The Conditions for a Peaceful Life

Screams continued to echo inside the hall they ran into.

Seeing the bizarre scene in front of her eyes once again, Francesca could only grimace. Running across the place, she was searching for a certain someone.

(For now, I first need to find Ricardo……..!)

Inside the hall, were the people running rampant who had been dominated under the effect of some kind of skill, and the people that were running away from the former, all mixed with each other.

A woman roared in rage, a man screamed in pain, a girl squatted down on the floor watching these two from the side unable to move from the fear. Francesca grit her teeth, and ran between the two people who were punching and trying to choke each other out.

(I must control myself. I need to remain calm, and be efficient with my actions……..if I could, I would have gone and stopped each and everyone one by one but, that would take too long………!)

Right now, the best she could do was to find for a certain silver haired boy under the light of the chandelier.

It didn’t take long before she found Ricardo.

(There he is!!)

In the centre of the hall, a large group of people were fighting with each other.

Ricardo was in the middle of it all, and was desperately trying to hold down a large built man.

“Open your eyes, Lord Earl!!”

“Let me go……!! I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you all!!!!”

“SHIT! Just what the hell is going on!!?”

(As expected, Ricardo and some of the others are still okay……!! Apparently, whatever this skill is, doesn’t work on people of noble lineage over a certain rank.)

It wasn’t really stated directly in the game but, you just needed to look around the hall to notice it. At a place a little further away, another man with similar silver hair as Ricardo was also trying to suppress the current situation.

“Ricardo! How much longer will your [Absolute Defence] skill hold on for!?”

“There really isn’t much time left, Father!”

(Ricardo’s father, the Serranova head……..! If his words are anything to go by, his father doesn’t have the same [Absolute Defence] skill as well…….)

While running towards them, she once again looked around the hall.

There were a lot of people lying on the ground injured, but for now, none  of them seemed to be fatally wounded yet. And that’s mostly thanks to Ricardo’s [Absolute Defence] skill they were talking about.

(Ricardo had the ability to greatly increase the [Defence] of the people he has recognized as his allies. A deep stab would only leave a small piercing wound, and any blunt damage will feel weaker. Thanks to that skill, the people in the hall had yet to take any serious damage.)

But, in the end, it simply [Lightened the damage from wounds] and nothing more than that.

Even when the skill was active, if someone pierced through a person’s heart with a weapon, they won’t survive regardless. In the first place, the effect of the skill wasn’t designed to last for longer periods. To put it in game terms, it lasted for only 3 turns.

(While he’s bought us time, the situation is not one where we can be too optimistic about things…….That’s why, I need to go!)

In that moment, Francesca saw a woman approach close behind Ricardo while he was busy trying to stop other people from hurting each other.

“………!”

Francesca looked around, and picked up a silver tray that was lying on the ground.

(Ricardo hasn’t noticed her, and he won’t hear me from here even if I scream!! Then I have to……)

Meanwhile, the woman raised an alcohol bottle and smashed it on a table, then held it by the neck of the bottle creating a sharp glass weapon.

“Each and every one of you, are in my way…….!!”

The knife like pointed edges of the broken bottle were brandished and aimed straight at Ricardo.

Finally realizing something was wrong, he reflexively tried to turn around, and it was right at that moment.

“DIE……!!”

“Wha……..!?!”

Between the woman and Ricardo, Francesca jumped in.

Of course, she was not planning to die just to protect Ricardo either.

Faced against the glass edge coming down straight towards her eyes, Francesca lifted the silver tray and held it up to deflect the attack.

“—–……..”

With a loud crash, the sound of something breaking was heard.

The green tinted glass shattered to pieces, and the fragments fell around the floor. Reflecting the light from the chandelier, it made the pieces look like precious gems.

“Transfer student!? Why are you here……….!?!”

Without replying to Ricardo, she waved the hem of her dress.

“………..Ah………?”

The woman still holding the bottle neck widened her eyes in surprise, completely befuddled by scene in front of her.

But quickly after, her eyes shut, and her body went limp and began to collapse to the ground.

“Oh no…..!!”

If no one stopped the woman’s fall, she’d drop straight into the shattered pieces of glass on the ground.

Francesca stretched her arms to grab her before she fell and took the woman in her embrace. But as if waiting for that opening, another man holding a knife rushed at her to attack.

“Transfer student!!?”

“………!”

Ricardo stretched his hand but, he was too far away to do anything. Francesca resolved herself, and turned her own body towards the assailant to at least protect the unconscious lady.

It was at that moment.

“Guah…….!!?”

A scream echoed, and the man was blown away.

Someone had punched him with full strength. And beyond the scream stood the man she had left alone at the balcony.

“Leonardo……..!”

“……….you really can’t help but be reckless, huh.”

Leonardo said that, and took hold of the woman from Francesca’s arms.

After setting her down at a place away from the glass fragments, he looked back towards Francesca.

“What am I going to do if your cute face got an injury?”

(He even used a martial arts skill to save me. As I thought, the one to have made these people go crazy was not Leonardo’s skill after all……!!)

Because if it really was Leonardo’s skill that did this, he could have just manipulated his own skill and stopped the person from attacking Francesca.

Seeing Francesca and Leonardo appear in front of him out of nowhere, shouted out, while still doing his best to suppress other people.

“Aldini!! Oi, just what the hell is going on here, Explain!!”

“Do you really think now’s the time for a leisurely chat?”

“What!?”

Inside the hall, screams continued to echo again and again.

“Those who are still sane, come over here!! We’ll retreat together and then seal the hall!”

“Wait please, someone, help me please!! My friend, he’s gone mad, please someone………..!!”

The people who hadn’t lost their sanity from the skill were also shouting while flustered. In this entire hall, the only one who looked unmoved and was looking around with his same expression was just Leonardo.

“Serranova-san, please lend me your strength!”

Hearing Francesca’s shout, Ricardo stared at her again in confusion.

“I heard your talk with your father! You possess an absolute defence skill don’t you!?”

“Ah, yeah, but……..”

“Just once more, trust me, and do what I say.”

Saying that Francesca removed her glove.

But Leonardo quickly grabbed her hand and looked down on her in a reproaching manner.

“Are you really planning to use your skill here?”

“……..Leonardo.”

“In a place with so many eyes on you, you’ll never be able to tell how many people will notice what you are about to do. At the very least, you should assume that the entire Serranova family will certainly come to know your secret.”

As he held Francesca in his arms, trying to shield and protect her, his eyes looked calm and sincere.

“………your wish for a [peaceful life] might become a thing that you will perhaps never see come true.”

“Leonardo, you’re wrong.”

Hearing his warning, Francesca replied without hesitation.

“If there is a future where I didn’t turn to help people who needed saving, my desired [peaceful life] simply doesn’t exist in that future………..!!”

“!!”

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like