“Stop! Stop, you fools! Beg for forgiveness now!”
“Otherwise, you’re all dead!”
Terrified townsfolk tried to stop Viretta and her group, glancing anxiously between them and the ard bandits, clearly fearing the worst.
anwhile, Viretta and Lanken exchanged looks, quietly mocking the bandits, as if thinking, What on earth are they talking about? and I don’t know. Must be weird people.
“It’s the ‘trash worse than dogs’ part you should have left out! You think just adding ‘sir’ makes it better?!”
“But that part speaks to your essence. I erred in using an inferior suffix, but you are indeed trash worse than dogs.”
Iola, who seed the most bewildered of all, explained with the patience of a nurturing teacher.
“Wha—wha… are you actually calling us trash?!”
“No, no. I said you were trash worse than dogs.”
Viretta gently corrected the omission, demonstrating her usual politeness in speaking to her “inferiors” despite the inherent rudeness of her thought process. Her audacity and pride didn’t waver even in the face of three swords and an axe.
Iola, the “kind but brutal” type who could humiliate people without malice, was her perfect counterpart. Lanken thought that if these two ever married, they’d leave a trail of mayhem and earn a spot in history as the most infamous couple of their ti.
He found himself clapping in amusent, which earned a sharp glare from the bandits. Although montarily taken aback, he didn’t back down.
Lanken, though not as unyielding as Viretta, had a strong sense of pride. He refused to lower himself to those trying to rob him.
As a result, there was no one left to diffuse the situation, and the bandits’ stomachs began to twist in frustration.
“These wretches… Got no fear, huh? Never seen blood before? No more words. You’ll learn soon enough.”
Their commotion attracted five more bandits, one of whom was supposedly a forr rcenary captain.
Four of the eight bandits gripped their weapons, and screams erupted around the market. “No! You can’t kill them here!” But Iola remained baffled.
“Why are you so angry? We neither insulted nor disrespected you.”
“You think you’ll get away with calling us trash worse than dogs?”
“If that’s an insult, then you have every right to be angry. But for sothing to be an insult, it needs to carry a derogatory intent, doesn’t it? I simply stated facts.”
“And how is calling us trash not an insult?!”
“Please, place your hand on your chest and take a deep breath. Inhale… and exhale.”
Unconsciously, the bandits followed Iola’s instructions, breathing deeply.
Seeing them sowhat cald, Iola began to explain carefully, using words the bandits might understand.
“Society has generally agreed to call those who leech off others trash. So, by that definition, you are trash. And since you seem to enjoy violence, you’re also worse than dogs.”
The surrounding rchants and townsfolk shuddered, experiencing the sa spine-chilling fear one feels when watching soone walk into certain doom with a smile.
Bandits might not usually kill outright, but after being so thoroughly insulted, they’d need to have no pride to let this slide.
“I understand that being called trash might not sit well with you. However, it’s a result of your choice to live as such. Why direct your anger at ?”
It was incomprehensible, even absurd, and it poured out of Iola’s mouth with a kind, gentle voice that ripped the bandits’ dignity to shreds.
“Why hold
responsible for the poor state of your life? Ah, this habit of twisting reality to protect yourself certainly suits the label of trash worse than dogs.”
A hint of sympathy flickered across Iola’s face, but that only served to worsen the situation. He nodded kindly, as if finally understanding sothing profound.
Even Lanken, who was generally unshakable, began to break into a cold sweat. This wasn’t a situation Viretta’s charm could easily smooth over.
A quick glance revealed Viretta subtly reaching into her pocket, apparently preparing a last-resort asure.
“Indeed. Refusing personal responsibility—how characteristic of trash. Please, continue. My apologies for the interruption.”
“Aaaargh!!”
In an instant, the bandits snapped, weapons swinging wildly as they spread out to avoid hitting each other.
“We’ve heard enough of your nonsense! If you want a lesson, we’ll give it to you, right here!”
They even graciously offered a chance for last words.
“When facing conflict, it’s better to solve problems through dialogue rather than brute force. I recomnd counting to ten and approaching with an open heart.”
“Your way of talking is the problem here, you little…!”
Iola, with a look of regret, burned his last bridge of peace.
The ard bandits charged toward him.
anwhile, at the dleridge estate.
The engagent ceremony had finally concluded, despite the absence of the couple. Cadellen dleridge was busy keeping Monain from rushing out to capture Iola.
Initially, Cadellen had hoped Monain’s rcenaries would locate Viretta, but after seeing their military preparations, he reconsidered.
Monain seed dead set on leaving Iola just barely alive, and Cadellen, fearing a permanently injured son-in-law, launched into a desperate performance.
It was only after Monain put on a near-superhuman display of skill by chopping down part of the estate’s wall with his axe that he cald down.
“Hmph… Forgive , Cadellen. I’ve let my anger disturb your ho.”
“No apologies needed. Viretta often does the sa, so we’re quite used to it.”
“Indeed. Quite fitting for a daughter who sets off to hunt dragons.”
Though ant to lighten the mood, Monain’s comnt only made things worse. Sensing a dark turn in Monain’s tone, Cadellen quickly offered him a glass of whiskey and changed the topic.
“Surely they’re not really planning to slay a dragon. At most, they’ll go see its nest and co back. Once they’re there, they’ll realize it’s too much and give up.”
“You don’t worry about how she’s freely spending your money?”
“I tallied up the items they… ‘borrowed,’ and it’s nowhere near enough. Viretta may be a lot of things, but she’s not foolish. Besides, the money they’ve used so far… they won in a wager, so it’s all balanced out.”
Monain’s eyebrow twitched at the ntion of a “wager” over their children’s engagent.
“You have faith in them. Your confidence does put
at ease, sowhat.”
“Even so, it is a worrying ti. Security in the area is in shambles. Though she has a rcenary with her, local rcenaries can hardly be compared to those of Najin.”
“Has your daughter not trained in martial arts or magic?”
“Oh, she’s always been diligent in both, but there’s such a thing as natural aptitude. How about your son?”
In other words, she tried hard but lacked talent.
Monain restrained himself from asking why she was hunting a dragon, rembering that his own son was part of this journey.
Without dwelling on Viretta’s lack of ability, he answered with a resigned expression.
“As you know, despite being born in the rcenary city, despite being my son, my boy had the nerve to enroll in an academy of natural sciences.”
“He must excel in his studies. With your warrior’s blood, he’s bound to have strength as well.”
“As you may also know, in Najin, it’s disgraceful for any able-bodied man not to join the rcenary ranks. I’m the head of a grand rcenary band, and Iola is my only son. All I wanted was for him to beco a great warrior.”
“I understand completely.”
Children rarely live up to their parents’ expectations. Cadellen, with a sorrowful look, thought of his four children, with only his third son, Dylan, eting his hopes.
“We pride ourselves on bringing even those lacking to their full potential. There’s a reason we’re known as the rcenary city. But in the end, my son let us down and declared he wanted to be a scholar.”
“Does that an…”
A sense of dread caused Cadellen’s throat to tighten.
“Thank you for disarming so quickly. I’m relieved you’ve managed to protect your lives.”
An 8-to-1 battle.
The bandits failed to leave even a scratch on Iola.
“My Iola is strong enough to defy even ,” Monain said with a hint of bitterness.
Iola Jin.
He was a paragon of both martial and academic prowess.
Reviews
All reviews (0)