I JUST WANT A PEACEFUL LIFE

"I.. I must go!! She is a monster!!" muttered the hiding thief Ragaz.

Despite his desperation, his body is not listening to him and keeps trembling in fear. If it is because of his unyielding willpower, he may already be unconscious or have gone insane long ago.

As Ragaz's body couldn't obey him, he was forced to look in Angus' group direction. Suddenly, the fear was gone and exchanged for mad greedy eyes.

"I want it.. It's all mine!! Mine!! MINE!!" laughed Ragaz as he charged at Angus' group.

The distance between them is quite large, but it only needs Ragaz a moment to reach Angus and the others at his top speed. As he arrives in the area, he finds a strong cold explosion happening in front of him.

The mad Ragaz immediately pushed back along with the surrounding snow.

"Hahahha… Take this, Anna another super duper cold punch!!" laughed Anna while standing on top of a giant snowman.

On the opposite of Anna, there is another similar giant snowman with a flying pillow lying on top of it along with Mira. The taciturn girl really never leaves her beloved flying pillow, even for a moment.

The two girls ignore the surroundings and keep making the two giant snowmen fight each other. Despite only being made of snow, the two giant snowmen have terrifying power. Each punch it launched could shake the surroundings.

The previous explosion also happens because the two giant snowman's fists collide. Seeing another punch, Mira's giant snowman dodges the incoming fist easily while Anna's giant snowman launches another flurry attack.

This absurd scene also gathers Angus, Jayna, and Extalia's attention. At the same time, Ragaz wakes up from his shock and knows the blunder he made. Unfortunately, before he could escape, he saw a flash of red light.

His honed instinct kicks in and he takes out swords in both hands to defend himself. *Clang* *BAM* Under Aunt Extalai's fast attack, the two swords slowly bend while he is thrown back far away.

"Hmm… I didn't expect he could react to this." thought Aunt Extalia.

She may not use her full strength and speed, but it is enough to overpower ordinary fifth grade. Even the Traynia Duke Hitzes, who is famous for his speed, is helpless in front of this power.

Therefore, Aunt Extalia was surprised that someone could react properly to her attack. Using the knockback force, Ragaz immediately throws a smoke bomb and pushes himself to escape.

As a thief, he has a habit of escaping the moment he is revealed. Unfortunately, Aunt Extalia is not the only one that could react fast to his arrival.

When Ragaz charges at their location, another person is ready to act and locks on him. *Bam* [Iron Fist - Stagger punch] While inside the smoke, Ragaz suddenly feels his gut hit by something. Magically, this one hit completely stops and paralyzes his body.

He felt like his lung stopped working for a moment while his body got numbed, starting from his lower abdomen area. Combined with the sudden pain like getting stabbed, Ragaz could only kneel in front of the preparator.

"Hmm… this body structure. Well, that's unexpected." said Angus while bound Ragaz with a strong chain spell.

To be sure, he even used [2nd Circle – Entroot] and completely bound him on the ground. This way, it will be hard to escape and prevent him from teleporting away. Not long after that, Jayna and Aunt Extalia arrive at the location as the smoke disperses.

Darren didn't move as he still accompanied the two girls fighting with their giant snowman. He knows Angus and the others could easily handle the matter.

"That's rare for you not to kill him immediately," commented Aunt Extalia.

"Well, I want to but I was too surprised after finding his race." said Angus while taking out the cloth mask in Ragaz.

Then, everyone could find a green-skinned person with sharp teeth similar to the orc race but with thinner bodies.

"Goblin?" said Aunt Extalia, as she didn't expect the one that could react to her attack is a goblin.

It is common knowledge that the goblin is a non-combatant and weak race. Even their strongest fighter is only in the fifth grade.

"Yeah. Moreover, he is not an ordinary goblin as he seems to reach fifth grade." said Angus while poking Ragaz's body and disabling his mana pathway.

Ragaz could only groan in pain while struggling to escape.

"Give up. You should be glad we don't just cut off your head. Now tell me, Mr. Goblin, why did you keep following us?" asked Aunt Extalia coldly.

"Kekeke… Kakaka… Just be done with it!! Kill me already!! Kakaka!!" laughed Ragaz madly.

Hearing this, Aunt Extalia could only shake her head and was ready to cut the thief.

"Wait, Aunt Extalia." called Angus.

"Hmm… What is it?" asked Aunt Extalia in confusion.

But Angus didn't reply to her and asked Jayna.

"Jayna, are you sure?" asked Angus.

"Yes. He is in pain and agony." said Jayna.

"Alright. [3rd Circle - Deep Sleep]." said Angus as he cast spells at the goblin thief and made him fall unconscious.

"Jayna, what do you mean by he is in pain and agony?" asked Aunt Extalia.

"That's…" replied Jayna while looking at Angus, who disarms the goblin's belongings.

"It's okay. You can tell her." said Angus.

"Aunt.. The Fire Phoenix didn't only give me fire ability and her memory. I could also sense people's emotions unconsciously." said Jayna about her emotion sense.

Hearing this, Aunt Extalia immediately hugs Jayna. As a Duchess who has already experienced many wars and battles, she knows how strong emotions affect someone. Many of her friends or acquaintances fall just from all the negative emotions they felt on the battlefield.

Even the strongest knight could be corrupted or insane if they didn't have strong willpower to withstand it.

'If all those things could happen to them, what kind of nightmare Jayna felt all this time.' thought Aunt Extalia while hugging her as if trying to soothe her.

Feeling the genuine care from Aunt Extalia, "It's okay, Aunt. I am fine. I have a good calm mind skill…" said Jayna.

"No, can't do. [Heart of Perseverance] only works properly if you use it actively. What if you couldn't withstand all those negative emotions before active it?"

"Jayna, I don't know the extent of your power. But, you should never underestimate the negative emotions." lectured Aunt Extalia with concern.

"I am really fine, Aunt. Angus is also beside me to support me, " Jayna said, trying to ease her Aunt's worry.

Angus and Jayna didn't expect Aunt Extalia to react strongly to this revelation.

"Huft… Alright. But you should tell me whenever you have a problem. Your Aunt will always be ready to support you. Did Leon know about this?" asked Aunt Extalia.

"We didn't tell him directly. But, he may already have some guesses." replied Angus after he stripped the goblin thief naked.

"Well, considering his cold heart, he may even want to send you to the battlefield to temper you even if he knows about it." complained Aunt Extalia.

"Don't worry. We could slowly make you adapt to this power." added Aunt Extalia.

"Alright, let's go back first. We also need to ask Master Darren since he may know something about this goblin thief." said Angus.

"Now, you say that. Jayna, what do you truly mean by the pain and agony?" asked Aunt Extalia.

"I am not sure either. But it is definitely not from what Angus did. It is like just living his life is a pain for him. The moment Aunt Extalia tried to end his life, I could sense a huge relief from him." said Jayna.

"That's really strange. Moreover, the goblin is a social race. Even the loner one will always have one or two goblins with them." commented Aunt Extalia while returning to their camp.

Inside the camp, Anna and Mira already finish playing with their giant snowman. Now, Anna is swimming in the deep snow with Onyx and Magen.

From the large amount of snow in the area, everyone knows it is from the previous giant snowmen. They also find Mira lying on her flying pillow lazily.

"Welcome back, please have a warm tea. Oh.. I didn't expect you to spare the little goblin." said Darren as he greeted everyone while holding a tray with a tea set.

"Like, I thought Master Darren already knew the identity of our thief." said Angus while receiving a cup of tea.

"Anyway, Master Darren said to the group before that they are beyond this thief. May I know what you mean by it, Master Darren?" asked Angus

"Ohh… Did you encounter some problem when catching him?" asked Darren.

"Nope. We caught him easily as he didn't expect me." said Angus.

"I see… then, I guess his Ancient Power didn't manifest during your fight." said Darren.

"Ancient Power?! He has ancient power?" asked Angus in surprise.

"More like a very troublesome Ancient Power. Some people even prefer to call it a curse rather than Ancient Power." replied Darren.

"Did you know what his Ancient Power is?" asked Angus.

"I am not certain yet. But, If I am not wrong, it must be related to a concept of mind or will. There are many Ancient Powers, but the most dangerous one is the one with an ambiguous concept." explained Darren.

"Ambiguous concept?" said Angus.