Chapter 55

Chapter Twenty-Nine Desiring to Take Down Carlos

What is he doing here? He was supposed to go to the parish today.

I furrowed my brows in confusion and stuck my right index finger into my mouth, gnawing on my nails incessantly with a clicking sound.

The sky had completely darkened by now. I thought he would have returned to the castle long ago, perhaps even enjoying dinner made by Mrs. Catherine. Yet, here he was, standing before me.

What’s going on? Why is he with those people? Who are they?

It didn’t make sense.

But his presence here suggested that this must be a misunderstanding.

After all, Carlos wouldn’t be involved with those who traffic children.

“Uncle Hunter, the man wearing the hat is our dean.”

Elle pointed into the crowd in the dark alleyway where there stood a plump middle-aged man wearing a black round hat. He was surrounded by attendants dressed as orderlies, with three clean-clothed children beside him.

Their friend must be among them.

“Look, the person in strange clothing is talking to the dean. It’s him who took our friends away!”

Lucas, despite the pain in his behind, hurried over to identify the hunters.

The man conversing with the dean wasn’t exactly dressed oddly, but his attire clearly wasn’t of the gothic style common in the Winter City; rather, it was more vibrant, resembling courtly retro fashion, indicating he was a foreigner.

Carlos seemed to have arrived with him in a unicorn-drawn carriage parked at the rear.

“…Strange, why has his guard turned into a swordsman? And he doesn’t seem very competent.”

Not very competent?

Alright.

I looked at Elle’s ‘not very competent’ swordsman. Despite the harsh cold, he still wore civilian clothes, with a long sword hanging from his waist, a black cloak tied loosely over his left shoulder, white hair tied up at the back blending with the snow. He leaned lazily against the wall, showing no interest in joining the conversation, his gaze wandering aimlessly, fiddling with something shiny in his hand, looking rather bored.

Yes, it’s easy to understand Elle’s thoughts. Just by appearance, he also seems unreliable to me.

“Should we approach?”

“Not yet, let’s wait. Let’s see what they’re up to.”

The hunters unloaded their weapons, checking them before continuing to observe the scene.

After a while, the foreign man turned towards the unicorn carriage behind him, calling the driver to help unload several crates.

My heart stirred. Those crates looked familiar…but after much thought, I couldn’t recall where I’d seen them.

The foreign man moved the crates out, and the dean then asked some attendants to open each one, inspecting their contents. The foreign man then walked over and spoke to him again. From afar, I couldn’t hear what he said, but I saw him rummage through his waist, pulling out a palm-sized cloth pouch, weighing it in his hand before handing it to the dean.

“What’s that? Coins?”

“The dean is selling David!”

The dean accepted the pouch without hesitation, then bent down to pat the children’s heads, gently pushing them towards the foreign man. The children were reluctant, clinging tightly to the dean’s clothes.

“Uncle, they’re about to be taken away. Please save them!”

Elle grew anxious, tears welling up in her eyes.

The two hunters exchanged glances.

“Do you think we need to negotiate?”

“Just act. The situation is clear.”

“Yes, the Holy Church never tolerates these people accepting money privately. This alone is enough reason for him to be punished. There’s nothing to worry about. We can explain it to the Duke later. Let’s take them down first.”

“Oh! I haven’t been active in a while. My little heart is eager for action.”

The hunter caressed the serrated, oddly-shaped large knife in his hand, his eyes gazing at it as if it were his beloved lover.

“Haha, kids! Stay put and watch Uncle rescue you!”

He was about to jump down the steps when I quickly stopped him.

“Wait. I know that swordsman. He’s not—”

“Miss Peyelo, please stay here and don’t run around.”

Clearly, the hunter didn’t take me seriously, smiling at me before gripping his weapon tighter.

“Hey—”

I tried to stop them again, wanting them to calm down. Fighting that swordsman wasn’t a game. But they didn’t listen, jumping down from the building in a few swift moves, landing and signaling each other before swiftly approaching Carlos and company.

“…”

“Sister, shall we just wait here?”

“Um, you’re Peyelo, right? I’m Lucas. It was wrong of me to say what I did just now. I apologize.”

A boy’s hesitant voice came from beside me, but I ignored him, watching as the two hunters drew closer to the crowd and shouting,

“Carlos—”

Regardless of whether he could hear, ice pillars erupted underfoot, leaping over ten meters high in Elle and Lucas’s astonished gazes, before descending…

She turned around, and an ice platform formed above her head.

Her body flipped, and she kicked off forcefully with her feet.

Bam—

The ice platform shattered into pieces with a loud explosion. Her petite figure dived straight down towards the crowd.

“Hey!”

Two hunters brandished their weapons and launched a surprise attack on Carlos from both sides.

Zii—

A few faint electric sparks flashed across Carlos’s body. His eyes were still lazy, but his hand was already on the hilt of his sword at his waist.

“Hold on!”

In the next moment, a cold light flashed.

At the critical moment, I had already rushed to the hunter’s head and kicked his hand holding the long knife in mid-air.

The hunter couldn’t withstand this force and stumbled. The long knife instantly slipped out of his hand, spinning a few times before landing in the snow nearby.

And at that moment, my foot just touched the ground. Before I could even steady myself, I struck again, creating a one-meter-high ice wall amid the roar, blocking the other hunter’s attack.

At the same time—

Swoosh!

A sword light flashed past my ear, cutting off several strands of my hair and slashing the ground ahead.

Bam—

A deep sword mark was carved into the snow.

“Pai, Paiyelo Miss…” The hunter stared at me in disbelief, then looked at the scorched sword mark beside his foot, his face pale and speechless.

If not for the young girl who had knocked him off balance, he would have been split in half by this sword.

This swordsman, who seemed half-asleep, had an incredibly terrifying speed. It was completely beyond human capability. Who was he?

I was also drenched in cold sweat, feeling fortunate that my keen intuition had sensed the eerie aura behind me in an instant, allowing me to quickly dodge my head. Otherwise, this sword would have cut off more than just my hair.

“What are you doing, Sylviega!”

Carlos’s voice behind me was unusually stern, startling me.

“Sylviega? You…”

The hunter in front of me suddenly seemed to remember something, his face filled with shock.

But I couldn’t care about him now. I timidly turned my body, looking at Carlos with a furious expression, feeling a bit scared.

I had never seen him so angry before.

“S-Sorry. It was an accident…”

“What kind of accident? Don’t you value your life? Come here!”

I lowered my head and slowly moved my steps, obediently walking to him.

“Do you know how dangerous that was just now!”

“I’m sorry…”

I twisted my fingers hard.

Carlos pointed at my head and nodded forcefully.

“What were you thinking? Trying to see whose head is harder, mine or yours?”

“Aah, it hurts…”

“You still feel pain? I almost chopped off your head just now!”

“You foolish woman, do you think you can block a sword like that?!”

“How could you be so stupid?!”

The more Carlos spoke, the more agitated he became, nearly spitting in my face.

I felt extremely wronged.

Of course, I knew how fast his sword was. But these two hunters charged blindly. If I hadn’t stopped them, their heads might have flown up when Carlos drew his sword.

I certainly didn’t want to see that happen. My body naturally reacted, without time to consider anything else.

Saving someone and being scolded like this, I felt both angry and wronged. Once emotions overflowed, they were uncontrollable.

“Don’t be mean to me!”

I glared at him and shouted.

“You still have a reason?”

“I apologized, why are you being mean to me?!”

“Apologize? If I hadn’t reacted quickly, do you think you could still apologize to me?!”

“You can’t be mean to me!”

I gritted my teeth in anger, my chest heaving violently, feeling like I might cry.

Perhaps seeing my distressed look, Carlos’s expression softened. He took a step forward and reached out to my neck.

“Don’t touch me!” I pushed his hand away forcefully and took a step back, staring at him fiercely.

“Don’t move, let me check if you’re injured.” Carlos persisted, pushing aside my black hair under my angry gaze, revealing a slight red swelling on the snow-white skin.

It was a trace left by the lightning wrapped around the sword blade.

“Does it hurt?”

“Mind your own business.”

“If you do this again, I’ll chop off your head.”

“Go ahead and chop it off!”

Carlos stared at me for a while, then suddenly smiled and leaned close to my ear, whispering, “You’re wearing white lace today.”

“Don’t you dare… you!”

My eyes widened in shock, staring at this shameless swordsman with hatred.

“Scumbag—!”

I rammed my head into his chest, causing him to stagger backward several steps.

At this moment, I felt a strong desire to kill him.

If there weren’t so many people around, I probably wouldn’t have been able to hold back.

Ah—

I was so angry.

“Excuse me, may I interrupt? Mr. Carlos, what’s going on?” The outsider man said cautiously, smiling.

Carlos shrugged and pointed at me.

“You should ask her.”

“Cough, this beautiful lady, could you please explain to me what happened?”