It wasn’t a very loud voice.

But because the forest was so quiet, it sounded all the louder.

“Wh-who’s there!”

At the man’s call, Ethan let out an obvious sigh.

“Haaah…”

The long, drawn out sigh was for If, who, unaware of the situation, simply tilted her head.

The flower, drained of all its nectar, fell to the ground.

Watching this, Ethan considered giving another one, but quickly dismissed the thought.

There was no need to draw any more attention.

Ethan pulled If’s hood over her head and pressed it down tightly.

His rough hands carefully concealed every strand of hair, as if afraid that even one might show.

Positioning If behind him, Ethan pushed through the bushes and came into view.

Rustle.

The man recoiled noticeably, but when he caught sight of Ethan, his eyes widened.

Perhaps relieved to see a human figure, his face brightened.

“A-a human…!”

Ethan’s brow furrowed at the sight.

The man had a stocky build and a craggy face, clearly someone who had been through many battles.

Feeling the pressure, the man’s body tensed again.

Fighting to hide his fear, he straightened his crumpled pride.

His eyes swept over Ethan’s appearance – raw, untamed furs, mismatched clothes that looked as if they’d been scavenged, clinging to his firm muscles as if they were too small.

The undone strings of his tunic revealed a scarred chest.

As he finally grasped Ethan’s rank, the man’s chest swelled with new confidence.

“Ahem, a mercenary, I suppose? Seeing you unharmed out here, you must be fairly skilled.”

Everyone could see who was trying to assert their dominance.

Especially in Belphirn – a lawless place – status and power were everything.

Yet the man was puffing himself up, flaunting his position.

Ethan tilted his head slightly, a crooked angle of indifference.

It was a side of human nature he had long forgotten.

If, who had been looking up at him, mimicked the gesture, tilting her head in the same way.

But when the hood was pulled tighter, she squirmed uncomfortably and straightened.

Because of her small size, the oversized hood slipped out of place and long hair spilled out, catching the light even in the shadows.

The man’s eyes were naturally drawn to her.

“You’re travelling with a very strange woman, aren’t you?”

Not bothering to hide his emotions, Ethan openly expressed his displeasure at the sight of the man’s bulging eyes.

Even without her hair, that face was enough to attract attention – a beauty unlike any other in the world. There was more than enough reason for her to be stared at, even without considering that she was an Ancient.

“….”

‘He’s a dead man anyway.’

Ethan thought, but just in case it’s better to deal with him properly.

The man had no idea that Ethan’s quick judgement was about to cost him his life.

He just stood there, mouth agape, unable to take his eyes off If.

If she was a noblewoman with looks like that, there was no way he wouldn’t know her.

Even including other nations, since this was the only realm on the continent, there was no chance that such a face would not be gossiped about for political marriages.

“So that means she’s just a commoner traveling with a mercenary…”

But – no way.

The man immediately rejected his own assumption.

There was no way a commoner with such looks could have remained untouched until now.

If such a woman had been in his territory, he’d have taken her as a concubine long ago.

Her low status might be a problem, but he didn’t care.

He’d keep her hidden away in his chambers, too precious to show to anyone, and enjoy her for himself.

The Council could complain all they wanted about her being a commoner – it wouldn’t matter.

A woman like that had the kind of beauty that made such things as status or propriety meaningless.

His look was one of blatant greed.

As he watched the man, Ethan tilted his head to the side with a wry grin.

A man who in the outside world would have been written off as a missing person.

Ethan didn’t like to interfere in the affairs of nobles, but a situation like this was different.

Completely unaware of Ethan’s thoughts, the man stood there dumbstruck, his mouth open.

Ethan continued to tilt his head, while the man just stood there strangely, his mouth still open.

If, watching the contrasting expressions of the two, tilted her head in confusion.

Alog, the eldest son of a noble house, secretly abandoned in Belphirn after losing a power struggle with his younger brother – his face flushed red.

A woman very different from the common pr*stitutes that roam the city.

Her pale lashes shimmered faintly as they swayed in the light.

Beneath them, her innocent green eyes gazed up at Alog with pure, unadulterated curiosity.

“Ahem.”

Alog cleared his throat and briskly dusted himself off.

Although his mind was busy assessing the other’s rank and finding ways to belittle him, his actions were more like a male bird preening to attract a mate.

At this ridiculous display, Ethan let out a short, mocking laugh.

The fool had no idea that flaunting one’s status under his protection only worked outside of Belphirn.

“You look like a commoner to me.”

“Commoner?”

If tilted her head at Alog’s words. It was a word she had heard before.

Her rolling eyes turned to Ethan.

Alog’s face twisted in displeasure while Ethan’s expression relaxed slightly.

“It’s better to fawn over me than to waste your time on some lowly mercenary, don’t you think? If you behave, I might even grant you a special favour.”

Mercenary. Lowly. Fawn. Favour.

She silently listed the definitions of the words she recognised.

Fortunately, unlike the commoner, these were easier to remember.

But knowing the dictionary definition of a word and really understanding it were two very different things.

If slowly rolled her eyes again.

“Hey, you know…”

Ethan kept his mouth shut, his face pale.

Just the thought of how many questions would follow this one was enough to make his head spin.

Unaware of his own impending fate, Alog reflexively answered If’s absurd question.

“What?”

“Hmmm…”

If pursed her lips for a moment at Alog’s reply.

Human intelligence, she thought, surely came in many forms.

Her eyes, green as fresh grass, shifted from Ethan to Alog.

Compared to Ethan, this man certainly didn’t seem very intelligent.

So if she had to explain it to his level of understanding… how simple would she have to make it?

If it was Ethan, even a simple explanation wouldn’t be enough, so for this one…

She had a lot of questions, but rarely got proper answers.

Most people couldn’t understand what she was saying.

She never knew that talking could be so difficult.

After opening and closing her mouth several times, If finally burst out with a rapid stream of questions.

“When you say ‘lowly mercenary’, you mean Ethan, don’t you? And ‘lowly’ is a word used to demean someone, isn’t it? That would mean you’re saying there’s a difference in status between you and Ethan, but I find that hard to accept. If we compare the two of you, Ethan’s physique is much more refined. There may be other special factors involved, but if we go that way, then Ethan’s chiseled body would also count as something special, wouldn’t it? And if you’re going to say it’s because he doesn’t have magic, I’d rather you left that part out – because for me, that’s not something I’d consider special.”

Although she didn’t know if this man had magic or not,

since Ethan had said that almost no human was without magic,

If was sure that this man had it too.

Regardless of what others thought, magic didn’t carry much weight with If.

After all, what they called ‘magic’ or ‘sorcery’ were things she could easily perform with the knowledge and techniques she already possessed.

“……”

Faced with the sheer length of her question – and the blatant disregard in it – Alog stood there with his mouth wide open in disbelief.

But If paid no attention to his reaction and fired off her next question without pause.

“And also, what you said about ‘fawning’ isn’t true. That’s one way to survive – to act cute and win favour, isn’t it? But right now, my life is not being threatened and I’m not in any danger. In this situation, I have no reason to crawl to you and beg for my life. And most importantly, I don’t think you’re capable of protecting me, so on what basis do you think I should crawl to you?”

“……”

Ethan was speechless too, his mouth hanging open just like Alog’s.

He’d always known If had a lot of questions – but this was beyond anything he’d expected.

More than that…

“…Pfft.”

Laughter erupted and echoed loudly.

In the end, what had been said in such a quiet voice came out like this:

‘Why would I fawn over the likes of you? You’re useless.’

Alog, stunned by Ethan’s laughter, began to blush with growing anger.

“W-what…!”

“Well, she’s not wrong. I mean, how much help could a noble lord like you be in a place like Belphirn?”

Alog’s face paled at the mention of Belphirn.

It was as if he had just realised how meaningless his noble status was in this place.

‘That idiot.’

Ethan grinned and casually crossed his arms, standing at a deliberately rude angle that made Alog’s face twist in anger.

A worthless mercenary who would be beheaded with a single word the moment we got out of here…!

But anger aside, Ethan’s words were true.

Alog’s magic wasn’t fit for combat – let alone for surviving in a place like Belphirn.

But once he was out of this cursed place, the damned mercenary would be executed without question.

Alog gritted his teeth in frustration.

Seeing the blatant hostility in Alog’s gaze, Ethan chuckled to himself.

‘That’s more like a damned noble lord.’

Just as Ethan had sensed Alog’s hostility, Alog had also sensed Ethan’s intentions.

But before Alog could finish his thoughts, Ethan drew his sword and swung it without hesitation.

Alog reflexively stepped back and threw the knife into his hand.

“Gah…!”

His body, now headless, fell to the ground.

Thud.

The severed head rolled across the dirt and came to rest at the base of a tree on the other side.

“So annoying.”

Ethan clicked his tongue.

‘I should’ve just cut his head off the moment he got c*cky.’

Letting him live to find out had been the mistake.

He tugged at his sleeve and wiped the blood from his blade.

“Ethan.”

“What.”

“What do I do with this?”

“…What…?”

Ethan, turning his head as he sheathed his sword, froze at the sight of her.

There was a knife deep in her shoulder.

Blood dripped steadily from the wound, falling in heavy drops to the ground.

If, unfazed, just stared at Ethan with wide, curious eyes.