Osian's ferocity caused the others in the office to turn around in surprise.
But the moment they saw the look in Osian's eyes as he turned to the Guardian, they realized something was wrong.
“Now, wait a minute, hey, this guy isn't bad!”
Ena stood in front of Osian and waved her arms wildly.
“Get out of the way, I need to cut her down right now.”
“I-I mean, you can't do that, I-I had her help!”
“You had help?”
Osian stared at Ena.
Ena huffed inwardly at his willingness to hear the story.
“Well, I was on my way back from the grocery store.”It was raining on the way back from the grocery store.
She had packed an umbrella just in case, so she didn't get wet, but the pole-like rain seemed to be too much for even an umbrella.
So instead of taking her usual route, Ena took an alleyway to get home a little faster.
That was a mistake.
-What are you doing in a place like this?
Even though the neighborhood isn't badly policed, there are still bums and hoodlums in the alleyways.
They prey on people like Ena who walk alone.
She tried to run away, but the others are already behind her.
She tried to light a match, but the humidity in the air from the rain makes it difficult.
Just when she thought she had no choice, a thug waiting in the alley screamed.
It was a black-armored knight who had stunned one of his companions.
The red glow from his helmet was faint, as if it could be extinguished at a moment's notice, but it was not.
The sudden appearance of a black knight in a dark alleyway in the rain was enough to strike fear into anyone who saw it.
-Whoa! What the hell is that?
-It's a monster! Run!
As the thugs fled and Ena froze in place, the black knight stepped in front of her and checked her condition.
-Eh, huh?
The Black Knight saw that she was fine, and then he staggered past her.
-Did you save me?
The moment she asked, the black knight's body tilted sideways and slammed into the wall.
Ena stumbled toward the black knight in surprise. The question she'd been wondering since she'd seen his footsteps was finally answered.
This black knight was pushed to the limit but then came the surprise.
The black armor he had just worn was gone, and now leaning halfway against the wall was a white-haired woman.
She was dressed in ragged clothing, beautiful even for a woman of her age, and red blood ran down her chest.
-Blood?
Ena didn't think she should leave her like this, so she helped her up.
The gray-haired woman stared at her with hazy eyes, her gaze reminiscent of some wild beast, but Ena was adamant.
-You're going to die if I leave you alone! Just follow me, and I'll help you!
Ena placed the umbrella on the black knight woman.
“This is what happened.”
After hearing that explanation, Osian was even more puzzled.
‘The Guardian helped Ena?’
Osian looked at the guardian's condition. His sword had slashed across her chest, leaving a gaping wound.
The blood was red like a real human.
‘I always thought it odd that she escaped the ruins she was supposed to protect.’
I knew she'd gone into hiding in Tirna, but I hadn't expected to see her again so soon.
'But she's.......'
Ena pleaded as Osian tightened his grip on the sword.
“Please, I'll try to talk to her somehow, please.......”
Ena's eyes were filled with desperation.
Osian looked around at the others, all of whom were at a loss for words in this delicate situation.
It was then that Seren Gracia spoke up.
“Hmm. Then why don't we treat her first? She's pretty much at her limit right now.”
“What?”
Ena turned around. The Guardian, barely standing in the doorway, lost her balance and fell forward.
Ena shrieked in surprise and looked at the Guardian's condition.
Osian considered decapitating the guardian at this point.
“Tsk.”
He didn't like the idea of killing a defenseless opponent like this.
More than anything, it would make Ena sad.
Osian sheathed his sword at his waist again.
“Well, well. You're letting her off the hook?”
Osian snorted lightly at Seren's sarcastic question.
“For now, I'll let her heal her wounds, but I don't intend to waste any time.”
Osian stared at the back of Ena's head as she hastily tended to the Guardian's wounds.
*
After the commotion subsided everyone sat around a table on the ground floor.
Ronan Rolland, owner and broker of the Violet Fox.
His fixers, Osian, Lorraine, Diolan, and Seren.
And Ena Grundt, their cook, bartender, cleaner, and general handyman.
In the heavy atmosphere, Ronan was the first to speak.
“And now, I call to order the first meeting of the Violet Fox.”
If there's only one, does that mean there will be more?
Before the question could even cross everyone's minds, Ronan spoke up.
“First things first, Mr. Osian, what happened with that white-haired lady?”
Osian, who was sitting in a chair with his arms crossed, spoke up.
“First of all, her identity is the guardian of the ruins that I encountered in the ruins.”
“What? That's ridiculous.”
“A guardian? Why would a guardian be out there?”
Diolan and Lorraine asked in disbelief.
They had never heard of a Guardian appearing outside of a ruin.
What's more, it didn't make sense that she would be such a beautiful woman.
She must be more than just an ordinary person.
Osian quickly answered everyone's questions.
“The guardian of the ruins I encountered was a mutant doppelganger, one that mimics its opponent's abilities and changes its appearance and gender.”
“A mutant doppelganger, that's a bit unusual.”
“I faced her in the ruins and we fought. She was strong, but I prevailed in the end. I mortally wounded her, and she accepted her defeat, and I thought it was over.”
Until the guardian suddenly threw down her weapon and fled.
“And just like that, she was gone. I never would have guessed she was still wandering the back alleys of Tirna.”
“So that's why.”
Lorraine nodded.
Now that she thought about it, the Guardian's appearance was both similar and different from Osian's.
Osian was a cold, dark-haired man.
The Guardian was a white-haired woman with a somewhat cheerful demeanor.
According to Ena's testimony, the white-haired woman had demonstrated the ability to wear black armor.
It can't be just a simple illusion of Osian, so she must be the real Guardian.
All eyes turned to Ena.
“What the hell are we supposed to do, pick up a Ruin Guardian off the street?”
Ronan asked, unable to help himself.
It was a natural reaction, since she had just picked up an escaped Ruin Guardian, like picking up a cat caught in the rain.
“Well, I don't know about that, it just happened.”
Of course, Ena was just as puzzled.
What did she know?
“That's not the point,” she says, ”she saved my life.”
Is that possible?
That was the question on everyone's mind.
But this was after the extraordinary events of the Guardian's escape from the ruins.
It wouldn't be surprising if something more happened here.
“She is, after all, a Guardian of the Ruins. It mimics humans, but it's not human. Considering the potential for danger, I think we should nip it in the bud.”
“I'll talk to her when she wakes up, but please!”
Despite Ena's pleas, Osian was adamant.
“I won't. I'm against it.”
“Hmm. Since Ena and Osian won't be the only ones to decide, what do the others have to say?”
“I'm going to side with Osian for now.”
It was Lorraine who spoke up after Osian.
“Even so, she was the guardian of the ruins, right? Then, we don’t know when she might suddenly turn against us. It’s right to eliminate risk factors in advance.”
“Wait. I still think Ena's right.”
This time it was Diolan who spoke up.
He leaned back in his chair, legs propped up on the table, a mop of hair on the back of his head.
“She's a ruin guardian, she ran away from the ruins, and she's in human form. There are too many anomalies to simply dismiss her as not human. I think we should keep an eye on her.”
“Hmm. I agree with Diolan and Ena for now.”
Seren also sided with Ena.
The score now stood at 3-2 in favor of Ena.
All eyes turned to Ronan. He was the last man standing, but as the de facto owner of Violet Fox, his opinion mattered the most.
“Hoo-hoo-hoo. I see you all have high hopes for me.”
Ronan smirked, his eyes growing even longer.
“......You know, maybe you shouldn't smile so much.”
Lorraine said with a straight face, and Ronan looked at her accusingly.
“Why are you discriminating against people for laughing?”
“No, I know I shouldn't, but because when you laugh, it makes me think you're up to something.......”
“That's a false accusation. When have I ever done that?”
Ronan looked around at the others, but they all avoided his gaze.
Even Osian casually turned his head away with an expressionless face.
Ronan was shocked.
“......Alright, let me give my opinion first, I'd like to raise my hand in favor of Ena.”
“Yes!”
Ronan said to Ena, who balled her fist.
“However, the moment the Guardian opens her eyes, she may suddenly change. Ena said she would take responsibility, but if she can’t, you will have to be prepared.”
“......Ah, I know.”
Ena nodded, her face serious.
“Well, then. I'm leaning towards keeping the Guardian alive for now, but if you have any complaints, say them now, because it's worse to hold them in and then have them blow up.”
Lorraine turned to Osian urgently.
“We lost, so what? Boss.”
“Don't call me boss.”
“At least I stood by you until the end......!”
Osian stared at Lorraine with cold eyes.
Why on earth would she side with him, he wondered, this one must have a real agenda.
Money, apparently.
“It's a majority decision, so I'll go with it for now. However, if I don't feel comfortable with the way things are going, I'll draw my sword.”
Osian stood up from his chair.
At that moment, a loud noise was heard from the second floor. It was the room where the guardian who had finished receiving first aid was laid down for a while.
She had apparently opened her eyes.
“I, I'll go!”
Ena hurried to the second floor. But she couldn't go alone, so all the fixers followed her.
The guardian stood in a room in the corner of the second floor, glaring at Ena with a wary expression
It was like a stray cat wary of humans.
“It's me, don't you remember? The one you helped.”
Ena said it was okay and slowly approached the guardian.
The Guardian stared at her, unmoving. The red pupils that had been constricted returned to their original size.
Just when it seemed like it was all over, the Guardian's gaze shifted over Ena's shoulder to the door.
Or more precisely, Osian, who stood there.
“......!”
The Guardian's eyes widened and she snarled, baring her teeth.
It looked like it was going to pounce on Osian at any moment.
“Hey, it's okay, don't worry, he won't hurt you!”
Ena calmed the guardian as best she could and the guardian glared at her, however Ena was not intimidated and looked the guardian in the eye.
“Yes, yes. It's okay, it's okay, you can calm down.”
When Osian didn't respond, the guardian's shoulders rose and fell.
Finally, the Guardian sank back, waddling on both legs.
“I'm hungry. Feed me.”
Osian, Diolan, and Lorraine's eyes widened in surprise.
The Guardian spoke?
It was simply asking for food, but that made it all the more surprising.
The Guardian was not protecting the ruins, but doing what she wanted to do with her ego.
To everyone's surprise, Ena smirked and said.
“Yes. Give me a minute.”
“Okay.”
Ena gave her guardian a quick glance with a wry smile and headed back to the first floor to eat.
As the rest of the group stood there, unable to do anything, Osian approached the guardian.
The guardian looked at him, frowned and said.
“I hate you!”
This kid?