By Zephyria 
“Who is it!”
The boy next to Benife was startled and shouted towards the direction the apple had come from. It was the opposite direction from where we were.
“Ugh… Argh!”
Benife, who had been holding his head and enduring the pain, eventually bled and collapsed to the floor. Seeing this, Aska reached into the basket again. Surprised, I stopped Aska.
“Don’t.”
“Why? That bastard lied first. That bad liar, why is he making a fuss when he touched it first? And I saw in a book that if you touch a member of the royal family without permission…”
I cut off Aska’s non-stop chatter and turned my head. I saw the boy supporting Benife, who was convulsing like a dying insect, hurriedly leaving the scene.
Aska, still not appeased, raised his middle finger towards Benife’s group, who were getting further away.
“That son of a bitch, if I see him one more time, I’ll smash his head.”
“…”
“I should have smashed his head back then.”
“…”
What on earth did I just see? No, how could an apple curve at that angle like a boomerang? Is that even possible?
“How did you do that?”
“If that bastard catches my eye… What? What is it?”
Aska, who had been busy cursing, tilted his head at my question.
“The apple, what about it? The one from earlier.”
“Why? I saved it for you to eat?”
“How did you throw it like that, the apple…”
Aska, finally realizing why I was acting like this, reached into the basket and took out a half-cut, hard bread this time. Then, as if to show off, he waved the bread in front of my eyes and threw it forward again.
The long bread, spinning rapidly in the air, drew a gentle curve and returned to Aska’s hand. It was just like a boomerang.
“This?”
“…”
I didn’t answer and took the bread, which had been used as a weapon, from Aska’s hand and threw it forward. As expected, the bread, which had been shot forward for a moment, fell weakly to the ground.
“Hey, why are you throwing that away!”
Aska jumped down as soon as the bread fell to the ground and ran towards it. Then, he picked it up without a second thought, dusted it off roughly with his hand, and started eating.
“This is absurd…”
I don’t know what’s going on. I carefully climbed down with a bewildered feeling and called Aska. Aska, who had already finished eating, ran to me quickly.
“Hit this hard once.”
I pointed to the trunk of the tree we had just climbed.
“Hit it?”
“With all your might.”
At my words, Aska clenched his fist, pulled his shoulder back greatly, and struck the very center of the tree trunk.
Crack—!
“…”
It was a miracle it didn’t break. Along with a loud noise that was hard to believe, the basket also fell amidst the leaves falling like a shower. I stared blankly at the still-vibrating branches of the giant tree, took a step away from Aska, and asked.
“Were you always this strong?”
“I think I got weaker because of this, but it seems to get better again after some time?”
Aska showed me his wrist. It was the black brand that had been engraved when the Sealing Magic was cast. I looked at it with a serious expression, then turned my head again and looked at the tree trunk where Aska had punched.
It was dented and broken as if it would crumble at any moment. Fortunately, the tree trunk was so thick that it didn’t seem to break.
“When you hit me sometimes…”
Before I could finish speaking, Aska scratched his head with an awkward expression.
“That’s because I was adjusting it so you wouldn’t get hurt.”
“…”
The Sealing Magic was definitely successful. I, who had cast the magic myself, knew that best. Just looking at the brand wrapped around Aska’s arm, there was no chance that the magic had failed.
But what on earth is this ridiculous power? I definitely saw records that Sealing Magic was effective not only on humans but also on captured monsters.
I definitely couldn’t be relieved with just Sealing Magic alone.
“Oh, someone’s coming.”
“What?”
“A lot of them are coming…”
Aska turned his head and mumbled, staring intently into the darkness. Could Benife have said that he was attacked by someone…?
“Ah, that’s right.”
Then, Talim’s Security magic came to mind.
“They’re almost here. Should we hide again?”
“No, let’s just run away.”
I tried to grab his hand and run to the opposite side, but Aska stood firm and didn’t budge. Frowning and turning my gaze, Aska shook his head.
“They’re coming from over there too.”
“They’re coming from both sides?”
“Yeah.”
Then there’s nowhere else to run? If guards are coming, they’ll be discovered quickly even if we hide in the tree like before. We can’t climb the wall either…
“Ha…”
I sighed, holding my forehead. I thought I would have to greet the guards with a smile if they came. It’s a little embarrassing, but there was no other way.
“First, put on your mask properly, ugh!”
I couldn’t help but let out a short, thick scream while speaking. That’s because my vision suddenly flipped upside down and I felt a strong pressure on my stomach.
When I opened my eyes, I could see the ground getting further and further away.
“…?”
Tap, tap, tap…
The scenery in front of my eyes changed rapidly each time I heard light footsteps in my ear. Feeling the wind slapping my cheeks strongly, I finally realized that Aska was carrying me over his shoulder like luggage.
Aska, who had jumped up high trees, landed on the balcony side while carrying me. It seemed to be an empty room since the lights were off. The door leading inside was naturally locked.
Aska, who grabbed the doorknob and rattled it a few times, swung his arm. It happened in an instant.
Clang—!
“…”
There was no time to stop him.
“W-Why is the sound so loud…”
Aska’s flustered voice was heard, as if he didn’t know that the glass would break with such a loud noise. At that moment, I felt something approaching quickly from the direction we had come from. Aska, who seemed to have known it all along, stepped on the broken glass and hurriedly tried to go inside.
“Stop.”
I opened my mouth at the same time as the sound of a sword being drawn from its scabbard. The man standing on the balcony railing looked at me, then put the sword back and hurriedly came down to the floor and knelt.
“Kyle-nim.”
What a disgrace this is…
“Put me down…”
Aska, who put me down on the floor at my small voice, quickly adjusted his mask. Then, he slipped inside alone and hid to the side.
“…”
He caused all the trouble himself and ran away like that… Of course, I was the one who told him not to meet other people with his bare face, but… I closed my mouth for a moment, sighed, and turned my head.
“Did you come because you heard the noise?”
“Yes, I was patrolling after hearing that the young master of the Amir Duke’s family was attacked. Then suddenly, I heard a loud noise…”
“I see, that’s what happened.”
He was Daram, the head of the guard responsible for the security of Talim. It’s been a very long time since I’ve faced him like this, and it was very embarrassing to see him in this state.
“Tell Asella to make up an appropriate excuse for this. But keep patrolling since there will be eyes watching.”
“Are you hurt anywhere, by any chance?”
“No.”
“There was a basket with snacks spilled a little further away…”
“Have someone clean that up too.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Daram, who finished his short and concise answer, disappeared as quickly as he had come. Aska slowly came out and stood in front of me when the presence of people had completely disappeared.
“…”
“…”
I couldn’t tell what kind of expression he was making because of the mask, but I could definitely feel from the atmosphere that Aska was also at a loss.
I didn’t know where to start pointing things out, and I didn’t know what to say first. I was so confused that I stared down at Aska and opened my mouth.
“First…”
“…”
“Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
Aska’s voice also trembled slightly, perhaps because the tone of my voice was lower than before. As I went inside to return to the room and walked towards the door, Aska slyly grabbed my hand next to me.
I turned my gaze, but I couldn’t see what kind of expression he was making because of the mask.