"Oi!" Noel waved his hands to the distance.
The people from the village were confused because they could hear the voice but see no one due to the darkness.
Noel forgot that the only reason he could find them was the Moon Blessing, so he came closer. "I'm here!"
"Ah, that's the boy!"
Jasmine was the first one to run to him, checking his condition. "Are you alright? Is there any wound?"
"Ahaha, I'm quite lucky." Noel chuckled.
Jasmine let out a sigh of relief. "That's good then."
"I should be the one apologizing to all of you. I seem to have caused a lot of destruction in the surrounding area." Noel lowered his head, apologizing to Jasmine and all the villagers.
"Wait, wait! Don't lower your head! Even though you have been stripped from your rank, you were a noble. You shouldn't lower your head that easily! And I can't truly accept it because I was once your father's subordinate."
"What? He was a noble?"
"Jasmine was his father's subordinate?"
The villagers were stunned because of Noel's extraordinary background. However, Noel shook his head and explained, "If lowering my head is enough to undo all the destruction, then I don't mind lowering my head. Unfortunately, the destroyed farmlands and buildings won't be restored with only this action. So, the least I can do is to apologize. I'm sorry."
"…" Jasmine's body trembled as if seeing his father's figure in him. Luke always thought himself a commoner instead of a noble. That was why he could see something that noble couldn't like discovering the talent in the street.
There were various problems of why people didn't utilize their talent. They might not have enough money, there might be another problem in their house, or they might simply lose the desire to do it. By becoming one of the people, he talked to the others sincerely and found those people, who he groomed.
Noel was similar to him in that regard. He considered himself a normal person and behaved like one. He didn't realize that others thought of him as a noble, not a commoner, even if he had been stripped from his title. And seeing a noble lowering their head moved the people's hearts.
An old man stepped forward and said with a smile. "Please don't lower your head, Sir Noel. Jasmine once said that the building can be rebuilt but people's death can't be undone. That's why we're already grateful enough.
"We have also seen your kind gesture by taking the fight outside our village, minimizing the damage. That's why please raise your head."
Noel hesitated for a moment before sighing, "Still, the winter is around the corner."
"We have enough food and items that can keep us warm. We truly don't mind."
"…" Noel took a deep breath as if he had given up. "I understand. I think I've killed all the demons, but I'll go around the mountain again tomorrow to make sure there's no more demons."
"Please do. Thank you very much." The old man nodded with a smile.
The silence after this conversation made it awkward, so Jasmine hurriedly dragged Noel back to the village. "Alright. Let's go back. You must be tired, so you have to rest now."
Noel didn't know that Jasmine was the biggest reason why the villagers could accept the condition this easily.
…
A moment ago.
"Why does our village have to be attacked?"
"There might be people dying in this winter."
"That knight mustn't think of us because he has a good life in the Demon Banner Army."
"The typical soldier of the Demon Banner Army."
The people were complaining about Noel, thinking the attack was due to Noel's carelessness.
Hearing their comments were like an insult to her, so Jasmine shouted, "The situation is not like that!"
"!!!" The shout startled everyone as they looked at Jasmine in shock. This might be the first time Jasmine looked so angry.
"Jasmine?"
"What's wrong with you?"
"You must be angry at the knight as well!"
Jasmine gritted her teeth and said, "No. The situation is not like that. Noel… I mean, the knight has returned for at least half an hour. During those thirty minutes, he was discussing with me about the countermeasure for the hawk demon.
"He himself has the power to kill an Advanced Level Demon, but he chose to lower his head to ask for reinforcement from the Demon Banner Army. Do you know what this means?
"Even though he could get the credit for himself, he chose not to claim it because he was worried about our safety! By getting help from the Demon Banner Army, he had to let go of everything, his pride, his reward…"
Jasmine clenched her fists, glaring at them. "That's why I'm telling you that's not the situation. He is not like what you people think.
"It's just I don't know how, but the hawk seems to be attacking us out of nowhere. It might look like the knight is poking the demon to act, but the demon will surely not wait for that long to attack us. If the demon notices him, it will attack. Don't you think so?"
The people looked at each other as if agreeing to her words.
"That's right. The demon that I know usually attack people without any warning."
"Then, the hawk should do the same, right?"
"But if what Jasmine said is true… Then, why is it thirty minutes?"
"Is it truly the hawk's own impulse?"
"There are no other explanations…"
Jasmine paused for a moment before saying, "Just remember the previous fight, instead of fighting in the village, he fights outside the village to keep the damage minimal. He truly doesn't want to involve us."
"Now that I think about it, the farmland was destroyed because he blocked an attack that was supposed to crush us."
"That's right. He might not be like what we think."
The people realized they had mistaken about Noel.
Jasmine could even see their ashamed faces and felt relieved since he had convinced them. She also felt bad for endangering them because that shout actually made the hawk attack them and Noel had to take the blame. So, the only thing she could do was helping him convincing these people.
