Shortly after, Grayan let go of me. But he didn’t move away completely; he closely gazed at me and tenderly caressed my cheek with one hand.

I couldn’t help but feel burdened by his attitude, as though he was dealing with something very precious, and I shyly averted my eyes.

Grayan briefly smiled and lightly kissed my forehead. I jumped in surprise and blinked rapidly. Grayan’s smile deepened at my reaction.

“It’s a shame. In this situation,….”

“……??”

What, what……? What’s a shame? What is it?!

“Watching my wife’s reaction is always enjoyable….”

At his words, I unwittingly wore a dumbfounded expression. ……This man, he seems somewhat mischievous; it’s not just my imagination, is it?

“Well, we must rescue the children now. We’ll be found out soon.”

{I knocked out that woman named Olivie. She’s left in the restaurant, so she’ll be discovered soon.}

The butterflies added an explanation to Grayan’s words. Indeed, that’s how they got away. It felt like he had appeared too early.

“Lieutenant Kavil, will you help?”

“Ah, yes!”

I thought Lieutenant Kavil was just a simple individual, but it seemed he was also skilled in magic. Lieutenant Kavil helped Grayan by drawing a mark on the floor.

With the connected teleportation device, a mark that acted like a small gate.

Using that as a coordinate, someone immediately teleported here.

That person was… none other than Arwin!

“I have arrived~. Oh? Duchess, you don’t seem too pleased to see me?”

“……Hello.”

I found this man slightly uncomfortable. I knew he wasn’t a bad person, but no matter how I thought about it, he seemed crazy!

“Our Duke personally asked for my assistance, so I rushed over. But it doesn’t look like a welcoming atmosphere, does it? Ah~. Maybe I should just leave.”

Looking at Arwin’s blatant cheek, the knights wore aghast expressions. They didn’t seem to like Arwin much either.

Perhaps it’s a feeling of discomfort?

‘Well, anyone would be uncomfortable with a madman….’

But Arwin didn’t care what others thought. He looked around the room with a bold and confident attitude, pretending to be offended, and asked.

“Oh my, what an unpleasant place. Whoever designed it must have been out of their mind. This place sucks life force from all directions, like a leech.”

“Yes……? Life force?”

When I asked, Arwin glanced at the butterflies flying around me and replied.

“As the Duchess receives the protection of the spirits, you wouldn’t feel it. Our Duke here, too, possesses a superhuman life force, so he wouldn’t have sensed anything.”

When Arwin looked at him, Grayan casually shrugged his shoulders, indicating that it was indeed the case.

“But, how about the knights? Don’t you feel something uncomfortable?”

At Arwin’s question, the knights shared puzzled looks and spoke.

“Uh……. Come to think of it…….”

“In fact, it feels a bit chilly…….”

“It feels like my strength is being drained….”

“A feeling of muscle loss……?”

“When I clench my fist, my hand shakes a little. Look.”

A knight showed his clenched fist to the others. Grayan and Arwin’s reactions were nonchalant, but the knights were shocked.

“Clenching a fist and shaking!”

“This is impossible…….”

Watching them, I tried clenching my fist to test it, and my hand trembled slightly.

‘Gasp, I’m shaking too?’

{That’s because your muscles are naturally garbage.}

{Do some exercise, Gloria.}

{Do strength training, not just stretching and walking!}

{Don’t just eat bread! Consume more protein!}

The butterflies betrayed me, flapping their wings. Darn it……. Are these creatures really on my side?

“If you stay in this room for too long, anyone will end up like those children. Of course, the Duchess is an exception.”

At Arwin’s words, the knights looked horrified. I looked at the children with sympathy and asked.
“So, these children ended up like this… It’s said that they’ve been robbed of their vitality by staying in this room continuously?”

“Yes, it is a regrettable matter.”

Arwin, who had refined the markings on the floor to be larger and more intricate, hugged the children one by one and placed them inside.

Now, what was once a marking looked more like a magic circle, and it could hold 67 children.

Arwin absentmindedly stroked the head of a child staring blankly into space, then turned to us and said,

“This teleportation circle leads directly to the Duke of Salisbury’s residence. Let’s evacuate the children through this.”

“Do that.”

Grayan nodded his consent, and Arwin quickly transported the children in the magic circle with a smile.

After repeating this process several times, only two children remained.

The two children were obediently led by Arwin’s hand.

Arwin roughly straightened the children’s clothes and stood them inside the circle.

He seemed either affectionate or careless; it was hard to tell.

“You two are the last ones. Well, see you later.”

Once again, he randomly stroked the children’s heads, and Arwin promptly cast the teleportation spell.