Chapter 12: Suspicious

.

.

.

.

.

━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━

General POV

While walking, they all unexpectedly came across someone.

"—A girl"

Said by one knight that made everyone halt their advances.

However, at that moment one boy continuously walked. It was Alfonso.

Valentina who was at the back also tried to slowly follow and when she realized that there was a girl—A commoner to be exact. She became worried that he would do something horrible to her.

Because of it, her feet began to move unbeknownst to her while shouting in anger.

"—Alfonso! Don't you dare touch that child!"

Despite her attempts, the boy continued. She was about to use her ability to catch up when suddenly, the boy bent his knees and also started picking the herbs.

"—Are these of any necessity to you?"

Valentina, bewildered by the sudden question of Alfonso. Hence, she came to stop her advances. Processing what was happening in front.

With a suspicious gaze, she quietly observed the two talk.

But as the two interacted, a speculation came into her mind.

‹ Is he doing this to gain my favor? ›

Valentina silently thought.

‹ If he is doing this... Then there is no point because he has already said that he'll null our marriage. To the point of telling my father. ›

She then shook her head as she finally realized why Alfonso was doing something strange.

"..."

She speculated that Alfonso was only doing these things because he wanted to make Valentina change her mind and tell her father to stop nullifying their marriage.

With that, a scornful gaze bloomed out of her face and scoffed Alfonso's intention.

‹ Is he trying to evoke empathy? Alfonso, I hate to break it to you but I'll never try to stop the break of our engagement ›

Just like that. Alfonso's reputation took another nosedive in her mind.

"Delusional"

Valentina quietly muttered.

At the mention of those words, Mary who has an incredible hearing silently frowned.

She could tell that the girl who was regarded as Alfonso's fiance—to be exact a soon ex-fiance was belittling Alfonso.

Just the thought of her lord trying to change but being mocked made her angry. Especially, since she knows why Alfonso is the way he is right now. However, she decided to keep her silence, she was only a servant after all.

Yet, her hand couldn't stop but be tightly clenched by hers. Barely containing her anger, she was about to walk toward Valentina.

But was interrupted when Alfonso suddenly flicked his fingers.

—Flick!

"Mary, bring out the food you have carried as my launch and feed this girl"

He said. Mary was momentarily stunned but soon quickly followed his orders.

She too was surprised by Alfonso's actions lately. Especially, because of the drastic change he is showing lately.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Changing Alfonso's gloves and after feeding the girl, Mary who noticed Alfonso who was just silently standing at the corner decided to ask him.

"Young Lord"

The boy's head then turned to look at her before she followed a question.

"Shall I not prepare a meal for you?"

As she enquired, she was first met with a momentary silence. And as it prolonged, Alfonso finally spoke.

"I have no requirements for sustenance at the moment. My appetite has a been duly satiated."

Hearing his response, Mary tried to butt in—

"But my Lord..."

She wanted to retort that he needs to eat since it's crucial for him to have energy while fighting beasts. Yet, he refuses to do so.

As a result, Mary speculated that Alfonso must see it as a waste of time to go back to the camp just to get food for him or even hunt and cook food in the present.

And just as she was about to voice out her mind she was quickly silenced by Alfonso when he instead asked her.

"Where is the girl? Arianna should I say"

"..."

Mary then turned silent as she processed things before understanding his intention of not wanting to further the drama.

With no choice, she was left with only responding.

"She's there eating my lord"

"Good" Alfonso then quickly gave a nod to her reply.

Seeing him act that way, thoughts clouded her.

‹ Just so he could feed her... He decided to not eat while at the same time not delaying our hunt. My Lord... ›

Mary silently muttered to her head as her eyes glinted with affection.

The concept of change was gradually seeping into her thoughts, and she began to perceive that Alfonso was changing.

Moreover, as she witnessed his interaction with the child and his genuine concern for the girl, the idea of 'his lord undergoing a transformation' became even more entrenched in her thoughts.

Just as she embraced the view of her lord talking to a commoner.

It didn't take long before a roar interrupted their interactions and went on to continue their hunt...

.

.

.

.

━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━

Alfonso's POV

While walking, I checked the girl's status who was traveling with us. I'd already done it when I first saw her but just wanted to make sure the possibility I missed anything crucial for making me remember what I'm trying to recall.

\=============================/

|Name: Arianna Milano

-Age: 8

-Rank: Low

/=============================\n

‹ She has no threat huh... ›

I silently thought. I know that blindly trusting people or helping in this world is dangerous but I just can't help it.

My conscience could not let me just abandon the little girl.

Well, if she does have evil intentions, I'll immediately kill her.

‹ But... Wouldn't that be the same as not following the principles I have made in this life? ›

I pondered but soon shook my head to not complicate things.

I decided to set aside these meaningless musings.

To be honest... The reason why I brought the girl along with us is because of guilt...

‹ Yes... Guilt... ›

Before I could notice it, however, we had finally arrived at the monster we were looking for.

—Roar!

The sound of the beasts echoed loudly while at the same time, we halted from our steps.

Below the cliff, we could see a pack of wolves attacking a bear which seemed to be a normal tier beast.

However, one wolf caught my attention.

==============================

[Alpha Wolf]

Rank: Master (High-Tier Beasts)

==============================

It was no other but a wolf that could make Valentina's breakthrough if she fought and defeated the beast.

For your information. There are two different types of breaking through. This knowledge is known because it's one of the main key reasons we as players could break through and get stronger.

The first one is to cultivate using pills to break through, however, the only downside to it is... It's expensive. Well, at least it's safer than the second one.

Which is to...

Fight a beast that's higher than your rank and defeat it through life and death. The beast must be killed by only you.

Because once a beast that's higher than low-tier rank dies, it drops essence, unlike low-tier who just dies without leaving any shit behind.

Furthermore, only the one who killed the beast could get the essence to ascend or break through.

To be honest, Valentina could just order people to leave a monster on its deathbed so she can just do the finishing blow.

However, her disdain for such methods reflects her preference for overcoming challenges through her own efforts. She values hard work over exploiting authority. It makes sense; holding a high rank without the skills to match could lead to vulnerability and defeat by genuinely skilled adversaries.

Not gonna lie, but I'll also use the same method she does. It's not because I disdain choosing the safe and easy way; it's about surviving, growing stronger, and gaining the necessary experiences and abilities to stand firm against the challenges I'll inevitably encounter.

Strong enough to not bend on those fucking adversaries I'll face in the future.

After all... The story of this game has not yet begun.

But one thing I can say for sure is...

‹ It'll be hell soon. ›