Sword and Dog, and Bones Are as You Use Them - 5
One after another, the people stepped forward to shake hands with Hades.
Some regarded the soft yet cool sensation with humble reverence; others shed tears of pure emotion. And still others had gone so far as to hire high-ranking priests in advance, sever their own hands, and carefully preserve them.
It was a spectacle that could only be called madness itself, yet not a single person among the gathered crowd so much as furrowed a brow.
“Whew~! That’s awesome!”
“A hand that touched the Cult Leader…! How can it look so sacred?”
“Sell it to me!”
“Get lost! This is mine!”
On the contrary, there were those who praised his courage, and more than a few who coveted the severed hand. Every last one of them saw the act of cutting off a wrist as perfectly reasonable behavior for a devoted fan.
The scene of frenzy only deepened with every passing moment. In the midst of that atmosphere, Kang Junhyuk still could not calm the pounding of his heart.
What on earth had that smile Hades directed at him meant? That single question kept circling endlessly through his mind.
“Suke-chan! Aren’t you going to shake hands?”
“Uwah! I-I’m sorry!”
“Ahaha! Looks like you’re pretty nervous since this is your first time at something like this?”
Watching Hades grin at him, Kang Junhyuk lowered his head. He had planned to drop a subtle hint for harem recruitment, yet every last scheme had collapsed in an instant. The sheer scale of his blunder filled him with shame; he desperately tried to hide his flaming-red face. Because of that, the handshake line stalled, and boos rained down from the spectator seats.
“What the hell are you doing standing there like an idiot!”
“Why are you hesitating?! Can’t you see the people waiting behind you for a handshake with the Cult Leader?”
“If you’re just going to stand there, switch places with me!”
Voices urged him to hurry. Yet his heart still refused to settle, and Kang Junhyuk could not lift his head.
With a resigned little sigh, Hades stepped close and whispered quietly into his ear.
“What a cute little Suke-chan. Once this is over, come to the café on Bakery Street 2. I’ll give you that handshake we couldn’t do now.”
“Ah……!”
Having finished her whisper, Hades simply skipped the handshake and moved on to the next person. Meanwhile Kang Junhyuk, having heard her voice so close, stood dumbfounded, staring after her retreating figure.
The very person he had longed so desperately to meet had just offered to see him privately, outside this public event. It was the sort of thing that could only happen in a dream. Yet the sharp sting from the cheek he had pinched hard taught him this was reality. Kang Junhyuk’s heart began to race all over again.
“Where is Junhyuk?”
Once the handshake event ended, the enormous crowd began draining out of the city. Village guards worked hard to control the throng pouring away in every direction. If she was going to do something, now was the perfect moment; the pink-haired woman raced through the streets without rest.
For the sole purpose of reaching Kang Junhyuk, Sherin had even draped herself in an expensive invisibility cloak to enter Ainharden. She had already confirmed that his name was absent from today’s passenger list for the academy-bound carriages. Somewhere in this city Junhyuk was still lingering, and she intended to find him and drive an ice pick straight into his abdomen.
Where is he? Where could he be…?
Sherin’s eyes darted left and right with frantic intensity. She rolled them so hard, determined not to miss even the slightest glimpse of Kang Junhyuk, that she completely failed to sense another person’s presence.
“Aht!”
“Ah! A-are you all right?”
She collided with a woman coming out of the alley on the right. The woman had been carrying a paper bag the size of her own torso, stuffed full of every kind of ingredient, and thus could not see ahead—resulting in the crash. Fortunately the woman hauling the load was a sturdy dragonkin, so only Sherin ended up on the ground.
“Auuugh…!”
“I’m so sorry! Can you stand?”
A helping hand reached toward the fallen Sherin. She slapped it away and refused the aid. Rising under her own power, she twisted her face into a vicious scowl. Her eyes turned so venomous it looked as though she might devour a person whole at any second.
“Hey! Why don’t you watch where you’re going with those eyes of yours?”
“I-I’m sorry! The load was so big I simply couldn’t see ahead!”
“And you think that’s an excuse worth spouting right now?”
Even though she herself bore a fair share of the blame, Sherin flew into a rage. Already wound tight as a spring, the collision with Rene had simply made her explode. In the end she began shouting and cornering Rene without restraint.
“Why don’t you try saying the same thing after running someone over with a carriage?”
“Th-that would never—! I don’t even know how to drive a carriage in the first place… aht!”
“Your body is uselessly solid like a carriage, so only I fell, and even the heel of my shoe snapped!”
Sherin jabbed her finger repeatedly into Rene’s forehead, shoving her backward. Rene possessed more than enough strength to resist, yet she accepted the abuse as her own fault and endured it. Sensing how soft-hearted the girl was, Sherin only stoked her sadistic fire higher.
“I’m sorry…!”
“You think ‘sorry’ is going to cut it?! What are you going to do about my ruined shoes and my injuries?”
“I’ll reimburse you for the shoes and cover the medical costs as well!”
“Do you even know how much my shoes cost when you say that? A little thing like you would never be able to pay it back in a lifetime unless you sold your body in a brothel!”
“It’s fine! I have more than enough money to cover it!”
Rene’s lovely face had already irritated Sherin. She had tried to tear the girl down by casually bringing up prostitution, yet Rene showed not the slightest concern and confidently declared her willingness to pay.
Is she the daughter of some wealthy house?
A woman blessed with both beauty and fortune. Sherin’s jealousy began to swell. She herself had been born a farmer’s daughter in a shabby northern province and had never once lived a life of wealth. She had taken pride in her decent face and beautiful figure, yet even those had been stripped away. The breasts she once boasted of had long since vanished, and though her face remained, the bare crown of her head was a glaring flaw. On top of everything, the lover she adored had fallen head over heels for Hades and cast her aside. And now a woman who was both rich and beautiful stood right in front of her—how could she possibly stay sane?
“Ten thousand gold.”
“Pardon…?”
“I said ten thousand gold! For the shoes and the medical fees!”
In truth the shoes were not even worth three gold, and the injury was so minor that no treatment was needed. Moreover Sherin herself was a priestess; even a serious wound she could have healed on her own. Naming ten thousand gold was pure malice, one hundred percent.
“P-please wait a moment!”
Anyone else who heard that sum would have snapped back that she was insane. After all, ten thousand gold was enough to buy several houses and still have change left over. Yet Rene, who knew little of human society, simply believed Sherin’s words. She was not entirely free of doubt, but she had heard that certain high-end shoes really did cost that much. Quickly she opened her coin purse and checked the remaining balance.
“I-I’m sorry, but to pay out such a large sum I need to get separate approval first. Could you wait a little? This money isn’t actually mine.”
“What? Is it your parents’ money?”
Parents would be a problem. Rene was ignorant of the world and could be fooled, but anyone else would see through the scam at a glance. A wealthy person rich enough to casually hand over ten thousand gold was not going to fall for it. Pulling an absurd con in front of a shrewd tycoon was less like showing off wrinkles in front of a chrysalis and more like a careless act that could cost you your life.
“Hehe! Not my parents—my precious person…!”
Rene blushed and fidgeted with her fingers. Sherin realized the money belonged not to parents but to a lover.
So she isn’t a prostitute by trade—she just acts exactly like one.
Almost no one of their age possessed ten thousand gold. Therefore Sherin became certain that Rene had cozied up to some rich, older tycoon and wheedled the money out of him. In an instant Rene dropped from “wealthy daughter” to “side mistress.” Sherin’s lips curled into a nasty smirk. Since the money belonged to a tycoon, she had already given up on actual compensation; instead she resolved to mock Rene to her heart’s content.
“Pathetic beyond belief.”
“Pardon? What is?”
“Your life. Your face and figure are passable enough, yet in the end you fell for some worthless man in the flower of your youth?”
“……What did you just say?”
“Am I wrong? Deep down you think the same thing. You’re pretty, but your partner is a disappointment. The person you like might be fairly capable, but looks-wise… well, nothing special.”
“Take that back right now.”
“Hahaha! Look at you trying to defend your so-called lover. Drop the act. Your love is fake, and you’re just an ugly bitch who chose a man for his money.”
Until now Rene had stayed meek, but she raised her hand. She was about to slap Sherin’s cheek hard when someone caught her wrist.
“Rene, there’s no need to resort to violence over something like this.”
“Ah…”
The one who stopped her was none other than Bern, who had come out to meet Rene after she left to do the shopping. The person startled by his appearance was not Rene, but the pink-haired woman.
“Be-Bern?! Why are you here…?”
“Long time no see, Sherin. Before that……”
Bern reached into his coat and pulled out a pair of glasses he never normally wore. With a touch of dark magic he blackened the lenses, turning them into sunglasses.
“As befits a priestess of light, your head is just so dazzlingly bright—you’ll have to forgive me.”
With a faint smirk Bern slipped the sunglasses on. In his field of vision, Sherin’s face—flushed crimson with humiliation—was nowhere to be seen.