Neighborhood Visitor (8)

Lord’s Castle.

Bedroom.

El’s bed and Rurin’s bed.

It’s deep into the night.

Rurin was curled up next to El, purring. During that time, El opened his eyes.

Once he falls asleep, he doesn’t wake up easily. That’s why he can sleep deeply when Rurin is not by his side.

But there is an exception to not waking up easily once asleep.

The body responds to the presence of murderous intent. Rurin wouldn’t approach him with murderous intent, so the habit doesn’t activate.

El spent more than ten years on the battlefield. A battlefield is a place where even a moment of distraction means death.

In such a place, one must be aware of every single presence.

That’s why he naturally learned to sleep while being aware of presences.

Ten years is easier said than done.

It’s not just an ordinary army; being in the midst of a battlefield as precarious as thin ice for ten years naturally leads to that.

Especially in the field where you can only trust your eyes and ears.

On a night when even moonlight doesn’t shine.

In a situation where you take brief naps while moving towards the monsters’ base.

El thought that not learning to wake up to presences was as good as saying you wanted to die.

El, who had ended those battlefield nights by obtaining a miraculous opportunity, felt a rat-like presence for the first time in a while.

He sensed a human presence in the room.

Mekan’s subordinate, Lenon, plunged his sword as soon as he entered the room.

There were definitely two people sleeping.

But the sword he plunged hit the empty bed. Lenon looked around in panic.

The assassination target was standing by the window. Despite his panic, he had to achieve his goal. Lenon swung his sword at El.

Clang.

And the sword hit something unknown and broke in two.

Lenon looked at El with a disbelieving expression. The expression was so typical it was neither interesting nor surprising. El thought so and shook his head.

And at that moment.

Lenon’s body floated up.

“Aaaah! Wh-what is this!”

Unable to comprehend what was happening to him, he stuttered.

Kicking him in that state, Lenon rolled five times and crashed into the wall with a thud, groaning.

This was the first time something like this had happened.

He was the number two in Merhin. He had never failed an assassination. He prided himself on having skills that surpassed most knight orders.

But now he couldn’t even touch the assassination target.

Thud!

He kept being attacked.

After being hit so much, he became dazed. In that state, El approached and asked.

“Do you want to die?”

Something was wrong.

He couldn’t match him. No, it wasn’t just that he couldn’t match him. This guy was a mage. And an advanced one at that.

Realizing this, Lenon shook his head vigorously.

“Who wants to die!”

“Right. That’s true, then lead the way.”

“Lead the way…?”

“To your base. The ones who tried to kill me, to your base.”

“Th-that’s…!”

“Refuse and you’ll die.”

El stood up, his voice indicating he had no regrets. Then Lenon’s body floated into the air again by wind magic.

“Do you know what falling to your death is like? One where you can’t even have a heart attack and feel your head hit the ground and burst at the moment of impact.”

“I-I… I don’t know…!”

“Then experience it now.”

Lenon’s body started moving towards the window. He struggled wildly, but it was useless.

Crash!

The window shattered.

And Lenon was thrown outside. El laughed at Lenon, who was floating outside the window.

“Do you want to live?”

Imagining his head bursting and dying, Lenon desperately opened his mouth with all his strength.

“I’ll go. I’ll go! To the headquarters! So save me!”

El nodded.

The list related to Rieden.

First is Ricardo.

Second is this assassination organization.

And the slave traders.

And Rieden’s organization.

Clearing these would be half the success.

They had all shown themselves. Having waited for them to attack first, it was now time to clean them up.

“Boss!”

Lenon ran towards Mekan.

“What is it? Why are you so noisy? How did the job go?”

Mekan, who hadn’t slept waiting for the result of a big request, frowned. Seeing Lenon shaking his head wildly, he was completely out of his mind.

“Big, big trouble. Big, big trouble!”

“What big trouble?”

“Big trouble!”

“Is he crazy!”

Mekan kicked Lenon’s body. Lenon rolled on the floor a few times.

But at that moment.

Boom!

An attack spell blasted the building of Merhin’s headquarters.

In an instant, half of the building disappeared.

Dirt and stone fragments fell below the clean cut surface.

Mekan stared blankly at the scene, wondering what the hell was happening.

“I told you, didn’t I? I said it’s big trouble!”

“What the hell is this shit!”

Mekan grabbed his sword with shock on his face.

“Yeah, it’s shitty. But the shitty part is that I got ambushed while sleeping, not you, don’t you think?”

The man who appeared in front of him was, of course, El.

Merhin’s assassins were all rolling on the floor due to magic, unable to hold their swords again.

El shrugged in front of them.

And the black-haired woman laughing next to him.

“Hehehe.”

Her face, reflected in the moonlight, was filled with beauty. But it wasn’t the time to appreciate such beauty.

When the woman waved her hand, the building was half-destroyed and disappeared again.

“Who the hell are you guys… What are you?!”

Mekan shouted as he charged with his sword.

Crash.

And when Rurin waved her hand, he was thrown against the wall with his sword and slid down.

Cough, cough.

Coughing up blood.

“It’s too noisy while we’re cleaning up.”

“Dear, I’m sleepy.”

Rurin, standing next to him, waved her arms and said so. It was a sincere statement.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Rurin was eating Pepero.

The sound of eating was very appetizing. Crunch, biting the long Pepero in her mouth bit by bit. Each time, the length of the Pepero shortened.

Though she wasn’t wearing lipstick, crumbs fell from her luscious lips as if lightly coated with something, and the crunching sound continued.

At that crunching sound,

the man in front of them,

Rieden, opened his eyes. Next to him, Mekan was sitting with a pale face.

Crunch.

Rurin continued to nibble on the Pepero.

El stood with his arms crossed in front of Rieden.

“Huh?”

Suddenly kidnapped while sleeping. And now this situation. Rieden needed time to grasp the situation.

Mekan was tied up next to him.

Only after seeing El in front of him did his mind start to work again.

“How are you?”

At El’s greeting, Rieden replied with a bewildered look.

“What is this? This situation? Did you kidnap me? Me, Rieden?”

“Well, you could see it that way.”

“Do you think you’ll be safe after this? Do you know who’s behind me? Just a baron!”

“Indeed. I’m sorry for being just a baron.”

El just laughed.

Rieden glared at Mekan. It was a look that asked how he had handled things to end up in this mess.

But Mekan just sat there with a pale face.

“Let’s see. Trafficking Dedran citizens regardless of gender, selling them as slaves, bankrupting households with absurd reasons, playing with their sons and daughters, bankrupting many citizens with usury. How many crimes do you have?”

“If you don’t release me right now, the Duke will not stand for this.”

Rieden mentioned the Duke’s name to El, as if he still had something to believe in.

He looked at El, thinking that just hearing the Duke’s name would make a mere baron grovel. Of course, El scoffed.

“Still can’t understand the situation?”

“What?”

Rieden asked in his characteristic tone. El pointed around. Dawn was breaking.

That’s fine.

Rieden felt a chill. It was early spring, but the weather was like midwinter.

The blowing wind was very cold.

“Hey, even you can catch a cold in your human state, so keep your scarf on tight. Don’t just chew on Pepero.”

El straightened Rurin’s hat and wrapped her neck and mouth with a scarf.

He put on her earmuffs properly. But Rurin shook her head vigorously, indicating that she couldn’t eat Pepero if her mouth was covered.

“I still have this left!”

“Is that Pepero more important than preventing a cold?”

“It’s delicious. So, it’s more important than preventing a cold. And actually, I like that cold. You become more caring.”

Rurin lowered the scarf from her mouth and brought the Pepero back to her lips.

Rieden started to get angry at their completely off-track conversation.

“Where is this? Untie me right now! Now!”

For the first time, confusion appeared on Rieden’s face. He had been acting like he wouldn’t shed a drop of blood even if stabbed.

El had just recently crushed the sinister plans of the dragons.

He had no intention of wasting time on mere humans, especially lowly villains.

“Where? The northern lands.”

El waved his hand. A plasma flame hit the mountain in front of him.

Boom!

The ground started shaking.

And a hole was drilled into the side of the mountain. The center of the mountain disappeared in a circle due to magic.

“I don’t care if it’s the Duke or the Emperor. You chose the wrong city. Once again, this is the northern lands.”

Rieden maintained a look of utter confusion.

El presented a sword to Rieden.

“I’ll give you weapons. The orcs will soon swarm. Fight hard. You too.”

He threw two long swords to Mekan and Rieden.

“Rurin, let’s go back. It’s cold.”

El hugged Rurin’s body. Then Rurin dropped the Pepero and hugged El. Rurin threw away the Pepero she considered far more important and precious than preventing a cold.

Because hugging El was naturally twenty million times more precious than Pepero.

“Oh, by the way, the sword is fake. Fight well. Mekan told me about how you dealt with traitors. Yes, what goes around comes around.”

As El finished saying that.

A glow appeared around them.

As soon as El disappeared, Mekan began to scream.

“You bastard! What the hell were you thinking messing with those guys? Because of you!”

“……”

Rieden stared blankly at Mekan.

Thud, thud, thud!

The ground started rumbling. Orcs began to swarm from the mountain El had destroyed.

“My dreams, my ambitions, my city…!”

“Bullshit.”

Mekan’s face was filled with despair and anger.

All they had were toy swords without blades. In that situation, Rieden’s subordinate, Berneto, acted first.

Thud!

Rieden’s body, still tied up, rolled after being kicked.

“If we’re going to die anyway, let’s start by beating you up. For all the disrespect I’ve endured. You bastard!”

Rieden had to start getting beaten up by his subordinate even before the orcs arrived.