For Sale: Male Lead, Obsession Included - Chapter 95
“W–Who are you!”
When Feyden had stealthily broken into the house, the mage—who had not sensed even a hint of presence—noticed Ariel’s approach and awoke from his sleep.
He hurried to utter his incantation, but whoever Feyden was—this young man, barely of age and already skilled enough to wield sword energy—had his spoken word lag behind his gesture.
“No killing…!”
“I said I won’t, you damn nuisance.”
Thwack!
Feyden, who was about to strike the mage’s nape with the sharp edge of his blade, immediately twisted his wrist and brought the sword’s hilt down upon the mage when he heard Ariel’s fresh cry.
With a dull thud, the mage collapsed weakly, and his cohorts—only then grasping the situation—bustled into the room.
The intruders in the dead of night pulled their robes tighter and proceeded to subdue each of the charging assailants one by one.
Feyden swung his sword with extreme caution so that no one would be killed.
It was a damn troublesome business.
“Hey, I thought you weren’t a combat priest.”
“Let me say it once more…”
“Even if you’re not a combat priest, you’re supposed to know how to fight, right?”
“Yes.”
“Damn it. Is that all you can do?”
Having swiftly dispatched the ones charging toward him and turning to help Ariel, Feyden was left speechless upon seeing Ariel calmly lay the final foe down.
It was almost embarrassing—just moments ago, Ariel had scoffed at the idea of using divine power for fear of exposing his status, choosing instead to fight solely with brute force.
To think he’d subdued and neatly laid out everyone without a trace of extra flourish…
Is this bastard really a priest?
That priest kept arousing suspicion. Feyden incessantly tried to dispel his uneasy feelings by tossing over the rope he had brought along.
“Tie them up tight.”
While binding the hands and ankles of the fallen, Feyden stole a furtive glance at Ariel—he had assumed that, not knowing how to bind properly, Ariel would follow his lead…
Why does he tie them so well?
Feyden had learned how to bind with rope during his days as a mercenary…
How is it that a man who spent his whole life sitting in front of stupid statues, praying or reciting verses, can tie a rope so skillfully?
“You…”
Feyden, who was about to ask Ariel if he truly was a priest, fell silent at the sight of Ariel, who was offering a neat prayer over three people bundled as if in a gift.
“May the angel Natasia lovingly and evenly embrace your souls…”
One of the mage comrades who had come to his senses had his face instantly suffused with pensive contemplation.
It was unmistakably due to the prayer’s content—as though it promised to soon deliver them into the arms of an angel.
You said not to kill, yet you’re killing with your words.
Feyden shook his head and straightened his bowed waist.
“I heard the seminary teaches many things.”
“I didn’t ask.”
Perhaps sensing Feyden’s gaze, Ariel answered in a tone of feigned excuse.
What if Truu ends up just like that guy?
Why does he think of his pure younger sibling who attends the seminary?
***
A few hours after the two men’s secret outing had ended.
The early summer sun woke the villagers sooner than expected. Among them, Estira and her party were the busiest.
“Feyden, it’s midsummer in Dongguk right now, you know?”
“Let’s check once more that you’ve got everything.”
“I told you, you must buy plenty of those scarce manufactured goods from Dongguk.”
Actually, to be precise, the only one busy was Estira.
The way Feyden and Ariel handled packing the travel gear—as if they couldn’t outdo Estira’s stubborn back—was so slow it was downright exasperating.
Estira was on the verge of exploding, wondering if the two were staging a protest against her. Could it be that they were so displeased with my decision to use the portal despite their objections?
It was at that moment, as the two men moved so slowly that even a dung beetle would snicker, that Estira quietly suppressed the curses rising in her throat.
“Miss Estira—you came out early, didn’t you?”
Taolti approached, waving to Estira’s party who had been waiting at the meeting spot from early on. His gentle smile somehow eased Estira’s mood a bit.
“Ah, yes. As you can see, there are two rather sluggish people here.”
“Ha ha. Yes. I understand.”
What do you mean by ‘I understand’?
Feyden casually kicked a stone away at his feet, then discreetly eyed Taolti from behind.
It was his old worry—what if the group of mages he’d dealt with all night reappeared?
Perhaps sharing the same worry, even as Ariel exchanged polite greetings with Taolti, his gaze kept drifting into empty space.
And then, simultaneously, Feyden and Ariel locked eyes.
A nod.
The two, nodding ever so subtly, pretended to busily continue as if nothing had happened.
Unaware of the covert conversation unfolding behind her back, Estira continued her discussion with Taolti.
“Have you used the portal often?”
“No, this is my third time. It’s an extremely expensive piece of magic, after all.”
Especially since it’s someone equivalent to Declan’s father who opens the portal several times a day—typically, even nobles tremble at the mere thought of using a portal once.
“Right.”
Feyden, who had been secretly listening in on their conversation, noticed something strange.
They had definitely dealt with the mage who was supposed to open the portal at dawn…
And yet, Taolti’s face remained unnervingly calm. He showed no sign of telling Estira that the portal couldn’t be opened.
