“Whoa, were you trying to throw a rock at me just now? Are you crazy? Trying to hit a kid? I could’ve been killed! Isn’t this child abuse?”
“You lowlife! How dare you…!”
Merdes and Pardes screamed and thrashed around.
Meanwhile, Shekina and Dehan were watching them through the broken window.
“Uh… Aren’t they the people we saw at the greenhouse before? Shekina’s family.”
Dehan said with a noticeably flustered tone.
“Not family… I don’t want them as my family…”
She felt embarrassed and wanted to hide in a mouse hole. Why are they outside? And what are they doing right now?
Shekina sighed and wiped her face with her palm.
Then, deciding that she needed to sort out the situation, she quickly left the inn. Dehan followed behind her.
They were in an alley behind the inn, so there weren’t many people around. That’s why even though they were yelling like that, nobody was gathering.
“So how many times do I tell this kid to fuck off? I don’t know what’s your relation with this guy, but it’s none of your business!”
“Wow, it’s none of our business? You’re about to knock him out and drag him away right in front of our eyes, so it’s none of our business?”
“What a pathetic guy. Do you think that will work on us?”
The twins were fighting with some guy. He wasn’t as big as Martin, but he was quite sizable, and with a few others around, it seemed like they were outnumbered.
“What’s going on?”
Shekina hurried over to them. She grabbed Merdes arm firmly as she was about to lunge forward.
“Ack! What… Shekina?”
“What are you guys doing?”
Shekina looked at Merdes with a stern expression. It made sense since they weren’t supposed to be out in the territory in the first place. Getting into trouble like this again?
“Shekina! Heung! Those humans said they were going to hit us!”
“Stop whining. I weren’t gonna hit you if you just stayed still. What happened? Spit it out.”
Perhaps sensing Shekina’s serious demeanor, Pardes quickly replied.
“They knocked out some guy or something and tried to drag him away.”
“We caught them in the act!”
“They seem like bad guys.”
After hearing about the incident at the territory from Merdes a while ago and getting permission from Lyat, Pardes came out.
Lyat, thinking Pardes would handle the situation gracefully, showed mercy. And so, today was the second time.
During the first outing, Pardes was introduced to Merdes friends: Joseph, Han, and Yuri. Pardes somewhat liked them, so they planned to meet for the second time today.
However,
Suddenly, humans appeared and knocked Han unconscious, attempting to drag him away.
With Joseph and Yuri absent, the twins who were out for a walk had to protect him.
After finishing the explanation, Pardes subtly glanced at Shekina. Shekina’s expression remained unyielding.
At that moment, one of the men trying to take Han shouted,
“Ah… we’ve been saying it all along! We only have business with this guy!”
“If you have business, why not go to a café and have tea? Why knock him out and drag him away, you crazy people!”
“Then don’t take him!”
Grinding her teeth, Merdes yelled, his cheeks reddening with anger.
He want nothing more than to use his strength to knock them all down. But if he do, Lyat will scold him.
Wasn’t the condition for going outside the realm not to cause trouble?
So, he’s enduring it now, against his will.
“How long are you going to keep this up? They’re just kids. Let’s handle this quickly before people gather.”
These damned humans keep stirring things up. Merdes clenched hia fists tightly.
“Sorry, it’s the commander’s orders. Can’t help it.”
“They should have just gone quietly. Tsk.”
The humans reached out towards the twins.
Should I just take one hit? If I hit back after getting hit, wouldn’t it be self-defense? That’s what I learned, right? Pardes mind was racing when suddenly,
Bang!
With a loud noise, the human standing in the front fell.
“Ugh! What, what’s happening!”
Standing in front of the fallen human was none other than Dehan.
“Shekina. Were you with him?”
“Why would you be with him?”
“Because of a little trouble.”
Shekina frowned and looked at Dehan again.
I don’t intend to stop Dehan. It’s better for Dehan to step forward here than for the twins to cause chaos. I don’t plan to get involved myself, you know.
Since Dehan’s fighting skills aren’t bad, maybe it’s okay to leave it to him.
“Everyone, please run away. I’ll try to handle this somehow.”
Dehan said, holding a wooden stick-like object he found, looking quite impressive.
“We just need to rescue that man, right? I got it. Let’s meet behind the square… Urgh!”
But Dehan was only five years old. While his fighting skills weren’t bad for his age, they were still only compared to other kids his age. She didn’t think Dehan could take on a grown man.
“These brats really piss me off, damn it.”
“Hey, let’s take them all down. Crush them all.”
Hm, should I go get Calvin or Yuriel? Shekina bit her lip, her trembling fingers slightly rolling up.
“For now, let’s ju…”
“Hey, bro, don’t stop me.”
“Don’t stop me, either.”
Interrupting Shekina, it was the twins.
“Hey, where did this weak bastard come from?”
Merdes, who took the wooden stick from the fallen Dehan, chuckled.
“We’ll handle this, so Shekina, stay back.”
“Oh, no. I should…”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“We said we’d protect the kid.”
“Right. So the kid should stay still.”
Merdes loosened his neck while gripping the wooden stick tightly, and Pardes turned his ankle, hands in his pockets.
Lyat said not to use magic outside the territory. It might reveal their demon heritage.
So using fists would be okay, right?
Regular violence is fine, isn’t it?
“Just gotta use as much force as they do, right?”
Merdes muttered, lips curling into a smirk.
“Not too much, not too little. Just as much as they deserve.”
They dashed out with wicked smiles.
Today was the day the first achievement of Daimon Margrave’s twins would be etched in history.
***
“Wow. They really went all out with the beating.”
Shekina looked at the five humans lying around and laughed. These guys were really beaten to dust on a rainy day. Shekina glanced at the twins.
“No magic used.”
“Just fists.”
They whispered to Shekina as if she were the only one who could hear them.
“Elder number 3 told us. The best defense is a good offense.”
“He said to use violence if they don’t listen.”
“The guy teaching the kid is a real thug.”
Oh, my head.
Shekina rubbed her forehead.
“Thank goodness this is a path other humans don’t usually take. If it were the plaza, you’d all be caught.”
“Oh, we had our plans.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Shekina gave Pardes a sharper look.
Merdes might be a loose cannon, but Pardes wasn’t usually like this. Why suddenly engage in this behavior and cause trouble?
Thinking this shouldn’t escalate into a matter for the Demon Citadel, Shekina quickly brainstormed.
Then it happened.
“Um…”
Dehan leaned closer, having approached unnoticed as he leaned against the wall.
The twins immediately scrutinized him.
“Are you okay?”
“You took quite a beating earlier.”
“Ah… Yes, I’m fine.”
Dehan’s cheek was slightly bruised.
It must have been embarrassing to bravely rush out only to end up getting beaten.
However, as Dehan was only five years old and the humans were adults, it was never a fair fight from the start. The twins weren’t human, so they could win.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I wasn’t hurt badly.”
Dehan nodded in gratitude. A smile tugged at the corners of the twins mouths.
“We were supposed to protect you, after all.”
“Yeah, because you’re just a kid, we had to protect you.”
Dehan knows that these twin brothers are five years old. Yuriel told him.
But…
“Um, I was born in January, so I’m actually the oldest.”
He was born earlier than them.
From Dehan’s perspective, ‘kids’ refers to the twins and Shekina.
The twins faces wrinkled in realization.
“We jumped in for no reason.”
“Ah, man.”
They wanted to protect Dehan like the human guards, but it turned out he was older.
Tsk. The twins grumbled, pursing their lips.
Then, they suddenly noticed that Shekina was gone.
Turning their heads quickly, Pardes scanned the area and soon spotted Shekina crouching in front of the humans.
“Shekina, what are you doing there?”
“Huh?”
Shekina glanced up at them.
“I were going to take that human away. But since he’s not getting up, I had to do something to them. What’s wrong?”
It was a rational opinion. But the twins were puzzled.
“Um, okay…”
“Uh, where did you get the spear? Why are you holding it?”
Shekina had a fearsome weapon in his hand.
“If we let them get away with this nonsense on our territory, won’t it be unfair to the guards?”
Holding up the spear, Shekina smirked.
“Humans have so many holes in their bodies anyway, they won’t even notice a few more.”
