Splash!
The sound of blood splattering was heard.
With my open palm, then using my five fingernails that had become extremely sharp, I attacked the nanny's chest.
In the blink of an eye, my hand managed to pierce the nanny's chest.
Not only did I pierce the nanny's chest, but my hand also managed to penetrate the nanny's body from end to end.
I managed to pierce the nanny's chest until my hand came out of the nanny's back as if I was piercing an animal meat for me to roast.
As my hand pierced through the nanny's chest, it was inevitable that her blood spurted into the air.
Drip!
From her chest that I pierced, her blood flowed out down my hand in a very heavy stream.
I had been lifting the nanny's body that I had stabbed up until her feet did not touch the ground.
The nanny's eyes were wide open staring at me. Her mouth was wide open as if she wanted to say something, but only blood came out of her mouth.
Both of her hands had been holding my hand, which was still stuck deep in her body.
"Le-let… m-me.. go!"
"Okay."
Thud!
Her body fell to the ground miserably.
There was nothing she could do.
Although she tried to block the wound on her chest with both hands, it was all useless.
It was even a miracle that she didn't die right away. Perhaps her spirit still wanted to live so badly that it was still attached to her body, otherwise, she would have died.
Not long after, she closed her eyes and her breathing just stopped. That was how she died right in front of Jeanne.
"Sigh~"
I sighed as I finished finishing off the nanny in front of Jeanne.
Jeanne was still standing still.
Her gaze was still blank.
Her brain seemed to be still trying to process the events recorded in her eyes.
She couldn't move to block me because she probably never thought in her head that I would kill the nanny immediately.
The same reason you could use when you wonder why she still didn't move even though I had finished killing the nanny. Maybe she still doesn't want to accept reality?
I was worried that she had really become a statue. Only the sound of her very slow breathing indicated that she was still alive and well.
As I was eagerly waiting for Jeanne's response to the big surprise in front of her eyes, I suddenly felt distracted by something else.
I suddenly got a bad feeling.
[Hear of Everything Skill - Activated.]
The first thing I did was activate the Hear of Everything skill.
And after I scanned my surroundings, I could sense the Mana fluctuations in the air that began to increase unnaturally.
The Mana in the air began to fluctuate. At first I could hear the sound of the Mana fluctuations in the air like water flowing slowly and regularly. However, in a way slowly the Mana fluctuations in the air became increasingly swift.
There must have been a center that made the Mana fluctuations in the air become more and more swifter.
After I tried to focus my hearing on the center of the Mana fluctuation, finally, I could tell where the center of the Mana fluctuation came from.
"..."
I focused my eyes and looked with the naked eye towards the center of the Mana fluctuation.
The Mana fluctuation center was coming from a person. And he was not far away. He probably appeared from the winding road to my inn. And right now he was already in front of my inn.
'Since when did he come here?
Was it because I was too focused on killing the nanny that I didn't notice his arrival?
The man who was the center of the Mana fluctuation was seen standing up and wearing a robe that was very familiar to my eyes.
With just a glance, I could tell who he was. Unmistakably, he was a magician.
In his hand, he held a magic wand. He pointed the wand upwards, and while doing so, his mouth was chanting a magic spell.
I was sure that the magic spell he was chanting was what made the Mana fluctuations in the air become so swift.
"Tch!"
It seemed like it was too late to thwart the magic he was casting.
A magic circle had appeared in front of the wand he was holding. The magic circle was red in color and very large in size. It was obvious that the magic he was about to cast would also be very dangerous.
"Burn everything that stands in your way, Fireball!"
He shouted loudly.
The temperature started to rise a few degrees. I could already feel the heat on my skin. All of that happened because a ball-shaped flame suddenly came out of the magic circle that had been formed by him.
The light from the fireball was so bright that it illuminated everything around. The fireball's light was reddish-orange in color and made the surrounding color also turn orange.
Even though it was too late to prevent the magic he released, I was sure I could still block it.
My eyes looked around. And I accidentally saw the shield that Jeanne had thrown earlier. The shield was stuck on the ground.
I ran to pick it up.
After picking up the shield from the ground, I immediately applied the amplification skill to the shield that I was already holding with both hands.
My body was still strengthened with the body-strengthening skill that I had activated earlier.
Without saying much, I immediately moved to prevent the magician's attack.
I spun around once before I threw my shield at the fireball.
Have you ever heard of a sport from athletics called discus throw? That's exactly how I threw the shield.
Swirl!
As soon as the shield I threw took off, it sliced through the air until it reached its destination.
The destination of the shield that I had thrown was a fireball.
The fireball was already flying, coming, and attacking.
What the fireball was targeting was the inn. Clearly, the magician wanted to destroy the inn.
Fortunately, before the fireball actually hit me and the inn, the shield I threw managed to hit the fireball.
Kaboom!
A huge explosion occurred.
The explosion was similar to a giant firework.
It would look very beautiful if you saw it while you were enjoying a festival event with your beloved, but because the atmosphere created by the explosion was tense, it would naturally create an eerie atmosphere.
Along with the flames flying through the air, I couldn't see Jeanne's shield that I had just thrown. Most likely, it had already become dust in the air.
Along with the background full of embers flying in the air, I stared at the figure of the magician.
My mind gave me a clue as to the reason why he came here—why there was a magician who suddenly came to attack this place.
In just a few seconds after I thought of the incident where Pavlova and his men had attacked the orphanage, my head already managed to accurately analyze the situation.
As quickly as lightning flashed, my mind began to understand what was happening.
I'm sure he was a magician who came here because he had a connection with Pavlova and his men who had been captured.
Even though Pavlova had just been caught, the magician had already been dispatched in less than 24 hours.
What a quick response.
If that was the case, I guess the magician was the backup plan of the person behind Pavlova.
In other words, the people supporting Pavlova must have anticipated that Pavlova and his men would fail to capture the children.
Pavlova had previously said that he had people supporting him from behind the scenes. And of course I knew who he meant.
That person must be someone from Marquis Stronghold's residence. More precisely, it was the only son of Marquis Stronghold named Yary Stronghold.
When it came to a noble supporting a slave trader, which was a big secret, it would be natural for Yary to send a magician here to clean up.
If necessary, I'm sure the magician was already prepared to erase all evidence of Yary's involvement with Pavlova.
Hence, he would not hesitate to directly attack using dangerous spells like Fire Ball.
And when he saw me successfully deflect the magic he fired, of course he would be shocked until his mouth hit the ground. Even so, he immediately put his usual arrogant expression back on again.
He prepared to chant the magic spell once more.
The reason why he could still be so calm when casting spells without fear of me disturbing him was because he didn't just come here alone. He came with one other person.
The person who came with him and stood beside him seemed to be wearing armor. On some parts of his body that weren't covered by the armor, a large muscle could be seen. It was clear that he was a warrior. He also held a sword and shield in his hands.
Actually, it was common for a magician to carry a warrior.
How was it possible for a magician, who specialized in ranged attacks, to go into battle without bringing someone who would protect him.
In fact, it was common for a magician to have a warrior by his side.
However, I know that the warrior beside him was his slave, a living shield.
Although there was no visible collar shackling the warrior, I was sure he was a slave of the magician when I considered that he was a slave of the magician from the marquis' stronghold residence.
As the magician cast the spell, the slave was seen standing in front of the magician. He looked ready to become a disposable shield for his master.
Before that magician actually starts using other magic, I intend to approach him.
However, before that, I looked at the notification window that had appeared in front of my face.
A reason for the action I had taken earlier.
[Quest: Act Like A Villain.
Description:
You must act like a villain in front of the heroine. The level of the action will determine the reward you will receive. The more your actions resemble a villain, the better the reward you will receive.]