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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 240: Relaxation Before the Storm

“What… what is that?”

“The wall… it broke.”

The knights outside the building, along with the captured villagers, all turned their faces toward the sudden sound of breaking walls.

And from the cloud of dust emerged Fiera and the others, engaged in a conversation that seemed far too relaxed for the situation.

“Fiera! You didn’t have to break the wall! Why do you always try to destroy things?”

“It’s faster this way. Besides, Shuvina, you’re mistaken. This time, it wasn’t about trying to break it; it just broke.”

“Ugh. That lazy attitude of yours is so much like his.”

“Like El? Hehe. I’m happy!”

Fiera perked up at being compared to Lewis, her ears twitching and tail wagging with delight, while Shuvina let out a huge sigh, looking utterly exasperated.

“W-what are you guys?!”

At that moment, two armored knights appeared before them, drawing their swords and asking who they were with caution.

“I am Fiera. I am an adventurer who was abducted by you.”

“Wha? There’s no way adventurers that look like you would be in a place like this… wait. Coming from that building means you were brought here a few days ago.”

“Right.”

Currently, Fiera and the others had returned to their original forms since they were not using magic to hide their identities. One knight seemed to remember the building they had entered when he was brought here and recognized them as the adventurers from that time, despite their differences in appearance.

“Kamael. According to El’s orders, we were to determine if they were unrelated once we caught them and surrender them. But these people in front of us are definitely not unrelated, so we don’t need to issue a surrender.”

“Well, that’s true. Since they were being monitored, they must know the purpose of the operation. Even if they didn’t, just being involved in the abduction is a serious crime.”

“Got it.”

“What are you blabbering about…?”

As the knight attempted to interrupt the conversational Fiera, she suddenly moved right in front of him, striking his jaw with the palm of her hand, then delivering a knife-hand strike to the side of his head.

The impact knocked the knight unconscious, crumpling to the ground, while the other knight was still trying to comprehend the situation and turned to Fiera.

However, before he could react, Sonia cast a spell, and two black hands emerged from behind him, wrapping around his neck.

With the second knight momentarily losing consciousness just before dying, Shuvina summoned Dōna, who bound the knights with vines, quickly subduing the situation.

“This wraps things up here. Let’s move on.”

“Wait!!”

Fiera and the others looked to head toward the village entrance after completing what they needed in Naron village when a voice called out from behind them.

“What?”

Fiera turned around with a bored expression, only to see a man holding a villager hostage from behind, a dagger pressed to the villager’s neck, glaring at them.

“You lot! Drop your weapons now! If you don’t, I’ll kill this man!”

“Eek!!?”

“What is that?”

“Probably a hostage. Looks like, in addition to the two knights, an assassin was hiding among the villagers to keep watch.”

“Hoh.”

Kamael calmly analyzed the situation, but Fiera showed little interest. She shook her head and refocused on the entrance.

“W-wait! I told you to stop! Do you care what happens to this man?!”

The assassin was alarmed as Fiera and the others showed no concern for the situation and began to leave. Fiera paused only to turn back.

“What?”

“I’m asking if you don’t care what happens to him! You’re adventurers, right? You came here to help these guys! If this man dies here, it’s a problem for you!”

“Ugh.”

Fiera sighed heavily, finding the man’s passionate rant quite tiresome. She gazed at him and the hostage with complete indifference.

“If you want to do it, go ahead.”

“…Huh?”

The man was taken aback by her unexpected response, but Fiera dismissed his reactions and continued.

“First of all, a hostage only has value if there’s a connection or significance to them. But to us, he has no value at all, and we don’t even know who he is. So, he can’t become a hostage to us.”

“Well, but you guys were here to help…”

“That’s where you’re mistaken. We didn’t come here to help the people here. So, if everyone here were to be killed, it wouldn’t matter to us at all.”

“That’s absurd. Don’t you have a heart?”

“You’re saying that as an assassin who’s taking a hostage? Sure, there are people in this world who would help those unrelated to them out of goodwill, but I really don’t care about anyone other than my important people. To me, other people are no different from someone dead on the other side of the world. Even if they were killed right in front of me, they’re still just an unknown stranger. So, if that person were to be killed in front of me, I wouldn’t feel a thing, and I wouldn’t care.”

Fiera, like Lewis, had a tendency to starkly differentiate between those she held dear and those she did not.

Thus, if anyone were to become a hostage in her eyes, it would require capturing someone like Lewis or Shuvina. However, such strong beings capable of capturing them had to be rare in this world, and it was likely that someone strong enough wouldn’t resort to such underhanded tactics.

“So, if you want to kill him, go ahead. Well then.”

With those final words, Fiera turned back around without glancing back again, taking the captured knights with her as she left that place, heading out of the village.

Outside the village, Fiera handed the knights over to other assassins led by Kamael and also instructed them to deal with the previous assassin while confirming the route to the royal capital.

“Kamael, how far is it to the royal capital from here?”

“According to what Mashuri told me, it’s about three days by carriage.”

“Is that the regular route?”

“Yes. That’s if we go by the roads. If we cut through the forest, we could probably do it in a day and a half by carriage.”

“Then we’ll go through the forest.”

Recalling the map of the Clan Kingdom and its surroundings that Mashuri had shown her, Kamael detailed the time it would take through the forest without hesitation, and Fiera decided immediately to take that route.

“If it’s a day and a half by carriage, we could run and make it quickly with our body enhancement. Then we’ll finish quickly and see El sooner.”

“Ah, I guess that’s true. I expected you’d make that choice. But what about the Saintess? No offense, but she wouldn’t be able to keep up with our speed, would she?”

“I’m sorry.”

Like when they departed from the imperial capital, Sephiria, due to her role as the Saintess, didn’t have high physical abilities, making it impossible for her to keep pace with Fiera and the others at full strength.

“No problem.”

“Huh?… eek!”

Sephiria apologized awkwardly for holding them back, but when Fiera approached her, she wrapped her arms around her back and behind her knees, effortlessly lifting her.

“W-what, another princess carry?”

“Yup. Off we go. This is faster.”

“T-that might be true, but it feels a bit embarrassing. Plus, I’m heavy.”

“Huh? You’re light, so it’s no problem. I told you before, you should eat more. Anyway, it’d be better if you wrap your arms around my neck. That’s more stable.”

“U-understood.”

Fiera lifted her as if it were the most natural thing in the world, but Sephiria, not being used to this sort of thing, looked bashful even the second time as she followed Fiera’s advice and wrapped her arms around her neck.

“If Fiera were a guy, she’d definitely be popular.”

“I think so too. I can see her being a natural charmer.”

“Huh? I’m not interested in anyone but El, so it doesn’t matter to me.”

“What kind of answer is that to this conversation?”

“But Lewis gets along really well with Kamael. Could it be…?”

“Please stop speculating that in front of him. It’s way too gross.”

Caught off guard, Kamael stuck out his tongue, showing a disgusted reaction, but no one there denied it.

“Eww, say something! Like, that’s right, or you’re right.”

“Let’s start moving.”

Fiera mercilessly ignored Kamael’s plea, using her body enhancement to enter the forest, followed by Shuvina and the others stepping into the woods.

As Fiera dashed through the trees, using the monsters appearing in the branches as footholds, she directed her attention back to Sephiria in her arms.

“Sephiria, are you okay?”

“Yes. Thanks to you, Fiera, it’s not too bumpy and quite comfortable. But…”

“But?”

“Well, your chest… it has a certain weightiness, and a very soft sensation…”

“Yeah, it’s a nuisance, isn’t it? It’s really bothersome when I’m fighting.”

Since Sephiria was cradled sideways by Fiera, it was inevitable that her ample chest would be very close, and Fiera’s softness, without armor or protective gear, was directly communicated to Sephiria.

“No, not that it’s a nuisance. But, while I’m not like that, when moving, it might get in the way. However, I’ve heard that men prefer larger sizes?”

“True, I might be seen as that by men, but in reality, it’s just gross to be seen by anyone other than El. Plus, El doesn’t judge people based on appearance; he only cares if they’re useful or interesting.”

“I see. So, does that mean Lewis doesn’t have a preference for women?”

“Not quite.”

“Huh? So, does Lewis have preferences?”

“Not preferences per se, but I think El probably likes legs and necks.”

“Legs and necks?”

“Yeah. While we were traveling together, he looked at my neck and collarbone a bit after I got out of the bath. And also, at the welcome party, he looked at my legs a little longer than other parts. I think El likes those more than the chest.”

What Fiera was referring to was the time they stayed at the inn during their visit to the Underwater Dwelling and during the new student welcome party when she wore a dress with slits.

Lewis might have been oblivious to it, but Fiera, who adored him, had caught onto it. Though it was only a slight difference in time, he spent just a little longer gazing at those features than at her overall appearance, and she hadn’t missed that.

“Legs and necks… I don’t know about necks, but I think I’ll give your legs plenty of massages later.”

“Yup. I’ll teach you how to massage later.”

“Really? That sounds amazing!”

Even though they were about to go into battle against a nation, Fiera and the others showed no signs of tension; this was due to their overwhelming power giving them such ease.

And as a result of this ease, Lewis, unbeknownst to him, was having his personal preferences exposed, but that revelation would not reach him for a while.

By the way, Shuvina and Sonia, who were listening closely to this conversation, resolved to get massages for themselves as well and remained attentive to Fiera and Sephiria’s dialogue, gathering information diligently.

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