“I-Igor, what is the meaning of this?!” the man shouted in terror.

  Igor frowned, his gaze shifting to Mira.

  “What happened to my men?”

  Mira shrugged.

  “I left them sleeping in a dark alley, after they told me where this place was.”

  She spoke in a very casual tone, but Lucius doubted Igor’s men had talked so easily.

  “I underestimated you,” Igor said, resting his sword on his shoulder.

  “Yeah, that happens a lot,” Mira replied with a confident smile.

  “D-damn it! This wasn’t supposed to happen!” the fat man screamed, panic clear on his face. “Do you have any idea what your men have done, Igor?!”

  Igor’s expression hardened as his cold gaze turned to the fat man.

  “Alistair, shut up, or I’ll rip your tongue out.”

  “Gh—” Alistair let out a low grunt, stepping back without even realizing it.

  “Just stand there quietly while I deal with this.”

  Igor’s words silenced Alistair, who had no choice but to trust him to resolve the situation.

  “In any case,” Igor’s gaze returned to Mira, “it seems this maid didn’t alert the guards about the duke’s son going missing. So as long as we kill her, there won’t be any problems.”

  Judging by the tension on Mira’s face when she heard that, Igor’s assumption was correct. She must have been in such a hurry to rescue Lucius that, the moment she learned where he was, she ran straight here.

  “Don’t worry, young master. It may not look like it, but the truth is that I’m very strong,” Mira said with a strained smile.

  Despite being terrible at inspiring a sense of safety, Lucius accepted her words. Over the past few weeks, even though she tried to hide it, he had already noticed that Mira wasn’t just an ordinary maid.

  And thinking about it now, it made sense. His father had placed her to watch over him, in case he did something that put his life at risk. It wouldn’t make sense to assign an untrained servant to that role.

  “Enough talk,” Igor said with a feral grin. “Let’s finish this.”

  It happened in an instant: the man moved, his sword raised over Mira’s head—metal clashed as the blade was blocked by two daggers crossed above the maid’s head.

  “Well, look at that,” Igor’s smile widened. “You really are good.”

  He lifted his leg and launched a kick. Mira slid her body to the side, letting Igor’s sword slide along her dagger, and, spinning her body, stabbed toward the man’s neck.

  “Humpf!”

  With a cold snort, Igor pulled his sword back, bringing it upright and knocking Mira’s strike aside before counterattacking with a sweeping slash.

  Quickly, the maid arched her body backward, letting the blade pass just above her head, then completed the motion with a jump, spinning backward and landing on her feet at the office entrance.

  Igor clicked his tongue, dissatisfied at missing the attack.

  “I didn’t expect to use this against a mere maid, but…”

  Taking a deep breath, Igor released his Aura.

  Instantly, the pressure in the room surged. Lucius felt something dense, as if a hand were gripping his throat, making it hard even to breathe.

  A pale blue light enveloped the warrior’s body. That light seeped into his sword, giving it an extremely threatening presence—as if it were not a mere object, but something alive.

  The tension on Mira’s face visibly increased, and she instinctively brought both daggers in front of her chest in a defensive stance.

  “Any last words?” Igor asked, pointing his sword at Mira.

  “Enough.”

  The one who answered was Lucius, who had already moved to Alistair’s side.

  “Brat, what are you—Agh!”

  Lucius kicked the man’s knee, shattering the bone and dropping him to his knees. Almost instantly, he moved behind him, slipping the bindings around his arm over Alistair’s neck and choking him.

  “Ugh…!”

  The man’s face turned red as a tomato, the pain of his crushed knee replaced by the desperate need to breathe.

  “Drop the sword or I kill him,” Lucius said coldly.

  “Young master…”

  Mira’s eyes widened in shock. As for Igor, he frowned, remaining silent for a few seconds before snorting in disdain.

  “Then kill him,” he said mockingly.

  He’s serious.

  Lucius could tell from Igor’s eyes.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Ugh, how useless.

  Looking at Alistair, who thrashed desperately, Lucius felt even more contempt for the man. This fat pig wasn’t even useful as a hostage.

  Pathetic.

  He tightened his grip even further, making the merchant’s face go from red to purple. Alistair’s struggle became frantic, then quickly weakened, before stopping altogether.

  When Lucius released his hold, the merchant’s body collapsed onto the floor with a wet thud.

  Mira and Igor watched the entire scene, the latter shaking his head as a cold smile spread across his face.

  “Heh. Now that’s surprising. I didn’t think you had it in you, kid.”

  He shook his head again.

  “I like you. Too bad I’ll have to kill you.”

  His gaze shifted to Mira, and the pressure in the room intensified once more.

  “We’ve already wasted too much time, so no last words.”

  Igor charged, his speed even greater than before. In an instant, he was right in front of Mira, his sword descending in a vertical strike.

  It was the same attack as at the start of the fight, but the circumstances were very different now. With his Aura released, the mere movement of Igor’s sword caused thunderous booms in the air, as if a mountain were crashing down.

  She can’t block it—she has to dodge.

  An Aura-infused attack was many times more powerful—heavier—than a normal one. For a non–Aura user, taking it head-on would be suicide.

  And that was exactly what Mira did.

  Just like at the start of the fight, she raised her daggers above her head.

  “Hah! Idi—”

  Igor’s confident voice was cut off along with his sword as it collided with the maid’s daggers, which were enveloped in her Aura an instant before impact.

  The mercenary’s eyes widened in shock, stunned that the girl in front of him could also wield that power.

  Mira didn’t waste a second, shifting from defense to offense in a piercing motion with both blades.

  “Guh—”

  The strikes hit both of Igor’s shoulders, twisting his expression as his flesh was pierced.

  “Tsc!” Mira clicked her tongue.

  The blow wasn’t deep enough. The Aura surrounding the mercenary’s body greatly increased his defense, turning what should have been a fatal strike into little more than a shallow wound.

  “Bitch!”

  That same Aura allowed Igor to recover faster, using his broken sword to slash diagonally across Mira’s torso. She retreated hastily, leaving a trail of blood on the floor.

  “I’m fine, young master!” she shouted with a strained smile.

  That idiot.

  Lucius shook his head.

  Well, I guess that’s just how she is. At least it’s not a fatal wound.

  Lucius observed carefully. Whether because the sword’s reach had been reduced, or because she had protected herself with Aura, Mira’s injury wasn’t very deep—at least not enough to take her out of the fight immediately.

  But—

  This couldn’t continue.

  “That was just the first one,” Igor laughed, wiping the blood from his blade on his arm. “Next time, you’re dead.”

  Feinting a charge, Igor threw his broken sword at Mira, who instinctively raised her daggers to block it.

  Metal clanged through the room, and in the next instant, Igor was rushing toward her at full speed.

  “Die!”

  In one continuous motion, the maid shifted from defense to offense, spinning her body and aiming for the mercenary’s neck as he entered her range.

  “Humpf!”

  With a cold snort, he raised his right arm, taking the cold steel of her blade with his own flesh.

  “Your Aura isn’t strong enough,” he said with a cold smile.

  The blade tore through skin and muscle, but stopped at the bone. Then, with his left fist, Igor struck her stomach, sending her crashing into the wall as she spat out a spray of blood.

  At that instant, Lucius appeared behind the mercenary, leaping high enough to clear the man’s nearly two-meter height and driving a dagger—stolen from Alistair’s corpse—into his neck.

  “Guh—!”

  Caught off guard, Igor clenched his teeth at the impact. But his reaction was exaggerated compared to the damage inflicted. The dagger barely pierced his skin before snapping in half.

  “Brat!”

  The mercenary twisted his body swiftly, his left hand reaching for Lucius’s neck. Without hesitation, Lucius kicked Igor in the ribs, using the momentum to launch himself beyond the mercenary’s reach.

  A failure.

  Lucius reflected as he landed. He had planned to end the mercenary’s life with that strike, but it seemed he had underestimated how durable a body protected by Aura could be.

  Even so—

  Good. Very good.

  He smiled.

  “Heh, you definitely have a screw loose, kid,” the mercenary said with a cold grin. “But I’ll give you this—you’re really good. For a moment, I thought I was actually fucked.”

  Igor touched his neck, feeling the blood trickle from the wound Lucius had inflicted, a twisted smile on his face.

  “Ugh…!”

  Meanwhile, Mira—who had nearly been knocked unconscious—stood back up. Holding her stomach with one hand and her dagger with the other, she looked pale, her breathing ragged.

  “Young master, please run away while I deal with him. All the guards in this mansion are unconscious, so you shouldn’t have much trouble escaping,” she said with a bloodstained smile.

  Lucius simply clicked his tongue.

  With her battered appearance, she inspired no confidence whatsoever.

  “Young master!” she shouted nervously when she realized he had no intention of running.

  Annoying.

  “Enough. I’m going to help you kill him,” Lucius said in a tone that ended any discussion.

  Mira looked frustrated—it showed clearly on her face. But knowing that when Lucius spoke like that there was no point arguing, she nodded with a tired sigh.

  “Haaa… But please be careful.”

  “Obviously. Who do you think I am?”

  Mira didn’t look convinced, but regardless, she turned her gaze back to Igor, raising her dagger and assuming a fighting stance once more.

  Lucius did the same, and Igor, wearing a serious expression, took a few steps sideways, avoiding a position where Lucius, Mira, and himself were all in a straight line.

  A brief exchange of glances between Lucius and Mira was the signal that started the battle. Charging at the same time, the two flanked Igor from both sides, reaching the mercenary in a fraction of a second.

  “Humpf!”

  With his right arm disabled, Igor had to use his left to attack Mira, who attempted to pierce him with a thrust. But Mira was on his right, while Lucius was on his left, so to attack the maid, the mercenary had to twist his body—giving Lucius the perfect opening.

  Bang!

  Lucius’s kick struck Igor square in the ribs, but the attack had little to no effect on the mercenary, who, forming his hand into a claw, tried to tear Mira’s face apart.

  Mira tilted her head aside, dodging the attack by a hair. At the same instant, her blade reached Igor’s face. Mimicking her movement, he also tilted his head, escaping with nothing more than a cut on his cheek.

  “Tsc!”

  “Humpf!”

  Mira clicked her tongue in frustration, while the mercenary snorted irritably and, with a swing of his arm, struck her across the side of the face.

  As she fell, Mira tried to cut Igor’s neck, but he arched his body backward, narrowly avoiding the blade.

  That left him in an unstable position—and when Lucius’s second kick hit his chin, he was slammed to the ground with a heavy crash.

  Mira’s fall was much softer, but both reacted the same way: twisting their bodies backward and using the momentum to get back on their feet. In Igor’s case, however, the moment he rose, Lucius’s fist slammed into his face, crushing into his nose with full force.

  “Guh—!”

  By reflex, the mercenary shut his eyes, which instantly filled with tears. A terrible reaction—not that he could control it, Lucius thought, as he followed up with one, two, three consecutive punches to the warrior’s face.

  “That’s enough!”

  While retreating, Igor attempted to strike Lucius with a sweeping swing of his arm.

  Dangerous.

  Without even thinking, Lucius leapt violently backward, watching death pass before his eyes as Igor’s fist missed his face by less than a centimeter.

  The attack didn’t even connect—and yet…

  Lucius wiped the blood running from his nose.

  “Young master, are you all right?” Mira asked anxiously.

  There was a large bruise on her face, her left eye so swollen she likely couldn’t see out of it at all. And yet—

  Stupid girl.

  Lucius shook his head.

  “I’m fine.”

  His heart was beating so fast it felt like it might explode—but it wasn’t fear he was feeling.