Death sounded like the shattering of glass.

Kenja opened his eyes to the sight of ice-blue hair.

A sculpture of perfect stillness was frozen in front of him. The frigid coldness of the room conceded to her very being as her snow-white skin shone brilliantly within the white fog billowing around her.

Aoi Rin had appeared in front of him at some point.

Although she was not taller than Kenja, her back offered him a sense of security, as if she could shield him from any storm as long as he stood behind her.

An ice wall stood in front of her palms in between them and the First Elder.

Kenja felt sick to his stomach, his trembling uncontrollable. The low temperature of the room only exacerbated his nausea.

He kept himself from falling by clinging onto his knees.

Glancing at Hanabi, he expected to see her in a similar state, but he was surprised to see he was wrong.

She stood there mildly shaken, her veil hanging around her neck like a scarf, but her face held no trace of fear like his own.

Curious of the reason why he was affected differently, Snail answered his thoughts without warning, “Look at the ice, and you’ll see why.”

He took a good look at the ice wall.

Two craters had formed on the opposite side, but the one centered on Kenja’s position was a dozen times larger than Hanabi’s crater.

Kenja’s heart shuddered.

He immediately understood what happened. The attack aimed at him was meant to be lethal.

Having narrowly escaped the most pointless death ever, Kenja regretted his earlier rashness. It was uncharacteristic of him to act so irrationally at such an important time.

Truly, nothing good could come from following one’s emotions blindly!

Cracking apart, the wall disintegrated shortly after Aoi Rin withdrew her hands.

The First Elder eyed Aoi Rin in a threatening manner.

“Is this rebellion, little niece?”

She shook her head.

The aloof Aoi Rin had always been a girl of few words ever since Fifth Elder Kazane Kazue brought her to the sect as a direct disciple. She kept to herself and only spoke when spoken to, and even then, if she could answer without speaking, then her lips remained shut.

“Then why stop your elder from disciplining your juniors?”

“Master’s instructions.”

Vague and ambiguous, yet everyone understood her perfectly.

She was tasked with protecting and caring for her juniors in her master’s absence, and the First Elder’s attempt to execute Kenja had compelled her to take action.

The First Elder snorted at her, “Trash protecting trash. You’ve already burdened your master with your uselessness. Stuck at the same stage for so long, you shamelessly cling onto Fifth Sister. The least you can do is keep any more garbage from latching onto her.”

Aoi Rin did not budge, but Kenja could see her shoulders shrink ever so slightly at his words. Even though she showed a strong front, the First Elder’s words affected her spirit.

Kenja’s fighting spirit was relit.

Yes, Kenja hated bullies, but just now, Kenja discovered something he hated more: when one mocked another’s cultivation speed.

It was a very, very, very sore subject for him.

Kenja’s breathing intensified. He stood up straight and glared at the First Elder.

If stares could kill a man, the First Elder would have died a hundred times.

“Do you have something to say to me, Disciple Hirai?”

This sounded more like a threat than a question.

Kenja continued to glare without saying anything.

Suddenly, Aoi Rin turned around and approached Kenja. With a gaze of indifference, she instructed her junior, “Apologize.”

Although she stood in front of him, Kenja did not break eye contact with Kaitou Daiki. Clasping his hands, he bowed his head ever so slightly.

The apology that followed had a most unexpected end.

“Replying to First Elder, Disciple offers her sincerest apolo—BLEUEUEUEUEUERRRRGGHHH.”

…

Vomit splattered the floor and onto the ends of Aoi Rin’s robes causing her cold face to freeze further.

Kenja had yet to recover from the nausea caused by the elder’s killing intent and lethal attack, his body still trembling at the mere memory of what happened.

His earlier silence was not only because he wished to remain quiet but also because he feared if he opened his mouth, his stomach would speak for him instead.

But after his senior sister saved his life, Kenja did not want to betray her kindness by stubbornly refusing to speak.

Most importantly, he really, really, really did not want to die.

That was why he decided to apologize.

Still, if this old bastard thought he would receive a simple apology, he was sorely mistaken!

Aoi Rin raised her sleeves to block the others from seeing Kenja’s unfortunate sight and to deter the First Elder from retaliating.

“Big sister!” Hanabi moved closer to Kenja out of concern but was halted by his hand.

“I have offended the venerable elder, so I must seek forgiveness. Don’t try to stop me, Hanabi.”

The princess did not speak, but she did pinch Kenja’s robes affectionately.

Although she was full of concern for him, this was definitely the first time Kenja had addressed her by her given name without being prompted.

It had always been her insisting that they were close friends, yet she had sensed that Kenja tried his best to keep a respectful distance from her.

But now, she sensed that the separation between them had shrunk.

With this, they truly were good friends, right?

Her first real friend!

Just wait till she could tell her parents and Souji!

Kenja cleared his throat again and pulled Aoi Rin’s arm down enough to lock eyes with Kaitou Daiki once more.

Aoi Rin hesitated over whether she should stop Kenja from saying anything else, but she could feel the First Elder’s aura surging violently behind her.

Clearly, a vomit-filled apology had not appeased the First Elder, so it would be best if Kenja could say it once more properly.

She lowered her sleeve to let Kenja apologize again.

Kenja bowed his head more sincerely than the previous time.

“Speaking with First Elder, I feel a little unwell. For my earlier rudeness, I am very, very sorr—BLEURGH…”