CH 7

“That’s her?”

The knight looked at me with interest, not realizing that it was odd that I was walking up myself without the man.

“I was wondering how you would look when he mentioned a rabbit, but you look more human.”

The knight scanned me up and down, whistling.

“You look more like a human with bunny ears, heh?”

The knight laughed almost until his mouth was going to rip open, and then looked over to Victor, who was getting help from the villagers to stand.

“If she’s a guest, you should let her enjoy the party. Why did you make her stay at home, hiding the pretty girl all by yourself? Dirty little Victor, you wanted her all to yourself, right?”

Victor did not say anything, but the knight was asking a rhetorical question to satisfy his own needs in the first place. The knight sat back down and poured himself a drink once again.

“Rabbit lady! Come over and have a drink with me! Have a seat here.”

One thought crossed my mind when I saw that ugly looking figure:

‘Up close, he has a really ugly face.’

“Up close, you have a really ugly face.”

I didn’t mean to say that out loud, but it was such a true fact and slipped my mind. I had no intention to apologize, however.

“….they say that rabbits can survive because they are quick to take a hint, but this bunny seems to be pretty slow.”

The knight put his glass down and then stood back up, after laughing senselessly.

“Why do you think all the people struggle to face me, even though there are so many of them?”

The knight pounded his chest a couple of times.

“That’s because the man you are facing right now, is the infamous Sir John Palestine.” 

Of course, I had no idea what he was saying. 

“John who?”

The knight flinched his eyebrows when I asked.

“You are a jokester, bunny lady.”

I had no idea who he was, but to call oneself sir, he must have some pride from the days when he was a knight. He wouldn’t act so boastly otherwise. 

“Are you a knight, by any chance?” 

When I asked him, pretending to be clueless, he made a satisfied grin for the first time.

“That’s right! I was a knight. I still have knighthood in my heart, am as strong, brave as I was and protect these pitiful people.”

“You call this protection?”

I thought that he was absurd, but the knight was proud.

“Of course! Still, since I need money to protect this village, I am getting my fair share.”

All he knew was how to make a rotten fruit sound delicious. To call himself a man serving knighthood. The knights listening from the graces would rise from their deathbed and beat him if they would.

“So, bunny lady, do you get what’s going on, now?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“HEY!”

The knight finally screamed at me, and I had to cover my ears.

“You scared me!”

When I shouted at the knight, he just laughed.

“Well, there will be plenty of time for us to get to know each other.”

Then he let out his hand.

“Just follow me. If not, I will have no choice but to use force.”

To be honest, it would have been easy to just stab him in the face to kill a knight without helmet. He was acting as if he had no idea that I had the means to attack him. 

If he was a regular bandit or a thief, I would have just ended him like that. 

Still, since he declared his identity as a knight, so I thought I should keep my manners.

Because I am a swordsman, not a bandit. I didn’t want to be known as the swordsman who surprised a knight to death.

“What are you doing?”

When I took out leather gloves from my chest, the knight made a puzzles face, but

Slap!

The face he made after I threw the gloves at his face was much more entertaining.

“I, swordsman Aris Wafer, ask knight John Palestine, to a duel.”

The surroundings got quiet. The case was the same on the day I first threw my gloves at the city’s lead swordsman who was looking down at me, calling me a country boy. After I won the battle, people called me full of pride, but there were others who supported me for winning fairly.

“You want to ask me for a match?”

The knight looked at the leather gloves on the floor with a gruesome expression.

“That’s correct.”

When I replied holding out my rapier, the knight spoke as if he was in disbelief.

“There’s a limit that I can take just because you have a pretty face.”

The knight looked at me with a death stare, as if he was really angry.

“I wish you well.”

When I spoke these lines of battle with a serious face, the knight laughed.

“Well, it’s been a while since I had a match. Especially at such a shabby location like this, with a girl.”

The knight held his sword, flung it across a few times in the air, and then pointed it forward.

“Wekk, it doesn’t matter. You will find out how brash your acts were once I show you my skills. The cost might be a scar on your pretty face, but don’t blame me.”

Saying this, the knight approached me and flung his sword. I could tell that his knighthood was believable from the amount of force he used to strike.

Still, his action had three mistakes.

First, he did not wear his helmet. Had he worn a helmet, I would have found a gap between his armor to stab him. Now there was no need since his face and neck was widely exposed.

Second, he let his guard down because I was a female. He was too relaxed.

And lastly, he was just too slow.

Whoosh!

When I stepped back, the knight’s longsword slashed through the open air, and 

“Hiat!”

Looking at this I quickly stepped forward to stab the knight in the neck. 

Poosh! 

My rapier instantly pierced through the knight’s neck and then instantly came back out. 

“Khhhk!”

In shock, the knight opened his bloodshot eyes wide and then grabbed onto his neck.

“Sheek..sss..”

The knight trembled while walking over towards the villagers, but only hissing sounds of air came out, and 

Thud!

He fell forwards. 

“That was not even a challenge.”

I could not understand that the villagers struggled for this little guy.

“He’s dead!”

“She really killed him?”

“She killed him so easily!”

The villagers started to get excited, of course, and 

“He’s finally dead!”

“Hooray!”

And some even shouted from joy.

“Thank you!”

“Thanks to you, we have gained peace again!”

The women especially thanked me.

“Why were we so afraid of him? The mayor could beat him easily.”

Why were they not fighting back?

“It’s not him that we are afraid of.”

Victor, who was getting treated, let out a sigh.

“It’s the guy behind all this.”

“A guy?”

Who would be leading all of this?

“He is the subordinate of ‘Slave King Pucci’.”

I knew who Pucci was.

Pucci was the guy that the original 

He was the villain in the sequel that the novel’s original protagonist, Jarrod, should have gone to catch. As the writer foretold the sequel, Pucci was involved in all the slave traders and criminal gangs in this novel, and that he had a brutal personality, and that only his executives knew who he was.

“Pucci?”

However, the Pucci episode did not come out, probably because the novel was not that popular. In addition, since Jarrod, who was supposed to catch Pucci, was misaligned from the beginning and disappeared, I would be the one to catch Pucci. That’s how the side story should be. And if I catch Pucci, I will be able to reach the conclusion of this novel, and whatever the outcome, I will find out where to go.

“Yes. Don’t tell me you don’t know who Pucci is?”

Victor made a face out of surprise.

“Of course I know him well.”

I boasted that I knew him well instead of knowing of him, and Victor nodded as if he expected this answer.

“Yes, you would know him especially well as a dual specimen.”

Then Victor pointed at me.

“So you should return to your home town.”

“Huh? Why is that?”

When I asked, Victor made a puzzled face in return.

“Well for us, we have many places we could move to. But it’s not the same for us. Even when all of us keep our mouths shut, he will know that it’s you. He just has a way to get all the information. So you should go back home, at least you will be safe there.”

But since I had already made up my mind to catch Pucci, I had no plans to go back. Victor was worried. So, my solution was to make him not worry

“Then that’s good.”

I acted as if I already knew, nodding. Victor and others made a surprised face at my response.

“What do you mean good?”

“Victor, you remember how you asked me earlier why I came to this town?”

Then Victor dropped his jaw, as if he knew what I was going to say.

“That means that you are..?”

“Yes.”

I dug through the body of the dead knight. I wasn’t looking for something in particular, but just wanted to grab something random. There was a handkerchief with blood stains.

“I am tracking Pucci’s subordinates. Finding such symbols of subordination of Pucci as these.”

It was a lie, to be honest. The handkerchief was a random object, but the gullible villagers already believed this.

“And finally, I will kill Pucci. That is the purpose and reason of my journey. Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

When I emphasized the last part as if I was telling them a big secret, the villagers finally had light on their faces again.

“I see!”

“I knew that you came here for a reason!”

“I knew that she wasn’t just a regular passerby!”

The villagers started to get excited. 

“As expected. Just ‘venturing’ wasn’t your true purpose.”

Victor seemed to believe this as well. To be honest, I was really just venturing out, but I nodded in agreement.

“Good then! Let’s resume the party! This time for Aris, who is on a great mission!”

“Hooray!”

And the festival resumed.

“Thank you, Aris. Due to your work, our village has gained peace once again.”

Victor bowed his head and thanked me while looking out to the festival.

“We still have John’s subordinates, right?”

From my concern, Victor made a stern face. 

“As long as he’s dead, his subordinates will go their own ways. Well, it doesn’t really matter if they return. You motivated me. If they still can’t take a hint, my ax will be there to teach them their final lesson.”

Victor really meant this. If the subordinates of John Palestine were to come again, their skulls would be cracked by that ax.

“Then you go ahead and enjoy this festival. I have told Diana to prepare your food, she should be here soon.”

Like that Victor disappeared into the crowd, and a moment later I could see Diana heading over with a plate of food. It was finally my turn to eat.

“Dear Aris, here you go.”

But on the plate that Diana brought over, there was….a salad.

“Why are there only greens? Where’s the meat?”

When I asked, Diana was even more confused.

“Don’t rabbits just eat vegetables?”

That would be the case, but I did not want to eat them.

“Not something like this.”

I handed the plate back to Diana, and then headed over to the barbeque boar that people were enjoying.

“You want some, too?”

The hunter, who was distributing the meat, made a surprised face.

“Why, I shouldn’t?”

“You can, but do bunnies eat meat?”

“Just give it to me!”

I finally got my own food after fighting for it, 

“Yummy! Barbeque is always the best!”

And was finally able to eat something today.