Chapter 50

I don’t get hurt.  

Even when things around me exploded since I was a child, I was never injured.  

But what about others?  

Though my overflowing energy acted as a shield for myself, for others, it was like a sharp blade.  

It hurt people.  

Now, as Aivert leapt in front of Rodella, he thought—  

If I wrap myself in energy, the debris won’t hurt me.  

But Rodella?

Aivert clenched his teeth.  

She could be torn apart, left in pieces—  

Just like the countless objects I shattered as a child, unable to control my energy.

So he didn’t use any energy at all.

—CRASH!

He took the full brunt of the collapsing building with his bare body.  

Not a shred of protective force.

“……!”

Pain so sharp it was nearly lethal surged through him.  

But he didn’t let out a single groan.

As long as she was safe. That’s all that matters. He was fine.

“Vice Commander!”

A voice shouted in alarm as Lanark rushed onto the battlefield.  

The thief, who had been about to hurl magic at Aivert and Rodella, clicked his tongue.

—Tap!

He leapt to avoid Lanark’s approach.  

At that moment, Aivert looked down at Rodella.

She wore a shocked expression.  

Sure, it had been an old one floor building—  

But it was still a solid structure that had held up for years.  

He blocked its full collapse with his bare body?

“You’re insane!”

Her words exploded out of her—part relief, part panic, part guilt, part disbelief.  

But it wasn’t all blame.  

“If you die, I have no other friends, seriously.”

Not long ago, she had worried about losing her friend.  

But just moments ago, it hadn’t been about losing a friend—  

She’d nearly lost Aivert Royden entirely.  

That terrifying possibility washed over her.

“I’m okay,” Aivert said gently, seeing her trembling.  

“I’ve destroyed buildings this size before.”

“That’s supposed to be comforting—?”

Rodella could barely speak.  

Had the shock been too much?  

Her heart was pounding so hard, she thought it might fly out of her chest if she opened her mouth wrong.

—Dust, dust.

Yet Aivert, brushing off his clothes and walking toward the thief again, looked almost fine.  

No—he always looked like this in the middle of chaos.  

Maybe, like he said, this wasn’t such a dangerous scene after all.  

Yeah. He didn’t get hurt. 

He always worried more about hurting others.  

That’s what made him so incredibly strong.  

As Rodella was realizing that with a strange sense of relief—

—Clang!  

Aivert deflected a magical attack with the sheath of his sword.  

Then without hesitation, he charged forward.

He ignored the smaller spells flying at him, his body wrapped in energy.  

“What the hell?!”

The thief flinched at the impossible sight.  

Rodella couldn’t see his face since his back was to her, but Aivert’s expression as he did the unthinkable was frozen solid.  

“You’re insane!”

Her shout rang in his ears, echoed through his mind.  

He couldn’t bring himself to look at her.

Am I crazy?  

Yeah, probably.  

I am a madman, Rodella.

—Tap!

Aivert surged forward, sword in hand, as the now-disheartened thief stood helplessly.

‘I was insane to drag you into a battlefield like this.’

“Can you handle it?”  

He recalled the promise he’d made with the Chancellor.

“Do you think I’d let her get hurt?”

That proud, defiant version of himself now filled him with shame.  

Aivert exhaled—  

—WHAM!  

All the remorse he felt struck the thief with brutal force.

“Guh!”

Aivert shot forward faster than the man could flee, twisting his arm back with a snap.  

A sickening crunch—no scream even came out.  

Then, Aivert slammed his fist into the back of the man’s neck.  

“……!”

The nearby knights flinched.  

Not because of his cold expression, but because Aivert looked like he didn’t care if the man died.  

He threw him to the ground like trash.

Only after the fight was over did Aivert let out a short sigh.  

Even while rubbing his face, he could feel Rodella’s piercing stare.  

But he couldn’t look at her.

He had finally realized the kind of nightmare he had dragged her into.  

A quiet, bitter sigh slipped from between the fingers covering his face.

***

Thankfully(?) the thief didn’t die.  

One arm broken, body battered—but his natural energy was strong. He’d be up and running again soon enough.  

A broken arm wouldn’t stop a guy like that.

‘And that was the problem.’

“What if he tries to escape once he wakes up?”

Rodella’s sensible question dropped like a weight.  

The Azure Knights were handing the criminal over to the transport unit.  

He would face judgment—most likely the death penalty or something equivalent.  

As long as he didn’t escape.

The transport unit had enough strength to handle incapacitated criminals, but they weren’t strong enough to overpower someone the Knights had struggled with.

At her concern, Aivert tilted his head slightly.  

“If you’re really that worried, let’s go check on the transport unit.”  

“To do what?”  

“Make a little mistake.”  

“…?”  

‘What mistake?’

Rodella was puzzled as Aivert approached the transport team.

“Hey, hold up a sec.”

The unit hesitated and turned to face him. Aivert strode straight to the thief.  

“Cover your ears and close your eyes for a bit.”  

The transport unit looked confused, but when they saw Rodella standing behind him, they seemed to understand.  

“I’ll step away for a moment, then.”  

One of them even blushed and walked off, leaving just one behind.  

‘What exactly did they think was happening?’  

Rodella waved her hands frantically.

Once the transport unit had moved away—

Aivert reached down to the unconscious man on the stretcher.

—Crack!’ 

He twisted the thief’s wrist and ankle in opposite directions.  

‘You said it’d be a mistake…’

Contrary to his joking tone earlier, Aivert’s face was ice-cold.  

Rodella watched his frostbitten expression and thought—

‘He looks… angry.’

“You…”

She couldn’t see the thief beneath the cloth, but even the sound alone painted a gruesome enough picture.

“Mistake done.”

Aivert turned back with a much softer expression.  

“Let’s go.”  

No—he looked like he wanted to seem casual.  

But that smile—that perfectly shaped smile—wasn’t the Aivert she knew.  

He still looked like he hadn’t let go of his anger.  

It wasn’t a bad move, considering how dangerous the thief was.  

Still… Rodella felt a creeping discomfort she couldn’t explain.

She asked, just before they left:  

“You don’t seriously think the transport unit won’t notice that, do you?”

She wasn’t sure that was the real reason for the unease, but she had to say something—to maybe soften his expression.

Just like that, the one remaining transport unit guard looked down at the thief.

Rodella forgot her tangled thoughts for a moment and thought: How were they going to explain this as an accident?

Just then, the guard quietly nodded to Aivert.  

Then he re-secured the cloth and straps over the thief’s body.

“…?”  

Did Aivert know someone in the transport unit?

He’d worked long enough to have connections, but she’d also heard that transport teams tended to avoid him.  

But this person didn’t show a shred of hostility.  

If anything—  

The momentary look in his eyes had seemed like… respect?

As Rodella tilted her head, Aivert turned to her.

“Now you just have to keep the secret, and we’ve got the perfect crime.”

“……”

A moment later, Rodella—now clearly roped into complicity—finally looked away from the thief.  

Before long, the wagon carrying the shackled, gagged man rolled out.