"Anyway, the situation has been solved. All of you can return now." Anna smiled at the children while assuring them that they were safe now.
However, the reply came in the form of hatred glares from all of them. They obviously listened to everything she said earlier.
To save them, Noel invited this evil woman who wanted to work him to death and personally kill him. For their safety, Noel gave the parting gifts and left them.
Just for a beating, Noel gave up so much for them, street kids who would die sooner or later.
They couldn't help but hate themselves and Anna who took advantage of the situation. Of course, they didn't know that Anna was acting. At the same time, Anna couldn't tell the real truth to them because they would tell Noel or others that this was a fake and she would face so much trouble in the future.
"Well, since all of you are fine now, it's time for me to leave." Anna had a wry smile as she left the house while thinking, 'This is not like what I imagined. Those kids look like they want to kill me. Did I just make more enemies by helping Noel? Why do I feel like more misunderstandings are created every time I act? I am so unlucky.'
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Eric was the first to get up and woke everyone up with his voice. He made sure Anna had left the house before saying, "Alright, I know that you're sad and angry.
"But don't forget what Big Brother Noel did to us! He gave us a purpose in our lives… To us! A street kid that no one will cry for if we die.
"Do you know why Big Brother Noel left us? It's simple. We're simply too weak. If Big Brother Noel always needs to protect us, then there is no way we can repay him! This life will be no different than what we have right now.
"That's why… I know that you are angry, but use that emotion to motivate yourself. Just like what Big Brother said, 'If we keep begging and getting beaten, we'll continue to starve for who knows how many days.
'I know that we're bad at everything, but everyone was like that in the first place. But we still need to do it, our hundredth time dancing is better than our first time.'
"I'm sure that you know it already! That's why we need to pick up the sword and prove to Big Brother Noel that we can follow him. Our relationship with him started with a dance and ended with a sword. We'll use both of them to improve ourselves.
"In the future, we'll start our relationship again with both sword and dance! We'll fulfill our promise to dance a unique style that no one has ever seen before! This will be the Sword Dance that connects us to Big Brother Noel." Eric shouted, encouraging the rest of the children.
They couldn't help but look at Eric in awe. They realized they didn't think this through.
Some of them regretted they couldn't help Noel when he needed them the most when Noel had given them everything.
Erica bit her lips and grabbed the sword. "No matter how many times I'll fail, I'm going to prove it."
"I'm going too!" Bluhan gritted his teeth and reached for his own sword.
All the children inside that house took the arms, determined to repay Noel in the future.
Outside, Anna closed her eyes while smiling. She was leaning to the house's wall while listening to Eric's inspiring speech.
"Now that I think about it, even without my interference, Noel's talent would make that big guy envious. This situation must have happened in my past life too. And this speech gave birth to that group…
"The dance group that had a unique sword style that no one had ever seen before, the Sword Dance. And those twins… will be called the Twin Sword Dancers.
"I want to believe that this is due to the kid's speech, but there are many more important talents that will bloom after meeting Noel. They have potential, but it seems their encounter with Noel is their turning point.
"As expected, Noel has that charm to gather those talented people. It's a waste to kill him. The only thing I can do right now is to solve the hatred between us." Anna smiled while walking away.
The next morning, Anna and Noel met again before the meditation training so that they could have a spar like the usual schedule.
But before they started, Anna asked, "So, what is your plan? When will the Ancient Demon Tree appear?"
"I don't know. I can give you the range… But we're going to hunt it together, so I'll just inform you when I'm going." Noel shook his head helplessly.
"Won't you just leave me here?"
"I am not like you, evil woman. I fulfill my promise." Noel snorted.
"Is that so? Hunting the Ancient Demon Tree together, eh? It's quite nice. I mean, its body can be sold for money… By the way, I can give you the demon crystal, but I want the part that protects the core."
"I know that you have some use for it, but this is not a bad deal." Noel agreed without hesitation.
"We sell the rest and split the money?"
"Then, what should I do with the individual mission?"
"The individual mission and the group mission, huh… Although it's said to be an individual mission, no one said that you can't take it together. We can simply take a similar mission."
"You don't want to be separated from me? Or do you like the food I made that much?" Anna smirked.
"No. It's just for the first one. I'm not going to cooperate with you for the other four individual missions."
"Eh?" Anna let out a long sigh.
'It's true that I can improve by cooperating with you, but I need other experiences. If I continue relying on you, I'm afraid that I'll owe too much that I'll need to forget my hatred,' Noel thought while glaring at her.
"What?" Anna tilted her head in confusion because Noel had been staring at her weirdly.
"No. Are you ready?" Noel raised his sword.
"Of course." Anna pointed her sword at Noel's neck while smiling as their clash had begun.