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While it might stem from their love for their parents, such behavior was primarily driven by their instinct to protect the person they strongly trusted to protect them.

For instance, it was common for a disciple to get angry if someone insulted their master, or for the people to get riled up when foreigners insulted their lord.

The era they lived in also played a role – it was expected for subordinates to offer unconditional obedience.

Unconditional obedience was often associated with blind faith. In a world where such a way of life was natural, it was inevitable for subordinates to be hypersensitive when it came to someone criticizing their superiors.

While it was inevitable that horrible superiors were criticized, it was typically confined to the people under that particular superior.

Nothing good came out of an outsider criticizing another’s superior.

As such, Elsie believed her rage was justified.

To Elsie, Ian was someone who had validated her other fragile self that she kept hidden from others. Not only that, he had protected her at the risk of his own life.

Elsie had also admired his strength for a while. That was why it was inevitable for her to explode out in anger as Delphine’s continuous insults continued to grate on her nerves.

Elsie’s mind went cold as her heartbeat automatically slowed from her years of practical battle experience.

On the other hand, Delphine was still shocked. It was extremely rare for her to be so dumbfounded. As the heiress of the Yurdina, she, along with everyone present, had never imagined that she would fall victim to such humiliation.

Sensing the tension in the air, some of the children had run off to fetch the adults, and now, the two men, Leto and Gilford, stood frozen, shocked by the scene unfolding before their eyes.

Their only thought was that the situation was literally how the children had described it, and it was impossible to turn back time to retrieve the water that was thrown at Delphine’s face.

Suddenly, a crackling, blue ball of energy formed in Elsie’s hand, and sensing Elsie’s murderous intent, Delphine’s hand instinctively went to her waist.

Delphine drew her sword at the speed of light, but as soon as she did, a thin lightning whip wrapped around her and constricted her upper body with a resounding clap.

The whip was at most magic of the first-circle as it was impossible to cast higher-leveled magic in such a short amount of time. It was the same even for a senior wizard of the fifth-circle

Delphine snorted and circulated her mana around her body to negate the ensuing electric shock.

It would have been the correct move if the whip hadn’t suddenly dissipated, releasing the electric current in all directions.

Time slowed for Delphine. The electric current dispersed through the air, scattering brilliant blue light.

Although the electric current disappeared for the most part, a speck of blue light barely managed to come in contact with her upper body which was drenched in water.

The spark reached the water and created a chain reaction as it traveled through the moisture, repeatedly striking Delphine’s body like raindrops from the sky.

Sparks erupted like firecrackers.

Delphine clenched her teeth as her muscles involuntarily contracted in response to the electricity coursing through her body. Her balance crumbled.

At that moment, Elsie lunged at her with another glass of water in her hand.

Then, with all her strength, she landed a clear blow on Delphine’s head.

The sound of shattering glass reverberated through the air.

No matter how much they magically enhanced themselves, mages were still mages. It was difficult for them to physically land an effective blow on a swordsman, especially on one as skilled as Delphine.

However, with Delphine losing her balance, Elsie found it relatively easy to hit her. Delphine, who had been staggering up until that point, finally fell onto the floor with a thud.

A jolt shot through Delphine’s body as a splash reached her ears.

Water was once again dripping down her body. It wasn’t a particularly large amount as it was only two cups worth, but it was enough to wet the floor around her.

Elsie raised her hand before slamming it onto the floor.

Pajijik!!

A ball of blue electricity exploded upon contact and traveled across the wet floor, filling the air with a burnt smell, smoke, and loud crackling.

“Ku…ughh…!”

Delphine clenched her teeth as a muffled groan escaped her lips.

It was a fighting style that she had seen somewhere before.

It was the familiar style of using everything available to them to defeat the opponent through any means necessary.

Elsie’s current fighting style was similar to Ian’s.

Originally, Elsie’s fighting style was similar to her own in that they both used more orthodox tactics, but Elsie began to resemble the person she had feelings for.

Despite all her muscles contracting from the electrocution, Delphine refused to release her grip on her sword.

Instead, she circulated her aura.

Whoosh!

Flames of brilliant gold erupted around her as a terrifying heat spread out.

The stone floor instantly became searing hot, evaporating the water and freeing her limbs.

Just as Elsie charged at her with a lightning spear for the final blow, Delphine managed to pick herself off the ground and swiftly closed in on Elsie using her mana.

Elsie tried to strike down with her lightning spear, but Delphine pulled her arm and ultimately threw Elsie to the ground.

Boooom!

A shockwave shot out.

Then, Delphine flipped her back into the air before immediately delivering a punch to her face.

Elsie’s head turned. Delphine was satisfied with the feeling of her fist connecting with Elsie’s face.

Elsie felt her brain rattle from the blow to her jaw. It was a blunder to abandon her shield in her attempt to emulate Ian.

Delphine emitted a low growl, filled with hostility.

“Let’s beat you a bit more, Rinella.”

Despite Delphine’s threat, Elsie burst out laughing. Her rebellious sapphire-blue eyes glared up at Delphine.

“…….Get ready to apologize with snot coming out of your nose, you little bitch.”

Delphine nailed her fist into Elsie’s tiny face without hesitation.

She intended to pummel Elsie’s face until it became a disfigured mess while carefully adjusting her strength to avoid causing any fractures. She knew that the Rinella family would have no issue with it, as Elsie had been the one to insult her first.

But in the next moment, Delphine felt her leg muscles convulse intensely. She was being electrocuted, but she didn’t know how that was possible.

Delphine dazedly looked to her side. There, water was trickling down the table. The glasses of water were likely to have been toppled over by the impact of Elsie slamming into the ground.

Then, the lightning spear, that was previously in Elsie’s hand, caught Delphine’s attention. It was heading straight towards the water trickling from the table.

Delphine inadvertently uttered profanities in her head as a sharp electric shock crackled through the air.

A pained scream climbed up her throat as she once again fell to her side. Elsie mounted atop of her fallen body, and before she knew it, another ball of blue electricity materialized in Elsie’s hand.

“What’d you call Sir Ian? Hatchet Murderer? You’re the one who fucked with him first……! A-And he hasn’t killed anyone yet! Probably! So apologize right now, you bitch!”

Elsie grit her teeth in anger and raised her hand to strike Delphine with the crackling ball of electricity.

But before she could, the mana in her hand dispersed as something pierced through the ball of electricity in her hand.

It was a phenomenon that occurred when mana clashed against denser mana. However, she wondered if there was anyone that skilled at the orphanage.

Puzzled, Elsie looked to the side. There, an older man with white hair was shaking his head.

The scabbard hanging from his waist was empty as the blade in his hand emanated a soft, white glow.

It was aura. Thinking back, she recalled him saying he was a mercenary who had made a name for himself a long time ago.

As Elsie sifted her memories, Gilford spoke in a calm voice.

“Please stop, both of you.”

“But this fucking bitch was talking shit about Sir Ian…!”

“Do you think Sir Ian would be happy if he saw you like this?”

Elsie’s body stiffened as hesitation began to cloud her eyes.

Before long, Elsie heaved a sigh and staggered up on her feet.

It was just one hit, but it was still a blow from a swordsman of Delphine’s level. It was impossible to be unscathed.

Elsie’s eyes darted back and forth before she cautiously opened her mouth. As her heightened emotions calmed down, ‘Sir Ian’ reverted to just ‘Ian’.

“Um, could you keep this a secret from Ian…….”

“…….It’s not over yet.”

A weary voice came from the woman sprawled on the floor as both Gilford and Elsie turned to look at her. Delphine grit her teeth and lifted herself halfway off the ground.

Her crimson eyes blazed with the desire to win.

“We should finish what we’ve started. Don’t you agree?”

“Huuu..…”

With a long sigh, Elsie annoyedly rubbed her forehead.

“I tried to give her a chance, but this fucking bitch really…..!”

“…….Why don’t you both stop there?”

Leto was the next to intervene. The two girls both turned their heads and glared daggers at him.

However, he merely gave a composed smile and raised his hands to convey that he had no intentions of fighting.

“Disregarding the fact that you two scared the children, the current situation stands that Ian was attacked by an unknown demonic beast. We need to conserve our energy just in case we run into any demonic beasts or even demonic humans. Besides, will you two be able to handle it?”

Seeing the confusion contained within the two girls’ eyes, Leto continued.

“It’ll escalate into a family feud if you guys fight it out to the end.”

That was the end.

Elsie and Delphine clicked their tongues and retracted their weapons without saying another word. There was nothing else they could do.

Conflict between the upper nobility was more terrifying than people could imagine. There was no stopping it once it began.

Pride was of great importance to the Empire’s nobility, and they spared no expense to protect it.

Elsie and Delphine demanded one thing from the two men in exchange for their temporary ceasefire.

It was to keep today’s matter a secret from Ian.

After receiving confirmation, Elsie and Delphine both gulped down the healing potions they had and left for their rooms.

All that remained were the remnants of the glass cups and the children trembling in the corner.

**

A question popped up in my mind after hearing Leto’s lengthy account.

“……..Is it okay to tell me all this when you promised them not to?”

“Then should I sit around and do nothing? Their ceasefire is just a ticking time bomb… It’s up to the technician to defuse it before it explodes.”

Leto then pat my shoulder, as if he was saying he believed in me.

An incredulous laugh threatened to escape my throat, but I swallowed it back down.

“And you’re saying I’m that technician?”

“Yup, you gathered those girls, so you handle it. There’s nothing more Mr. Gilford and I can do.”

What he said was true. Leto and Mr. Gilford had nothing to do with my group. Senior Delphine and Senior Elsie were in my group, so it was only right that I resolved the conflict as the leader.

I just didn’t know how.

As I grasped my forehead with a groan, Leto, like always, offered some advice.

“Just keep it simple instead of overcomplicating things. Your muscle brain is incapable of complex thinking anyways”

I couldn’t tell if that was advice or just an insult, but either way, I decided to take his words to heart.

And so, I headed to Senior Delphine’s room.

*

Knock knock.

I knocked twice, but there was no answer.

The orphanage only had a few private rooms. Typically, one was for the volunteers and another was for the director’s office. However, as Senior Delphine and Senior Elsie were both part of the upper nobility, they were given private rooms. Naturally, the Saintess was also provided with her own room. Other than those, there weren’t any other private rooms.

Mr. Gilford had vacated the director’s office and offered the rooms to me and Yuren, but we had declined. In hindsight, it might have been nice to have my own room to have private conversations.

I cleared my throat before speaking up.

“I’m coming in.”

“…….What is it?”

A wary voice immediately answered back.

Confirming her presence, I promptly opened the door and entered. Senior Delphine, surprised that I had come in right away, looked startled as she sat on the edge of her bed.

“Y-you dare enter a lady’s room without permission? Hatchet Lord, I think you need to relearn the nobleman’s etiquette…..”

“I don’t think that’s something someone who greeted me half-naked should say.”

Senior Delphine’s mouth closed shut. She could have pushed back if she really wanted to, but she seemed to notice that I wasn’t in the mood to play around.

Her crimson eyes began trembling as she avoided my gaze.

“Senior Delphine, let’s go on a walk. Just the two of us.”

“N-no…….”

A quivering voice pitifully put up resistance to my calm suggestion, but I continued.

“I’ve heard that the forest air is quite refreshing, even more so during the night when the weather is coolor.”

“N-no…….”

“No one will know if it’s just the two of us. We can have a private talk ther-”

“……I said no!”

Senior Delphine yelled out, her body shaking as if she was having a seizure. Her expression contained something more than hatred. Fear was written all over her face, clearly expressing that she would never go anywhere alone with me.

Realizing that too much time would be wasted by going back and forth like this, I clicked my tongue and pulled out my hatchet.

Upon seeing the silver glint of the hatchet blade, Senior Delphine gasped and blankly stared at the hatchet while holding her breath.

Then without hesitation, I raised the hatchet.

“Kyaaaaaaa! I-I’ll go! I’ll go, s-so… please! S-stop……”

Should have done this from the start. With a satisfied expression, I swung down the hatchet.

Thuuk!

The hatchet struck the stone floor, leaving a dent.

“Huu…. hu…”

Unable to conceal her fear and nervousness, Senior Delphine let out heavy breaths as her fear-ridden eyes remained fixated on the hatchet.

I belatedly realized that we had to provide compensation for the floor repairs.

Oh well. I grinned and decided to leave it to Senior Delphine and her deep pockets.

“You made a good choice.”

She looked to be on the verge of tears, and her body was also visibly trembling while curled up into a ball.

It had been a while, and it was about time we had a conversation—just the two of us.