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Chapter 26
“How about that one?”
I pointed at a shop lined with crossbows. It looked like one of those games where you hit a target and win a prize based on your score.
“Instead of arguing all the time, why don’t you two actually compete for once? Let me rest a little.”
My arm was starting to ache from holding Saint back so tightly, afraid he might lash out.
“You do know using magic is cheating, right?”
“Worry about yourself.”
“So you do know? Good. I’m glad you have at least that much common sense.”
Rayc was just as sharp-tongued. Or maybe he was just particularly that way with Saint.
Why do these two get along so poorly…?
Well, at least it wasn’t like Luciel and Calix trying to kill each other. Their fights always seemed to end in mere bickering.
Thanks to the fierce enthusiasm of the two, the targets were being struck down in record time. The shop owner standing beside the board was soon on the verge of tears.
I was resting on a bench a bit away when I heard a commotion from the shopping street across the way. It sounded like someone was fighting.
This seems familiar…
At the banquet, in town—scenes like this had ended in trouble.
Why does this kind of thing always happen around me?
Wasn’t this sort of thing supposed to happen to heroines like Olivia? I was just the villainess, so I had no idea why these situations kept following me.
Should I just ignore it?
Anytime I’d gotten involved out of concern, I’d only ended up dragged into trouble. It didn’t sit right morally, but I tried my best to stay out of it.
But the sound of fighting soon turned into a scream-like groan, and I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I got up from the bench and headed toward the noise.
I turned a corner into an alley and found the source. The situation was worse than I expected.
Every piece of glass on the storefront had been shattered, and through the broken windows, I could see injured people inside. In the yard out front, a man was being beaten while another held him by the collar.
The attacker wore a dark blue cloak embroidered with a silver emblem I didn’t recognize. He was using his fists, but a sword hung from his waist.
As I watched the two, my eyes drifted to the fallen signboard of the shop. The name written on it was familiar.
Rose Tower!
My eyes widened. I quickly ducked into a gap between buildings.
Yes, a scene like this had happened in the original story too. There had been a clash between Rose Tower and an underground organization, and Olivia had intervened. In gratitude, the guild master had given her the “Pearl of Eden.”
So around now, Olivia should be showing up.
But there was no sign of her anywhere.
I waited, heart pounding, but she never appeared.
The guild master, who was being beaten, looked like he was about to die.
Ugh, seriously!
I stepped out from the alley and walked straight up to them.
“Hey… What do you think you’re doing in the middle of the street?”
As soon as I spoke, several men stepped out from inside Rose Tower. The swords they held gleamed with a blue light.
The problem was, they were dressed just like the attacker.
Great timing, really.
How did Olivia manage to stop this? Estella, her spirit, only had healing powers—she couldn’t even fight with it. The fact that Olivia had managed this was honestly impressive.
But it’s fine.
I hadn’t called the guards, the enemies outnumbered us, and all I had was Luciel’s necklace. Still, I wasn’t afraid.
Because I’m not alone.
This time, I wasn’t being reckless like last time.
The man who had been beating the guild master let go of his collar and stood. He was massive—easily over two meters tall. His eyes, looking down at me, were filled with killing intent.
Thud!
The ground trembled with a loud impact. If it had gone on any longer, I would’ve thought it was an earthquake.
Then something dark flew in from the air and landed with force. A boot came down hard on the giant’s head, slamming it into the ground. The belated scream was muffled by the earth.
A familiar arm slid around my waist. As expected, it was Rayc.
“Sometimes I think, Princess, you carry chaos with you wherever you go.”
“Does it really look that way?”
I shrugged lightly.
If Rayc is here, then where’s Saint…?
He was standing on top of the fallen giant.
Saint brushed his bangs back in annoyance. He looked around, about to draw the sword from his waist, then hesitated. After a brief pause, he took it out—still in its scabbard.
He slammed the scabbard into the chest of one attacker, then hit another on the leg twice. When a fallen one tried to get back up, he grabbed him by the neck and slammed him back down.
The ones being beaten by Saint were clearly from the underground. They likely had decent strength and endurance, but Saint handled them effortlessly.
Turns out we didn’t even need two people…
I had been ready to use Luciel’s necklace if needed. But it wasn’t necessary—Rayc hadn’t even needed to lift a finger.
The fight was over in a few minutes. As it ended, the onlookers began to quietly disperse.
Saint brushed off his hands and walked over to the guild master, who was lying on the ground. A white light flowed from Saint’s fingers, and the bloodied wounds began to heal completely.
“So… you really are a priest.”
The words slipped from my mouth before I could stop them.
It was just that surprising. That kind of power so didn’t suit him.
“Are there such things as fake priests?”
Saint approached us after finishing the healing. With blood dripping from his clothes and sword scabbard, he looked nothing like a priest.
“It just doesn’t match you, that’s all.”
“I’ve never heard of a priest who beats people up…”
As we whispered among ourselves, his eyes twitched.
Ack, better compliment him before he really gets offended.
“Anyway! Thank you so much. You were amazing, seriously!”
“Try not to make me worry.”
He tapped my forehead lightly with a finger.
“I didn’t do it on purpose…”
It didn’t hurt at all, but I rubbed my forehead and pouted.
“What do we do with these guys now, boss?”
I turned to the dazed guild master, who had been staring blankly at us.
“Shall we hand them over to the guards?”
“N-no, we’ll handle it ourselves.”
Rayc asked, and the guild master hastily shook his head.
After regaining his senses, the guild master led us into Rose Tower to thank us. The place was a wreck—furniture shattered, employees bleeding on the floor.
“Saint.”
I nudged him in the ribs. With a reluctant expression, he began healing the wounded one by one.
The interior didn’t look much different from an underground dungeon. I found a table that looked mostly intact and sat across from the guild master.
“Can you two step out for a moment?”
What I was about to say wasn’t something they needed to hear.
“If anything happens, call out.”
Rayc whispered as he left. I smiled, saying it wouldn’t come to that.
“I’m Luke, the owner of Rose Tower.”
Once the two men left and closed the door, the guild master introduced himself.
“There’s something I’m worried about, though…”
Luke hesitated as if unsure how to phrase it.
“The men you saw… they’re from Bistard.”
“I know.”
At my words, Luke’s eyes widened. I tilted my head slightly, encouraging him to go on.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay? Even we can’t handle them…”
“It’s fine.”
I answered lightly.
Of course I know the name Bistard.
In the original story, Olivia saved the Rose Tower guild master during the Ruben Festival. But those attackers were from Bistard, and they held a grudge against her.
Eventually, they kidnapped Olivia, and Nox, furious, destroyed them.
But even without Olivia being kidnapped, Nox had already been harboring a deep hatred for Bistard by this point.
So they were destined to be crushed by the male lead anyway.
The kidnapping only sped up their end. Either way, they would’ve been wiped out soon.
“Anyway, we at Rose Tower also deal in information. If there’s anything you want as thanks, we’ll provide it.”
Finally, the words I wanted to hear came from Luke’s mouth.
“Can you do tracking?”
“What kind…?”
“I received a strange letter recently. I want to know who sent it.”
“Will that be enough? We can do more difficult tasks, if you’d like.”
I considered it for a moment before shaking my head.
A mysterious card, an obvious attack, and that chilling presence.
I couldn’t live with that anxiety forever. I needed to resolve this.
“No, that’ll do. I’ll come back later, okay?”
“Of course.”
After finishing my conversation with Luke, I came back down to the first floor. Rayc was standing alone.
“Where’s Saint?”
“He said something urgent came up and left.”
“You didn’t chase him off, did you?”
I joked, and Rayc smiled softly.
“Of course not.”
I looked around outside, but Saint was truly gone.
He really is the type to leave without a word…
Even though I’d wished for him to go so many times, now that he was gone, I found myself feeling unexpectedly disappointed.
