“I apologize for being rude. I was paying attention to the wrong place while ignoring the real thing.”

Oscar quickly stood up and tried to kiss the back of Iris’s hand. However, Iris naturally withdrew her hand just before his lips could brush it.

Oscar became confused, feeling awkward alone in a situation where others wouldn’t have noticed anything.

‘What’s this, is she shy?’

Originally, he was the type who couldn’t understand a woman’s rejection even if she directly told him off.

Like with Arasila, he only saw someone as a person rather than a woman after trampling on their pride, and from then on, he despised them, disapproved of them, and kept his distance.

“I’ve been wanting to meet Lady Hugo very much. I felt dazzled seeing you at your younger sister’s wedding, and you still radiate light from your face.”

Oscar’s tongue moved shamelessly and smoothly as if buttered.

‘There’s no woman in the world who dislikes being complimented on her appearance!’

He lavished praise on Iris’s appearance and flirted with her until his mouth went dry.

But Iris was that ‘woman who doesn’t exist in the world’.

She did not welcome compliments on her appearance. Since childhood, people around her had unwantedly compared her looks with her sister’s or encouraged competition over who was better.

However, when she expressed discomfort at this, people rather became upset, saying she was reacting too sensitively to kind words, so she tended to brush it off with reasonable flexibility.

“Thank you for looking at me favorably, young lord. Um, you must be busy participating in the hunting festival, so please go back now.”

Iris tried to send him away while forcing a formal smile. But Oscar did not back down easily.

“It’s alright. I’m rather in the position of being hunted right now.”

“Pardon? I don’t understand what you mean…”

“I mean that a beautiful lady has shot an arrow of love into my heart.”

Oscar winked one eye. At this moment, even Iris found it difficult to manage her expression.

But she couldn’t rebuke her sister’s husband’s elder brother in front of others. That wasn’t something a wise noble lady would do.

While Iris was feeling the limits of her patience, Oscar’s mouth didn’t stop.

“Lady Hugo, do you perhaps have a gentleman you’re currently seeing?”

“…No.”

“Haha! It’s fate. I also happen to have no lady I’m seeing, nor a fiancée.”

Oscar approached Iris with a profound smile. His eyes were gleaming maliciously.

Iris flinched for a moment and stepped back. Oscar looked down at her as if she was cute and finally prepared to leave.

At first, it was good to have many conversations, but if you just drop a few words like this and leave, the other person tends to feel more regretful.

In any case, he had no intention of entering at a disadvantage when meeting someone, so he was already engaging in a power struggle with Iris on his own.

“I’m busy, so it’s a shame I can’t talk more. Let’s meet again, Lady Hugo.”

“…Goodbye, young lord.”

Watching Oscar’s back as he strode away, Iris felt an unsettling feeling.

It felt like something had gone wrong.

Her instinctive intuition warned her.

The assassins attacked using arrows and magic without ever revealing themselves. It was a strategy that seemed to know well that there was no chance of winning if they confronted head-on.

Arasila tried to locate their positions hidden between the trees using tracking magic, but it didn’t work as if the other side’s magician was blocking it.

If they could deflect her magic to this extent, they must be no ordinary skilled person…

Moreover, it bothered her that her magical power seemed to be manifesting more weakly than usual. Still, it was at the upper level of an ordinary magician, so she proceeded with the attack as previously agreed with Demian.

Demian was close-range, Arasila was long-range.

The problem was…

“My lady! Have you gone mad, attacking me?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. But you suddenly blocked the front, so what could I do!”

Arasila’s magic orb grazed Demian due to mistimed timing.

“No, Demian! How could you attack me?!”

“I apologize. I made a mistake because you were standing in an obstructive place.”

Demian’s widely swung sword narrowly missed Arasila.

Their coordination was unbelievably out of sync.

In a way, it was also because they were thinking the same thing. How could they attack the same place at the same timing?

As a result, they ended up attacking or interfering with each other and were struggling.

“This won’t do. Let’s reassign roles. I’ll take charge of the attack, so please take charge of the defense, my lady.”

“Ah, alright. This time, I’ll just stay behind you no matter what to avoid our movements getting tangled.”

The two found a new agreement by putting their heads together again and resumed the attack.

Demian charged towards where the attacks were coming from while swinging his sword, and Arasila formed a magic barrier around him to block arrows and magical power.

As their coordination improved somewhat, it wasn’t long before the assassins’ positions were detected.

“Damn it, everyone move forward!”

“It’s an all-out battle from now on!”

Assassins wearing black masks sprang out one after another and pounced on Demian. It was a number exceeding ten at a rough estimate.

Despite the considerable number, Demian remained calm. He calmly took down the enemies one by one at a rapid pace.

“My lady, you must never let your guard down.”

“I know, so focus on the fight.”

Arasila retorted as if fed up with Demian who didn’t forget to nag about her even in the midst of this.

She knew well that he was checking on her safety with sidelong glances from time to time. But considering who had just created the barrier, it was excessive worry.

While Demian demonstrated skills befitting his reputation as the youngest Sword Master, the assassins fell without even touching a hair on him.

It wasn’t just because he was strong, but Arasila’s barrier was too solid for them to even touch.

“Damn it! The attacks aren’t working!”

“Defense, remove the barrier!”

Some of the assassins turned their eyes towards Arasila. If they took her down, the barrier protecting Demian would also disappear.

“Attack the magician!”

“She’s weaker, so let’s take her down first!”

The assassins’ bows changed direction to attack Arasila. However, Arasila, who had already put up a barrier around herself as well, deflected all the arrows and weapons like knives that they fired.

“Watch your words. I’m not weaker.”

Arasila looked at them with a serious face and warned. Her pride was hurt at being treated as weaker than Demian.

As could be seen when her attacks collided with Demian’s due to mismatched timing, Arasila’s combat power was at a similar level to his.

So how could she be unharmed without a single scratch even after receiving Demian’s attacks?

It was just amusing, the prejudice of unconditionally assuming she would be weak without knowing well.

“Where’s our magician? Take that woman down right now!”

The assassins urgently searched for their fellow magician. Then a magician wearing a robe shuffled out from behind the bushes.

Arasila carefully observed the opponent in a slightly wary state. She was curious about how great this person was to have deflected her magic.

‘Wait, this energy is…’

Arasila’s expression changed to shock as she detected the black energy surging from the opponent.

‘It’s a dark magician?’

No wonder the magic gave an ominous feeling.

Arasila hurriedly launched an attack spell. However, the pitch-black magical power flowing from the dark magician’s hand blocked it as if swallowing it.

Depending on the person, magical power takes on a special color, and black magical power was possessed only by dark magicians.

‘Damn it, I’m going to be pushed back…!’

Dark magicians are different from ordinary magicians. Their wicked and unjust magical power exerts several times stronger force than ordinary magicians.

This means that even someone with less skill than Arasila can exert power comparable to hers if they use dark magic.

“Demian, be careful because the barrier is breaking!”

As soon as she warned, the barrier shattered. The black magical power, ominous just to look at, enveloped Arasila’s surroundings. Her purple magical power gradually lost its light.

Feeling her magical power being blocked, Arasila muttered curses silently.

This damned dark magician!

When magical power is blocked, magic can’t be used either. Arasila stepped back while gripping her staff. At the same time, the dark magician shouted loudly.

“She won’t be able to use magic for a while! Now’s the time!”

“Everyone attack!”

Assassins wielding swords rushed at Arasila. She tightly gripped her staff with a pale complexion.

“My lady!”

Demian, who had cut down an assassin blocking his way with his sword, looked towards Arasila with eyes full of shock.

An assassin was approaching right next to her. It was too late for him to run and save her.

‘No, she’s going to get hit!’

The people who momentarily protected him and were sacrificed passed through Demian’s mind.

It wasn’t that everyone abandoned him after his mother died. The few people who followed the first duchess until the end tried to help the young him.

But in the end, all of them suffered terrible retaliation and disappeared from the Vandermir duchy, not knowing whether they were alive or dead.

Demian was seized by the premonition that if Arasila were to be sacrificed here as well, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.

Thwack!

“Argh!”

With a refreshing impact sound, the assassin screamed and collapsed.

Arasila had hit the opponent’s head with her staff with all her might.

“I have a weapon too.”

Despite her slightly flushed face, Arasila’s voice was calm. Her gloved hand firmly grasped the staff.

Honestly, she had thought before that since her staff was big, long, and solid, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to use it like a blunt weapon.

Of course, back then she had imagined it with the purpose of hitting her annoying tower colleagues once each, but using it like this now wasn’t bad either.

“And, the ‘for a while’ is over.”

“…?!”

Arasila grinned. The black magical power enveloping her dissipated with a swish. Soon, an intense purple magical power that burst forth enveloped the surroundings.

The assassins who had been standing still, dumbfounded by the unexpected situation, belatedly realized their mistake. They should have attacked Arasila instead of just standing still.

But it was already too late.

Arasila’s magical power had gathered in the magic stone of the staff, ready for counterattack.

Originally, the best defense is offense. A huge magic orb created at the tip of the staff pounced on the assassins.

“Ugh!”

“Argh!”

The assassins hit by the strong magical power rolled on the ground and collapsed. The flustered dark magician tried to use magic too, but…

“Where do you think you’re going, you sly one.”

“―!”

Arasila was one step ahead. She bound the dark magician’s limbs so they couldn’t move an inch, and this time she blocked the opponent’s magical power.

“You know what happens to people who use dark magic under imperial law, right? I’m going to shake every bit of dust out of you, so just wait.”

In the Setron Empire, dark magic was legally prohibited, so if caught using it, one would receive severe punishment.

And since it was the magic tower’s responsibility to manage, supervise, and detect this, Arasila, as a magician belonging to the magic tower, had a particular duty to arrest dark magicians.

As she turned her head casually to see if there were any enemies left, she was startled to find Demian staring at her blankly.

“Demian, in front!”

“…?”

Awakened by that cry, Demian realized that a shadow with a sword raised high above his head had fallen over him.

It was a foolish mistake. He should have moved quickly after confirming Arasila was safe.

After warning so much not to let his guard down, he ended up being the one to let his guard down.

‘You fool, why were you just staring at me!’

Arasila hurriedly tried to spread a barrier for Demian. But she had used quite a lot of magical power while holding the dark magician.

If she used defense magic now, the dark magician might be released due to lack of magical power. Then a counterattack would come immediately, which could cause severe damage.

‘…Ah, I don’t know anymore!’

Unable to overcome the urgency in a situation where she could neither do this nor that, she flung the staff she was holding.