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Chapter 49. Hi. Can You Get Away From My Sister?
[Ooh, hmm? Is that ‘Youth’?]
Greed, who had been silent the whole time, asked in a lively tone.
[Interesting. You’re more popular than you look. I wonder if humans have low standards].
Greed’s words fell on deaf ears.
It was because I was still in an awkward situation with Raeyan.
“Rae–no, no– Ian?”
I hastily corrected the name, conscious of Jansi in the distance. But instead of letting go, Raeyan hugged me so tightly it was almost suffocating.
“I, how much…….”
I could hear the tremor in Raeyan’s voice.
‘I was not expecting this.’
I was equally confused.
Even though I disappeared suddenly, I took it for granted, thinking that he would be waiting for me after some searching.
I couldn’t believe he was actually searching for me.
Then, Raeyan definitely said that he was going to lose me “again”.  As if he had lost me once before.
‘Raeyan. What are you hiding?’
Just at that moment, when I hesitated to lift my hand–
SMASH.
A tremendous sound of something being smashed came from the side. If I wasn’t mistaken, it was coming from the direction of Jansi.
[Wow. There was something there and now it’s gone].
Looking past Raeyan, I saw that, true to Greed’s word, there was something missing.
If I recalled correctly, there had been a ledge of the mercenary headquarters there, but it disappeared in an instant.
“Hi.”
Jansi smiled and greeted him. He was smiling, but…….
“Can you get away from my sister?”
It wasn’t a friendly smile.
There was more of a creepy energy, like the power behind the smile was enough to kill.
I couldn’t understand why Jansi was so upset, but I figured I’d better separate myself from Raeyan for now.
I looked at Raeyan, who had a firm grip on my shoulder, and tried to calm him down.
“Ian. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure that you are, Elodie?”
“Yeah.”
Rayan looked at me with shaky eyes and raised his hand in disbelief. It was as if he wanted to touch me to confirm it, and almost seemed like that was the only way to calm him down, but it wasn’t a wise thing to do now.
Jansi, who was walking at a rapid pace in contrast to his usual regular gait, grabbed Raeyan’s arm with his bare, gloveless hand.
“I told you to stay away.”
His gloves seemed to have vanished along with the ledge as his powers manifested.
Jansi was obviously still laughing, but the atmosphere had turned unbearably hostile.
Sandwiched between the two men, I glanced back and forth between Jansi and Raeyan before scurrying away with little steps.
‘I’m out of this fight …….’
But my escape was cut short when Jansi grabbed me with his other hand.
“Lili. Where are you going?”
“Haha……. I’m just moving out of the way so you two can talk.”
“Come here.”
“Okay.”
I wasn’t strong-minded enough to dare to refuse Jansi’s order.
In fact, the most terrifying thing in this world was neither Duke Perdia nor Duchess Perdia, but Jansi Perdia himself. In the original story, Jansi was a villainous older brother who would do anything behind the scenes for his foster sister, Estelle.
‘If he holds a grudge, you don’t know what he’ll do to you later.’
So, it was better not to provoke him as much as possible so that his judgment wouldn’t be twisted.
As I approached his side, Jansi smiled and loosened his grip on Raeyan’s arm.
“Don’t forget who your employer is, Ian the Mercenary.”
“…….”
The mood was turning sour again. I glanced up at Jansi and quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, brother, is everything alright?”
“What?”
“The glove.”
I glanced at Jansi’s bare hand, mourning the loss of the ill-fated glove.
He wouldn’t want Raeyan to know that it was difficult to control his powers.
“Ah, it’s okay now, Lili.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“But…….”
Jansi, who had been looking at me with a meaningful expression, smiled again.
“Lili, as long as you stick close to me, I’ll be fine.”
Don’t you think my life will be in danger?
But I was afraid of the consequences of refusing, so I smiled awkwardly and moved ever so slightly closer to him.
Just when I thought we had finally changed the subject, Jansi turned to Raeyan again.
“By the way, why were you hugging my sister?”
Before Raeyan could answer, I quickly interrupted.
“Because I suddenly disappeared in front of him. No wonder he’s so surprised, right, Ian?”
Rayan nodded, dumbfounded by the question.
Since he didn’t look that great, and I didn’t want him to keep talking to Jansi, I decided it would be best to save the details for another day.
“We’ll talk about it tomorrow. We’ll leave now.”
I quickly tried to lead Jansi away from the place, but I couldn’t.
Raeyan’s hand was already clutching the hem of my dress.
Jansi’s eyes narrowed.
‘Eek, that’s dangerous.’
I urgently called out to Raeyan.
“Ian.”
“…….”
“Ian?”
“…….”
“Leader of the Earth Hawk Mercenary Corps?”
Even with the presence of his men right behind him, Raeyan didn’t relax his grip on the hem of my robe.
I wondered if it was too much to say that it felt like dealing with a large dog suffering from separation anxiety.
I coaxed him in my most soothing voice.
“Pick me up tomorrow morning, Ian. I’ll see you then.”
“…… All right.”
“Good.”
Finally, Rayan let go of the hem of my shirt.
Raeyan stood there until the two of us had completely left the front of the mercenary headquarters.
***
Once Raeyan was out of sight, Jansi smirked.
“You have quite the knack for dealing with the Mercenary King, Lili.”
“Since he’s my escort, we’ve become quite close.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Even as I answered without hesitation, Jansi looked puzzled.
“I don’t know about you, but the Mercenary King seems to have a thing for you, Lili. Are you going to have him as a lover?”
“What? No?”
“Well. I don’t think the First Prince would allow his fiancée to take in a lover.”
Jansi had asked me a question and then jumped to his own conclusion.
A lover. I chuckled a little at the amusing thought and shrugged.
“I don’t think the prince would care if I had a lover.”
“Hmm, that might be true. The First Prince only needs the power of Perdia.”
“That’s what the engagement was about in the first place,” I replied bluntly, and Jansi eyed me warily with a smirk.
“What?” I asked.
“Are you ok with that? The first prince doesn’t like you.”
“It’s okay, I don’t like him either.”
Then Jansi looked a little surprised.
“I thought you liked the First Prince, Lili.”
“To put it bluntly, I only liked him for his face when we got engaged, but now I don’t think much of him.”
I was still a sucker for a good face, but I’d never made a hobby of stealing other people’s men.
‘It’ll all work out later with Estelle.’
It was a bit of a shame that I wouldn’t be able to see her in the flesh, as I would be out of Perdia by then.
Still, being alive is the most important thing.
Jansi walked at my stride and asked softly, “Is that why you told father you were going to break up the engagement?”
I nodded, knowing it wasn’t exactly true, but it was close enough.
Then Jansi offered a helping hand.
“Do you want me to help you?”
I looked at Jansi doubtfully. He was offering to help me?
“Are you really my brother?”
“Yes. Actually, I don’t like the first prince.”
Jansi’s offer was quite unexpected.
After all, Jansi was a Perdia, and he wouldn’t want to break this relationship of political support with the First Prince.
But I didn’t need Jansi’s help.
“It’s okay, I’ve talked to the First Prince, and he has agreed to break up the engagement.”
Before I could finish the sentence, Jansi stopped dead in his tracks and stared down at me.
“With the First Prince? Does Father know about that?”
“I haven’t told him yet because he will feel displeased if I tell him that. Perhaps His Highness the First Prince will tell him?”
I was careful, for I had already displeased the Duke of Perdia by mentioning my breakup once.
It would be quite annoying to be put on probation again.
“You said you didn’t need my help, Lili, but if the time comes, I’ll be happy to help.”
It was a bit weird, because he was quite forward, which wasn’t usual for Jansi.
Jansi seemed to dislike the first prince that much. He was happy to help.
As I picked up my pace again, I remembered something.
“Brother Jansi, didn’t you say you wanted to buy something?”
He had said that and proceeded to escort me, but he hadn’t bought anything yet.
But Jansi just smiled and replied.
“Oh, that. I already bought it.”
“What? We didn’t go to any shops……. What did you buy?”
“Mercenary Corps Headquarters ledger, reimbursement fee.”
“What……?”
I looked dumbfounded, not understanding Jansi’s words, but he just kept walking, leading me along.
Then I heard the sarcastic voice of Greed.
[Stupid? Going out to buy something was an excuse.]
‘If that’s such an excuse, why did he offer to escort me?’
[Because he likes you.]
‘Nonsense.’
The idea of Jansi liking someone was ridiculous.
Although his attitude has been strange lately, he was probably up to something.
It wasn’t easy to figure out Jansi Perdia, who was a bit of a shadowy character.
Then I remembered what Jansi had said earlier.
“I don’t know about you, but the Mercenary King seems to have a thing for you, Lili.”
That’s what Jansi, who was sensitive to other people’s emotions, said.
Not surprisingly, I was uncomfortable with Jansi’s assumption that Raeyan liked me.
I knew he had special feelings for me. I couldn’t help but notice.
But it was something more than just a sexual attraction. There was something that was hard to explain. Perhaps it had something to do with the secret he was keeping from me.
My brooding was short-lived. I stopped walking, and Jansi followed suit.
“What’s wrong, Lili?”
“Brother Jansi, may I ask you a favor?”
Jansi smiled kindly and nodded.
“‘Sure thing.”
“Then I want you to investigate Ian, the Mercenary King.”
He says he’ll tell me what he’s hiding one day, but I don’t know when that will be, and I can’t wait.
‘I need to know what that secret is, and why he looks at me so desperately.’
I was even willing to borrow the power of Jansi.
If that’s the only way I can survive in this world.
***
Outside the headquarters of the Earth Hawk Mercenary Corps.
All of the mercenaries who had followed the leader in his search for Elodie had witnessed a grotesque scene that made their eyes widen in disbelief.
They all turned round.
“The leader…… has been eaten by a demon.”
“That’s not the leader.”
“I’ve heard of it. There’s a demon that eats you and then wears your skin……..”
“I guess so.”
Ian, the Mercenary King, hugging someone like that, and holding on to them so tightly as they attempt to leave? And his voice trembling so pitifully?
Ian the Mercenary King?!
“I don’t think I’m feeling well…….”
“Me, too.”
“Woah.”
There were a few gaping mercenaries here and there, and while they were in reality denial, the woman in question left, and Raeyan stood in front of them.
“Return to duty.”
One of the mercenaries disobeyed Raeyan’s order with a look of disbelief on his face.
“We only take orders from our leader.”
“…….”
“Who are you, and why are you wearing the shell of our leader?!”
Raeyan narrowed his brow at the ridiculousness of it all.
“Head.”
At the order to bash his head onto the ground, the mercenaries went berserk.
“No!”
“You’re not even the leader!”
“Give me my leader back, you demon!”
But the uproar didn’t last long.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang-!
“Aaah!”
With a single flick of Raeyan’s hand, their heads dropped to the ground.
The sight of dozens of mercenaries being smashed into the ground, headfirst, in groups on the road created an incredible spectacle.
“Oh my God. He’ll crack their skulls.”
A passerby stopped dead in his tracks at the noise and muttered in surprise.
No warning, just straight up power and ruthlessness……! The mercenaries groaned in recognition.
“That’s him – the leader.”
“Who the hell said he wasn’t…….”