The greatest of daily troubles was just the sudden appearance of a pimple on the face, and the most common activity was reading by the window in the afternoon sunlight...
Wensy secretly raised her head to glance at Colin, still finding it hard to believe.
How could she see Mr. Nade as anything but a youth of nearly her own age?
Only... he was somewhat handsome.
Like—an Elf!
The word suddenly popped into Wensy's mind.
Perhaps only the word "Elf" could describe the beauty of the youth before her.
Realizing the strange feelings in her heart, Wensy somewhat bashfully blushed, even though the situation was so dire...
On the other hand, Colin, observing the girl's reaction, paid it no mind.
Perhaps it was due to that special Ancient Tree Heart Crystal that he, now an Advanced First Rank Knight, had grown even more handsome than before.
If he was once a mere good-looking human, now his appearance could compete with that of Elves!
"These people, I am keeping them," he said thoughtfully after a moment, "Hmm... can the newspaper still be delivered tomorrow?"
He had yet to retract the awe-inspiring power he exuded.
Then an unexpected change occurred.
Thump!
Another worker suddenly collapsed.
His complexion turned green, expression twisted in horror, his body rigid.
To those engulfed in his imposing field, his ordinary words sounded like roars from Hell!
Seeing this, Colin nodded thoughtfully and slightly lessened the pressure.
These were rare experimental subjects delivered right to his door; they couldn't be wasted.
"Yes!" Wensy quickly responded.
Colin did not continue the conversation; instead, with a thought, he sent a simple spirit shock accurately towards the stiff figures around them.
Thump thump—
Like reaping wheat, the figures around them fell to the ground one by one.
Wensy's pupils shrank, fearing they were all dead.
"Don't worry, they are just unconscious," Colin said with a smile and silently added in his mind, "Of course, for now."
The Supreme Council had explicitly forbidden wizards from murdering mortals without cause, and even more so from using humans as experimental subjects.
However, these mortals, who could be considered to have offended him, were not within the restricted scope.
'Hmm... offending the newsboy responsible for delivering my newspapers daily counts as offending me,' Colin thought.
"Let's go back to the villa," he said to Renee, then turned to Wensy, "You two, come along for now."
Saying so, he casually cast a Natural Healing Skill on the unconscious Vincent.
This was a gift of witchcraft from Atbolde, designed to accelerate wound healing, albeit at the cost of one's energy stores.
Under the pale green light, Vincent's wounds rapidly closed until only a faint scar remained.
Gurgle gurgle—
The next moment, the sensation of hunger awakened Vincent, his face still bearing traces of fright.
What was that?
Was it some demon from the legends that had descended?
"Let's go."
Colin said succinctly, without explanation, and with a force field, lifted the unconscious spoils of battle, leading the way forward.
To go the extra mile, since he had already saved Wensy and her companion, it wouldn't do to let them risk the dark night again.
As for escorting them home, he didn't have the time for that.
So it was better to bring them temporarily back to the villa and decide the next step in the daylight.
"Let's go, Vincent," Wensy whispered.
"… Okay," Vincent paused, then replied quietly.
Wensy, puzzled, followed his gaze, but she too froze.
The body of Bruno, who had covered their retreat earlier, lay not far from them.
It must have been brought there by those men after being killed.
Vincent silently moved forward and picked up Bruno's scarred body.
Wensy's lips parted, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she remained silent.
She turned to look at Colin's retreating figure, standing near the maid.
Clean and elegant, it was as if he had just taken a stroll, casually dealing with a weed.
Yet for her...
It had just been an experience of life and death escape.
'Is this what a wizard is...'