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Chapter 44 - Eyelids (17)
Shhhk!
Rakshaha gave Professor a smile as beautiful as a field of blossoms as she pulled out the dagger stuck on the table. It was very weird. That bloodstained knife went so well with that woman. He couldn’t turn his eyes away from the sight of her carefully stroking the blade with her hand.
“Hey, Mister. A relationship is when two people get to know each other’s hidden parts one by one.”
Ping!
When her slender finger flicked the side of the dagger’s blade, the blood clinging to it immediately flew off, revealing an eerily clean silver blade.
“A client is also a sort of relationship, so…..I’m thinking, why don’t we answer each other’s questions one by one?”
Professor put on a blank face, as if he were still affected by the drugs, and started to analyze the situation once again.
‘She’s skilled. That knife…it’s basically an extended limb. She seems to know her way with daggers. She definitely didn’t get to that position with her original skills. That drug they gave me. Her attire and attitude. And the slight tension she lets out when she talks. All of these are devices for clouding the other person’s judgment and gaining an advantage in a conversation. I see, so this is how the Moon Shadow takes requests….’
If you look at it in a good way, they’re using devices to maximize their benefits, but if you just look at it as is, they don’t deserve to be called a guild. But if you look at it in a bad way, they’re dirty bastards. The type of people who couldn’t stand it if they didn’t have the upper hand in any relationship. To think these guys were the number 1 thief guild in Rodrick. Their methods were cheap compared to their reputation.
“Now then, what’s your first question?”
Shhhk!
She was behind me again, her fingers softly brushing through my hair. She used the dagger to cut off some of the hair on the back of my head.
“This…”
“I saw the wanted poster, and they drew you like some beast. I thought maybe…. You’d look better if your hair was tidied up.”
Shhhk!
The feeling of the sharp blade touching the back of my neck left a frigid feeling. A very seductive threat.
“First, as the person that’s taking your request, I want to know who you are. Can you tell me about yourself?”
After deciding how much to tell her, Professor started speaking with a little slur.
“Name’s….Professr. I’m twentee…. After my family was… destroyed, I got infected by the mutes…. An’ was captrred by mages until I escaped. An’ now I’m heerr.”
“Oh my, you went through so much for your age. War, infection. And you were an associate of a mage too. It’s a miracle that you’re alive.”
Shhhk!
After she finished the back, it was the sides. Her delicate hands cut off lock by lock, the blade touching his temple every time. As if she wasn’t planning on taking my questions, she continued with her next question.
“Then, Mister Professor. Why did you come all the way to this city and visit this place?”
It was a question about the request. Was she really going to accept the request like this?
“Mage….I want revenge against those mages….I need help to do that.”
Professor saw it. At the word ‘mage,’ he saw a little glint in the blade’s reflection of her eyes.
She stared intently at Professor, then gave him a bright smile as she patted his hair.
“Revenge—that’s important. Hmm okay. Let’s move on to the last question then.”
Shhhk!
She finished trimming his hair and was now shaving his beard. Her soft, delicate hands held his cheek as she accurately trimmed down his beard. In the motion that pushed the blade against his throat, he felt bloodlust. It was such a faint bloodlust that he could not feel it until the blade touched his throat.
“The last question is—since when was Mister Professor pretending to be drugged?”
“D-Darn th—!”
Slice!
She did not wait for a response. The dagger slid silently over Professor’s neck and sliced his throat.
As she wiped off the blood on the dagger, she smiled brightly once again.
“It was a short conversation, but I enjoyed it, Mister Professor.”
Her smile, with a little blood splattered on her cheeks, was terrifying yet beautiful.
With that, Rakshasha left the room. No, attempted to leave the room.
“Cough! Gah! Wow, not even a moment of hesitation, eh?”
But the voice behind her was that of a man who should have been dead, and it stopped her in her tracks.
“Cough! Didn’t you say a few minutes ago? A relationship is when you get to know each other. Now it’s my turn to ask some questions.”
Tshhhhhh.
The detached artery connected itself again. The ropes that tied his legs broke off like noodles, and all that was left was the thin string on his wrists. Surprisingly, this string did not snap with force but dug into his skin instead.
Rakshasha covered her face as she smiled.
“Oh, you cheeky liar. Why didn’t you tell me you had such an interesting skill?”
“Oh, I’ve heard from someone that a man and a woman should keep some secrets between them.”
He had a calm tone, as if his neck hadn’t just been slit. Rakshasha began to develop a bit of interest in the man sitting in front of her.
“Hahaha…that’s very interesting. Just to let you know, I recommend you don’t pull on that string. The string from an elder spider is very strong and sharp. It’s, in fact, one of my favorite weapons.”
“Oh, Elder Spider. That’s a pricy one. No wonder it cut in so well.”
“Exactly. Now then, just stay put….?”
Shlunk.
Whoop.
Rakshasha couldn’t finish the sentence. Professor’s hands cleanly slipped out of the ropes. The arms, up. Hands, down.
Professor just casually put his detached hand back on his wrist as the guild members froze in shock. Skin and muscles peeked out of the dismembered arm and were securely attached back to the hand.
Flick, flick.
After confirming that his hand worked properly, Professor addressed the now alert guild members and Rakshasha.
“I’m going to ask you three questions as well, so listen carefully.”
Crack, crack.
Professor cracked his head left and right as he slowly approached them.
“First, as the client, I want to know if the guild members of Moon Shadow have the ability to cause a scene that will attract the attention of all soldiers in the city, from the guards to the knights.”
Whooshk!
“You left your back open! Foolish— Ack! Gaghk!”
Cgrungk!
The thief who attempted an attack was hanging by his neck in Professor’s hands. Not long after, he went limp like a stuffed animal.
“Second, I’m curious if you know that if you decline! That I, who’s already very unhappy due to this poor hospitality, can become very very mad.”
Whoosh.
Craggck!
Professor threw the man in his hands towards the exit door, breaking it down. The man’s legs were both at an odd angle, and he went completely limp after a small groan. One step forward. He was now at arm’s length from her blade.
Professor stopped right in front of Rakshasha.
“Finally, I want to ask if you are aware that if I get very very mad, this shabby guild of yours can be very easily destroyed. Now then. Can you answer me? Miss Master?”
Squeeze.
His body was completely open. She could hit six vital spots in an instant from this distance.
And the fact that Professor had his arms wide open, daring her to try, made Rakshasha tighten her grip on the dagger.
“Mister Professor, do you…..really think you can leave this place alive after what you just did?”
“Hehehe. Think wisely, Miss. This is the final chance I’m giving you because of that nice haircut. You seem to know how to use a knife…..I don’t know about you, but I wonder how many of your little pesky ants can make it out alive? Can you even call a guild with just a master a guild?”
Professor lowered his body and made eye contact with Rakshasha, who had a chilling smile on her face. This scene, with him baring his fangs and threatening her with the guild members, looked like a villain intimidating a fragile little girl, no matter how you looked at it.
Silence.
A second that felt like an eternity passed, and when someone who couldn’t stand the pressure of the situation gulped…
Clap!
“Okay. Let us take the request then.”
The sudden sound of a clap that broke the tension almost made me flinch.
That must have been the case for the others, too, as he saw some of them stagger.
‘Whew! The bluff actually worked!’
If he actually fought them head-on, it might not have ended well. Because….
Ding!
[Honorary Soul: ‘Threatening a lady….this can’t be permitted. Even if my family has fallen down, this is unacceptable as one that holds the honor of my family!’ / You have done a dishonorable act. From the shock of your wicked act, you are afflicted with the ‘Restricted (Major)’ status effect for 30 seconds. / If you do another dishonorable act, you will be afflicted with ‘Suicidal Urge Level 25’ for 5 minutes.]
The status window was blinking red like crazy for a while, then, when I threatened her with the guild members’ lives, a message finally popped up, and my body froze. I did act tough, but I was just blinking and talking my way out of it. And what’s Suicidal Urge Level 25? Wasn’t the highest skill level for this game 10?
Anyway, due to those circumstances, I could not fight these guys. It would have probably said, ‘I hit a lady! That’s unbelievable! I need to pay with my life!’ or something like that.
“Hmm, Mister Client? Why don’t we move to a nicer location then?”
“I don’t know. I already had a bad experience with that before. I’m a little scared of where you’ll guide me, Miss.”
“Ahahaha, that’s understandable. But I do think it’s a little impolite for a man to turn down an offer from a woman to enter her humble abode. They’ll get hurt, you know?”
She let out a slight giggle as she covered her mouth and slipped into a secret entrance that opened from one of the walls.
Ring ring ring ring ring!
Sensitive Observation was ringing alarm bells at him. He ignored the guys holding the knives and instead focused on the dark entrance.
‘This is dangerous.’
When he stood in front of her, planning to actually attack, he could feel it. Even without his traits restricting him, he could not beat her head-on.
‘Rakshasha’s now completely on alert. And she invited me in that state. Going into an unknown place, and that being the center of an assassin’s dwelling….isn’t this a really dangerous bet?’
While he was debating on that, he could see the chatroom from the corner of his eye, scrolling up like crazy.
-Soygaybar: Why are you hesitating?! You could be crying tears of gratitude, and it still won’t be enough!
-Noru_is_druig: Go! Professor! Hurry!
-takealook: If you take even one step back from here, the Community is going to be full of posts about your tiny balls and questionable sexuality. I’m serious right now.
-Holli: Me too! I want to see it too! Another woman’s room! I want to know!
-Nutriagena: Hurry! Hurry! Andale Andale!
“Fine! I’m going! I’m going!”
Okay. He was already this far. It was a gamble between 1 and 100 now. He didn’t know any other guilds to go to anyway.
After organizing his thoughts, Professor started towards the gaping dark entrance that was ready to swallow him up.
Professor traced his hand on the wall as he went forward. He walked, walked, and walked….
“Why’s this darn tunnel so long?!”
“Because it’s a secret tunnel?”
“Aaagh!”
The voice that suddenly appeared startled him, making him swing his hand by accident.
Tboom!
With the punch mark on the wall, Professor’s hand broke down. He could hear Rakshasha’s laughter from behind him.
“Wow….so interesting.”
“Since when did you start following me?”
“Hm…I was next to you the second you walked into this tunnel.”
So this was the skill of an assassin. I was still on alert, but I couldn’t even tell she was there.
“Now, come this way. The tunnel has a lot of divided paths, too, so you’ll get lost if you don’t have good night vision.”
Inside this pitch-black tunnel, I could feel Rakshasha place her hand on my arm. I couldn’t help but swallow nervously when I felt that soft, satin-like touch. Her hands slowly traced down my arm and touched my fingers, which were regenerating.
“This….is a really rare skill. I have some interest in the human body, so I’ve done my own research….but it’s my first time seeing such a weird body as yours, Mister Professor. A well-toned, tender, and rapidly healing body. How could such a thing exist?”
She must have been really interested as she poked at his shoulder muscles, grabbed his wrist, and caressed his waist muscles.
[V-Vessel, I-I can’t take this anymore. This….this isn’t a stimulation I know of….I can’t fight it…]
‘Well, do something! You’re the one in my head! Try messing with the hormones or senses or something!’
It was my mistake coming in here. Rakshasha completely changed her attack method based on my previous reactions. From my strong point to my weakest one!
Slip, slip.
Inside the pitch-black darkness. The sound of the thin material against her skin overwhelmed his imagination.
“A body created by a mage’s experimentation….seeing that your entire body has a stable magic reaction, you know how to use magic as well.”
“Ah, uh, yeah, I guess.”
“Wow, so special.”
-Soygaybar: Oi Professor! Get to your senses! A conversation between a man and a woman is a battle without weapons! You’re going to be done for!
-Soygaybar: If you just stay stunned like that, you’ll get completely devoured(?)!
-professor: Well, I can’t control my body’s reactions! And what do you mean there are no weapons?! She has two very big dangerous weapons! And I’m barehanded! It’s unfair!
-Noru_is_druig: What do you mean no weapon? You have the artillery gun that your parents gave y-!
-professor: SHUT UPPP! STOP TRIGGERING IT!!!!
-Guns_N_Blood: He’s a lost cause. From battle experience to weaponry, he’s at a complete disadvantage. Surrender peacefully and become a prisoner of the winner.
“Hm….what could you be thinking so hard about?”
“I-I was contemplating on the sacrifices and pains of Jesus Christ….”
“?”
Damn it! He couldn’t focus! Stop leaning into me! No, keep leaning on me! No, that’s not— darn it!
Click.
As Professor’s inner selves viciously fought with each other, she suddenly stopped walking forward.
“Oh, we’re already here. What a shame.”
‘I-I’m saved! I did it! See father! I didn’t give up!’
It was very dangerous. If this went on any longer, he would have fallen to his knees and begged her, ‘Please take me! You can own me!’
As the door opened, a bright light filled his vision. The air didn’t have the rotten smell in the outskirts of Tobrune. It was soothing and fresh. Through the air, a fragrant scent of tea flowed in.
“This is….a tea house?”
“This is the salon I personally run. You can gain more information in a fancy salon than you think.”
She gently smiled, proudly presenting her shop.