Chapter 26

Swoosh.

Ariel, who was washing her body with hot water, suddenly tilted her head as she looked at her fingers.

“…?”

She noticed a ring on her finger.

It was the Kastark seal ring.

She had received it from Kal at the banquet hall, but Ariel, who was half-asleep at the time, didn’t remember.

After staring at the ring for a moment, Ariel tilted her head again and continued washing her body.

Right now, the ring wasn’t important.

She wanted to finish washing up quickly, hug Ghost, and go to sleep.

After hurriedly finishing her bath, Ariel stepped out of the bathroom, dried herself with a towel, and changed into her nightgown.

Feeling refreshed and clean.

She thought she had done well to wash up.

Ariel smiled faintly and stepped out into the courtyard.

“?”

She soon froze.

Ghost, who should have been wagging her tail to greet her, was lying collapsed in the courtyard.

Ariel rushed to Ghost, and just then, she heard a voice from behind.

“Don’t worry about the wolf. She’s just asleep.”

Ariel turned around.

Someone was standing behind her.

A masked figure with a wooden sword at their waist.

*

Shane, who had infiltrated the courtyard of Ariel’s lodging, first encountered Ghost.

“Grrr…”

Ghost bared her teeth and glared at Shane but didn’t recklessly charge.

She instinctively sensed that Shane was strong.

Shane, facing off against Ghost, pulled out a bottle from his pocket.

It contained fairy sleeping powder.

Shane’s plan was to use the sleeping powder to knock out Ariel and Ghost and steal the Kastark seal ring.

Stealing wasn’t honorable for a knight, but he had no choice.

If Ariel willingly returned the ring, fine, but if not, he’d have to take it by force.

Things could easily escalate.

Shane wanted to handle this as quietly as possible. If Kal found out, it would be chaos.

Thud!

Ghost charged at Shane, kicking off the ground.

Ghost had recognized Shane as an intruder.

No matter how strong the intruder seemed, she had to deal with him before he posed a threat to Ariel.

Click!

Shane quickly stepped back and opened the bottle of fairy sleeping powder.

Shane’s goal was simply to retrieve the ring; he had no intention of harming Ghost.

Swish!

As Shane swung the bottle, the sleeping powder covered Ghost’s face.

Fairy sleeping powder was extremely potent, and anyone hit with it would fall asleep instantly.

Ghost stopped in her tracks, unable to regain her senses.

But that was it. Ghost didn’t fall asleep.

Instead of sleeping, she quickly regained her senses and charged at Shane again.

‘Ugh, so she’s a spirit beast after all?’

To avoid Ghost’s attacks, Shane had to roll roughly on the ground.

It seemed that one or two doses of sleeping powder wouldn’t be enough to knock out Ghost.

Swish!

Shane dodged Ghost’s attacks while continuing to sprinkle the sleeping powder.

Finally, as the sleeping powder ran out, Ghost collapsed to the ground.

“……”

Seeing the empty bottle, Shane sighed.

Now, there was no way to knock out Ariel.

‘Should I go back and get more sleeping powder…?’

As Shane pondered, he heard footsteps from behind.

It was Ariel, stepping out into the courtyard after her bath.

Shane quickly hid, and Ariel approached the fallen Ghost.

‘No choice.’

Now that Ariel had appeared, Shane decided to proceed.

Going back for more sleeping powder risked complicating things.

Ariel would surely find it suspicious if she saw Ghost collapsed.

Shane revealed himself from behind Ariel.

“Don’t worry about the wolf. She’s just asleep.”

At Shane’s words, Ariel turned around.

Her emotionless red eyes.

Even with a masked Shane suddenly appearing, she didn’t flinch.

She wasn’t afraid. She just quietly stared at Shane.

Shane drew his wooden sword from his waist.

He had intentionally left his real sword behind.

He didn’t want to risk injuring Ariel or Ghost.

“Elf, hand over the Kastark seal ring. Then nothing will happen.”

Shane took a step closer to Ariel.

“But if you don’t, I’ll kill you. Both you and that wolf.”

A murderous aura emanated from Shane, enveloping Ariel.

It was a powerful aura that would make any ordinary girl her age collapse.

But, as expected, Ariel didn’t even flinch.

‘I need to be careful.’

Shane had watched Ariel arm-wrestle during the day and duel with Cobin at the banquet hall.

From that perspective, Ariel was no easy opponent.

Though small, her strength was monstrous.

She had easily overpowered a burly arm-wrestling man and sent Cobin flying with a single backhand.

So Shane heightened all his senses and cautiously approached Ariel.

He didn’t intend to hurt Ariel, but if she used her strength, Shane would have to get serious.

Only then could he successfully retrieve the ring.

“You’ll kill me. And Ghost.”

Ariel murmured softly.

A monotone voice.

For some reason, Shane felt an odd discomfort from that voice.

‘What is this?’

Shane declared he would kill her, spreading his murderous aura.

He didn’t actually intend to kill, but saying so usually made people cower or reveal their fighting spirit.

But Ariel did neither. She just stood barefoot in her nightgown beside Ghost.

Shane spoke again.

“Hand over the Kastark seal ring, elf!”

Ariel glanced at the ring on her finger, then looked back at Shane.

Still expressionless.

It seemed she had no intention of giving up the ring.

Swish!

Finally, Shane lunged and swung his wooden sword.

Since things had come to this, he needed to subdue Ariel as quickly as possible and take the ring.

‘I’ll have to rely on speed.’

Shane wasn’t the type to lose in strength.

Nor was he the type to rely solely on strength.

Shane excelled in both strength and speed.

Thanks to that, he could effectively use both when fighting barbarian warriors in the past.

He overwhelmed strong barbarian warriors with speed and overpowered fast ones with strength.

In short, he identified his opponent’s weaknesses and exploited them.

It was a wise and rational strategy.

Moreover, Shane’s swordsmanship was exceptional, so it was no wonder the barbarians feared him.

Swish!

Shane’s wooden sword came down toward Ariel’s head.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

Shane’s fastest strike.

No opponent had ever properly dodged it before. At best, they barely blocked it.

Even if Ariel was strong, she’d likely be knocked out by Shane’s strike…

As Shane thought this, his eyes widened.

“!”

Ariel’s figure before him had vanished without a trace.

“Is this ring yours?”

A calm voice from behind.

Shane’s body reflexively turned, and his wooden sword swung.

Swish!

But once again, the sword hit nothing.

Ariel had already stepped back, narrowly avoiding Shane’s sword by a hair’s breadth.

“?!”

Shane couldn’t believe it. Yet, his body moved, and he continued attacking Ariel.

Whoosh! Swish!

Shane unleashed attacks at a speed invisible to the average eye.

And Ariel dodged them effortlessly.

‘Th-this is impossible…!’

Shane, who had never been outsped in his life, couldn’t keep up with the movements of an elf girl Kal’s age.

“Haah…! Haah…!”

Shane’s breathing quickly became ragged. Sweat poured down like rain.

He had been through countless battlefields, but this was the first time he’d encountered such an absurd situation.

Swish!

Once again, Shane’s sword cut through empty air.

A monotonous voice reached his ears.

“Is this ring yours?”

Shane didn’t answer. He didn’t have the luxury.

He just gritted his teeth and continued attacking.

“Eek!”

But it still didn’t work. He couldn’t even touch Ariel’s clothes.

‘Th-this is impossible…!’

Shane’s sword, extended like lightning, aimed for Ariel’s face, but she tilted her head slightly to dodge.

And in that moment, Ariel’s eyebrows, which had shown no expression until now, furrowed slightly.

As if annoyed.

Ariel’s eyes glowed red.

At the same time, her fist flew toward Shane.

“!!”

Shane panicked and tried to dodge, but it was impossible.

Before Shane could react, Ariel’s fist struck his solar plexus.

Thud!

Shane, like Cobin at the banquet hall, was sent flying and slammed into the wall.

The wooden sword Shane had been holding soared into the air, spinning before embedding itself into the ground.

“……”

Ariel approached Shane, who was embedded in the wall.

She removed the mask from his face.

“Guh, ugh…”

A faint groan escaped Shane’s lips.

Shane, despite being hit by Ariel’s fist, hadn’t lost consciousness.

It was partly because Shane was an exceptional knight, but more accurately, it was because Ariel had controlled her strength.

If Ariel had used even a bit more force, Shane wouldn’t have survived.

His upper body would have been obliterated.

Shane smiled self-deprecatingly.

‘It’s over…’

He hadn’t retrieved the ring. Worse, his identity had been exposed to Ariel.

Perhaps Ariel would go to Kal and confront him.

—Kal! Your guard knight came to steal the ring you gave me! What’s going on?!

Though Ariel didn’t seem the type to do that…

‘At least the young master will find out.’

Shane wanted to prevent that at all costs.

If that happened, Kal would feel betrayed and hurt.

“P-please, if it’s not too much…”

Shane, blood dripping from his mouth, spoke.

“D-don’t tell the young master… Please… I beg you…”

At Shane’s words, Ariel tilted her head.

She stared intently at Shane’s face and asked.

“Who’s the young master?”

“……”

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