First meeting with Sylphi, should children be forgiven?

After Allen and Rudy had walked for some distance, Rudy turned back and glanced at their mansion from afar. He clapped his hands twice reverently and bowed his head.

Paul, Zenith, enjoy yourselves. I'm sorry for inconveniencing you these past few days.

Allen looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Do you usually play with the kids in the village? Or have you seen people arguing or bullying others?"

Rudy was stunned.

"No, as for bullying, I don't recall any. I usually just greet people I meet. Speaking of which, I have seen groups of children playing together, but I don't intend to join them, so I avoid them from a distance."

Is this guy trying to act like a chivalrous hero?

"Do the children play in locations far from the village?"

"Uh, I haven't seen that. Most of them are near the farmland."

"Near the farmland... Are there any plants that can be identified?"

"Huh?"

Rudy looked at Allen with a surprised expression.

Why does this person seem to lack common sense?

"Probably... not."

"Alright, then let's go near the farmland."

Rudy looked at Allen. The other person didn't seem like he hadn't heard what Rudy said; instead, he had intended to go near the farmland from the beginning.

What is this person trying to do?

Immediately after, Allen added, "The farmland closer to where those children are playing."

Rudy's expression showed understanding.

Oh, so he's going to make friends. He really is the type who lacks affection. Although he's steady, he likes to make friends with all sorts of people?

***

"What's this plant?"

"This one is a weed."

"Then what about this one?"

"That's wheat."

"Oh~ What about this one?"

"...This one is a weed."

Rudy's mouth twitched as he watched Allen distractedly counting weeds.

Hey, hey, your true intention isn't here! At least be serious, you jerk!

Allen kept an eye on a group of children playing not far away. Among them, a tall, chubby boy was bossing his companions around.

He turned his gaze back to Rudy's increasingly perfunctory expression, as if he had heard his thoughts. He flipped his hand and pointed at a Batil Flower that looked very much like lavender from his previous life, then asked with a smile, "What about this one?"

Rudy's eyes lit up.

Finally! No more questions about weeds! Allen, you've seen the light!

"This one is a Batil Flower."

"Batil what flower?"

"Batil Flower."

"What 'til' flower?"

"...It's a Batil Flower."

"Oh~ Balatil Flower."

"..."

Rudy looked at Allen's teasing smile and suddenly realized he was doing it on purpose. Just as he was about to get angry, he saw Allen's straight eyebrows raise, as if he were annoyed.

"...Uh... actually, it's a Batil Flower..."

"Listen."

"What 'Batil'?"

The sound of an argument came from a distance. Rudy looked at Allen. At some point, Allen had straightened his back and was looking sharply at the farmland not far away, his hand resting on the hilt of the sword at his waist. This posture reminded Rudy of a leopard hunting.

Rudy followed his gaze to the source of the sound.

A gust of wind flattened the wheat sprouts in the farmland. Not far away, the group of boisterous children were by the paddy field, pushing a small figure around.

Their voices faintly drifted over.

"The Demon Race kid is here again!"

"Haha, let's make him roll out of the village again today!"

"He's not fighting back, how about we throw mud at him?!"

"Good idea!"

A group of little devils gleefully dove into the nearby paddy field, bending down to start shaping mud balls.

Allen seemed to watch the scene calmly, but the way his hand kept rubbing the hilt of his sword showed he was far from as serene as he appeared.

He waited for a while, and when he still got no reaction from beside him, he frowned and turned to look at Rudy.

Rudy gazed intently at him.

They stared at each other, falling into a moment of silence.

Allen glanced out of the corner of his eye at Sylphy, who was trembling in the distance, not even daring to run away. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "There's a child being bullied over there, didn't you see? Or do you like being bullied too?"

A flicker of displeasure crossed Rudy's face at his words. He took a deep breath and spoke in a calm tone, though his words came out extremely fast.

"I did see it, but today I have you, Teacher, with me. I understand what you mean, but if I were the one to teach those kids a lesson, their families would probably complain. And with Father's… straightforward personality, he might think I was causing trouble and get angry at me. But it's different for you; he likes you so much, he'd definitely agree with you without even asking, right? So it would be better if you went."

Allen quietly watched Rudy, as if looking at a bag of trash whose head was glowing green.

"You go. Even if you injure someone, it's fine. Just tell Paul when you get back that I did it; I'll take responsibility for the consequences."

Rudy was stunned, seemingly not expecting Allen to say that.

Just then, the children in the paddy field had already scooped out lumps of mud from the water, holding them high above their heads.

While Rudy was in a daze, he suddenly felt a bright, reflective surface flash in the corner of his eye. He instinctively turned to look at Allen, only to find Allen drawing a long sword from his waist. His pupils suddenly dilated, and he quickly spoke.

"Wait! Hold on!"

With a flash of the blade, Allen then threw the sword in his hand, sending it flying high into the air.

Rudy's eyes widened. The rapidly spinning blade, to his eyes, danced like a butterfly as it flew over the head of the bullied child. Sunlight shimmered around the blade once, as if something in the air had collided with the sword's gleam.

With a clink, the blade landed in front of the bullied child's back, very, very close.

The children suddenly let out a cry of surprise.

The bullied child's legs went limp, and she collapsed onto the ground.

Rudy's body trembled. He immediately dashed toward where the blade had landed, but when he got there, he found that the blade was actually stuck directly in the ground in front of the bullied child's legs, humming, and hadn't injured anyone as he had imagined.

And on either side of the blade, clumps of mud were scattered around the bullied child's body, as if Allen had precisely intercepted them in mid-air with his thrown sword.

Rudy opened his mouth in astonishment, his gaze involuntarily following the sword upwards to the bullied child in front of it.

The other party stared at the blade as if completely stunned, but still felt Rudy's gaze. She looked up and met Rudy's eyes.

The wind blew, making her rather short, medium-length hair a bit messy.

It shimmered with a vibrant green luster in the sunlight.

Rudy couldn't help but freeze.

"S-Superd Race?"

"Where is there a Superd Race here?"

Rudy turned around. Allen had already walked behind him, expressionlessly watching the boys in the paddy field who had now realized what was happening and were glaring angrily at him.

The tallest one among them suddenly shouted, "Is the Knight's kid going to protect the Demon Race?! And that one over there, just because he's tall, he's bullying us with a sword! Who's gonna fall for your tricks—"

Before his words had even finished, Allen made a chopping motion with his hand through the air beside him.

The next moment.

Bang! A loud explosion, and a furrow was ploughed into the ground at the edge of the paddy field by a surge of energy, sending dirt flying.

It splattered all over Rudy, who had been standing by the paddy field, observing in a daze.

Those children had never seen such a scene. They turned to run.

But before they could take two steps, a splash of waves suddenly erupted on the water in front of them. As the waves fell, they saw a gleaming blade standing upright in the water.

Allen retracted the hand he had used to throw the blade. Looking at the suddenly stiff backs of the little brats, he glanced at Rudy, who also had a look of astonishment, and said coldly, "Get out of the paddy field, line up in a single row, and stand in front of me. I'll count to three. If anyone tries to run again, I'll chop off their head."

"3."

Rudy finally realized what Allen was doing. He turned to look at Allen, wiped the mud from his face, and said carefully, "Teacher Allen, how about we just leave it at this? Although their behavior was indeed bad, they're still just a bunch of kids. There's no need to take it too seriously, right? It'll be even more troublesome if their parents come looking for us later…"

…This guy! Why is he so reckless! Even though bullies deserve to die, if something serious really happens, how am I going to explain it to Paul…

Allen didn't respond to him.

"2."

The boys scrambled out of the paddy field, lining up in front of Allen, still trembling all over.

Allen spoke, "How old is the oldest among you?"

No one answered.

Allen made as if to retrieve his knife from the paddy field.

"N-nine! Nine years old!"

Hearing this, Allen smiled, then turned to look directly at Rudy. "What a coincidence, same age as me. If that's the case, I'm just a kid too, so don't hold it against me, alright?"

Rudy's mouth opened and closed, unable to speak for a long time.