—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Haa, they’ll catch up soon!”
May Plov, who was running through the streets of Batian, shouted out of frustration, but she only received glares of reproach from the people around her.
“I’m sorry, because of me.”
“It’s fine, just run for now!”
“Okay!”
May yelled at Lucia while exhaling roughly, but she knew that if someone asked her to explain why she was doing this right now, she wouldn’t be able to.
A dagger flying from behind grazed past her ear.
Since it slightly brushed her hair, a few strands of her light brown hair fluttered down from the sky like a paper boat.
Looking at the dagger stuck in the ground, May’s eyes widened.
“That crazy bastard!”
He was doing this in the middle of the city?
But perhaps due to the large crowd gathered for the saint election, the dagger disappeared amidst people’s footsteps.
Rather, she was suspicious of the guy’s skill, boldly and accurately throwing a dagger at her even in such a crowded place.
‘What the hell is going on?’
Why?
How did it come to this?
Rewind to 30 minutes ago.
Squatting in the alley, May was chewing on candy with her hands tucked into her jumper pockets, as Lucia’s eyes sparkled while listening to her story.
“Wow, you were saved like that there?”
“Yeah. To be honest, until then, my feelings were ambiguous, but I think that’s when I definitely started liking him.”
The story of when Daniel McLean had saved her when she was kidnapped by Zavalanco, a former pirate officer.
‘For an 18-year-old, you’re living a needlessly romantic life.’
The Daniel at that time, who had removed the blindfold tied to her with a smile, was engraved in May’s heart so strongly that she would never forget him for the rest of her life.
“That’s so cool! Did he come on this field trip too? I’d like to meet him once.”
“No, he didn’t come this time.”
“I see, that’s a shame.”
What if she told Lucia that Daniel was excluded from the field trip for disrupting the school atmosphere at the academy?
Her expression would probably distort quite grotesquely, but she didn’t go that far.
Rather than a lengthy conversation, ending it cleanly would leave a better memory for her.
May slightly lowered her head and looked at Lucia.
The bangs covering her eyes, she spoke without caring.
“Spit it out. You’re 18 too, right?”
“Yes, that’s true, but.”
“It’s fine, just let it out.”
“…… Okay, got it!”
Seeing Lucia happier than expected, May smiled slightly.
Feeling that she was a pretty good kid, she was about to ask her to go eat a meal together.
A man’s shadow cast over them in the alley.
His long-stretched shadow seemed to be craning its neck as if it would devour the two girls at any moment.
“What the?”
At first, she thought it was the 5th-year Talois coming to pick a fight again, but their physique was different from the start.
He was the type to fight using his large build as an advantage, but the man blocking the alley now was wearing a robe with a hood pulled over, but it was clear that he was on the skinny side.
‘…… This doesn’t look good.’
May, who had become the empress of the back alleys through her intuition, instinctively sensed a killing intent that was chilling.
“Who is he? Do you know him?”
Lucia asked worriedly if they were going to fight again, but surprisingly, the man’s finger pointed at the blonde girl.
“Leave that girl and go, and I’ll pretend I didn’t see you.”
“What?”
He was suddenly telling her to leave Lucia?
May frowned and was about to demand an explanation, but a dagger grazed past her ear.
“……!”
“I won’t say it twice, get lost.”
May glanced at Lucia once, signaling with her eyes to ask if she knew anything, but she just shook her head, not knowing either.
‘He’s not an ordinary skilled person.’
Swallowing her saliva, May felt like something sharp was poking her back.
“Heh, okay. I have no intention of risking my life for a girl I just met today. I’ll go.”
May immediately twisted her body and left the alley.
Lucia also wanted to run away, but her body wouldn’t move properly due to his killing intent.
“Sister Lucia of Helios. You must be the nun who is a candidate for becoming a saint this time.”
“Ah……”
An assassin!
If the vague fear had clung stickily to Lucia’s legs until just now, now an overwhelming sense of powerlessness was shackling her entire body like iron chains.
She couldn’t breathe properly.
It felt like her heart was captured by him.
“H-how?”
None of the nuns’ faces were known.
Even the nuns themselves didn’t know who their competitors were.
It was a precaution in case something like this happened.
How on earth did he find her?
At the moment Lucia was struggling in her powerlessness.
Clang!
A fist-sized rock, the very epitome of a stone, flew and struck the man’s head.
“Ugh!”
The man staggered and checked his surroundings, but May had already kicked his chest with her foot, strengthening her body with mana.
The assassin rolled on the ground.
May grabbed Lucia’s hand and ran out of the alley.
“Let’s go!”
“M-May!”
Why was she doing this?
May herself didn’t know why she was doing this.
If it were the usual May, it would have been natural for her to cleanly pretend not to see and not get involved in troublesome matters here.
‘They say you become similar to the person you like.’
Since she had come to like a man who was so nosy that he got involved in other people’s affairs, she felt like she had been influenced similarly.
Returning to the present.
Looking at the strand of hair slightly cut by the dagger thrown by the pursuing assassin, May bit her lip.
“That bastard is warning us now.”
“Huh?”
May explained it in a way that Lucia, who had no sense in this area, could understand.
“The fact that he threw the dagger without hesitation even with this many people around means he’s that confident in his skills. But he didn’t hit me.”
“……”
“He’s telling me to abandon you right now. That son of a bitch is looking down on us.”
“M-May. Actually, I……”
“I heard earlier.”
Lucia was about to reveal her identity, but May answered nonchalantly.
“I didn’t expect to have one of the hottest people in Batian as a friend.”
“Friend……”
Lucia savored the word ‘friend.’
May glanced around and sighed.
‘This is really dangerous.’
She wanted to call the guards, but if she showed any sign of doing so, a dagger would immediately pierce her neck.
‘It seems like his goal is to kidnap Lucia.’
If he wanted to kill her, he could have done it right now, but seeing as he’s only giving warnings, she could roughly infer the other party’s intentions.
“Eek!”
If she hadn’t dodged just now, it would have stabbed her right in the shoulder.
If the disturbance grew, he would kill her without hesitation.
Amidst the countless crowds, May felt a sense of loneliness and was contemplating what to do.
“Oh my, this ice cream is really delicious.”
A clear voice of a female student was heard amidst the crowd.
In front of the ice cream store where no one was, Elise, with her brilliant blonde hair, made eye contact with May and winked.
“It would be even more delicious to eat it in the alley on the left after turning at the skewer shop at that intersection.”
“Miss, what are you talking about?”
The ice cream store owner had a puzzled expression, but May cursed and let out an irresistible smile.
“How did you know? I’m so damn grateful.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“No, I’m saying someone has appeared to help.”
May ran straight to the intersection, turned left at the skewer shop that caught her eye, and entered the alley.
The man followed right behind.
He took out a dagger from his bosom and was about to act even more boldly since there were no people around.
“Long time no see, Den.”
“……”
Like white snow falling from the sky.
Sen, a former member of the Chokugen Faction, appeared, scattering her white hair, and ambushed the man called Den by stabbing him with a dagger.
Den lost his balance and staggered as the dagger pierced his shoulder.
“Sen?”
May turned her head and confirmed Sen’s back.
She had thought someone would come to help since Elise had said so.
But she didn’t expect Sen to be waiting here.
“Go, I have some business with this person.”
Sen spoke coolly with her back turned, not even sparing them a glance.
May hesitated for a moment but grabbed Lucia’s hand tightly and ran again.
“Thank you! I’ll treat you to a meal later!”
As May and Lucia disappeared like that, Sen slowly took her stance.
Den.
As he took off his hood to stop the bleeding, his hair revealed itself to be strangely transformed white, just like Sen’s.
“Sen, the traitor. I received a report that you might be here.”
“Looks like you’ve officially become a member.”
“Unlike you, I pledged my loyalty.”
Even at Den’s provocation, Sen asked without any change in her expression.
“I’m curious about the reason the Chokugen Faction is targeting that woman. Are you willing to tell me?”
“You crazy bitch, you think I’ll tell you that?”
Den revealed a sneer.
Sen nodded her head as if it was obvious and pushed forward.
“You always talked as if you were below me, but your words were plausible.”
“Shut up, now that I’m a member, you……!”
Den’s vision spun.
The injury he had just received on his shoulder was hit with even more intense pain, and even the Chokugen Faction member who was used to pain couldn’t help but groan in agony.
“Argh!”
“See, you were always below me, both in the past and now.”
Den couldn’t understand what had happened.
But one thing was certain, that he had been defeated without being able to put up a proper fight.
“Damn it! If I hadn’t been ambushed and injured……!”
“Another excuse.”
Sen stepped hard on the wound on his shoulder.
Den screamed in pain, but she felt nothing.
Sen, who felt like her original self that she had forgotten for a while after meeting Daniel was coming out, trying to end this situation quickly.
“…… Huh?”
There was a unique purple line.
Like a child playfully drawing a curved line on paper with a pen.
The flexible line brushed past Sen.
A small hole was pierced in her side.
“Madam?”
As Sen fell backwards, she closed her eyes after catching sight of the Chokugen Faction’s second-in-command, who was standing at the end of the alley with a purple parasol on her shoulder.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
