"We’re running late- let’s hurry!" Eric told Hannah as they left the library.

  He started sprinting just fast enough for Hannah to keep up.

  "What’s the hurry?" Riya asked. She couldn’t hear Eric’s quick or intuitive thoughts, only his deeper ones.

  Riya wondered if Eric was worried about the girls getting kidnapped, but that couldn’t be possible, right? Lyria and Livy were just children, but surely they wouldn’t follow a 'unknown uncle' just because he offered them candy?

  Eric answered while jogging, "We’re already late. Right now, those two are probably surrounded by hor... ahem, brats. Before Ly or Liv accidentally beats them to a pulp because they didn’t 'expect' them to be so weak… I’d rather avoid that tragedy."

  Not all children come from noble backgrounds, but anyone who could attend Ringwood School must have come from a reasonably wealthy and well-to-do family. These families have the right to complain to the mayor and to the other nobles of the town if their children are bullied, and this would bring pointless headaches for Bella Noll, so Eric wanted to avoid these troubles if possible.

  "Ahh... Now that you mention it, Ly is smart, but even if she held back, there’s a good chance it’ll be a 'CRITICAL HIT.' I can even hear the pop-up with sound effects! Followed by 'K.O.' 'LYRIA WINS!' Ahaha."

  Eric completely agreed with Riya. "That’s right, and that’s just Ly. For Liv, she might straight up use her 'Special Moves,' 'Finishing Moves,' and 'Ultimate Attacks' from the beginning."

  "Hahaha."

  Eric and Hannah soon arrived at the school gate, and as expected, a huge crowd had gathered in front of them.

  Eric pushed everyone aside and went alone into the human ocean, leaving Hannah near the gate.

  Hannah wasn’t much help in this situation except for cheering. Eric was very tempted to use her as a vulgar trash-talk expert, but these were mostly kids between the ages of five and fifteen. So, Eric dropped the idea and told Hannah to wait.

  There were still quite a number of people in front of him, and Eric was afraid that if he used too much strength, he might cause pointless collateral damage, but pushing them carefully and slowly would take too long.

  Eric was deeply worried for these brats. Words like 'K.O.' or 'FATALITY' might seriously pop out anytime, so he used the freely available shoulder of one adult student in front of him as support and leaped deep into the human ocean.

  Before the kids could even process how, a person suddenly appeared out of nowhere deep within the crowd.

  It became very obvious that the middle of the crowd was actually an empty space. Out of nowhere, a handsome boy, 5 feet tall with black hair and bright blue eyes, appeared within the empty space almost like a ghost, leaving the surrounding kids astonished and shocked.

  The kids were so focused on the ‘main dish’ that they missed the ‘side dish’ flying over their heads.

  In the center of the empty space, two gorgeous girls—who seemed extremely embarrassed for some reason—were looking down at their feet. Meanwhile, a single boy, nearly five and a half feet tall, babbled something at them. Eric had 'teleported' behind this tall kid.

  Eric heard what the older boy was saying and understood the entire conversation.

  The boy was basically flattering Lyria and Livy about how beautiful they were, as if the girls hadn’t heard that enough that day. Then he started talking about how they deserved better and... only he could provide it?

  Eric was confused.

  'Who is this guy? He seemed a bit older, maybe a 10th-grade student or a graduate? What makes him think he can provide better for Ly and Liv? Oh, his clothes are indeed higher quality. A noble? But orphanages care for their children just as well, if not better than nobles in this town. Though this boy probably doesn’t know that.'

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  Eric actually pitied the boy for his ignorance, so he didn’t interrupt the blatant daylight child kidnapping happening right in front of him.

  In any case, he wasn’t the one to decide Lyria and Livy’s future. The only sad part for him was losing sparring partners, otherwise, it wouldn’t change anything. So it didn’t matter even if both girls wanted to leave for a 'better' place and future.

  Eric quietly listened to the noble boy’s passionate speech while standing behind the oblivious guy.

  The noble kid was clearly extremely excited, talking incessantly while flailing his hands wildly...

  Riya exclaimed, "Italian?!"

  Eric smartly ignored Riya and observed the boy.

  The boy seemed to be 15 or 16 years old, with black hair. He wore a fitted black shirt and pants.

  Eric was completely impressed by how much this brat knew about 'flattering arts.'

  In the end, Eric just crossed his arms over his chest and waited to hear more of the guy's flattery skills. One wouldn’t know when they might suddenly need to use them in real life.

  But Eric was also starting to get annoyed internally.

  He had already been standing in front of Lyria and Livy for a few seconds, but they were so busy admiring their own fair feet that they still hadn’t noticed his arrival!

  Just how low was their environmental awareness and caution? What if he suddenly attacked them with a weapon at this close range? Not to mention, the noble kid could also attack them while they were busy feeling embarrassed!

  "Hey, control your annoyance!" Riya immediately reminded Eric. Then she continued, 'kindly' informing him, “Those two are just eight years old! Wake up, Eric! They’re still very inexperienced in such situations. Not to mention, it’s probably their first time hearing such flowery words from a stranger—a boy who looked around their age or size. If you want them to develop immunity to this, you need to flirt with these girls regularly—to the point their ears go numb from hearing all kinds of sweet talk. Then, the next time someone tries to flirt with them, they’ll glare in disdain, remembering the laughable flirting skills you have!"

  Eric scorned internally. He refused to respond to Riya’s direct mockery about his flirting skills, and he did lack in that category, but only because he’d never tried to pick up women in his past life. Even then, he’d been reasonably popular wherever he went. Not celebrity-level, but he’d been invited to 'bedtime action' by girls occasionally without even trying.

  Eric still wanted to give both Lyria and Livy an earful about their lack of situational and environmental awareness… 'if' they chose to stay at the orphanage.

  -

  Jack Eldridge was the only scion of the Eldridge noble family of Ringwood Town—a fairly handsome boy of his age, with immense wealth and power within the town.

  At that moment, Jack was brimming with excitement. He had been idly passing time at home, just a ten-minute walk from Ringwood School, when he suddenly received news: two ethereal beauties, seemingly otherworldly, were waiting inside the school gates for a gallant knight like him!

  In this 'nothing exciting happens' town, everything seemed boring for a noble scion like Jack, so anything outside town always attracted his attention.

  Jack had been to Batley City before, and those were the most exciting days of his life—full of beautiful, wealthy people, well-built houses, structures, streets, and a city teeming with countless Mana Wielders.

  So, the moment Jack heard there were two such ‘out-of-world’ individuals in town—exceptionally beautiful, almost like angels descended from heaven—he rushed to see them without hesitation.

  Along the way, Jack kept listening to his henchman’s report. The more he heard, the more excited he became. The girls were still very young, perhaps just a little younger than him, and seemed to be orphans currently staying at the town orphanage.

  Jack had heard of the red-haired giant woman walking with two equally 'out-of-world' looking girls. Sadly, the moment she arrived, she disappeared soon after, so he missed his chance to meet them.

  When Jack heard that those two ‘otherworldly’ beauties were probably the girls who arrived with the red-haired giantess, his excitement grew.

  Orphanage meant no parents! No background! No wealth! No future! And all of this was something Jack Eldridge held in his hands within this town! Orphanage kids meant they were also easily tamable! They could be easily inspired, manipulated, guided, and molded into faithful wives devoted solely to him!

  In fact, so much trouble might not even be necessary, as they are just orphans! Just giving them a better home and food could earn their lifelong loyalty. And if he successfully formed this connection, then when the powerful-looking red-haired warrior ever returns, he also stands a great chance to benefit! Even if that warrior woman had completely abandoned these two girls, it wouldn’t matter as he would still be obtaining the two most beautiful girls in town!

  So the young Eldridge scion was so excited that he wished his mansion were closer to the school, so he could arrive faster. He was certain the other nobles in town had also heard this information and were perhaps currently heading toward the school with the same mastermind scheming intentions as him. Thankfully, their homes were far away, and they wouldn’t be arriving anytime soon. This lucky chance belonged only to him!