4/4 Bonus chapter thanks to @ConspiracyPizza on Ko-fi
Silence enveloped the assembly at Frondier's words.
Grobel hadn't intentionally kept his mouth shut.
It was just a moment of confusion.
'What should I answer?'
To Frondier right now, Rokbel must seem like a hostage. He wouldn't think of him as Grobel's brother.
So, naturally, Frondier would demand Rokbel. For the safety of the hostage.
After all, Frondier had stopped running away and came out here because of Rokbel.
At Frondier's words, Grobel laughed.
It was a laugh mixed with bravado.
"Huh, I told you just now. Do you really think an offer like that would work?"
"If it doesn't work, I'll just go back inside the house. As you might have noticed, there's an escape route underground. Do whatever you want, kill the child or not."
"If this kid dies, you're done for, you know?"
"Well, whatever happens, I'll die later."
Saying so, Frondier took a step back.
He really seemed ready to go back into that burning house.
Grobel clenched his teeth.
'Damn, how can he be so confident?'
He expected him to come out scared and trembling.
But instead, he was negotiating with a confident posture and eyes.
"Understood. We'll send the child."
Grobel, surprised, turned his gaze to Serf.
It wouldn't matter if the child was a complete stranger. But Rokbel was his brother.
Sending his brother to such a slow-witted person?
Serf smiled at Grobel as if to reassure him.
Grobel, reluctantly, nodded and said to Frondier,
"Fine. We'll send him."
"Send the child alone."
Grobel lightly tapped Rokbel on the back.
It was a signal to go.
Rokbel's hesitant steps moved toward Frondier.
...At that moment, Rokbel's feelings were almost close to panic.
'What? Am I really going?'
Lost in the conversation that he couldn't understand, suddenly, he found myself being pushed by his brother's hand.
For a boy of about ten, this was terrifying enough.
'I was told to just pretend to cry!'
Now, there was no need to pretend. Tears seemed about to come out for real.
With such an expression, Rokbel approached Frondier step by step.
Frondier looked at Rokbel with an indifferent expression. This made Rokbel even more scared.
When Rokbel's foot was about to reach right in front of Frondier,
Thud, the sound of Frondier stepping on the ground.
That indifferent Frondier suddenly rushed towards Rokbel.
Rokbel flinched in surprise.
He heard the sound of metal from behind him.
Rokbel looked behind him.
What fell was a broken arrow. Frondier had rushed towards Rokbel and blocked the arrow for him.
How he blocked it, Rokbel didn't know. Nor did it matter to him how it was done.
'They... they shot an arrow at me......'
Rokbel blankly looked at the members of the mercenary group in the distance. In the center, he saw Serf Daniel.
Even though they hadn't met for long, he was always smiling kindly.
Serf Daniel, with that same smile.
That was all he could say. His vision swirled. Fear pressed heavily on his lungs.
In the midst of this, Frondier, who had blocked the arrow, held him and said,
At those words, Rokbel unknowingly grasped Frondier's sleeves with both hands.
Frondier, holding Rokbel, dashed into the burning house.
"Serf, you crazy bastard!"
Grobel grabbed Serf by the collar. Anger trembled his hands too violently.
Serf had shot an arrow at Rokbel. He shot an arrow at his own brother.
Even while being grabbed by the collar, Serf spoke with an unabashed face.
"Failure, what the hell, you son of a-!!"
Grobel exploded with anger, his voice reaching its peak.
But just as Grobel was about to punch him in the face, he suddenly stopped.
"Put your hand down."
Silently, Grobel released his grip on Serf's collar. His eyes were unfocused.
Seeing this, one of the mercenaries spoke up.
"What, what's going on……."
But before the sentence was even finished, Serf cut him off.
In an instant, the focus of all the mercenaries blurred. Like Grobel, they stood powerlessly and dazedly, their bodies limp.
This was Serf's ability, 'Mind Control'.
If conditions were met, Serf could manipulate others at will.
The opponent had to be handed a business card, read it, confirm the name, and remember the name 'Serf Daniel' in their mind.
Although it doesn't work well on people with strong mental fortitude, it was no problem for this group of mercenaries.
"Tsk. It wasn't a bad idea."
Serf clicked his tongue.
Originally, he had planned to throw the kid named Rockbel into a cabin. The scenario was supposed to go like 'Frondier locked the child inside and burned him to death'.
The next scenario was 'Frondier killed the kid with an arrow', but things didn't go as planned.
"Frondier, just as I heard, you can use Aura."
There had been a report from Gregory.
Specializing in taming, Gregory had been using various animals to gather information within Constel until now.
However, Frondier was never part of that information network. His discovery was by chance.
At the time, Serf was listening to Gregory's report at his residence as usual.
It was initially about Elodie.
"When Elodie and Frondier were together, Frondier blocked all the broken glass shards. He was barehanded even then."
Gregory had reported, but Serf was skeptical.
"Is that the only reason you think Frondier is using aura?"
"It's not the only reason."
Serf looked at Gregory, or rather, the crow in front of him, with eyes that urged him to continue.
Gregory lowered his voice as if he was about to reveal something significant.