"Silvia. I’m scared."

I glanced over.

Checking the direction where Silvia was, she was pretending not to pay attention to me from a distance while keeping an eye on me.

Good. No matter how much Yulia is a munchkin protagonist, at this moment, she cannot compete with Silvia, who has buffered her mana. I didn’t have to worry about being killed right here and now.

My groin felt numb, and chills ran down my spine, making me want to run away immediately. But I maintained as serious a face as I could.

I took a step forward.

"You are…"

"Hello, Count Vermont. It’s nice to see you again after our last meeting at the academy. Let me introduce myself once more. I am Yulia Brussels. I feel greatly honored to be able to work under you."

"…"

Yulia gave a slight bow, her greeting somewhat awkward but respectful.

What nonsense is she talking? Has she really gone so far into her disguise that she believes she’s a girl now? Is this the protagonist? My head began to spin.

"It’s nice to meet you. I heard from Silvia that you were recommended, but I didn’t expect you to be this young. How old are you?"

"I’m thirteen this year. I’ll do my best not to be a burden to the team."

"…"

Saying that, Yulia slowly raised her head. The moment I met her intense gaze, I involuntarily shuddered. Hey, kid, hide your killing intent a bit.

If I stayed here any longer, I might embarrass myself.

Just as I was about to turn around,

"Yes. Do your best."

"Count!"

Yulia called me back again.

What now?

"I heard rumors that you have fiancées at your mansion."

"Who said that?"

"Excuse me?"

"Do you really believe those ridiculous rumors from the yellow press?"

Fiancées, huh? They can’t be my fiancées until I give my permission. They are just under my protection for the time being. …For now.

"I-I’m sorry. I meant your slaves. I heard they have talents in handling magic swords and necromancy…"

"What about them?"

"I’d like to apply for a guard position for those kids."

"…"

[The evil god 'Carly' is begging to accept this request!]

Is she already thinking about escaping with Charlotte and Yulia? If this were back then, I might have turned a blind eye to their escape.

But now, with no mentor for them like Silvia, and the protagonist yet to awaken, allowing them to escape would be equivalent to leaving them to die.

'They can’t be let go until they can protect themselves.'

Until the protagonist proves that he has the power to protect both Charlotte and Yulia, I have no intention of letting them go, even if I have to blind myself.

This is a non-negotiable matter, even if Yulia threatens my life.

"I’m of the same age, so wouldn’t I be the most suitable? Having a friend-like guard around would provide emotional stability and—"

"That’s unnecessary. I am raising those kids with love and care."

"…!"

[The evil god 'Carly' somewhat agrees, recognizing that this is indeed true.]

Yulia’s eyes widened at my answer.

Ah, what’s wrong with that? I said I’m raising them with care; why is there a commotion?

I was too scared to say anything.

"I refuse."

"Then at least let me be your guard!"

"Are you underestimating the guard position? Why should I entrust my safety to a kid like you?"

"Uh…"

"What confidence do you have when you lack the ability, skill, and experience to back it up?"

"Then are you saying that if I build my abilities, skills, and experience, it would be possible?"

"…"

"I will develop all of them to a high level. I’ve always wanted the honor of serving you closely, Count!"

"…Let’s talk again at that time."

"I will definitely become the top trainee in this training program! Please watch me, Count!!!"

[The evil god 'Carly' is cheering for Yulia passionately.]

Leaving that ambiguous response behind, I returned to the carriage, not wanting to keep facing Yulia’s passion and thirst for revenge, lest I lose control of my bowels.

"Ah. Just study hard already…"

This is driving me crazy. What if she really becomes the top trainee and excels in every task given to her, growing into a bodyguard who would be more than qualified to be by my side?

Then I would lose my justification for refusal.

My head started to throb.

Still, she is in a position where she has to balance her studies and the training program. Moreover, she has enrolled in so many lectures that the amount of classes and assignments she needs to handle must be overwhelming compared to others.

If she focuses too much on training, her grades will suffer, and she won’t be able to fulfill her promises with her sponsors.

'Please just focus on your studies. Don’t waste your time.'

After all, if she falls behind in her assignments, she’ll naturally have to concentrate on her studies again.

There’s no way she could manage to excel in both her dual major and the security company training, right?

Nah, surely not.

That would be absurd.

"I really need some healing now."

I was already exhausted. I hurriedly got into the carriage and returned to the mansion. I didn’t want to stay any longer in Arien Territory, filled with muscle-bound idiots and terrifying little kids.

"Ugh! Massage rights! Let’s use some massage rights! Where’s Charlotte…!"

As soon as I got off the carriage, I came face to face with Yulia, who was sitting quietly in the flowerbed of the garden, looking at me as if I were a strange person.

"Are you looking for Charlotte? …?"

"No. I’m okay now. What were you doing here?"

Were you playing with flowers or something?

I cautiously stepped into the flowerbed, trying not to step on the flowers. As I got closer, a fragrant smell wafted through the air.

I couldn’t tell if it was the scent of the flowers or Yulia's body fragrance.

"I was talking to a spirit. It’s a rare spirit with intelligence. …"

Low-level spirits, as the term suggests, have an intelligence akin to that of insects, making communication impossible beyond simple expressions.

It’s like having a colorful pet bug.

As seen with Dungy, the higher the level, the higher the intelligence, and the level of conversation also increases.

The spirit in front of Yulia, although invisible to my eyes, seemed to possess a mid-level or higher rank.

"What does it look like?"

"It’s a girl in a white robe. Really cute! She seems to be around my age. …"

"…?"

Is that really a spirit? Generally, spirits don’t take human forms, right? Unless a powerful spirit transformed into a human for fun, it should be impossible.

"Yulia. Check the spirit’s rank."

"Huh? Why the rank? …?"

"Hurry."

"Ugh, she doesn’t like this kind of thing. I’m sorry? This grumpy human is just really picky…"

With a quick motion, Yulia concentrated mana at her fingertips and used a detection spell.

"It’s a low-level spirit. So why the rank? …?"

"Yulia, did that thing introduce itself as a spirit?"

"Yeah. It said it was a low-level spirit. …"

"Get behind me. That thing is not a spirit."

"…!? "

I grabbed Yulia’s wrist and pulled her behind me. As her hair flowed momentarily, it released a pleasant fragrance.

'A dangerous class of wraith.'

It may be low-level, but it’s taking human form. Thus, the conclusion is that it is not a spirit but a wraith.

What troubles me the most is that it approached Yulia under the pretense of being a spirit, hiding its true identity.

What could a wraith want by lying to Yulia?

It’s clear that it didn’t approach her with good intentions. That much is certain.

"Ah! Its face is suddenly distorting!"

"What do you mean?"

"I can see blood pouring from its face! Ah! Its voice is becoming grotesque! Aah!!! It’s coming at us!!!"

Yulia clung to me, tears brimming in her eyes, wrapping her legs around my waist like a koala.

I could easily drive it away with a command spell, but it seems like I wouldn’t have the time to do so given the panic.

[The evil god 'Carly' is scolding you for letting our necromancer fall and get hurt!]

I gently held Yulia's waist to prevent her from falling. It was soft. Then I whispered inwardly.

'Skill: Touch of Death.'

A chilling aura spread out, causing the surrounding flowers to wilt at once.

Did I take care of it?

The only way to confirm would be to observe Yulia’s reaction.

"Yulia. Has that girl disappeared?"

"I don’t know…"

"You’ll have to look up to see."

"I don’t know, I don’t know…"

Yulia kept sniffling, burying her face in my chest and crying. She must have been really scared.

Even after a while of being still, nothing seemed to have happened, so perhaps the wraith has indeed perished.

As Yulia’s sobbing began to quiet down, I decided to gently let her down.

"Ugh…!"

"…"

When I tried to pull her waist away, Yulia shook her head stubbornly, resisting.

In the end, I decided to take drastic measures.

"Yah!"

I poked her armpit, causing her to jump up.

Seizing the moment, I pulled her waist away and placed her on the ground.

"Your face is a mess. Go wash up."

"…"

Shyly, Yulia tried to leave my side, but she hesitated and stopped.

"I-I’m scared…"

"Go calmly. I took care of it."

"There might be more… I’m scared…"

"What do you want me to do?"

"…Stay with me."

Her face flushed slightly in embarrassment as she spoke in a small voice, grabbing my sleeve and leading me.