Rewind time back to when Edgar left for the Adventurer Guild.

Ellie: “Have fun.”

Ellie said that to Edgar who was grinning like a child and exited the s.p.a.cious room.

(—This is a chance I won't be having again.)

Neither Arisa nor Edgar would be in the mansion, which means she would be able to get close to him one-on-one.

Yes, toward the owner of this mansion, Gram.

Ellie's destination is the training ground.

As for the reason, it's because Gram was supposed to be there.

Ellie: “Daily routine, was it…? How laughable…!”

Ellie imagined what Gram was probably doing now, and then she made a bitter expression.

Ellie had noticed it.

That Gram had another face that he couldn't show Arisa and Edgar.

First of all, the three demi-humans Gram was fighting when they first came.

——They were slaves.

Perhaps Edgar and Arisa didn't realize,

but Ellie didn't miss it.

——They had a collar with the mark of slavery.

That's not all.

The slaves fought with the intent to kill, and their eyes were filled with hatred.

That was clearly not the eyes of someone looking at a sparring partner.

——That was the real deal.

They had real killing intent and hatred in their eyes.

They were the same eyes of the people she had fought in the past.

Other than the slaves, she also noticed Gram's smile right after he enjoyed his fight against the slaves.

——Everything about that place was weird.

Even the hatred of the slaves.

Even Gram who was fighting the slaves joyfully.

——She couldn't leave this be.

Gram had the train of thought of that n.o.ble who owned her in the past.

And she couldn't possibly leave a trash like Gram alone.

Perhaps the people that Gram fought had their families or whatever that is just as important stolen unreasonably by that n.o.ble. They fought him because of their own feelings on top of their hatred.

Ellie: “……”

——anger bubbles up from the bottom of her gut and killing intent rises.

She was furious that her anger was unbearable.

Her mind is already blazing red.

She clenched her hands so hard that her nails are digging into her palm and blood starts to ooze out.

She is approaching her destination quickly.

It's the training ground just behind the mansion.

As Ellie was about to turn the corner, her beastly ears picked up a sound.

—Clas.h.!.+ Clas.h.!.+

It was the sound of hammer clas.h.i.+ng with metal.

—BOOM!

Following that was the sound of an explosion.

???: “——UOOOOOOOOHHH!!!”

She also heard the sound of someone roaring.

And then,

———She heard Gram's laugh.

Gram: “GEHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! What's wrong, what's wrong!? Try to fight me some more! Wring out more of your wits and your power to defeat me! If this keeps up, forget fulfilling your hatred, you'll just expose yourself to more shame!”

He was against the three slaves.

They had a sword, a bow, or a hammer while surrounding Gram.

Slave: “f.u.c.k you! I'll definitely kill you!!!”

They brandished their weapons against Gram, cast their magic, and fought desperately to stop Gram from breathing.

The slave holding the bow goes first.

He charged forward with the range of his weapon, but Gram dealt with it from the front without even dodging.

Slave: “DIEEEEEEE!!!”

That expression.

It was loaded with a lot of feelings.

Hatred, sadness, despair.

Just like what he said, the thrust of that spear was aimed for his life, but Gram matched his pace and moved his hammer

——CLAs.h.!.+

The hammer and the spear collided.

The clash created sparks that illuminated the face of the two.

By then, the other slave had already flanked behind Gram, and as he was about to strike him down with his sword—

Gram: “—Too slow!”

Gram deflected the spear and kicked the slave on the gut and turned around in an instant.

He kindled flames on his left hand and launched it at the slave's sword.

——BOOM!

As the sound echoed around the bottom of the gut, the two was enveloped in an explosion, but Gram was the only one left standing after it settled.

Gram: “—Hm, that's one.”

Gram declared thus looked down at the one slave that was downed.

Slave: “Not yet!”

The third, mallet-wielding slave activates a spell.

Countless earthen lances emerged from the ground and launched themselves towards Gram—

Gram: “Too slow, too slow! TOO SLOW!”

But he swung his hammer in high speed and smashed them all.

His aim was terrifyingly accurate.

While he crushed the earthen lances, Gram calmly walked forward, closing in to the mallet-wielding slave.

While looking at the slave's despaired expression, Gram swung his hammer down to the crown of the slave's head.

—splash

Gram: “That's two.”

That moment, he muttered thus.

Perhaps he just recovered, the spear-wielding slave from the beginning rushed in toward Gram again from behind.

Gram: “Another one of the same attack? Boring.”

He said that and blocked with his hammer the same way he did the first time,

Slave: “——As if!!!”

But the man wasn't exercising his spearmans.h.i.+p—

Slave: “——EAT THISSS!!!”

But instead, he was using a spell.

Its attribute was water.

What liquid would he use?

……it was all to obvious.

—It was his, and his friends' blood that had been flowing during their battle.

He acc.u.mulated them at first before shooting it off.

He aimed for the moment Gram lets his guard down.

But he didn't think that this attack of his would be fatal to Gram.

But a moment was enough. If he could break his posture for just a moment…!

Along with the launch of the blood sphere, he thrusts his spear forward.

Just to kill this man.

To dispel the hatred of his family.

——but that thought did not come true.

Gram: “—What about that peashooter?”

Before the slave felt a response from the spear on his hand, he felt a hard object pulverizing his head, and he died.

“Hm, not even a contest. You all are just too weak.”

The bloodstained hammer dropped into the ground and Gram cracked his shoulders.

Gram: “That sorceress' disciple was pretty good you know? He's gotta be a very talented person. Couldn't even defeat him with just Explosion magic and me Mallet skills…Been a while since I found an opponent I can fight  giving my all, but I can't really give my all to kids of “this generation”. I want to try fighting that guy with him fully intending to kill me though…”

Gram heaved a sigh to the slaves who were at loss of words.

Gram was dissatisfied with the result of the battle, that's it.

There's no mistake; he felt no other feelings even after killing somebody.

Afterwards, Gram turned around.

Gram: “By the way, the beast over there, how about you? Wanna try fighting me?”

The corners of Gram's mouth lifts up as he flashed a grin.

The savage grin he showed was far different than the childish smile Gram showed Edgar.

But there were no time to think about which one of those smiles were his real one.

Before he turned around, Ellie was already standing there with a knife on her hand.

Ellie: “What did you do to those people?”

She was calm—no, she was only able to suppress her urge to lunge an attack toward Gram because of her barely working sense, but thanks to that, she was able to ask Gram.

Gram: “Hm, so you're asking what I did…Isn't it my privilege as an owner to do whatever I want to my slaves? Aren't you also treated like that?”

His eyes were full of delight.

Hearing those words, something snapped in Ellie's mind, making her omit everything useless.

—reasoning, composure, thoughtfulness, and even kindness.

In the end, she lost everything that is important to her even as a human, and the only thing left in her is the pure murderous intent.

Ellie: “——I will kill you!”

Ellie immediately charged in to attack.

Using the leg strength of a dire wolf, she leaped in an instant.

With a Wind magic supporting her, she aimed to break Gram's skull and swung her arms down.

Gram: “——Hmph!”

Gram blocked the attack with the handle of his hammer and blew Ellie away with the force of his Explosion magic.

Ellie: “————!”

Ellie prepared to break her fall from when she was mid-air, before attacking again and again while awaiting the chance to attack him on the chest.

She jumped towards Gram, avoided the attacks of his hammer, kicked the air  and using that momentum to slash him from every angle.

—yet,

He defended against her attacks by blocking with his hammer, while his Explosion spell blow her away. She often managed to inflict some scratch wound, but it was far from a fatal blow.

Gram: “—Gahahaha! What a dog! Just like you looked, you're pretty slippery! You're pretty good, aren't you!”

In the midst of the battle, Gram let out a loud laughter from the excitement of his fight. Yet even then, the speed and power of his hammer are not faltering.

Ellie: “—Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! DIE, DIE, DIE!!”

Ellie continued her attack with fury.

—From his front, his rear, and his sides,

Ellie unleashed various attacks from various different angles with various different timing.

But Gram still managed to block them with his hammer and fling her back with his Explosion spell.

Ellie: “s.h.i.+t! s.h.i.+t! s.h.i.+T!!! DIE, DIE, DIIEE! JUST DIE QUICKLY! DROP DEAD!”

Gram: “—What's this, is this all you can do? You're just a beast after all, huh? Doesn't look like you're a match for the great humans after all!

Ellie continued her attack, but Gram didn't drop his guard for even a moment.

Thinking that this couldn't continue, Ellie briefly stopped and took some distance.

And then, Ellie whispered a spell—seeking for more speed and power.

On the other hand, Gram thought that it might be interesting, so he didn't think of wanting to disturb her cast.

—And then, Ellie shouted;

Ellie: “—FUUGA*!”

The wind rampaged around Ellie.

Her black hair fluttered up against the gravitational pull.

And then, her eyes turned sharp, glaring strongly at Gram.

(—I'll finish it off with this!)

Gram: “Ou ou ou, a trump card! That's it, fight me with your all! Entertain me! The battlefield is where I belong! I feel alive in battle! This is the only place for me!”

Wind was rampaging around Ellie, while flames are raging around Gram.

Ellie: “—DDIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!”

Gram: “—GAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!”

—CRASHHH!!!

Loud voices of metals colliding ruled the area.

The sounds were heavy and they echoed around.

The clash of the two's attack created explosion and wind pressure so strong that they kicked up dust from the ground that covered the two.

And after the two collided—

Gram: “…hm,”

There was a single collapsed demi-human girl.

The big man was the victor of this fight.

He had a completely different expression than when he was fighting against the three slaves; this time he had a satisfied expression.

Gram: “…It was quite something, you beast girl. I might not be bored for a while now…”

Gram grinned.

He thought of carrying the girl.

But then—

—CLAs.h.!.+

Gram: “—!”

A single large ice wall obstructed him.

Gram's face grimaced the moment the ice wall suddenly appeared.

Arisa: “—What do you think you are doing to my child, lord Gram?”

The bell-like voice echoes around the ruined field.

(…My my, this is getting more interesting, isn't it?)

The grin that surfaced on Gram's face once again; was it from his satisfaction of taking down the beast girl, or was it because of his expectation for the next battle.

Behind Gram was a single sorceress—Arisa.

          Chapter 31 >

TLC:

Regarding Fuuga (風雅): it means Elegance, Grace, or something like that, but I left it in j.a.panese since it's a skill name and therefore I think it's cooler to leave it that way. Tell me if you'd like me to do afterwards tho, I'll probably change it if demanded.

Sorry for the late update. IRL crisis last week, won't happen again, hopefully.

Other than that, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Have a nice day!