MIIS 27

Chapter 27

“Just now… what exactly did you do?”

Kazen’s strange, piercing eyes glared at me with intensity.

However, since his limbs were stiff with tension, there wasn’t really a reason for me to fear him.

Not that I intended to let my guard down, though.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” I said, feigning innocence.

Kazen’s expression grew even fiercer at my act.

“You’re mocking me,” he growled.

“Of course not.”

“If you’re going to lie, at least moisten your lips first, huh? And that irritating smile of yours… get rid of it.”

Even the way he spat out the words was filled with menace.

If this continued, he looked like he might flip his eyes and rush at me, so I hurriedly wiped the smile off my face.

Naturally, I was scared, but as long as I didn’t show it, it would be fine.

“If I truly thought you were a joke, I wouldn’t have even bothered to warn you.”

“…A warning?”

I lowered my gaze to Kazen’s abdomen, and he quickly wrapped his body in armor.

“The Saint is someone who sacrifices herself for this world. She loves this world and cherishes all humans.”

“And…?”

“But I’m different. I can’t cherish all humans… I’m petty.”

“…!”

I deliberately lifted my gaze slowly, and at last, Kazen’s eyes wavered as we met.

“I only value the things I care about. And you’re trying to ruin them.”

How dare he.

The words, whispered almost like a threat, made the air around us chillingly cold.

“This won’t end with a warning next time. Like I said, I’m a little petty.”

While everyone else peeked nervously at the two of us, Kazen no longer dared to speak recklessly.

Meanwhile, I stared at him with a neutral expression and thought to myself:

I need to escape while I have the chance.

He may be puffing up his chest, warning me not to act up, but if Kazen truly went mad and attacked, things would get serious.

If Azel tries to awaken again, I won’t be able to stop him!

The light from earlier had unknown activation conditions, and overusing the Illusion Pendant carried a high risk of exposure.

So now, I had to run.

“Mary,” I called urgently, though outwardly composed. She bowed politely.

“Yes, command me.”

“?”

Had she stopped playing the role of a maid? Mary openly carried herself like a knight.

“Let’s go.”

I moved first, and Mary followed closely, guarding me.

The crowd blocking our way hurriedly parted rather than trying to stop us.

-Krrgh!

-Krrng! Pfff!

The two Aegises also obediently followed behind us.

So charismatic…

Thanks to that, our departure looked far more impressive than I had expected, leaving me quite satisfied.

Now, I just need to take care of Azel.

All that was left was to fetch Azel, who had been unusually quiet, and leave this place.

With that in mind, I hurried toward Azel.

“……?”

Something strange caught my eye.

What’s going on? Is my vision broken?

I rubbed my eyes, thinking they might be malfunctioning, but the scene remained the same.

“…???”

As I rubbed harder, a strange sound came from beside me.

“M-Master?”

Mary looked horrified as she stared ahead.

That expression… is the one you’d make after accidentally deleting a document you worked on for 22 hours straight.

Seeing Mary’s reaction, I realized I hadn’t imagined it.

Creaking and squeaking like an oil-starved robot, my vision returned to normal, and the violent scene appeared before me again.

“Uh… Azel?”

And what I saw…

Azel was crying.

“…C-crying?”

And not just a little—he was crying bitterly, heart-wrenchingly.

By then, I was half out of my mind from the shock, as if my mental hard drive had blown.

“W-who did this?! Who made you cry?!”

The chaos had truly begun.

“Why… why are you crying? Azel, why are you crying? Don’t cry.”

I tried to comfort him as he trembled, but he kept shedding tears, so pitiful it tore at my heart.

I probably would have been less shocked if Azel had completed his awakening in secret.

The human who might have only uttered a dry “wah” at birth now cried until his nose was red, and I felt like I was going insane.

“What happened? Are you hurt? Why are you crying so sorrowfully? Please, don’t cry.”

I gently patted his back and wiped his wet cheeks, but his tears didn’t stop.

And yet… somehow, it made me feel strange.

Why is he so cute even when crying?

Azel’s crying was incredibly beautiful.

The flush on his pale cheeks constantly drew my gaze, and the heavy weight of his wet eyelashes tugged at my heart.

I shouldn’t feel this way, yet my face kept heating up for other reasons.

Isn’t this a little dangerous?

I was holding him to comfort him, but my heart kept pounding uncontrollably.

And as I held him, memories of earlier resurfaced.

Azel held me just like this before.

The sudden thump of my heart now beat wildly like a drum.

Why am I like this?

Just then, Azel’s large hand grasped my wrist, which had been wiping his tears.

“…It’s okay now.”

He looked far from okay.

Azel’s hand trembled faintly, but he didn’t resist my touch, so I couldn’t just let go.

For some reason, that felt a little disappointing.

Wait—disappointing?

Have I gone crazy?

Meanwhile, Azel staggered to his feet, glancing at Kazen and his group.

“…We should leave now.”

I expected that he wouldn’t leave Kazen and his group behind, given his personality, but he showed surprising resolve.

No, more accurately, he simply had no energy to care about Kazen.

Why did he even cry?

While I pondered his incomprehensible behavior, Mary, still in shock, habitually assisted us.

Thankfully, Kazen didn’t try to stop our departure.

We escorted Daria and her father and moved toward the village.

Fortunately, it wasn’t far, and we arrived without incident.

“Daria! Ben!”

“Look! Grandpa Ben is back!”

“Ma’am! They’re back!”

As we entered the village, a crowd poured out, seemingly worried about Daria and her father, who hadn’t returned for some time.

“My goodness! What happened to you?”

“Ben, Daria…!”

Not wanting to cause unnecessary commotion, we left the Aegises outside the village, so the villagers’ attention focused on Daria and her father.

A few glanced at the three of us, cloaked, but Daria’s father stepped forward and explained the situation.

“These people saved Daria and me.”

“Saved you? Did something happen in the mountains?”

“On the way down, we encountered wild animals. We would have been killed if not for them.”

The incident with the Aegises was to remain secret, and the same went for the ambush by Kazen’s group. It was better to quietly move on than risk our identities being revealed.

“Thank you for saving Ben and Daria. I am Derek, the village chief.”

The middle-aged man introduced himself as the village chief and expressed gratitude on behalf of the villagers.

But I only wanted to quickly treat Mary’s shoulder and return to our cozy mansion.

We’ve done our job by bringing Daria to the village.

Running away from home is never easy. I wanted to return as soon as possible, having painfully learned that today.

“Is anyone among your group injured? We can have the healer treat wounds immediately.”

I pointed to Mary’s injured shoulder, but at that moment, someone interrupted our conversation.

“Is there a priest in this village?”

It was Azel.

For some reason, his expression was unusually stern.