Delia watched with her heart beating up her throat as Paris crouched next to Kon. Any threat she threw the Special Exorcist’s way would be ineffective.

"His heartbeat seems normal,” Paris stated. Then she opened his shirt and touched his chest, poking it in different places.

"W -What are you going to do to him?" Delia asked weakly, feeling some pain throughout her head.

Paris raised a questioning brow. “The kid took a poison dart for me. I won’t kill him. You, on the other hand, are still up for debate.”

Relief washed over Delia when she heard that. Now that she knew Kon wouldn’t be harmed, she got a smug look on her face. “What? You have no proof. How could a gentle girl like me kill people?”

It was right then and there that everything, for some reason, connected in Delia's head.

Despite just signing the death warrant of a royal family member, Paris didn’t seem perturbed at all. There wasn’t a trance of anxiousness on her face.

It’s almost as if killing the royal family member was her goal. Almost as if she knew she would end up doing something like this.

‘She used the Dark Sword Clan as a cover! She played everyone here to get what she wanted! That crazy bitch!’ Delia knew that if word got out that a royal family member was killed, everyone involved would get hunted down like rabid dogs.

Despite her blasting thoughts, Delia didn’t ask any questions. Knowing that inquiring too much into something would end up dangerous for everyone involved. Did Paris have any kind of vendetta against the royal family?

A chill went down Delia’s spine.

Nothing made sense, and even if it did, Delia wasn’t sure she wanted to know the truth of what was happening behind the scenes.

***

The next time I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a lovely wooden ceiling. The Japanese-style building made it easy to guess where I was.

There was no one else in the room. I got up, and rigidness and pain traveled through my body.

Cleaning out some poison wasn’t as easy as I thought. Perfect Me had used Ord, controlling it at levels almost inhuman, surrounding my organs with energy, and then just supercharging my immune system.

There were still many things I didn’t know about Perfect Me. I had to figure it all out slowly, and only then will I be able to pull up 100% of the potential of my special ability.

Walking out of the room, a young servant ran by. She couldn’t have been older than ten years old. I grabbed her by the shoulder, stopping her from running off. “Kiddo, how long has it been since I was out?”

"Ah! Lord Kon!" The girl hurriedly bowed. "You have been out for two days! No, wait, since it took some time to bring you here, it took four days!"

Thankfully it wasn't weeks or months. Though my body still felt like I had just run a marathon.

"Well, go and notify who you need to. Tell them that I'm awake," I let go of the kid and went back to lie on the bed.

If the clan head upholds his part of the deal, I should have enough missions to apply for the Expert Exam. I should prepare my letter and send it soon, just to get that out of my mind.

The door to my room slid open, and a girl with tomboyish clothes came in. That was Delia, of course.

"Oh, look who it is, my favorite cousin," I smiled at her. She didn’t seem to be in her usual teasing mood. Nothing better than playing with my cousin after waking up.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Wait, that sounded wrong somehow.

"I'm your only cousin, asshole," she pouted and sat in my bed. She looked at my face for a couple of minutes and frowned.

Then she suddenly punched me in the cheek.

Huh? What was that about?

I was about to ask her. But she landed another punch on my other cheek. "You brat! Who do you think you are?! Taking a hit meant for a stupid bitch-"

I punched her right back before she could finish whatever she was about to say. My punches had about as much power as hers did. Meaning they weren't that powerful.

But as soon as she turned her face back to look at me, I realized my mistake. Sure, I wasn't the main protagonist who would let girls hit him for no reason.

In this case, letting her hit me might have been the better idea.

Veins bulged on her forehead like wriggling worms under her skin, and Ord gathered around her body. She was a Warrior, so she could use Ord to reinforce herself.

Yep, she was angry. She will be lenient on her sickly cousin, right?

Then she imbued her fist with an unholy amount of Ord. "What was exactly going through your mind when you did that?"

Oh shit! She was pissed off. Will I even survive if she hits me with that punch?

"G -Gender equality?" My answer came out more as a question.

After surviving so many dangers, dying like this would be a pathetic end.

"Well, let me teach you a lesson about the world, little cousin," the Ord in her hand intensified to the point that if she punched me with that, it would have the same effect as a point-blank grenade. "Whether woman or man. Only the strong have a say in things!"

She jumped at me. I leaned back and then jumped away as she launched a punch down. My bed exploded on impact, despite the mattress being there to cushion the blow.

She straightened up and gathered Ord on her fist once again. It wasn't even a Special Ability, just an outrageous amount of Ord gathered on the fist. She looked at me with puckered lips, like a typical shounen thug. "What was that? Can't take a hit from a girl? Show more of your manly side, little cousin!"

What's with that bloodthirsty smile on your face?! I was just joking! Learn to take a joke, you psycho bitch!

Of course, I wasn’t stupid enough to say such things out loud.

She went for a punch again, but I ducked under it and used a wrestling move by grabbing onto her clothes, shifting my center of gravity, and trying to push her down.

A move like this was hard to overcome as the sudden weight shift would put all the pressure on the knees.

At least, that's how it would have been in my previous world. Delia's back was arched like a bow, but with a burst of Ord, her descent stopped, and she stood back upright.

Then she nonchalantly picked me up by the scruff of my neck as if I was a cat. She had a cold look in her eyes.

I’m going to need some face-reconstructive surgery after this. At least I should be able to survive… hopefully.

Against all my expectations, her face shifted, and she looked with guilt splattered over her face. "Kon. Sorry for not being able to protect you during the fight."

Eh? What's with this apology? Did she think she had to look out for me all the time? Did she think I was her kid brother she had to bully, but at the same time protect if anyone else dared to do the same?

Come on now, don't joke like that. I'm someone who can make my own decisions and protect myself.

I laid my fist against her cheek and pushed her face to the side. "Now we're equal. I returned both punches."

She stared at me, gathered Ord in her fist. “You know what, I should kill you and get rid of such an annoying cousin. At least that will guarantee my position as the next clan head.”

“Hey, that last part was a joke, right?” I asked, making sure to show how apprehensive I was.

“Don’t worry about it,” she smirked and was ready to punch me in the stomach.

But as she was about to do that, the door slid open.

The clan head, Delia's father, stared at us. He blinked twice and sighed. "Why do you keep fighting all the time? Are you still kids or something?"

He threw a letter at me. "This is from Miss Judgment, and she didn't trust Delia not to burn the letter if she left it with her. So she told me to give you this when you wake up."

By Miss Judgment, he was calling Paris by her epithet.

"Wow, what an annoying woman she is," Delia complained. But didn't refute that she would have probably burned the letter.

I opened the letter to see what Paris had written to me. Fingers crossed, it was a love letter. Our children will be pushing their glasses up while smiling suspiciously.

As I read her note, my hopes were crushed before they could even take root.

Yep, not a love letter at all…