When the startled young man rushed forward, Justin raised a hand, lightly stopping him. The young man flinched, stepped back, and looked at Justin.
"Wh-What are you doing?" the young man asked.
"Relax, it's not his blood. It's monster blood," Justin replied.
"Monster? You mean those creatures?" the young man asked, still looking worried.
"Yeah, those creatures. It got on him while extracting the mana stones from their hearts," Justin said.
The young man stared at him with a grim expression. It seemed he understood what was going on.
"Did you take him?" the young man asked.
"He asked to come along, so I brought him. He did well, and I plan on having him join us again in the future," Justin said.
"That's absurd...!" The young man stood up abruptly, his face flushed with anger. Just as he was about to start shouting, Justin dramatically pretended to clean his ear.
