The reflection of the twilight on the sharp metal radiated a tangible aura of threat. However, amidst the shock of everyone holding their breath, Allen merely stared at the sword pointed straight at him with an empty gaze.
Instead of feeling threatened, trembling, or begging for mercy, the pink-haired youth remained exceedingly relaxed. His posture remained upright, as if the deadly weapon that could sever his neck in a fraction of a second was nothing more than a harmless wooden sword.
"For what reason are you pointing this sword at me?" Allen asked in a flat tone, tilting his head slightly.
Seeing the youth's reaction, still so relaxed and unburdened despite the sharp blade threatening his life, the burly man felt his pride being trampled upon even further.
"You truly want to die early, don't you, Brat?!" the man growled with a booming, deep voice, gripping his sword hilt tighter.
Hearing that shout, Allen instantly lowered his head. He stood with his head bowed in silence, but his mind was not.
Goodness... do all adventurers truly behave like him? Allen thought in silence, his heart suddenly enveloped by a gray cloud.
A painful irony was striking his reality. In the past, he had naively dreamed of registering as an adventurer and exploring various places with his husband. However, upon seeing the behavior of the man currently in front of him, his dream shattered into pieces.
This is truly disappointing! he thought, letting out a weary sigh.
On the other hand, seeing the youth in front of him suddenly bow in silence, the burly man misinterpreted the situation once again. He grinned widely, a smile full of victory and arrogance clearly imprinted on his face.
"Hey! Why are you quiet now?" the man mocked in a jeering tone. "Are you finally feeling afraid after seeing death right before your eyes?"
Amidst the evening breeze that gently blew against their clothes, a soft murmur was heard.
"I am disappointed..." Allen said in a very quiet voice, almost like a whisper to himself.
Due to his voice being so quiet, the man furrowed his brow, unable to hear it clearly.
"What did you say, Brat? Speak louder!"
Allen raised his head again. His pink hair parted, revealing a face that was no longer friendly. He looked straight into the burly man's face with a sharp glare, radiating a profound sense of disappointment.
"I'm disappointed!" Allen stated firmly and loudly, repeating what he had said earlier with a vocal power that made several people nearby gasp.
"Disappointed?" the man repeated in confusion.
"Yes, I'm highly disappointed!" Allen retorted, his voice still loud. "Even though, in the past, I had harbored a dream to become an adventurer and travel freely with my beloved husband."
An absolute silence instantly seized the western gate area.
The burly man, his party members, and everyone who heard the youth's loud words instantly froze. Their brains tried to process the bizarre information that had just been blurted out. The handsome youth currently in front of them was a man, yet he openly claimed to have a husband.
Allen's words instantly became an undeniable, absolute fact when the youth raised his right hand. Under the twilight glow, a pure white Life-and-Death contract symbol was engraved on the back of his hand, a sign that could never be forged by anyone.
"Are the nature and behavior of all adventurers as arrogant as you?" Allen continued, his voice slowly lowering, holding back his disgust. "If my husband ever decided to become an adventurer and accidentally encountered people like you, who knows how many adventurers he would end up killing."
The sentence, carrying a terrifying threat, was concluded with a loud scoff from Allen, releasing the remnants of his disappointment toward the profession he had once admired.
"Husband?" the burly man asked, still trapped in confusion, trying to digest reality. "Looking from any perspective, you are clearly a man! How can a man marry another man?"
"Because we love each other, and that's none of your business!" Allen answered quickly, sharply, and without the slightest hesitation in his eyes.
Everyone around the area was left dumbfounded by the loud and bold answer Allen had just given. For most of them who came from outside the capital region, this was the first time they had learned about a man marrying another man in the Astoria Kingdom.
The people in the wagon queues began to whisper boisterously, looking at one another.
"Did you hear what he said out loud just now?" a merchant whispered to his colleague.
"Yes, I heard it very clearly!" the other man answered while gulping. "This truly shocked me. What's more, that white contract symbol on his hand... that is undeniable proof of a marriage bond."
Hearing the whispers that started to shift the focus away from his greatness, the burly man quickly brushed aside his astonishment and refocused on his wounded ego.
"I don't care about the weird relationship between you two!" snapped the man, still not lowering his sword. "You really pissed me off, Brat! Your attitude of ignoring me earlier was as if you were deliberately degrading my honor as a Rank A adventurer!"
Seeing the man raise his sword higher, preparing to inflict a wound, Allen's patience finally ran out completely. He was utterly sick of wasting time arguing with a creature lacking a brain to think.
In a fraction of a second, just as the man moved his arm, Allen took action first.
Allen's hand shot forward and instantly gripped the wrist of the burly man holding the sword.
Crack!
"AAAAAHHHH.....!!!!"
The crisp sound of bone being forced to break echoed very clearly in the air, immediately followed by a tremendously loud, shrill scream of agony.
Expressionless, Allen had just broken the large man's arm as if snapping a dry twig.
The four male companions behind him, who were also members of the Brutal Cutthroat party, stared in horrific disbelief at what had just transpired. In merely the blink of an eye, the seemingly fragile pink-haired youth effortlessly broke their leader's arm, bending it at an unnatural angle.
"You bastard!" exclaimed one of the male companions, unwilling to accept his group's honor being trampled on.
Fueled by solidarity and rage, the four men immediately drew their respective weapons. They took their stances, intending to swarm Allen all at once.
However, before they even had the chance to take a single step forward, the atmosphere around them drastically shifted. Alrian, who had merely been observing in silence all this time, made his move first.
The four men were forced to immediately halt their steps. Right in front of their faces, the green-haired youth was already standing, blocking their path, with a sword manifested from wind and lightning magic gripped tightly in his right hand.
"I'm warning you! Don't take another step if you don't wish to die here!" Alrian threatened in a bone-chilling tone that pierced straight to their marrow. "Don't even dare to interfere in their business!"
Alrian's magical prowess indeed made three of them hesitate, but one pudgy man wielding an axe remained unfazed. Rage had already consumed him.
"Shut up, you damn Brat!" the axe-wielding man shouted loudly. He ignored the warning and immediately swung his axe with all his might to sever Alrian's neck.
Slash!
Even before the axe blade had descended halfway, Alrian had moved. With a single, casual swing that was incredibly fast, elegant, and precise, his wind and lightning sword slashed forward.
Blood sprayed out.
"AAAHHH!!! MY HAND!!!" the axe-wielding man shrieked hysterically, throwing himself to the ground. He rolled around enduring excruciating pain, clutching the remains of his arm that had been cleanly severed up to the shoulder. His axe fell to the ground with a thud, still tightly gripped by his detached, severed hand.
Alrian lowered his magic sword slightly, staring straight at the remaining party members who were now trembling in fear, their courage completely shattered. "I was acting politely toward you earlier not because I was afraid, but because I didn't want to cause a commotion in this place! But you're provoking us even more!"