Despite Sebian's question, the girl remained completely silent. Staring daggers at the man as if he was no lesser threat than some passing monster, the girl made it clear that she was far from being relaxed in the alchemist's presence.

'Strange, when I talked with that youngster, I could converse with him quite easily.' Trying to uncover this sudden mystery, Sebian looked around the place. While there were some sights of struggle here and there, the leading clue appeared to be on the hind leg of the girl's tamed beast. Shielding the beautiful body with its own, lowered posture, it was ready to pounce at the man at any time necessary. 'That wound, could it be?'

For an expert of Sebian's class, noticing the faint aura lingering at the edges of the panther's wound wasn't a challenge. And it was quite similar to the aura of that bear monster from before!

"I'm sorry." Suddenly lowering his head, Sebian attempted to fire up the discussion once again. Although he already set his mind on taking this girl, he wasn't going to be discourteous about it. In the end, being truly intimate with a woman required her full cooperation, and only this kind of relationship was worth cradling in an unforgiving world.

Finally, Sebian's words appeared to have some effect.

"Who are you?!" Still perfectly on guard, the girl uttered those words in the coldest tone possible. But the first crack of her absolute defensive wall appeared.

"Ah, it's actually a pretty long story," scratching the back of his head, Sebian lowered his sight while laughing lightly, "some stuff happened, and I lost pretty much everything. So I just decided to start anew somewhere else…"

Taking a moment to regain his breath, Sebian pointed at his body clad in poorly fabricated monster skins.

"You could say that even this plan didn't end up well for me… But now that I'm near the city, I should somehow work it out." Gently raising his head, Sebian added a cheerful smile to his words.

There was absolutely no point in acting domineering, even if the alchemist had all the means to do so. By acting like a naive yet positive idiot, he could not only potentially spark some sympathy in the girl's eyes, but also appear to be less of a threat than she was currently taking him for.

"Eh?" Aina's body shook lightly as if she suddenly reached some kind of minor enlightenment. But then, her otherwise beautiful eyes darkened once again. "If that's so, what did you apologize for?"

A smile blossomed on the girl's lips. Filled with confidence, he appeared as some kind of investigator who found out a flaw in their opponent's logic.

"Ah, if it's about that, then I'm worried I'm partially responsible for what happened here." Scratching his head once again, this time Sebian dressed an uneasy and helpless smile. "If I'm not wrong, a young man on a bear monster attacked you? If that's the case, then it might be due to me interfering with this contest you guys have going on." Moving his hand from the back of his head to his chin, Sebian scratched it before suddenly throwing the girl a look of discovery. "Could it be, you were competing with him?"

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'Who is this guy?' Hearing Sebian's rambling, Aina finally lowered her guard. If he was actually out for her skin, he wouldn't put on a stupid act in the first place. 'Either way, I need to go back…' Since the man didn't appear to be a threat, treating Silia's wounds once again become an absolute priority.

But as soon as the girl started walking, her attempts to ignore the strange man proved to be futile.

"Hey, if I may ask, what was this entire competition about?" Moving right after the girl, the alchemist clearly didn't have any intentions of leaving the girl alone. 'I didn't put my act for so long just for you to leave now!'

"The competition? So you don't even know that? Eh…" With her beast injured, Aina couldn't just hop on Silia's back and escape from this pestering annoyance. Realizing that she was more or less stuck with him all the way to the city, the girl finally gave up. "It's for the admittance to the Gloryhouse Sect. There are various factors coming into play when it comes to results, but in general, hunting a beast of third grade and higher should be enough."

Just by recalling the passing terms for the exam, the girl recalled the recent event that deprived her of hopes of reaching the first step of her plan this year. Tightening her fists, she then moved her hand on top of Silia's back to calm herself down. Noticing her master's emotionally distraught, the panther stepped a bit closer to the girl before rubbing its nose against Aina's stomach.

"And just for you to know, I didn't compete with him. We were in a team, but… I guess you can figure out the rest of the story yourself." Turning her head around, Aina released all the remaining anger and disappointment with her towards the unexpected companion of hers.

"I know it might sound stupid…" Sensing the opening, Sebian didn't hesitate at all when striking right at it. The fact that the girl brought up one of the main soft spots in alchemist only made it easier for him to press the idea that appeared in his head. "But would you mind telling me what's so good about joining that Glorhole sect or something? It always baffled me how people willingly choose to reject their freedom of choice for some minor benefits."

Sebian was clearly and readily stepping on the mine. Given the poor mood of the girl and the huge competition for each spot that her story pictured, it was pretty obvious how high this girl valued the opportunity to join it. That lead to a simple situation where she was bound to already associate herself with it, even despite not even managing to become a disciple.

"What did you…" Before the girl could even finish her furious reaction, Sebian raised his head to stop her while speaking at the same time.

"I don't know nor care what do you expect do win by joining that sect, but…" Suddenly stopping his steps, Sebian seemingly teleported forward, appearing right before the face of the girl. As taxing as this move was for his current level of cultivation, the shock on the girl's face was more than enough for a price. "If you follow me, I will make sure you will never bother as much as to look at any sect or organization that exists!"

Sebian moved his hand before the girl could react, gently raising her chin with just a single finger of his. In the next moment, both Aina and her tamed beast reacted to Sebian's sudden movements. But right as the two of them readied themselves for the clash, Sebian already appeared several steps ahead. Waving his hand to the back, he didn't even look at the girl before shouting.

"Well, the choice is yours. But since you clearly didn't hunt any beast," turning his head over his shoulder, Sebian smiled mischievously at the shocked girl, "do you have anything to lose by believing in someone for once?"