Chapter 31: The Girl’s Guardianship

“What? You want me to raise some brat? Are you kidding me!”

Marcus looked at Shilo with a face full of reluctance.

“What’s the matter? Is she going to get in the way of you chasing women?” Shilo snorted, clearly dissatisfied with his attitude.

Marcus’s face turned red. “No, you brat! Is that any way to ask someone for a favor?”

“Besides, what do you mean ‘chasing women’? They appreciate me because I’m successful and physically strong, and I like them because they’re young, beautiful, and fair-skinned. It’s mutual affection! What does it have to do with you?”

“Heh.”

For a moment, the two were at a deadlock until a gentle voice spoke up from the side.

“Mr. Marcus, could we please trouble you to adopt this child? Her past is incredibly tragic, and I hope to find someone who is truly willing to look after her. Could I ask this of you?”

As she spoke, Lintis bowed toward Marcus with great sincerity.

The contrast in her attitude immediately made Marcus puff out his chest. He threw an arm around Shilo’s shoulder and wiggled his eyebrows at Lintis, his expression practically screaming, ‘Look at her, then look at you.’

Shilo let out a cold laugh and shoved the older man away in disgust. He then patted his shoulder as if he had touched something filthy.

Marcus’s eye twitched at the sight. He was about to argue with the brat again when he suddenly remembered something.

The Lady Priestess was still maintaining her bow.

Marcus went quiet.

He turned to Shilo. “Seriously, you should learn a thing or two from her.”

Unfortunately, Shilo only responded with a look of pure disdain.

Marcus didn’t care much this time. He turned to Lintis and said, “Lady Priestess, please raise your head.”

Once Lintis looked up, he inwardly marveled at her beauty once more before continuing.

“First, I’m honored to have your trust. However, I’m a single man. It’s somewhat inconvenient for me to look after a young girl. I think you should find someone else.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a scoff came from beside him.

Marcus glared at Shilo. “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing. I just remembered something funny.”

Shilo waved him off, too lazy to explain. He remembered how, not long ago, a certain someone had looked at Marcus with utter contempt, even calling him a piece of trash.

Looking at him now, Marcus was a bit bewildered.

“Mr. Marcus, I truly cannot find anyone more suitable right now. Please, at least look after her for a while. I will cover the expenses, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

“This child has already suffered so much. I want to give her an environment that is as safe and happy as possible. I’m begging you, please help her…”

As Lintis spoke, a look of genuine sorrow appeared on her face, and her tone was incredibly sincere.

For a moment, Marcus didn’t know what to say.

Logically, if a girl as cute as her asked him for anything else, he would have accepted joyfully.

But… raising a child… sigh…

While Marcus was agonizing over the decision, he felt an elbow jab into his waist. He jumped in surprise, but fortunately, there was no pain. Still, he broke out in a cold sweat.

“What are you doing now!” Marcus looked at Shilo warily.

Shilo glanced at him and turned his head away. “Marcus, just do us a favor…”

Marcus froze. It had been a long time since he had heard Shilo address him that way. He couldn’t help but curl his lip.

‘Hmph… this stubborn brat…’

“Mr. Marcus, I really am counting on you!” Lintis bowed again.

On one hand was the sincere and lovely Lady Priestess, and on the other was a rare request from the child of his deceased old friend. Marcus felt his head throbbing.

Finally, he let out a frustrated groan.

“Fine! I can’t do anything with you two. Come here, come here. It’s just one brat, right? Just leave her to me. Hand her over!”

Marcus took the girl from Lintis. He hefted her with one hand and realized the child was incredibly light.

‘Hmm… but she looks quite nice. She’ll probably be a beauty when she grows up…’

As he was observing the girl, he felt two more pokes at his waist.

Is there no end to this!

He turned around, ready to give Shilo a piece of his mind, but he found the culprit was someone unexpected.

It was actually the Lady Priestess. She still had one finger raised in a poking gesture, and Marcus’s expression turned strange.

“Lady Priestess, what is this?”

“Um… my name is Lintis.” After introducing herself, she hesitated for a moment before continuing. “Um… Mr. Marcus, I heard from Mr. Shilo that your reputation in *certain areas* is quite extensive, so… um…”

Lintis hesitated for a long time without getting to the point, making Marcus anxious.

“Miss Lintis, just say it. This area, that area—I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Lintis took a deep breath. Her cheeks were slightly red as she nervously tugged at her clothes. She lowered her head and spoke loudly.

“Mr. Marcus! Please, at least don’t lay a hand on this child!”

Marcus, who had looked so smug just a moment ago, suddenly froze. His entire body seemed to turn to stone.

“Hahaha—”

The scene was too ridiculous. Shilo couldn’t help himself; he covered his face and crouched on the ground, laughing hysterically.

Lintis remained there, looking flustered, nervous, and embarrassed.

—

Fifteen minutes later.

Shilo, Lintis, and Marcus began their journey back.

It wasn’t long until dusk, but they were much earlier than expected. Shilo had thought this operation would take at least two or three days to resolve.

However, the Golem’s strength had far exceeded his expectations. Combined with the power the Saintess had displayed, the mission had ended with extreme efficiency.

While Marcus walked with blank eyes, carrying the girl, Shilo leaned toward Lintis. However, the moment she saw him coming, she immediately moved about two meters away.

The scene felt familiar to Shilo. Hadn’t this happened once before at the association?

Given the Saintess’s fickle personality, he didn’t think too much of it and approached her again. This time, she didn’t move away.

“Lady Saintess, you did that on purpose, didn’t you?” His voice was very low, making sure it didn’t reach Marcus.

Lintis tilted her head. “Hmm? What do you mean?”

“What you said to Marcus earlier, and that performance. It was all an act, wasn’t it? I don’t think you’re the type to get nervous saying things like that.”

“Oh?” Lintis replied. “How could that be! I’m a pure-hearted girl. Talking about those things obviously makes me nervous~ Mr. Shilo, be careful, or I’ll sue you for slander!”

“Heh.”

Seeing that Shilo didn’t believe her at all, Lintis lost interest in acting. She blinked and said, “Mr. Marcus still feels a bit unreliable. I saw him staring at that child for a long time, so I decided to scare him. If anything really happens to her…”

Lintis looked at Shilo with a smile that made him shiver.

“I’ll expect you to apologize with your life, my dear Shilo~”

Shilo silently pulled away. For some reason, he felt that the Saintess probably wasn’t joking.

Thus, he went over to Marcus’s side and gave him one more warning.

“Marcus, if you really do something like that, I’ll be the first one to kill you!”

Marcus regained some of his spirit and rolled his eyes, too lazy to deal with him. Come to think of it, why did he feel like he was forgetting something?

At the entrance of the Black Forest, Lucas, who had been lying unconscious on the ground, finally woke up. He sat up and looked left and right.

‘Am I still dreaming?’

He muttered to himself before lying back down.