Cien answered with a gentle smile.

“There’s also a second way.”

“What? You’ve thought about it?”

“What’s the second way?”

Looking at the lively eyes of Deldry and Bench, Cien stared at them intently. Bench spoke abruptly.

“Shall I call the commander?”

“The commander? All of a sudden?”
“If it’s the commander, isn’t it the gypsy boy from the orphanage?”

They still couldn’t follow Cien’s thoughts. Cien spoke playfully, treating them like children.

“Yes!”

Cien smiled gently.

“Bring the commander here. From then on, the commander and I will take care of it.”

At that moment, there were people waiting for Cien nearby.

They were Sebastian Grand Duke and Matthias Mirmord.

Matthias stood still, leaning against the brick wall just in front of Cien’s upper management.

They were chatting and making light conversation about the ‘commander,’ a familiar face entering Cien’s upper management.

“The temple blocked Cien’s path again?”

“It seems so.”

Sebastian Grand Duke made a bewildered expression.

“Why bother a fifteen-year-old kid? By the way, wouldn’t Cien be upset? Do you have any thoughts on helping?”

Matthias replied as if it was no big deal.

“Our daughter is strong, so she’ll endure it well. But…”

“But?”

“Getting rid of a few temples is easy.”

Sebastian Grand Duke was astonished.

“…Isn’t your daughter still unaware of this gloomy situation?”

Matthias frowned at his words.

“Someday… she’ll have to know. Oh, again with this.”

While looking at the climbing vine that he was about to climb over the brick wall, Matthias lifted his sword, beheading a hidden demon wriggling on the ground with thorny vines.

As Cien’s upper management began to thrive, jealousy from the neighboring upper managements started to pour in. Particularly, the jealousy from nobles sponsored by figures like the Crown Prince was immense.

They often tried to sabotage Cien’s upper management, using curses or demons in ways that left no evidence.

“Some fools forget that Cien is a Mirmord.”

His face was still icy and rigid.

“Because she’s fifteen. It’s worth ignoring. That’s why you reinforced security, right?”

Matthias answered coldly.

“You never know the future. I’ll double the security.”

“…Double the current means a hundred people?”

“Not enough. Triple it.”

Originally, Matthias was chilling to the extent that it could be compared to ice.

Even Sebastian Grand Duke, who had wielded a sword excellently and fought on the battlefield, was on the verge of surrendering to this coldness. How did it happen that he became so unyielding?

Sebastian muttered with a shiver.

“It’s terrifying.”

“Kill the demons first.”

“They’re already crushed.”

He raised the blood-soaked sword with a fierce look.

“…Dad?”

It seemed that Cien had finished her business and come out of the upper management.
As soon as I heard my daughter’s voice, Matthias swiftly sheathed the sword into its scabbard. Cien approached Matthias with a puzzled expression.

“Dad, I think I heard a sword .”

At that moment, Matthias began to stagger.

“Uh, Dad?”

He looked at Cien with a distressed expression. It was the ‘gullible smile’ that Cien often used as her father’s expression.

“Oh, Dad had a momentary heartache, and he needed a staff. Luckily, there was a sword…”

“Huh? Why does your heart hurt?”

“Well, a cute squirrel passed by. It was nibbling on an acorn. It was so cute, like our daughter, that my heart hurt.”

Seeing the embodiment of this double-sided personality, Sebastian, as if hearing a siren, began to cough.

“Pft.”

Cien looked at the Duke as if questioning and said.

“Why. What’s wrong? You seem to be laughing.”

“…I laughed a little. Haha.”

Cien’s eyes that were supporting her father’s body suddenly sharpened.

“Could it be that our dad finds it amusing that his heart hurts?”

“Oh, no.”

“Really?”

“…Well, the man also has a respiratory illness.”

For a moment, Cien’s round eyes became even more gentle.

“Oh, I see…”

Seeing Cien’s expression loosening, Sebastian felt tortured by guilt for deceiving the innocent girl. But right at that moment.

“…You believed that? Con artist!”

“No, I believe your dad’s words!”

Instead of responding to that remark, Cien, rather boldly, shouted into the upper management.

“Sister, bring the carriage quickly! Dad is not feeling well! Let’s go home and show him lots of acorn squirrels!”

Looking at Cien, who was supporting her father, taller than herself, and heading towards the carriage, Sebastian felt a mix of emotions.

Duke Sebastian muttered silently toward Matthias, who pretended to grab his heart with no strength.

‘You once said you believed that someday I would be the villain, right?’

…At that moment, without Cien knowing, Matthias silently mouthed something toward him.

‘That someday is not today.’

Whether it was intentional or a rather cowardly excuse, it sounded like a justification.

Duke Sebastian shook his head.

The path of that young lady seemed farther away than ever before.