Keith had made a mistake but there was no way for him to take it back at this stage. He would just have to act his way out of this situation as well.

'Anyway, it will not take long for Shinzou to arrive here. I will have to do my best to make myself not stand out familiarly.'

Keith looked at his phone's GPS setting and he noticed something peculiar about it that he had not yet noticed. The phone GPS showed the location of Clair as well as Shinzou. And they were both hearing his way.

Of course, Shinzou reached his location first and looked around with a keen eye to spot the grandmaster. He was not able to see anyone so the man checked his phone again.

"Grandmaster, is this some new kind of play? What are you doing out here- hey, you are not the grandmaster! Who are you? And why do you have the grandmaster's phone in your hand."

Keith looked around before realizing that Shinzou was talking to him. He looked down at his phone which was beeping.

Before Keith could deny anything, Master Shinzou ended up dialing his number, and the phone in his hand vibrated with Master Shinzou's number on the screen. And with that, the plausibility of denial flew out of the window.

'No, calm down Keith. Do not let this man get to you. Shinzou has yet to recognize you so you are safe for now.'

So, Keith pulled himself together and began to perform to the best of his capabilities. The bar he had to cross was massive and he was nervous to be facing Shinzou.

"You mean, this phone? Well, I simply borrowed it for the time being since I had some work to do and my own got lost. Someone came and handed it to me. He also assured me that he would get it back once my work was done."

'Shit, what am I saying? How can I say the dumbest thing at such a time?'

Keith mentally smacked himself, knowing fully well that even a kid would not believe his explanation. There was no way Shinzou would believe him and-

"Ah, so that is what happened? I understand and I can see it happening as well. After all, the grandmaster is such a nice and benevolent person. Surely, he will listen to you and help you out in your time of need."

Master Shinzou nodded to himself as he recalled some lost memories only, he knew. 

'H-He bought this excuse? Man, just how blindly adored is the grandmaster in Shinzou's eyes? It makes me nervous to be discovered by him.'

Keith tensed and released at the same time. But mostly, he was relieved to no longer be worried about the phone incident.

"So anyway, did you get any strange message on this phone?"

Master Shinzou asked as he tried to look over Keith's shoulder and at his phone screen. It displayed a message from Clair and nothing more.

Just as Keith was about to tell Master Shinzou more about it, the crowd in his surroundings started to freak out and something huge caused a dust cloud to form. People started running all over the place and trying to defend their lives.

Keith was spared from answering whatever Shinzou wanted to ask next because of this reason. He was looking at the dust cloud with a closed-off expression on his face as well.

"Hey, you should go and hide. There is an annoying pest following a member of my guild so I will go and resolve it on my own."

Shinzou warned Keith and Keith wanted to take this advice so badly. But Clair's life was on the line and that was the only reason Keith had to decline this offer.

He was rooted in place for a little longer than he should have and the cloud reached the plaza he was in. Keith noticed Clair leading the cloud and she looked exhausted.

From one look, it was clear that Clair was about to faint at any time. But she still had enough awareness to not call Keith by his real name.

"N-Noah, help me out."

Clair cried out as she reached him. Her body collapsed in Keith's arms as she pulled herself closer to Keith. 

Keith looked up to see what was hiding in the cloud and he could not help but gulp down his nervousness when he noticed that it was a weirdly deformed dog with three eyes and three legs.

It was limping around as it followed Clair but even then, he was fast enough to not allow Clair to escape.

The dog attacked suddenly and it took a split second for Keith's instincts to snap and he created a shield to stop the dog's attack.

That heavy paw collided with Keith's shield and he was worried when the pressure caused him pain and annoyance. The shield also looked like it would not hold on for much longer.

'Shit, what is this? Did I forget to pour a lot of mana? Or, is this dog special and that is why I am facing such a problem.'

Keith did not know what was wrong with his mana. He just knew that it was not working as intended. But the dog was finally pushed aside by Master Shinzou once he recovered from what was worrying him.

Sword struck the place where the three-eyes dog had been standing seconds before and then Master Shinzou straightened his posture as he took a defensive stance in front of the injured pair.

"Tsk, I can see that you will be useless in a fight, kid. And Clair looks like she is hurt. I will not ask what kind of relationship you both share for now so relax and let me take care of this monster first."

Keith could not tell you how relieved he felt once he heard those words. His fears were coming to rest once a strong person had vowed to defend him and Clair.

"Clair, things would be alright now. So can you tell me what happened that pushed you into this state?"

Keith asked as he took in Clair's rough appearance and it was certain that she had been through some things during her time when she was missing.

But color had finally returned to her face and Clair looked fresh as Keith took her complexion in., he could finally start grilling her for answers without feeling like a jerk.

"Y-You idiot. Do not relax so soon just because Shinzou took charge of the situation. That thing is a Fenrir beast, one of the god's familiars. No human is a match for that thing since the beat is immune to mana."

Clair yelled and whispered these words at the same time. It seemed like she did not want others to know what she had said but she could not help herself at the same time.

Shock colored her voice as Clair tried to stand up. Her mana seemed to be slowly coming back to her which was a fortunate thing for her. She was not about to become dependent on Keith.

She looked up, ready to attack the beast which had tormented her thus far but she was surprised to see that Master Shinzou was holding up far better than she has expected him to hold up.

Not only that but it genuinely seemed as if Master Shinzou was winning this fight between himself and the beast. The beast had started to retreat a little and it seemed to be injured as well.

"Master Shinzou, wait for a second. We will help you as well."

Clair yelled as she took a fighting stance. That was the wrong thing to do since Clair still did not have enough mana in her body.

The beast took notice of Clair's weak state and decided to change targets. If it could not kill this human in front of him then he would be happy to drag the half-goddess as a sacrifice. That was what his mission was.

But his claws found themselves clashing with a familiar force once again. It was a god's power but it was being wielded by a human. It infuriated the beast's instincts and it was enraged.

They quickly looked around for the reason this was all happening and his eyes fell on the human male with a familiar earring. It was the same human whom the beast had dismissed as not important.

But now the beast was rearing to get rid of this human. He had lived long enough by using the god's powers. And this human could not be allowed to live any longer.

"Shit Noah, hurry up and run away. The beast is coming after you."

Clair yelled as soon as she noticed where the beast's attention had shifted. And she was the only one who noticed it in time.

The shield broke down under the beast's claws and Keith was left vulnerable to its attacks. He had to brace himself if he did not want to be impaled by those sharp claws.

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