The ragged street urchins, with their spirits heightened, were looking up at the sky.
Seeing them...
'I feel proud.'
I felt proud.
Honestly, I had my doubts.
A dozen of them.
Each one needed to be beaten a hundred times or more.
Combined, it would be over two thousand. How long would it take to beat them all?
'Is that all? No, it’s not.'
These guys kept forgetting the numbers, as if they were trying to fool me.
If I count from the beginning again, it would easily exceed two thousand.
But, I did it.
'I did a great job.'
I filled the number I had planned without any shortage.
Including the fifty-seven times I was beaten by the lackey the day before, I generously multiplied it by ten and returned the favor.
This was a new challenge for me, a seasoned troubleshooter who had experienced everything except aerial battles.
"Um, excuse me..."
I snapped out of my thoughts at the voice calling me.
"What."
It was the lackey.
"Um, can we go now? We’ve been beaten enough, haven’t we...?"
"Sure, go ahead."
But the lackey seemed hesitant.
"What are you doing? Not leaving?"
"Um, well..."
"..."
The lackey looked at a corner of the field, as if troubled.
I soon realized what the lackey was trying to say. In other words:
"This is our home..."
"You want us to leave?"
"..."
The lackey tightly shut his mouth.
I looked at the street urchins.
They probably had nowhere to go. Even if they were street urchins, they didn’t want to be on the streets.
But.
"That’s a bit difficult."
It would be tough.
"Um, well... I guess that’s how it is, right? Then, we’ll step back."
I didn’t respond.
This isn’t out of spite.
'Really difficult.'
Even for me, I’m not so heartless as to take away the place they live.
Just...
I looked at the lackey retreating with a gloomy face and gazed beyond the field.
"..."
The field was getting dark.
Thanks to the purer mana from my previous life, my senses were sharp despite my much lower level.
And those senses told me.
Beyond there.
'Someone is there.'
An extremely refined aura.
It was getting closer by the second, at a fierce speed. But the fact that I could sense it despite this meant it was very stealthy.
In other words, it was the unique aura of those who move in the shadows, like a troubleshooter.
'Probably...'
I looked at Damian.
The kid was waving innocently at the departing street urchins, one hand still in his mouth, seemingly unaware of anything.
But, it was clear.
'They’re the pursuers.'
The ones chasing Damian.
'Tsk.'
I had a bad taste in my mouth.
I was careful, so how did they find us? I didn’t expect Blando to find us first.
'Not good.'
Still, it doesn’t matter. Things don’t always go as planned.
I gauged the amount of mana in my body and considered my options.
'With this much mana...'
I couldn’t cast a single spell.
Physical combat wouldn’t work either.
But, who am I? A former troubleshooter. I’ve never had an abundance of mana, so this situation wasn’t entirely unfamiliar.
'This is a one-time chance.'
A faint blue mist rose from my fingertips.
It was so weak it was barely visible, but I condensed the mana mist.
A tiny mana bullet the size of a fingernail. But this wasn’t the end. Compress, compress, compress. After compressing it exactly eight times...
The final size of the mana bullet was that of a grain of wheat.
'This should be... enough.'
It’s a one-time chance anyway.
If I can hit the vital point accurately, size doesn’t matter.
Thud!
The pursuer burst out from the bushes right then.
But, why?
"..."
The pursuer, an old man with a bald head, suddenly knelt down.
The pursuer, who had been running at full speed, knelt and slid forward.
Swoosh!
When he reached Damian, he suddenly bowed and said:
"Oh, Master—!"
Damian was startled.
"A, Alfredo!"
"I don’t know how long I’ve been looking for you! Where have you been and how have you been living! This poor butler couldn’t sleep a wink worrying about you... Hic!"
I blinked in confusion.
'So...'
The bald man wasn’t a pursuer. The aura was definitely stealthy, but from the conversation, he was clearly a member of Blando.
'...Even a butler?'
I quietly observed the tearful reunion between butler Alfredo and Damian.
And I understood.
"Stay back!"
"I can’t! If you run again, what will we do! I can’t leave until you return to the family! Rather, kill me!"
"No, I won’t go! I’ll never go back home!"
Damian had run away, not from anyone else.
'...It was a runaway.'
Right, it was a runaway.
* * *
Thinking about it, Damian had said:
- Why are you alone?
- I ran away. They’ll come to get me from the family.
He didn’t say where he ran from or who was chasing him.
I just assumed from his dark expression.
'Who would have thought he ran away from his family.'
Anyway, Damian returned to his family.
He was riding in a carriage that Alfredo had hurriedly procured, leaving the black and white zone.
But, one thing was puzzling...
"Oh, Master. What are you wearing? That’s not suitable for you!"
"I don’t like it, it’s uncomfortable."
Who are you, and where am I?
I sat in the moving carriage, watching Damian argue with butler Alfredo.
Damian was dressed as a servant, which Alfredo clearly disapproved of.
But Damian’s resolve was firm.
"No."
He closed his eyes and turned his head away.
Alfredo, unable to do anything, stomped his feet.
But, regardless.
"..."
I was confused.
'Why am I here?'
That was the question.
Originally, my intention was to protect Damian and connect with Blando.
Since Damian’s escape was actually a runaway, Blando had no reason to call me.
I was about to leave quietly...
I stared at butler Alfredo.
- If it’s okay, would you like to come with us?
- ...
- Master Damian seems to like the boy a lot. He’ll be very disappointed if you leave. Hehe.
'I can’t read his intentions.'
This wasn’t the way of a noble family.
Noble families generally reject the dirty and look down on the lowly.
'Well, it doesn’t matter.'
I’d get a meal and then leave.
'Blando is on the way to the city of Hagen.'
The city of Hagen has the Jenion Academy, considered the best in the eastern continent. The library of Jenion Academy, Laphite, is also the best in the east.
'I was planning to visit someday, so why not now?'
I revised my vague plan in my head.
Since I’ve decided to build the best library, seeing the best library in the east wouldn’t be bad.
* * *
An old man walked to the main hall where the head of the Blando family resided.
Knock knock.
The old man went to the study of Bianca, the lady of the house and a witch.
"Come in."
The old man carefully opened the door and entered the room.
Creak, thud.
As the door closed, Bianca’s eyes, which were red like blood, turned to the old man, Alfredo.
"Damian?"
"He was in the 7th black and white zone. I’m bringing him back now."
"..."
Bianca’s eyebrows twitched.
One second, two seconds.
After about three seconds?
As Alfredo subtly stepped back, a deafening roar echoed.
Bang!
The table shattered.
The antique furniture broke into pieces like straw, scattering everywhere.
"7th black and white zone?!"
"Yes."
"Is Damian okay? Did anything happen? Tell me now. If anything is wrong with Damian, even a hair..."
"No."
The black and white zone.
When you hear the name, you usually think of a slum where the poor and destitute live, but that’s just one of the many facets of the black and white zone.
Beneath that shabby facade, there sometimes exists a world beyond imagination.
Bianca was enraged for that very reason.
"Calm down and listen to me."
"..."
"Tell me what happened."
Alfredo recounted Damian’s runaway story, which he had heard in the carriage.
The story was filled with phrases like "it was cold" and "I was hungry," but Alfredo was well-versed in Damian’s way of speaking.
He skillfully interpreted the story, not minding to add his own opinions and speculations.
When the story ended:
"Ah, so that’s how it was."
Bianca regained her composure and sat down.
The chair was broken, but a tree grew from the ground to form a new one.
"Thank goodness."
"It is."
It was fortunate for Bianca and for anyone who might have hurt Damian.
Bianca, once known as the Blood Witch, had no limits when it came to her son.
No one knew how far her unpredictable anger would go.
Just as Alfredo was secretly relieved, Bianca smiled and said:
"Thank you for your hard work."
"It’s nothing. It was my duty."
The runaway of the young master of Blando was a major incident that would have mobilized the entire family’s magic squad.
But, to avoid complications, Alfredo, the head butler, secretly went to find Damian.
Just as the situation was about to be resolved, Alfredo spoke:
"However, there is one unusual matter."
"Unusual matter?"
"The friend he made this time."
"Aster, right? What about him?"
Bianca recalled the runaway story Alfredo had explained earlier. The friend Damian met at the end of his runaway, a street urchin from the black and white zone.
This friend came back to the family with him.
"The friend is a bit unusual."
"Unusual?"
"Yes, he noticed my presence."
"Hmm, your presence?"
Bianca raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"Did you mistake it?"
"No."
Alfredo recalled their first meeting.
'Clearly...'
When he was charging towards Master Damian in excitement, he didn’t notice it at the time, but upon reflection, there was something odd.
From the moment he burst out of the bushes until he reached Master Damian.
His eyes never left him.
And in his hand...
'Was it a mana bullet?'
It was so small it was hard to notice, but Alfredo’s senses were not ordinary.
In other words, the boy had detected him early and prepared to counterattack.
Even though Alfredo didn’t intentionally hide his presence, it was still a remarkable feat.
'Interesting.'
Alfredo shared his thoughts with Bianca without reservation.
"Indeed, it’s a surprising talent."
"That’s why, Lady, may I ask a favor? I want to know the boy’s past. If you could mobilize the head’s direct intelligence unit, it would be more accurate..."
"Hmm, what’s behind it?"
"If his past is clean, I want him to succeed me."
Bianca nodded.
"Do as you wish."
Alfredo had dedicated decades to the family. If he wanted a successor, she could mobilize the head’s direct intelligence unit.
Alfredo bowed deeply.
"Yes, thank you."
In a few days, he would know the boy’s past in detail.
A few days later.
Alfredo found the annex where Aster was staying.
"Boy, become my successor."
The report from the intelligence unit showed that Aster’s past was clean.
A street urchin from the black and white zone, his exact birth was unknown, but he had never left the black and white zone since childhood.
Alfredo was confident. He didn’t think Aster would refuse. After all, it was the position of a butler in a noble family.
High income, prestige, and the power that came with being close to the head of the family.