A small demonstration

"What do you want from us?" Savine asked tonelessly.

"…"

Boss stared at her, a cold gleam in his eyes.

"Don't tell me you're wasting our time just to act violently?"

"Tell me about your family situation."

"I've told you, but you refused to believe me," Savine sighed.

"There's no point lying at this point. Tell the truth," Boss said flatly. "If you don't know, we can only wring it out of you through other means."

"Oh, I'm quite intrigued. What other means might you have in mind?"

"Noble bitches start speaking after a few rounds with the gang," one snickered.

"Some tougher bitches last a little longer. But they eventually fold after we get serious!"

"The toughest bitches, though, they need some carving."

"You'll never know you're a into some shit until you hear one screaming and wailing as you draw art on their faces."

Savine rolled her eyes at the lines the gang prepared. She could tell they were empty words, but looking beside him, she could see Eliseline's eyes flaring with disgust.

"Last chance," Savine said. "You can let us go our way peacefully, and I'll let you all go home with all your heads intact."

"Cut the shit, bitch! Tell us what we're asking!"

Savine sighed.

"Alright, I'm an Honorary Countess. Eliseline here is the High Priest of the Fest Duchy's temple, and this gentleman here is duke Fest."

"A duke?" someone mocked.

"Wait... Fest?" someone scoffed. "The incompetent traitor of the losers?"

"In that case, guess' it's not that odd for him to be acting as valet for a little girl, hahaha!"

"Hear! Hear!"

"Maybe he realized he's no good for ruling duchies and is trying new things?"

Savine did not care for their words. Her eyes were on Boss, who was thinking deep about something.

"Sure, it's said that duke Fest is a man capable of swaying even the hearts of men, and I also hear his sister's made of the same cloth as him… but why would they be here?"

"? We're headed towards the Sovereign's city. What's it to you?"

"Perhaps. But how can we trust your words?"

"Don't worry about that," Savine said. "I can prove that they're the real deal."

"How?"

"Though we have documents proving our identities, I'd like to take the flashier way. As bloods of the ducal family, their strength as mages is naturally much more powerful than your average noble. Eliseline, let's see a demonstration."

A mass of air gathered near one of the men's head and exploded. The man's head slammed into the ground and with a squelching sound, splattered across the pavement. Blood and brains painted half the ground red.

Immediately, silence settled in the area. No one expected their prey to be so ruthless without warning. One second, they were conversing calmly, and the next, someone was dead on the ground.

"The demonstration is clearly not enough to convince these gentlemen. Eliseline, one more."

Another man was sent flying backwards. His landing was softer, but that was likely a worse thing for him. His whole jaw and parts of his throat had been ruined by the explosion, leaving him gargling blood off his now open throat pipes.

But it seemed that Eliseline was not satisfied with an unfinished job and another explosion occurred above the man's neck, decapitating him fully.

The twenty or so people that were gathered could only stare with wide eyes and heavy breaths. A second later, they all started shivering and two started puking. Another second later, they all ran away.

The boss wanted to join them, but a smaller explosion occurred beside him, so he stopped. It was the same for baron Lant. Savine let the others go.

She then walked towards Boss leisurely. Her boots stepped on a piece of brain matter and crushed it to a pulp. Boss saw it and his body cringed away in fear, but he couldn't move, fearing the explosion.

"Now, tell me, what did you want from us again?" Savine asked.

"Nothing!" he shouted back. "Nothing!"

"No, no. I'm sure there's something."

Savine assumed him coldly. Realizing that his answer was wrong, Boss quickly added.

"I want to work for you! I can work for you! I'll do anything for you! You, you were… I- I can help you meet Marquis Luckner!"

"Oh? I thought you weren't acquainted with him."

"Though I'm hired by the duke, the marquis donates mana stones to the Circle. He often comes here to check up on things and we're not unfamiliar with each other! At least I know him better than the duke!"

Savine smiled. She was about to speak, but a feeling of Deja-vu washed over her.

'?'

Ignoring it, she continued walking up to the boss.

"You're saying this now, but when I asked earlier, you said something completely different. Your story's all over the place. How am I supposed to believe you?"

"I'm telling the truth now! Before this, I-"

"You what?" Savine smiled, her hand on the boss's cheek. Mana swirled just behind the boss's head.

"I was a fool! Muddleheaded."

Savine smiled and was about to tease him more, but the weird feeling persisted. As an angel, Savine couldn't ignore her instincts. She thought about the matter deeply.

'Now that I think about it, Jibril's warning came when I was in the middle of teasing that Initiate, right?'

The feeling of Jibril's Divinity rampaging through her body came back. Savine could take it, but creating such a show in front of Eliseline and the duke was a bad idea. She was also unsure if she would receive another facelift.

She decided to contain herself for today.

"Alright. I believe you. And I'd love to leave here now in good faith, but we both know that's a bad idea. Why don't you join us on our little trip to the Sovereign's city? We'll be very quick. A couple days at most and we'll come back to sort this mess. How about that?"

Realizing he had no choice, Boss nodded repeatedly.

"Good."

Savine nodded and looked at the others. The faces of the others looked off. The duke and his valet looked at her like she was some rabid animal, Eliseline's face was indignant, but there was a hint of guilt in her eyes, and Zuri looked outright blue.

'Ah… shit.'

Zuri was an extremely capable valet – she was clever and capable. Savine couldn't speak for her loyalty yet, but so far, things were going well. However, it seemed like Savine made a mistake today. It would be a shame she scared Zuri away because of an incident like this.

'I'll have to talk to her,' Savine thought.

There were still about 15 minutes left until they could teleport.

"Boss," she said. "Go explain the situation to your baron Lant, and help the duke's valet carry our things into the circle."

"Y- Yes!"

It was somehow funny, seeing the fat man running about.

Savine shook her head and approached the group.

"What are you trying to do?" Eliseline asked furiously.

"What?"

"Shouldn't we report these bunch to the duke and have them executed?! They just tried to kidnap and assault a noble!"

Somewhat surprised to see her so angry over an attack on them, Savine tilted her head.

"Yeah and we killed two of them to show that we're not to be messed with. I think it equals itself out in some way. Besides, it'll take too much of a time and effort to hunt for each and every one of them and then demand a trial from duke Erst. Personally, I'd rather go about our business."

"…"

Eliseline stared at her flatly. She knew Savine's true background. From that, she should understand that Savine's brain worked much differently from other people.

"…Alright."

Next, it was the duke's turn to complain.

"Was it really a good idea to reveal our names here?" the duke hissed at her.

"We're not in the wrong, so there's nothing to worry about," Savine smiled. "We were simply defending ourselves."

"Not in the wrong? We killed two people! Even if they're commoners and I'm a duke, this isn't even my duchy!"

It was funny how different the two siblings were. The sister wanted justice from themselves while the brother was more worried that the people of the Erst duchy would find their group in the wrong. After all, they did randomly kill two people here. And if the people learned that they were from the Fest duchy, they would definitely look at them with more hostile eyes.