It was a complete mess. After witnessing their comrade get burned to a crisp out of thin air, completely lifeless, the two lizardmen finally realized their own lives were hanging by a thread. The creature before them was simply not someone they could contend with. If they lingered here any longer, they would only meet the same fate.
Thump, thump. That was the sound of racing hearts, but it was due to the fear of death. Their blood surged, and their scaly skin seemed to heat up because of it.
Lizardmen were incredibly agile. If they could just seize the right moment, maybe, just maybe, they could escape with their lives…
“Impossible! No, no, no way!! See, no matter what, we’re going to die, right?!” The companion beside him suddenly started babbling incoherently, then, after a moment, let out a distorted shriek and bolted forward!
He instinctively reached out to stop him, but then a thought suddenly popped into his head: What if he used him as bait? While that thing was busy with him, he could make a clear run for it, right?
So, he stopped his hand and dashed toward the stairs in the other direction. Just as he’d hoped, his panicked companion was taken down by her.
“Haha, I actually made it out!” He grabbed onto the stair railing and scrambled up quickly…
Even if he bumped into someone on his way, he didn’t dare look back, hastily shoving the door open and fleeing—
…
…
Got rid of two, but one escaped. Moves fast.
I released the disfigured corpse and checked myself for any injuries. Surprisingly, I was completely unharmed, not a single burn mark… Come to think of it, just now, besides the heat haze, there were some flames I’d never seen before. I’ve never used them…
Kneeling down, I checked on the uncle’s condition. He had a head wound, not too deep, just seemed knocked out. There were fresh claw marks of varying degrees on his waist, but they didn’t look like they could have been made by a lizardman.
Could it have been an accident? I shrugged, grabbed the uncle’s hand, and snapped my fingers…
As soon as I stepped out, the elf rushed up to me, his eyes darting between me and the uncle.
“Ah! Grandpa Lanka, you too… I… Is Grandpa Lanka okay?”
I understood how he felt, so I gently laid the uncle down on the ground. Seeing this, the elf knelt down beside me. Luckily, his overall injuries weren’t too severe, nothing life-threatening. He was just unconscious from the blow to his head.
“[Writing] He’s fine, don’t worry.”
“…Phew, thank goodness he’s okay…” He looked up at me, seeming to notice something, and added, “You’re hurt?”
…? I scratched my head and noticed my right hand was dripping blood again, just like before. Blood was dripping from my upper arm down my whole arm, splashing on the ground…
“[Writing] It’s nothing, this is no big deal. Don’t mind it.”
Though, I imagine me dressed in this Gothic Lolita outfit right now is actually the strangest part.
Even though the wound was small, leaving it untreated was still a risk… I checked my satchel but couldn’t find any cloth to bandage it with. I patted the elf on the shoulder and gestured for him to find some gauze or something.
“Gauze, right? Okay, there should be some left. I’ll go look for it now.”
The elf hurried off, and I was still trying to figure out how to simply control the wound infection. How exactly did I get hurt like this? I couldn’t figure it out, because lizardmen don’t have claws that sharp. Only some subspecies have slightly blunt claws; most have webbed feet. So, it wasn’t those lizardmen? Did they just hit the uncle on the head with a bottle to knock him out?
Had he already been attacked before that?
“Little girl, it sounds like there’s crying coming from the warehouse…”
“Should we go in and take a look? It sounds kinda pitiful.”
Crying? How come I didn’t hear it… I got up, signaled for them to look after the uncle, and returned to the warehouse. I activated [Soul Perspective] again—
…
(From the very beginning of everything)
(Until everything comes to an end)
(It never existed in the first place)
(That happy yesterday)
…
My victory has long been beyond measure
My eyes have already given everything away
Are you willing to give up or not?
Do you really love it that much?
The feeling of sin taking root in your spine?
…
(Perhaps, deep in my heart)
(Someone is still calling out for you)
(But more certain than that voice)
(Is my “resolve”)
…
(Getting hurt is common on this path)
(Cycles of reincarnation are the punishment for sin)
…
…
When everything fell silent amidst the crimson dust, I crouched down and reached out to pat the head of that ghost girl.
‘You… are so strong… It’s not the power of the jewel either, ugh, cough, cough…’ She coughed asthmatically, lowered her head, and vanished without a trace along with the shadows.
After she and the other ghosts disappeared, I rubbed my hands together, stretched, and looked at the warehouse, which was especially messy from the fight. I felt a bit gloomy.
I didn’t expect to be able to directly attack ghosts. That was an unexpected discovery…
The warehouse door slowly creaked open, and a frightened head poked in. He looked around left and right, then asked me, who was standing dazed in the center.
“Are you okay? It was really noisy in here just now…”
I nodded, walked out of the warehouse, and went over to the Uncle. His injuries were no longer serious, and he had regained consciousness. From his slurred description, it seemed he was attacked by something on the upper level of the warehouse, fell into the cellar, and was hit hard on the head, which knocked him out.
It was a ghost, right? Right, right? I asked, but the Uncle replied that he wasn’t sure, his mind was completely blank.
To avoid unnecessary panic, only the elf and the Uncle involved in the incident remained in the tavern. Probably not wanting the news to spread and cause a bigger commotion, the Uncle had no choice but to tacitly agree.
(So bored, nothing to do…)
I shook my head, trying to force myself to stay alert, but “fatigue” unexpectedly washed over my entire body. I wasn’t physically tired, just mentally weary in a sense…
I could just leave here, if I did that…
“Are you okay? I feel like you’ve been spacing out… You probably have more important things to do, right?”
I was startled for a moment, then nodded and slapped my own face.
She’s not Elf, don’t be silly, me—!
“Ugu…”
My back went cold, followed by a sharp sting. I endured it and reached back to feel, my finger coming away with a shallow scratch. I’m hurt? But, by what…
“What’s wrong with you! Ahh!! You’re bleeding!”
Seeing I was injured, the elf anxiously got up to bandage me, but I stopped him. This hidden weapon was deployed very cleverly. It inflicted a wound that was neither too serious nor too light, just enough to quietly bring down a normal girl—!
“Kuh… gah… kuh…”
Something was stuck in my throat. I reached in to feel… an arrowhead had pierced right through my throat! An excruciating tearing pain followed. They really intended to kill me. I fell forward onto the ground. After forcibly pulling the arrowhead from my throat, the corners of my eyes stung with tears. Now, even just swallowing saliva was impossible, because every time I tried, I just gulped down my own blood.
Through my tear-filled vision, I saw the elf, frozen in shock. Then he too collapsed, covered in blood.
It’s okay, I won’t die just like this, and neither will he…
[Time Stop]
After a long while, I stopped time. Trembling, I got up and leaned against the wall. For the first time today, I felt what it was like to be treated with murderous intent. It was quite novel…
Got a little excited.
I coughed a few times, hoisted the elf and the Uncle over my shoulders, and ran outside.
[Time Resumes Flow]
“Ugh… cough, cough! This is so frustrating…”
Thanks to [KRYY’s Blood], my throat and the wound on my back healed completely, even my lost voice was restored. Of course, I’d still prefer to avoid getting hurt in the first place…
It seems that as long as it’s my blood, wounds (from ranged attacks) heal quickly, whether caused by melee weapons or ranged weapons—
Looks like the rule for [KRYY’s Blood] is this: (excluding self) the source of damage uses a ranged weapon; (excluding self) the source of damage is at a certain distance from me. As long as either of these conditions is met, it triggers.
I rolled up my sleeve and held my bleeding arm over the elf’s wound… Ugh, I felt a bit dizzy.
There are other ghosts, or assassins, still in the tavern. In any case, they want me dead, and they also want to silence all witnesses. The hidden weapon and the method used were very professional…
So tired, so boring…
But thanks for giving me a chance to relieve the boredom.
