With a heavy thud, the pile of unconscious thugs grew even higher.
These were the men brought down by Filoé’s spear and Almoa’s staff.
It had taken about ten minutes to get to this point.
Using their Gifted Skill, Flash Thrust, they had completely dominated the fight, leaving the thugs with no chance to retaliate.
And there hadn’t even been a need for me to step in.
“You… you little…!”
Perhaps out of sheer pride, the last thug standing, refusing to lose to mere children, gripped his sword and charged at us.
This one had barely managed to survive Filoé and Almoa’s relentless attacks up until now. Even to someone like me, a complete novice in martial arts, it was clear his movements were different from the others.
The thug’s desperate swing was deflected by the Dawn Shield.
Clicking his tongue in frustration, the thug prepared for a second strike—but his face paled.
Without him realizing, Almoa had somehow gotten right behind him.
A fierce blow from her sturdy staff smashed into the thug’s leg.
He gritted his teeth and kept fighting, drawing a backup sword and trying to slash at both Filoé and Almoa simultaneously.
But…
The Dawn Shield blocked the sword in his right hand.
The tip of Almoa’s staff deflected the sword in his left.
Almost at the same time.
The thug’s eyes widened in shock, and before he could recover, the butt of Filoé’s spear drove into his gut.
As he doubled over in pain, Almoa brought her staff down on the back of his neck.
The thug crumpled to his knees.
And with that, every thug in the entrance hall had been defeated.
Their teamwork had been nothing short of spectacular.
Impressive, both of them. They’re completely in sync.
As I thought, they make a perfect team—
“Let’s get moving.”
Almoa climbed onto Raderia.
I glanced at Filoé, the spear-wielding girl who puffed up her cheeks in frustration.
“You could at least say, ‘Good job.’”
Hmm… It seems she still hasn’t fully warmed up to me yet.
I called out to Almoa.
“Can you have Rodo find out where the kids are being held?”
“Of course. Rodo, go ahead.”
With a single bark, our guardian spirit darted off.
We followed Rodo, urging Raderia to charge forward, crashing through doors and walls as we advanced.
Thanks to Filoé’s Flash Thrust, our presence had already been discovered. There was no need to worry about the noise we were making now.
All we could do was hurry.
“I found them. As I thought, they’re in the spire.”
“Got it! Hurry, Raderia!”
We raced through the courtyard, heading straight for the spire.
Three thugs were guarding the entrance.
Whether they were weaker than the ones in the entrance hall or Filoé and Almoa had gotten stronger through their teamwork, we managed to take them down with ease.
As expected, Raderia couldn’t proceed any further into the spire.
“I’ll go in.”
“Wait! I’m coming too!”
Almoa and Filoé ran ahead.
Having witnessed their strength firsthand, I entrusted the children’s rescue to them and focused on tying up the thugs we had just defeated.
“Damn it!”
One of the thugs, regaining consciousness, spat out his frustration.
“Gabi, you lying bastard! This wasn’t part of the deal! Where the hell is he? When is that con artist going to show up?!”
“You know Gabi?”
“Why the hell would you… tch, forget it!”
It was clear he was boiling with frustration, but unwilling to give us more information, the thug fell into a stubborn silence.
My hand ached. I was gripping the binding ropes too tightly, making them creak under the pressure.
My face was probably twisted into an unpleasant expression right now.
…Gabi. So you’ve sunk this low, huh?
What a despicable man.
But there’s some irony in all this.
Because he tried to escape to this place, Gabi will face his well-deserved punishment. His actions delayed the thugs, which allowed us to rescue the children safely.
A short while later, I heard the sound of children crying from the spire.
The captives were being led out by Filoé.
Good, they’re safe.
I helped Mitera and the others guide the children one by one into Raderia.
One of them turned to me and bowed his head politely.
“Thank you so much for saving us. Now everyone can finally feel safe.”
“I’m just glad you’re all alright.”
As I replied, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this boy seemed oddly familiar.
“Could you be Mr. Domirudo’s son?”
“You know my father?”
The boy’s eyes widened in surprise.
Ah, now I understood why he was so well-known in town.
Despite being so young, he was considerate of others. A mature, responsible boy.
Regin and Narg could stand to learn a thing or two from him.
As we finished loading most of the children into Raderia, I suddenly noticed Almoa’s strange behavior.
She was keeping her distance, watching the children from afar.
“Almoa, I want to thank you again.”
Domirudo’s son bowed his head again, but Almoa only raised her hand slightly in response, giving a rather muted reaction.
The boy didn’t seem offended. If anything, he smiled wryly before climbing into Raderia.
Once the children were out of sight, Almoa let out a deep sigh, loud enough for me to hear, and then gave a soft, relieved smile.
“I’m glad. They’re all safe.”
Our eyes met.
Realizing I had heard her, Almoa’s face flushed red as she quickly looked away.
So that’s how it is.
Deep down, she truly cares about the children.
She just struggles to find the right distance.
If she didn’t care, she wouldn’t have camped out for days searching for them or risked her life to come this far.
I extended my hand to Almoa.
“Thank you as well. It’s thanks to your help that we were able to save them. I appreciate it, and you did a great job.”
Almoa didn’t reply.
She sidestepped my hand and silently climbed into Raderia.
As she passed by, I noticed her ears were bright red.
It seems the wall around her heart is still a bit thick.
