IPDT 28

I frowned deeply. I didn’t like how these obviously weak humans were suddenly interrupting my time with Yul. I should tell them to get out of the way while I’m still being nice. Just as I was about to open my mouth, the human standing next to the furry man spoke first.

“Khah, you ask who we are? You’re a young whelp with no fear. We are the bandits of Oberon…”

The human’s words did not reach their end. Slash. A gruesome sound was heard as a crimson line was drawn across the human’s face.

As if he had no idea what had just happened to him, the human let out a short “Uh” and then collapsed with a thud. The human’s scarlet blood mixed with the horse’s blood that was flowing on the ground. It was a murder that had happened in the blink of an eye. The furry man and the other humans’ faces turned deathly pale. They seemed very surprised.

Instead of being surprised like the humans, I looked at Yul. A jet-black sword was in Yul’s hand. The one who had murdered the human was none other than Yul. The crimson blood that flowed down the blade formed a drop at the tip of the sword and fell with a plop. Only then did the humans seem to grasp the situation, and they sent murderous gazes toward Yul.

“Th-this bastard!”

“Attack! We can take his valuables after we kill him!”

The humans began to draw their weapons. There was a longsword, a two-handed sword, and even a human who pulled out an axe. It was quite a sight.

How dare they point their weapons at Yul? I narrowed my eyes into slits, then raised them and stretched out my hand. I intended to cut off not only their weapons but the arms holding them as well. Then they would regret recklessly charging at Yul. If I had my way, I would have crumpled them all up like scraps of paper, but I couldn’t do that.

“Kuaaack!”

However, I had no time to step in. It started with the shriek let out by the furry man. Yul, who had closed the distance in an instant, sliced off his arm. Clutching the arm that was spouting blood, the furry man rolled on the ground.

Yul didn’t stop and slaughtered the humans who charged at him. As if he had cut off the furry man’s arm on purpose, he showed no hesitation in slicing and stabbing the humans’ vital points.

I dazedly followed Yul’s movements. Yul’s swordsmanship was beautiful. When he dodged an opponent’s attack, he was as graceful as a willow tree, and when he attacked, he became as heavy as a rock. His black hair fluttered gently, as if stirred by a refreshing breeze.

[…Master, do you think that human needs your care? I think he can handle things just fine on his own.]

Fleabag, who had been holding its breath quietly, stealthily spoke up. I was staring blankly at Yul, and then I snapped back to my senses with a start. Asking if Yul needed to be cared for. What an obvious thing to say!

[Yul may have gotten a little stronger, but he’s weaker than me. If the world is in danger of being destroyed, it must be something truly tremendous, so Yul won’t be able to handle it alone…!]

Yes, this was absolutely not because I desperately wanted to be entangled with Yul. It was absolutely not because I wanted to stay by his side until Yul lived out his life as a human.

I was about to torment Fleabag for only saying disagreeable things when I spotted a human trying to ambush Yul from behind.

“See, he’s full of openings on his own.”

Muttering quietly, I wiggled my finger. A small swamp formed under the human’s feet, and his foot sank right in. The human lost his balance and fell forward with a thud.

“Ack!”

Yul, having belatedly discovered the human who tried to ambush him, made his black eyes glint coldly. The jet-black blade instantly pierced the man’s heart. The human’s body trembled, and then he collapsed with a thud. The forest, now filled with lifeless corpses and the stench of blood, was quiet.

Squelch. Yul pulled out the sword he had plunged into the human’s heart. Blood splattered, drawing a vivid arc. Splash, splash. Every time Yul took a step, it sounded like he was treading in water. Soon, he stood before the furry man whose arm had been cut off. The furry man’s face turned white as a sheet.

“Hk, p-please, spare me!”

“To think it was something so trivial.”

Muttering as if to himself, Yul swung his sword. It was a light swing, as if he were flicking the blood off the blade. But unfortunately for the furry man, it was not so. His head, which dropped off as easily as a flower petal being plucked, rolled on the ground. All the way to my shoes.

Yul’s cold eyes turned to me. I smiled brightly and clapped my hands together once. Clap.

“That was really cool!”

[Master, your informal speech is…!]

“…yo.”

Yul’s brow furrowed into a mess. But I wasn’t scared. It was because I had realized that Yul didn’t truly hate me.

“I didn’t know you could use swordsmanship like that, yo. I couldn’t take my eyes off you, yo. It was really, really pretty, yo.”

It was a good thing I hadn’t countered his swordsmanship back then. I would have missed out on seeing such pretty swordsmanship.

I was smiling foolishly at Yul when he, who had been standing still in front of the corpse, strode toward me. Maybe because my body had gotten smaller, I felt like Yul had gotten taller.

With the sword that was dripping with blood, Yul lifted my hood. Flap. The hood I had pulled over my head fell down my back. Yul’s sword drew a graceful line as it was laid against my neck.

“Say that again.”

The tip of the sword touched my neck. I could feel the undried human blood trickling down my nape. I blinked a couple of times and then opened my mouth.

“It was really pretty, yo.”

Yul’s brow furrowed. I also narrowed my brows slightly. He told me to say it again, so I did, but why is he making that face…? Ah, was that not the right part?

“I couldn’t take my eyes off you, yo.”

Yul’s brow still showed no sign of uncreasing. That’s not it either?

“…I didn’t know you could use swordsmanship like that, yo?”

Yul finally reacted. The jet-black blade pressed deeper, as if to leave a scratch on my neck. It was with enough force that had it been a human and not me, they would have already drawn blood. I flinched my neck slightly. My neck tingled where the blade touched. It seemed a little itchy, too.

“…”

As I was squirming uncomfortably, Yul’s face twisted strangely. The black blade touching my neck began to hum, resonating with Yul’s emotions.

At that moment, I felt a strange, dull pain in my heart. The emotion I could surmise from the sword’s vibration was clearly ‘revulsion’. Revulsion? I lifted my eyes to look at Yul.

Without a word, Yul removed the sword from my neck. Then, leaving both the broken carriage and me behind, he started walking off somewhere.

Where is he going? I was staring blankly at Yul’s back, and then I belatedly came to my senses. I hurriedly chased after Yul. My legs had gotten shorter, so it was twice as hard to catch up as before.

“Oof.”

When I barely managed to follow him, Yul turned to look at me with cold eyes. My energy completely drained away. Can’t he smile a little? It’s not like he hates me.

But there was no time to complain. It was because Yul continued to walk on without a word. I approached with quick steps and walked beside Yul.

“Hey, where are you going?”

[Master!]

“…yo?”

I tilted my head and looked up at Yul. Yul, who met my gaze, stopped dead in his tracks. His jaw bulged as if he were clenching his teeth.

“That face.”

Yul’s voice, which he spat out as if chewing on his words, was rough. My face? I hurriedly felt my face. Is there something on it? Did I get blood on it?

“I hate the sight of it, so get lost.”

Yul said only what he had to say and started walking again. His soft black hair quickly grew distant. However, I couldn’t follow Yul as he strode away. I was dazed, as if I had been struck on the head.

He… hates the sight of my face?

[Th-that bastard of a human deserves to be killed! Master, do not pay him any mind. That human must be insane! How else could he spout such nonsense! Your face is perfect! Believe the words of this Fleabag!]

“I know.”

I was the Great Balancer. I was great in all fields, and my appearance was no different. I wasn’t trying to sing my own praises; it was simply a fact. As the one who maintained the balance of the world, I was bound to have the most ideal appearance.

But for him to say he hated the sight of such a face of mine. I seriously felt my face. My nose was in place, and my eyes and mouth were attached just fine, so how could he possibly hate the sight of my face?

“Fleabag, should I change my hair and eye color? Since I can’t change my face…”

[Oh, Master! Look at your face! Is there anything to change?!]

Fleabag, perhaps out of frustration, popped out of my clothes. Then it held a mirror, which it had pulled out from who knows where, in front of me.

My face was reflected in the shiny mirror. Golden hair that curled like clouds and bright, round green eyes like summer foliage. Because I had reduced the size of my body, my cheeks still had baby fat and looked rosy.

“Still… he said he hates it.”

“Master, changing that appearance is something that must never happen.”

Fleabag spat out in its own voice and shook its head firmly. I let out a deep sigh and let my shoulders slump.

‘Oberon’ was a port city not far from the capital. As the empire’s largest port city, it was a place where all sorts of goods and travelers left their mark.

Therefore, the people here were not greatly surprised or frightened by anything they saw. Be it a criminal or a monster, they were all bound to leave this place eventually, so there was no reason to fear them.

In any case, as this was a city of travelers, it was lined with a fair number of inns. The man was one such person.

The man had established an inn away from the central district of Oberon. For an ordinary inn, profits would have been cut in half the moment it was situated away from the central district, but the man’s inn was different.

He was someone who would open the inn’s doors to anyone, as long as they paid. He didn’t care about humans who looked like they were up to something suspicious or even criminals. Thanks to this, he was making a tidy profit.

Ting-a-ling—.

Looks like another suspicious guest has arrived today. The innkeeper heard the sound of the bell attached to the door and tilted his head to the side. He was about to offer his usual half-hearted greeting when something strange about the guest caught his eye.

“Uh, welc…ome?”

The guest was a man dressed all in black. ‘Black’ didn’t just refer to the man’s attire. His hair and eye color were also black.

Black hair and black eyes? The innkeeper found his gaze stolen by the man without realizing it. At that, the seemingly indifferent black eyes took on a cold glint and turned toward the innkeeper.

“Hk.”

The innkeeper unwittingly sucked in a sharp breath. Their eyes had simply met, but he felt like prey standing before a lion. He had never felt this way even when he had let a heinous criminal into his inn.

Feeling cold sweat break out on his back, the innkeeper stealthily lowered his gaze. Only then did the chilling sensation that had been tightening around his neck disappear.

Thump, thump. The guest who had been standing at the door approached the innkeeper. The innkeeper subconsciously clasped his hands politely and swallowed his dry saliva.

Somehow, his instincts were telling him. Nothing good will come of taking this man as a guest. The innkeeper decided to use his ultimate move for chasing away guests he didn’t like.

“Sir, we don’t have any rooms left in our inn…”

“The quietest room.”

He couldn’t finish his sentence with ‘because we don’t have any rooms left’. The black-haired guest cut the innkeeper off and said only what he wanted to say.

Ah, I want to kick him out. I absolutely do not want to let him in my inn! But the innkeeper lacked the courage to chase away this terrifying guest. He barely held back his tears and answered.

“Ah, yes… In that case, th-that’ll be 50 gold coins for one night’s stay.”

It was a ridiculous overcharge. The innkeeper glanced up at the black-haired man.

You want to leave immediately after hearing the price, right? Please say you do. As he was reciting this like a prayer in his head, the guest’s black eyebrow suddenly twitched. The innkeeper’s heart sank. Don’t tell me he knows I’m overcharging him? So he’s going to take it out on me…?

—Ting-a-ling.

An unexpected sound rang out from behind the guest. A new guest! The innkeeper sincerely welcomed the new guest who would diffuse this uncomfortable atmosphere.

But upon closer inspection, the new guest was also somewhat strange. He wore a navy-blue hood pulled down low, but his frame was not that of an adult. The hand that peeked out from the sleeve was also not fully grown. The innkeeper’s expression gradually soured. He despised guests who wouldn’t spend money just as much as he did terrifying ones.