Mansa trembled as she shook her head.
"Because you're pretty..." Field smirked darkly as the back of his knife brushed across Mansa's cheek and gradually downward.
Of course, he had no intention of doing such a thing; he had standards. However, the fear this method could evoke might surpass that of holding a blade to her neck for a haughty, wealthy girl who was used to being in control.
Sure enough, as Field's knife brushed against her, Mansa's body trembled even more violently. She continued to shake her head, pleading.
"No... Don't..."
"I've heard that when a woman says no, it actually means yes. Looks like you're eager?" Field's grin grew even more sinister.
"No... No, I want... I want..." Mansa was almost terrified out of her wits.
"Oh? Are you that desperate?" Field swore, finding it hard to suppress his amusement.
Listening to Field's words, Mansa was on the brink of collapse. She knew this person was toying with her, manipulating her, and no matter how she responded, it would be wrong.
The feeling pushed her almost to the brink of breakdown.
And then Field caught a whiff of a urine odor.
Oops...
Field wrinkled his nose in disgust, then stood up slowly and said, "But I'm not interested in you. You're not my type."
Mansa: "..."
"Actually, giving your father a lesson doesn't require killing his daughter, right?" Field continued casually.
"After all, I'm not a devil. So, I just need to 'slightly' 'amicably' communicate with you."
"What... what do you want?" Mansa asked fearfully.
Field grinned, "I want to do a lot of things."
"I'll break your limbs, then hide you in some corner of the slums and leak the information to your father. Then you can eagerly await his rescue."
"But let me remind you, the men in the slums probably haven't seen pretty ladies like you, so their welcome might be quite enthusiastic. Hope you can handle it."
With that devilish voice ringing in her ears, imagining the scene described by Field, Mansa completely broke down.
"No, please, I beg you, don't..."
"I can do anything, just don't throw me there..."
"Anything?" Field raised an eyebrow teasingly.
"Yes! Yes! Anything!" Mansa nodded desperately, preferring to be insulted by one person rather than a group.
Well, people always seek a compromise. Field understood human nature too well.
So he nodded, "Fine, I'll give you this chance."
"Now, hold it in your mouth," Field said, handing a pebble to Mansa.
Mansa quickly complied, thinking Field was up to some new trick.
But in the next moment, she heard Field's cold voice.
"Then, crush it."
Mansa froze, staring at the pebble in disbelief, her body trembling violently.
"I... I can't do it..."
"The potential of humans is vast, you must believe in yourself," Field encouraged gently.
"No..." Mansa kept shaking her head, and Field rolled his eyes, "Alright, then it's off to the slums."
Saying that, Field grabbed Mansa's hair and began dragging her out, as if he really intended to take her to the slums.
Mansa immediately began struggling violently, "I'll do it! I'll do it!"
To make Mansa perform, Field even specifically found a rock and placed it under her chin.
"Don't forget to use the power of your waist, or else it won't break. Then you'll suffer," Field chuckled amusedly, watching the show.
Mansa knelt before the rock, her chin against the stone. Blinded by the blindfold, she could feel the hardness against her chin and the pebble in her mouth colliding with her teeth.
She panted heavily, her lower body already warm.
Field's impatient voice echoed in her ears, "Hurry up, I've been waiting forever."
"I'll count to three, and this is your last chance."
"Three... Two... One!"
Mansa was taken aback; where was two?!
But she had no time to dwell on that as she had no choice but to support her upper body and bite down on the pebble with all her might.
"Crack!"
A crisp sound, and Field couldn't help but click his tongue.
Ouch...that sounded painful.
Mansa's body went limp, apparently having fainted.
Her mouth was filled with blood.
Field opened her mouth to look inside.
Well, the pebble and her teeth were shattered.
Counted them, there were eight teeth broken in her upper and lower jaws combined.
Looks like Mansa wouldn't be able to eat with her right cheek anymore.
"Lucky you," Field grabbed her head and shook it, a few bloodstained teeth and pebble fragments falling from her mouth.
Field kept one of the relatively intact pieces and then clapped his hands and stood up.
This trick of using teeth to break stones, he often used it on those company lapdogs in his past life. After all, they wouldn't confess to Field what he wanted to know without breaking a few teeth.
The difference was that he personally dealt with the lapdogs.
But using this trick on bullies wasn't bad either.
In this way, whether it was because of the threat from the unknown killer or the loss of half of her teeth, she couldn't continue to stay at the Sea Capital Academy.
As for those few girls... Before leaving, Field gave them another hand chop and a slap.
Ah, he truly is a person who punishes evil and promotes good!
Just as he entered the academy, Philard left the same way he came in. In short, except for Veena, no one noticed. As for the scene, Philard cleaned up before leaving, leaving no traces behind except for the handprints on a few girls' faces. However, by the time someone found them, their faces were swollen like pig heads, and the contours of the handprints were no longer visible.
With the mission completed, Philard was in a very good mood, exceptionally good, super good! He didn't know why, even though there was no commission, he just felt really good. Perhaps that's the charm of doing good deeds.
So, humming a tune, he went to find Chichi.
"How did it go, meow?" Chichi asked curiously when she saw Philard.
"Hehe, I smashed half my teeth, probably going to be drinking porridge for a long time," Philard grinned.
"Hahaha!" Chichi laughed too, though she hadn't seen it, she thought the scene must have been interesting.
Soon, the delivery task in the Horn City was completed. Philard also took the time to chat with the librarian there, brushing up his presence, then went to a famous restaurant in the area for a meal, making sure to establish an alibi.
When he returned to Seahaven, it was almost evening. Philard asked Chichi to go back to the tavern by herself while he headed to the orphanage.
Around eight in the evening, the lights were still on at the orphanage. Philard pushed the door open and walked in. Before he could even reach the door to knock, it swung open. It was Tyna.
"Philard!" Tyna exclaimed excitedly upon seeing him, which caught Philard off guard.
"Don't be so rude, call me big brother," Philard said, then looked puzzled, "Why, not scared of me anymore?"
Tyna shook her head, eyes shining, "Not scared anymore, you're not a bad guy, you're a good person! Big sister told me, you taught those people who bullied her a lesson!"
Philard was surprised, "Veena's back?"
"Yeah, she's inside!" With that, Tyna grabbed Philard's hand and pulled him inside.
Inside, Philard saw Veena, who had changed back into her linen-colored sweater, sitting next to Grandma Lunla, knitting together. As soon as she saw Philard, Veena stopped her work and stood up.
"The academy is supposed to be closed, how did you come back?" Philard asked Veena.
Veena seemed a bit nervous, squeezing her hands together, "Ma... Manasa had an accident, the academy suspended classes..."
Philard raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Huh, they found out so soon, I thought it would be tomorrow."
Veena didn't speak, just looked at him quietly.
Philard also looked at her, then asked, "Did you hurt your head?" He remembered Veena hitting her head on the wall when she was bumped, and Grandma Lunla had said she had a bruise on her forehead.
But Veena shook her head and pointed to the top of her head, "Got a hat, no problem."
Philard chuckled, "So you're wearing a hat for this?"
"Yeah." Veena nodded.
Philard shook his head, "You'd rather protect yourself like this than fight back a little? If you were a bit tougher on them, they wouldn't have bullied you so much."
Veena didn't speak, just quietly squeezed her hands.
Seeing her sulking appearance, Philard didn't continue to talk to her. Instead, he said, "I'm thirsty."
As soon as Veena heard this, she immediately turned around to get a cup.
After a while, Philard waited for Veena to slowly push the cup in front of him, then lifted it to his lips and took a sip. However, as soon as he tasted it, his eyes widened, and he almost spat it out.
"Cough... cough..." After forcing it down, Philard coughed a few times, pointing at the cup, "Rum?!"
Veena nodded gently.
Philard was laughed at, "You're quite silly."
Veena, upon hearing this, tilted her head slightly, seeming a bit puzzled.
"I may enjoy drinking, but when I'm thirsty, I still need to drink water. Drinking alcohol only makes you thirstier, you know?" Philard explained.
Veena nodded in understanding, "Yeah."
Watching the interaction between the two, Grandma Lunla couldn't help but smile; she found it quite amusing.
At that moment, Philard noticed the sweater Grandma Lunla was knitting and said to Veena, "And also, in the future, when you encounter such situations, you have to fight back."
"You see, Grandma Lunla is working so hard to knit sweaters for you, and you just let them trample over you. Is that right?"
Veena shook her head.
"You know it's not right, right? So you have to..." Philard started, but Veena suddenly pointed to herself.
Philard was puzzled. What did she mean?
Then he heard Veena saying, "This one, Grandma Lunla is knitting for you."
"The one I wore this morning, I knitted it myself."
Philard: "..."
He couldn't help but laugh. So, you changed your clothes because of this?!
"You let people trample over something you knitted yourself?" Philard asked, raising an eyebrow.
Perhaps sensing Philard's anger, Veena lowered her head, not saying anything, just nervously fidgeting with her hands.
"Stop fidgeting!" Philard said firmly.
Veena's hand trembled, and for a moment, she didn't know where to put her hands. In the end, she simply hid them behind her back.
Seeing her like this, Philard couldn't stay angry. He could only sigh and say, "Forget it... I'll punish you by making you knit me a sweater!"
Unexpectedly, Veena pointed to the half-knitted sweater on the chair and said, "I'm already knitting one."
Philard was stunned, "Is that for me?"
"Yeah." Veena nodded.
This time, Philard remained silent for a long time.
Veena looked at him anxiously, then slowly approached him, gently pulling his sleeve.
Philard looked at her.
Her voice was like a mosquito's buzz.
"Don't... don't be angry."
"If you don't like it, I won't knit anymore..."
"Who said I don't like it!" Philard immediately said fiercely, "I really like it! If you dare not to knit, I'll..."
"Freeze to death on the street without wearing clothes!"
Veena quickly waved her hands, "I'll knit! I'll knit!"
Philard couldn't help but burst into laughter when he saw how anxious she was to get the knitting needles, as if afraid that he would freeze to death if she was even a second late.
"I've never seen anyone as silly as you in my life."
Veena didn't retort at his words, just stood there looking cute.
"Alright, do your thing, I just came to see and report the situation." Philard said.
Veena finally sat down and started knitting.
Surprisingly, she was quite skilled, even faster than Grandma Lunla.
Philard suddenly felt a bit excited—after all, it was just a sweater.
Then he looked at Grandma Lunla and said, "I've taken care of those people who bullied Veena. They probably won't show their faces for a long time."
Grandma Lunla looked worried, "But won't they come after you?"
"No, they won't find anything on me," Philard said confidently, "and they won't find anything on Veena either."
Hearing this, Grandma Lunla felt much relieved. Then, she looked at Philard gratefully and said, "Child, you've really worked hard this time..."
"No need. As an excellent mercenary, as long as I take on a commission, I will definitely complete it!" Philard said, then looked at Tyna, who was clinging to his thigh.
"And I also brought a gift for you, little one."
Tyna bit her finger, looking curious.
Philard pulled something out of his pocket, "Look!"
Tyna blinked, asking, "What's that?"
"The teeth of the people who bullied your sister," Philard smirked, "those guys are now literally toothless!"
"Wow!" Tyna's eyes lit up as she took the teeth and ran off to show her little friends.
In no time, Philard saw several kids throwing the teeth on the ground and stomping on them.
Philard chuckled and asked, "What are you doing?"
Tyna stood with her hands on her hips, humming, "This way, we also fought against the bad guys together!"
Philard laughed even louder at this and turned to Veena, "You should learn from Tyna; that's how it's done!"
Veena shrunk her neck, saying nothing.
Grandma Lunla smiled kindly.
After the kids finished venting, they gathered around Philard, pestering him with questions about mercenary stories. Philard, with nothing else to do, began telling them stories from his previous life as a mercenary, captivating the children.
Winter was approaching, and the night breeze was getting colder. But in this little cabin, there was a warmth that wasn't there before.
Listening to Philard vividly recounting his stories, and the occasional gasps from the children, even the mushroom girl hidden under her short hair couldn't help but smile. The corners of her mouth, hidden by her turtleneck sweater, lifted in a gentle arc of surprise.
Unfortunately, Philard couldn't see it.