“It’s over, Spirit Mother.”

Roland curled his lips into a smile. He shot toward the Spirit Mother like a venomous snake. She swung her free fist at him, but Roland spun like a top. He skimmed past the force of her punch and sliced off her other arm and shoulder in one stroke.

At the same time, Sasha drove a punch straight into the Spirit Mother’s abdomen. The massive body flew back unnaturally and slammed hard into the ground, blood spraying everywhere.

She gasped for breath and tried to get up. But both arms had been severed, and that huge body made it hard for her to regain her stance.

“How could this happen… He’s just a high-rank martial artist. How does he have this kind of strength? Damn it! If my combat-type Elves hadn’t gone out to help them…”

“Hm?”

Roland’s brow lifted slightly. He flicked the blood off his sword, then stared at the Spirit Mother and strode toward her.

“So someone helped you cross the border. Who?”

“You think I’d tell you? Even if you kill me, I still—”

Before she could finish, Roland’s sword came down. Her head hit the ground, and her huge body collapsed with it.

“Oh. Then don’t.”

Roland’s tone was flat, without the slightest hesitation.

“You should’ve let her finish. She was obviously just making one last stubborn stand.”

Sasha jogged over and said that to Roland.

In truth, she was just talking to herself.

Roland answered anyway.

“But she’s an Elf with countless lives on her hands. Why should she be allowed to live any longer? She already had her chance, and she didn’t value it.”

“If she had talked, would you really have let her go?”

“I would’ve let her live through the time it took her to speak.”

“Um… uh…”

At that moment, Ryan slowly crawled out of the carriage.

He looked around carefully, then walked up to Roland. Awe filled his eyes.

“Thank you—no, thank you for saving our lives. If it weren’t for you and Miss Sasha, we would’ve all…”

By then, Sasha had moved behind Roland and casually hid herself under her cloak. She wasn’t sure whether Ryan had seen her real face. But even if he told anyone, no one would believe him anyway.

“Alright, alright. No need to thank us. We both got what we wanted. Head back the way you came. You know how to return, right?”

Roland put his hands on his hips and smiled at Ryan. The boy nodded again and again.

“Yes… I’ll take the children back.”

“Oh, right. Ryan.”

“I-I’m here.”

“You did great.”

Roland raised a hand and patted him on the shoulder.

“Especially when you stood up to that young master. I saw defiance in your eyes. You were never the type to flatter people. Take this chance and face yourself properly.”

“Ah…”

“And the way you were ready to risk your life to protect us was really cool too.”

Sasha also gave Ryan a gentle smile.

“Have some confidence, Ryan!”

“Yes!!”

Something in Ryan’s heart was struck. Looking at the hope in the siblings’ eyes, he felt as if he had been reborn.

That’s right. He should try facing himself head-on!

At that point, Sasha ran over on her own, dug out the Spirit Mother’s heart, then split it open. Inside was a purple gemstone.

“This should be enough as a trophy.”

Sasha muttered to herself, then leaped high and pounced at Roland.

Roland caught her with both hands and carried her in a princess carry as he walked toward the edge of the cliff.

“Well then, Ryan. Until we meet again.”

“Huh? Wait—”

Ryan’s face went pale with fright. Before he could finish, Roland jumped down.

The boy hurried after him, stepped to the cliff’s edge, and looked down.

Then he saw that while Roland was dropping at high speed, a pair of angelic wings suddenly spread from his back. In the end, he landed slowly and safely.

“Hah… haha…”

Ryan broke out in a cold sweat and collapsed onto the ground.

“Th-these two benefactors… what kind of monster siblings are they?”

Of course, he didn’t mean it in a bad way. But with Ryan’s shallow understanding of the world, “monsters” was probably the most fitting word he could find.

“Hey! Ryan! What are you doing over there?! Hurry up and help me back already!!”

At that moment, the young master’s voice rang out from a carriage not far away.

Ryan’s expression changed.

Now, there was none of his old hesitation left.

He had to make a clean break with his former self.

2

“Spirit Mother. A reproductive unit among Elves. It can reproduce asexually just by absorbing energy and flesh.”

On the train, Sasha leaned against Roland’s shoulder with an illustrated guidebook in hand.

“Attribute-less Elves can be divided into three types: transport, combat, and reconnaissance. These are the breeding types of a low-rank Spirit Mother. A low-rank Spirit Mother’s Core is glazed purple, cube-shaped, and usually about the size of a thumb.”

“Then there’s no mistake.”

Roland nodded. He looked at the scenery beyond the glass window and spoke as if to himself.

“But why would Elves appear in the inner ring?”

“Elves get everywhere. So even if they show up in the inner ring, it’s not completely impossible to understand. Of course, if news of this gets out, it’ll definitely stir up public opinion in the local kingdom.”

Sasha closed the guidebook, then stretched wide. Her small body looked especially cute. Even with the cloak and hood on, her lively energy still showed through.

“Maybe…”

Roland answered absentmindedly. Even though it sounded like a conversation between two people, it was really just a question and answer between themselves.

From finishing the mission to boarding this train bound for the Lis Empire, only an hour and a half had passed. And that was only because they had jumped straight off the cliff, stolen a luxury car from a rich man in that small town, and sped all the way here just to barely make it.

Neither Roland nor Sasha had a driver’s license. But the roads were wide enough. Muddy, sure, but as long as no one was around, who couldn’t drive in a straight line?

In the end, they left the car at the station entrance. The rich man would probably come claim it, so it wasn’t their problem.

“This should count as the final test mission. I’d imagine that young lady will finally let us officially join the organization now.”

“Yeah!”

Sasha nodded happily.

Boom!!

But in the very next instant—

a huge crash came from the roof of the train.

It sounded like an enormous boulder had slammed down on top of it.

The passengers in the carriage cried out in alarm.

“What on earth is going on?”

The chief conductor immediately asked. Then another male attendant, bolder than the rest, stepped out through the hatch and leaned out to look. But in the next second, a giant hand grabbed his head and crushed it to pieces. As the train sped forward, blood sprayed backward and splattered across the windows. It was horrifying.

Roland’s brows drew tight.

He stood up at once. By now, the passengers were already starting to panic. If this kept going, not only would it make it hard for him to move, it might also cause a stampede in the crowd. So he immediately shouted,

“I am a Second-tier Executor of the Spirit Eradication Corps! Everyone stay in your seats and do not move. This is for your own safety as well! No matter how much noise comes from above, unless the sky itself falls, ignore it all!”

The moment Roland finished speaking, Sasha punched straight through the window. Roland sprang up like a black cat. Sasha grabbed his ankle, and he used the momentum to fling her onto the roof.

But the instant she landed steadily, a male Elf nearly three meters tall came at her head-on. Roaring, it threw a punch and caught Sasha completely off guard. Even though she barely blocked the attack with her left arm, she couldn’t keep her footing. Her whole body was hurled backward at high speed. She flew over six carriages before barely managing to grab the guardrail at the edge of the roof, narrowly avoiding being thrown off the train.