Boast and Bolt

“You think simply saying ‘sorry’ is enough to resolve offending a noble?”

“Then what do you plan to do?”

Seeing that the other party had no intention of letting her leave that easily, Serea had already summoned Little Black to head in their direction.

It was already dusk at six in the afternoon during autumn, and though Little Black, shrouded in a cloak, looked somewhat peculiar, it was difficult to discern that it was an undead.

From the fact that Serea had summoned Little Black, it was clear how she intended to handle this ‘special situation’ with Cain.

But that was a matter to deal with later—right now, Cain was still sizing up the four girls before him. There was something he needed to confirm personally.

“I’m not an unreasonable man. If the four of you remove your cloaks and masks, as long as you agree, I’ll drop the charge of offending a noble.”

Cain put on a magnanimous air. Upon hearing this, Linda, who had just left, quickly signaled the four girls with her eyes.

After all, it was her mistake that Cain became entangled with them, and feeling guilty, she did not intend to stand by idly. In her opinion, the four should just do as Cain said.

However, Serea ignored the signal from Linda and replied directly.

“What if I say no?”

Serea’s retort sent a chill through the shop’s staff.

Judging by the four’s attire, they were obviously outsiders—and now, they had provoked the most prominent merchant noble family in Jones City: the Terrence family.

Four commoners daring to challenge a local noble? By any logic, they must have been out of their minds.

“To think you’d refuse—you sure have guts!”

Cain sneered, his laugh both mocking their ignorance and revealing his own anger at being slighted. In Jones City, no one had ever dared speak to him this way.

*Snap!*

Cain snapped his fingers. At the sound, his attendant understood instantly.

Within seconds, four guards burst into the room.

“You dare offend Lord Cain? Seize them!”

The attendant charged forward, reaching to grab Lola, and the other guards rushed in too, plunging the trade association into chaos.

“Ahhh!”

The female shop assistants scrambled to hide behind the counter, while the other shopping customers, not wanting trouble, quickly left.

“Come here!”

Cain’s attendant lunged for Lola. Instinctively, Lola tried to cast a Nature magic defense, but suddenly a slender hand shot out.

That hand clamped down on the burly man’s arm. He tried to break free, but couldn’t budge at all.

Glancing at his assailant, he saw that the sword hilt of Celia was already swinging towards him.

*Wham!*

The sheathed longsword struck Cain’s attendant hard in the abdomen, twisting his features in agony.

Celia then followed with a side kick, sending him flying out.

“Ahhh!”

The shop assistants ran away in panic, abandoning the store’s valuable merchandise.

“You dare—”

Another guard tried to intimidate Celia, but the silver scabbard was already striking his chest.

He was sent flying with a single blow. Celia hadn’t even used any holy knight skills; against the three remaining guards, she didn’t waste words either, knocking each down with rapid strikes from her sword’s sheath.

“Ow!”

“Ugh, ahh—”

All four guards lay on the ground, howling in pain. Barely level 10, they stood no chance against Celia, a level 20+ junior holy knight.

*Shing!*

The cross-shaped sword halted at Cain’s neck. Though sheathed, the blade’s sharp wind made him shiver in fear.

“You… You’re mad! You dare attack a noble? The Empire’s law will not forgive such heinous conduct!”

“Noble? I simply defended myself against someone who tried to attack me. As a noble myself, I wouldn’t be charged for that.”

As she spoke, Serea took out a golden badge. Holding it in her hand, she flicked it with her thumb and the badge spun up into the air.

Watching the rapidly spinning golden badge, it was clearly proof of high nobility in the Ailera Empire—the same rank as his own ‘Terrence’ family!

But before he could identify the family crest, Serea had already pocketed the badge again.

Seeing this, Cain blurted in shock,

“You’re actually a noble too!”

“Foolish. The title of noble isn’t something to flaunt while acting recklessly every day.”

The voice echoed from beneath her mask, carrying a haughty arrogance unique to the nobility.

Using the characteristic rebuke of a noble, coupled with her intimidating presence, Serea had completely thrown Cain off, leaving him stunned.

Taking advantage of the moment, she decided to slip away.

“Let’s go.”

With a fierce glare at Cain, Serea led the way as Celia sheathed her sword, and the four of them calmly walked out of the shop.

By then, Cain was still stunned, his mind reeling from all the new information.

“Boss… Where did that noble come from?”

His attendant climbed up from the floor, defeated, finally voicing the doubt in Cain’s heart.

Right, where did that noble come from?

Cain fell silent in thought. Everything had happened too fast for him to keep track.

The more he pondered, the more suspicious he felt. Glancing once more at the now-vanished girls, he muttered quietly to his attendant,

“Follow her. See what’s up with that elf.”

“Huh? Elf? What elf?”

“Just go! Stop asking so many questions!”

“Y-yes, sir.”

Seeing his master angry, the attendant scrambled out and began tailing Serea and her group.

…

At this point, Serea and the others were heading toward the end of the street, planning to find a place to hide.

Aware that she had caused trouble, Lola timidly spoke up.

“I’m… I’m sorry, Your Majesty. It’s all my fault.”

“It’s nothing. Let’s just leave here first.”

By now, the sky outside was darkening too. As Serea led the way, Celia voiced the question on her mind.

“Where did you get that noble badge?”

“You mean this one?”

Serea pulled out the badge. Celia nodded upon seeing it.

“This—I got it from that mage who attacked me. What was the name… Oh, right, Audra.”

“An Imperial mage’s badge? Why didn’t you take it out earlier? If you had, we wouldn’t have caused such a commotion.”

Celia pressed, and Serea explained,

“If I took it out earlier, they would have wanted to inspect it, which risked exposing us. We had to fight back first and seize the initiative.”

“…”

Celia didn’t reply, lost in thought.

After saying this, Serea glanced back slightly—she’d already noticed the tail following them.

(To be continued…)

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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