Tristan and the soldiers who had been silently staring at Ren, as well as the Bireta family, all turned their heads towards Sharti at once.

Sharti’s lips dried up under the questioning gazes about Ren’s existence.

‘This isn’t right…’

Originally, the plan was to introduce Ren as an assistant that Sharti herself had taken in.

They had even prepared a plausible excuse that he hadn’t been registered at birth due to his hideous face.

‘A slave…’

Sharti glanced behind her.

Her eyes met with Ren’s, who had unexpectedly become a ‘slave’ contrary to the plan.

‘I’ll handle this.’

Sharti patted Ren’s hand to reassure him, who must have been flustered.

She felt a piercing gaze from Bireta, but Sharti pretended not to notice and raised her head towards Tristan.

“That’s right.”

“…?”

But Ren, who was expected to stand quietly behind, stepped forward.

Ren nodded with an expressionless face.

‘What?’

Sharti blinked at the incomprehensible words.

Ren, glancing at the soldiers, slowly knelt down in front of her.

“Sha is my master.”

“…!”

Ren even took her hand and rubbed his cheek against the back of it.

Sharti looked down at Ren with an expression close to shock.

Meeting Sharti’s gaze hidden by her robe, Ren gave a soft eye smile.

It was an eye smile with a different meaning than any Ren had shown so far.

“That bewitching thing…!”

Sharti was startled by Bireta’s exclamation and came to her senses.

Sharti soothed her fluttering heart.

‘He thought I said it.’

As Sharti tried to take her eyes off Ren, who wouldn’t stop his bewitching eye smile, she met eyes with Tein who was holding her other hand.

Large eyes were looking up at her.

Then Tein grinned.

“I’ll protect the teacher.”

It was a meaningless statement.

As Sharti stood frozen, unable to do this or that, Tristan tilted his head.

“Is he really the teacher’s slave?”

Tristan, who had been quietly observing the situation, stared intently at Ren.

To Tristan, Ren’s appearance was suspicious for a mere slave.

The soldiers also didn’t take their suspicious eyes off Ren, who had bandages wrapped around his entire face and body.

“That’s right! He’s Sha’s slave!”

At that moment, Birena raised her voice once again.

Birena, who had walked right past the soldiers, pointed at Ren.

“Look! He seems only good for his strength, doesn’t he?”

“…”

“His eyes are sunken! His face is damaged! He’s only good for his body! Doesn’t he look just like a slave?”

“…”

The mouths of Tristan and the soldiers closed at Birena’s explanation, which even included snorting.

When no denial came out, Ren’s eye smile also disappeared.

In the stiff atmosphere, Tein nodded vigorously to defend his elder sister.

“That’s right! The patient, no, the slave mister’s body is big like a bear, but there’s nothing in his head!”

“…”

It was Tein’s consistent evaluation of Ren.

As Ren’s shoulders drooped, Bireta snorted.

“Right. He’s so stupid that even as a slave, he barely speaks to his master.”

Bireta’s eyes flashed as she clicked her tongue.

“If our child hadn’t taken him in and let him live with us, he would have been kicked out long ago.”

“…”

“…”

Her words had thorns.

Sharti, and especially Ren, felt chills down their necks.

“Is he really a slave?”

Tristan’s gaze, with one layer of doubt peeled away, became more cautious.

In the Newiten Empire, slaves were not only owned by nobles. Even commoners could have slaves.

Yet he kept confirming because a poor doctor like Sharti couldn’t afford to have a slave.

“A slave of that caliber would be quite valuable.”

A slave of Ren’s build was suitable for physical labor and thus expensive.

As no suitable excuse came to mind at Tristan’s point, Sharti just rolled her eyes.

Instead, Ren stood up. He stepped in front of Sharti and opened his mouth.

“I ran away.”

Ren quietly unwrapped the bandages on his face.

As Ren’s face was gradually revealed, not only the soldiers but even Birena turned pale.

“From those who tried to kill me.”

Dark red capillaries covered Ren’s entire face like a spider web.

He looked like a monster straight out of a fairy tale.

“…”

As soon as Ren revealed his face, the surroundings fell silent.

Only Tein, who was sticking close to Sharti, examined Ren with curious eyes.

“You mean he’s a runaway slave?”

“Looking at that face, it seems he might have been tortured.”

The soldiers muttered, unable to look directly at Ren’s face.

Given the many rumors about the treatment of slaves, Ren’s claim gained credibility.

‘Do they believe it?’

Sharti inwardly let out a sigh of relief.

Of course, even so, she wasn’t entirely comfortable with suddenly becoming the owner of a slave.

But for now, convincing the soldiers of the situation and Ren’s existence came first.

“Well, that’s how it turned out.”

Bireta slowly moved her steps.

A cold wind brushed past Bireta’s wrinkled face.

She stopped in front of Dodint.

“He knows nothing, has learned nothing, and just follows our child around. His mind is gone, but his body is useful, so our child took him in.”

“Ugh, urgh… ugh…”

“How could we leave the child alone in these harsh mountains, not knowing who might sneak in? We need at least a guard dog, don’t we? To bite any madman who might come.”

Dodint’s face turned white under Bireta’s domineering gaze looking down at him.

The moment he met Bireta’s eyes, he felt as if a well-honed blade was pressing against his Adam’s apple.

She was definitely no ordinary old woman.

“Urgh! Ugh, urgh!! Ugh, kuh…”

Dodint desperately tried to alert Tristan and the subordinate soldiers, shedding tears and snot, but his paralyzed body could only let out faint groans.

No one paid any attention to Dodint.

“But why are you doing this only to Sha?”

Birena, who had been strongly agreeing with Bireta’s words, stretched her head out towards Tristan and asked accusingly.

“Sha used the paralysis powder because that wicked man invaded the house and threatened her, so she had no choice but to use it, right?”

“Well, that…”

“Why did you soldiers come to the village in the first place? Wasn’t it for the village’s security? You only searched for one day! And that too at night! You just said you were injured after encountering a vicious criminal! But the actual vicious criminal… Huh? Could it be that this man is the vicious criminal that you soldiers let escape?! You called a fellow soldier a vicious criminal and covered it up, right?”

“No, miss, that’s, well…”

Birena turned her head sharply and glared at the soldiers as well.

“What! In the end, it was because of you soldiers that Sha was put in danger! Sha, who has been taking care of you soldiers with the best treatment possible until today! That man!”

Birena jabbed her index finger, sharper than a thorn, at Dodint and each of the soldiers.

There was nothing to refute against Birena’s sharp accusations.

Even Tristan lowered his gaze as if ashamed.

‘No, to be precise, the cause is almost entirely with me…’

Only Sharti looked at the dejected soldiers with pity.

On the other hand, Ren was nodding his head vigorously along with Tein.

Sharti stopped thinking deeply for this moment.

‘Huh, I…’

Sharti rubbed her eyes.

Her vision was a bit blurry.

Was it because she was wearing a robe in the middle of the night?

Come to think of it, her body felt chilly too.

“Teacher?”

As Sharti held her head, Tein immediately noticed her condition.

She felt small hands trying to support her somehow.

‘Come to think of it, I haven’t slept properly…’

It must be fatigue from standing in the windy mountains at dawn.

As her thoughts broke off, Sharti unconsciously grabbed Ren’s clothes.

“- Sha!”

With a feeling of her body tilting, strong arms wrapped around Sharti.

In Ren’s embrace, Sharti lost consciousness.

[This is the timeline separator]

Ren, holding the collapsed Sharti, gritted his teeth.

He felt a fiery body temperature from her, who was wearing a robe.

“Damn it.”

Chewing on a rough curse, Ren took her hand.

As expected, it was abnormally hot.

Ren felt self-loathing for not noticing Sharti’s condition until now.

“Is the doctor alright?”

As Tristan, who belatedly reacted, approached, Ren looked at him.

Tristan stopped in his tracks at the clear hostility in the blue-green eyes.

“Are you curious about what happened to Sha, my master? Whether she’s injured, how much, where she’s injured, if she’s okay now, if she’s been overstrained from shock, no one even asked.”

“…”

“You lived thanks to my master, received help, but when my master needs help, you only corner her. What exactly do you want to ask? Are you trying to see if it’s appropriate to pin your own faults on her?”

An icy cold wind froze the faces of the soldiers.

“You heard, so you should know.”

Ren stood up while holding Sharti.

Blue-green eyes gleaming with hostility flashed.

“The only thing that seems stupid to me is my master.”

Expressionless, Ren growled threateningly towards the soldiers.

“So don’t hurt my master anymore.”

“…”

The emotion that had shifted from suspicion to apology now became a weight of guilt pressing down on them.

The soldiers would no longer bother Sharti.

Ren swallowed an irritated breath. Even this didn’t bring satisfaction.

He felt sorry for Sharti, who had been shivering in this cold due to his improper existence, and angry at his own incompetence for not noticing her physical condition earlier.

“Only the doctor will follow me.”

“What?”

“Understood!”

Tein, raising his hand high, followed Ren into the log cabin.

In the awkward atmosphere, Birena quietly approached Bireta.

“Grandmother, he doesn’t seem dangerous like Tein said, does he?”

“Is that even a question?”

Bireta snorted at her naive granddaughter’s words.

Only Bireta saw through Ren’s dangerousness.

A peculiar killing intent, refined yet raw.

“Hmm. ‘Master’, huh…”

Bireta sensed it.

No one could hold the leash of that peculiar man.

Unless he himself directly offered the leash.

“She picked up a useful one.”

Bireta let out a chuckle.

Sharti was a child who felt lonely, wished for someone to be by her side, but never dared to desire it.

At just twenty years old, the flower of her youth, Sharti was still a girl abandoned in the fire.

Was that why?

For the first time, Bireta wanted to watch over the existence Sharti had left by her side.

One insignificant catalyst. She hoped Sharti would change through this unremarkable relationship.

Because people learn, feel, and grow by rubbing shoulders with others.

“But I was so worried when I heard she was living in the same house with a man.”

“Tsk. Didn’t Sha say earlier? That she’s keeping him. That guy is just a mutt.”

What man.

Even if she couldn’t cherish Sharti delicately, she looked after her like a granddaughter.

A guy with no identity or possessions had no right to even think about her.

Birena chuckled at Bireta’s firm words.

“We’ll see.”

Birena thought a bit differently.

The big, scary-looking man looked at only Sharti with gentle eyes.

Even when Sharti collapsed, Ren prevented others from approaching with wary eyes, lest her hood might come off and reveal her face.

“So, do the soldiers still need something more? Do you now need that runaway slave instead of our child? Do you want to somehow entangle him to cover up the disgrace of your fellow soldier?”

No one opened their mouth at Bireta’s direct criticism.

Even Tristan avoided her gaze.

There was nothing wrong with what Ren and Bireta said. It was their responsibility that Sharti had collapsed.

“…We’ll be going.”

Bireta smiled sweetly, wearing the mask of a kind grandmother.

“That fellow has never been to this old log cabin. It would be better to turn a blind eye to things that aren’t righteous, like a runaway slave, or a soldier who stabbed his subordinate.”

“…”

“Receiving help, giving help, that’s what relationships are about. Yes.”

Bireta chuckled and entered the log cabin with Birena.

An ambiguous silence flowed.

“What… should we do? Shouldn’t we report a runaway slave?”

The owner of a runaway slave was likely to be a noble. Of course, reporting was mandatory.

Yet they hesitated, was it due to guilt, or conscience?

“We searched the mountain today.”

“Pardon?”

“During the search, we encountered a beast, and our leader fled alone, cutting down his young subordinates. As a result, there were many casualties. We desperately chased after the leader, and in the process of capturing him, he had an accident.”

Tristan’s eyes turned cold.

Realizing the meaning of his words, Dodint’s eyes widened with a sense of betrayal.

“It was unavoidable, merely the consequences of his own actions leading to an inevitable accident. Understand? We caught the leader. We are the only victims, and the leader is clearly the perpetrator.”

“Understood.”

“Everyone, remember this. We never came near here.”

“Yes!”

Of course, all the soldiers had to agree, and Dodint had to keep his mouth shut.

It would be an easy but difficult task.

But wasn’t it shameful as soldiers of the Newiten Empire to involve Sharti and her runaway slave?

Sharti should only be reported as a doctor hired to care for the injured soldiers left in the village.

‘I will surely repay this debt, doctor.’

Tristan bowed his head towards the old log cabin.

It was really time to leave the village now.

At the time when the soldiers finally left with Dodint, Ren was having a one-on-one conversation with the formidable Bireta.

“Do you think you can stay by your master’s side like that?”

Bireta clicked her tongue at Ren, who was holding his head up stiffly.