Bang!
Thud!
Just when danger was about to strike, Walter's face was already wrinkling with excitement.
But suddenly—
Two unexpected attacks landed on Walter and Jared, who was sneaking behind Cao Ye for a surprise attack.
Both of them were completely unprepared.
Without any chance to react, they collapsed to the ground.
The sudden turn of events even left Cao Ye, who had been planning to bait them, momentarily stunned.
"Are you alright?"
At that moment, an elf wearing the uniform of the Hostess of Fertility appeared.
She held a bag of food in one hand and a blood-stained tree branch in the other.
Behind her, Walter and Jared both had bruises on the back of their heads.
"You are…?"
"Ryu Lion. We've met before, at the Hostess of Fertility."
"Oh, it's you—the beautiful elf girl."
"Mm."
Ryu nodded slightly.
She had coincidentally seen Cao Ye wandering on the street earlier.
Then she noticed Walter and Jared following him.
Because of the lingering remnants of her former belief in justice, she decided to intervene.
She was no longer part of a justice-oriented Familia.
Nor did she feel worthy of calling herself righteous anymore.
But when something wrong happened right in front of her—
She couldn't stop herself from stepping in.
Perhaps this was her way of atoning for past sins.
"Thank you for today."
Even though Cao Ye hadn't really needed saving, it was only right to thank someone who helped him.
"This area may be a little better than some districts, but you shouldn't wander into deserted places like this."
"Orario isn't as glamorous as it looks."
"I understand."
Cao Ye accepted her warning.
She meant well, after all.
However—
Cao Ye was the type who never forgot a grudge.
These two men had clearly intended to kill him.
He had no intention of letting them go.
One of his personal principles was:
"Cut the grass and remove the roots."
He didn't want trouble later.
Small people could be extremely troublesome.
Even if they couldn't harm him directly, they could still cause problems.
And Orario itself wasn't peaceful.
So to prevent unexpected problems—
It was better to deal with them completely.
"From the look of it, you haven't been in Orario for long."
"I'll guide you back to the main street."
"Thank you very much."
Cao Ye quickly followed her.
But as he passed by Walter and Jared, a small lump of black substance quietly dropped onto the ground.
Soon, Cao Ye and Ryu disappeared down the street.
Gurgle…
The black substance left on the ground began to expand.
"Hmm?"
Walter slowly woke up.
Feeling pain at the back of his head, he touched it.
His hand came away covered in blood.
"Damn it! Who attacked me from behind?!"
The fat prey had escaped.
And he might have even offended someone connected to Freya Familia.
Walter was furious.
But he didn't notice—
Behind him, the black mass had already expanded to half the size of a human.
Rustle…
"What's that sound?"
Walter subconsciously turned around.
What he saw was a black monster that looked like living mud.
"A mon—"
SLAP!
Before he could finish speaking, the black mud wrapped around him.
Like a slime, it ignored his struggles and slowly devoured him.
Within moments, his movements stopped.
Then the black mud turned toward the other man.
Less than a minute later—
Both living men had completely disappeared.
After that, the mud creature gradually dissolved and vanished from the world.
Meanwhile, on the main street—
Cao Ye, who had followed Ryu back, suddenly sensed something.
He turned and glanced toward the alley.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
The Black Mud.
A substance formed from All the World's Evils.
In the Fate universe, Servants who touched the black mud would become corrupted and darkened.
It could even allow heroic spirits to obtain physical bodies.
But in this world, Cao Ye's black mud didn't possess those abilities.
Instead, it had a different effect.
It could devour living beings and convert them into magic power.
Cao Ye didn't consider himself a good person.
But he still felt uneasy about using such an evil method to grow stronger.
So until now, he had never used the black mud.
This was the first time.
And he only used it to erase evidence.
A bit of overkill, honestly.
"Anyway, don't wander into empty alleys again."
"Understood, Miss Ryu. I'll remember."
"Mm."
Ryu glanced at him calmly before turning and leaving.
They were merely strangers who had crossed paths.
Even at the Hostess of Fertility, they had only met once.
Today she saved him simply because her kind nature compelled her.
On a distant platform above the city—
Freya had watched everything with her divine eyes.
She saw the entire scene.
Although she felt slightly disappointed that Cao Ye didn't get to show more of his abilities—
She clearly saw the cleanup method he used afterward.
Freya smiled.
She didn't find Cao Ye's actions inappropriate at all.
In fact—
His decisive killing made her like him even more.
After all, she was far from a benevolent goddess.
In the darkness of Orario's night, she herself had done many ruthless things.
"Those two men earlier… they were from Soma Familia, weren't they?"
Ottar immediately understood her meaning.
The goddess was dissatisfied with Soma Familia.
If that was the case, he would personally pay them a visit.
They would need to pay a price.
If the result failed to satisfy Freya—
Then Soma Familia had no reason to exist.
A third-rate Familia.
Even though they had many members, their strongest adventurer was only Level 2.
For Freya Familia, such a group could be erased by a single member.
Without high-level fighters, large numbers meant nothing.
Knock knock.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
Ottar immediately turned toward the entrance.
"Come in."
Creak.
The door opened.
"Lady Freya."
The person entering was a cat-beastman with cat ears.
If Ottar was Freya's personal bodyguard—
Then this man was the one who secretly protected "Syr."
Whenever Freya acted under the identity of Syr, he guarded her from the shadows.
Allen Fromel
Vice-captain of Freya Familia.
A Level 6 adventurer, known as the "Fastest in the City."