I Reincarnated Into A Single-Celled Organism!

Although it was unreasonable to expect another level up, I still couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. The mana I needed to absorb was naturally going to grow at every level. Even though paragons contained far more mana than the microscopic creatures I consumed in the pool, in truth I had consumed sometimes millions of creatures before I was finally able to gain a level. If I started killing mortals and similarly absorbing them, I’d become an enemy of this world in no time.

That didn’t mean that I was going to act reserved when people were threatening my life. The only reason I had held back before was because I still didn’t have a good grasp on this world. I didn’t know how powerful the paragon families were or their top paragon levels. Since being in Stormberg and attending the academy, I have a much clearer understanding now. Although it’d be too much to say they weren’t a threat, in the same ways they could wield considerable power, they were also restricted in just as many ways.

For example, even though I just killed this boy from the Stride family, the elder did not attack immediately. They were seemingly bound by certain proprieties and couldn’t act recklessly. Jordan was furious, but he looked to the elder even as his hand stroked his blade. Although the elder appeared calm, that didn’t mean he wasn’t angry himself. His eyes flashed with killing intent as he stared at me.

“What insolence!” The elder bellowed. “You dare kill one of our own in front of me? Good… good… I wonder how you think you’ll get out of this one!”

“What? So, he’s allowed to try to kill me, yet I’m not allowed to kill him back?” I asked calmly. “Is attempted murder meaningless in your eyes?”

“It was a mistake, and you were not harmed!” Jordan couldn’t contain his rage any longer.

“One does not mistakenly attempt to murder someone else. He had every intent to kill me. Since he failed, isn’t death a natural conclusion?”

“That’s not for you to decide!” The elder snapped before glaring at the headmistress. “Will you still attempt to protect him now? He has killed one of us. Even the academy should know students are only allowed so much leeway.”

The headmistress’s lips tightened and she shot me an unhappy expression. “I am sorry, Spirit. Now that a direct member of the household is involved, I am not able to protect you anymore.”

I smiled at her. “It’s fine. I’ve never needed the protection of another.”

“Hmph, we’ll see about that.” The elder snapped. “On behalf of the city of Stormberg, arrest him. He will be interrogated. Once we have a confession, we’ll see if he can act so smug.”

“N-no!” To my surprise, both Penelope and Erika moved between me and the Stride guards.

“You dare get in our way?” The elder demanded.

The two women exchanged a look, but then they turned back to the oncoming soldiers without moving a step.

“You two are currently not at fault.” The headmistress spoke up. “Come over here immediately. This is an official command from the academy. You are to stay out of this.”

The two girls look faltered. Penelope still looked somewhat defiant, but Erika looked extremely worried.

“It’s okay,” I told the two women. “I don’t think they’ll be arresting me tonight.”

Erika relaxed slightly and nodded, stepping aside, but Penelope still looked worried. She still ended up choosing to move aside, but the anxiousness was clearly on her face. It felt somewhat nice being worried about by two beautiful women, but I decided it was better not to say that in this atmosphere.

“Where do you get such confidence?” The elder snorted. “Capture him!”

“Stop, immediately!”

Before the guards could take another step, a third group approached from behind. The elder’s smug expression turned somewhat ugly. Another group of soldiers appeared, making this normally small path quite crowded. The leader of this group had the colors of Capala, and their leader was Abigail. Shockingly, right behind her was her uncle, who in a rare instant was supporting her completely. As soon as Penelope saw her father, she immediately relaxed.

“Father, these people tried to attack us…” Penelope ran over to the Capala side while I remained standing at the center of the three groups.

“Daughter, we have already been informed on the matter.” Her father quickly reassured her.

“Capala!” The elder spoke almost like it was a curse. “Are you going to stand in the way of our justice?”

“Justice?” Abigail raised an eyebrow. “You call arresting the young master of the Capala household after attempting to rob and kill him justice? You seem to have an interesting idea on justice!”

It seemed like Penelope’s father hadn’t been speaking nonsense. I didn’t know where their information network was, but they seemed to already have a good idea of everything that had transpired in the last fifteen minutes. Even my sentinels weren’t able to determine how they knew, although I knew they were coming and when they’d arrive. It was part of the reason I had chosen to take the risk and kill the Stride leader. It was better to give them a proper warning now before they grew bolder.

“We don’t have all the details!” The elder spoke coldly. “All we know for certain is that one of our nobles and several of our bodyguards were killed by this man!”

“That’s not true-“ Penelope tried to argue but her father quickly silenced her with a finger.

“So, you wish to investigate.]?” Abigail spoke without an ounce of nervousness. “Good, I agree. I expect a full explanation and apology for why you attacked my future husband and cousin!”

“This, what about him?” The elder looked like he swallowed something unpleasant.

“We will naturally carry out our investigation. Spirit will be questioned and we will provide you with an explanation as well. Should we find out our party was at fault, we will make sure a suitable recompense is offered. I suspect you won’t have any issues with this?”

“Y-you…” The elder scrunched up his nose and then snorted. “Fine! Clean up the bodies!”

It was obvious he wasn’t trying to clean up things, but make sure that no one else could find anything that might incriminate his family more. Neither Abigail nor the headmistress made a move to prevent his men from picking up all the bodies. They were wrapped up and unceremoniously tossed on the back of a horse. They didn’t even look twice at the body of the so-called family member who had passed. When they were finished, he ordered his men to head back to town, but he shot Abigail a glare first.

“Times are changing. Peace never remains long among the provinces. When war descends, you should think very carefully about who you will have by your side and who you will have across from it!”

“I’ll take the elder’s advice into careful consideration.” She responded icily.

He gave one more snort before turning and leaving with his men. When the Stride family had finally gotten a distance away, the two remaining groups began to relax. The uncle made a noise of disgust.

“If this was even just five years before, such a small family would never dare to threaten the Capala family!” He remarked. “People in Stormberg have forgotten our power.”

“I suspect that you can take everything from here?” A gentle voice came from the Academy side.

“Headmistress.” Abigail smiled and gave a polite curtsy. “Thank you for protecting my cousin and fiancé.”

The headmistress smiled back. “It’s my duty as the headmistress of this academy to protect any students and this road. I feel responsible for them facing danger. We guarantee the safety of those traveling to the academy, and yet this road ended up covered in blood.”

“All peace requires a cost in blood,” Abigail responded. “I prefer to pay the blood for peace than to waste the blood in war.”

The headmistress gave a nod but then hesitated. “Um…”

“Speak your mind.”

“I notice our instructor guest is traveling with your fiancé. I didn’t realize the pair were acquaintances.” She awkwardly brought it up.

Erika turned red as she stepped forward. “I apologize. I know there are no dorm rooms at the academy and I was looking for a place to stay. Master Spirit is a friend and he offered me a place.”

I noticed a few people from the Capala side giving me sharp looks, but before Abigail could respond, the headmistress spoke up.

“Nonsense. You should have said something to me earlier. Although we have no dorm for students, we naturally can offer residence to guests who need it. You can stay with me for the night.”

“Ah… b-but…” Erika glanced in my direction.

“No arguing, it isn’t proper to spend a night in the mansion of an engaged man, correct?”

“Y-yes…” She lowered her head and finally acquiesced. “I’m sorry, Spirit, I must go.”

I smiled at her. “It’s fine. We will meet again before you leave.”

Her mood brightened. “I will like that.”

She quickly walked away. Abigail was staring at her with a somewhat perplexed look, while many of the guys were shooting me jealous or unhappy expressions. Once she was next to the headmistress, she gave her farewell and left.

Finally, it was just me and the Capala household.