Keith had a weird feeling about the situation. The fact that the protagonist had managed to somehow escape did not sit well with him. 

"M-Master Hana, please have mercy on us. We did not mean to make a fool out of you. It is just that the city…"

The seeming leader of this small bunch of rebels started to speak up timidly. But a pair of cold eyes and an even colder smile stopped him from ever finishing his words. 

"Hmm, you were saying something? I do not think I heard what you were saying properly so can you repeat your words?"

Master Hana asked this of the man. But her eyes sent the message of 'do not talk' to the ones looking in her direction.

The rebels were speechless and helpless in front of Master Hana's beauty. Words were caught in their throat as they tried to get their mouths to work. But words were difficult to utter for these people.

"Master Hana, what are you planning to do with these people?"

Keith could not contain his curiosity any longer. He needed to know what would happen to these people. Not because he cared, but because he wanted to know what direction this rebellion would take.

If things were about to become violent then Keith wanted out of here right now. He did not want to go against the protagonist.

"Oh, do not worry Grandmaster. I know that you do not like unnecessary fanfare. I will try to keep the noise and the festivity of my activities to a minimum. And I will also get you all the relevant information you need."

Master Hana sounded confident when she spoke. Her confidence and happiness made Keith want to take a step back.

"You…do what is necessary. I will be heading back now."

"Y-You are the Grandmaster. You are an evil being corrupting the youth into thinking you are a good man. But soon, your true colors would be exposed, you heartless man. You murdered."

The leader cursed Keith out suddenly. The situation would have surprised Keith if he was paying attention to it.

"How dare you."

Master Hana took that insult personally and ended up knocking the leader unconscious. But her temper still had not ebbed after that.

Keith had lived a far too glamorous life in this world. It had made him forget a very important fact about himself and his character.

No matter how many good deeds he did and how much he worked to help the common folks, Keith was ultimately a villain at his core and he would need to come back to his roots in time.

He was just thankful that his subordinates seemed to take care of doing 'questionable' stuff for him.

"Grandmaster, please do not think too much about what this man said. He does not know how kind and generous of a man you are. You are the best person on this planet and no one can take your place."

Keith's heart skipped a beat as soon as he heard the devolution-filled words of Master Hana.

For a second, Keith felt impulsive enough to tell Master Hana that her beloved Grandmaster was a fraud and he did not exist. Keith was sure that his words would pull some amazing reactions out of Master Hana.

Would he be targeted by her? Hurt by the very person who had sworn to protect him? What would happen next?

'Ugh, I think I am sleep deprived. I am beginning to think weird thoughts now.'

Keith shook his head to clear it. He did not acknowledge Master Hana's presence or her words. 

Keith allowed the winter air to wash over his senses. It felt fresh and the chill was good for Keith's mental health. It helped numb his brain and the useless thoughts circling in it.

And in such chilly air, Keith felt a presence attacking him front behind. It felt almost human but the appearance of the attacker was anything but human.

Inhuman golden eyes looked at Keith from a face that was half-human and half-beast. Huge claws tried to impale Keith on them and end his life.

The beautiful world took a blue tint once more as the divine bracelet did its thing.

[??? - unknown entity. Error: Cannot figure out. Lvl ???]

'Great, so even this device is of no use to me. How useless this all is turning out to be.'

Keith mocked the bracelet in his mind as he straightened his back out. If he wanted to live, he needed to do something dramatic and drastic. 

First, Keith needed to shake this creature off his trail and head back to the Guild. That way, Keith would have far more protection to throw in between himself and this creature.

It did cross his mind that a lot of innocent people would be thrown into his mess if he did such a thing. But for Keith, survival was much more important than others' safety. 

And right now, survival is meant to get away from the half-human, half-beast abomination.

"...kill the…. master….do not…. let go…"

The half-human creature could speak but not very well. His words were dragged out and seldom. Keith had to pay attention if he wanted to figure out what this man meant.

"...hurts…needs…cure…"

The creature cried out and Keith had a second to react. Keith threw his body toward the left side and created a shield to lower his impact. 

His shoulder cried out in pain as it contacted the ground but Keith was able to pick himself back up.

He looked toward a half-wolf-like creature but it seemed to have shaken itself off as well.

"...kill…devour…revenge…"

The creature looked at Keith and he felt his breath stop. The light in those inhuman eyes had gotten even stronger than before.

A claw rammed into Keith's shield and tried to break it apart. But Keith's divine power was strong and it repelled the half-human.

The human staggered due to this effect but then soon gained his composure. There was intelligence behind those inhuman eyes now and they looked at Keith with naked curiosity.

"Perhaps, we underestimated what a human like you was capable of. I must admit that it is entirely my fault this time. And that is why, I will atone for it by killing and sampling you."

Keith was ashamed to admit that he did not see that attack coming until he had to dodge it outright.

His new attacker was covered in all black from head to toe. This mysterious person had also spoken in a soft voice which made it impossible for Keith to tell if this was a male or a female.

The half-human did not look pleased to see this new addition in their fight. It tried to growl to let its unhappiness be known. But this new person just laughed at this complaint off and tapped the half-human on the nose.

The huge monster-like body collapsed in a single second and fell into this new person's arms.

Keith was ready to counter anything this his new attacker threw at him. His shield was sparking and full of power.

But for some reason, this new person did not attack Keith. Instead, they picked up Keith's attacker and jumped back.

It was almost funny how odd the scene in front of Keith looked. The new attacker was easily half the size of that half-beast. And yet, they were picking up the former as if the half-human did not weigh anything.

"Well, it was nice meeting the world-renowned grandmaster. If the heavens permit it, then we shall meet again."

The mysterious figure waved at Keith before he disappeared into smoke right in front of Keith's eyes. Things were over and done with.

Keith was about to leave the clearing when he heard a sob coming from the corner of the ally.

Normally, Keith would have ignored that sobbing and gone his own way. But he was not sure why it was getting on his nerves. He decided to check out the source of this crying, only to find no one.

"Hey, if you do not show yourself then I am leaving. I do not want to waste my time needlessly."

Keith admitted but he was not sure if the distressed person heard him or not. 

Not that Keith cared or anything. It was just annoying to hear someone cry out and then reject his help openly like this.

"Ugh, this is it. Since it seems like you do not want my help, I shall be going now. I will not offer you another chance in the future."

Keith doubted he would meet the owner of this sob again. Most random strangers did not meet more than once in life.

He was out of the valley when he heard the sob again. It was louder this time and Keith was not able to ignore it anymore.

He turned around and decided to tell the crying person to shut up and leave him alone.

But the familiar face of a goddess stopped Keith. He knew who this goddess was and Keith did not like the implications of this.