It looked like I had chosen the right inn. The area around where my inn was located was still quiet. Even though it was morning, no one seemed to have started their activities yet.
But that was good news.
If there were people who came out and saw me now, they would have immediately shouted that I was a kidnapper.
I walked towards the inn.
However, I was currently carrying the nanny on my shoulders.
I gagged her mouth using a torn piece of cloth so that she could not scream. Both her hands and feet were bound using a torn piece of cloth as well so that her movements were restricted.
Originally, if she had calmed down from the start, I could have carried her more gently.
However, since her mouth wouldn't shut up and her hands and feet wouldn't stop moving, I had to put her in this situation.
"Hmb! Hmb! Hmb!"
She tried to speak but she couldn't.
It was only her two eyeballs that she could use to communicate with me. She looked at me with bulging eyes as if she was telling me to let her go.
Because she was on my shoulders, her gaze was only a few centimeters away from my eyes. However, even if her eyeballs fell out, I still ignored her.
It wasn't just her gaze, but she was also moving her body, trying very hard to get off my shoulders. Her legs were kicking and her hands were hitting my body.
"If you really want me to put you down, then I will do that."
Roll!
She fell miserably as I threw her to the ground.
Anyway, by this time I had already arrived in front of the inn.
First I removed a torn piece of cloth binding her hands and feet. Then I removed the torn piece of cloth that gagged on her mouth.
As I grasped her hands and intended to drag her into the inn, that was the time she took the opportunity to scream loudly.
"Le-Let go of me! Get your hands off my body! Let me go. I still haven't used all that money. Shit!"
I wanted to tell her that her efforts were in vain. No one would come to her aid. However, I couldn't say that when I saw movement from inside the inn.
Not long after, when I had just opened the inn's entrance, something appeared from inside the inn.
What came from inside the inn was not the appearance of a person, but the fleeting appearance of an item. The item floated from inside the inn and continued to fly straight at me as if someone had thrown the item at me.
It turned out that what was flying toward me at high speed was a shield.
As fast as the shield was heading towards me, I operated the Mana inside me and activated the body-strengthening skill. As a result, my body was able to respond to the attack.
I quickly ducked down and managed to avoid the path of the flying shield.
Fwush!
The shield just passed through me and stuck in the ground.
After I managed to dodge the attack, I could see who threw the shield from inside the inn.
That person turned out to be Jeanne.
An angry look was on her face.
She seemed to have just come down the stairs with all her might as if she had been waiting for me to arrive. But I knew that wasn't the case.
"What are you doing?"
"..."
The one who asked first was Jeanne.
Was it because I was dragging the nanny that she looked so angry?
She even looked at me like I was a criminal.
"Can't you answer that?"
She asked me in an angry tone.
With just a glance, I became more certain that she was angry that I had dragged the nanny.
She must be thinking, how could I treat the woman she trusted to take care of the children in such a brazen manner?
Indeed, because the nanny had just come from the culvert, her appearance looked very disgusting.
The collar of her shirt was ripped until it exposed the skin of her shoulders.
Her current appearance could very easily make people misinterpret that I had just r*ped her.
Perhaps because of that, when Jeanne had seen me dragging the nanny, she had immediately thrown her shield with all her might.
Before I could reply, suddenly and with very quick movements, Jeanne approached the nanny.
She had slapped my hand that was holding the nanny's hand. So I was forced to let go of the nanny's hand. Therefore, she was able to stare at each other with the nanny.
"Are you alright?"
Jeanne placed both her hands on the nanny's shoulders and asked the nanny in a worried tone.
I found it strange at first when I saw Jeanne's reaction, but I could understand it because she probably didn't know the reason why there was a slave trader attacking the orphanage.
In fact, she probably didn't know that the people who attacked the orphanage were the slave trader and his men, who were ready to kidnap the children.
Without being able to answer Jeanne's question, the nanny was just confused. She probably never thought that she would receive such kind of treatment from Jeanne.
It seemed that Jeanne misinterpreted the nanny's silence as fear. Jeanne suddenly turned to me and wore a wild animal-like expression.
"Why are you treating this person in such a rude manner? Don't you know that she's the one I've trusted to take care of the children?"
"...Yes, I know that she is the children's nanny."
"If so, why did you do it? For what reason? I was originally very grateful to you for helping the children! However, I can't forgive you if you end up hurting the person who took care of the children!"
Jeanne kept yelling at me.
Hiding behind Jeanne, the nanny seemed to be smiling broadly as if she was an innocent woman.
I realized that I shouldn't have any bad feelings toward what Jeanne was saying. I should have tolerated her. I'm not a child who would get angry just for being accused of a crime despite not actually committing one.
'Should I tell her that the woman she has been trusting as the children's nanny is the one who caused the disaster for the children in the orphanage?'
I knew she had a very affectionate nature for someone who had been considered a close person due to her dark past, but I didn't expect her to be this stupid.
Indeed, she was not one hundred percent hostile toward me.
Maybe she was just thinking that all of this was just a misunderstanding.
From what I know about her nature, she would probably think so. The anger she was directing at me now was just her nature, where she has a fiery nature.
Even so, why do I still feel something stirring in my heart?
Unconsciously, I frowned.
"Huuft~"
I tried to calm myself down.
Come to think of it, I had just gotten to know her, so it was only natural that she would be more likely to defend the nanny, someone who had lived with her for a long time.
'Even so...'
I actually wanted to use the incident at the orphanage to make Jeanne become closer to me. At the very least, I wanted her to become my ally. However, that seems to be very impossible now.
I was not a stupid person who would force her to trust me. Who am I? Right.
I also couldn't expect there to suddenly be a scenario that would bring us together. Hey, this wasn't a novel. So I knew that was impossible.
At this point, I gave up on making Jeanne my ally. There was no point in recruiting the stupid main heroine on my side.
"Do you want to know why I treated the children's nanny in such a rude manner?"
"Yes. Answer quickly."
"Would you believe me if I told you that she was actually the one who caused the children at the orphanage to be attacked?"
"How could that be!"
"See. I knew you wouldn't believe me."
"So you're saying she's the reason why those disgusting people attacked the orphanage? Why would you think that? Ah, I remember that the children had previously caught the orphanage attackers. How about we ask them? I'll prove that your assumption is wrong."
She said in a smoldering tone.
She should already know the answer if she saw the nanny at this moment.
It seemed that the nanny wanted to refute Jeanne's idea, however, facing Jeanne's burning passion, she could only tremble violently.
I'm sure the inside of her head was experiencing an earthquake that might have reached 9.1 magnitudes.
What if the people who attacked the orphanage told Jeanne the truth? Her mind must have been there.
"No need."
I answered briefly.
There was nothing to clarify.
I completely ignored Jeanne.
I focused on staring at the nanny.
[Body Strengthening skill - Activated.]
[Amplification skill - Activated.]
My body was filled with Mana quickly. The effect of the body-strengthening skill was felt in the blink of an eye.
As for the Amplification skill. I didn't have anything in my hand, but I could still apply the amplification skill to something. That was my nail. The purpose of me activating the amplification skill was to increase the sharpness of my fingernails.
The reason I activated those skills was to kill the nanny.
With the combination of the strength in my body and the sharpness in my fingernails, I moved to kill the nanny in an instant.