Chapter : 21
Adele’s body dangled limply in the mercenary captain’s grip.
Rivail, who had taken a step back, watched the scene with sunken eyes.
He needed certainty.
Certainty about just how far she was willing to go for that child.
‘Only then will I allow myself to hope this time.’
A strange smile lingered on his lips as he glanced back at Louisa.
Meanwhile, Louisa scowled deeply when Adele was taken from her so easily.
Her behavior—clearly worried about the hostage—made the mercenary captain’s face bloom with a grin.
So even that devil is still human after all, he thought.
The captain roughly grabbed Adele by the collar and hauled him up. With his other hand, he pressed a broken blade—snapped nearly in half—against Adele’s throat.
Louisa clicked her tongue irritably at the sight.
She shouldn’t have entrusted Adele to such a fragile priest.
“That kid looks like he’s in really bad shape,”
Noah whispered anxiously as he looked at Adele hanging slack in the mercenary’s grasp.
Adele’s face was deathly pale, his eyes squeezed tightly shut.
At first glance, it seemed like he had lost consciousness—but his clenched fist was trembling violently.
As if he were enduring unbearable pain.
“If—if you keep attacking, this kid won’t survive!”
Finding the correct target at last, the captain shouted triumphantly at Louisa like some third-rate villain out of a cheap novel.
“If you want him to live, drop your sword right now!”
He jerked his chin toward the sword in Louisa’s hand.
As he moved in a frantic, agitated manner, Adele’s limp body swayed helplessly in midair.
Slash!
The blade finally scraped a long line across Adele’s neck.
It wasn’t a deep wound, but it would have hurt badly—yet Adele didn’t even flinch, as though he couldn’t feel pain at all.
“……”
After studying Adele closely, Louisa discarded the sword in her hand without hesitation.
Only after she raised both hands in surrender did the captain recover his grin.
“Heh heh heh! Now come over here!”
As if that were a signal, the remaining soldiers swarmed in and surrounded her.
Vile smiles crept across their faces as they aimed their blades at her.
Something about the scene felt familiar. Louisa narrowed her eyes.
These bastards are even worse than the allied forces.
They told her to come closer, yet made no move to lower their swords.
One more step and she’d undoubtedly be skewered by sharp steel from all directions.
This was exactly the situation the mercenary captain wanted.
Louisa let out a quiet snort at the painfully obvious intent.
Just as she expected, the captain began trembling in anticipation of what was to come.
How exquisite would her miserable expression be when she walked unarmed into enemy lines?
And if the hostage started bawling first—if she crumbled into despair while listening to his cries—there could be no finer spectacle!
The captain chuckled again, drunk on his fantasy.
But contrary to his delusions, Louisa remained calm even now.
With an emotionless face, she began walking toward him.
“What—she’s really going?”
Noah grabbed the collar of Louisa’s clothes from behind, his voice full of panic.
Of course, Louisa wouldn’t die here.
Still, why go through such unnecessary trouble?
Louisa replied with a faint smile.
“They want me to come that badly. I might as well oblige.”
Step.
She strode forward without hesitation—despite the countless swords pointed straight at her.
At that moment, Adele—who had been hanging limp—opened his eyes.
The child who hadn’t moved an inch until now somehow sensed Louisa approaching.
Their eyes met.
Seeing Adele’s trembling pupils, Louisa smiled faintly.
It was meant to reassure him—but Adele, misinterpreting that smile, bit his lip until it bled.
Relief, anxiety, fear, hope—countless emotions twisted his face in agony.
“D-Don’t come any closer……”
His hoarse voice leaked out with ragged breaths.
The mercenary captain pressed the blade even tighter against Adele’s neck.
“If you don’t want me to kill him right now, you’d better keep coming, woman.”
He growled darkly in threat. Louisa advanced without hesitation.
The distance between her and the cold blade steadily closed.
One step.
Another.
Soon, the many swords aimed at her began to cut into Louisa’s body.
One of them was pointed directly at her heart.
Adele’s face twisted in despair.
“N-No……!”
“Heh heh. What do you mean, ‘no’? Kid, that woman is dying because of you.”
The captain whispered into Adele’s ear. Adele’s face turned ghostly white.
Even as sharp blades pierced her from all sides, Louisa calmly locked eyes with Adele.
Is that really the kind of thing that makes the blood drain from your face?
“Stupid bitch. Throwing her life away for some brat.”
“Well, it’s not like I’m actually going to die.”
Louisa’s almost playful tone made the captain frown deeply.
“You really are a fool to the end! Hey—kill her!”
The captain shouted at his men.
The mercenaries, eager to instill maximum fear, let out battle cries as they thrust their blades forward.
“Hraaah!”
“Die!”
That was the moment—
KWAANG—!
The solid auction hall shook violently, as if struck by an earthquake accompanied by a deafening roar.
It almost sounded like the roar of a ferocious beast.
Boom!
One entire side of the building collapsed, sending debris crashing down.
A violent gust of wind followed, filling the air with dust.
Yet even amid the chaos—
Thud!
The sound of a blade tearing through flesh stabbed straight into Adele’s ears.
All the color drained from Adele’s face. He couldn’t stay sane anymore.
She had been stabbed right in front of him.
Her body, her chest—fatally wounded. There was no room for hope.
Above all—
That sound of flesh being cut.
“Uahahahaha!”
Even in the chaos, the mercenary captain’s cruel laughter tormented Adele like a curse.
“Did we get her?!”
The voice of the man holding him was filled with exhilaration.
Adele widened his eyes, desperately searching for Louisa through the swirling dust.
As the dust slowly cleared, visibility returned from the top down.
But Louisa was nowhere to be seen.
No way…
He had believed—just a little.
Yet instead of Louisa, Adele saw bloodstained swords.
I’ll kill them.
Every last one of them.
With the very swords that stabbed Louisa—brutally, until nothing recognizable remained.
He could even get cursed potions from Noah.
He already knew well how to use curses efficiently.
Yes. Kill them.
A murderous intent flashed in Adele’s eyes.
At the same time, his hair bristled upward.
“Ghk!”
The mercenary captain instinctively flung Adele away as monstrous strength crushed his arm.
Adele landed on the ground, his presence noticeably changed.
A faint mist rose from his body—blue magic.
Cold and dark, like a frozen sea, the mana caused the surrounding temperature to plummet.
The mercenaries closest to the mana collapsed, convulsing violently.
The mercenary captain screamed in terror.
“U—UAAAAAH!”
As Adele lunged toward the fleeing captain—
A crimson-haired man, drenched as if in blood, stepped in front of him.
“Where do you think you’re running off to?”
The man was massive—so large the word giant felt appropriate.
In an instant, he grabbed the mercenary captain by the throat and lifted him into the air.
“Ghk—khhk!”
Bones cracked under the man’s grip.
The captain screamed in horrific agony.
“Talk. Where is your master?”
His voice was so threatening it made even one’s hair stand on end.
Reacting to the killing intent, Adele’s mana flared into an even deeper blue.
The red-haired man—Leon—who had been focused solely on the captain, finally turned toward Adele.
“What is this?”
Leon frowned.
A mere kid—no more than ten—was brazenly pouring killing intent toward him.
Ah… maybe I should just kill everyone. Innocent civilians and all.
Leon thought bitterly, his sanity nearly shattered thanks to the merchant lord who had deceived him.
“If you’re looking for the merchant lord, follow the road on the right and you’ll find him, Leon.”
The one who stopped him was none other than Rivail.
Removing his helmet, Rivail approached Leon.
“What…? Why is the priest here?”
Leon’s sharp, fang-like killing intent melted away the moment he saw Rivail.
Rivail shrugged.
“I was in the middle of training. And please don’t touch the mercenary captain or the child.”
“Huh? Why not?”
Leon tilted his head, puzzled by Rivail’s unusually considerate behavior.
Rivail gestured behind Leon with his chin.
“They both have owners.”
“Seriously—why would you raise a flag like that?”
A woman’s irritated voice cut in before Rivail could finish.
At the familiar tone, both Leon and Adele whipped their heads toward the source.
Buzz—
Adele’s ears rang loudly.
Maybe… maybe the voice he heard earlier had just been his imagination.
Then he saw Louisa.
“Lady Louisa…?”
Adele stared at her blankly.
He had definitely heard the sound of her being stabbed.
“Adele.”
As if to calm his confusion, Louisa smiled playfully at him.
Her sharp eyes curved into crescents, completely changing her atmosphere.
Gone was her usual indifference—what remained was a gentle expression.
There wasn’t a trace of pain in her brightly lifted smile.
Only then did Adele finally relax.
Just as he was about to return her smile—
Leon barged in, ruining the moment.
“Wow. I came here to kill the merchant lord, and I almost ended up dying myself?”
Goosebumps rose along Leon’s arms as he looked at Louisa’s smile.
It looked like a death notice.
How dare you touch what’s mine?
Aren’t you ready to die too?
Leon flung the mercenary captain against the wall, then carefully backed away while watching Louisa.
It seemed his role here was to exit like he’d never existed—and go beat the hell out of the merchant lord.
Despite his massive build, Leon vanished swiftly and lightly, like a drifting dandelion seed.
Even after Leon disappeared, silence lingered between Adele and Louisa.
Though the mercenaries hesitated and the auction hall buzzed with chaotic voices, the space between them remained quiet.
Adele simply stared at Louisa, still dazed—afraid to approach in case she vanished.
Louisa was the first to speak.
After staring at the mercenary captain sprawled against the wall, she suddenly gave Adele some advice.
“Adele. There’s something you should never say when dealing with people.”
Huh?
Caught off guard, Adele tilted his head.
Louisa continued seriously.
“Never say ‘Did we get them?’ at the end of a fight. That kind of line raises a flag that can bring even the dead back to life.”
“It can revive dead people…?”
“Yep. So never say things like that—especially not like that man. Got it?”
