CH 7

It was dawn when the warrior recovered enough to start moving.

“I’ll take you home.”

“No, I don’t want to bother a person who was just greatly injured…”

“I’ve caused you trouble. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have to come all the way here. I’d like to show at least a little courtesy to the person who helped me. Besides, I’m worried because it’s late.”

“Um…”

I rubbed my cheek with a troubled face. Of course it was dangerous to talk around alone at this hour like he said.

‘I can’t help it.’

I couldn’t come up with more excuses, so I headed towards my house with him. On the way back, there were rough-looking guys in the alley glancing at me. I knew there would be strange people out around this time. If I avoided my eyes, I was afraid I would become a even bigger target.

“… Don’t pay attention to them.”

“Oh.”

However, the warrior quickly blocked my path. The eyes of the men who were persistently looking at me were now blocked by him.

“I feel bad.”

“Well, no one’s handsome enough to look at in the first place anyways.”

I said and looked up at the warrior’s face. When he saw me gazing at him, he asked with a slight cough.

“Why… is that so?”

“Well, do you need to clean your eyes?” (It’s like saying “Is your vision broken?”)

“What?”

He questioned and stared at me blankly for a moment and blushed. He certainly looked more like an ordinary guy instead of a warrior while glancing at me like that. No, not ordinary of course, because he was still handsome.

‘I wonder how old he is right now.’

In my memory, he was only two years apart from the princess. Tina is about to celebrate her 16th birthday, so he’s 18… at most. I keep having this feeling I’ve also raised him, but that could just be from the past when I played the game excessively.

The warrior stared down at me, and soon picked up the white cloth that was covering my basket, and wrapped it lightly over my head.

“… What is it?”

“Bugs kept getting tangled here and there. Don’t worry, I would use my jacket instead but it’s a little torn and dirty.”

“Oh.”

I tilted my head slightly and looked at him. There were more men than before, giggling and looking at me.

“Wait a moment, please…”

“No.”

The warrior said and I grabbed his arm.

“Leave them alone. Besides you just got hurt. Don’t try to make a huge deal out of this.”

“But they’re…”

“It’s okay, and if a famous warrior comes forward to deal with these things, he’ll lose his reputation.”

I smiled while pulling his arm. He looked fiercely towards the alley, and then eventually followed my lead. There’s a reason why I didn’t want him to do anything to those people. (She’s talking about those guys in the alleys that were visually harassing her.)

‘Because I’ll take care of them.’

If he were to get involved, no matter what the crime was, he would only be allowed to give them legal punishments. If it becomes too violent, even if it were the other side’s fault, criticism will follow towards him.

The warrior is a person who is being held up by people for doing good things. But, I don’t have to worry about that, whether it may be pulling out their eyes, crushing their bones, or turning them into slaves, it doesn’t matter what method I use. I’m the devil. That’s what I do.

I gave a deep smile to those whistling behind me. You are all dead anyways. The cloth that the warrior gave me still covered my face, so I couldn’t feel the blatant gaze anymore. As soon as I got home, Tina, who didn’t know where I went, ran out as if she had waited for a long time and hugged me.

“Whew, where have you been and now you’re here! Dev…Oh.”

I hurriedly closed Tina’s mouth with my hand. Fortunately, the warrior behind me didn’t seem to hear properly. He just watched us quietly. Only then did Tina see him and opened her mouth in dissatisfaction, making a small whimper.

“… Lucia, who is that guy?”

“Don’t you remember Tina? He’s the one who saved us.”

“Oh. Back then he…”

She covered her mouth in surprise. The warrior slightly bowed to Tina’s response.

“How is your ankle now?”

“What? It’s fine, uh…”

“I’m glad.”

“…”

“…”

There was a heavy silence between those two after the simple conversation. To be exact, the warrior didn’t seem particularly interested in Tina, and she pulled my arm and looked at me as if asking for an explanation. I tried very hard to avoid her gaze and turned to the warrior instead.

“Thank you for taking me here…”

It was somewhat difficult to call him ‘warrior’ in front of Tina. I hesitated as he opened his mouth.

“It’s Haron.”

“… Sir Haron.”

I wondered for a moment if I should tell him my name, but then he said his farewells politely, overshadowing my worries. I waved as he turned around and walked away.

***

(3rd person pov)

“Warrior!”

The lord rushed into the room, leaving the door open. It was rude, but no one around stopped him. Only Haron, who was being treated for a wound in there, frowned slightly. But he didn’t say anything.

“Warrior! You came back safely!”

“… Yes.”

“Oh thank god. You have no idea how heartbroken I was since last night when you didn’t come back.”

The lord repeatedly thanked the temple. It was only the warrior’s own ability and the women’s help that he was able to make it back safely, but why give god the credit. Though dissatisfied, Haron kept his mouth shut. He had never been in a position to say those types of things out loud, and usually he just obediently shakes his head.

Haron, the son of the duke, has a high position by title. But there were no nobles who did not know that he was just a puppet of the duke. He was just a nice chess piece to use. That was his role.

“If something were to go wrong, I was worried about who would get rid of those vile monsters.”

“… I did.”

“Sure! There’s no other man like you! And I am in the closest province to the Devil’s Castle! The poor city is still being attacked by the monsters!”

Haron kept his mouth shut with a tired look on his face. It was like that yesterday too. A city is under attack. Please kill the monsters. When he did arrive, it wasn’t a city, but more like a military base they had built. It was also located right in the land of the monsters, and he was hunting for weak ones.

Usually, the creatures wouldn’t come down towards the city unless humans invaded their lands first. Haron thought: the forest was probably the home to the two monsters from yesterday.

The soldier base they had built was far from the village, unlike the forest, which was closer. It would be much safer for everyone if they had gathered the soldiers and set them up as security for the more vulnerable places in the territory.

Haron sighed softly. Whether the lord was tactless or not, he started to laugh and said.

“So, um… Warrior, if you don’t mind, could you get rid of them today?”

“No my lord! He needs to at least rest for one day from these wounds…!”

“This… be quiet!”

“Ah!”

The head of the therapist, who was treating Haron, quickly turned around making a sound.

“Don’t be ridiculous! Are you ignoring the warrior’s ability right now? Don’t you know there will be more damage if the warrior rests?”

“Oh, now, ugh…”

“You stupid thing!”

He kicked the therapist mercilessly. In fact, the assault was being inflicted on the therapist, but it was also an unspoken pressure on Haron. He was aware of the meaning, for it was the way the duke used to deal with him too.

If he didn’t eat, the maid was beaten. If he skipped sword practice, the teacher was humiliated. If he tried to rebel or run away from the house, the salaries of all the workers in the household were cut. Just by walking around the mansion, he was struck with bitter resentment. In the end, since he was young, the only way was to be obedient.

“Stop it.”

“Ha, but warrior, what a ridiculous remark he made…!”

“If I get hurt again after going to the territory, there won’t be anyone who can treat me quickly.”

The lord stopped kicking at Haron’s words. He nodded wildly with a visibly bright face.

“Ah, well, yes! I didn’t think that far. The warrior must be tired, so we’ll have you go in the afternoon.”

“Okay.”

The lord was happy to achieve his will, and after that, there was a lot of insincere praise for the warrior. However, Haron called him out before he left with the therapist.

“I want to ask you something for a moment.”

It was the first time the warrior had asked a question, so the lord was a little embarrassed, but quickly returned with a smile.

“Yes, yes. What do you want to know, warrior?”

“That…”

Haron’s purple eyes were stained with anticipation for the first time since he had entered the castle.

“Did any of the maids who worked here had silver hair?”