No Need to Hold Back Three Times
I didn’t need to endure it three times.
“Hey.”
“Ugh? What do you want?”
The moment I returned to my seat, I was greeted with a warm welcome. As expected, the thugs surrounded me, glaring with threatening eyes.
“We heard everything that guy was saying earlier. You’re not a couple, right?”
“We’re not a couple.”
“Then is she your lover?”
“Not my lover either.”
“Hah, then there’s no problem at all!”
The one who seemed to be the leader burst into laughter, declaring there was no issue. The other thugs immediately joined in, laughing along to match their boss.
“Then get lost. If you’re neither her husband nor her lover, why are you sticking to her?”
One.
I’d endured it once.
“I’d appreciate it if you could just quietly step aside. We’re not husband and wife, nor lovers, but that doesn’t mean we’re complete strangers.”
I spoke as kindly as possible. I had no desire to cause any more commotion. It wasn’t just because my goal was to live quietly in hiding—more importantly, I didn’t want to make Ilena any angrier than she already was.
She had already drunk herself into a stupor. If someone as terrifyingly powerful as Ilena decided to act on her irritation, these fools could vanish from the world without leaving a single trace.
They were the kind of idiots who, unaware of how frightening the world could truly be, overflowed with nothing but baseless confidence. They had no idea they were currently standing at the edge of a once-in-a-lifetime crisis.
“What? You’d ‘appreciate it’? Oh please……”
The leader exaggeratedly mimicked my words, then poked my shoulder with his finger.
“You should speak politely. You think I’ll listen if you talk like that? Say ‘Please step aside.’ Come on, repeat after me. ‘Please step aside!’”
Two.
Still, I should at least endure up to three times.
“Hey, get up!”
While the leader was mocking me, one of his underlings tapped Ilena’s shoulder.
“Leave this pathetic coward alone and come play with real men like us. We’ll buy you plenty of even better drinks. Hey!”
When Ilena didn’t respond, the thug reached out roughly to grab her—
Three times. I couldn’t hold back anymore.
“You little—”
The leader’s words cut off into a scream.
I had grabbed the finger he was using to poke my shoulder and bent it ever so slightly. I hadn’t actually broken it, but with just a little more pressure, it would snap.
“L-let go of my hand! Let go!”
“You should say ‘Please let go.’ Repeat after me. ‘Please let go.’”
“Let—let… Let go, you bastard!”
The leader couldn’t endure it any longer and swung his fist.
There was no need to block it. Just applying a tiny bit more force was enough.
Crack.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!”
The leader’s posture collapsed before his punch could even land. When I released his broken finger, he crumpled to the floor on his own.
The panicked underlings stopped surrounding me and rushed to their boss instead.
“T-Tom! Are you okay?”
“Does this look okay to you right now?”
At that moment, Ilena, who had been keeping her head down, slowly lifted it. Her eyes were filled with the same murderous intent I had seen long ago.
Before it was too late, I placed a light hand on her shoulder and warned her.
“Don’t step in. I’ll make sure you don’t have to.”
“I want to kill them all. Can’t I?”
“No. That would cause trouble for both of us. So just wait a little longer. I’ll clean this up quickly.”
I strode over to the guy named Tom, who was still sitting on the floor.
“W-what the hell? Don’t come any closer!”
“That’s something you should have done from the beginning. But it’s already too late.”
I grabbed the back of Tom’s collar and dragged him roughly out of the inn.
“Hey, hey! You idiots! What are you doing? Beat this guy up!”
Tom shouted, but his terrified underlings didn’t dare intervene.
The moment we stepped outside, I threw him to the ground.
“Ugh, this bastard really……”
The underlings who had followed us immediately clung to Tom again. He used their support to stand, then slipped his uninjured hand into his coat.
“How dare you do this to me? I’ll kill you!”
What he pulled out was a small knife. He probably thought it would intimidate me, but to me, it just looked cute. After all, I had wielded countless weapons, including the massive greatsword Levatein.
“Throw away that pointless pride. If you go play somewhere else right now, I’ll let you off with just the one finger.”
“What, you punk? Do you even know who I am?”
“I heard your name is Tom.”
“Keep talking back to me like that…! You really want to die, huh?”
Tom swung the knife at me. His exaggerated movements and forcibly raised voice were clear proof that he was scared of me.
“Do you really want to embarrass yourself like this in front of your underlings?”
“Ugh… Shut up! Shut your mouth!”
“This is your final warning. Get lost right now.”
As I spoke, I deliberately clenched my fist tightly, making it clear I wouldn’t be using words anymore.
But Tom looked around nervously and refused to back down. He didn’t want to show weakness in front of his subordinates. In that case, I’d have to answer that feeling for him.
I took a light step forward and instantly closed the distance to stand right in front of his nose.
“Huk…!”
“It’s a brand new knife.”
I showed him the blade I had snatched from him before he even realized it.
“It means you’ve never used it before. Good for you. A knife isn’t something you should use recklessly. It’s a last resort, something you only use when you’ve decided to end things with your opponent.”
“J-just now, I didn’t even see you move—ugh!”
I kicked Tom’s legs out from under him, knocking him down, then casually tossed the knife onto his body.
“Aaaah!”
Tom curled up pathetically to avoid being cut by his own blade. I had shown him the difference in skill and given him just enough humiliation. This should be enough.
“I’ll let you off here, so go play somewhere else.”
“Ugh, you…!”
But Tom couldn’t swallow his anger. He charged at me again, knife raised. Just as I was about to deal with him—
“Whoa, w-whoa!”
“W-what the hell! Tom! Your body—?!”
“Hiiik… It’s magic! Magic!”
Tom’s body was floating gently into the air. The moment his underlings saw it, they abandoned him and fled without looking back.
When I turned around, I saw Ilena—who had followed me outside—glaring at Tom with wide, furious eyes.
“Ilena, stop.”
“But he was trying to stab you!”
“Do you really think I’d be hurt by something as pathetic as that knife? I told you. There’s no need for you to step in.”
“But…!”
“Ilena!”
When I raised my voice, Ilena flinched in surprise. At the same time, her magic cut off and Tom crashed heavily onto the ground.
“Uuuugh!”
It must have hurt quite a bit. Tom lay there trembling violently.
I walked over and lightly stepped on his back.
“H-hiiik! P-please spare me!”
“Tom, you’d better keep your gang’s mouths shut. If rumors spread that we used magic, they’ll come looking for you thinking it was your doing……”
I leaned down and whispered the decisive part directly into his ear.
“And then I won’t just break one finger. I’ll snap every single joint in your body.”
“I-I understand! I’m sorry!”
That should do it. I left Tom where he was and returned to Ilena, only to find her hanging her head again.
“Ilena?”
Even when I called her name, she wouldn’t lift her head.
“Sigh… Come here. Let’s do what we originally planned and get some fresh air.”
With no other choice, I gently took her hand and led her away.
The market square, now that all the merchants had packed up, was quiet and peaceful. After walking in silence for a while, Ilena was the first to speak.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Everything… all of it.”
“It would have been better if you hadn’t created anything to apologize for in the first place. Don’t you think?”
“Uuu……”
Her tone had calmed down considerably. It seemed the earlier incident had completely sobered her up.
“You don’t have to apologize for everything. Just apologize for one thing.”
“What is it?”
“You said it was for research at first, but later you just chugged it all down.”
“Ugh… I’m really sorry. Once I started drinking, I couldn’t stop……”
“The beer did taste good. I understand that feeling.”
Since she had apologized first, it was my turn now.
“I’m sorry too.”
“You? For what? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I yelled at you. When I told you not to use magic.”
“Why would you apologize for that? I was the one who stepped in even though you told me not to. There’s nothing for you to be sorry about.”
I brought her hand closer and covered it with my other hand.
“You didn’t use magic for yourself. You used it to protect me. From the guy who came at me with a knife.”
“That’s true. He was trying to stab you with that knife, so I couldn’t help it!”
“That’s exactly the part. Even though you stepped up for my sake, I still snapped at you.”
“If you apologize for something like that, what are we supposed to do……”
After we had both said we were sorry, we walked for a long time without speaking.
“By the way……”
Once again, Ilena was the one to break the silence.
“When are you going to let go of my hand? Let go already. It’s embarrassing……”
Ilena asked in a slightly shy voice, fidgeting with the hand I was holding.