Chapter 20

Katrina, the receptionist, left the guild master Act's office.

She was on a carriage heading to the empire with her ex-fiancé, Zalchim.

"Sir Zalchim, it's getting dark. There are monsters in the forest ahead, so we should camp here."

The driver warned Zalchim.

"Are you kidding? Me, a noble, camp? That's impossible. Keep going."

"But, sir, the night monsters are terrifying. It's better to—"

"Shut up. If you don't follow my orders, I'll fire you."

"…Understood."

The driver continued the carriage into the forest.

"Well… Katrina. You've caused me quite a bit of trouble."

"Why… why are you bringing me back now? What happened to that child?"

"That child? Oh, that commoner girl? I got tired of her and threw her away."

Katrina was originally supposed to be Zalchim's fiancée, but he fell in love with a commoner he found somewhere and openly cheated on her.

He unjustly broke off the engagement and kicked her out, yet now he had come to take her back.

"…It's not like I was the only one who could do it."

"…What? Are you defying me? A woman like you?"

Zalchim frowned, stood up, and slapped her.

"Kyaa!"

"Who do you think I am? I am Zalchim, the future head of a proud imperial noble family."

He grabbed Katrina's hair roughly and lifted her.

"You belong to me. Obey me quietly."

"…Guild Master…"

She called out the name of the man she loved.

Zalchim, displeased, slapped her again.

"I heard you whispering just now."

He picked up the communication magic tool that had fallen when she tumbled.

"Are you seeing other men without my permission, even though you belong to me?"

He threw the magic tool at Katrina.

It hit her forehead, and he stomped on her stomach.

"Ugh!"

"You don't seem to realize you're my property. I'll have to re-educate you from scratch."

He extended his right hand, and a lightning spell activated.

When it hit Katrina, an electric current ran through her body.

"Kyaa!"

"Say it. You are my property."

"…I… am… yours…"

In her mind, she recalled the guild master's words.

When she was unjustly broken up with and had nowhere to go, he had said to her:

"If you find something you want to do, you can quit anytime. You're free now."

Just then, the carriage jolted violently.

"What! What happened!?"

"It's… monsters! Ogres!"

"What!?"

Outside the carriage, there were ogres, twice the size of humans, surrounding the carriage.

"And they're not ordinary ogres! Their skin is black… they're mutated! How did they get here!?"

Mutated refers to a stronger variant of the same species compared to regular monsters.

Ogres are generally B-rank monsters.

The guards following on horseback behind the carriage could handle them.

But mutated ogres are a different story.

They are A-rank monsters, one rank higher.

"Trouble… one might be manageable, but multiple… we can't win."

"Sir Zalchim! What do we do!?"

He smiled and looked at Katrina.

"Perfect, we have some bait."

"Eh…?"

He grabbed her long hair and dragged her out of the carriage.

"I liked your looks, so I brought you back, but… it's fine. I can buy a new woman. It's not easy to find someone at your level, though."

Katrina was thrown out of the carriage.

"Goodbye, Katrina."

"Terrible… how terrible… what do you think… of me…?"

"Women are just meat sacks for producing heirs. Hey! Get the carriage moving!"

Taking advantage of the ogres' distraction with the woman, Zalchim drove the carriage away.

"…It's over."

Left in the dark forest, surrounded by ogres, the monsters were drooling over the prey in front of them, ready to attack.

"…What a terrible life. God… if possible, I don't want a noble family next time. Please let me have a life with a kind man."

The image of Act appeared in her mind.

"Guuuuuaaaaaa!"

Just as a hungry ogre was about to attack Katrina,

"It's too early to give up, Katrina."

"Eh…? Ah! G-Guild Master!"

Act was carrying Katrina in a princess hold, standing away from the ogres.

"Why…?"

"Helping guild members is the guild master's job."

"But… I'm not… a guild member anymore."

Act put Katrina down and took out her resignation letter from his pocket.

"I haven't accepted this yet."

He pushed the sealed letter into her hands.

"Until I hear you say you want to quit, it's invalid. You're still one of my important guild members."

"Guild Master…"

Just then, the ogres attacked.

But Act calmly covered one eye with his hand.

"Look at me, you monsters."

Act activated his [Absolute Time Stop].

All the ogres, who were about to attack, stopped their life activities when they looked into Act's eyes.

With a thud, the ogres all died instantly.

"Amazing… Guild Master… to defeat so many ogres…"

Act had blood streaming from his left eye.

"Guild Master… you're bleeding…"

"It's not your concern."

"Ugh… sniff… waaaah!"

Katrina cried loudly.

Act silently stroked her head.

Just then,

"Master, I've brought him."

A giant wolf descended from the sky.

It was Frederica, Fenrir's companion.

In her mouth was Zalchim.

"Aaaaah! Are you going to eat me!? Who do you think I am!?"

Frederica dropped Zalchim.

"Zalchim, you've treated our guild member terribly."

Act looked down at the fallen man coldly.

"Unjustly breaking off the engagement, hurting her with magic, and leaving her as bait for monsters. That's a serious crime."

"H-Ha! The ogre thing was unavoidable! It was an emergency… wait? What did you just say?"

"About using lightning magic to hurt her. Frederica."

She threw the communication magic tool to Act.

"That's… it's a… communication magic tool. It was connected to you. Of course, your cruel actions were recorded."

Zalchim's face turned pale.

"Bluff! It couldn't have been connected the whole time!"

"You can think what you want. I'll submit this to the knights."

"W-Wait! Wait, wait, wait!"

Zalchim approached.

"That's bad! Stop it!"

"Then apologize to Katrina and swear never to show your face again."

He squatted in front of Katrina and bowed his head.

"I've treated you terribly! I'm sorry! I won't appear in front of you again!"

"So you admit to using lightning magic to punish her and intentionally leaving her as bait for monsters?"

"Yes, I admit! I'm truly sorry! Please, don't submit the evidence!"

Katrina was confused.

Act, however, smiled.

"Zalchim, you just admitted it, right? I recorded it perfectly."

"Huh?"

"I didn't have evidence of the physical punishment, but I recorded your admission of guilt."

Act used his ability to read the past and understood Zalchim's cruelty from Katrina's injuries.

But that wasn't enough as physical evidence.

However, Act had recorded the apology scene using the communication magic tool.

"Without evidence, I can't have the knights arrest you."

"You… you tricked me!"

Zalchim lunged at Act, but Act dodged and slapped him.

"Ugh!"

Zalchim spun and fell.

"I'll submit this evidence to the knights."

"Grr… you… scoundrel…"

"Yes, that's right."

★

Later, in my room.

"I'm really… sorry, Guild Master… I caused you trouble…"

Katrina stood in front of me, looking apologetic.

My left eye, which I paid a price for, was wrapped in a bandage.

"Don't misunderstand. I just didn't want a popular receptionist to be taken by some nobody."

After that, I submitted the evidence to the knights.

Zalchim was arrested for attempted murder.

The official decision hasn't been made yet, but he is expected to lose his noble status.

"Thank you… Guild Master…"

"So, what will you do now? Your resignation hasn't been accepted yet."

She took it out of her pocket and tore it to pieces.

"Please let me stay here!"

"Sure, no problem. I haven't accepted it anyway. Get back to work."

Katrina bowed and then… kissed my cheek.

"I love you, more than anyone else."

Blushing, she ran out.

"You really are something, Master."

Frederica, who had been standing behind like a potted plant, said.

"There's no rule that resignation letters must be submitted directly. You saw through her true intentions and deliberately didn't accept it, right?"

"Don't misunderstand. As I said, I didn't want to lose a popular receptionist and see sales drop."

Frederica smiled.

"You don't really care about money… you're truly a kind and great guild master."

【※To the Readers】

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