Chapter 35 - Special Ability
After the elders left, the old man stamped his foot and dragged himself away – a tongue click could be heard as he went – and the guards soon followed, taking Guang Ai away so that her wound could be treated.
In the room, only Noah and the Radiance family remained.
"Don't be mad at Ai... I don't think she meant any harm," said Sophia—a request that made little sense to Noah, since he knew that girl would never have touched him, not even in his sleep.
He had developed this ability since childhood, from the times he woke up beaten or passed out for similar reasons—a heightened sense of every danger near his body, extremely useful in battle to keep him from being caught off guard.
"Don't worry, I don't mind," he replied.
"Huh? I don't think that's true," Alice remarked with a smile. "You even crushed her wrist without any hesitation..."
"That... that wasn't intentional... And it wouldn't have happened if she hadn't tried to touch me when I wasn't looking."
"...It seems you do have exceptionally sharp senses," Arthur noted.
"...Yes... Ever since I was a child, actually," Noah smiled—a smile heavier than usual—and everyone noticed.
The weight of his words carried great significance, yet for the Radiance family it didn't seem to matter as much as it should. They assumed it was simply because Noah had lived in the Demon Beast Forest—according to him—so the existence of such an ability only made the story he had invented seem more credible—even if that wasn't his intention—since such a trait could only be acquired in extreme environments. Nonetheless, the real story would have been even more shocking.
"Now... I believe she mentioned something about the oven I asked them to buy, didn't she?" he asked while ignoring the pain of moving one of his hands behind his back.