"What? I have killing intent, so what?! You got a problem with that?!"
An utterly indignant voice exploded beneath the tree.
Eris's red eyes, under the sunlight, were sharply divided between the scarlet irises and the black pupils.
Like the eyes of a feline predator, radiating intense intimidation.
Overflowing with killing intent!
Rudy stood nearby, dumbfounded.
He felt like he could already see the scene a second later—Eris leaping in place and pounding Allen's head like a drum. He wanted to speak up and break the tension, but the words got stuck in his throat.
Maybe...
There was no need for him to intervene?
Could Allen actually restrain this feral little lioness?
With his strength? Of course he could.
Could he?
Well, with his magic prowess, technically yes.
Then why was it that despite being smacked a few times on the head, he never really responded?
First, because Eris didn't actually hit him that hard—still within his tolerance.
Second, he was a hired tutor for the Boreas family. Why would he be fighting kids?
Well, to be honest—
The real reason...
This was the Boreas family, after all.
He was just an outsider.
But for Allen, none of these concerns applied.
First, with ryū-ōgi (Flow Secret Techniques), Eris's fists could never even touch him.
Second, Allen was the kind of guy who, if he truly got angry, wouldn't care whether you were a child. Not only would he strike back, he could very well press a sword to the neck of said "child" while smiling and say, "What a coincidence, I'm eleven too. I'm also a kid." He was absolutely the kind of guy who would do that. Somal from Buena Village was a perfect example.
And most importantly—
This was the Boreas estate.
What was Allen's full name?
Others might not know Allen's identity, but his employer—his real father Philip—certainly did.
Wasn't this whole tutoring arrangement precisely because of that?
Rudy's mind wasn't as quick or sharp as Allen's. By the time he figured all that out and let out a relieved breath, several seconds had passed.
He looked up.
In his view—
Allen was still pulling on Eris's cheek.
And Eris was still glaring daggers at him.
…?
Rudy blinked, deeply questioning his own eyesight.
Wait—
Why wasn't this turning into the chaotic dogfight he imagined?
——
"Ugh."
Eris locked eyes with Allen, attempting to intimidate him for ages. But he never said a word.
She finally pouted, then slapped away the hand holding her face!
Still clearly annoyed, she gave the grass beneath her a sharp kick!
The noble daughter was very angry!
"Hmph!"
After a moment of silence—
"If I'm not allowed to punch, then fine, I won't punch! Talking about 'killing intent' and stuff—what nonsense!"
Then she viciously kicked the turf again.
Rudy watched nervously, afraid he'd get caught in the crossfire.
Ghislaine, however, just shook her head and even chuckled, her eyes flashing with an almost unnoticeable warmth.
Eris was throwing a tantrum.
Yes, not raging—just pouting.
It had been a long time since she acted this way.
Heh...
Meanwhile, Allen was completely zoned out.
His thoughts were racing.
Kanryū (Flow Perception) never lies.
His Water God Style senses had never betrayed him.
Eris truly hadn't released a single trace of killing intent at him.
Even now, while muttering and kicking grass—
It was all vented toward the ground.
And Allen had pinpointed the exact source of her anger.
It was his earlier line: "Your killing intent is so obvious that even I, an outsider, could sense it."
In that instant, someone with a personality like hers might not even understand what exactly had upset her.
But with her sharp emotional intuition, the anger surged anyway. It felt… wrong.
So she threw a punch at Allen!
Infused with battle aura!
She knew it wouldn't land.
So—
She just threw it anyway!
The result:
When she didn't consciously release killing intent, it was natural—like a silent panther stalking prey.
But when she did try to force it, it came off as clumsy and harmless—like a housecat meowing aggressively.
That's what stunned Allen.
He never expected that at the very start of his tutoring term…
He had already gained Eris's full trust.
And this kind of trust—he recognized it well, as a fan of the original story.
It was the "blind trust" type—foolish, unreasonable, and irrational—but impossible to dislike.
As long as she felt she "knew" you from the heart, no matter what absurd things you did, she would justify it for you.
Then she'd follow you around like a loyal dog.
In the original story, this was especially clear on Rudy's route.
But now? What was going on here?
Just because he saved her that rainy night?
But after the kidnapping in the original, Eris still had a very tsun attitude toward Rudy. That didn't start to soften until her tenth birthday.
Was it because Allen had used swordsmanship—something far more impressive to her than unfamiliar magic? And combined with the "trust buff" of the sword in hand?
Was it that big a deal?
She even ignored her own cousin to praise a complete outsider...
Outsider?
Blood relation?
Allen looked at Eris's face in slight surprise. She had just pulled her muddy black shoe out of the small hole she'd kicked in the grass and raised an eyebrow at him, returning his look with a defiant glare full of pressure.
The spring breeze swept across her face, and sweat glistened faintly on her forehead beneath her bangs.
So fierce.
And Allen finally understood.
Why, back in Buena Village, when he first met Eris—even though she acted so violently—his first thought was "Why is my little sister so cute?"
It was because his body instinctively recognized her. A feeling of familial closeness.
It was different from how he felt about any other girl around him.
That's why he had naturally accepted her as "a little sister" the moment they met—and why he rushed to protect her in the rain without hesitation.
It wasn't just affection for a beloved original character.
And now that he thought about it—
Back at the Greyrat estate in Buena Village, even though he had spoken to Philip at the door, Eris had instinctively ignored him and went to punch Rudy instead.
Same principle.
It was the bond of blood.
An innate, unexplainable "sense of familiarity."
Which led her to subconsciously believe: "This guy who looks kinda cool definitely isn't that annoying Allen! That sneaky-looking one over there must be Allen!"
That sort of idea.
Allen blinked.
In his vision, Eris's red hair swayed in the spring breeze like flowing paint.
And in that moment, he thought of someone else with the same hair color.
That name—
Written on a piece of paper tucked in a drawer back in his room.
So that's where this whole "conflict" started from—
It all began here.
(End of Chapter)
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