When I had a 5 year old cousin to babysit, I was always given the advice to not show them something bad or they’ll imitate it when they grow up. I think I also heard a similar line from mom whenever I go out with my friends.

***

I stood up in the middle of the street beside the slightly broken flowing fountain (I’m the one who broke it) while looking down at the guy in red armor. Still, I have the sword stuck in my chest. Though it looks like something severe, but thanks to >, I don’t feel any pain aside from the feeling of air passing through me. I only used it at the time when he broke my barrier. I didn’t think that he could easily break my > like it’s a piece of thin glass.

Also, I copied his > when he struck my chest. And at that moment, I used it on my fist and throw him a punch that had my strength multiplied by 10 times. Good thing I held back a little or his head would have flown off.

“Key! Are you alright!?”

Looks like Sora used his magic to come through my barrier. Cherry, Matt, Ghena, and Jane came running to me with worried expressions.

“I’m fine, but the sword that’s stuck in my chest is slightly heavy. Can you guys pull it out for me?”

I calmly turned towards Sora who’s approaching me with a calm face.

“You look like a freaking undead man. It’s cool.”

“I know right, I wish I had a phone to take pictures.”

Like a huge fight didn’t happen a while ago, Sora and I joked around for a bit. The girls got taken aback from our talk.

After pulling the sword off my chest, I then crouched on the ground and looked at Allenshyre. I’m already through with it so I’m going to call this mo—I mean this guy properly.

“Now that pretty boy’s already knocked out, let’s take him. I want to ask him some questions.”

Then, Cherry walked towards me while clasping her hands on her chest. She seemed worried for Allen—

“I’m really sorry Key.”

Oh…

“For what are you apologizing for?”

Because I said it without any hint of empathy, Cherry became flushed and fidgeted for some reason.

“About letting Allenshyre kiss me. I didn’t expect him to do that in front of the public so I let my guard down.”

“You’re not at fault here so there’s no need to apologize. What I want to hear is about this guy. I’d like to know who he is, where he came from, and what kind of household does he belong to. I also want to know about that [Grey Legionnaire] thing he’s sprouting a while ago.”

“Please, don’t be mad at him. Even though he’s like that, he’s a good guy.”

Cherry sounded worried with that one. Because of that, for some reason, it ticked me off.

I immediately stood straight and grabbed her.

“Just what do you think of this guy anyway!? Why are you so worried about him!?”

“Ke-Key, it hurts.”

“Dude, let go off her, you’re already hurting her.”

I don’t know what got into me, but I’m really angry to the point that I didn’t notice I already gripped Cherry’s arm very tightly enough to hurt her. Thankfully Sora immediately calmed me down by patting my shoulder. I then let go off her after that.

“I’m sorry…”

I immediately apologized so it won’t complicate things. But Cherry slightly step back while holding her arm which I squeezed.

Then, out of a sudden, Matt stepped forward. As if not reading the mood, she sprouted out something stupid, for me at least.

“For you to be angry like this, you must be jealous.”

“What? No!”

“Come on Key, just be honest with yourself. You’re emotions are as plain as day.”

“No! I’m not jealous! I’ve never been jealous! Do I even look jealous?”

“The way you’re denying it, it’s really easy to tell.”

Matt keeps one teasing me with her smile, and for some reason, the girls gave me warm smiles. Cherry blushed as she keeps on holding her arm. And by the way, Sora has no words to say.

“Leaving that aside for now, I want to have a talk with this guy. And by talk, I mean a verbal one. Not a swordfight a while ago.”

Then I turned my head towards Cherry.

“Cherry, this time, I’ll trust you. You and Ghena help Allenshit—Allenshyre for now. When he calms down, bring him to the inn where we made a stop.”

Because I said that firmly, seriousness came back. Cherry and Ghena nodded to my request and then tended to Allenshyre who is unconscious. Sora, Matt, Jane, and I left the area so that the townspeople would stop looking at us.

Also, when I arrived at the inn, I let Jane get some gold coins to pay for the broken fountain. I really trashed that one.

***

Inside the inn, I am lying down the bed with Marie sitting on my stomach. She’s playing peek-a-boo with Matt who is sitting on a chair.

“So, what do you plan on doing with that [Grey Legionnaire]? After beating him up, I doubt that he’ll do nothing about you.”

And by the way, Sora’s leaning on the door. I think he’s trying to look cool. Come to think of it, Sora’s the type of guy who knows a lot.

“Hey Sora, what do you know about the [Grey Legionnaire]? It sounds like a huge deal.”

After asking him, I then raised my body and sat. I’m careful since Marie is sitting on me.

“I don’t know much about them since they are out of the King’s jurisdiction, but I do know that they’re an independent organization which get funding from rewards by subjugating demons from all over the world. Because their group is made up of mixed believers, they’re called as the [Grey Legion]. And each member of that group is called [Grey Legionnaire] like that Allenshyre guy.”

“So they’re like, they’re the good guys.”

“I’m not so sure about that. I sometimes hear reports about them, and believe me, they’re not good ones either.”

Then suddenly, I could hear a knock from the door. When opened, Jane is standing there holding a small bowl.

“Sir, I’m done making the porridge.”

“It’s time already?”

I let Jane take Marie from me. In exchange, Matt is the one who’ll feed Marie since she cannot touch her directly. Then, the two of them went to the table near the window to start feeding Marie.

I look back to Sora who just sat down on a chair while facing me.

“Anyhow, depending on how Cherry talks to that Allen guy, there’s the possibility of him becoming a problem.”

“A problem?”

“Didn’t you say that the [Grey Legion] is a combination of various religions? If that guy tells them my identity and whereabouts, they might come after me. I already have the Helius and Darkus chasing me, I don’t want the rest of those 5 other Gods. This time, I really can’t afford getting in danger.”

“Yeah, I can see that. If you get in danger, that also means Cherry, Matt, your family, and your daughter would be in a similar state.”

“You said it. Right now, I’m trying my best to gather allies. If it means emptying my pocket, I’d gladly do so.”

Then, Sora leaned on the back of his chair and let out a heavy sigh. He crossed his arms and legs before he let out his thought.

“So you’re that type of guy who worries about others, even if it means selling yourself.”

Though it sounded wrong, Sora is right. I’d rather die than let my girls get hurt. Even if our time together hasn’t been that long, I feel like their lives are my responsibility to take care of.

“Please don’t look too down Key. Marie might catch you’re blueness.”

Matt suddenly spoke while holding up the spoon to Marie. While looking at them, I noticed that Marie is looking at me with wet eyes. Did she somehow read my mood?

I immediately stood up from the bed and went to them. After that, I took Marie from Jane and put her in my arms.

“Papa.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t let anyone hurt you my girls. If they did, I’ll make sure that they won’t exist even in the afterlife.”

After I said that, I received a light kick on the leg from Matt who is seated not far from where I stood.

“Mother said ‘No bad words.’ We should set a good example for her.”

“*Chuckles* Sorry about that.”

Then, Matt gave me a gentle smile while slowly swinging the spoon on her hand.

“Now you’re smiling for real. I haven’t seen that face of yours for a while now.”

--Really? I never noticed. Wait, do I even smile in the first place?

I then sit next to Matt while holding Marie. I’m careful not to let Marie touch Matt because of her [Drain].

“Why are you sitting next to me?”

“Nothing much. I was just thinking. Do you want to carry Marie? I feel like you’ve been yearning to do it for a while now.”

“Don’t be absurd, I’m dangerous to Marie. Did you forget that?”

Then, with a smile (I somehow noticed it this time), I grabbed hand.

“Then I’ll fix that.”

Her [Mana Drain] immediately reacted the moment I touched her skin. I can feel my energy getting drained slowly. After that, I used > while still holding her hand.

[Magic Index: Combined Magic, Non-Element Row: Arcane Soul Force, Effect: Coat, Target: Around Target, Mana Consumption: 500%]

“>”

I actually gave a thought on a magic formation that would purge the curse off Matt. I tested it during nights where she would crawl to my bed along with Cherry. But then I remembered that Matt’s curse isn’t exactly a curse, but a [Blessing Magic]. Because this kind of magic came from a god and is rooted to the soul, it is dangerous to suddenly purge it off. So, I went and look for another way to make Matt not to unnecessarily drain power from other people. And after a few trial and errors, I came up with > which allows Matt to touch other people without hurting them. It puts a thin invisible layer of mana just above Matt’s skin so that the [Drain] ability would leech on that instead. Since this is the first time I’ve used this spell, I’m not quite sure about its duration. But I’m quite sure it would at least hold on at least for 30 minutes.

“W-what’s this?!”

Because I didn’t give any warning, Matt couldn’t help but get surprised. Her surprised face is actually quite refreshing to see since this is the first time I’ve seen it.

“I’ve specifically made this magic just for you Matt. This is my way of thanking you for helping me in lots of ways. Also, I want to let you know how you make me feel these past few days.”

--I may not be the most romantic guy you’ll meet, but I know how to speak out my feelings.

Then, Matt’s face slowly gets dyed in crimson as she slowly feels her embarrassment taking over her after getting caught off guard. After that, she immediately puts the spoon back on the table and covers her bright red face. So cute!

“Geez! What are you suddenly saying?! You’re a big idiot Key!”

“You said I should set a good example. Why? Are you embarrassed perhaps?”

“N-no, I’m not embarrassed!”

“Oh really? Then why do you look like a cute red tomato?”

“No!! Geez! Stop it!”

Because Matt showed me an unexpected side of her, I couldn’t help but feel a little mischievous and tease her. Come on, who can’t?

“Dude, seriously. You need to learn about TPO, you’re making people around you puke sugar.”

Because I got too absorbed in teasing the cute side of Matt, I forgot that there are other people with us in the room. Sora got too full of us and let out his complain while Jane is looking at us with a flustered face. I think she’s fangirling.

Continuing, I then raised Marie and face her towards Matt. Because she’s covering her face with her hands, she got surprised when she lowered them.

“Now try holding her, I guarantee. She won’t get hurt when you touch her.”

“O-okay.”

Marie opened her arms while happily waiting for Matt to take her. Probably because of Marie’s cuteness, she couldn’t help but feel excited. I can tell just by looking at her rosy cheeks.

Slowly, Matt opened up her arms and reach out to Marie. First, she touched my hands that are holding Marie under her armpit. As expected, I couldn’t feel any drain anymore from her. When she managed to finally touch Marie, I didn’t expect her to show me another one of her rare expressions.

“I-I can t-t-touch her.”

While smiling, tears start to flow from the ends of Matt’s eyes. I guess this is what you call ‘Tears of Joy.’

“Hold her properly ‘kay?”

Then, I let go of Marie and let Matt feel her weight. Probably because she’s not used to it, she accidentally raised Marie too high. Was Marie too light or she’s too strong?

“Then I’ll leave her to you for now. Jane, please assist Matt if she needs some help.”

After telling Jane so, I then stood up and went to Sora. But before I could go far enough, Matt suddenly grabbed my hand.

“Thank you, Key.”

Then, I gave her a smile before letting go.

“You’re welcome.”

***

After a small taste of that good atmosphere, it’s time to return back to pissed off mode. Though I said ‘pissed off’, I can’t be pissed off right now. It’s because Matt’s ‘embarrassed’ face is still in my mind, I can’t help but smile when I remember it.

Currently, I’m in the living room of the inn were in. There are no people other than us here since I’ve rented the whole building for today.

I forgot to mention this. I actually brought with me 50,000 gold pieces in an iron chest with magic protection which is in the carriage that’s parked outside the inn. Sora marked it with his magic so we can rest easy and track it down if it gets stolen. And that ‘if’ is as tall as a person. Also, I have a hundred gold pieces with me (actually in a magic pouch) as pocket money.

Now, I’m waiting for Cherry to come back with that Allenshyre guy. I’m not going to call him shit or anything bad anymore, it’s because it feels a little immature if I kept on doing it. I’m already a father now, so I should already start acting like one. I should have thought of it before fighting with that guy.

Just like it was perfectly timed, I could see Cherry and Ghena coming into the inn together with Allenshyre. When they entered, Allenshyre proceeded in front of me with a sour face. I can tell that Cherry had already told him about everything.

After breathing in and out heavily, he finally spoke.

“I apologize for my rudeness a while ago Sir Chardelier. I did not know the real circumstances and acted foolishly.”

Though he’s apologizing, I can feel some animosity with it. It seems that he doesn’t like the fact that I’m above him.

I keep listening to him. While doing so, I make him feel that I’m more superior that him. Now I feel like an antagonist.

“For raising my sword against you, I’ll accept any punishment to compensate for it.”

Hmm… though I would gladly give him what he wants, there is something I need from him so I can’t. I then let down my crossed legs to the floor from the table. After that, I opened my hands like I’m asking for something. I am asking for something.

“Your sword. Show it to me.”

With puzzled look, Allenshyre reached for his sword, however, he didn’t immediately pull it out.

“May I ask why?”

“I fancy swords. I just want to touch it.”

After hearing my reason, Neywyth slowly pulled out his sword and gave it to me.

“>”

When I activated the ring, the scripts in the sword got exposed. Everyone’s eyes were locked at me while I do so.

As expected there’s the > script. This is the reason why I got surprised from the battle earlier. I didn’t expect that there is a similar script to the one I used which is >. Although it’s slightly inferior to mine, it’s still a strong and sharp enchantment to the sword.

“W-what are you doing?”

Ignoring Neywyth, I kept on reading the script. After that, I erased the > script from the magic sword. Everyone got surprised after I did that.

I then stabbed the sword to the ground just near to Allenshyre’s leg.

“Depending on your answer to my question, I’ll either return it to normal, or leave it broken. So I suggest you talk honestly or I’ll break it to the point where it’s not usable anymore.”

With a defeated face, Allenshyre grabbed his sword with shaking hands. Then after that, he looked at me with a sharp glare.

“First. What is the [Grey Legion]?”