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But the moment lasts only a few seconds, as suddenly at least a dozen arrows fly toward Delia from all directions.
The situation takes me completely by surprise, and I barely manage to get in front of Delia to block three of the projectiles with my body.
Alessia, however, is much quicker to react and, taking advantage of the fact that she still has her sword drawn, moves like a whirlwind around us, cutting the rest of the projectiles before they reach their target.
A moment later, the three annoying beauties jump onto the stage to surround Delia, who now has Blue Wind in her hands.
Arya stays where she is but begins to shoot arrow after arrow at the rooftops, aiming in the direction of the assassins who were hidden on the roofs of the buildings.
The audience are the slowest to react, but when they finally do, they flee at full speed from the demonstration site when they see that the street has suddenly turned into a battlefield.
Only the nobles and the people from the Solus Temple remain in place, sheltered behind the living wall of knights they brought with them for protection.
Ignoring the three arrows stuck in my chest, I glance quickly at the streets in search of any nearby danger.
When I see that the only danger to my girls is on the rooftops, I jump up onto them, following the direction of Arya's shots.
Thanks to the map on my interface, I can track most of the attackers with ease and quickly reach each of their positions.
But what I find leaves me confused.
So I take the opportunity to pull the arrows out of my chest and then I drink an HP potion while thinking about what I found.
Many of the archers are dead due to Arya's accurate arrows, which have pierced their throats.
However, not all of them have visible wounds.
The strange thing is that, even though they have no wounds, the attackers who did not lose their lives to an arrow are also dead.
The only evidence on their bodies that could explain their lack of life is a slight foam coming out of the corners of their mouths.
'Poison? ...
That's the most logical explanation for this type of death ...
But ...
How were they poisoned? ...
And what poison acts so quickly? ...
Haa, I don't know…
My knowledge of poisons is practically nil...
This is strange...
At first glance, it looks like they committed suicide...
But that may not be the case...
Or...
Perhaps their death was not caused by poison, but by a curse...
Anyway, it doesn't seem like something I can easily figure out…
Now there are more urgent problems.'
Then I drop down from the rooftops and head towards my girls.
"Go inside the clinic. I'll be with you in a moment. We'll leave the place when it's safe," I say to the group of women on the platform as I wink at Alessia.
My first girlfriend instantly understands my intentions and takes Delia and the rest inside the clinic.
Then I turn to the people from the Solus Temple and the nobles who have come to 'witness our innocence' and who will surely say they had nothing to do with what just happened, whether that's true or not.
"I believe that today's demonstration, despite its unexpected ending, has served to prove that Emilia does not use any illegal methods to increase the strength of her healing abilities," I say, trying to sound as unaggressive as possible, as the knights who have come to stand guard look at me warily, as if I were some kind of rabid beast.
I suppose their reaction is partly due to the fact that I'm completely fine, although they saw me receive three arrows in my chest, but it's probably also because of the reddish glow in my eyes.
Ever since I acquired the Sword Demon class, whenever I'm angry or have a sword in my hands, my eyes begin to glow with a faint reddish glow.
And right now, I feel a rage that is like a fire burning through my body.
The only thing that has appeased that rage a little is seeing the worried expressions on my girls' faces when I came down from the rooftops.
'I need to keep my composure. I can't lose my temper right now.'
Alessia says that this unnatural new glow in my eyes is sexy, but the people in front of me don't seem to share the same opinion.
"Yes, yes, of course…" says a nobleman hastily.
One of the people from the Solus Temple seems to say something but is silenced with a gesture by another nobleman in the group.
"... Today, Saint Delia's clinic has proven that it does not represent unfair competition for the Solus Temple. You can rest assured that you will receive no further complaints in this regard in the future."
"Ahem, the prices for their healings are..." one of the men from the Solus Temple begins to say, but once again he is silenced before he can finish speaking.
"The prices of treatments are something that each place that provides such services has to decide, just as with any other good or service that is sold in this kingdom..." says the nobleman who has decided to take on the role of spokesperson for the group.
"... The people that work in Saint Delia's clinic are within their rights to offer cheaper healing than the Solus Temple, as long as they do not use any illegal means to achieve this. As we have already seen that this is not the case, we have nothing more to do here."
After saying these words, he signals to the knights, who begin to move into a mobile cordon while the nobles and people of the Solus Temple begin to withdraw from the scene.
Judging by the expressions on the faces of the temple men as they retreat, this is not the outcome they expected from this presentation, but that doesn't interest me in the least right now, so I simply nod affirmatively as they leave.
Today, someone tried to murder one of my girlfriends, and that's all that's on my mind.
"I need to get my girls out of here as soon as possible."
With that thought in mind, I enter the clinic, and after explaining what I saw to my girls, I open an illusory door to our house.
…
'There's nothing to investigate here, silly boy. You had the culprits right in front of your eyes and you let them get away.'
It's nighttime and I'm back on the rooftops surrounding the clinic, hoping to find clues on the remnants of the killers that will reveal the identity of the people who attacked Delia today.
But it's useless.
There is no trace of the murderers' remnants.
I should have come to investigate earlier, but I didn't want to do it until my girls were asleep.
Especially because of Delia.
Delia still has nightmares because of what happened to her at the Solus Temple, although they are less frequent now.
That's why she has a lot of trouble falling asleep if Alessia and I aren't with her in bed.
'You may be right, but I couldn't openly attack the nobles and the people of the Solus Temple without any proof. That would have made us the public enemy of the entire kingdom. And I already have more than enough with the Drial Cenit kingdom… Haa... until they attack me openly, it wouldn't be fair for me to hurt them, you understand? That's how civilized life works.'
'Ha! Civilized... You understand that every time you go into the labyrinths, you are voluntarily going to slaughter beings who have done nothing wrong to you, right?'
'That's different. Those beings in the labyrinths are monsters.'
'Hypocrite.'
'Besides, this whole demonstration has served as publicity for Delia's clinic,' I say mentally, ignoring the sword's criticism.
'You're a fool, kid. Everything that happened today will only serve to put an even bigger target on that half-human's chest.'
'Again, you may be right, but Delia is no helpless damsel, and she's never alone anywhere.'
'We'll see who's right, kiddo. Mark my words, you'll regret not cutting them off when you had the chance. Victory always belongs to those who strike first,' Zariche says, with cruel pleasure, using the male voice that I hear inside my head.
'Be quiet, please.'
I know the sword's words are just nonsense to incite me to violence.
But even so, part of me can't help thinking he's right.
The threat posed by the Solus Temple's ability to deactivate people's classes against their will is a problem I shouldn't ignore.
It doesn't particularly affect me, but it can greatly harm my girls when I'm not around them.
It is well known that the Solus Temple has always had the ability to reset people's status.
This is one of the main services they offer, as there is a belief that a person without class has an easier time acquiring a new class.
What is not common knowledge is that the Solus Temple has the ability to do so even against a person's will.
'Haa... As much as it pains me, you really may be right about some of the things you said...
Delia's fame has definitely become a problem...
Haa... I should find a better way to stop the Solus Temple from bothering us...
I can't resort to violence because of Delia, but there has to be a way...
We beat them this time, but I doubt they'll be satisfied with this result...
I have physical strength and money to spare, but to face the temple, I'm going to need a different kind of power...
I need to build my political power somehow...
That's also part of the smart clone plan...
But it's the part that seems most confusing to me...
I need to establish relationships with the nobles... Probably, Yair and Stella are the best options to start with...
Ugh... I don't like the idea of trying to befriend Yair at all.'