Chapter 153: Monster
Helmut was a name that carried weight wherever one went—even in a tiny back-country village like this.
So it’s a reputation born of infamy, Isaac mused.
Scandalous rumors always travel fastest and furthest; Helmut was probably no exception.
“A-Ahh!! We’re so sorry!”
Men who had been openly hostile moments ago now dropped to their knees in apology.
Isaac looked down at the one called Petri and asked,
“Why did you blow up just now? Hurling curses the instant we met?”
At his question, the onlooking villagers turned pale. Simply mistreating anyone from Helmut invited disaster, and everyone seemed to know it.
“F-forgive me! I… I had a dreadful day yesterday! P-please spare me just this once and I’ll be grateful my whole life!”
Isaac said nothing. Petri peeked at him, then lowered his head even further.
“The truth is… I have a sweetheart. The one woman I’ve ever loved. But last night I saw her bring another man into her house—”
It sounded tragic enough—yet jeers rose all around.
“Oi, Petri! Stop spewing nonsense!”
“A ‘sweetheart’? Ha! Since when did you have a woman?”
“He’s lying! Don’t forgive him—off with his head!”
The crowd turned on a dime. A moment ago they’d stood up for Petri; mention a woman and they demanded punishment.
Figures. Men will preen whenever a lady’s in play.
Isaac finally understood why so many men here strutted about in their finest.
Leaning toward his master, he whispered,
“Master, there’s got to be one special woman in this village.”
“Hm. So a siren, is it?” the Grandmaster nodded, catching on. “If you were born a woman, you’d be just like her.”
“…You’re way off.”
“Doesn’t feel that way to me,” the Grandmaster grumbled, folding her arms.
****
As Hunter’s Apology, they agreed to eat lunch at Petri’s house instead of the tavern. The ill-tempered hunter had brought down a deer a few days ago and offered to cook it by way of apology.
His sturdy log cabin sat on the village’s edge where it met the wilds. The interior was as spartan as the outside. Sharen looked around and sniffed.
“Tiny place. Feels like a storage shed. We should’ve eaten at the tavern. Smells like a bachelor pad—same stink as Lohengrin’s room.”
Petri’s shoulders flinched. That jab had landed.
“Eat here and even Helmut’s guts will revolt. Isaac, let’s go back to the tavern.”
“…Did someone hit you with a spell?”
“Huh? No.”
Seated around the round table, Isaac let his gaze roam.
“You said you took a deer?”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“Where are the antlers and hide?”
“P-pardon?”
“Meat’s nice, but the hide and antlers fetch real coin. I don’t see them.”
“Ah… well… I—gifted them.”
“Gifted?”
“To the lady I mentioned. Scarlett. She lives in the little wooden house at the village’s north end—red roof, can’t miss it.”
The Grandmaster grinned, ears and tail practically twitching for gossip.
“We’re outsiders, just passing through. No one’ll spread your love woes. Spill.”
“Not interested,” Rihanna said flatly.
“Feed Isaac for me.”
“…Once the food’s out.”
“Really? Then I’ll eat very slowly.”
She simply didn’t care about village drama.
Still, under the Grandmaster’s expectant stare, Petri sagged and confessed.
“T-truth is… nearly every man here courts her. You could say the whole village is in love with Scarlett.”
All three women’s gazes locked onto Isaac.
“…Why are you looking at me?”
Isaac fired back so sharply—something he seldom did—that the women quickly looked away again.
“But she truly loves me!” Petri insisted. “She told me—she said she loves me!”
Click.
The Grandmaster smacked his lips and reached for the food. “Let’s eat. I expected an amusing tale, but this is just pitiful. I’ll pretend I never heard it.”
“Pathetic!” Sharen snapped.
“P-pathetic?!” Petri squeaked.
Maybe she really is caught in that Vassalization spell, Isaac thought.
“So that’s why everyone glared when Isaac showed up?” Rihanna asked coldly. “I was furious, you know.”
Petri’s face drained of color. “Y-yes, ma’am. He’s so handsome we worried he might catch Scarlett’s eye…”
“Isaac doesn’t fall for women that easily,” Rihanna warned, voice hard as stone.
“Got it? Don’t judge him so lightly. He’s not that kind of man.”
“Y-yes! I’m sorry!”
“Repeat it. Isaac doesn’t show interest in just any woman—only in someone special.”
“I-Isaac-nim only—”
“That’s enough.” Isaac stuffed a bite of food into her mouth before the embarrassment killed him.
Unable to speak, Rihanna chewed with an oddly calm—almost brazen—look.
I’m getting far too used to this, Isaac thought.
“Isaac, I’m done.”
“You’re getting weirdly bold.”
“Ahhn.”
She closed her eyes and opened her mouth again, unashamed.
Sharen muttered, “My Unnie is falling apart,” but Rihanna pretended not to hear. Hiding it was pointless now.
Just then a hubbub rose outside—mostly men’s voices—and a heady perfume seeped in through the window.
A knock, the door opened, and a mysterious woman stepped inside. She was Sharen’s height but somehow far more… mature.
“Urk.”
“That smell…!”
The scent was so strong even Sharen and Rihanna, who were unusually sensitive, grimaced.
Their groans were drowned out by Petri’s shout:
“S-Scarlett! What brings you here?!”
So that’s Scarlett, Isaac thought. She was certainly striking, but he glanced sideways at Rihanna.
Catching his look, Rihanna stared back and asked, “Who’s prettier?”
“You were never the type to ask that.”
“I— I think it every day… on the inside.”
Isaac said nothing. To be honest, Scarlett’s famed allure left him mostly unmoved.
“I just had to thank you,” Scarlett said sweetly, “for the antlers and hide you gave me.”
Scarlett slipped inside as though this were her own home, the excited chatter filtering through the doorway making her popularity plain.
“Oh, were you eating? I’m so sorry. But who are your guests…?”
“J-just friends! Scarlett, will you join us?” Petri ignored everyone else the moment the woman he adored appeared and rushed to seat her.
With a smiling tilt of her eyes, Scarlett approached.
“By the command of the household spi—”
KWA-DUK!
A blade rammed into her mouth with a grisly crunch, cutting the words—and a gush of blood—short.
Isaac, sword still lodged between her lips, glared murderously.
“You were staring at Riha from the moment you stepped through the door.”
“—!”
“If you can’t even mask your gaze, how do you plan to survive in this brutal world?”
The Grandmaster chuckled, clicking here tongue.
“S-S-Scarlett!” Petri cried. The village men burst in, ready to pounce—only to freeze at the sight of the sword in Scarlett’s mouth.
Scarlett herself threw her eyes wide and stretched out a hand. A second mouth sprouted from her palm and spoke in her own voice:
“Rihanna must at once—!”
“Hoo-ah!” the Grandmaster shouted.
Thud!
Her great broadsword flashed; Scarlett’s wrist hit the floor in a neat arc.
Isaac yanked Rihanna into his arms, palms clamping over her ears.
“We have to get out—now.”
“Hold her tight,” the Grandmaster warned.
“They’re dead-set on dragging your ex-wife away.”
“Mm-ph!” Sharen, still chewing a mouthful of meat, thrust out a hand—Red Flame Wave—men at the doorway flew backward in a fiery blast. Experience had taught her to act fast.
Isaac shielded Rihanna, hands still covering her ears.
“Riha, say anything—block out their voices.”
“B-being this close… my heart’s racing,” she panted, eyes rising to his neck.
“I love you—really love you.”
Isaac said nothing.
“I can’t stand it. I love you, Isaac. Love you. Love you.”
Her breath traced his throat and brushed his chin, and Isaac felt a stab of regret.
‘This really wasn’t the part I should’ve taken.’
---The End Of The Chapter---
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