Black Alley(1)

Leta didn't expect that teasing the young master might be so fun. Especially the moment when she lightly kissed him on the cheek. Ethan's reaction was so exaggerated and cute that she really wanted to tightly squeeze him and not let him go, but if she did that, Ethan really might lose consciousness due to his emotions, so she didn't have a choice but to restrain herself.

It might look like she was perversely interested in young boys, but there wasn't any lust when she looked at Ethan. She only became curious about him because of her orders. After all, Leta was the spy sent to the Anselm family by one organization.

Though she started to work in the mansion around a year ago, her task wasn't spying on the Anselm family but on the Lowell family, especially finding information about Ethan's mother, Eliza. She didn't know why her organization was interested in her, and even if she asked, no one would tell her.

After Ethan appeared inside the mansion four months ago, her task was changed to observe him. But she didn't notice anything wrong with him. Only when Ethan regains consciousness does she find out something peculiar.

It wasn't with Ethan, but with herself. Her intuition was hinting that something good might happen to her if she was with him. So she started to keep a close eye on Ethan, not due to her orders but because of her interest. After all, only thanks to her intuition was she able to survive to her current age. And she wasn't very loyal to the organization.

And today she was able to become slightly closer to him. So she was happy.

It wasn't shown on her face. She wore her usual smile, and her eyes were half-closed. But her steps were light, and knowing that her task was to buy necessities to celebrate Ethan's breakthrough, she decided to put in extra effort.

She carefully chose everything, and after a small bargain, she would buy it. All the time, when she was busy buying, young knight Pablo followed after her. And though she wasn't happy with it because her dear young master might be put in danger, Leta didn't say anything to him. Because even if she said anything, that knight might just ignore her words, so she concentrated on her task.

After some time, her intuition started signaling that something bad might happen. So she started to look around carefully without letting anyone notice it. But she didn't find anyone who might be dangerous to her; there was Pablo, but she was sure that he wouldn't do anything bad to her.

She started to ponder. If she wasn't in danger, then who might be? Leta only has two other people about whom she can worry, and her intuition might tell her if they are in danger.

One was Lena; they were sharing one room, and she was like a little sister to her. But she was in the mansion, and there wasn't anyone or anything that might put her in danger. After all, she was loved by everyone there, and she was also the personal maid of the young master. So only a total moron might attempt to do something bad to her.

Another one was Ethan, her dear young master, and now he was alone. Her anxiety started to rise.

Though she wanted to rush to Ethan's side, she couldn't neglect her task at hand; after all, she wasn't his personal maid and couldn't show strange behavior in front of others, especially when that young knight was looking after her.

And at this moment, Pablo decided to approach her.

"Young lady, what about going on a date with me on your day off?"

His chest was pushed forward, his chin was raised, and he smiled fully, showing his white teeth. Most of the girls might fall in love with such a dashing and confident young man, but Leta was different. Pablo was expecting her happy agreement, or at least her rejection, with her usual smile and half-closed eyes, but when she turned around, her lips were pressed together and her eyes were narrowed. She was really annoyed.

"Instead of trying to pick me up, you need to return to your duties to protect the young master."

"What could happen to him? It's Anselm City, and he's the Lord's nephew."

Pablo waved his hand.

"Do you think people know what a young master looks like? And are you sure that even if they found out that he's the Lord's nephew, they wouldn't do anything bad to him? If such a thing happened, he would be silenced immediately, because if they left him alive, the young master could recognize them, and though killing him would put them under the Lord's wrath, nonetheless, it could give them enough time to run away."

"You are just exaggerating things; the young master is a mage; he has exceptional shooting skills; and he has a protecting artifact with him."

Pablo knew about the young master only thanks to rumors, but Leta was different; she had been observing Ethan for some time already because of her orders and her personal curiosity. And she knew that such a young boy might start panicking if something dangerous happened.

"If something happens to the young master, you can be sure that you won't be able to return to the mansion."

Pablo was able to see a certain madness in her black eyes, and he flinched involuntarily. It was a clear threat.

Leta returned to her task. But her intuition kept telling her that something dangerous might happen to her dear young master, so she wanted to finish her task immediately and rush to his side.

And after the initial shock dissipated, Pablo's face flushed, and he clenched his fists. How dare a simple maid threaten him, a full-fledged knight? He wasn't able to bear his anger.

"Hm, you've already turned down many invitations from other knights. We thought that you might be just trying to increase your value, but it looks like our maid with iron defense wasn't interested in the men at all; instead, she's more interested in the little kids. Ain't I right!?"

But Leta only looked at him like at the bug that she really wanted to crush and returned to her task.

Pablo didn't like her gaze, so he tried to say something, but...

Bang.

A gunshot resounded from one of the alleys. And Leta, after hearing it, immediately forgot about her task and started to run towards the sound.

"Ah, shit!"

Pablo too started to run; he used his aura to reinforce his body, so he was able to overtake Leta, but the strange thing was that it took him some time. But he didn't have time to ponder it. Because if something happened to the young master, even if not that maid, the Count might just chop his head off.

***

Inside the alley.

When Ethan saw a bunch of kids blocking his way, he panicked. He even forgot that he was a mage, had skill with guns, and had the artifact that his uncle had given him.

And the burly kid continued his talking.

"Not only you in our territory, but you even chased after our little sister! You need to pay for it!"

The burly kid turned toward the other kids.

"Am I right!?"

"Yes!" "You right, big bro!" "He need pay!"

The voices of different kids resounded.

That burly kid was two heads taller than Ethan and almost two times wider than him. Though other kids were around Ethan's age and some were even younger, they were numerous. He wanted to run away, or at least hide. But there wasn't a place where Ethan could hide, and the only way out was blocked.

[Ha, it looks like little kids gang trying to rob you. What are you going to do?]

[I don't know! Help me, teacher!]

Ethan's breath quickened, and cold sweat started to form on his body.

[You are a mage, and you have weapons with you. So why don't you just bring out the gun and shoot at them?]

Ethan's eyes became wide, and he shook his head.

[I-I can't!]

As if remembering, he started to gather his mana and, instead of ring, he sent it straight to the cage. And after muttering,

[Please help me, teacher.]

Ethan lost consciousness.

Kids didn't know that the person controlling the body changed, but they saw that 'Ethan', who was panicking moments ago, now was strangely composed.

'Haa, this kid doesn't have any guts.'

And 'Ethan' looked calmly at the kids.

"Get lost; I'm not interested in fighting with little kids."

"Pfft... Hahaha! We have gutsy one here. He's so gutsy that he almost shitted his pants a moment ago!"

The burly kid sneered, and after that, other kids started to laugh too.

Hahahaha.

"Give everything you have before I beat shit out of you!"

"Yes!" "Give evrething!" "Big Bro, beat him!"

As before, other kids echoed after the burly kid.

"Oh, you must be their leader. Why don't you try then?"

'Ethan' looked at them with unblinkingly focused eyes and beckoned him with a hand, provokingly.

"Hehehe, I beat the shit out of you!"

The burly kid started to walk towards 'Ethan', cracking his knuckles. When he reached halfway, he started to run. In mere seconds, he reached 'Ethan' and thrust his right fist towards his face. The kid expected that his fist would smash the boy's face, and the boy would fall down with blood running from his nose and start to cry. After all, such things had already happened several times, and the burly kid was confident that this time wouldn't be different.