50 - Threat

After Van scrambled around, eventually making Anne get up from her princess carry to fetch two towels from a nearby stand, the two lay on the grass nearby, letting their bodies dry out in the sun as they looked up at the sky.

"Hey," Anne called out.

"Hm?" Van responded, tilting his head slightly from looking up.

"Thanks," she said flatly.

"For what?" he asked.

"For what," she mimicked, rolling her eyes. "Can you just cut the crap and accept it? I'm tired of guys trying to act all cool with me."

Van's eyes widened before he laughed at her sudden aggression.

"Okay. If you keep laughing, I'm LEAVING," she said loudly.

"No, no," he waved dismissively. "It's just nostalgic. 'Cut the crap' – your father used to say that when he was pissed off."

"Oh? Must've rubbed off on your own old man if you say it's nostalgic," Anne murmured, raising an eyebrow.

'Oh, right, I'm junior...' Van thought.

"A-ah, I suppose. No one here says that, huh?" Van asked.

"It's a phrase from their old world," she emphasized, turning to him. "Anyway, just accept it. I might've been angry at the pool, but I'm not stupid. I saw what you did back there," she said, her voice trailing off as she looked away. "...Except my folks, no one ever went out of their way like that for me," she added quietly.

"Well, I was just having fun with my niec-...new friend," Van quickly corrected himself.

"...Pfft. Bastard," Anne said with a soft chuckle, her posture relaxing as she looked up at the sky.

A few seconds went by. Then Anne gave a deep yawn as she stretched her sore limbs.

Van glanced at her, noticing her eyes getting heavier.

"Well, I've pretty much dried up. Wanna go?" Van asked.

"Oh, uh... I-I don't know... isn't friends lying outside next to each other, looking up for no reason, something special?" Anne mumbled as she scratched her cheek.

"No idea," Van replied flatly.

"I just mean... we came here only like an hour ago... shouldn't we stay? Make use of the day?" Anne said.

"If you're tired, we can just call it a day. It's cool," Van said with a shrug.

"Look, dude, I don't really know what to do. I just know... if we made it all the way here, we gotta stay," Anne said, looking away, her eyes searching the grass for words.

"...Why?"

"Because... it wouldn't be cool to leave just an hour after coming here. We barely did anything. Friends, or people who are..." She hid beneath her short hair, "C-close, do more with their time... I can just sleep at night, right?" Her voice wavered.

"Says who? Those jerks you hate?" Van glanced at the sneering group.

"Smug bastard," she said, punching his shoulder with a smirk.

'Woah... It's like hitting armor,' she thought, gasping softly.

"Either way, if you're tired, you should go. Unless you like sleeping on grass?" Van said, offering his hand.

Anne bit her lip. "Is it... really okay to end it so early?"

"Yeah. Take it easy," he assured.

"Sure..." Anne felt his calmness infecting her as she took his hand, and he pulled her up.

"Before I sleep, I want food, but I don't have the strength to go out," she said, brushing off grass. "Come to my place, I should have something frozen for you."

'W-wait, did I seriously suggest that...?' she thought, blushing.

"Sure, I'm cool with that. Lead the way," Van said with a shrug. 'I'm not tired, and I've got nothing else to do. I wonder how comfy her couch is...' Van mused, comparing it to Amoria's bed.

'I hope I'll have enough from the quest to buy a bed like Amoria's guest room. Or maybe it's just better than sleeping on dirt for 16 years. Varlog's couch was nice, but not an actual bed.'

'Forget that, I want Alicia's bed,' Van decided.

As Van dreamt of beds, Anne, embarrassed, led him out of the pool area.

'Wait, Anne doesn't live with her mom...?' Van realized.

Just then, Cerille, a tall girl with long blonde hair and a greatsword, arrived at the group that mocked Anne.

"Look, it's Cerille!" one boy pointed out.

"The Greatknight's daughter! An E-Ranker, even at her age! What is she..."

"Cerille!" a friend called as she approached her group.

Cerille noticed the crowd staring into the distance.

"What seems to be the commotion here?" she inquired as she walked over to them.

"Ah... Cerille. It's just that musclehead again, Anne. She brought a weird boy with her," a girl said.

"Ew, imagine hanging out with that workhorse of a girl... What a weirdo. I bet he does that just because he's desperate."

"But look at those muscles... I don't like him either, but he can seriously do better," another girl pointed out, her eyes glinting with desire as she looked at Van's toned body.

Cerille's eyes locked onto Van with intense scrutiny, her expression growing increasingly grim.

"Cerille? Are you okay?" a girl asked, noticing her sudden intensity.

"That aura... that boy... is dangerous!" Cerille blurted out as Van and Anne neared the exit.

'We're really walking to my house. What am I going to do?' Anne thought, still flustered.

Suddenly, Cerille stepped between them and the exit, her greatsword pointed at Van's throat.

"HALT. By the name of the Royal Guard, you are detained for questioning!" Cerille declared.

'Ah, I was wondering when that would happen,' Van thought with a sigh. 'But she shouldn't draw that sword so abruptly in such a crowd...'

Anne gasped, her eyes widening before turning angry.

"Hey, Cerille! What's the big idea?" Anne yelled, drawing attention.

"Isn't that the King's Hand's daughter?"

"I heard Cerille was enlisted in the Royal Guards before attending the Academy. Is she making an arrest?"

"This boy looks suspicious..."

"Something about him is off!"

"If Cerille thinks so, it must be true!" onlookers whispered.

'The King's Hand? Is she Greatknight Brennan's daughter? He was one of the few kind souls among the Royal Guard's high ranks. To think his daughter is this reckless,' Van thought as he scrutinized Cerille.

"What are you doing? He's my friend! Piss off to your daddy!" Anne yelled, stepping between Cerille and Van, who remained relaxed.

"Anne Veil. Step away from this person. He's dangerous. I can sense a vile aura around him, unlike any demon's or human's! Stay back for your own safety!" Cerille ordered.

"I won't! YOU back off! He's not a threat!" Anne defied.

"How DARE that girl talk like that to Greatknight Nickelson's daughter!" an onlooker called out.

At the mention of Nickelson's name, Van's body visibly twitched.

'That bastard... Nickelson. The one who trained me... Nah... Tortured me. I seriously thought I got over that...' He thought as he clenched his fist.

A few girls grew agitated at the sight of Anne, as well as other spectators.

"This bitch really gets on my nerves..."

"Yeah, let's teach her a lesson..." The girls from Cerille's group giggled, conjuring a water spell and hiding it.

Shortly after, the water spell was flung toward Anne from the side.

Cerille noticed it a moment too late.

"WAIT! DON'T!" Cerille called out as the spell was already an inch from Anne.

'She'll be seriously hurt by that!' Cerille thought as she almost leapt for her rescue. 'I WON'T MAKE IT..!! ANNE!!!' Cerille thought, as time seemed to slow for Van, who had the highest Perception stat and DEX stat in the nearby environment. The water spell appeared to move in slow motion.

'... So, this is the generation you raise, Nickelson?' He thought, a moment of clarity washing over him as he looked at the water spell.

'A bunch of murderers?'

Van then raised his hand towards the spell.

'Well, the only surprising thing here is you with Sir Brennan's role. You FUCKER.'

Van then slapped the spell away, sending it back to the girls with half the force it was emitted at. It hit one directly in her face, knocking her into the pool and leaving the other paralyzed with fear.

'What...?' Cerille thought in confusion as she stopped in her place, while Anne remained frozen in place.

"Holy Goddess... H-he... He just flicked that away!"

"Marie-ann!!" someone yelled, jumping into the pool after the girl was knocked out.

'Was I... going to get hit with that?' Anne thought, her face pale as she glanced at Marie-ann, her aggressor, now covered in blood and passed out.

"Hearing you were a Greatknight's daughter, I was going to brush this off. Comply, even. As the previous Greatknight held true to his name," Van said, gently walking past Anne and glaring at Cerille.

"...Van?" Anne called, concern etched on her whitened face.

"But I see. You are that piece of shit's daughter. No wonder you're so irresponsible as to draw your sword, eager for a fight in a public area with so many onlookers around, like you own the place," he hissed, stepping in front of her sword.

"STAY BACK!" she yelled, pointing the sword firmly at him. "IRRESPONSIBLE, YOU SAY? YOU ARE A THREAT, AND YOU NEED TO BE NEUTRALIZED." Her voice boomed through the crowd, earning claps and gasps of admiration from the onlookers. She fixed her stance hurriedly, her eyes wide like a hunter's on their prey, while still cautious of his ability.

'I'm sorry, Varlog. I can't really remember any of your lessons right now.'

"I wasn't a threat," Van began, gripping her greatsword with his bare palm, his gaze unwavering and fierce.

"But I sure as hell am now," he growled.