I never expected things to turn out this way, especially since the divine flame was the ultimate pride of our clan as warriors. To me, showing weakness was unacceptable, which meant I had to finish this matter immediately.Yet, to my utter disbelief, the moment I raised my blade to strike, he suddenly grabbed me by the leg."Wait, what am I doing?"I was completely shocked that this human managed to hold onto me for this long without losing consciousness.He had no visible special traits—who on earth was this guy?It didn't make sense. The sheer power of my soul-eater abilities should have slowly shredded his soul to pieces the moment he touched me, and I hadn't even actively tried to kill him with that contact yet."Insolent fool, let go of me!" I shouted, kicking out at him.Our soul-eater lineage was feared across the realm for our ability to devour the souls of living beings and convert them into a power source.And because I was of royal blood, my power was far stronger than the

Nathaniel's POVAs I tracked Suwi, my location status informed me that I was in Galica, the capital of the Seravia Queendom. This town operated under the protection of Eskapa, as it belonged directly to Sei as a reward for her status as a Columbus.Among the five towns she owned, Galica served as the capital where her kingdom's palace was located. Though it wasn't as massive as other territories—largely because it was the first town she received, situated near her former land that had since been annexed by other warlords—it held special significance.I continued following Suwi wherever she went. Even with her right in my direct line of sight, I still couldn't believe I was trailing her like some desperate stalker.Still, it would be extremely dangerous if she found out I was tailing her, especially since she didn't know who I was.From what I knew, Suwi trusted no one outside her own circle and listened to nobody except herself and XXV.Their lives had never been an easy road, and loo

I had to come up with an excuse to keep her from suspecting me further."I'm sorry, but I just want to be friends with you, too, just like XXV."Suwi let out a mocking smirk, looking down at me as she reminded me of her exalted status."Friends? Do you even realize who you're talking to?" she challenged."I am a noble of the Genion lineage. Do you really think someone like me would ever be friends with a human?"She was still so arrogant, boasting about her noble birth even though the glory of her clan had ended nearly a hundred years ago, and even the Khan bloodline had vanished into history.She was the last remaining member of the Khan family, yet she still clung fiercely to her haughty aristocratic pride."So what's the problem with that? Didn't you marry a human back then anyway?""Having a connection with a human shouldn't be a big deal for you anymore," I added.I hadn't intended to provoke her; I was just stating facts, but it clearly struck a nerve."You've got a lot of nerve

Nathaniel caught the attention of the cat-woman, Nyabu, causing her to stop kicking, but his continuous meddling only made her even angrier."You're still here, you little pest.""I am running out of patience, and I'm serious about finishing you off right here, so please stop causing trouble and just leave!" she angrily snapped.Nathaniel did not back down. He clarified once more that they could not do this to a creature who had committed no crime against the law, promising he would leave only if they let Suwi go as well.However, Nyabu refused, cutting straight to the point that it didn't matter if Suwi was innocent of any crimes. To her, a soul eater would remain a soul eater for life, no matter how good they might have been to others."Wait, are you saying you're going to kill her just because she belongs to the soul eater race?"Nyabu did not answer the question; instead, she walked closer to Nathaniel."Don't you think that's wrong?""No matter how you look at it, it isn't fair,"

Just as I expected, she was going to pin all the blame on me because she holds such a deep grudge against me."That little pest is the one to blame!" she declared, pointing right at me."He's been deceiving us, claiming that his companion, a soul eater, doesn't consume souls. That's the exact reason why the leader couldn't make a proper decision," she ranted bitterly.“Ehh...?” I muttered under my breath.I could sense how furious she was with me, but honestly, what I was doing was right. She had no real right to execute beings who hadn't done anything wrong or broken any laws.Her smear campaign against me didn't stop there. She even accused me of being an operative of the soul eater with malicious intentions toward this town."Obviously, they plotted something evil against Galica, which is why they came here."The accusations she was throwing at me were no longer a joke, and she wanted to punish me despite having zero solid evidence.Realizing I wasn't going to hear anything reasona