Marriage With A Suspiciously Demure Husband - Chapter 46

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 46

The Follower possessed high intelligence and could command Beast Monsters, so it had to be dealt with first.
I’d never seen a Follower Beast Monster before, so I was honestly a bit flustered.
Still, I had to eliminate it before things got more dangerous.
I moved forward, ahead of Luxe.
Since I’d been driven back earlier, there was still distance between me and the Beast Monsters now.
To bind them without any hope of escape, I needed to get closer.
The farther the distance, the wider the space—the more magical power would be required.
Just as I was about to bind the Beast Monsters’ legs and eyes first, so the other knights could finish them off in one sweep, my gaze met the Follower’s.
The other knights were too busy dealing with the remaining Beast Monsters to notice anything.
The Follower was nearly a hundred meters away, yet those crimson eyes felt vivid, as if it were standing right in front of me.
Without realizing it, I was drawn in by the stare, and my Illusion Technique was only half-maintained.
“Try not to make eye contact with it if you can help it. There’s talk that it might enthrall you.”
Even in the chaos, Luxe noticed and called out to me.
“Right.”
I nodded and retreated a bit further, then deployed Illusion Magic again to bind the Beast Monsters’ legs.
The knights fell upon the bound Beast Monsters like fish in water, cutting them down ruthlessly.
Even so, I felt the Follower’s eyes constantly pulling toward me.
It was an unpleasant sensation, as if spiders were crawling all over my body.
Then it happened.
The Beast Monsters’ movements stopped, as if they’d been a lie.
I had only bound their legs for a moment—I hadn’t blinded their eyes yet, and no killing blow had landed.
They’d stopped of their own accord.
They ceased their attacks on the knights, and even the lesser Beast Monsters stood rigid, as if awaiting orders.
Soon, all the Beast Monsters stopped their assault at once and began slowly retreating.
What? Why are they…?
The Follower’s eyes remained fixed on me.
As their target withdrew, the knights began to look bewildered.
“Now! Come to your senses!”
Two large Beast Monsters and about twenty lesser ones remained.
At Dylan’s cry, the knights finally snapped to attention and began striking down the remaining Beast Monsters, and a Black Magic Circle spread beneath the feet of the Beast Monsters being mercilessly slaughtered.
In mere seconds, the Beast Monsters vanished beneath the magic circle, as if plummeting through the ground.
The Follower Beast Monster, which hadn’t taken its eyes off me, lowered its head and then simply ceased to exist.
…….
…….
“…What?”
“It’s gone.”
“Damn it! We could’ve killed them all!”
I shut my mouth and stared down emptily at the spot where the Beast Monster had vanished.
What was that?
An unsettling feeling washed over me.
I can say with certainty that I don’t have an Axe Complex.
And yet I couldn’t shake the thought that the Follower had discovered me and called off the Beast Monsters.
No, surely not.
What a ridiculous notion.
I shook my head and turned my gaze away, only to find Luxe staring intently at me.
He didn’t look disappointed the Beast Monster was gone, nor relieved.
His expression was as if he were asking me what had just happened.
…….
Without thinking, I averted my eyes from Luxe’s and quickly turned my head toward the other knights.
Surely Luxe wasn’t thinking the same thing I was?
Among the knights standing around bewildered, I worried someone else might have the same thought as me.
I didn’t want to be misunderstood for no reason.
The reason I was thinking this way was because I knew that the original Hazel had wrestled with the same worry.
Whenever crimes involving Black Magic or problems like Beast Monsters occurred, people’s gazes naturally fell on her as if she were somehow connected.
Of all the people gathered here now, only two could use Black Magic, and one of them was barely useful at all, so naturally all eyes would turn to me.
Making excuses for something I hadn’t done didn’t sound particularly pleasant.
“Why did it suddenly disappear?”
“Right? It’s like she was running from something, or maybe just backing away.”
“There was nothing there. No priests or holy maidens appeared anywhere.”
“So what was it?”
“Regardless, what about that collapsed wall? The damage is worse than expected.”
“We’ll need to restrict this area to administrators only for the time being.”
“They’re not going to have us move the rubble, are they? We can just hire workers, right?”
The knights chattered loudly as they sheathed their swords, surveying the devastated surroundings.
I remained rooted to the spot, unable to move.
That was when Fay came rushing toward me.
“Th-thank you so much for saving me!”
She clasped her hands together and bowed so deeply her forehead nearly touched the ground.
Her blonde hair, which had been tied back tightly in a bun, had come undone and hung loosely around her shoulders.
I’d been about to scold her, but that thought vanished completely.
“You don’t need to thank me like that. Anyone else would have done the same. I just happened to be faster, that’s all.”
“But if it weren’t for you, s-senior, I would have been sw-swallowed alive.”
“Yes. That Beast Monster might have devoured you.”
“…that’s…….”
Fay’s shoulders drooped.
Right—as if you’d deliberately positioned yourself in front of it.
No matter how I thought about it, that seemed too reckless on my part. Still, I couldn’t let something more dangerous happen.
“If you’re not confident, it’s better not to step forward. Fighting Beast Monsters as a knight is a world apart from the simulated training you did at the Academy. Your careless actions could cost you your life—or your comrades’ lives.”
“Y-yes… I’m sorry.”
Fay’s face turned pale.
“You don’t owe me an apology, and I’m not blaming you. I’m saying you need practice.”
“Yes, yes.”
“You can’t avoid Illusion Magic forever just because you’re afraid. You chose to stay here, didn’t you?”
Fay nodded, her head nearly bowing to her chest.
“If you’re not going to quit, then work as hard as you did in practice and pull your weight as an Illusion Mage. That’s all it takes. If you remember today and throw yourself into your training, you’ll become someone this Knight Order truly needs.”
I gave Fay’s slumping shoulder a brief reassuring pat.
Her eyes reddened as she nodded repeatedly.
“Yes! I’ll keep that in mind!”
“Go check yourself for any injuries.”
After sending Fay away, I was still rubbing my tired eyes when Dylan approached.
I felt a brief flicker of worry about what Luxe might think of me.
Fortunately, nothing like that happened.
“I’m really grateful today. Without you, we might have had casualties. A bit longer and people could have been seriously hurt. I never expected you to use a Portal like that out of nowhere.”
“…I know.”
“Why did you do it, anyway? You seemed to be watching something intently.”
My body tensed without warning.
“Did I?”
“Even if the Follower was intelligent, it doesn’t seem like it would try to save a Beast Monster as an ally. We should look into this more carefully. What do you think?”
Dylan’s face had grown quite serious.
That was when it happened.
A thick arm landed casually across Dylan’s shoulder. It was Luxe.
“Why overthink it? If it’s gone, that’s a relief. It was probably panicking as it was dying anyway.”
“I suppose so.”
“Besides, shouldn’t we mobilize troops across the Capital first? If this keeps up, we really will have casualties, Vice-Commander. We can’t keep asking our guest to handle everything, can we?”
“Ah, you’re right. I was planning to do that anyway.”
“Let the knights rest first, and we’ll talk more among ourselves. We need to report this upstairs too.”
Dylan nodded and turned back toward the resting knights.
Then it was just Luxe and me.
A brief silence fell—perhaps because I was still bothered by the fact that he’d noticed me watching earlier.
That earlier moment did seem to have worked in my favor, somehow.
Luxe suddenly laughed and gave my shoulder a light pat.
“Why are you looking so grim? Is it because I noticed you staring just now?”
“No, it’s just…….”
“The Follower might have had crossed eyes. Don’t worry about it. If it wasn’t for you today, several people would be dead. Just think about that.”
At those words, I relaxed a bit and let out a small laugh.
Luxe’s grin widened.
“If it were anyone else, I’d have been suspicious. But it’s you. Why would you stare like that? Have we reached an age where even Beast Monsters recognize faces? What’s the world coming to, really? Don’t you think?”
I gave Luxe’s arm a light tap, a playful jab at his teasing.
“Thanks for thinking of it. Running into each other’s eyes like that just left a bad taste.”
“I’ll forget it too, so you forget it as well. Either way, no one got hurt because of it.”
“Yeah… all right.”
Luxe patted my shoulder once more and turned toward the Training Ground, suggesting we get some rest.
As I turned to follow him, I glanced back at the space where the Black Magic Circle had vanished.
The unease still lingered.
I couldn’t chase after the Follower even if I wanted to—and I didn’t want to.
Before this mess spiraled any further, I needed to finish things in the Capital quickly.
I couldn’t let these petty complications derail my plan.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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