Suppressing, subduing, concealing, and refining emotions had been thoroughly trained in Gibben since childhood, making it not too difficult for him. However, at the moment, he couldn’t manage his expression due to a sudden surge of impulse, just like when he first encountered Ban Claff.

“…Why are you here?”

In response to Gibben’s question, Ban, still holding Riley, stood up and approached Gibben. He handed Riley over to Gibben, and in that brief moment, Gibben felt irritated by the annoyance on his face.

“I somehow ended up like this.”

“…….”

“I seemed to have fainted for a moment.”

“Fainted?”

“I used magic.”

Used magic? According to Arpeggio, Riley was struggling because she couldn’t use magic well even with practice. But she fainted after using magic?

This was one of the common symptoms that occurred when the body was strained due to momentary magic consumption. Riley, who couldn’t even handle basic spells, used magic to the point of fainting? Gibben’s expression, which had been examining Riley’s condition, froze coldly.

Her condition, not clearly visible in the darkness, was utterly battered. Through torn and tattered clothes, her bleeding skin was visible. Blood and dirt were entangled, and her condition looked dreadful.

Moreover, perhaps due to the inflammation response from the wounds, her body felt like a boiling cauldron. Even to the untrained eye, it was a serious condition.

“It was a spell of tremendous scale.”

“…….”

“I couldn’t handle that power, so I collapsed and lost consciousness.”

They needed to hurry and treat her. Just as Gibben was about to turn her body, a large magical beast with spread wings appeared threateningly in front of Gibben and Ban. With its head pinned to the ground, tail held high, and wings flapping, it seemed like it would attack soon.

Already exhausted from the previous battle with significant physical and magical depletion, Ban showed hesitation. At that moment, Gibben extended his index finger towards the magical beast.

Ping

The light fired from his fingertip pierced through the magical beast’s head, and the massive creature crumbled weakly with a thud.

“Continue the conversation outside.”

As Gibben flicked his finger towards Ban, Ban’s figure disappeared instantly.

Simultaneously, with Riley still in his arms, Gibben used teleportation to exit. Sakh, who had teleported first, was seen checking on Ban. Whether it was due to relief or reaching the limit, Ban remained seated, and Hila cautiously supported him, breathing heavily. Watching this, Gibben directed an order towards Sakh.

“Take him to the hospital.”

“What about the Master?”

“I’ll take Nuna and head back to the hotel first.”

“Ah, understood. I’ll quickly follow after completing the hospital admission procedures.”
It was too late to talk about something. Riley lost consciousness, Ban Cliffe wasn’t in a condition to continue the conversation, and Gibben, though not expressing it, was in a weakened state due to using magic multiple times with an unhealthy body.

Filled with curiosity, but for now, it was reasonable to catch their breath and revisit the matter later.

Gibben stood holding Riley tightly in his arms for a long time.

As tension dissipated, strength faded away. The persistence of holding onto reason crumbled, and a sense of relief exploded like a burst of relief. It was dreadful.

Had he experienced such a dreadful situation before? All day, he felt inexplicably dirty. Coupled with irritation, anxiety, and restlessness, there was no separate hell than this.

Even when he almost ingested poison and nearly died, it wasn’t to this extent…

“Ha, tired.”

He didn’t realize how tiring and challenging it was to keep the person he needed to protect under his care.

When he heard the mentor’s advice, he thought it would be enough to treat others kindly, show a well-groomed appearance, gain favor by presenting appropriate gifts, and make them love him by carefully acting in that way. Yes, he thought it was too easy.

He thought that by simply being hypocritical like others, showing a well-maintained appearance, gaining favor with occasional gifts, and nurturing love in that way, they would naturally play quietly under his hand without worrying too much.

But what is this? What on earth is happening?

In a brief moment, an accident occurred. It was always like this.

Before and now, without missing that fleeting moment, she got entangled in the accident. At this point, it seemed like every piece of misfortune in the world was sticking to her like a magnet.

The last incident could be understood logically. Count Herminez had ill feelings towards her for some reason. Of course, he didn’t think there would be so much hatred as to hire an assassin to kill her, but there was some motive for his own crime.

On the other hand, this time?

Not Riley’s enemy. My enemy.