‘Surely there would be scars on the neck.’

Just by seeing Sharti avoiding his gaze and subtly soothing her neck, Ren could tell.

He quietly sharpened his teeth.

Even if he wanted to cut off the masked intruder’s breath right away, he had to endure it. Killing such a person in front of a doctor who saves lives would likely make Sharti feel repulsed unconsciously.

“Sha, it would be better for us to stay in the same room from now on.”

“…What?”

At the sudden change of topic, Sharti reflexively raised her head.

Ren clenched his fist and nodded.
“I’ve experienced this not once, but twice, so I think it’s best not to leave my side.”

“Oh, no? I’d rather be alone. It’s better than putting Ren in danger because of me…”

“I think it’s better to be in danger together than alone.”

“What?”

A disapproving and irritated gaze, mixed with frustration, shot from under the hood.

Ren, noticing Sharti’s emotions and confusion, opened his mouth with relief, feeling that Sharti had returned to her usual self.

“Just like now, Sharti, if you restrain with a long-range attack, I can finish it off with a close-range attack.”

“No…”

“It’s an unbeatable combination.”

Ren grinned satisfactorily.

Sharti just looked at him with a puzzled expression, unable to refute.

Recalling her experiences, Sharti acknowledged the validity of Ren’s words.

“Let’s not misunderstand, we’re not sharing a room because we want to.”

“What…!”

Although it was just a remark to ease her worries, Sharti was greatly startled and jumped up in surprise.

“Why do you keep saying that I would misunderstand you! I’ve never had such a misunderstanding!”

“It seems like it was unnecessary. I’m sorry.”

In response to Sharti’s intense reaction, Ren paused and offered a calm apology.

Sharti belatedly covered her blushing face with the hood.

Feeling like Ren was about to laugh, he bit his lips.

‘I avoided the worst situation.’

The feared awkward atmosphere seemed to have passed. Ren felt more comfortable both mentally and emotionally, and his tone became relaxed again.

He was gradually getting better at teasing Sharti.

Knock. At the sudden knocking sound, Ren instinctively stood up.

His face was covered with a blanket hanging on the wall like a scarf.

“Doctor! Is everything okay… Huk!”

The intruder in the lodging was a mage belonging to the Croffle Mercenary Corps.

Using the staff like a torch to inspect the inside of the lodging, the mage, upon seeing Ren’s gaze first, was terrified and hastily stuck to the door, hiding his body.

“Is there something wrong with those eyes?”

Ren, who had furrowed his forehead due to discomfort, retorted sharply.

Only then did the mage, who had become dough in the corner, notice the masked individual who had collapsed in the corner, quickly used magic to restrain the masked person, and handed them over to his comrades.

Afterward, for Sharti, who was afraid of fire, the mage increased the brightness of the staff’s light to illuminate the room.

“I’m sorry!”

The mage, who had magically cleaned up the messy room, folded his waist with a thud and apologized.

“Yes! No problem!”

“Is there a problem here?”

“…I’m sorry.”

The mage knelt down and sat in front of Sharti and Ren to explain, avoiding Ren’s stern gaze.

“Oh, yes!”

Avoiding Ren’s stern gaze, the mage turned his head and nodded to Sharti, who was blushing.

“Right now, Grandma Bireta and our mercenary group are all outside the village.”
Currently, there is a fierce battle outside.

From close to midnight, the village welcomed an enormous number of guests, who were hired mercenaries from the wandering group employed by Lord Bridend. Since they couldn’t openly send the lord’s soldiers to the lands already handed over to Matopju, these mercenaries were hired.

These mercenaries, hired with the intention of turning the land upside down and annihilating the villagers, were all armed and attacking the village in various ways.

“If we catch them, it’ll undoubtedly be difficult to expose their backers, so it’s not that challenging for us.”

The magician bragged with a proud face, but he quickly averted his gaze from Ren’s sharp eyes.

“But an unexpected problem is that there are those who remain inside the village…”

The surroundings of the village were perfectly sealed. Matopju had cast a powerful magic using her own magical power and the village’s mana, ensuring the village’s defense was flawless.

The problem was the physician’s house, which was previously identified as a spy planted by Bridend within the village.

“Nobody could have known that they’d set the basement as the teleportation coordinates for the assassins to infiltrate the village.”

If the magic circle had already been drawn, the mercenary mages wouldn’t have missed it.

They cleverly deceived by presenting the basement as an ordinary empty space and leaving only the location for the teleportation coordinates.

“Fortunately, our mages who were waiting in the village detected the abnormal magical power and prevented it, so only a few assassins made it through!”

“You let one of those few into here.”

Facing Ren’s sharp criticism about the insufficient defense, the magician shrugged his shoulders.

Every time the magician received Ren’s critique, he averted his gaze again as if feeling disheartened. Sharti poked Ren’s side whenever the magician did so.

Ren turned his head sharply with a sigh.

“Since Matopju had cast protective spells on each house in the village, I thought we could catch them quickly…”

Sharti’s fingertips trembled.

‘Was it because Sharti opened the window?’

Since she opened the window from the inside, the protective spell must have temporarily stopped.

“Strangely, the protective spell in this lodge was relatively weaker compared to other houses. It seemed like the assassins noticed it and were focusing only on this house.”

The magician glanced at Ren cautiously.

Ren’s expression became serious as he understood the meaning of that gaze.

The vague suspicion gradually became clear.

“It’s not certain, but when we saw it, we thought it might be because of Teacher Josubun’s influence…”

The magician, who had previously disregarded Ren’s magical abilities, cautiously gestured toward Ren.

“It seems like you have a constitution that magic doesn’t affect.”

“…!”

Ren clenched his fist.

After a moment of silence, Ren, with a gloomy expression, raised his head.

“Then… do you mean it’s better for me not to be with Sharti, my owner?”

Disappointment filled Ren’s face as he forced out the restrained voice.