We followed the obsessed guy into the fox-eyed knight's house. For some reason, it felt completely empty—there wasn't a single maid or butler in sight.
As we reached the door to the reception room, we heard a voice from inside.
"…If a man isn't a womanizer, then he isn't a real man."
That line instantly set me off. It was basically insulting me.
I kicked the door open and shouted,
"Who says a man has to be a womanizer? I'm extremely devoted!"
The moment I stepped inside, I saw the fox-eyed knight holding a knife to Lixia's throat.
And the moment Lixia saw me, she lit up.
"Mr. Karen!"
I looked at Lixia's expression in confusion. Why didn't she show even the slightest hint of negative emotion?
Normally, if someone close to you suddenly turned on you like this, you'd be shaken, terrified—you'd try to talk them down.
But Lixia didn't seem to care at all, like she'd already written him off as a stranger who just happened to kidnap her.
…What a strange girl.
The fox-eyed knight glanced at me, then looked at the obsessed guy with satisfaction. The door behind us shut.
"Shien, good boy. You didn't bring anyone else."
Shien immediately asked anxiously,
"Bro Laje, you can let Lixia go now, right?"
"Did I ever say I'd release her if you brought the commoner?"
"Then what do you want before you let her go?"
The fox-eyed knight sneered.
"Commoner, get on your knees and apologize. Otherwise, I'll kill Lixia."
Just like I thought.
Lixia was nothing more than leverage against me.
"…"
I ignored him.
I was waiting—for the perfect moment to make him completely fail.
Suddenly, obsessed guy grabbed my arm, panic in his voice.
"Hey! Hurry up and do what Bro Laje says!"
"…"
I ignored him too.
He even tried to force me to kneel, but I didn't budge an inch.
…Though honestly, this was taking a bit longer than I expected.
Realizing he couldn't move me, Shien gave up and started pleading instead.
"Karen—no, Mr. Karen! I'm begging you! I'll do anything, just save Lixia!"
So noisy.
Couldn't he just wait quietly?
Through my "Detection," I could already see it—the moment I'd been waiting for was finally here.
The fox-eyed knight, growing impatient, snapped,
"Commoner, hurry up and kneel—don't you care about Lixia's—what the…?! My hands—why won't they move?! It's like something's pulling them—my knife…!"
His arms suddenly spread apart against his will, and the knife flew out of his hand.
That was my cue.
"Lixia, come here!"
Startled at first, Lixia quickly recovered and dashed toward me.
"Mr. Karen!"
Sensing danger, I yanked obsessed guy in front of me as a shield.
Lixia ran straight into him—perfectly hugging him—
Then immediately shoved him away with cold indifference, her face full of disgust.
…For a second, I almost felt bad for him.
His eyes were tearing up again—like a puppy that had just been abandoned.
What exactly did he do to make Lixia hate him this much?
At this rate, winning her back was going to be a long, painful road.
Well, that's their problem.
I walked toward the fox-eyed knight. He shouted at me,
"Commoner! It was you, wasn't it?! What did you do?!"
His arms were still frozen in that spread position.
Did he skip meals or something?
My plan was simple—have Jacob and the others wear invisible cloaks, slip behind him, and pull his arms apart. That's it.
Of course, I wasn't about to reveal that.
"I didn't do anything. You let go on your own."
"You're plotting something—you're trying to invade our country using ghosts—ugh! Who hit me?!"
He suddenly jerked forward mid-sentence, snapping his head around wildly.
I told them not to do anything extra…
Guess I had to redirect his attention.
"Fox-eyed knight, you're slandering me again. Remember what I said would happen next time?"
He scoffed.
"Heh. This time, you don't have nobles backing you. A commoner killing a noble is a death sentence."
That didn't really anger me.
But I did feel like giving him a little "massage."
I reached out to grab his shoulder—
Then stopped halfway.
Right. The others were still holding his arms. I might accidentally touch one of them.
I waved them off.
"The hands can move—huh?!"
The moment he noticed, I slammed my hand onto his shoulder, startling him while his attention was elsewhere.
"Relax. I never said I'd kill you. If you die, your family would be sad."
His face twisted with disgust.
"I don't need your fake kindness. I'm just the third son—no inheritance, no one cares about me."
"So you just gave up on yourself?"
"This is all your fault! Why do you keep getting in my way?! I spent all my savings hiring Black Sun to capture you and Lixia, and you canceled it by paying double!"
That didn't surprise me. I never told the boss to keep it a secret.
Before I could respond, a surprised voice rang out.
"Wait—was used the money cancel the quest?!"
The fox-eyed knight spun around, panicking.
"Who said that?! Show yourself!"
…Alice, what are you doing?!
Luckily, her voice was soft. Lixia and Shien were far enough away—they probably didn't hear.
But the fox-eyed knight did.
He started frantically searching for the source.
Fine.
I pretended not to hear anything and continued,
"It's an organization that works for money. If there's an easier solution, why refuse it?"
"…That's true."
"Who keeps talking?! Stop messing with me and come out!"
Now even Jacob chimed in.
Great. That only made things worse.
I kept ignoring it.
"But after spending all your savings on revenge… what did you get in the end? Satisfaction? Or emptiness?"
Personally, I didn't think revenge brought happiness.
If you failed, all that remained was emptiness.
As for my own revenge against the demon… I didn't live for it. I only did it because I could.
I had the power—so it was something I chose to do.
Living for revenge, clinging to the past, wasting your life on something you can't change…
That's just throwing away everything else life has to offer.
If you survive, you should look forward—not backward.
And revenge?
You can only succeed if you're stronger than your enemy.
Eventually, the fox-eyed knight gave up searching.
He looked at me with a self-mocking smile.
"I've got nothing left. As long as I can see you all die… I'd even kill myself."
"So, do you feel like killing yourself right now?"
I wanted to persuade him otherwise.
But I'd already said—I'm terrible at that.
Convincing people… that's just not something I'm good at.
Some people find those words inspiring.
Others find them fake, disgusting.
I'm the latter.
So instead, I go in circles—trying to say something meaningful… and usually just making people annoyed.
"…How did we even get off topic?"
"WHO'S TALKING?! Come out! Hey—you don't hear this?!"
Ah… now it was Grace's turn.
One after another… only Ethefelis hadn't spoken yet.
At least she had some restraint.
Finally, the fox-eyed knight turned to me directly.
I paused, putting on a confused expression.
"…Hear what? I thought you were just having auditory hallucinations from paranoia. I felt bad for you, so I didn't say anything."
"H-How is that possible…?"