Published: March 21, 2026
It really happened in an instant.
In a blink they were surrounded, and those doing the surrounding fell to their knees just as quickly.
All we did was keep watch unnecessarily and simply watch.
There was no need for us to act, and no need for us to be here.
"Now, answer me. What are you after? Where is Gram right now, and what is he plotting?"
Ms. Amelia asked, lowering the arm that held the spell over the kneeling men little by little.
There was no light in her eyes — they were ice-cold.
Even though I wasn't the one being interrogated, I felt like I could answer anything to her.
The rest of the party wore the same expression as me — their faces had gone pale.
We had never thought of Ms. Amelia as fragile.
We'd never seen her fight, and more than that, we couldn't even imagine her fighting.
Our escort plan had been based on the premise that Amelia was weak and needed protection.
In other words, our plan had been doomed from the start.
I wondered if Akira had seen this coming.
"W-we don't know anything! Really, we don't!" the contest chairman blurted, his face stamped with terror.
Even as he looked pitiful, Ms. Amelia's expression didn't soften — if anything, it turned uglier.
"Do you know what I hate most in this world?"
Her slender arm slowly lowered.
There was no light left in her eyes.
How did those eyes look to the men who were making stifled screams?
"It's being lied to. Your 'we don't know' — it's a lie. I've lived tens of times longer than you. Do you think lies work on someone like me?"
It's common knowledge in this world that the Elf race lives long lives; even we foolish ones know that.
But even so, it's hard to imagine them fighting.
Mr. Crow, who had been silent, opened his heavy mouth.
"I recommend answering quickly. This princess is serious, you know?"
In other words, Ms. Amelia was prepared to kill someone right here.
If the girl we thought we had to protect had the will to do that, we couldn't stop her.
No, even if we tried to stop her by force, we probably couldn't.
We watched as they were being crushed, feeling detached as if it were someone else's problem.
"A-alright!! I'll tell you! I'll talk!"
Bones creaked and strained as one of the black-suited men raised his voice.
If he had hesitated a few seconds longer, things might have become irreparable.
Ms. Amelia lifted her hand slightly but did not fully release the spell.
"Keep talking. If even one of you makes a strange move, I'll crush you all."
As Ms. Amelia urged them to continue, one of the black-suited men confessed they were selling the organs of the contest winners.
What he said matched perfectly with the information Tsuda had brought.
Ms. Amelia's expression grew increasingly severe.
"I see. So the prizes were a lie, too. You intended to dismember me and sell me off to some deranged people."
She lowered the hand casting the spell almost unconsciously.
"Stooooop!!"
Just as it seemed they would truly be crushed, a figure emerging from the shadows stopped her hand at the last moment.
When we realized who that figure was, we tensed even more.
"Hey, this isn't your country. Even if they're from the underworld, you can't just kill them!"
Rusty — real name Lord Lattice Nail.
He'd entered the contest and, like Ms. Amelia, won; apparently a member of the Demon Clan.
Being in the men's section I hadn't noticed, but the men's stage tucked away was also roaring with cheers.
"Oh, Rusty. In this country, the right to decide life or death is only allowed when the opponent is a criminal. More precisely, only after a formal duel. Since they attacked first, we can count this as a duel, so it's okay."
Ms. Amelia said something alarming with a blank expression, but the Demon Clan member didn't let go.
"I believe that even villains have their own stories, and those stories must not be taken by others. So I won't let anyone be killed in front of me."
The purple eyes visible through the hood were quietly calm in that moment, and his tone was stern.
Surprised at the change, Ms. Amelia's hand relaxed.
At the same time, the Demon Clan member let go and, as usual, flashed an easygoing smile.