[V4C9] A Bunch of People Who Never Listen

“Dammit, I should have brought at least the handle for the magic sword…”

Anthony muttered to himself while banging the ice sword against the ground, breaking it off. He then removed his gloves.

“Ugh, this set’s already ruined…”

After examining his frozen gloves, Anthony sighed, his broad shoulders carrying a hint of melancholy.

(A freezing sword that gives frostbite when held…? That doesn’t seem very practical…)

As Lana hesitated to speak, Anthony quickly regained his composure and turned to face her. After noticing her face, he raised a thick eyebrow.

“Oh, upon closer inspection, if it isn’t the lady I met yesterday. What a coincidence.”

“Um, yes, thank you for back then as well…”

“It is not commendable for a young lady like you to be wandering alone at this hour. Do you not have any attendants with you? If no one is around, I’ll escort you home.”

Lana went silent and lowered her head.

After almost getting assaulted by a drunkard, she no longer had the energy to search out Porok and present her new design proposal.

Now that her head was finally clear, Lana realized how reckless and foolish she had been.

Above all, her exhausted legs felt as heavy as logs, and her stomach was rumbling.

(…I should just go home for today.)

However, the problem was the man in front of her, Anthony.

While she was grateful for his help, it was somewhat scary to have someone with an unknown background escort her home.

And for some reason, Anthony seemed determined to escort Lana.

“Come on, madam, don’t hesitate to grab my arm.”

Anthony pushed forward one of his biceps, impressive even through his clothes, extending it towards Lana.

(Wh-What should I do…?)

Lana hesitated, backing away with visible tension on her face. Meanwhile, Anthony’s biceps drew closer and closer.

“Come on! Come on!”

“…Uh, well, you see…”

Lana scanned the surroundings for anything that might get her out of this situation, when suddenly, several sets of hurried footsteps approached them.

“Lana!!”

Lana widened her eyes upon hearing the voice calling her. She turned around to see Monica running towards them with a flushed face.

Monica rarely raised her voice like this, so that alone was enough of a surprise.

“Monica!”

Though running a bit clumsily, Monica managed to reach Lana and cling tightly to her arms.

Arriving a bit later was Isaac, the young man who had been staying at Monica’s house.

Isaac calmly remarked, “I’m glad we found Miss Colette safely.”

Still tight in Lana’s embrace, Monica nodded with a sniffle.

The puzzled Anthony looked like a man who had been scratched by the cat he was trying to protect. He ran his hand through his black hair, furrowing his brow.

“Huh, am I being feared, by any chance? This is troublesome. I’m absolutely not the least bit suspicious…”

Anthony suddenly fell silent, his face going stiff.

Clifford, who had quietly approached from behind, was pointing the barrel of his pistol at the back of Anthony’s head.

“Back away from Lana, pervert.”

“Pervert!? Me, a pervert!? No, wait, this is a misunderstanding! Madam, could you kindly testify that I am no pervert. I am simply a kind, sturdy, strong, and cool traveler.”

Anthony didn’t seem to be a villain, but he was a bit cheeky and overbearing.

Lana smiled wryly and reproached Clifford.

“Cliff, lower your gun. This man saved me from a drunkard.”

“Meaning, that drunkard was in cahoots with this guy?”

The suspicious Clifford thrust the barrel of the gun against the back of Anthony’s head again.

This was definitely getting a bit excessive, so Lana glared at Clifford.

“Come on, Cliff! I said put the gun down!”

“Lana, you should learn to be a bit more skeptical of people. You’re too careless.”

Lana stifled her words with a grunt. This incident was entirely her fault for carelessly wandering about at this hour, making it difficult for her to argue.

“I-In the first place, Cliff, why are you with Monica and Walker-san!?”

Unexpectedly, it was Isaac who answered Lana’s question.

“He got worried about you not coming back and barged into Monica’s house.”

“…”

Lana fell speechless.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what mischief Clifford had caused at Monica’s house.

Lana forced a smile and patted Monica’s head in her arms.

“…Sorry for causing you trouble.”

“I’m just glad you’re safe… so glad… sniff, waa… ugh, ugh…”

At the sight of Monica sobbing, Lana made a silent pledge to never go out alone at night again.

In the midst of this, Anthony, still held up at gunpoint, crossed his arms and spoke.

“Hmm, it seems the friendship between you two has deepened; that’s truly delightful. Well… it’s just that I can’t help but feel I am being misunderstood as a criminal.”

“What, just realizing that now, criminal?”

Anthony widened his eyes at Clifford’s merciless words.

“What are you saying! There is no man as upright and innocent as…”

“Oh, brother. Finally found you. Did you really have to visit a brothel while on the job? Good grief.”

Right as he was trying to assert his innocence, Anthony was gently interrupted by a black-haired youth who popped up from the side——Teodor, Anthony’s brother who was with him yesterday.

After hearing Teodor’s brothel remark, the atmosphere froze.

Everyone was at a loss for words, except one man who refused to read the room. Clifford began muttering under his breath.

“So an upright and innocent man goes to a brothel during work hours.”

“No, that was just a necessary way to unwind… M-More importantly, Teodor! You got lost again… Where on earth have you been!”

“Well, an old drunk guy started talking to me, and before I knew it, it was this late.”

Teodor gestured towards the alley he came from, “See, that guy.”

At the end of his gaze was an old man whose white hair and beard was tied into braids. He was seated on the ground, talking to a stray dog.

“Ugh, damn, young folks nowadays always jump at flashy things and neglect the traditions. Hey! Are you listening? Give me a woof or something, come on!”

The stray dog barked in response, so the old man gave a satisfied smile and began another round of complaints.

Upon seeing the old man, Lana widened her eyes.

“P-Porok-san…!”

The man talking to a stray dog was actually the person Lana had been looking for all day: the embroidery artisan, Porok.

The red-faced Porok glared back at Lana.

“Hmm? Oh it’s Colette-san’s daughter? I took up your job as a favor to Colette-san, and yet you still haven’t passed me any decent design ideas. Young ones nowadays…”

Lana couldn’t help but hold her head in her hands.

There were simply too many things going wrong!

Anthony was overbearing, Clifford refused to listen, and Porok did nothing but complain.

(Ugh, seriously!! Where do I even start with all of them!!)

Seeing Lana grinding her teeth, Isaac made a modest suggestion.

“…First things first, why don’t we head somewhere safer?”

Isaac seemed to be acting like a sensible person, but the fact that he, the Second Prince, was present here was the biggest absurdity of all.

Averting her eyes from this inconvenient truth, Lana decided to follow Isaac’s proposal.

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