CHAPTER 49…………………………………………
What the hell is this guy?
Zenya glared at the man, trying to ignore the sharp, tingling pain shooting up from her wrist.
“Why do you keep following me?!”
“What are you even talking about?”
“You’ve been there the whole time—from that café earlier all the way to here!”
She’d had a bad feeling about this. Zenya put strength into her wrist to shake his hand off.
“Ha. I was at this place before you, starting from that café, you know? Aren’t you being a bit self-absorbed?”
The man, who had almost lost his grip while staggering, seized her wrist even more tightly. This time, she nearly screamed for real.
Gritting her teeth, Zenya glared at him again, but he acted as if he’d caught her in a lie.
“So you do know which café I was talking about. Why? Why didn’t you just say you didn’t know which one?”
She felt it then. This guy was one of the lunatics she used to see often at the castle.
Raising her voice so that everyone whispering and watching nearby could hear, Zenya spoke loudly.
“Do you even realize you shouted the moment you walked into the café and everyone stared at you? It was so loud because of you that people were leaving!”
She wasn’t sure if people had actually left, but they must have felt uncomfortable at the very least. Zenya pointed pointedly at the drink on her table.
“Why do you think I came back to the café?”
“This…!”
She looked at the trembling man in disdain, then glanced around. So many onlookers, yet not a single one willing to help. The demon realm or the human realm—it seemed there was no real difference.
As Zenya frowned, the man huffed and raised his voice again.
“You were sent by the temple, weren’t you? The guys you were with earlier looked suspicious too! Wearing masks and cloaks!”
“Whether we wear cloaks or masks, what’s it to you?”
With a scoff, Zenya deliberately looked him up and down.
“And who are you that the temple would assign people to follow you? Don’t be ridiculous. Do you think the temple has nothing better to do?”
She smiled coldly.
“I’m not even affiliated with the temple to begin with. So that’s enough rudeness. Let go of my hand.”
“You…!”
When she shook her hand at him irritably as if to say, If you’ve got nothing to say, let go, the man suddenly raised his hand high.
Is he going to hit me?
Zenya stared straight at him without fear.
“You look like someone who’s done something wrong and is being chased. Don’t you think causing a scene will only hurt you?”
Then she warned him confidently.
“Lord Leraje will not overlook this matter either.”
Hadn’t Lumiere mentioned it? That nobles sometimes traveled while hiding their identities. At her subtle implication that one of her companions was a noble, the man flinched.
It’s not technically a lie, is it?
At that possibility, he shrank back slightly. In that instant, the advantage shifted to her.
Zenya tried once more to shake off his hand—when suddenly a black robe swept between them.
She blinked, and the wrist that had been gripped so tightly was free.
“Ahhh!”
As blood began circulating again and her arm throbbed painfully, Zenya clutched it and looked at the one who had helped her.
Lumiere had twisted the man’s arm sharply behind his back, subduing him in an instant, and now looked at Zenya with concern.
“Are you alright, Zenya?”
Zenya glanced at the man, half-kneeling on the ground, held by Lumiere.
“…If we’re being technical, I was winning.”
Lumiere’s eyes, which had been checking her over, fell to her wrist.
“Your wrist…”
Following his gaze, Zenya looked down again. It was already red and swollen—clearly going to bruise.
“I think it’s going to leave a mark.”
Before she could even finish speaking, Lumiere tightened his grip on the man’s arm. A scream tore through the air.
Even so, Lumiere did not release him.
Looking down at the man coldly, he asked,
“Shall I break it?”
For a moment she thought he was just threatening him—but then he lifted his head and looked at her.
Ah, he’s asking me.
What should she do? Judging by his mercilessness, this man didn’t seem to be an ally.
How dare he impersonate a hero’s companion? The thought made him even more infuriating. What if people’s opinion of Lumiere, the hero, worsened because of someone like this?
But they should avoid causing more of a scene, too. As Zenya hesitated, Lumiere twisted the man’s arm completely.
Crack. The sound of bone breaking, followed by a scream that seemed to rip through the air.
Zenya stared at Lumiere blankly.
“…I didn’t answer yet.”
“I wanted to break it.”
His calm reply was accompanied by the man writhing in agony. As Zenya rubbed her ringing ears, Lumiere tossed the man aside and stepped toward her, covering her ears instead.
“So loud.”
And yet he looked at the man as if he were something pitifully lacking. It was rather excessive, considering he’d just broken his arm.
Still… he is pretty loud.
Thanks to the commotion, they were drawing far too much attention. She’d assumed demons would ignore such minor injuries and laugh it off, but—
Clicking her tongue, Zenya nudged Lumiere, silently telling him to do something about the man. Instead, Lumiere suddenly struck something away.
“How dare you.”
His eyes were half unfocused, and Zenya blinked in confusion. Then the man stammered in disbelief.
“H-how did you block my magic…?!”
Only then did Zenya understand.
So he really was a mage?
And he had tried to attack them with magic.
Lumiere stepped in front of Zenya and extended his hand toward the man. Trembling and pale, the man suddenly widened his eyes as if realizing something.
“…Lumiere?”
What? Don’t tell me he really is an ally? Zenya was startled, but the man, as if certain now, raised his voice again.
“Lu—!”
“As! Stop it.”
Zenya cut him off, grabbing Lumiere’s arm. Lumiere turned to look at her.
“Why?”
“People are watching.”
“Then I’ll take him somewhere quiet and deal with him there.”
“No, we’ve already drawn too much attention. This will only make things worse.”
“……”
Lumiere must have heard it too—the man had just called his name.
When Zenya mouthed the word ally, Lumiere let out a short breath and asked,
“Shall I crush his mouth?”
Why is he so extreme today?
Zenya recoiled, but Lumiere seemed to have made up his mind and reached for the man again.
Hearing that threat, the man covered his mouth and scrambled backward on the ground.
Then another voice rang out.
“Jin! What’s going on here?”
The companions who had been with the man earlier came running over in a hurry. They helped him up and glared at them.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
That was what Zenya wanted to ask. She let out a disbelieving laugh at the group staring at them like they were thugs.
She deliberately showed them her wrist. The redness had deepened, and bruises were beginning to form.
“He was the one who started yelling like a lunatic, asking why we were following him and if we were from the temple.”
Her pale skin made the injury stand out clearly.
“I even warned him not to touch me. Then he used magic.”
Since he’d admitted to using magic himself, he couldn’t deny it now. His companions looked at him in shock.
“…What? Jin! What did you do? I know you’ve been stressed lately, but still!”
It seemed things might finally settle. She was thinking they could just accept an apology and move on—when the man shouted,
“I don’t care! They’re suspicious!”
The moment the words left his mouth, his body lifted into the air and was yanked backward.
“Waaah!”
“I-it’s magic!”
The crowd that had been watching gasped in horror. At the mention of magic earlier, some had already stepped back—but now that it was openly visible, people began fleeing in earnest.
So they’re not completely lacking in caution, at least.
Zenya glanced around at the now nearly empty space and then looked toward the one who had dragged the man in front of her.
“Lord Leraje.”
Clad in a silver robe, Leraje looked down at the man kneeling on the ground.
“Jin!”
Unlike the others who had fled, the man’s companions followed after him despite the magic, staring in shock. Zenya nudged Lumiere.
“I think we should stop this. It’s already too much of a scene.”
But Lumiere had already lost interest in them and was focused entirely on her wrist.
He gently held her forearm, careful not to touch the injured wrist, and bit his lip.
Suppressing a sigh, Zenya dragged him over to Leraje. Only Lumiere could stop him now.
“How dare such an ugly creature lay hands where it shouldn’t?”
Judging by Leraje’s arrogant tone and the smooth curl of his lips, he was quite angry.
“A worthless insect like you deserves no mercy.”
Was he going to kill him? Just as Zenya hurried to speak, another scream rang out—and the man’s other arm dangled limply.
Leraje had broken the arm Lumiere hadn’t.
Leaving the man screaming on the verge of fainting, Leraje approached Zenya and gently took her hand, looking distressed.
“Oh, Zenya. You’ve been hurt.”
He did not look like someone who had just crushed a man’s arm.
But Zenya was too busy preventing Lumiere from acting again to dwell on Leraje’s duality.
She stared at Lumiere intensely, silently begging him not to shake off Leraje’s hand.
He let out a long sigh.
Thank goodness…?
But betraying her hopes, Lumiere removed Leraje’s hand anyway. Zenya gaped in disbelief—then stared at his next action.
What are you doing?
Lumiere placed his own hand into Leraje’s hand instead of hers.
Startled, Leraje looked at the hand now in his grasp—then, not missing the opportunity, tightened his grip eagerly.
Amid Leraje’s exclamation, the man’s screams continued intermittently.
“Ah! H-hey, I think both my arms are broken!”
“Who the hell are these lunatics?!”
Zenya swallowed a sigh as she looked at the terrified group and the armed people rushing out of the nearby building.
Why did I ever follow them here for glory or fortune?
With a face full of things she wanted to say, Zenya turned to look at the two individuals who had created this entire situation.
