"Why, you…!?"
Matthew's veins bulged as he clenched his fists so tightly they could strike Kai's head at any moment. His eyes were bloodshot, burning with the rage he had been holding back all this time.
"What's with that face? Are you holding in the urge to take a dump?"
Kai asked with an innocent look. Naturally, that only fueled Matthew's fury even more.
"Master, please calm yourself! That angry face of yours is not charming at all! You must maintain your dignity no matter the situation!"
Anna, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up. Her words made Matthew glance at her, then steady his breathing until he regained his composure.
"You're right! I must preserve my dignity!"
Matthew said, straightening his clothes.
"Yes, that's right! You must always remain dignified, Master!"
Anna replied with a smile.
"Then allow me to deal with him in your stead!"
She continued—and suddenly threw a punch at Kai's face. The man went flying again, a fresh wound now marking his cheek.
"Ehh…."
Matthew was utterly shocked by his secretary's action. His mouth hung wide open, and it seemed he had completely forgotten his dignity once again. He had never imagined Anna would hit someone so hard it sent them flying. This was the first time he had ever seen her resort to violence.
"I've been watching you this whole time!"
Anna said as she walked toward where Kai lay sprawled on the ground.
"And all I've seen is you constantly mocking and disrespecting my master!"
She then climbed onto Kai's powerless body. Everyone around watched her intently in silence.
"Hey, answer my question!"
Anna then lifted Kai by the collar of his shirt.
"Was it fun making my master look so powerless like that?"
She began shaking Kai's body with both hands still gripping his collar.
"Hey, was it fun making my master look like a pitiful little puppy?"
The shaking grew rougher and rougher.
"Hey, hey, hey… tell me, how does it feel? Answer me! Was it fun making my master look like he was about to cry?!"
Anna's expression twisted into something dangerous—or rather, dangerous for Matthew. The man realized he needed to stop her immediately.
"Wait, Anna! I wasn't crying, nor did I look powerless, or like some pitiful little puppy!"
Matthew said, pulling her away from Kai, whose eyes were now rolling in circles.
"My apologies, Master. I may have gotten… a little too carried away!"
Anna said, wiping away a bit of drool after Matthew managed to restrain her. She straightened her clothes again, restoring her usual dignified appearance. Even so, Matthew couldn't erase the memory of that expression she had shown just a moment ago, and he shuddered at the thought.
'I'd better start being careful around her.' Matthew thought, taking a small step back from Anna. She tilted her head slightly, puzzled by why her master suddenly looked so afraid.
"Oi, Kai… are you okay?!"
Kurt rushed over, worried because Kai wasn't moving at all and his eyes were still spinning.
"Ohhh, Kurt… when did you learn Kage Bunshin?"
Kai muttered, seeing three of Kurt standing before him.
"Kage Bunshin? What are you talking about? Hang in there, Kai!"
Kurt replied, shaking Kai's body violently.
"Kurt, stop that! You're only making it worse!"
Katie warned.
"Oh, you're right!"
Kurt quickly let go of Kai, dropping him back to the floor after hearing Katie's warning.
"I don't really understand what's going on… but if you don't do anything about this village, then this village will be mine! Do you understand!?"
Matthew said as he walked toward Kai. But Kai didn't respond at all—his eyes were still spinning, unable to focus.
"Hey, Kai… you have to accept his challenge. If you don't, we won't be able to move forward at all!"
The Fairy Goddess, who had been silent until now, decided to whisper to Kai so he wouldn't waste any more time. For some reason, she felt compelled to intervene in this situation.
"Eh, is that so…"
Kai mumbled incoherently.
"Yes, we can't avoid this. That's why I sent you here—to protect this place!"
"Is that so… well, I guess there's no helping it then… I understand…"
Kai still sounded completely delirious.
Meanwhile, Matthew looked confused as he watched Kai. The man seemed to be responding to him, yet it didn't feel like Kai was actually speaking to him. Is he just rambling nonsense? Matthew wondered, carefully studying Kai's face.
The guy looked like someone drunk out of his mind. No doubt about it—he was just babbling. No need to overthink this weirdo.
"Good! As long as you understand!"
Matthew's words pulled everyone's attention back to him.
"With this, we've made an agreement!"
He continued, completely ignoring the stares directed his way. He looked only at Kai, who still wasn't even facing him.
"An agreement? Hehehe…"
"I don't know why you're laughing, but yes… you remember what we talked about earlier, don't you?"
"Eh? What did we talk about again?"
Matthew's veins bulged again as he heard that. 'Calm down… he's just drunk… just drunk…' he told himself, trying to stay composed.
"Anyway, you just need to make this village grow and become famous, or I will take everything in this village as my own!"
"...."
Matthew looked extremely annoyed when Kai didn't respond at all. Even though he knew that Kai wasn't in a proper state to respond correctly right now, it still irritated him. On top of that, he also had to endure the silent stares from everyone around them. To be honest, receiving those stares made him feel terribly embarrassed.
Slowly but surely, his face began to flush red all the way to his ears. He didn't even move an inch from the pose he had struck to make himself look cool.
"Kai, you just need to say, 'I understand,'" whispered the Fairy Goddess close to Kai's ear.
"Yes... I understand."
With that, the agreement between Kai and Matthew was finally formed.
Truthfully, Matthew didn't want to have anything to do with that man anymore, but it seemed that such a thing was impossible.
"I'll come back next time. Let's go, Anna!" said Matthew as he walked out of Pete's diner.
Anna quickly nodded and followed after him. But then Matthew noticed Anna's face was slightly red.
"Hey, Anna... why are you blushing?" he asked.
"Hm? What are you talking about, Master?" Anna replied, already changing her expression back to her usual cold look.
Matthew had a bad feeling, so he decided not to press further and only shook his head.
"It's nothing."
Meanwhile, Kai was still lying helpless on the floor of the diner. Seeing his condition, no one there was confident that Kai would really be able to complete the challenge given by Matthew. Even the Fairy Goddess, who had involved Kai in this matter, wasn't sure.
"Did I make the right decision?" the Fairy Goddess asked with a worried expression.