I Became the Guardian of Big Shots in the Game

Ethan’s proposal was successful.
The mayor gladly gave him an indefinite vacation.
‘He seemed tense for some reason when I mentioned Count Sharian.’
The mayor knew that Ethan was acquainted with the head of the Inspection Bureau, the core of the kingdom’s power.
He was shocked to learn that Ethan was also friends with Count Sharian, who had risen as the new absolute powerhouse in the northeastern region.
But Ethan had no way of knowing this.
“Albert, could you visit the Maydan border command again?”
“Of course, boss. You’ve given me such a large sum, if I had a conscience, I should go even if my legs break.”
“The road is dangerous, so don’t overdo it.”
He didn’t want the future great merchant to get hurt.
“You’re even worried about me. I’m truly touched!”
At the crossroads, Albert left saying he would return to the market to buy necessary items.
And when Ethan returned home.
“Ethan-nim~!!!”
“Whoa!”
He was startled by Ponya, who pounced on him like a wild beast.
“Ponya? When did you get back?”
“I just arrived today!”
“You’ve worked hard.”
As he patted her head.
Just as he was about to hear Ponya’s labyrinth adventure story.
“Ahem, ahem.”
Unfamiliar people approached.
“Hello.”
“Hello…?”
“Thank you for taking care of our daughter.”
The beastkin couple bowed politely.
“It’s all thanks to Ethan-nim!”
Ethan stood up while holding Ponya and offered his hand to Levin and Dolty.
“I’m Ethan.”
“I’m Levin, Levin Majira. This is my wife Dolty. Thank you again.”
When he guided the guests to the reception room.
Familiar people were waiting for him.
“You’ve all returned safely.”
“It’s all thanks to you telling us Levin and Dolty’s location. If not for that, we would have wasted at least a few more years in the labyrinth.”
Since those words weren’t wrong.
Ethan smiled lightly.
“Please make yourselves at home. The mansion is large, but there aren’t many people staying here.”
“Then we’ll gratefully rest. Haha.”
Ponya sat on Ethan’s lap and purred.
She looked just like a cat.
“If the Majira couple is alright with it, please stay here with Ponya. If it’s uncomfortable, I’ll help you find a house in Serdin.”
It was a tempting offer, but Levin hesitated.
For good reason.
Levin had been backstabbed by a business partner before.
His pure trust at the time came back to him as betrayal and debt.
He returned to the labyrinth to earn money to pay off the debt and was petrified.
Because of that, his only daughter was abandoned on the street and sold to the arena where she suffered.
‘He certainly seems like a good person, but I can’t fully trust him.’s always have purposes and motives.
Not knowing what Ethan wants right now.
It’s extremely suspicious to show only kindness to Ponya and the couple.
“What’s the price?”
“Pardon?”
“No one provides a place to live without any price.”
“Honey!”
“Wait. Ethan-ssi. You must want something from us. Otherwise, why would you take in people who are of no benefit to you?”
Ethan was taken aback for a very brief moment, but.
He quickly regained composure and answered.
“I want Ponya’s happiness.”
“…What?”
This time, Levin was flustered by his answer.
As beastkin with keener senses than humans.
He saw the sincerity evident in Ethan’s expression.
And Ethan’s answer was true.
“Talented children like Ponya should grow up and go out into the world to pursue their dreams. That’s what I believe. So I want Ponya to be happy.”
“Then…”
“Yes, strictly speaking, I want the Majira couple to lead a peaceful life. If that’s a price, then I suppose that’s my price.”
Smack!
“Ouch!”
“I’m sorry, Ethan-ssi. Oh my, dear! Hurry up and apologize!”
Dolty roughly slapped Levin’s back and.
Forcibly lowered his head by pressing the back of his head.
‘He’s shown kindness, yet instead of being grateful. He immediately says he’s suspicious to his face.’
It’s a wife’s duty to correct her husband’s rudeness.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Please raise your head. There’s no need to apologize at all. It’s natural to be suspicious of kindness without a price.”
Ponya stood in front of Levin with a triumphant expression.
“I told you, didn’t I? Ethan-nim isn’t that kind of person.”
“You’re really right, Ponya.”
Levin muttered while shedding a tear.
“It really turned out well.”

The number of residents in the once-empty mansion greatly increased.
“Yet it’s still so quiet.”
Despite the increase in people, far from being bustling.
The size of the mansion was once again realized by the fact that it was still quiet.
-Creak.
Two people entered Ethan’s office together.
“Sir Rashid, Teacher Yuria.”
“You called for us?”
“Yes, I have something to ask you both.”
The two tensed slightly.
They worried if he had judged that they weren’t properly teaching the outstanding children.
And if they would be kicked out like this.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
“It’s nothing special, I’m just curious about the children’s current state.”
What Ethan was curious about was.
‘These future big shot candidates, how strong are they now?’
With a sigh of relief, Sir Rashid opened his mouth.
“Levi and Hwaryon are beyond what you saw in the labyrinth, so I’ll skip them and talk about the new children. First, Greg is already an excellent swordsman. If Ponya is a swordsman skilled in charging and melee combat, Greg is a swordsman who maintains an appropriate distance and swiftly subdues opponents.”
“Greg is a diligent student who listens attentively in class. Though he has no talent for magic.”
A taciturn but diligent impression.
Greg was as Ethan knew.
Next was Kenny.
“She has abundant physical strength. She follows training well, but her interest quickly fades, so it’s difficult to teach her persistently.”
“Kenny quickly grasps all subjects I teach. She can even imitate low-level magic to some extent. Now I wonder if there’s anything left for me to teach her.”
“Then what does Kenny do these days?”
Sir Rashid and Yuria answered in unison.
“She studies by herself in the library.”
Kenny is a genius who does well on her own even if left alone.
Her combat ability is excellent too, but using Kenny on the battlefield would be a waste.
‘Let her tinker and research in her room.’
As expected, Ethan had bought various minerals and materials from the market and put them in storage.
Kenny will take them out and use them if needed.
“Elyssia is average. As expected, she doesn’t have the qualities to become a swordsman.”
“She’s also struggling with magic. Her innate holy power is so strong that mana can’t gather and scatters.”
“Does she listen well in class?”
“Since all I can teach her are basic liberal arts subjects, she listens diligently. To nurture her innate talent, I think we should entrust her to a priest.”
“I have something in mind for that part.”
No need to worry.
The best priest will visit here soon.
And lastly.
“Borka’s physical strength is terrible.”
Sir Rashid answered, ‘Even mages need physical strength. But Borka’s is too terrible.’
“Her innate talent is so outstanding that I’m only teaching theory and systems. I’m teaching her how to systematically use the magic she’s been using instinctively. In regular classes too, she’s the second smartest after Kenny, so I’m running out of things to teach her.”
The children’s level was higher than he expected.
That’s why Ethan could ask the question he wanted.
“Then if all these children were united, what level of opponent would they need to face to win?”
“Hmm…”
The two pondered for a moment.
Soon Yuria spoke first.
“Borka alone could erase a decent-sized city from the map.”
“To that extent?”
“If Borka wanted to. She has that much power.”
Following that, Sir Rashid’s assessment was:
“If Ponya, Hwaryon, Levi, and Greg form a team of 4, with Elyssia using her holy power for recovery, they could easily destroy 1-2 monster colonies.”
“Then if Borka and Kenny joined in…”
At that, Sir Rashid asked back with a shocked face.
“Ethan-nim, excuse me, but are you planning to wage a war?”
‘I see.’
After hearing the honest opinions of the teachers teaching the children.
‘Our kids are amazing.’
He secretly felt pleased as if he had been praised himself.
‘Then the monster colony said to be stationed in the abandoned mine should be nothing.’
“It’s not war, but there is something I need to do.”
“Pardon?”
“How about we all take a vacation together this time?”
The destination is Count Sharian’s domain.

In a dark alley of Etre.
Special Forces member Oros burned the directive.
Usually working as a gardener at the White Mansion, he was on a ‘special trip’ by Levi’s order.
[I am moving north following Him.]
[I’ll leave the specific command to the field.]
[As soon as the background is identified, annihilate the society leader and remaining members.]
The Special Forces had already smashed the society to the point where it could no longer act as a ‘pillar’ of the underworld.
However, Levi instructed to let the society leader and important executives go.
-There must be someone behind this.
The sudden increase in monsters.
It’s impossible with ordinary human power.
So Oros secretly pursued the society leader and.
Was able to discover a safe house.
There were five people left inside.
Except for a low-ranking executive going out to buy food and coming back, there were no visitors.
They were just wasting time endlessly.
But then.
-Creak.
Three people with deeply pulled-down hoods opened the door and entered.
Eavesdropping on the conversation, it was determined that the society leader knew them as familiar figures.
-…So, this is how it turned out?
-You call that an excuse? I’ll kill you all!
-Berda, calm down.
-How can I calm down! If Slaua heard this, she’d tell us to kill them right away! These idiots couldn’t even handle such an easy task properly!
-Why bring up that bitch who was half-digested in a monster’s stomach? Since when did we care about the weak?
-……
‘If it’s Slaua, she must be the demon worshipper the young lady encountered in the labyrinth. Are these her companions?’
Oros hurriedly scribbled on paper with a mana pen.
-P-Please have mercy…
-Ah, you guys stay still. Either way, only the method of dying will be different.
-…What?
-W-We did everything you told us to. Why now…
-Well, you guys failed, didn’t you? I don’t want to hear losers’ excuses.
As soon as he finished speaking.
The leader in the hood swiftly waved his hand.
-Swoosh!
Except for the society leader, all the other executives’ necks were cut and.
Five fountains of blood appeared in the safe house.
-Hii, hiik!
‘What cruel bastards.’
But they had done him a favor too.
Oros sent a mana messenger ball and.
Threw a poisoned needle at the society leader.
Thanks to the acceleration magic cast by infusing mana at the tip of the needle, it flew at a speed difficult to perceive with the naked eye and.
Lodged precisely in the nape of the society leader’s neck.
Mission complete.
He could just return like this, but.
“Who are you?”
“!”
One of the hooded figures who was inside the house until just now.
Grabbed Oros’s shoulder.
‘What strength…’
He attached a magic circle engraved with combustion magic on the hand grabbing his shoulder and flowed mana.
-Bang!
Thick smoke rose.
Though not fatal, the guy should have been shocked.
He tried to escape in that gap.
Smack!
“Ugh!”
“When someone talks to you, you should answer.”
Oros was hit in the face repeatedly and lost his balance, falling down.
What he saw as he fell was.
The identity of the guy revealed through the torn hood.
Long horns on top of the head.
A wriggling pitch-black tail.
And even jet-black wings spread wide behind the back.
‘Oh no…’
It was a demon worshipper who had given up on being human.
Oros thought this was a major issue that must be reported, but.
He completely lost consciousness after being hit by the guy’s fist that stretched out again.