Chapter 25
#25. Martial Arts (2)
“H-huff, huff, gasp!!”
“Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.”
I ran like mad through the tree-filled forest.
Even as I pushed through all kinds of bushes and branches, my mana-enhanced speed was nearing forty kilometers per hour.
However, the oppressive pressure of the terrifying killing intent aimed at the back of my neck never eased. If anything, it was gradually drawing closer.
“No! I wasn't deliberately peeking!!”
“Shut up, you lecherous bastard.”
Words wouldn't get through to her.
Her voice was so cold that I even felt as though my neck had already been cut.
‘Should I subdue her?’
I couldn't be certain, but the difference in skill between that woman and me shouldn't be all that great.
Against an opponent of equal skill, I had the advantage because I possessed the hidden trump card of magic. Besides, I knew several spells for restraining people, so she was an opponent I could subdue if I really tried.
But the occupation listed on her profile bothered me.
[Name: Cheon Yeo-hwa
Age: 20
Affiliation: AXZ-174
Occupation:
Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's
Second
Princess
Disposition: ??]
‘What the hell is this Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?!’
As could be seen from her profile, that woman's identity was none other than the Second Princess of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
That meant this was a world straight out of a wuxia story.
What if I had peeked at the naked body of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's princess and then subdued her as well?
‘It's him! Kill that lecherous bastard!’
‘By the Cult Leader's order! For the princess's honor, tear that bastard limb from limb and throw him to the dogs!!’
‘Kieeeeeeet!!’
Just thinking about it sent chills down my spine.
If she had belonged to the orthodox sects, I might have had even the slightest chance to offer an excuse, but thinking I would get an opportunity to explain myself to those crazy Demonic Cult bastards was naïve.
‘Why did my matching partner have to be the daughter of a nationwide crime boss?!’
It was fucking unfair.
Was this my fault? The app had been deliberately screwing me over with my summoning location since last time!
“Just listen to me first, will you?!”
Now she wasn't even answering.
She was simply charging at me like a serial killer trying to slash my throat.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
If I kept running away like this, it would never end.
But subduing her would only be a bad move that turned my back on the problem right in front of me.
“Kyaaa?!”
“?!”
Just as I continued running frantically without coming up with a suitable solution,
I involuntarily stopped when I heard Cheon Yeo-hwa scream behind me.
For a moment, I wondered if it was a trap, but Cheon Yeo-hwa, who had been pursuing me with the intent to kill me—or rather, with the genuine intention of killing me—was lying there trapped beneath some bizarre net.
‘What is that?’
Just then, someone emerged from the nearby bushes.
“Kahaha! We finally caught her!”
“Damn, I thought she was crazy beautiful from a distance, but up close, her looks are no joke!”
“Wow, if we'd tried to catch her head-on, a few of us would've died, wouldn't we? This iron net must be worth a fortune, and she's already trying to break free.”
“We got lucky. Who would've thought we'd find such a premium catch on the way back to our stronghold?”
I was only briefly left reeling by the unexpected situation when several men whose appearance practically screamed, ‘We're bandits!’ showed up.
There were about fifteen of them, give or take.
“You filthy bastards!!”
Wait... those bastards had obviously thrown the net, so why were they cursing at me?
Was this yet another way the app was screwing me over?
“Boss, just look at how smooth this woman's skin is. She looks like the daughter of a rich family. Will it really be all right?”
“You fucking idiot.”
“Huh?!”
“If you're scared of something that trivial, why even become a bandit? We're not the Green Forest, either. We'll just take turns with her, move the stronghold, and be done with it. Who's going to find out?”
Hmm, for such an ugly bastard, he certainly had a loud voice.
Thanks to that, I could hear every word they were saying without missing a syllable.
So those bastards had spotted me and Cheon Yeo-hwa chasing each other through the forest, become captivated by Cheon Yeo-hwa's looks, and tried to kidnap her—and succeeded?
‘They don't even know whether the apple in their mouths is poisonous.’
If this was the same Heavenly Demon Divine Cult I knew from fiction, they would try to kill those bastards even if it meant burning down several mountains after they moved their stronghold.
Of course, I'm a kind man who loves nature, so I'll make sure that never happens.
“Hey.”
The bandits' gazes turned toward me all at once.
They were saying something, but I wasn't particularly interested in hearing it.
“Um, well... I don't really have anything to say.”
I gripped the wand I had taken out of my Inventory and pointed it at them.
“Die.”
[Chain Flame Circle]
A streak of flame fired from the magic circle at the speed of light pierced through the bandits' bodies.
"Aaaaargh!?!!"
"Aaargh!!!"
"H-hot!!!?"
The bandits' screams as they were suddenly scorched by fire echoed throughout the forest.
The men whose entire bodies had caught fire rolled across the ground and ran around in every direction, desperately trying to extinguish the flames, but the fire that had caught once only burned more fiercely, using their bodies as kindling.
Before long, the bandits had been roasted whole and lay scattered across the ground like garbage.
For bandits, they had held out for quite a while.
Even more astonishingly, they were still alive.
“U-ughhh...”
“Th-this...”
“Guuugh...”
How were they still alive despite their entire bodies having been burned black and turned into charcoal? Was this the wonder of the human body?
I had lowered the spell's power in case I accidentally hit Cheon Yeo-hwa, so I supposed that was why.
I looked away from the charred men who had somehow become a mystery. If they suffered for a while and died in that state, it should be enough to soothe the spirits of the victims they had tormented until now.
Their voices were unpleasant, but I could put up with them and let it slide.
“Just wait a little. I'll get you out in a moment.”
I carefully freed Cheon Yeo-hwa from the iron net without hurting her.
By the way, I had assumed the bandits' net would be cheap, but I was surprised by how heavy it was.
Even if I had been caught in it, I didn't think I would have been able to escape easily.
“Are you all right?”
After escaping the iron net, Cheon Yeo-hwa looked at me with a strange expression.
Sigh, at least she knows I'm handsome.
“...Why?”
“Hmm?”
“Why did you save me?”
“Then do you want to go back in?”
When I pretended to lift the iron net, she slowly backed away, and I let out a sigh.
It was unfair enough that I had nearly been stabbed, but after saving her, I even had to explain why.
“Then should I have just stood there and watched a woman get dragged away by bandits and raped?”
“...I see. You didn't want someone else to take a woman you'd already marked with your saliva. Typical of a lecher.”
“No, fuck...!”
This woman was impossible to reason with.
“Why am I a lecher?!”
“Did you not peek at a woman's naked body?”
“It was a misunderstanding! I have a girlfriend who's prettier than you! Why would I risk my life to peek at an armed woman's bath?!”
“Oh? That's not something I can easily dismiss.”
Cheon Yeo-hwa suddenly brushed back her damp bangs and gave me a provocative smile.
“There cannot possibly be a woman in this world more beautiful than me. Men trying to prop up their pathetic pride is truly laughable.”
“...”
With skin translucent enough to see through, bright red eyes like rubies set into place, and a water-slick figure, she was undeniably a stunning beauty who could rival Iris.
And her breasts, too.
‘They were incredible earlier.’
They weren't as large as Iris's, but they were nearly comparable.
“Since you cannot even answer, it seems that was merely an empty boast after all.”
Her oddly triumphant tone annoyed me.
I admitted that Cheon Yeo-hwa was as beautiful as Iris, but she wasn't more beautiful than Iris.
I wanted to say, ‘What the fuck are you talking about? Obviously my girlfriend is prettier.‘ But the situation wasn't exactly suitable for that right now.
I was scared of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“Anyway, I'm sorry I peeked, but it absolutely wasn't intentional. It was an accident neither of us wanted, so how about we let it go at that?”
“I refuse. You peeked at the naked body of an unmarried maiden who has yet to marry, and you think you can simply get away with it?”
“...What do you want?”
It was a miserable, pathetic moment in which the superior and inferior parties were completely divided.
Was this really my fault? It was the app's fault for summoning me here in the first place!
Honestly, if she hadn't been the princess of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and my matching partner, I would have simply subdued her, apologized, and then either traveled with her or run away. It was fucking frustrating that I couldn't.
“How strange.”
“...What is?”
The faint amusement in her voice heightened my unease.
“Is it not your wish to beg for this lady's mercy and preserve your life? If so, then deciding what to offer in exchange for your life should also be your responsibility. How shameless of a lecher.”
Wow...
It was strange. We had only just met and exchanged a few words, yet somehow I already had a rough idea of how foul that woman's personality was.
Was this mind-reading?
“Then can I give you anything?”
“Of course. But deciding whether to take a payment and grant mercy or offer you a blade is this lady's prerogative.”
Why were you suddenly polishing your sword?
’Sigh...‘
While sighing inwardly, I recalled what I had in my Inventory with one part of my mind and what I'd packed in my bag with the other.
What did I have right now that might appeal to a woman?
My opponent was the daughter of the leader of a mad pseudo-religious cult that, in most works of fiction, was portrayed as powerful enough to stand alone against the entire orthodox martial world.
I had no idea why such a woman had been washing in a forest, but the need to give something that would please a rich young lady left me paralyzed by indecision.
’...Would this do?‘
Most of the food I'd brought consisted of relatively high-calorie emergency rations. Of course, I could end the matching if I ran out of food, but what if I ended up in a situation where I couldn't?
I hoped that would never happen, but it was better to prepare in advance, so I had mainly stocked up on emergency food.
And among snacks, chocolate was a nutritious emergency ration containing a relatively large amount of fat.
“Here.”
“What is this...?”
What I handed her was a chocolate bar I had bought at a convenience store.
It was the most ordinary, unremarkable chocolate imaginable.
“It has a strange shape... It doesn't seem to be a jewel... The rustling wrapper is fascinating, too. This is certainly the first thing of its kind I've ever seen. Is it something from the barbarians?”
No, ma'am. Please don't call someone else's ancestors barbarians...
Of course, cocoa didn't originate in Korea, but this was made in Korea.
That out-of-nowhere ancestor joke left me feeling dazed.
“It's not from barbarians. It's from Haedong.”
“Haedong? Ah, you mean that country on the eastern sea. Then doesn't that make you barbarians after all?”
“You—!”
I wasn't especially patriotic, but I still couldn't tolerate her treating my heritage as barbarian.
She could insult Korea all she wanted. That was none of my business.
But I couldn't stand being called a descendant of barbarians.
“Hehe, even a lecher seems to cherish his homeland.”
“What does that have to do with... Sigh, quit talking nonsense and just eat.”
“Eat? You mean this black lump is food?”
“What else would it be—an elixir?”
I couldn't eat elixirs either; I didn't have any.
Honestly, once I saved enough money, I wanted to try an elixir first. But they cost far more than a few pennies, so I couldn't even consider buying one.
’...Wait a minute? Wuxia means elixirs, doesn't it?‘
Suddenly, a bubbling desire to become a Divine Thief and make my name known throughout the Central Plains rose within me.
If this were a world without CCTV cameras or psychometry users, it might be easier than I thought.
’If I took elixirs I didn't need and sold them at an auction house, how much money would I make??‘
I could almost see my future self opening a bottle of (fucking expensive, anyway) wine in a penthouse.
“Haa...”
A suggestive moan woke me from my fantasies about a bright and promising future.
A neatly folded, completely empty chocolate wrapper was already in one of Cheon Yeo-hwa's hands.
“This black, pill-like food you gave me was a little off-putting in appearance, but its taste is truly excellent. It is sweeter and more intense than any confection I have ever eaten.”
Cheon Yeo-hwa's face after eating the chocolate looked dangerous.
The combination of her slightly unfocused eyes, snow-white skin, and rosy blush raised her beauty by several levels.
How were you eating convenience-store chocolate like it was an R-rated pictorial?
“But you called me a lecher. Is it all right to gobble down something a lecher gives you?”
“If you expected poison to work on this lady, I apologize. Besides, if an Ecstasy Powder or aphrodisiac is this sweet, I would welcome it at any time.”
Wait, what...? Was the Second Princess of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult immune to every poison?
“So, do you have any more?”
“What?”
“Did you really intend to atone for the grave sin of peeking at this lady's naked body with just one?”
How could she be so shameless??
But she was so beautiful that I could forgive her.
Still, after branding an innocent model citizen a peeping-tom lecher, I didn't want to simply hand her more.
“I don't have any.”
“That is a lie. How many sly people do you think this lady has met? At least they made an effort to hide their true thoughts. You, however, do not even make that effort.”
“It's not a lie.”
“Did you get sulky because this lady called you a lecher? Hehe, what a petty man.”
“...”
Can't I get a different matching partner?
[Tip. A bond is something precious that cannot be exchanged for anything]
Fuck...