Chapter 5: How to look as you think

The name of this woman, who glared at me while we locked swords in a test of strength, was Haran.

She was a woman characterized by her slightly purplish bobbed hair and sharp eyes that looked as if they could pierce you.

Along with her murderous purple eyes glaring at me, there were a few other distinguishing features.

One was her flat chest, which made it hard to tell if she was male or female at a glance.

Another was that she was one of the few people in the entire kingdom who could stand against me.

Thanks to that, we could clash swords even now.

Of course, she wasn’t strong enough to defeat me, so when I applied more force, Haran’s sword was deflected, and she retreated.

When I looked at Haran with a displeased gaze, she was the first to speak.

“To use violence against a person of the Church, have you lost your mind?”

“But that b*tch was the one who deserved to be hit first, wasn’t she?”

“Such pettiness doesn’t suit your strength.”

Haran scoffed at me.

When I, enraged, tried to attack Haran directly, she mocked me even more loudly.

“Yes, you always tried to solve everything with force. That’s why such immense power doesn’t suit you. What happens if a child wields the power to destroy the world? You’re precisely that kind of case.”

Haran was deliberately teasing me, acting at ease.

‘If you hit me here, it only proves my point.’

‘You’re angry, but you won’t be able to hit me.’

Of course, I didn’t give a damn about that and punched Haran squarely in the side of her face.

Wham—!!

A clear and crisp sound, as powerful as a shockwave, reverberated.

True to one of the few strong individuals, Haran didn’t lose her stance even after taking my punch.

However, the impact of the punch to the side of her face had snapped her head to the side.

“Blabber all you want. But I’m not a child like you think I am.”

Some people curse me, saying I try to solve everything with violence.

But if they saw how I work, they couldn’t say such a thing.

Just look at when I rescued Reylin and Seilin; I didn’t smash and blow up everyone.

Even then, I only neatly disposed of the heretic leader and those who tried to commit wicked acts against the sisters.

I didn’t annihilate everyone, not even those whose hearts wavered and stepped into heresy.

Instead, I peacefully handed them over to the Church, giving them a chance to atone for their sins and reform.

Only those unaware of the situation would gossip behind my back, claiming I had killed a certain number of people this time.

Haran probably wasn’t unaware of that fact either.

She must have said it on purpose, knowing full well, just to provoke me.

The fact that Haran was still standing after taking my punch meant that,

Haran had also expected me to hit her.

“Ptooey.”

Haran spat out saliva mixed with blood, then turned her head towards me.

Her relaxed smile from moments ago had completely vanished.

Her face was now venomous, filled only with malice.

“Yes. Just like this.”

“When you provoke, you should be prepared to get hit.”

“Not everyone throws a punch, though. You, your power is simply too dangerous. Your very existence is a threat to the Kingdom and the Church.”

“That bullshit again?”

“How could this situation not be dangerous, when the strongest person might turn their blade against the Kingdom or the Church at any moment? Your power is worse than useless.”

Words Haran had said to me countless times.

More accurately, it wasn’t words, but closer to a baseless whine disguised as logic.

That I was too powerful, and my mere existence was an obstacle to true peace.

It was truly a ridiculous argument, enough to make a child laugh.

“Even if I concede a hundred times that I’m dangerous, if I disappear, does the threat disappear? The strongest person doesn’t vanish. The next strongest person will simply take their place.”

“At least it’s better than a madman being the strongest.”

“Is there any guarantee the next person won’t be an even greater madman? You… is there any guarantee you’re not a madman?”

“You doubt me, who dedicates myself to the Kingdom?”

“I, who dedicated myself to the Church, was also doubted and discarded like a worn-out shoe.”

Haran and I hurled insults at each other without an inch of retreat.

However, I had no intention of being persuaded by Haran’s half-baked logic in the first place.

And Haran, too, I knew wouldn’t admit she was wrong no matter what I said.

So, I sheathed my sword and spoke to Haran.

“Think whatever you want. By the time you realize you were wrong, everything will already be ruined.”

“Sorry, but that will never happen.”

“We’ll see if ‘never’ truly exists.”

I turned away from Haran and walked towards Meria.

Meria was finally managing to move her body, bowing her head and prostrating herself.

I bent down slightly, grabbed Meria’s hair, and sharply pulled her head up.

“Aargh!”

“Meria, I warn you, as I told Haran, by the time you realize you were wrong, it will already be too late. Even if you regret it then, you won’t be able to do anything.”

“Ugh…”

Meria, whose head was forcibly lifted by my grip on her hair,

Unlike Haran, who had stood against me, ridiculously couldn’t even meet my gaze properly.

‘Is it because this is the first time she’s been properly hit by me?’

‘Actually, I didn’t even hit her properly; I just roughly intimidated her.’

Seeing Meria trembling with pain and fear was utterly pathetic.

So, I let go of Meria’s hair and dusted off my hands.

“I don’t know if you’ll even realize your mistake by then. I’m letting it go this time, but from now on, you’d better pray you never meet me again.”

As I finished speaking and was about to gather my belongings and leave,

Haran’s warning voice reached my ears.

“The crime of assaulting a Kingdom soldier and a high-ranking Church official will be prosecuted wherever you go; don’t think you can just get away with it.”

“Oh, really? That’s a bit unfair, isn’t it? Maybe I should just kill both of them here to make it less unfair before I leave?”

“Are you threatening me? I was going to forgive you if you lived like a mouse, but you don’t even want that?”

“Perhaps I’m too scary to be taken as a joke? Don’t worry, you already know perfectly well that you can’t touch me carelessly. If you don’t want to hear such things, then try to make a move.”

I then exited the space that had been my office.

Soon, Reylin and Seilin followed me outside.

I made an effort to control my expression as I handed them their sword and wand.

It hadn’t been long since we reunited, and we hadn’t even had a proper conversation.

It made me uneasy that I seemed to have shown them a rather unseemly side of myself.

After all, Reylin and Seilin had fallen for me when I was an Inquisitor.

They found my appearance so incredibly cool when I magnificently dealt with heretics and saved them.

They had even sought me out based on a single promise I had casually made.

So, for that Inquisitor to be fighting with people from the Church and the Kingdom,

there was no way they wouldn’t be disappointed.

Even though I was in an unfair situation, Reylin and Seilin couldn’t possibly know all of that.

“Deron…?”

I heard Reylin’s cautious voice calling my name.

To tell them that there were circumstances behind all of this, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Reylin, Seilin, this is…”

“Isn’t it just too cool…?”

Before I could even finish my sentence, Reylin’s voice, brimming with emotion, reached my ears.

Wondering if I had misheard, I turned around to see Reylin and Seilin gazing at me with enchanted expressions.

“To move so naturally while unleashing shockwaves that aren’t fatal… how do you wield magic so effortlessly?”

“And the way you casually blocked the Kingdom official’s surprise attack, which I could barely react to… if it were me, I would have been utterly helpless.”

“Even when the Kingdom official provoked you, you didn’t hold back and delivered a blow, yet you didn’t hit them further. That self-restraint in your anger was incredibly cool too.”

“And then there’s your way of debating. The way you refute your opponent’s words point by point while still controlling your emotions—I truly want to learn that speaking style.”

“Even your cool and detached attitude, as if you weren’t clinging to anything while leaving everything behind…”

Reylin and Seilin, who had been chattering, looking at me in turns,

said in unison, with expressions of deep admiration.

“You’re so cool.”

Even when I heard they had come to marry me, I thought they were unusual.

But I hadn’t realized they were this deeply infatuated with me.

Feeling a sense of unreality, I scratched my head and asked them.

“I’m not an Inquisitor anymore, does that still not matter?”

“Of course not!”

No sooner had I finished speaking than Reylin replied.

“The one who saved us wasn’t the Inquisitor; it was you, Deron-nim.”

‘She’s not wrong.’

‘Indeed, what I’ve been doing wasn’t wrong after all.’

As I wore a proud expression, contemplating this, Reylin suddenly ran over and hugged one of my arms.

“By the way, if you’re no longer an Inquisitor, you have nowhere to go, right? Come to our house with us.”

Reylin clung tightly to my arm, hanging onto me.

As I stood blankly, feeling the soft sensation on my arm, Seilin, who had been squinting at Reylin, also approached and hugged my other arm.

“You’ll come, won’t you?”

There was no need to hesitate.

Honestly, I didn’t even want to hesitate.

Who would refuse such a happy feeling?

And so, I headed to their house with Reylin and Seilin.