"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested in any duels. This city already managed to disappoint me, and I do not wish to remain on its streets for any longer than necessary. With that, we will have to excuse ourselves…"

Grasping Eve's hand even stronger, I barely managed to make a few steps back before the middle-aged man that so-far acted quite polite appeared right in front of me, despite how my new direction was completely opposite to where I was heading before.

"I'm sorry, but I'm worried that I will have to insist."

With a kind smile still plastered on top of his lips, the middle-aged man looked at me before moving his eyes to the girl behind my shoulder. Suddenly licking his lips clean with a lascivious look in his eyes, he added.

"Unless you are willing to leave that girl aside. I can accept her as the price that the surrendering side is ought to offer to the victor."

At first, I could feel my blood once again riling up. But before this power of fury could escape from my grasp and teach that middle-aged man a lesson without even any prompting from my consciousness, I managed to rein my force back into my own control.

"Respectable sir, so far I treated you kindly and with the respect that your age deserves. But I do not recall surrendering to you, nor ever accepting any notion of duelling. Unless you are willing to openly admit that you are willing to attack me in the open of the street, turning you into a common robber and a bandit that any sane man wouldn't spare any effort in putting down like a dog, then I expect no further attempts from your side to entice my fury anymore."

Initially, I thought that this man meant what he said before, but when I noticed how calm the depths of his eyes were, I had no other choice but to realise that he was simply trying to provoke me. And given how I had absolutely no interest in wasting any more of my time in this city where Katenaris were bound to jump on any opportunity to punish me for killing one of their own, duelling with some random cultivator was on the opposite end of the scale of what was currently my priority.

"Wisely said, I have to admit… But in this city, wisdom or morals no longer do apply. I'm sorry, young man, but I was tasked with duelling with you, and no matter what you say, I will make that duel happen. Be it in the arena.."

Changing his stance so fast that I barely managed to even catch it with my eyes, this middle-aged man suddenly appeared before me with his sword already unsheathed.

"... or directly here, on the street, if that's more to your liking."

As much as it pained me to admit it, with the task of protecting Eve from any attempts that someone from the street could make, I had no choice of matching that middle-aged man's speed. Unless I was willing to let my body focus purely on the fighting, I would stand no chance against this man's attacks.

"And can you promise that once I will defeat you, no one will disturb us any longer during our way out of the city? That's all I need you to promise, as I can make sure no one will ever catch up to us once we are outside of its borders."

While I already acknowledged that there was no escaping from the fight, it was now the time to make sure I could make the most of the ongoing situation.

"Yes, for my name as the head of a huge house, I can promise you a safe passage out of the city, and even the safety within it if that were what you would like to obtain. I do promise on my name."

It didn't escape my attention that the man didn't bother with something as obvious at revealing what his name actually was. Even though it alerted me a bit, it's not like it changed the situation by any means.

"Then let's get moving."

With my face and tone darkening by the same degree, I only grasped Eve's hand a bit tighter, seeking comfort in her presence. Feeling her nimble fingers returning the favour, I turned my head around only to see her brimming with happiness.

Even though no one voiced this part, it would take someone incredibly naive to fail to notice that the current pinch that we were in was caused by the fact that I took it as my priority to defend Eve from any harm. While I could tell that it wasn't something that she enjoyed, just the fact that I was willing to go to any lengths necessary for her was still capable of putting a smile on Eve's face.

"Dear… I'm sorry but it seems that we don't really have much choice. Can you let me fight this one last time? After that, let's just find some calm and peaceful place to settle in, okay?"

Bringing Eve's hands to my mouth, I placed a gentle kiss on her fingers.

I was perfectly aware of how I was doing the worst thing possible if my life was ever turned into a novel. Speaking out those words would be akin to a disaster if it was a story that someone wrote, only inviting the misfortune to my life. Thankfully, there was no signs that this world was nothing more than just ink on the paper that someone put in their drug-caused state of mind. This was the real-life and a real damned world, where no cliche words really mattered.

"Sure. I'm looking forward to it."

Hearing her response, I suddenly realised that something was wrong with Eve. While she was still clearly capable of thinking and reacting to what was going on, it seemed as if her eyes were turning slightly hazy, sleepy?

Unable to solve this kind of mastery on the spot, I only shrug my arms before following the middle-aged man in the direction that he pointed at before. After all, there would be way more than enough time to solve whatever was troubling Eve after I would smash his head into the ground as many times as it would take for his arrogance to evaporate, allowing this damned middle-aged man to surrender!