Chapter 16
“What is it?”
Sensing that Carpel’s aura was unusual, Raiel asked with a worried expression.
She, too, could feel the disturbance around them but not so much movements as the sudden emergence of presences. Each one carried a dark hue, heavy with hostility and malicious intent aimed directly at them.
“There’s no need to worry. This will be over quickly. Stay here and rest in the meantime.”
Whoever it was that dared to target him and Raiel would not even so much as touch her fingertip. Carpel possessed strength so great he had no need for a retinue of guards.
“… All right.”
Though she was concerned for him, Raiel thought it better not to interfere needlessly. Quiet obedience would help him most now.
Carpel, sending her another reassuring glance, stepped out of the carriage with a cold smile tugging at his lips.
Outside, men had arrayed themselves around the carriage, as if to form a blockade. One look at them was enough for Carpel to discern their true nature.
“Bandits… here?”
It was highly suspicious. Bandits in the quiet lands near the estate, where travelers were scarce? And within their ranks, he could clearly see several who looked like assassins.
‘A curious little gift.’
Whether deliberately sent against him, or fools who had stumbled into his path, their origins no longer mattered. The truth of why ‘bandits’ appeared here, and who among them were not true bandits, could be learned later.
As Carpel stepped down from the carriage, tension rippled through the gang. They had heard the rumors, but meeting him in the flesh – the very sight of his face sent a chill down their spines.
A few of the weaker-hearted even stumbled back in panic. Their leader alone managed to keep his posture, though the fear in his eyes could not be wholly hidden.
Still, he trusted the ones who had joined hands with him. If it were only his ragged crew, he might already have fled, tail tucked. But they had a first-rate assassin among them.
“Consider this your only warning. From now on, you’d best not let slip so much as a whimper.”
He would not allow Raiel’s ears to be sullied by their cries, nor would he let her tremble from the sound of their pain.
With those words, Carpel drew his sword in one swift motion.
“Y-you won’t leave here aliv—”
The bandit leader never finished. Carpel’s blade flashed, severing his arm at the shoulder. The limb hit the ground before the man even realized what had happened.
As he opened his mouth to scream, Carpel’s boot struck his face, driving him to the earth. He stomped down again, grinding ruthlessly, silencing him before so much as a groan could escape.
Horror froze the other bandits’ faces. Their leader was dispatched in an instant.
But to flee now was impossible. It was clear this man would not permit them to escape alive.
Carpel kicked aside the unconscious leader’s body and strode toward the others. The only sound in the hushed air was the heavy thud of his boots, echoing like a reaper’s greeting.
In minutes, not even long enough to draw proper breath, the bandit gang lay lifeless at his feet. Only the assassins who had hidden among them remained.
“Rats aren’t known for staying still. What’s keeping you?”
He gestured lazily, daring them to come.
They hesitated at first as his skill far surpassed what they had expected. But then they surged forward, their movements a world apart from the fallen bandits’.
Even surrounded by their precise, lethal strikes, Carpel was composed. Compared to him, their prowess was nothing. He cut them down as easily as he had the rabble.
But then one assassin slipped through. In the blink of an eye, Raiel was seized as a hostage.
At once, a storm of killing intent erupted from Carpel.
‘How dare you…!’
Until now, he had treated this like a game. But the moment they laid hands on Raiel, he could no longer remain indifferent.
“If you want the woman to live, you’ll surrender quietly.”
The assassin’s voice rasped, grating like steel dragged over stone.
Carpel’s gaze fixed on Raiel. Her face trembled faintly with fear, yet her eyes… her eyes remained calm. Just as they had when she once stood before assassins to shield him.
“Digging your own grave, are you?”
Had he left her untouched, he might have granted him a quick death. Now, he would ensure this one screamed in agony until the end.
“Do you wish to watch this woman die?”
The assassin pressed his blade closer to Raiel’s throat. Carpel halted at once, unwilling to risk even the slightest cut upon her delicate body.
“If you submit to us, we will spare her life.”
“A dog barks.”
Yet Carpel did not step closer. He merely stood, as though daring the man to follow through.
Anxiety flickered over Raiel’s face. If he held back for her sake, he would be unable to fight properly. She could not allow him to be harmed, much less killed, because of her.
So… there was no choice.
She had not wanted to use her gift on anyone else, but to protect someone precious, she could not remain still.
Raiel reached for the man’s aura, wrapping it with her own. She twisted his malice, his murderous intent, reshaping it into guilt and remorse.
The assassin’s eyes welled with tears. His grip faltered. And suddenly, he released her.
“W-what… have I done…?”
He choked out the words, his face contorted with anguish, unable to comprehend why such shame and sorrow consumed him.
Raiel darted to Carpel’s side, while Carpel looked on with bewilderment. A man who just moments ago had threatened her life now wept and let her go.
But there was no time to puzzle over it. A dagger flew toward him. Carpel swung his blade, deflecting it, and in the same motion seized a weapon from the ground and hurled it back.
“—Kuh!”
The dagger struck true, piercing the assassin’s heart.
“…Are you unharmed?” Carpel’s voice was taut with concern.
“I was startled, but I’m all right. More importantly…”
Her gaze flicked toward the assassin who had dragged her from the carriage. She had escaped, yes, but he still lived.
“Close your eyes. Cover your ears.”
Carpel would not let her see what came next.
She nodded obediently, shielding her senses.
Only then did Carpel approach. He severed the man’s wrist first—the hand that had dared to raise a blade to Raiel. Then he crushed the other hand in his grip, bones shattering like twigs.
“To touch Raiel… I’ll see you to hell myself.”
Dissatisfied with mere maiming, Carpel tore him apart until his body was nothing but ruin. The assassin’s screams filled the air; briefly so. It was over in moments.
Carpel turned back, expression smooth as though nothing had happened, and pulled Raiel into his arms before she could look. Her cheek pressed against his chest.
“There’s nothing worth seeing.”
Even as he scanned the surroundings for any threat, his thoughts circled only her safety. His heart thundered, but he forced it down and finished his work.
“There are things I need to settle. Go inside and rest.”
He hated leaving her alone in the carriage, but the corpses could not be left unattended. He had questions to extract.
“… Understood.” Raiel nodded.
But then she stiffened in shock when Carpel had lifted her into his arms.
“C-Carpel?!”
“You must be shaken.”
And he would not let her glimpse this bloodied ground.
“I… I really am fine.”
“Then let’s say it was me who was shaken.”
“… All right.”
Her heart fluttered wildly at being carried by him for the first time, yet she did not push him away. She understood why he would not let her feet or her eyes touch this place.
Striding back, Carpel set her gently inside the carriage. Then he dragged aside the men blocking the path, kicking their bodies away until only one survivor stirred.
The man blinked awake, nearly fainting again at the sight of Carpel’s face looming over him, but Carpel’s harsh grip forced him back to his senses.
With a gaze colder than steel, Carpel questioned him. Broken by terror, the man confessed everything he knew.
Afterward, Carpel turned to Yuren in the driver’s seat. Yuren’s expression was calm, as though such scenes were nothing new.
Carpel struck him across the head the moment their eyes
