Chapter 34

Chapter 34: Ehei (2)

The dining table came flying at Anagin, perfectly blocking his sight.

Right after, Daria pulled a sword out of thin air.

It was a blade hidden by the butler's magic.

Shhk!

Daria swung the sword, aiming at Anagin together with the table.

"I never liked you from the start!"

But then—what do you know.

Her gallant swing didn't even graze Anagin.

The moment Daria kicked the table away, Anagin ducked and twisted his body diagonally, dodging the blade. He'd taken this exact move from his Master 325 times, so he recognized it at a glance… And for the record, that number, 325, was not an exaggeration in the slightest. That infuriating man, his Master.

At any rate, Anagin dodged the attack and, before Daria could even register that her ambush had failed, lightly drove his fist into her side.

"……!"

Daria doubled over, screaming soundlessly from the pain of her insides being crushed. Anagin flowed naturally into a sweep of her knee, forcing her down, then grabbed her hair and her jaw.

Ready to snap her neck at any moment.

"Everyone, stop."

Anagin, holding Daria's neck, spoke in a calm, low voice. At that quiet yet weighty tone, the Dolos family and the guards all froze at once.

The heated air cooled, and an atmosphere for talking again took shape.

"Let me make the offer again. If you just let us go, we'll leave quietly. What do you say?"

"Do you think we, who serve Ares, God of Pioneering, would accept an offer like that?"

Perhaps it was because he'd laid all his cards on the table. Razonia dropped the polite speech.

"I have your granddaughter in my hands right now."

"……."

Razonia chose silence over an answer. His son and grandsons hesitated but didn't lower their weapons.

That alone told Anagin what choice he'd made.

Ehei… I thought this would go smoothly.

Anagin looked at Robe Girl and spoke.

"Hey, figure out your own escape."

The moment he finished speaking, Anagin hurled Daria.

Daria went flying from Anagin's powerful grip.

She crashed into the soldiers blocking the dining hall entrance, opening a path.

[O wind, become my shoes.]

Robe Girl didn't miss that moment and cast her spell. With wind wrapped around both feet, she bolted. Thanks to the wind, Robe Girl had become extremely fast.

"Capture her."

[O stone. Move, the wall— gk!]

At Razonia's command, the butler began chanting. Anagin kicked a plate off the floor and sent it flying, plugging the butler's mouth.

Teeth broke, and the butler collapsed unconscious. Robe Girl made it outside safely.

"She's getting away! Catch her!" "She's too fast—!"

The guards outside tried to grab Robe Girl, but they lost her.

Robe Girl escaped the mansion in an instant, and now only Anagin remained.

"You crazy bastard…!"

One of the guards glared at Anagin from behind.

He thrust his spear with all his strength, but Anagin sidestepped lightly and slammed his elbow into the man's face.

He'd held back enough that the man's head didn't shatter, but he went unconscious instead.

Anagin grabbed the falling man's body and held it up toward Spanichi's cousins 1 and 2, who were charging him head-on.

He meant to use him as a shield. With a hostage, they'd at least—

"—Die!!"

Ah, correction.

Anagin gave up on using the unconscious soldier as a shield and just threw him to the floor.

He'd thought that if he used their comrade as a shield, they'd at least hesitate—but they just tried to attack anyway.

They didn't care whether their man lived or died.

'I figured as much, but…'

Anagin knocked aside the swords Spanichi's cousins 1 and 2 swung at him, twisting their trajectories, then threw short punches that struck both their jaws simultaneously.

Wham—!

Spanichi's cousins 1 and 2 took the hits square on the jaw.

They lost consciousness and crumpled with absurd ease.

'Is this all an Ascetic Family amounts to?'

Anagin moved to finish them off. That was when their father, Spanichi's uncle, moved.

"You wandering rat—!"

He concentrated Gi into one arm and threw a punch at Anagin with all his might.

The fist, condensed with Gi, struck Anagin with the pressure of a massive boulder. It sent Anagin flying with a thunderous boom and a cloud of dust.

Anagin not only slammed into the wall—he tore through it and flew outside.

Coincidentally, outside the dining hall was the training grounds.

Anagin rolled across the training grounds and looked around.

"You son of a bitch, you dared throw me?!!"

Daria, who'd been thrown by Anagin, came to her senses and charged again.

She seemed deeply humiliated at having been tossed so disgracefully, and she was furious. You could call it a rather bad choice.

Charging in while enraged, that is.

There's nothing easier to counter than an attack fueled by excitement.

Crack—!

See? When Anagin picked up a piece of shattered stone and threw it, she couldn't even react and took it square in one eye.

Her vision had narrowed from rage, and her reactions had dulled.

With the momentum of her charge added on, the impact caved in the spot where she was hit, and Daria bled.

"Kyaaaah…!"

Daria screamed, clutching her bleeding face.

It seemed she was in shock from having her face—a woman's lifeblood—injured.

But so what?

Anagin kicked off the ground and charged Daria, closing the distance.

Then he planted his foot on her abdomen and kicked her with all his might, sending her flying at Spanichi's uncle as he charged in.

Would he ignore his daughter the way his men had?

"Kgh…!"

Spanichi's uncle couldn't bring himself to abandon his daughter and caught her flying body with his own.

[Knee Strike]

Anagin didn't miss that timing—he ran and jumped toward Daria, driving his knee into her abdomen.

The powerful impact struck Daria's abdomen through a single point, and pierced straight through to Spanichi's uncle behind her.

Is this what they call two birds with one stone?

"Now you see why I don't spar?"

Anagin said that to the unconscious Daria, then slammed his elbow into Spanichi's uncle's face.

Crunch—!

A sound of something breaking rang out, and Spanichi's uncle collapsed as well.

"Hoo…."

Anagin, having taken down four Giants in an instant, rolled his shoulders wearily and let out a breath.

He'd wanted to leave as quietly as possible…

Whether they knew his feelings or not, everyone inside the mansion was frozen stiff at the spectacle before them.

"So the rumors weren't empty after all."

While everyone stood terrified, only three people walked forward to face Anagin.

They were Razonia, Head of the Dolos family, his son, and his grandson, Spanichi.

"Honestly, I thought the rumors must have been exaggerated. I suppose you just got lucky taking down Bander and Diodia."

"Do you need luck against guys like that? They're not even good—they're just cripples. You just beat them down."

Anagin tore into the enemies he'd defeated without hesitation.

They were names of some repute in their own right, but to Anagin, they were nothing but cripples.

One of them called himself a Merchant and extorted people, and the other had even stooped to consorting with monsters.

"Your confidence is extraordinary. Then why on earth are you doing this?"

Razonia asked, planting his spear in the ground.

"Why on earth did you let the monster escape? That's what I'm asking."

"Don't people usually ask that before attacking?"

Anagin shot back, dropping polite speech. Since they'd already traded blows, he judged it appropriate.

"Could it be you were bewitched by the monster's beauty?"

"If that's the case, don't worry. I'm picky about women."

"Then why are you interfering with us?"

"Just felt like it."

"Anagin, sir!!"

Spanichi, who'd been listening quietly, suddenly cut in.

Unlike his grandfather and father, who were calmer than expected, Spanichi couldn't understand the current situation and was confused. At the same time, he was somewhat angry.

And no wonder—Anagin had known all along that Robe Girl was a monster, yet he'd protected her. Spanichi felt betrayed. He'd thought Anagin was a fine Ascetic, but…

Yet Anagin had let the monster escape, and his reason for doing so was simply that he felt like it. He couldn't forgive that.

Spanichi asked Anagin.

"I'm not joking, so please answer seriously… Why did you let the monster escape?"

Anagin was about to answer immediately, then looked steadily at Spanichi.

Three seconds later, Anagin opened his mouth.

"A girl who hasn't done anything wrong is about to die—it'd bother me to just leave her. You know? It's embarrassing. At the very least, not while I'm watching."

Spanichi's mouth flapped open and shut in bewilderment. Was he saying this in earnest?

Razonia pressed on his grandson's behalf.

"How strange. Yesterday, you yourself said that monsters should all be beaten to death, didn't you?"

Anagin chuckled heartily.

"Now, now. They say memory gets worse with age… Look here. Did I say monsters? I said beasts that ruin fields."

"So you're saying the monster you protected isn't one of those?"

"Yeah."

Anagin answered without a shred of hesitation.

Beasts that harmed people gave off a certain smell—an aura, you might say. And from Robe Girl, he'd sensed nothing of the kind.

In other words, she'd never harmed a person.

That was why Anagin had helped Robe Girl escape. If it hadn't been for that, he'd have beaten her to death with his own hands long ago.

"You expect me to believe that? A one-sided claim with no evidence?"

"I don't need any evidence beyond my own instincts. And besides, I wasn't asking you to believe me. Why would I need your belief?"

"What if that monster harms someone?"

"Then I'll kill her when that happens."

"Irresponsible and arrogant. Monsters are beings that harm people. All the more so for a monster smart enough to disguise itself as human—such a thing is even more dangerous, and you set it loose for such a careless reason?"

"Your point?"

"…I doubt you're a proper Ascetic at all."

Anagin smiled.

"You're right, I'm not the kind of Ascetic you mean."

Anagin turned his head from Razonia toward Spanichi. Then he asked point-blank.

"Hey, what do you think? Does she look like the kind that harms people?"

Did Robe Girl look like a monster that ate and killed people?

Was it because the question was so sudden? Was it because of Anagin's distinctive shameless manner? Spanichi couldn't answer right away.

Spanichi was shaken.

Because the Robe Girl he'd seen hadn't seemed like that kind of monster at all.

He was only following his grandfather's word that she was dangerous; his personal assessment was similar to Anagin's.

Did Razonia sense his grandson's heart? He admonished him.

"Eldest grandson. Pull yourself together. Monsters are a threat to humans no matter their nature, and this man is the one who set a monster loose on his own careless judgment."

Razonia's words weren't wrong. Fundamentally.

Monsters were twisted beings born from the process of beasts devouring people. Of course, there were beings that were monsters from birth, but those were an extreme minority. They too mostly harmed humans, and monsters that didn't harm humans were exceedingly rare.

So Razonia's words were almost entirely reasonable.

(most) monsters harmed humans, and therefore had to be dealt with.

All the more so for Ascetic Families like themselves.

Anagin picked at his ear, as if it itched. Razonia continued.

"Don't let any of you be swayed by that man's half-baked words. And remember. Who we are! We are Ascetics! Under the name of God, we are the ones who protect humanity! All who oppose this are enemies…!! Do you have anything more to say!?"

Razonia leveled his spear at Anagin and asked.

Anagin shook his head.

"Anything more to say… I've got one thing."

"……."

"Are you really trying to exterminate a beast that ruins fields? Or do you want its meat and hide?"

Anagin saw right through Razonia's true intentions.

What Razonia really wanted wasn't to exterminate the monster, but to offer it to the temple and receive more blessings. Something Anagin had caught on to in their conversation on the first day.

"But I'll just say yes without asking. That I let the monster go because I just felt like it. If you want, you can call me a villain. I don't care."

Anagin, having grasped the situation, gave the Dolos family what they wanted. A deed worthy of earning a blessing. Surely, capturing the monster and capturing the villain who set the monster loose wouldn't be much different. As thanks for the meal, he could give them at least this much. Only……

"What are you hesitating for? I already admitted it, didn't I? That I'm a villain. So come at me. Try to capture me and beg for your blessing."

Anagin wiggled his fingers and grinned.

"Not that you can anyway."