The Headbutt of No Return
How tightly had he been holding me? It felt strange that nothing hurt.
What kind of technique is this?!
“Hey! Let go of me right now!”
Prince or not, do you have a death wish?!
“Run away!”
“What? What are they even saying?”
“You people, hurry—!”
Ash shouted at the top of his lungs while physically blocking me with his entire body, but the bandits burst into laughter just like I had earlier.
“Kwa-ha-ha-hat!”
“Kekeke!”
“What’s with them? Over just one woman…”
The wind whistled past, and Rai leapt forward. Almost as if flying, he crossed the air in the blink of an eye and landed right in front of the bandit leader.
Then, following my murderous intent, he charged straight at the man’s throat with ferocious speed.
His massive, ton-heavy front paw slammed the leader down, smashing him into the ground.
THUD!
Two sounds rang out almost simultaneously.
The sound of an axe striking Rai’s body and shattering like an egg against a rock, and the sound of the leader’s neck snapping. Or rather, being torn off.
Crunch.
It happened as easily as taking a big bite out of a banana. And it was so instantaneous that the bandit leader probably didn’t even realize he was dead.
[Ugh, ptooie!]
Rai hated putting anything that wasn’t metal in his mouth, so he frantically spat out the leftover flesh, moving his tongue with obvious disgust. Then he began wagging his tail, choosing who to pounce on next.
That brief opening existed only because I hadn’t decided on the next target yet.
“So, anyone else feel like laughing?”
Who else had annoyed me besides the leader?
Who’s the next prey?
If Rai bites your neck, there won’t be much neck left—just a rolling head. Anyone want to try it?
“Aaaack! Miss Jeanie!”
“Ah, my ears!”
Ash screamed while hugging me tightly from behind, but I wasn’t the type to spare someone just because they refused to let go.
No matter how desperately he clung to me, it was useless. I had a remotely controlled Rai, after all!
As soon as I gave the signal for him to kill anyone, Rai began pouncing on the nearest targets.
“Krrghaaak!”
Once bitten by Rai, that body part was as good as gone. Soon, half-corpses missing arms and legs littered the ground. Rai mercifully finished them off by crunching through their skulls as well.
Only then did the remaining bandits seem to grasp the situation. They turned tail and sprinted toward the forest.
“Someone save us!”
“It’s a demon! A demon!”
Rai was the type who excelled in one-on-one combat. If they scattered in every direction like this…
“Undine, your turn.”
I could just use another spirit. With cute little plop, plop sounds, every single bandit was trapped inside water droplets and dragged before me without exception.
Did you really think you could escape from my grasp? The only place you’re going is the grave!
“Stop this at once!”
“You let go of me first!”
I had to escape Ash’s arms before anything else!
“Please listen to me! Miss Jeanie, you can’t solve everything by killing people unconditionally!”
“Why not!”
“Because life is precious! Please release them right now! Hurry!”
“No way!”
Grrrr! I thought this guy was trying to protect me, but apparently he was actually trying to protect them!
Being held tightly in a stranger’s arms and gently soothed made me feel like some kind of rabid dog.
“You mustn’t kill people so casually! That’s common sense!”
“They attacked me first!”
“That doesn’t mean they deserve to die!”
“Those bastards told me to leave you behind! Along with the horse! Do you have any idea how disgusting that is? Do you?!”
“……I do. I know. That you’re angry……”
Ash’s hands showed no sign of letting go, and at some point, I started feeling strange.
A person’s embrace was so warm, and when body heat overlapped, it grew hot.
Moreover, the earnest plea coming from that voice right behind me—the exact kind I liked—made my body twitch involuntarily.
In that case, I had no choice. Time to use the sealed technique! I’d never tried it before, but… ultimate move! Backward headbutt!
“Kgh.”
It was a self-defense move I’d once read about in a book. And since my skull was on the harder side, I could strongly feel Ash’s nose getting crushed against the back of my head.
With a loud CRACK, the attack seemed to work; the grip holding me loosened. I rammed the back of my head into his chin once more and made a spectacular escape.
“How dare you try to stop me! I’ll make you regret it for ten—huh?”
I turned around triumphantly and pointed at him, only to see Ash clutching his nose. And the red liquid streaming down from his chin was unmistakably blood.
His nose seemed broken. The nosebleed was flowing so heavily that calling it “a little” would be pushing the limits of conscience.
Strange. The back of my head felt perfectly fine. I gave it a quick rub, but there wasn’t even a tingling sensation. I hadn’t known my secret hidden technique was that powerful.
“……”
A strange silence fell between me, Ash, and the watching Lox and Chad. It was because the blood droplets falling at Ash’s feet were staining the dirt a dark crimson.
“……Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Hmph. You should’ve trained your nose bones in advance. Why make people feel guilty like this?”
“I’m fine, so…… more importantly, please let those people go! They’re going to die at this rate!”
Because I had dragged them over with water droplets gripping only their heads while they were running away, the bandits were now on the verge of drowning while Ash and I argued.
They were desperately clutching their throats and flailing with all their might to survive, but it looked hopeless.
The more water they swallowed, the more their strength drained, and they began to go limp. Only seven of them were still breathing. That was because five had already died from Rai’s bites in the meantime.
When I looked back, mutilated corpses were scattered all over the campsite.
“Miss Jeanie!”
Ash’s concern for the bandits was sincere, but that wasn’t any of my business.
I shrugged my shoulders and answered cheekily.
“Don’t care?”
Worrying about them at a time like this. Ash, your nose is gushing blood right now. Compared to that, whether they die or not doesn’t matter one bit. Not even one gram.
“Please……! Just this once, for my sake, stop here!”
“Hmph.”
I’m not weak to fake faces! I answered by picking at my ear.
“……Please listen to me. I know you’re strong. And I know that strength makes you dangerously cruel. But if you kill everyone who annoys you, no one will be left alive!”
“I absolutely despise people who don’t treat others like human beings. Those kinds of people need to experience the same thing themselves.”
“……”
“And I can make that happen.”
This world runs on survival of the fittest, doesn’t it?
If there’s something others can’t do but I can, then I believe I should do it when I want to. Not doing so would be stupid.
“That doesn’t mean I kill everyone. Only those who treat me as an enemy.”
“I understand very well that I shouldn’t make you my enemy…… but still, this doesn’t seem right. The leader is already dead, and you’ve wiped out a third of them. That should be enough, right?”
“Ash? You’re way too soft! The fact that all of them die would be a blessing for every traveler who passes through here in the future! This is all for the safety of travelers!”
“……Please don’t say things you don’t mean.”
Sigh, what a quick-witted man. When did he figure me out so well? He even seemed to have realized that I was relatively weak toward him.
“They did wrong. But that doesn’t mean they absolutely have to pay with their lives. That’s what I’m saying. I’m not saying you’re wrong…… just that it’s excessive…… that’s all.”
“Whether it’s excessive or not is for me to decide. Because I’m the one who suffered! Let’s say I release them! What about the anger I feel from what they did to me!”
I can’t kill you! There’s no such thing as forgiveness in my dictionary! Even if it existed somewhere, I wouldn’t be able to find it!
“Let’s make them pay for their crimes through the law. Since they’re bandits, we can capture them and hand them over to the security forces……”
“No!”
“Please stop growling…… Fine, Miss Jeanie! There must be bounties on these bandits’ heads! If we turn them in to the security forces, they’ll definitely give us money.”
“Who are you calling a beggar? I have so much money I could eat it until I die.”
“Even so, you wouldn’t throw money away on the road, would you? If we hand them all over, it should at least cover our inn expenses! Are you really going to throw money on the ground?”
“……That’s tempting.”
It sounded pretty convincing.
When I thought about how killing them would make the money disappear, it did feel like a waste. Killing mere bandits at the cost of my own money would indeed be a shame…….
Besides, since this guy was the party leader, I figured I could at least pretend to listen.
“I’m speaking seriously. If you’re going to kill those people too, then please don’t even think about traveling with us from now on.”
“What? You’re going to play dirty like that?”
“Look who’s talking.”
I guess I have no choice but to spare them.
I snapped my fingers, releasing the bandits. The ones who had been suspended in midair by their heads fell to the ground with a wet splat, completely soaked. Rai had already sauntered back to my side.
Since he had stopped attacking the moment I started debating whether to kill them, the casualties from Rai totaled only five.
When I glanced over, one of the released men wasn’t breathing. With the addition of a drowning victim, six were dead and six had survived.
Tsk. Half of them survived? No, I should think positively. I killed half of them.
“Lucky bastards.”
Even though the bandits had been released, they were too busy watching my every move and had no strength left except to crawl, so they couldn’t even attempt to run.
They could probably tell just by looking at me and Rai that they’d be caught immediately if they tried.
“……I feel like we’re traveling with someone incredibly scary. I seriously suggest we vote to expel her.”
“Want to die? Shut up.”
“See! Chad! That woman values a few coins for an inn more than the lives of those bandits! She’s dangerous!”
“Hey, Lox? I can hear you, you know?”
“You have a serious problem with empathy! How are we supposed to live in fear like this!”
It was Lox who was screaming while looking at me rather than the bandits, and although he knew I was scary, he clearly didn’t know the full extent of it.
I turned to Lox and snapped my fingers.
Bang!
A water droplet the size of a human head exploded right in front of Lox’s face with a loud noise.
Lox shrieked and fell over at something so trivial, while Chad subtly avoided my gaze in case it was his turn next.
“Both of you, stop messing around. The only reason I’m going easy on you is because of Ash. And you lot! Count yourselves lucky! You get to keep your inn money!”
“Miss Jeanie!”
The only one who didn’t fear me was Ash.
“Seriously! You make it impossible to look away!”
“I am pretty charming, aren’t I?”
“Now you’re even threatening your own allies?!”
“Oh my, were we on the same side? You were insulting me, so I got confused and forgot.”
While I was acting so shamelessly, Rai seemed busy spitting out the foreign substances stuck in his mouth.
[Ptoo, ptoo, ptooie.]
It was a peaceful scene. Of course there had never been any real urgency, but the unexpected ambush had ended without a single injury on our side.
Well, I should add “on our side” in parentheses.