Intruder (1)

As Ariel was cleaning up, she suddenly tilted her head while looking at her own fingers.

"...?"

It was because there was some kind of ring on her finger now.

It was Castarck's seal ring.

She had received it from Carl at the banquet hall, but Ariel, who was in a daze at the time, did not remember.

After staring blankly at the ring for a moment, Ariel tilted her head again.

The ring was not important right now.

She wanted to hurry and finish cleaning up, then hug Ghost and sleep.

After changing,

She felt refreshed and invigorated.

Ariel smiled faintly and went out to the yard.

"?"

And then she suddenly stopped.

Because Ghost, who should have been wagging her tail to welcome her, was lying collapsed in the yard.

Ariel hurried over to Ghost, and then a voice came from behind her.

"Don't worry about the wolf. It's just sleeping."

Ariel turned around.

Someone was already standing behind her back.

It was a shady figure wearing a mask on his face and carrying a short sword at his waist.

*

Shane, who had infiltrated the yard of Ariel's lodging, first encountered Ghost.

"Grr..."

Ghost bared her teeth and glared at Shane, but did not recklessly charge at him.

She had instinctively realized that Shane was strong.

Shane faced off against Ghost and took a bottle out of his pocket.

It was a bottle containing fairy sleeping powder.

Shane's plan was to put Ariel and Ghost to sleep with the sleeping powder, and steal Castarck's seal ring.

To steal it, it was not an honorable act for a knight, but he had no choice.

If Ariel returned the ring obediently, it would be fine, but if she didn't, he would have to forcibly take it.

Then the situation could potentially escalate.

Shane wanted to handle this as quietly as possible. If Carl found out, it would cause an uproar.

Whoosh!

Ghost charged at Shane, kicking up the ground.

Ghost had identified Shane as an intruder.

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

Clink!

Shane swiftly retreated and opened the lid of the bottle containing the fairy sleeping powder.

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

Swish!

When Shane waved the bottle in his hand, the sleeping powder covered Ghost's face.

The fairy sleeping powder was extremely potent, causing immediate sleep if it hit the face.

Ghost too could not regain her senses, standing still in place.

But that was all. Ghost did not fall asleep.

Far from falling asleep, she soon regained her senses and charged at Shane again.

'Could it be because she's a spirit?'

To avoid Ghost's attack, Shane had to roughly roll on the ground.

It seemed that sprinkling the sleeping powder once or twice would not be enough to put Ghost to sleep.

Swish!

Shane continued to dodge Ghost's attacks and spray the sleeping powder.

And finally, around when the sleeping powder ran out, Ghost collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"..."

Seeing the empty bottle of sleeping powder, Shane let out a sigh.

Now he had no way to put Ariel to sleep.

'Should I go back and get more sleeping powder...?'

As Shane was pondering this, the sound of footsteps came from behind.

It was the sound of Ariel coming out to the yard.

Shane quickly hid, and Ariel discovered the collapsed Ghost and approached her.

'I have no choice.'

Since Ariel had appeared, Shane decided to just proceed with the task.

If he went back to get more sleeping powder, the situation could get out of hand.

Ariel would find it suspicious to see Ghost collapsed.

Shane revealed himself behind Ariel.

"Don't worry about the wolf. It's just sleeping."

At Shane's words, Ariel turned around.

Her red eyes showed no emotion.

Despite Shane's sudden appearance in a mask, she did not falter.

She did not seem afraid either. She simply gazed at Shane quietly.

Shane drew a wooden sword from his waist.

He had deliberately left his real sword behind.

Just in case he ended up harming Ariel or Ghost, which was not something Shane wanted either.

"Elf, hand over Castarck's seal ring. Then nothing will happen."

Shane took a step closer to Ariel.

"But if you don't hand it over, I will kill you. You and that wolf."

A murderous aura emanated from Shane's body, enveloping Ariel.

It was a powerful murderous aura that would make an ordinary girl Ariel's age go limp.

But as expected, Ariel did not budge at all.

'I need to be careful.'

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

By those standards, Ariel was by no means an easy opponent.

Though small in stature, Ariel's strength was extraordinary.

She had easily overpowered the burly arm wrestling men, and with just a flick of the back of her hand, she had sent Cobin flying.

Therefore, Shane heightened all his senses and approached Ariel cautiously.

He had no intention of harming Ariel, but if she used force, Shane would have to fight seriously.

Only then could he successfully retrieve the ring.

"Kill me. Me and Ghost."

Ariel muttered dryly.

Her emotionless voice made Shane feel an inexplicable sense of disquiet.

'What is this?'

Shane had unleashed his murderous aura and declared he would kill them.

Though he had no real intention to kill, such words would normally make someone cower or show fear.

But Ariel did neither. She simply stood barefoot next to Ghost.

Shane spoke again.

"Hand over Castarck's seal ring, elf!"

Ariel then glanced at the ring on her finger before looking back at Shane.

Her face was still expressionless.

She seemed to have no intention of handing over the ring.

Swish!

In the end, Shane leapt forward, swinging his wooden sword.

Now that it had come to this, he had to subdue Ariel and take the ring as quickly as possible.

'I'll have to win with speed.'

Shane was not the type to be outmatched in strength.

Nor was he the type to rely solely on brute force.

Shane excelled in both strength and speed.

Thanks to this, he could utilize strength and speed appropriately when fighting barbarian warriors in the past.

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

In other words, he identified the opponent's weakness and capitalized on it to win.

It was truly a wise and rational strategy.

What's more, Shane was also highly skilled in swordsmanship, so it was no wonder the barbarians feared him.

Swish!

Shane's wooden sword swung down towards Ariel's head.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

It was Shane's fastest strike.

So far, no opponent had been able to fully evade this strike. Some barely managed to block it.

Surely Ariel, despite her strength, would be hit by Shane's strike, lose consciousness and collapse...

That's what Shane thought, but his eyes went wide.

"!"

Ariel's figure in front of him had vanished in an instant.

"Is this ring yours?"

A calm voice came from behind.

Shane's body reflexively turned as he swung his wooden sword.

Swish!

But once again, his sword hit nothing.

Ariel had already retreated and evaded Shane's sword by a paper's breadth.

"?!"

Shane couldn't believe it. Yet his body moved, continuing to attack Ariel.

Swish! Swish!

Shane unleashed a flurry of strikes too fast for the naked eye.

And Ariel evaded them all effortlessly.

'I-Impossible!'

Shane, who had never been outmatched in speed in his life, could not keep up with the movements of an elf girl, who was about Carl's age.

"Huff...! Huff...!"

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

Despite experiencing numerous battlefields, he had never faced such an absurd situation.

Swish!

Once again, Shane's sword only cut through empty air.

Ariel's monotonous voice reached Shane's ears.

"Is this ring yours?"

Shane did not answer. He had no leisure to answer.

He just gritted his teeth and continued his attacks.

"Hieek!"

But it was no use. He could not even graze Ariel's clothes.

'T-This is impossible...!'

The wooden sword Shane thrust out aimed for Ariel's face like lightning, but Ariel just tilted her head slightly to evade it.

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

As if annoyed.

Ariel's eyes glowed red.

Simultaneously, Ariel's fist flew towards Shane.

"!!"

Shane tried to evade in panic, but could not.

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

Puck!

Just like Cobin at the banquet hall, Shane went flying and slammed into the wall.

The wooden sword Shane was holding soared high into the air, spun, and embedded itself into the floor.

"..."

Ariel approached the wall-embedded Shane.

And she removed the mask Shane wore on his face.

"Kugh, ugh..."

A faint groan came from Shane's mouth.

Shane had not lost consciousness from Ariel's punch.

That was because Shane was an excellent knight, but more accurately, it was thanks to Ariel controlling her strength.

If Ariel had used a bit more force, Shane would not have survived.

His entire upper body would have been obliterated.

Shane gave a self-mocking smile.

'It's over...'

In the end, he failed to retrieve the ring. Moreover, Ariel had discovered his true identity.

Perhaps Ariel would go to Carl and question him like,

"Carl! The knight you assigned to guard you tried to take back the ring you gave me! What's going on?!"

Of course, it didn't seem like something Ariel would do...

'But at least, the young master will find out.'

Shane wanted to prevent that much.

If that happened, Carl would feel a sense of betrayal and be hurt by Shane.

"Sh-Shameless as it may be..."

Shane spoke, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"Please... don't tell the young master... I beg you..."

At Shane's words, Ariel tilted her head.

Then, she stared intently at Shane's face and asked,

"Who is the young master?"

"..."