Published at 29th of January 2021 04:19:17 PM
Chapter 118
Chapter 118: The Taste of Venison
“…Lugis, how about you . Have you eaten venison before?”
On that day, Bruder muttered while polishing his special tools . I remember him speaking with a light tone, yet his narrowly eyes stared attentively at the needles .
Bruder’s needles were not small needles used for sewing .
His needles were about the size of the palm of a large man . These special weapons stabbed vigorously and ripped the flesh immediately . If these needles hit a critical point, then that person would surely die . These special needles were undoubtedly Bruder’s work tools as a mercenary .
「Of course not . Venison is the food of the upper class, isn’t it? I mean, it’s hard for me to even eat chicken every once in a while, much less venison . 」
Even chicken was a luxury item for me during that time . So that answer was the best I could come up with . What a pitiful story I had .
Venison . It was a food eaten by the aristocrats of the upper class . The aristocrats made full use of their privileges by owing territories for hunting deer . It seemed that the aristocrats’ taste mainly focused on their pleasure for hunting, and thus, acquiring high-class meat to fill up their gluttonous bellies .
In the past, and even now, people like me, was not allowed to eat deer meat nor even wear products like foolish skins and horns . A deer was a special species, a symbol of social status . In other words, an entity that represented one’s own position in society . I did not know how many gold coins would buy clothes made of deer fur, but it was certainly expensive .
However, Bruder, he…
“Then it’s decided . Let’s eat venison with our lowly mouths . I heard a rumor that it melts in your tongue the moment you taste it . I want to try it . ”
As soon as I heard his words, I felt a cold ice crawling through my spine .
Certainly, at that time, I moved my eyes involuntarily to confirm that there were no other people around us . There was no one near us, thankfully .
At that time, I rented a room in the red-light district instead of a cheap hotel, and used it as a base . During the daytime, everyone lived in a pleasant dream world . I felt that no one in this place wanted to return to his or her poor and terrible reality .
However, back to the venison story .
It was a punishment for eating venison or even asking permission to an aristocrat to eat it . Whipping was usually the norm as the lowest form of punishment .
I remember looking at Bruder with astonishment, since he spoke so easily of a forbidden delicacy as if he forgot about the harsh consequences of his words .
「It seems that you are daydreaming . If you want to sleep, then you should sleep . If you are in a dream, then you should stop sleep talking . 」
“…Gah, ahahah . It’s fine . Don’t fret too much . Or does it look like I am being pushed and failing to the bottom of a cliff?”
Bruder’s strange optimism was a big headache to me . How could he be so bullish and confident in himself? Bruder’s personality was often incomprehensible to me . He had too much self-confidence and self-esteem .
Enviable in one sense and annoying in another .
「I’m looking at you, but at the same time, I’m not . You are a very peculiar and mysterious person, you know . How can you be so optimistic?」
My lips sharpened and my eyes rounded . My words were strangely memorable . After that, Bruder’s response was also clear in my mind .
His next words were a bit ambiguous, and maybe I misunderstood the meaning since I never really comprehended his behavior .
Bruder rounded his eyes like me and spoke while stroking the edge of his hat with his finger .
“…Of course . Yes, of course I am . Besides, I’m here, and you’re here too, Lugis . If I can’t win, then how will I play the game?”
—
A silver object pierced the hollow of the back alley .
I saw a long hand in the darkness that wished to rip off my flesh from the shadows . The darkness of the alleys was the most efficient mechanism to attack without showing much skin . Summing up, it allowed the attacker to hide his appearance so that the victim would not recognize its face nor its offensive specialties .
It seemed that my attacker followed that mechanism . Despite his efforts to hide in the darkness, I could see that he threw a long needle weapon at my key point . My eyes blinked .
A crucial moment . If I made a mistake, I would die on the spot . This grim reaper wanted to reach my chin with his white finger .
Nevertheless . My brain accepted this dangerous reality with a strange feeling . I had several reasons for feeling this way . A feeling that made me feel at ease despite the ongoing danger .
First, the darkness was not my enemy . I did not know anyone who could see in the dark as well as me . It seemed that not everything was bad during the Journey of Salvation . Other people would lose sight of the surroundings amidst this darkness . Thanks to my eyes, I did not overlook the weapon, a needle, or rather something as big as that man’s needles .
Another reason was my knowledge . I was familiar with the trajectory of these needles .
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I twisted my body lightly and turned it over to the opposite side . At the same time, I pulled the treasure sword from my waist without killing the momentum . The sword had “hero killer” embedded on it, but I guess it was okay to use it now in order to hit the needle and break it .
I saw sparkles coming from the shadows of the back alley . There was no technique, just a violent, swirling blow, and a high sound of cutting through the air .
*metallic sound*
I managed to deflect this attack from the long hand . The needle mechanism, which lost its momentum and power, seemed that it did not clog yet .
I strongly blinked my eyes one more time . I had no time to take a break . I saw that the silver object was shining at the edge of my field of vision .
I turned my wrist and swung the treasure sword down, as if I aimed at the heavens . All I had to do was swing up the sword in the same orbit as that thing in order to deflect it one more time .
Again, the sound of iron overlapping with iron echoed throughout the back alley .
When I finally took some safe distance and looked into the ground, I noticed that two needles collapsed on the soil .
I shook my head lightly, and I hardened my expression . I could not understand what I was feeling right now .
It felt weird . I usually felt scared or frustrated during battles . I even felt indignation sometimes .
However, for some reason, my heart did not palpitate fast, and the blood flow within my body felt normal .
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Yes, normal . There was no change in my heart rate . Actually, it felt like any other regular day . My head was even clear, and I could think calmly and rationally . True, my head was okay to ask why, to try to persuade, or tell everything without covering it up . I felt as if a fog disappeared from my mind and from my eyesight .
Despite this, I felt as if all my calculations were thrown away once I thought deeply about this sudden situation . Only one thought emerged at the center of my head .
“…That bastard . He’s done it . ”
I felt cramps in my cheeks . It felt as if a completely different expression was about to come out . Yes, as if I were about to smile . On this very moment .
「I feel weird . Rather bad actually . You managed to endure my attacks . As I can see, your body is unharmed . Perhaps, my head is numb . 」
After saying those words, Bruder appeared from shadows of the back alley, as if he were not feeling that well . He adjusted his wide-brimmed hat with his fingers, but his face looked more amused than depressed .
Ah, of course it was Bruder . Moreover, that look on his face . The look of someone whose nature doubted sanity . Bruder, in his assassin mode, appeared before me…
「…Okay, Lugis . Let’s play this game again . I am confident that I won’t lose to you now . 」
That ridiculous optimism again .
「…I really hate that trait of yours . 」
After all, it was that optimism that killed you Bruder .