Raising Yanderes to save the world

’Things are going well so far. This should make me feel good...but I feel annoyed for some reason. Can’t Cardinal Flux move his plans along already? That way, I can leave this festival early.’

The kids were enjoying their first time out, but Kael’s head was filled with worries instead.

This outing would have been much more relaxing if he could use magic to sense the enemies’ locations. But his magic had been sealed as soon as he arrived at the Holy Grounds.

Kael knew that these bindings could not stop him. He could easily break out of them if he wanted to. But doing so would cause an explosion big enough to destroy the whole area.

Luckily, sword masters were not as affected as he was. So both Leon and Iris had a good chance of getting away.

Reassured by that thought, Kael decided to take his eyes off the kids for one second and shop for himself as well. He was sure he saw something that he needed for his research.

So he headed toward the stall and looked at the ingredients.

"Sir, welcome to my store. What would you like to buy today? We have all kinds of premium goods here."

The shopkeeper looked shady as he welcomed Kael in. He reminded Kael of the stereotypical shady characters in dramas. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

But since the goods looked genuine, Kael still decided to head into the shop and browse around for a few unrelated things.

He picked up an herb that he knew was worth a lot but did not need. He presented it to the shopkeeper and decided to ask for its price.

"How much are you selling it for?"

The shopkeeper’s eyes lit up as soon as he noticed what Kael had picked up.

"Sir, it is our premium stock. Look at the way it’s cultivated. I believe this price should be fair for both of us."

The man wrote down the price and Kael instantly knew he was being ripped off by this man.

He decided to put the material down and silently walked out of the store.

The shopkeeper looked shocked by his behaviour. He was mostly used to seeing people buy stuff without paying attention to the price. Especially those who were dressed as nicely as Kael.

Not only that, but the merchant recognized Kael as the youngest Grand Master who had been raised inside the Tower. Surely such a kid had no way of knowing what the actual price of such a plant was?

’Is this a coincidence? But still-! I cannot let a Grand Master leave my store without buying anything. It would make people question whether my stuff is genuine or not.’

The shopkeeper panicked. At that moment, he knew that he needed to secure Kael’s business, even if he had to take some losses in the process.

"S-Sir, wait! That price I offered you...I think there has been a mistake. Please let me check again."

The shopkeeper yelled and Kael paused.

Seeing that Kael was willing to listen, the shopkeeper quickly wrote down a price a little lower than the original market price of the product.

"Here, this is my real price. Would you like to buy it?"

The shopkeeper asked, trying not to show that he was desperate.

Kael took the price and he was relieved to see that his bluff had worked. He quickly turned back and headed inside again.

"I see. So this is the real price? Then, how much would you sell this to me for?"

Kael picked up the plant he actually wanted to buy and the shopkeeper quickly discounted that common herb.

"How about this much? I-I can reduce it a little more if you would like me to."

The shopkeeper asked and Kael accepted that offer.

It felt nice to loot the rich for once and Kael packed everything before he came out of the store...and immediately noticed that he had lost sight of the kids and Iris.

Thankfully, he had them carry rune magic that he could trace and Kael followed it.

But as he quickly got close to Leon and the others, he began to sense more faint magical signatures that did not feel friendly.

In fact, Kael could feel the hostility coming off these new creatures in waves.

’Shit! So the Cardinal decided to make his move after all. I need to get the kids out of the anti-magic shield’s influence. Then I can properly fight these creatures.’

Kael hurried toward the kids, but something felt weird.

The energy signatures that he was following were not going after the kids. In fact, it almost felt as if they were coming after him.

No sooner had Kael had this thought than he felt a monster brush past him and he jumped back in time to avoid the bite.

"W-What is that? A b-beast? How did they get here? S-Someone, go and get the temple guards."

The people nearby panicked as they saw the beasts going after Kael. Everyone was afraid that these monsters would come after them as well.

Kael quickly took out the runes he had prepared while anticipating such a situation. He immediately created a barrier around the beasts and looked at the crowd behind him.

"You all should get going. Get to a safe place and tell the priests to drop the anti-magic barrier. Otherwise, you won’t even be safe after getting to the sanctuary."

That was likely not true, but Kael’s words caused people to panic.

"I-I am going to die? I don’t want that! Please, help us out. Save us-"

"Go and tell that to the priests. You all can use protection magic once the barrier goes down."

Kael reminded the people and they immediately got influenced by him and ran away. They would make sure the priests released the barrier.

But whether it would happen before Kael was chewed on by these monsters or not was a different story.

The beasts lunged toward him and he used his runes as defensive tools to push them backward.

It was unfortunate that he was only going to last as long as these runes lasted, but Kael had packed a lot of them.

’Hopefully, the kids are having a better time compared to me. It was a good idea to help Iris sneak her sword in here.’

Kael huffed as he pushed the monsters back. He was about to use another rune when he felt a sharp pain in his leg. He looked down and immediately saw the golden glow of holy powers shackling him in place.

"Darn it! I knew this was a trap. First, you bastards take away my magic and now my leg as well? I am going to destroy you once this is over."