23 (23) Caution never betrays

Ruffle~

The sound of the floor creaking woke Belvan, Veneir's brother up.

At first sight, Belvan appeared weak with his thin body; he was a little over 10 years old. There were very low muscles all over his body and he had unclear eyes, showing his current state. 

"Sister...?" A voice that could easily be flown away in the slightest of wind left Belvan's mouth. It was a voice that left an impression of someone near his death. 

"Yes, it's me." Veneir held Belvan's hand immediately with worry all over her face. 

It was clear that Belvan's overly weak appearance surprised even Veneir. 

'His condition seems to have deteriorated more than before. I am sure he can't make it past tomorrow in this state.' Mangrel deduced with a little disappointment. 

Mangrel wanted to use Belvan to control Veneir, but life didn't go the way one wanted, every time. 

People can make plans; reality determines how things will turn out in the end.

'Hmm? Wait...That's not right.' Mangrel's eyes shrank to pin size, looking at all the conditions of the floor. 

Everything was all over the place, clothes, plates, and other miscellaneous items. 

Mangrel calmed himself down almost immediately. 

'I can't jump to conclusions yet. There is a chance that Belvan got up and looked around. From the look of it, he does appear to have blurry sight.' With hope in his heart, Mangrel moved to the window with his gaze still on Belvan. The room was small, to begin with, his action was like taking a step back in surprise. 

When he subtly looked outside the window, Mangrel couldn't help but harden his face. 

There was a shadow right beside the window, whose shadow was being reflected by the sun, on the ground. 

'So they were waiting for Veneir from the beginning. Is it slavery? Sigh....' Mangrel heaved a long sigh, before moving near Belvan worriedly like the others. 

"Are you alright?! Does it hurt anywhere?!" Mangrel's worried voice flowed through the room. 

"Ah, Mangrel brother..." Belvan smiled weakly, while still laying on the floor. 

The others tried speaking, showing their worry, but before that, a huge bang was heard at the entrance.

A man with a wide smile stepped into the house, showing a menacing expression. The man had a wide shoulder, with a knife handle clearly visible in his waist clothes. Along with him, another two men walked in.

The man standing beside the window revealed himself. He too appeared to be in the same group. 

"What are you doing? Barging into someone else's house without permission, don't you have any shame?" Sharpness returned to Veneir's voice, which had been quite bland these few days, probably worrying about her brother. 

"Hmph! Capture all of them." The man, who appeared to the leader, snorted with displeasure and ordered the two men behind him. 

The moment those words fell, Mangrel lunged his body into the window. 

The leader's expression grew shocked at once looking at Mangrel's action. But, he didn't move, another one of his men was standing there.

However, the very next moment, The leader's eyes shrank in bewilderment, his mouth agape.

Mangrel directly jumped to the man guarding the window. There was no hesitation at all. The man sneered while extending his hand to hold Mangrel's neck. 

However, at that instant, Mangrel's hand, which was hidden in his cloth, pulled out something hidden. 

A sharp dagger!

Mangrel's eyes glazed over to his target coldly, killing intent was clear to anyone who saw him right now. 

The man, who was at point-blank range to Mangrel could not react, the dagger pierced the man's neck from the back at once. Killing him without making a single sound. 

The body of the man fell to the ground along with Mangrel. 

Blood spurted with no stop, dyeing Mangrel's clothes in blood instantly. His face was splashed with blood too, making him look like a bloodthirsty murderer.

This scene made the three men, near the entrance, pop their eyes, not believing what they were seeing right at the moment. Not just them, Veneir, Devis, and Heitrent had the expression of seeing a ghost too. 

With no regard for their feelings, Mangrel raced off somewhere. 

Only his voice before he sprinted was heard, by the people in the room: "Ruuun!!!"

Traveling to such a place, Mangrel did not dare to be complacent in the slightest. He was never someone who left things up to luck or fate. If he was someone who believed something unreal like that, Mangrel would have died a long time ago. 

For that reason, Mangrel pushed himself to the limit, winning more of Mars's trust. So that he could borrow the dagger temporarily. 

'Caution never betrays, as it goes!' Mangrel thought while running with all his might. He did not care about his legs, which were complaining of pain. He had yet to rest properly after completing today's task. 

Mangrel did not care and pushed himself with just raw willpower. 

Circling Veneir's house, Mangrel arrived at the streets. With no pause, he ran towards the alleyway on the other side of the street, he had memorized the things here before. 

"Catch him!!" A thunderous voice rang out behind Mangrel. 

Another young man, who was standing outside the entrance, began chasing after Mangrel at once. Breaking free from his initial bewilderment and hesitation, in seeing Mangrel. 

"Wait! You little pipsqueak!"

Looking at Mangrel entering the alleyway, the young man ran towards the place hurriedly. 

Reaching near the alleyway, the young man turned to enter the alley.

Stab!

"Ah..." Suddenly, the sight of a dagger and two hands piercing his heart entered the sight. 

"Glurgh...." Before any words, blood poured down from the young man's mouth. Looking at the sight before him, his face was filled with fright and shock. 

Splurt!

Pulling out the dagger, Mangrel began running again at once. This time, no one chased after him. 

"Huff...huff....huff...." Sweat covered Mangrel's whole body. He did not care about the gazes he received on the main street. 

Running back to the alley with all his might, Mangrel entered the deeper parts, before sprawling on the ground to rest. His body could not move at all, he had pushed it past his limit to a large degree. 

Mangrel turned upside down, staring at the sky. 

From the beginning, Mangrel did not have any hope of saving any of the four kids in that room. There was no way they could run away from those three people. He screamed 'run' only because he wanted those three people to be distracted, capturing the ones who tried to run. 

If not, Another three people would have joined in to capture Mangrel. Even he was unsure whether he could kill them all at once. 

'...What a boisterous day.' Mangrel closed his eyes with exhaustion.