Chapter 72

“Ruby.”

“...Yes.”

“I asked you what happened. I don’t really understand the situation right now.”

My tongue stung and I felt nauseous.

You don’t have to confirm this unnecessary thing.

“Tha... uhn, waaaaah-”

It was then.

In an atmosphere of sudden seriousness, Leah, who just wanted to find her hairpin, stopped looking at us and burst into tears.

She seemed to have been scared.

I wanted to cry with her.

But if I cried here, it would only be a negative factor.

I wanted an innocent childish image, not an impudent idiot image.

To make matters worse, the damn poisoning attempt was helping to create a clear picture of perpetrator and victim.

Sir Ivan seemed briefly enraptured by this unexpected disturbance.

And as soon as Leah began to cry, the floating spell was lifted.

If I had not been the subject of this situation, I would have been deeply moved by Sir Ivan’s unexpected brotherly behaviour.

“What the... Leah, Leah. Hey, why are you crying all of a sudden?”

“M-My, my hairpin, my hairpin, because of me, uhhhnn!”

Poor Leah seemed to have judged that Freya and I fought over her pretty hairpin. I’d rather it be that way.

Ellenia was still waiting for an answer with her eyes fixed on me.

Sir Ivan, who had been struggling to sweep back his pale yellow hair, also turned his eyes to me.

“Good lord. What in the world happened, my lady?”

I gulped at his low voice.

Maybe it was because I’d only seen his usual abusive behavior, but he seemed like a different person when he acted calm.

“My lady?”

In the series of my silent replies, Sir Ivan pressed again, his eyes slightly distorted, perhaps irritated.

He looked scarier than just being angry with her face as if she were a girl-like face.

As the heart beat like a rabbit in front of a fox, the white panic pressed down in my head.

This was what Freya was trying to tell me.

She didn’t have to go through all this trouble in the first place.

No matter how I may be, in the end.......

Damn it, I just want to live.

I just don’t want to die.

Why do you keep putting me on the edge?

“Ruby, why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Stop it, Ellen. I don’t want any more fuss. I think she was just surprised. You should go now, sir. My lady is very frightened.”

Freya’s eyes, gently interrupting and putting her hand on Ellenia’s shoulder, quickly swept past me.

Funny, it was a reproachful look. As if I should have been the one to do this.

“Huu.... Brother, you idiot!”

“Huh, what are you doing? You little–!”

Leah, who suddenly bit her brother’s wrist while wiping tears, now moved her small hands up and down.

She was asking him to bend over.

Sir Ivan grumbled but sat with one knee bent.

What was he doing?

While Leah whispered something into Sir Ivan’s ear, everyone was just looking away.

No matter what he heard, Sir Ivan soon scratched his head and straightened himself, approaching me closely.

No, why are you making me nervous all of a sudden?....

“My lady, I know you’re not someone to do this for no reason. There seems to have been some misunderstanding, could you please continue what you were about to say?”

It was a tone one would use with a child.

Almost a whisper.

What I was going to say earlier, I don’t think it would make any difference.

“It’s not a matter for me to interfere, but I want to make sure you don’t get in trouble.”

What does that mean? You’re afraid I’ll run away from home again?

You’re afraid I’ll do something?

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Yes...?”

“I didn’t do anything and I won’t do anything.”

My frozen tongue rolled out as my lips parted.

As these words flowed out, my body trembled.

I’m crazy, really crazy.

Sir Ivan, staring at me with blank eyes, looked back.

Ellenia’s expression, which hadn’t changed for a while, was indescribable. What was she thinking?

“What do you mean, my lady?”

“I didn’t do anything just now.....”

“No, so you’re saying Lady Furiana made something up?”

In the midst of a stir again, Freya smiled. As if she had been waiting.

“Yes, let’s just move on.”

“...Frey, let’s start with your clothes. This is the end of today’s meeting. I’m sure you all understand.”

As Ellenia finally turned away from me and moved, the tense atmosphere completely disappeared.

While awkward and unsatisfactory greetings were pouring out, I was caught in a dizzy spell and stared stiffly at the tip of my toes.

The gazes above my head stung.

It’s all right, it’s all right. It would have eventually happened. For once, this is fine.....

I would like to believe so.

“Now, I want Durahan to show up.”

Camu, who uttered a low groan, grabbed the legs of the gnome and tossed them down the road.

The final cry from the gnome echoed loudly.

“Typical workaholic symptoms.”

Izek recited.

He was rubbing his blade with a piece of cloth. At his feet, there was a body of gnome beginning to melt down like a lump of sticky slime.

The only monsters he encountered these days were these.

“I don’t think that’s something you get to say.”

“At least I know how to enjoy this relaxation.”

Despite Camu’s irritating remarks, Izek grinned if he was in a good mood.

These days, Camu saw him smile a lot.

He really couldn’t get used to it.

Reflecting on that thought, Camu crumpled his forehead.

What was so good about it?

Since when has he been so happy about his wife?

He wanted to call him an ignorant b*stard, but he knew it wouldn’t hurt much.

Because he was far too mature for something like self-reflection.

“Damn it, if you’re so worried about your wife, you should just find and kill them all or it’ll be a pain later. They’re all just monsters anyway. What’s wrong with you?”

“If we want to get rid of it, we need to get rid of all these minions. They’re hiding on their own, so do we really need to relax?”

“Thanks to you, only some are enjoying our vacation. Only the incompetent ones took on all the chores like a workaholic, so they were the most excited.”

Camu usually expressed great pride in the fact that he was a member of the minority elite.

And that pride was often refracted in the direction of disparaging other colleagues’ abilities.

Their leader, who regarded patriotism and camaraderie as the highest creed, would have scolded him if he knew.

“It is not good to call your colleagues incompetent.”

“Aren’t you doing this just in case other monsters run into your wife’s friends and kill them? How long have you cared for monsters? Just so that your wife wouldn’t run away from home?”

If you want to be merciful, you should be human.

Camu still vividly remembered the sight of a poacher woman who was summarily disposed of on the day she found Rudbeckia in the frost forest.

Paladins of Brittania had the power to dispose of sinners on behalf of the king. And the poacher was a felon.

Her arm would have been cut off if she had been arrested and taken in accordance with the procedure.

However, Izek did not cut off the arm of the woman who was begging for her life in the midst of her madness.

He didn’t kill her.

He cut out her tongue alive and pulled out her eyeballs.

The reason was obvious, but Camu, the owner of a surprisingly delicate soul, still felt sick when he recalled it.

Furthermore, he became more and more unlucky.

He was such a cruel b*stard, but he was so into his wife that he was pretending to be sweet and coy.

“If you’re so unhappy, you can take a vacation too. Don’t follow me around and chatter.”

“Ah, this lovestruck b*stard.”

(T/N: almost wrote simp LMAO)

Galar was sitting next to a tree nest a short distance away, smoking leaf cigarettes.

Izek approached Galar, who was crouching like a real bear, and similarly pulled out a leaf cigarette.

His sweat-drenched silver hair scattered in the wind.

Then, he spoke excitedly, “I’m glad the lizard cub keeps disappearing. Otherwise, we’d be grinding to capture him alive by now, just to put him in the gladiatorial match.”

There was a small smile in his red eyes, sweat clinging to his long eyelashes.

Soon, there was a gentle whistle.

Camu and Galar exchanged glances for a moment.

Galar’s gaze was one of a shocked man.

He never thought he’d see that tough nut whistling in his life, and it was a shame that other people didn’t see this.

“You said it well. But he can’t escape if he crawls out and attacks, right? And speaking of the gladiatorial match, do you really believe it’s a good idea for you to attend?”

“I guess my stomach would hurt if I don’t win again.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re going to have a fight with the monsters on the subject of making sure your wife’s friends don’t die? What are you up to? What if she gets shocked while watching?”

“......you’ve been getting weirdly chatty lately.”

Izek’s eyes narrowed.

His lips placed on the tip of the leaf, moved to form a smirk.