Chapter 29

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Chapter 29

The man could not contain his anger when the skewer soiled his expensive clothes.

“You naughty, filthy kid!” He yelled, having judged Fren by his outfit, he was just a commoner boy.

“…No!” Fren, though small in stature, strongly denied it.

“How dare you-, a commoner raising his voice to me, a nobleman!” The man shouted loudly. At the man’s words, Fren glared fiercely at the man.

After reading Fren’s unusual momentum, Yuria quickly hugged Fren and spoke to the man while bowing her head, “I- I apologize.”

It was then that the man noticed Yuria standing next to Fren. The man looked up and down at her body as if evaluating a product then made a sinister expression.

“Hmm, you have a pretty useful face.” The man said and smirked. At that, Yuria felt uneasy. The man’s gaze was one of good intentions. This was the same gaze as the men she met in the forest last time. Yuria was nervous and wary that such an incident would happen again.

It was better back in the forest, since there were no witnesses; they were able to move on safely even after Fren killed them, but it wasn’t the same here. Many people were coming and going. In addition, the person in front of them was a nobleman. If they inflicted even a small injury on a nobleman, she and Fren, who were commoners, would be severely punished. It’s okay for her to be punished but Fren…

Thinking about the last time, if she was punished, Fren wouldn’t stand still. Then the situation would get even worse.

“If you follow me, I will let slide that child’s mistake,” The man said with a look of overbearing kindness as if he was showing great mercy. Fren was the first to respond to the man’s words, by tightly holding Yuria’s hand if he wouldn’t ever let her go. Along with the nobleman, Fren looked up at Yuria with an earnest gaze, silently declaring that she should never follow that man. Fren instinctively knew that the man was taking Yuria to do something bad, so he couldn’t let her go even more.

“I am not very patient. If you want to save that little boy, you’d better follow me.” The man, who was annoyed by Yuria’s refusal to answer, spoke in a threatening tone. Hearing this change, Yuria bit her lip.

What the hell am I supposed to do… After pondering for a moment, Yuria made a decision and looked forward with determination.

Rather than argue, let’s run away. There was no other option. Even if they escaped safely now, if the man set a wanted order for her and Fren, they wouldn’t be able to set foot in the village ever again, and yet, that was far better than putting Fren in danger. At that thought, Yuria grabbed Fren’s hand and tried to move her body in the opposite direction.

“Tsk. I guess it’s because you’re a commoner, so you don’t listen when I try to speak nicely. You don’t seem to have any intention of following me, so I have no choice but to take you by force.” The knights, who received orders from the man faster than Yuria’s actions, reached out to forcefully drag Yuria away.

“Don’t touch Yuri!” Fren stood up like a blade, wary of the knights. Not one of their fingertips could touch Yuria’s body. Yuria was his, and she was his precious person. So no one could hurt Yuria, give her a hard time, or harm her. Moreover, it was even more unforgivable if they tried to take Yuria away from him. She was such a precious and warm person to him, that even if they brought to him all the good things he knew, it wouldn’t be enough.

But they dare…! Fren was furious and began to unconsciously let out a little energy.

“Kid, stay away!” The knight, unaware of Fren’s ability, roughly pushed him, who was blocking his way. However, it was the knight, not Fren, who fell. Before he could even touch Fren’s body, the knight was thrown to the floor blown away by his energy.

“What is this…” The faces of the other knights and the nobleman were full of astonishment.

“This- this thing–!” While bewildered by the unexpected situation, the nobleman glared at them with a more brutal expression while stuttering, as being scared of Fren was hurting his pride.

“Yuri is Fren’s mom.”

So no one bothers her.

No one can take her away.

Whoever it is, I won’t let it slide. It just has to be erased. Then those things won’t be able to take Yuria away from me, and it won’t be able to trouble her anymore. Once I erase all of them, then, really, no one will ever touch my precious one.

That’s it.

Let’s get rid of that first.

It wasn’t even that hard, at least compared to the man he met last time, the man in front of Fren was less than dust that could be blown away.

However, since it shouldn’t surprise Yuria like last time, he thought of dealing with the men in a different way than the last time. At that thought, Fren raised his energy. Yuria, noticing something unusual, hugged Fren tightly.

“No, you can’t do this.” Yuria opposed Fren. At this rate, Yuria would be seriously injured by his energy before hitting the men.

Yuria continued, “Fren, don’t do that. Killing and hurting people is a bad thing.”

“That bad.” Fren countered, referencing the nobleman and his guards.

Why are you telling me not to? Fren looked at her with a confused expression unable to understand Yuria’s words.

“Yeah, he’s a bad guy, but if you kill him now, Fren will go through worse.”

If only I had the strength, and authority to defeat that person. If I wasn’t such a weak person who couldn’t do anything; there would be no need to stand in front of Fren like this.

Nonetheless, it was unavoidable. If Fren killed that nobleman, more people would try to hurt Fren in the future and put him in more danger. It would be even more difficult if, by any chance, Fren’s true identity was revealed through this incident. The mere fact that he had the blood of the devil would cause Fren to be chased by the people of the temple, which would result in unimaginable countless bloodstains on these tiny, fragile hands. Then, worse than anything, he would meet the ending she so desperately wanted to avoid. Thus, Yuria had no choice but to stop Fren.

“I can kill them all.” It didn’t matter how many people tried to threaten him and Yuria. If they weren’t as strong as the man last time, Fren had the power to kill anyone, no matter who.

“I don’t want Fren to do that.” She didn’t want Fren, who had yet to see and enjoy beautiful things, to put blood on his small hands to protect her. In the end, it would become karma, binding Fren like shackles and dropping him into an endless abyss.

Why did you hold Fren’s hand?

Why did you promise to stay by Fren’s side and take care of him?

Even if I had blood on my own hands, I couldn’t let Fren do that or have any on his own.

“Why?”

“Because Fren is the most lovable and precious child to me.”

That’s why I want Fren to only walk on a pretty flower path. A blood-stained path could never become a flower path.

Fren couldn’t understand Yuria’s words, he’d grown up in an entirely different environment and his thought process greatly differed from that of her’s.

Why the hell, for what reason? It’s right to kill bad things so that they will not be able to torment her again.

However, Fren couldn’t do anything Yuria didn’t want. Yuria didn’t want him to kill those guys and hoped any killing or violence wouldn’t happen in the future. It was difficult to hold back, but if it was what Yuri wanted, Fren wanted to listen to it. However, he did not know how to protect her from this situation without killing those guys.

On the other hand, the nobleman who was watching the two of them signalled to the knight standing by his side as this was an opportunity to attack. Now that the little one was looking away, he will be able to overpower that little thing and drive the girl away.

The knight who received the nobleman’s signal rushed towards Yuria.

Fren noticed this and for a moment the energy rose as if it was exploding. A voice echoed in Fren’s head.

–Baby, it’s time to choose. What power do you want? Do you want to kill them to protect her? If not… would you choose another path?

It was a voice he heard in his dream. At that moment, Fren and Yuria’s bodies became blurred, arriving at an unfamiliar place.

Fren got lost inside his mind, and his body, which had lost consciousness, was like a ball of fire. His face was flushed red due to the fever, and he was moaning and sweating.

“Fren!” Without being startled by the sudden change of place, Yuria urgently called Fren when she saw his condition. A frown painted Fren’s face a shade of agony, his down turned lips expressing the seriousness of his current situation.

Did I do something wrong? Yuria wished Fren not to kill, but that didn’t mean she wanted Fren to get hurt. Even if she went back in time, she couldn’t just let Fren kill those men, especially considering the path that Fren would be forced to follow if he did. No matter what situation Fren was in, she had no intention of letting him go through that ending, but it would not ease Fren’s burden.

What Yuria hoped for most was Fren’s happiness, and a road paved with blood could never be happy.

What should I do?

For Fren, what should she do and what should she choose? It wasn’t an easy decision.

Still, there was something more important than that. She had to check Fren’s condition right away and get treatment for him. The rest- it wouldn’t be late to think about the rest later.

“Right now, a physician…”

After saying that, Yuria realized the situation and shut her mouth. First of all, it was not easy to find a physician because she didn’t know where this place was, and returning to the village again could be risky. However, while being troubled with how to best help Fren’s condition, Yuria suddenly remembered what Cain had told her the last time.

“My name is Cain. It’s a name that only you are allowed to call. If you ever need my help, call my name. Perhaps it will be sooner than later that you will need me.”

It was unknown whether he had anticipated this situation and made such a statement, or simply said it as an afterthought, regardless there was no one else she could lean on now other than him.

At that thought, Yuria cried out with an earnest heart, “Cain!”

Please. Please help Fren.

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