Of course, Raku’s face turned pale as he obviously hadn’t taken out any insurance.

“There’s no way he could have found this place…!”

Watching Raku mutter to himself, I sneered.

‘I left a gift for Arkle.’

Seeing the video stone hanging around Arkle’s neck as he walked out of the dust cloud, it seemed my gift had been properly delivered.

‘I dropped the video stone before losing consciousness. With the video playing!’

Fortunately, Raku was too focused on running away to notice it. Moreover, thanks to Arkle’s shouting from afar, the sound of the video stone falling to the ground could be masked.

And thanks to the video flowing from it, Arkle could easily find this place.

‘I did well making that prologue.’

To create a horror movie atmosphere, I filled the movie’s prologue with various locations in Kelston without any sound.

Thanks to that, even if the video played immediately, Raku wouldn’t have noticed.

Horror movies really are the best.

‘So, you’re finished now.’

I looked at Raku with a satisfied gaze.

He was trying to activate black magic with his teeth clenched.

“ɵʞØßŋđ, Øßŋ, ɵʞØßŋđ… gack—!”

But he was caught by the nape of his neck with one hand by Arkle who rushed in instantly.

BANG—!!

Raku, who couldn’t even resist, flew and crashed hard against the opposite wall.

“Cough—”

The wall cracked, and Raku spat out red blood with a groan.

‘Wow….’

It felt strange seeing Arkle fight properly for the first time, as a man with a similar build to Arkle was helplessly defeated.

‘No, can this even be called a fight? It looks more like a one-sided beating….’

Raku was no pushover, having been called a genius sorcerer.

Sure enough, as if trying to counterattack, he regained his senses and began making hand signs quickly, but…..

Crack—

“AAAAARGH—!!!”

Arkle approached with large strides and casually twisted his wrist.

Judging by the loud noise, his bone must have shattered.

Raku, who let out a painful scream, glared at Arkle as if he wanted to kill him.

“How dare you, how dare you… no one can take the goddess away!!”

“……”

“Ugh… I’ll make you pay for ruining the temple.”

Raku’s eyes, as he spoke through gritted teeth, began to turn black.

‘That looks quite dangerous…?!’

I watched Arkle tensely, but he showed not the slightest agitation.

“Ugh—!”

He slowly reached out and grabbed Raku’s face with one hand.

“She’s not a goddess or anything like that. She’s my wife.”

With those words, Arkle slammed Raku’s head against the wall.

BANG—!

A loud boom and screams echoed.

BANG—!

Once more.

BANG—!!

And yet again.

And at the same time.

‘Oh, I can move my body now…!’

I could move my body, which had been stiff as if paralyzed.

Hurrying to the place where dust was rising, I could see Raku’s body slumped down under the wall.

It seems the spell cast on me was also broken when he lost consciousness.

‘Wow… look at his condition.’

The unconscious Raku’s condition was miserable.

On the other hand, Arkle was looking down at Raku without a single scratch.

‘So it wasn’t a lie that he’s the strongest in this world….’

I felt a sudden realization of what kind of man I had been living with all this time.

“Arkle.”

I called him to thank him for coming to rescue me, but somehow Arkle’s state seemed strange.

“……”

Not only did he not answer my call, but he didn’t even turn to look at me.

He stood motionless, just looking down at the unconscious Raku.

‘What’s going on? The atmosphere seems different from usual.’

“…disappear.”

As soon as he muttered something in a low voice, black aura began to swirl around Arkle.

“Disappear.”

It was a frightening voice devoid of even a hint of emotion.

Similarly, cold red eyes without any emotion stared at the fallen Raku, and blood began to flow madly from Raku’s mouth and eyes.

‘……!’

“Arkle.”

I called his name again, but there was no answer this time either.

Only then could I be certain. That he was in a state where he couldn’t make proper judgments.

In other words, he had lost his reason.

‘Raku couldn’t even resist, so why… ah.’

I suddenly remembered that Arkle was experiencing a magical resonance flare-up before he lost me.

Is this what happens when he can’t calm down…?

The black aura circling around him grew increasingly dense.

He now seemed to have completely surrendered his body to magical power.

“Arkle—”

I grabbed Arkle’s forearm with both hands, just like when I stopped him from trying to kill Sylvia at the farm in the past.

“There’s no need to kill him.”

I said the same words as then, but unlike then, Arkle didn’t stop.

The black aura didn’t disappear but grew denser, and the fallen Raku was bleeding profusely all over his body as if he would die at any moment.

‘I’m wrong. He’s in a state where he can’t hear me at all. In that case….’

There’s only one way.

I stood blocking between Arkle and Raku, looking up at him intently.

“Hello. Shall we talk while making eye contact?”

“……”

Finally, I could meet his gaze, but I couldn’t tell if it was really Arkle looking at me or if I had just stepped into his line of sight.

Anyway, that wasn’t what mattered.

“Won’t you stop now? If not, I’ll die.”

By blocking the sight of Raku, I was now at the end of his gaze.

In other words, I would be the one receiving his attack.

“…Ah.”

Sure enough, I could feel warm liquid flowing from my mouth.

When I touched it with my fingertips, it was indeed red blood.

“Look at this. I’m bleeding.”

I waved my hand as if exaggerating, but Arkle showed no reaction.

“Ah~ I’m really going to die at this rate!”

Even when I shouted exaggeratedly, it was the same.

And that wasn’t completely wrong.

‘…Ugh. I wish he would come to his senses quickly.’

I felt as if my whole body was twisting.

At this rate, I would really die, spitting blood from my entire body.

Once again, blood welled up from the corner of my mouth, and I looked up at Arkle while wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

“Are you confident you won’t be sad?”

“……”

“If I die, if you kill me, are you sure you won’t be sad at all?”

“……”

“I don’t think so. Because, you’re not the Tin Man. Didn’t I tell you before? That your honesty is beautiful.”

“……!”

Arkle’s red eyes trembled slightly.

His expression contorted, and then he slowly clutched his head with both hands and screamed in pain.

“Ugh… UUUUGH…!! AAAAGH!! Urgh….”

He groaned and collapsed, holding his head.

I staggered toward him, bent down, and spoke softly.

“It hurts, doesn’t it? I can make you comfortable.”

“Urgh… UUURGH… haa, haa….”

“Beg me.”

“Haa, haa….”

Arkle raised his head and looked up at me.

With unfocused eyes, he whispered.

“…I… …touch me. Please.”

I cupped his face with both hands.

And I lightly pressed my forehead against his and offered words of praise.

“Well done.”

“Haugh….”

His rough breathing gradually calmed down.

How much time had passed?

“Lize.”

“Are you feeling a bit more conscious?”

“I… I just now.”

Arkle stopped speaking and grabbed my shoulders, looking at me.

I felt like his gaze was somehow looking at the corner of my mouth.

“……”

He slowly raised one hand.

I felt a careful touch caressing my lips.

He seemed to be wiping the blood from the corner of my mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

At Arkle’s softly whispered words, I smiled brightly.

“It’s okay since I survived. Let’s go home now…. Let’s watch the movie together when we get back.”

❖ ❖ ❖

Afterward, Arkle carried me on his back and left Raku’s room.

It wasn’t so painful that I couldn’t walk, but since I didn’t know how far we had to go, I didn’t particularly refuse.

Fortunately, Arkle remembered the path he had taken.

After walking for a while, we were able to reunite with the knights who had regained consciousness and were looking for us.

By Arkle’s order, they brought Raku, who had been bound while unconscious, and there was a brief discussion about what to do with him.

“Let’s take him to Cayenne.”

In the end, a conclusion was reached according to my strong insistence.

Arkle seemed reluctant, but he soon nodded when I said that Raku would definitely be useful.

And the knights also agreed when I said he would not be resisting on the way back.

“Arkle beat him so badly that he won’t regain consciousness for a week.”

“Ah… so that’s why he’s in this condition.”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about….”

When we returned to the village, we borrowed a large cart from the residents of Kelston, fixed it up a bit, and loaded Raku onto it.

“When we meet again, I’ll definitely. Be a great actor.”

“That sounds good! Then next time, I might be able to expect some emotional acting too.”

“I’ll practice. Since we have all the time in the world. So please, come back.”

“Definitely.”

Smiling, I waved to Khan and the villagers.

Until their figures seen through the window became too small to be visible.

❖ ❖ ❖

I must have used much more energy than I thought, as I slept the entire journey back in the carriage.

And when we returned to Cayenne Territory, Martha was waiting for us in front of the mansion.

Without time for a joyful reunion greeting, Martha took Arkle to her office, saying she needed to receive a report on the expedition results.

If it were her usual personality, she would have dragged me along too, but perhaps she was still grateful that I had gone to Kelston in her place, as she told me to get enough rest before coming to report.

Since I was already tired, I headed straight to my room and collapsed onto the bed.

And so, into a sweet, peaceful sleep….

I couldn’t fall.

Because I heard the news that Raku had regained consciousness.