Chapter 205
Chapter 205: That's Great—I Want to Pet Them Too
The Demon Hunters arrived to reinforce in good time.
As they crouched near the Clavena Manor, every one of them raised their guard.
Because at that moment, the Manor's defenses were tight.
Nearby stood a group of guards clad in bone-plate armor and wielding sharp blades.
Without exception, they were all female.
Every single one of them wore fluffy animal ears atop their heads.
Anyone who didn't know better might have thought the Manor's owner had some peculiar tastes.
But those Demon Hunters saw through it at a glance.
These were the Clavena Family's Demi-human unit—the Wild Beasts.
They had earned an overwhelmingly glowing reputation at the Adventurer's Capital in the south.
Boosted by the constant praise from the Adventurer's Capital in the south, practically every noble in the entire Empire had come to know of the Clavena Family's guard unit.
Their performance had even driven up the price of Demi-human slaves.
After all, everyone wanted to keep an obedient Demi-human guard just like the Clavena Family.
They were stronger than humans, cheaper, and far more compliant.
But now was not the time to dwell on any of that.
Around the Manor, the Demon Hunters exchanged glances.
They couldn't sense any trace of their fellow Demon Hunters here.
That made no sense...
In the 1st team's last report, they had clearly stated they were already at the Clavena Manor.
Yet looking at it now, the defenses around the Manor were formidable.
Unless one possessed the agility of a cadre, infiltrating it would be no easy feat.
At this point, unease spread across every face.
Because regardless of whether the goal was investigating the demon or finding their teammates, they would all—
"Need to find a way to slip inside."
Just as they were about to begin laying out a plan, they suddenly felt something block out part of the moonlight.
A dark shadow appeared at their side without warning, accompanied by a cool female voice that rang out around them.
"You all..."
"Are you trying to get inside?"
The moment they heard the voice, a sensation like an electric current shot up every spine, and cold sweat broke out all at once.
Someone had come up behind them.
When had she taken up a position at their backs?
They hadn't sensed even a trace of her presence!
A Stealth ability this refined—so flawless that even they, Demon Hunters who excelled at concealment, had felt nothing—
Danger!
But before they could even rise to their feet, the cool voice behind them rang out again:
"Then... could you take me in with you."
Huh?
The Demon Hunters startled slightly, then turned their heads to look at the mysterious figure behind them.
In the moonlight, all they could make out was that the mysterious figure before them was completely concealed beneath a Cloak.
Yet those 2 brilliantly glittering green eyes—dangerous and arresting as a serpent's gaze—were impossible to look away from.
***
Inside the Clavena Manor's living room, Gwen wore the set of armor Viktor had gifted her.
Luminous light flowed through the gaps of the armor, making Gwen's silhouette appear all the more formidable.
Gwen looked at the person before her with a grave expression and asked:
"Leah, what on earth is going on?"
Leah sat composed on the sofa, showing not the slightest hint of panic.
She lifted a ceramic teapot and even poured a cup of hot tea for Gwen.
"Don't get worked up yet—sit down first, and we'll talk through it slowly."
Gwen heard what Leah said and slowly sat down as well.
Leah handed the poured tea to Gwen.
"Settle yourself first. Then we can go over things in detail."
Gwen held the teacup and glanced down. The red tea reflected her own face back at her from the surface.
She raised the cup and drank it down in a single go.
She felt the bitterness fill her mouth, but her expression didn't change in the slightest. She set the cup down gently and met Leah's eyes directly:
"Can you tell me now?"
Leah blinked, looking at Gwen with mild surprise.
"You even drink tea like a warrior."
If she didn't already know Gwen was a woman, she might very well have taken her for a man.
Leah raised her own teacup, smiled lightly, and took a refined sip.
Then she called out toward the wall behind her:
"Heni, come out."
From behind the wall, Heni stepped out looking thoroughly timid.
Gwen looked over as well.
Heni kept her head down, glancing at Gwen with an air of embarrassment, eyes darting everywhere as if she couldn't bring herself to meet Gwen's gaze directly.
"Miss Gwen, h-hello."
Gwen found it a little strange.
Because the girl before her seemed almost afraid of her.
Leah introduced from the side:
"This is Heni—she's something of a Retainer to our family."
"She used to be Viktor's Teaching Assistant, and she helped Viktor out quite a lot."
The moment Gwen heard this, she looked at the girl in the oversized robe before her, and her impression improved dramatically.
She stood up, walked over to Heni, and extended her hand.
"Hello, Miss Heni."
"Viktor has been in your care."
Heni panicked, both hands raised and waving in front of her chest.
"No no no—the Professor has always been the one looking after me."
"Other than writing lecture scripts for the Professor, covering his classes, cleaning the classroom and office every day on his behalf, and helping the Professor prepare lessons—I basically haven't done anything at all!"
Leah spread her hands toward Gwen and gave a small shrug.
"See? What did I tell you."
The more Gwen heard, the heavier her heart felt.
In the end, she simply reached out with both hands and gripped Heni's hands firmly.
Her gaze fixed on Heni with absolute earnestness.
"Miss Heni."
"You are a good person!"
Uh... Hm?
Heni couldn't quite work out what was happening, but feeling her hands held tightly by Gwen, she couldn't help but feel a little lightheaded.
Ahh—the righteous Knight before her is Professor Viktor's fiancée, isn't she?
She is so radiant, so noble, and so warm.
The more Heni thought about it, the more she felt her own personality fell hopelessly short.
It really was true—only someone this exceptional could be worthy of a person like the Professor.
"I knew you two would get along."
Leah said from the side, smile written all over her face, voice carrying a teasing tone:
"After all, you both share a certain common interest."
A common interest?
Guileless as she was, Gwen didn't catch what Leah meant, but beside her, Heni had already gone red in the face, head lowered, unable to say a word.
Leah didn't bother explaining further, just waved a hand.
"To get to the point—Gwen, the reason I called you here is because of Heni."
"Heni?"
Gwen released Heni's hands and turned back, just as Leah gave a nod.
"Yes. You probably haven't heard—the Second Prince was beaten."
"...That happened?"
Watching Gwen's thoroughly blank expression, Leah nodded, pointed to Heni beside her, and said flatly:
"5 broken ribs, internal bleeding in the lung, and a few minutes soaking in a pool—he's still unconscious now."
"That's right. She did it."
Gwen turned her head in bewilderment toward Heni, eyes brimming with disbelief.
Heni, however, only lowered her head even further.
"Do you believe that?"
Gwen immediately shook her head. She naturally couldn't believe any such thing.
When they shook hands just now, Gwen had already felt that the girl before her had almost no physical strength to speak of.
How could she possibly knock several ribs clean out of an adult man like the Second Prince with a single punch.
As the Emperor's son, a Prince couldn't possibly be without any ability of his own.
Leah stood up, hand on her hip, and let out a helpless sigh.
"In any case, regardless of whether she actually did it or not—before Viktor gets back, I need you to stay here for a while."
"Your influence is no less than Viktor's. At the very least, with you here, even if the Royal Guards show up, they can't just take Heni away outright."
Leah walked over to Heni's side, draped one arm around her shoulder, and let her other hand slowly wander across Heni's body.
Under Leah's hands, Heni's body grew warm, her face reddened without stopping, and her small hands kept trying to pry Leah's fingers away.
Leah ignored the interference entirely and, while continuing to feel around, said:
"I can't have my delicate little Teaching Assistant getting dragged off to sit in a prison cell for a few days."
Finally, Leah's hand found its way to Heni's chest and gave a light pinch.
Heni let out a sound entirely against her will.
"Mmn..."
But suddenly, Gwen snapped to attention.
She shifted her legs into a fighting stance and swept her eyes around in every direction.
Her hand moved to the blade at her waist, as though she had sensed some danger approaching.
She swiftly drew her Longsword and turned to look toward the entrance.
"Leah, Heni."
"Both of you—step back."
Seeing Gwen abruptly turn so gravely serious, both Leah and Heni were caught off guard, and obediently stepped back a few paces.
Gwen gripped the blade in both hands, the muscles along her forearms beginning to tremble faintly.
Runes began to crawl up the blade, red light flickering to life along the sword's length, brightening in waves.
Flames coiled furiously around the blade, surging and thrashing.
She could feel the footsteps drawing nearer.
That sense of danger drew nearer as well.
At last, in the instant it reached the entrance—
Gwen let out a thunderous shout, as if releasing in an instant all the tension that had built up inside her, eyes hard and unwavering as she fixed her gaze on what lay ahead.
【Fury】
The muscles of both arms erupted with a terrifying burst of power, and she swung the blade in her hands.
A long red arc swept out, cleaving straight toward the door in front of her.
BOOM!
A fierce, searing heat wave sent a devastating blast surging outward in every direction.
The moment the terrible flames struck the floor, a massive explosion erupted all at once.
The wooden door shattered entirely into splinters, swept away by the violent gust and driven into the walls.
The surrounding walls could not withstand the ferocious blow either, and collapsed completely, crashing down to the ground with a thunderous roar.
The blinding firelight bathed all 3 faces a deep, vivid red, and a burst of dust billowed up, engulfing all 3 of them.
Yet Gwen could still feel that the sense of danger had not gone away.
She grew even more guarded, lowering her posture, as the blade in her hand gathered its strength once more.
As the dust gradually settled, a pair of black-and-white wings—as though wrapping something within—folded around each other and came into view before Gwen's eyes.
The feathers of those black-and-white wings were still burning with fierce flames, crackling and snapping.
Then the wings swung abruptly outward to both sides, and the flames on them were extinguished in an instant.
In the moonlight, those green eyes shone with a particularly vivid brilliance.
She stared fixedly at Gwen—like a predator that had locked onto its prey.
【Blacklist detected—Unnamed】
【Whitelist detected—Heni】
【Whitelist individual appears to be under threat. Immediate protection protocol to be enacted.】
In an instant, a long blade materialized in the woman's hand, held horizontally before her.
The blade trained on Gwen, her legs shifting slowly into position.
Her eyes turned ice-cold.
"Initiating—target elimination."