms. Rogi. I can’t say I’m pleased to meet you.”

Rogi bowed her head deeply as if she were a criminal.

“…I’m sorry.”

She felt like she had stepped into a new hell

Before she could even feel the hope of escaping from that hellish place.

As that thought reached her,

-Drip. Drop.

“Oh.”

Without realizing it, she ended up shedding tears.

“Ah, s-sorry, s-sorry.”

The ultimate technique of crying to win began.

Ethan wasn’t so ill-mannered as to scold the crying woman with “Hey, you bitch, do you know you almost ruined everything?”

Honestly, even if not that harsh,

He did want to reprimand her sternly.

But,

‘It’s a bit much to do in front of Levi.’

He couldn’t tell her to leave either.

Levi had used her wish to request the strange thing of “staying together all day today.”

He managed to defend the bathroom and toilet somehow, but anything beyond that was impossible.

Promises must be kept.

That is the proper relationship between a guardian and a ward.

So Ethan waited for the tears to stop.

After a while, the calmed Rogi opened her mouth.

“Agnes is my escort and also my supervisor.”

“It looked like you were trying to run away from your escort. May I ask why? Is it because of conflicts with your parents…”

“No, my parents passed away. Because of that trash.”

‘Was she being held hostage?’

If so, the “trash” was a sufficiently imaginable target.

There’s only one “great evil” in the current republic, after all.

“Speaker Burgo.”

“!”

Judging by her reaction, it seemed correct.

Ethan quickly organized his thoughts using <Thought Acceleration>.

‘A person important enough to be monitored with a knight of at least expert mid-tier level by her side. And directly managed by Speaker Burgo…’

“Should I assume you’re a family member of the citizen faction’s core, specifically a daughter of some executive?”

“…Let’s say that’s right.”

Clutching the handkerchief Ethan handed her,

She gathered courage and opened her mouth.

“I’m really sorry about what happened that day. But I couldn’t stay under that man’s clutches anymore. That’s why I did it. I didn’t mean to harm anyone, and Agnes wouldn’t kill an innocent civilian. So…”

“Didn’t that Agnes person suspect me of being a foreign spy or rebel?”

“That’s…”

Thanks to the meaningful expression Rogi let slip,

If things had gone wrong, he could have been in for quite some trouble.

“How do you see it, Ms. Rogi? If I had been dragged to the Security Department, do you think I could have gotten out safely?”

“……”

Rogi knew the notoriety of the Republic’s Security Department better.

Even the most innocent person, once dragged into the Security Department’s interrogation room, had no chance of getting out with their body intact.

A terrifying institution that creates non-existent crimes to punish.

That is the Republic’s Security Department.

“I’m sorry!”

Judging that she now showed signs of properly reflecting, Ethan said,

“Follow me.”

“Huh?”

“There’s someone I’d like to introduce to Ms. Rogi.”

“Hiyah!”

“Ugh!”

“Your kiai is too loud! Who would let themselves be attacked if you charge in yelling ‘I’ll definitely crush you!’? Keep it brief! Brief!”

In the training grounds set up in the mansion’s backyard,

The children were in the middle of a lesson, swinging wooden swords.

Sir Rashid fell down,

Rolled around once more,

And finally lost the wooden sword from his hand.

“You pathetic fool! Losing to a child again?”

It must have been difficult to handle since his sparring partners were Ponya and Gwen.

But Julius was merciless.

“I’m sorry!”

“Don’t apologize to me! It’s you who’s pathetic! If you’re going to apologize, do it to your parents! It’s you who neglected training despite being born with a good body!”

“Yes!”

“What ‘Yes!’? Tsk, go back and fight again! I’m going to greet the master for a moment, so if you slack off, you’re dead! I have eyes on my back too. You know that, right?”

“Of course!!!”

Then he turned around and walked towards Ethan.

“Master, what’s the matter?”

“I have someone to introduce. This is Ms. Rogi. She’s from the republic.”

Julius tilted his head.

“She looks familiar…”

“Me?”

Rogi hid behind Ethan’s back when the unfamiliar old man narrowed his eyes at her.

“Young lady, may I ask what your surname is?”

“…It’s Bessi. Rogi Bessi.”

“The Bessi baronial family? Do you have any relation to Robert Bessi and Marjorie Bessi, the heads of the citizen faction?”

“…They’re my parents.”

Julius roughly wiped his hands on his pants and then snatched Rogi’s hand.

Rogi tried to pull away but could only struggle due to his strong grip.

Meanwhile, Julius thrust his face close and blinked his cloudy eyes.

“I thought you looked familiar, so you’re Robert and Marjorie’s daughter.”

“…Do you know my parents?”

“Of course I do. To think I’d meet Robert’s daughter again in my lifetime. This old man’s name is Julius Mardius Kaidel. An old friend of Robert and Marjorie.”

“Count Kaidel…?”

Rogi turned to Ethan in surprise.

Her expression seemed to say, ‘Could this place be the headquarters of the citizen faction resistance that was shrouded in mystery?’

‘It seems I’ve been misunderstood in some strange way again.’

He simply wanted to introduce people from the same hometown and

Make her lower her guard.

It seemed he had unexpectedly reaped a big harvest.

“Please talk.”

Thinking it would be right to step away,

He left the two and headed towards the children.

“Ethan-nim.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Are you planning to leave Rogi-ssi as she is?”

“If she had been a mischievous young lady who ran away from home for no good reason, I was going to tease her a bit more.”

Listening to the conversation a little,

Rogi wasn’t an ordinary person.

“She doesn’t seem to be like that, so I’m going to observe a bit more.”

“I see.”

She lost her parents because of the Senate Speaker,

And like Julius, she had a grudge against the current republic leadership.

‘She seems like quite an important figure.’

Unfortunately, there was no name like Rogi Bessi in Ethan’s memories.

She might have died before the main story started,

Or perhaps she might have flowed into the resistance.

‘The resistance wore masks to hide their identities and used code names instead of names.’

They called themselves by animal names like rabbit, raccoon, lion, fox, etc.,

Or used objects or words with special meanings as their code names.

Typically, the resistance leader who raised an uprising after the Great War had the code name ‘Revenge’.

He could distinguish the characteristics of the resistance named characters, but

He couldn’t find such characteristics in Rogi.

‘I’ll have to check as time goes on-‘

“Urk.”

Borka collapsed with a thud right in front of him.

“E-Ethan-nim.”

“Is it very hard?”

Originally there was a weak colleague named Elyssia, but

After Ciel’s seal was released, Elyssia gained superhuman strength and athletic ability and made rapid progress.

“It’s… it’s very hard.”

Borka ended up falling behind alone.

Today too, the weak-bodied magic seedling collapsed, gasping for breath.

‘Still, you’re working hard these days.’

Feeling proud, Ethan opened his spatial pocket.

“Sniff sniff, huh!”

Borka revived.

“It’s the dessert set I bought yesterday-“

“Chomp!”

“…There’s more, so share it with the other kids.”

Ethan confirmed that the children’s abilities had grown steadily.

Even Borka was like that.

[Name: Borka]

[Age: 10]

[Detailed Stats: Health(625), Mana(5236), Strength(320), Agility(190), Mana Sensitivity(4290), Holy Adaptability(120), Luck(250), Composure(371)]

Her health, strength, and agility had increased.

[Name: Hwarin]

[Age: 11]

[Detailed Stats: Health(850), Mana(630), Strength(820), Agility(910), Mana Sensitivity(540), Holy Adaptability(570), Luck(383), Composure(70)]

[Name: Gwen]

[Age: 10]

[Detailed Stats: Health(880), Mana(700), Strength(650), Agility(1020), Mana Sensitivity(630), Holy Adaptability(320), Luck(335), Composure(250)]

[Name: Ponya]

[Age: 10]

[Detailed Stats: Health(1250), Mana(430), Strength(1020), Agility(540), Mana Sensitivity(230), Holy Adaptability(290), Luck(226), Composure(195)]

[Name: Elyssia&Ciel]

[Age: 10]

[Detailed Stats: Health(955), Mana(231), Strength(928), Agility(690), Mana Sensitivity(120), Holy Adaptability(4327), Luck(550), Composure(277)]

[Name: Kenny]

[Age: 10]

[Detailed Stats: Health(1025), Mana(556), Strength(823), Agility(827), Mana Sensitivity(374), Holy Adaptability(127), Luck(634), Composure(481)]

‘Wow.’

It hadn’t even been a month since Julius started classes in earnest.

Yet such growth rates.

‘I’m looking forward to the future.’

Watching them gather around and munch on snacks, he found himself healing without realizing it.

The last to crawl over was Sir Rashid.

“Is it very hard?”

“Huh? Ahaha… It’s bearable enough.”

‘He doesn’t look okay at all.’

He must have rolled around so much he couldn’t even get up, as Ponya and Hwarin took turns putting cookies in Sir Rashid’s mouth.

He looked pitiful, but he was wearing the happiest expression ever.

‘I guess that’s good enough.’

But then,

[The World Tree’s root warns that dark energy is rapidly concentrating!]

‘Is it evil energy? But Ciel seems fine.’

[‘Maintenance’ adds that it’s not evil energy.]

[‘Destruction’ answers that while evil energy is malicious, this is more of a sinister energy.]

‘What’s sinister energy?’

[The World Tree’s root conveys that a high-ranking spirit has appeared in the spirit realm.]

5 minutes earlier.

“Is this how I do it?”

-That’s right. But contractor, do you really need to summon? This Elkar is more than enough…

“Why, is there a reason I shouldn’t summon a new spirit?”

-N-No, that’s not it.

Honestly, there was.

Hwarin’s abilities had been increasing dramatically day by day,

And Elkar, bound by the contract, knew this better than anyone.

Moreover, Hwarin had received a book on spirit arts from Ethan and studied hard, making remarkable progress.

As a result, she was ready to contract with a high-ranking spirit at any moment.

A high-ranking spirit.

“You’re not saying this because you’re a ‘mid-rank’ spirit, are you?”

-W-What! I am Elkar, the gatekeeper of the great forest! I don’t feel upset or threatened by such trivial matters.

“Then that’s fine. Assist me so the mana doesn’t cut off during the ritual.”

-…Understood.

The saying “a rolling stone gathers no moss” existed in Isilium too.

Elkar was distressed by the reality of having to accept a superior as his junior.

Yet, according to the contract, he had to help with Hwarin’s summoning ritual.

It felt like tightening the noose around his own neck with his own paws.

“A place full of vitality, the backyard is full of vitality so that’s done. Sufficient mana, Elkar. I’ve also checked the high-ranking spirit summoning circle.”

After double-checking everything carefully once more,

Hwarin placed both hands on the magic circle drawn on the ground.

Then,

-Wooooong!!!

Fresh green light began to burst from the summoning circle.

What she wanted was a spirit of life governing grass and greenery.

This was the perfect fit in terms of effects and skills to help Ethan and the children.

But,

“Ah?!”

The summoning circle distorted,

And the green light turned ashen gray.

At the same time, the ground began to shake.

-This is strange. Stop the ritual!

“I-I can’t! It’s not listening to me.”

-…I can’t block the mana either. Contractor! Get away from there right now!

Just as Hwarin hesitated due to the intense pulling force,

-Boom boom boom boom!!!

The ground exploded.

Elkar quickly threw himself to save Hwarin from the explosion.

-Are you alright?

“Ouch… I think I’m okay. What about you, Elkar?”

-Fortunately, I’m fine.

When the dust that had risen thickly settled,

-Kieeeeeeeeek!!!

In the place where the summoning circle had been,

A giant pile of bones that looked to be about 10m tall was screaming.

“Borka! Kenny!”

“Mmm mmm!”

“Yes!”

After the Ciel incident, the mansion’s defense protocol had been reinforced.

Borka immediately cast defensive magic on the mansion,

And at the same time, surrounded the mansion walls with a concealment curtain cum barrier.

Kenny used golems to evacuate people to the basement.

Some golems, of course, were armed and lined up in the training grounds.

“Tsk tsk, whose doing is it this time?”

“It seems to be… Hwarin. It’s a high-ranking spirit.”

Levi frowned fiercely like someone whose good moment had been interrupted.

“Don’t tell me that’s…”

[The World Tree’s root answers that the user’s guess is correct.]

“Why on earth did a spirit of death come out?”

“Is why it came out important? Since it’s out anyway, shouldn’t we just beat it up thoroughly?”

Julius’s words were clear.

“Master, can I let the children show off their skills on this occasion?”

“…Can the children handle a high-ranking spirit?”

“They could probably do even more than that. Now, children!”

“”Yes!””

At Julius’s command, the children quickly armed themselves, taking out armor and weapons from the spatial pockets they were carrying.

“Show me the results of your training so far!”

An unscheduled observation class began.

“But why do you keep lingering there? Get up already!”

“Ah, alright.”

Sir Rashid, who had only been watching the situation, joins the battle!