Chapter 15. Hunter's Wife (8)
Chapter 15. Hunter's Wife (8)
Bruno slowly opened the door.
The inside was bright.
Candles were lit, and a fire was burning in the fireplace.
"You're here?"
Helen greeted him with a smile.
Something felt off.
Her mouth was smiling, but the corners of her eyes were stiff.
It was proof of a forced smile.
Bruno gripped the knife hilt even tighter.
As he did, he shifted his gaze to the side.
There stood Hans.
The guy bowed his waist with a smiling face.
It felt fake.
That false smile was definitely hiding something.
Bruno flared his nostrils.
He had an excellent sense of smell.
Most hunters did.
To track prey, a keen sense of smell was essential.
There was a musty smell.
The smell of semen.
When mixed with sweat, it produced this kind of odor.
He had burned herbs, but that couldn't completely eliminate the smell.
Bruno's face twisted.
His hand gripping the knife hilt trembled.
Bloodshot veins filled his eyes.
A male gets the most furious when his female is taken.
That's why crimes of passion are so brutal.
"Honey, what's wrong?"
Helen asked, pretending not to know.
Bruno grew even angrier at his wife's brazen attitude.
Of course, he didn't reflect at all on his own actions up to now.
Humans are always like that.
They only remember what happened to them.
Bruno was no exception.
"You two got along just fine without me."
Bruno muttered that and drew his dagger.
The bluish blade gleamed.
He would stab Hans first with this.
The wanted poster said it.
They'd pay 10 gold even for just the head.
"Honey..?"
Helen backed away.
Cold sweat dripped down her pretty face.
"You fucking bastards!"
Bruno charged.
Swinging the dagger.
He rushed in with the momentum to tear everything apart.
Things went wrong.
The returning Bruno flared his nostrils and muttered in a voice just barely audible.
"You two got along just fine without me."
He must have smelled it.
Fuck, we cleaned it up.
But the lingering scent remained.
Originally, the plan was to let his guard down and stun him unconscious.
But that was impossible now.
Only two options left.
Fire Bolt and Stun Chain.
Fire Bolt was problematic.
It could accidentally burn down the cabin.
Moreover, Bruno might keep coming even after taking a Fire Bolt.
Helen had said.
Bruno was a born tough bastard.
She'd heard he'd beaten a Hobgoblin to death with his bare hands.
So only one option remained.
Stun Chain.
He had to bet everything on that.
It was a gamble with low odds.
The Stun Chain spell itself was much harder than Fire Bolt.
It also consumed an enormous amount of mana.
Even in the illusion, Lieselotte had only managed to cast it by replenishing mana through physical contact.
The chances of failure were high.
He might burn through the mana as planned.
And end up completely drained.
Then he'd lose his life to Bruno's knife.
But there was no other way.
Better to try something than stand there dumbfounded and get stabbed.
"Honey..?"
Terrified Helen backed away.
Seeing her reaction, Bruno seemed even more convinced of our affair.
"You fucking bastards!"
He charged with a roar.
A muscular man swinging a knife made my legs go weak.
No, I couldn't let fear take over.
I was a mage, after all.
I calmed my pounding heart.
And faced the situation head-on.
Click.
I grabbed the staff tucked into my waistband.
Aimed it at Bruno.
And visualized the flashing lightning in my mind.
It was a split-second moment.
But as Lieselotte had taught.
I carefully recalled the form and texture of the lightning.
Meanwhile, the distance to Bruno was closing.
Buwoong!
The dagger in his hand.
Swung with full murderous intent.
I twisted my waist back slightly.
And chanted the incantation.
"Stun Chain."
Pajijijijijik!
Lightning sparked from the tip of the staff.
It wove like chains and shot forward.
Bruno's swung knife.
Grazed my cheek by a hair's breadth.
Blood trickled down.
"Gah!"
At the same time, Bruno screamed.
His eyes went dull and unfocused.
Just like getting hit by a stun gun.
He tumbled forward with his charging momentum.
Bruno's massive body crashed onto me.
We rolled together.
The table and household items scattered, making a huge racket.
"Groooan.."
The fallen Bruno groaned.
Just as Helen said.
The bastard had a tenacious spirit.
Even after such a strong electric shock, he wasn't dead.
"Haa.. haa.."
Exhaustion washed over me.
I'd pre-charged mana into the staff.
But it wasn't enough; even the mana in my body was completely depleted.
The feeling of energy being sucked out.
I didn't even have the strength to push off Bruno collapsed on top of me.
"Honey! Are you okay?!"
Helen came rushing over in a panic.
The "honey" she called was, of course, me.
Helen shoved Bruno aside like luggage and checked on me.
"Yeah.. I'm fine.."
She helped me up as I staggered to my feet.
I sat in a nearby chair first.
Then pointed at Bruno, who was still twitching, with my finger.
"We need to tie that guy up first."
Bruno had lost all resistance.
But killing him with my own hands was tricky.
Mana was insufficient for now.
I couldn't even use Stun magic.
Stabbing his throat with a knife was impossible too.
I didn't have the strength to lift my arms.
And I didn't want to dirty Helen's hands either.
"Got it."
Fortunately, Helen was quick on the uptake.
Right after I gave the order, she brought a ton of restraints like handcuffs.
Helen's heart pounded like a drum.
Finally, Bruno was down.
That meant freedom.
But it was too early to relax.
Bruno wasn't dead yet.
Helen began binding Bruno.
The handcuffs were too small to be useful.
So she used ropes and cords.
She used various knots.
Professional ones.
The kind only sailors or fishermen use.
She'd learned them from her father's friend, never imagining she'd use them like this.
The binding took a full 30 minutes.
Because Bruno's strength was immense.
A sloppy knot could be broken with brute force.
So she had to tie him ridiculously tight.
There was a burning smell.
Bruno's bushy beard had been singed.
It was a miracle he hadn't died.
It would have been better if he'd just croaked.
Now she had to do double the work.
By the time the binding was done.
Hans, who had been panting heavily, had recovered some energy.
"Honey."
Tears streamed down Helen's cheek.
Gratitude and liberation.
A mix of various emotions in those tears.
Hans hugged Helen tightly.
He stroked her back with his thick palm and whispered kind words in her ear.
"Work's done, so shall we eat?"
"Yes! Leave it to me. I'll prepare the most amazing meal in the world!"
Helen shouted, clenching her fists.
Cooking soon began.
Hans tried to help.
But Helen stubbornly refused.
Just sitting around felt awkward.
So Hans tidied up the scattered belongings.
He righted the table.
Swept up the broken plate shards with a broom.
He also had to check what Bruno had bought in the trading city Rafalen.
A large bundle outside the cabin.
Inside was, surprisingly, a puppy.
"Helen. Look at this."
Hans showed her the puppy in his arms.
"It's a Salutz!"
"Salutz? What's that?"
"A hunting dog breed."
Salutz.
A breed prized for its strong loyalty and exceptionally keen sense of smell.
It was small now.
But it would grow to 60 kilograms in a few months.
Bruno had a hunting dog before.
But it died from injuries during a hunt.
So he'd brought a new one this time.
"We'll raise it!"
Helen looked at the Salutz with honey-dripping eyes.
"Well, sure."
The weather was getting colder.
And it was still young.
If left in the forest.
It would surely die.
When set down on the floor.
It hesitated at first.
But soon scampered around energetically.
Hans kept rummaging through the bundle.
There was quite a bit of cosmetics too.
Probably bought for Helen.
Plenty of flour.
And all sorts of goods only available in the city.
Hans checked on Bruno's condition.
Suddenly, the bastard's eyes snapped open.
His usual bulging eyes.
"You son of a bitch.."
Looking down at the cursing Bruno, Hans curled his lip.
An blatant sneer.
Bruno, lying on his back staring at the ceiling, crumpled his face like paper.
"You.. a mage?"
"Yeah."
"Fuck.. the wanted poster didn't say shit about that.."
Wanted poster?
Had wanted posters already gone up as far as Rafalen?
He'd expected it.
But hearing about the wanted poster made it unsettling.
As a flustered expression crossed Hans's face, Bruno chuckled.
"They say you robbed Baron Kargon's vault? Ballsy bastard. Thieves like you should have their hands chopped off first."
"Hah.."
Hans let out a hollow laugh.
Robbed the vault?
Nothing like that happened.
He'd just mixed bodies with the baron's daughter and planted seed in her belly.
"The pot calling the kettle black."
Hans stomped on Bruno's head with his booted foot.
"You killed an innocent man and NTR'd his woman."
"NTR? What's that supposed to mean? Explain it so I can understand."
Hans didn't explain.
He just kicked Bruno's head a few times with his foot.
"You fucking bastard, you'll end up caught by the baron and die. Soldiers will come to this cabin for sure."
Bruno kept spewing curses.
Hans didn't want to hear it.
He stuffed cloth into the bastard's mouth.
Then sat on the bed and did Mana Breathing.
The Stun Chain had succeeded spectacularly.
It was a pure gamble.
But he'd taken Bruno down and saved his own life.
He felt grateful to Lieselotte anew.
"Honey, dinner's ready."
Helen, wearing an apron, said with a beaming smile.
"Let's eat. I'm starving."
"Yes!"
Helen turned her back.
Only then did Hans realize she was wearing nothing under the apron.
Naked apron.
The dream of every man?
It symbolized newlywed life, a naughty costume.
Hans's lower half stiffened.
So he stripped off his clothes.
"No need to rush. The night's long. Eat dinner first."
Helen seductively smiled and stopped him.
The two sat facing each other naked.
And began the meal.
Hans was famished.
Maybe because he'd depleted mana so rapidly.
He gulped down the stew.
What would happen after dinner?
Obvious.
With the tightly bound Bruno right there, they'd do some netori play.