"Is something the matter?"
"...You monster..."
Escanor found the man before him utterly pathetic.
Did he really think he could defeat Escanor with a sword like that? If anything, it only made Escanor even more displeased.
"To swing such a worthless weapon at me... How very unpleasant."
Whoosh!Grab!
"Ghk?!"
Escanor seized the man by the collar and lifted him clean off the ground. The girls saw it and immediately fled in a panic.
"Let me go...!"
The man flailed, pounding uselessly at Escanor’s arm. But a weak man like him could do nothing at all.
"For trying to painfully kill a young life over your own eye. For trying to do something vile to a little girl. And above all, for daring to swing that pitiful sword at me."
Hearing Escanor’s words, the man was dumbfounded. Why was this stranger so worked up over someone else’s business? And more than that, the fact that Escanor was angrier about him swinging a sword at him was absurd beyond belief.
"Don’t be ridiculous...! Who do you think you are?! What kind of freak are you?!"
The man screamed, glaring at Escanor with terrified eyes, and Escanor slammed him into the ground without hesitation.
BOOM!!
"...That is the sin of pride."
The man was left embedded in the ground, motionless, and Escanor treated him with the same indifference one might show to a crushed insect as he walked over to Ume.
"Well now... Are you all right?"
Escanor held out a hand to Ume. She looked a little flustered, her face faintly red, then promptly slapped his hand away.
"Who are you...? Why are you acting like you know me? Get lost!"
Instead of gratitude, Ume started snapping at the man who had just saved her. To anyone watching, she would have looked like an ungrateful brat with no manners whatsoever.
But that was not what Ume meant.
Half gratitude, one-tenth embarrassment, and four-tenths suspicion had all mixed together to produce that reaction. Up until now, every man who approached her had only been after her face or body, so she could not help being suspicious.
And yet, while she wanted to thank the man who had saved her life, she also could not bring herself to say it.
But when Escanor saw that, he thought,
"...How proud."
For the first time in a while, Escanor found himself pleasantly reminded of someone similar to himself. A proud child with a strong will of her own. That was the judgment he made of Ume.
"Still, I don’t dislike it."
Escanor was not angry. If anything, he liked it. A child who was proud and acted on her own convictions was not a bad thing.
"Hohoho. Quite the bold young lady."
Escanor lifted Ume right out of the pit and into his arms.
"!! W-What are you doing?!"
"Calm yourself. I simply wish to have a little conversation with you."
"I’ve got nothing to say to you!"
"Now, now, don’t be so stiff. You look hungry, so I’ll buy you something delicious."
Even in the face of Ume’s rude attitude, Escanor only laughed, and that only left Ume more flustered. Still, she did not feel like she disliked him.
"...You have money?"
"We can just take it from that man’s wallet."
"Pfft, what’s that supposed to mean?"
At Escanor’s brazen confidence, Ume finally let go of her suspicion and started laughing. At that, Escanor smiled as well.
"Now then, before we go..."
"Hm?"
Escanor raised his sacred treasure and swung it toward the brothel where Ume had been working. With a massive slash, the entire building collapsed.
"A place that sells even children as merchandise has no reason to exist."
"...Who the hell are you, really?"
By then, Ume was genuinely curious about Escanor’s identity.
"I’ll tell you later. For now, let’s go get something to eat."
And so Escanor pulled a wallet from the pocket of the man he had pinned down, carried Ume in his arms, and set off in search of a place to eat.
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