CHAPTER 35:…………………………………………….
The Tutor Everyone Wants (5)
He stood before me, casting a massive shadow.
I must not be imagining things.
Dazed, I offered a thankful nod.
“…Thank you?”
He muttered as he removed his hood.
“I don’t understand how anyone could even think about dying over something like that.”
“No… it’s not that I didn’t dodge it because I didn’t want to.”
Dodging something like that on reflex alone isn’t something just anyone can do—only a skilled knight could manage that.
Enrike was visibly annoyed, and I followed his lead, furrowing my eyebrows slightly.
Why is he here?
No, of course. This is an auction hall…
My mind worked quickly, focusing on the items introduced as the main attractions.
Memory enhancers. Enrike is smart enough—he doesn’t need that.
My exercise books. No need for these either—I’m the tutor, after all.
Then… of course.
“The former Empress’s sapphire necklace…”
This. For Enrike, it must be a memento from his mother. Is that why he came looking for it?
His sword was already drawn, dripping with blood whose owner I didn’t dare to ask about.
“…….”
“Sir.”
When I remained silent, he tilted the sword once and grabbed my shoulder, forcefully pushing me toward the curtained wall.
“Ugh!”
Ah, damn it. Did he save me just to kill me himself?
My back slammed against the wall.
Then Enrike immediately raised his sword and brought it down above my head.
“…!”
I didn’t even have time to use a “Master Teacher” skill while calling his name.
It happened in an instant.
Clang!
His sword slashed through the wall right next to me, not me.
Where the blade passed, the cross-section of the wall—ridiculously thin for stone—was fully exposed. It was a false wall.
Behind it, I could see an emergency stairway. Enrike lightly nodded.
“Let’s go quickly.”
“Ah, Your Highness, together—”
We’re leaving?
But Enrike only left those words behind and immediately turned toward the stage where rocks were still falling.
No, that wasn’t it.
His pace was so fast that he disappeared from my sight into the smoke before I even took a few steps.
“…….”
I was left alone in an instant.
“What the…?”
Did he really intend to find the sapphire necklace? Alone? While the underground is collapsing?
I turned my head slightly and looked at the escape path that had opened in an instant.
“…Haa.”
After a moment’s hesitation, I clenched my fists and ran.
Disappearing into the smoke, Enrike Lucain Ignos quickly found his target.
He was a natural pursuer.
He pressed down on the fallen body at his feet and snatched the leather pouch from it, shaking it vigorously.
Thud, clink.
Auction items fell from the pouch one by one.
The corpse still twitched—it had not been dead long—but it was the scruffy-looking terrorist who had thrown the auction hall into chaos.
A sticky fluid oozed from beneath the body, but Enrike didn’t care, pressing down harder with his foot.
The body was trying to escape through the product-only passage behind the auction stage, but Enrike stopped it and killed it.
There was no point in trying to negotiate. This method was simpler and more familiar to him.
Especially considering this annoying obstacle appeared just before the item he sought was up for auction—there was no reason to show mercy.
He had already shown mercy once before.
‘I didn’t expect Lillian Crimson to be here.’
Enrike thought of the woman with light blonde hair and vivid pink eyes who claimed to be his tutor.
He had assumed she was a boring woman whose life was entirely filled with work, only to discover she had hobbies like this.
While everyone else escaped through the exit, she had stood there alone. But she found the way, so she would get out on her own.
Without urgency, Enrike continued rifling through the stolen leather pouch.
Clang! Bang!
Even as rocks continued to fall, he showed no sign of tension.
Even if this underground collapsed completely, he could protect himself.
In war, he had faced much worse situations—trapped in mines for days without food, hunting monsters in the dark, preparing for ambushes.
Compared to that, this was almost leisurely.
Finally, Enrike’s arm stopped.
The auction items lay scattered on the floor, but he bent down and reached for a small vial next to the sapphire necklace.
The sapphire necklace wasn’t his concern.
Just before the sticky fluid from the corpse could touch him, he picked up the vial.
Inside the brown translucent container, an unknown substance sloshed.
“…….”
Holding it to the flickering light, Enrike squinted and clicked his tongue.
“Tch.”
This wasn’t what he was looking for either.
So much for the empire’s top auction hall.
He threw the vial to the floor—a habitual gesture.
Then—
“Watch out!!”
Clang! The vial’s contents touched the sticky fluid, instantly igniting fierce flames.
The fire was so intense that even approaching it would cause severe burns.
“…….”
If Enrike had simply stood on the corpse as he was, he would have been injured.
“Your Highness, geez. I told you last time…”
“…Huh?”
“After subduing a terrorist, you have to remove flammable substances, geez… to prevent further accidents…!”
Lillian Crimson caught her breath as she spoke.
She was the one who had shouted a warning to Enrike.
Thanks to her pulling one of his arms with all her strength, Enrike barely dodged the flames.
“…….”
Tilting his heavy body as she pulled, he looked at the tutor who had grabbed his arm with an incredulous expression.
“Why did you come back?”
Enrike thought monotonously, feeling the heat on his cheek.
Was this woman sane?
Rocks were falling from all directions, and now there was fire. Lillian Crimson looked pale, about to collapse, yet she persisted.
“Don’t throw things recklessly.”
“I asked why you came back. I saved you, and—”
“…I came to tell you the terrorist already took what you were looking for… no, that necklace! It’s melting. Weren’t you here for that necklace?”
Lillian Crimson’s eyes widened as she covered her mouth, seeing the melting Empress’s sapphire necklace.
Enrike only blinked at her voice, ignoring it.
His red eyes shifted from the reddish flames to her. Then he slowly lowered his head and whispered:
“Sir.”
“…Yes?”
“Your sleeve is on fire.”
“Ah!!”
Pointing at the smoldering fabric, Lillian Crimson hurriedly stepped back from the flames.
“You’re about to hit the wall.”
Enrike followed her slowly. Two of her steps were enough for his one step.
She was slow, but… imagining she thought she came here to fetch a trivial necklace was amusing.
First, he had to let her avoid the falling rocks and properly send her toward the escape route the terrorist had intended to use.
He couldn’t understand why she had followed him.
Even asking would probably get the answer: “Because I’m your tutor.”
What did “tutor” even mean to her? Enrike couldn’t comprehend it.
Yet it seemed slightly funny—or even enjoyable.
He grabbed her waist with one hand, pulling her close, and let out a faint laugh.
“Ahahaha.”
And then… froze.
“…….”
“……Your Highness?”
Thud. Boom.
Amid the ongoing collapse of the underground auction hall, Lillian looked up in surprise at Enrike suddenly stopping.
He slowly raised the other hand to his mouth, as if adjusting something.
Did he just laugh?
Something felt… off.
Unfamiliar. This feeling…
Unpleasant.
Enrike’s red gaze fell on the woman he had drawn close to his chest.
