The Ruckus - Part 2
I barged straight into Lucas’s mansion without warning. The soldiers tried to stop me, but I shoved right past them. When Lucas saw my face, he waved the guards away.
“Allen? I heard you were holed up in the mountains like some hermit. What brings you here?”
“I heard you took my cave mushrooms.”
“You? I’m the lord of this land. Where are your manners?”
“Shut up. Since when does a so-called polite man keep plundering without paying a single coin?”
“Plundering? I’m just saying family should share what they have.”
“I don’t have a family like you. Pay me for what you took. Now.”
“And if I don’t want to?”
“We done talking?”
“I don’t have a single copper, so go ahead and try to take it if you can.”
Lucas was acting like he didn’t give a damn. Living in this ridiculously extravagant mansion and claiming he had no money? And why the hell did a tiny castle town even need a place this huge? It was all the result of him using his position as lord to hoard wealth.
“What? Are you joking? Then at least give me something else instead.”
“No can do. All of this belongs to me.”
“Then whose is it?”
“The blood and sweat of the townspeople?”
“So you admit you’re plundering them. Becoming lord really filled your belly with greed, huh?!”
“Hmph. I plan to return it all someday.”
“Yeah, right. Whatever. If you won’t pay me, I’ll just drag a horse into your outhouse. Consider yourself warned.”
“Hahaha. Have you forgotten I’m the lord of this territory?”
“So what if you’re the lord?”
“Guards! Seize this filthy beggar and drag him away.”
At Lucas’s command, the soldiers rushed over, grabbed both my arms, and started hauling me off.
“L-let go! Lucas, you fat bastard! You’re going to regret this!”
“Regret? That’s what you’ll be doing. Give this fool ten lashes before you throw him out.”
“Ten lashes? You piece of shit pig! You call yourself a human being?”
“I’m being merciful because of our old ties. How dare you speak to the lord like that? There’s a limit to what I’ll tolerate.”
“You always pick the ugliest things to do, don’t you?!”
“That depends on how you look at it. Just be grateful I’m even letting you set foot in the village.”
Lucas waved his hand. The soldiers dragged me out of the grand mansion.
“Let go, I said let go!”
That’s how I ended up getting dragged off and beaten with a stick before they finally released me.
“Ugh… that son of a bitch…”
My ass felt like it was split open. I could barely walk. What the hell was I thinking? I already knew this would happen. Getting all worked up and then getting my ass handed to me—what was I expecting? That he’d come running out barefoot and apologize? I knew exactly what kind of guy he was.
Rubbing my sore backside, I headed toward the market. I stopped by the doctor for some simple first aid.
“Seriously, why would you even go there?” the doctor said as he smeared white powder on my butt.
“I know, I’m an idiot. Sigh…”
“Just forget about it. You’re living well enough. Except for that witch, anyway.”
“Hmm… yeah, I guess.”
“Then that’s all that matters. So what are you going to do about the witch?”
“I still…”
“Still? Kick her out already. Though if she suddenly starts acting nice to you—”
“I should be suspicious, right?”
“Oh? You already know. Witches are cunning monsters, so be careful. Extremely careful.”
“It won’t come to that. Anyway, thank you.”
After finishing my conversation with the doctor, I collected the money from the wholesaler and left the village. After the commission fee, I was left with 150 coins. That was barely enough to buy one kid goat.
‘Should I buy at least one with this?’
I fiddled with the coins in my pocket.
‘Nah. Let’s just go home.’
But then I stopped in front of the barbecue shop. A whole wild boar roasted on a spit, fat dripping steadily. It looked like a good one. I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Maybe I should just ask the price? The witch was probably hungry by now. Should I buy one?
After agonizing over it, I ended up spending every last coin on the whole roasted boar. The kid goat would have to wait until next time. Yeah. If I didn’t bring back at least this, the witch would probably kill me. I just hoped she’d leave me a little bit…
I loaded the barbecue onto the cart and headed over the hill.
The witch was waiting for me on the hill path leading up to the house.
“Witch? Did you come out to greet me?”
She stood with her arms crossed, looking extremely displeased.
“Want to die? I told you to come back before sunset, didn’t I?”
“Sorry… something came up.”
“What happened?”
Her tone was sharp and aggressive. But I really didn’t want to tell her. It would just sound pathetic if I whined about it.
“It’s nothing… you don’t need to know.”
“Should I just kill you without hearing it?”
“There are things even I don’t want to talk about.”
Frustrated, I snapped at her. After I spoke, I glanced at her face, but for some reason she didn’t get angry. She simply pointed at the cart.
“What’s that behind you?”
“Oh… wild boar barbecue. I bought it because I thought you might be hungry.”
“If you hadn’t brought that, you’d be dead right now.”
“Sorry.”
I lowered my head and weakly pulled the cart. Huh? The witch grabbed the cart.
“Why…?”
“Get out.”
“Get out?”
“It’s annoying, so just get out.”
“Uh, okay…”
The moment I stepped away from the cart, she grabbed it with one hand and started pulling it. I followed behind her, stunned.
“By the way, why are you walking like that?”
The witch glanced at me. I hurriedly covered my butt with my hands even though it wasn’t visible.
“Ah… well… I fell on the way here.”
“When?”
“Uh… just a little while ago.”
“You fell just a little while ago and you’re walking that strangely?”
“Yeah… it was a really bad fall…”
She glanced at me again.
“At least put some effort into your lies.”
“It’s true.”
“Sigh. You must’ve gone somewhere and gotten beaten up again.”
“N-no, I didn’t!”
“Who was it?”
“I’m telling you it wasn’t like that. I really just fell.”
“Sigh. Sure, sure. Just stop falling over everywhere.”
The witch walked ahead with quick steps. I followed with small, hurried strides. How strange. She was even worrying about me.
“Woof! Woof woof!”
When we reached the house, Melo started barking. He was still scared of the witch; he growled at her the moment he saw her. The witch seemed annoyed by his loud barking.
“Grrraaah!”
She let out a loud shout to scare him. Melo yelped in fright and hid behind me.
“Don’t bully Melo. You’ll give him a heart attack.”
“Hmph.”
She completely ignored me. Meanwhile, all the sheep were still there—not a single one missing. She really hadn’t eaten any of them while I was gone.
“You didn’t eat any sheep? You must’ve been hungry.”
“Of course not.”
“Why is that obvious?”
“You said they were family.”
“Right…? So that’s why you didn’t eat them?”
“I don’t know. You told me not to eat them. Would you rather I had?”
“Huh? No, no. You did well.”
“Did I really do well?”
“Yeah…”
“Then won’t you do that thing for me?”
“What?”
“The thing you did last time. Like this and that.”
“You mean patting your head?”
“Yeah. Won’t you do it?”
This was confusing. She walked right up to me and pushed her head forward. Should I do it or not? If I didn’t, she’d probably get angry. She might even start screaming about killing me again. I raised my hand and gently stroked her hair. Once. Twice. Done.
“That’s it?”
“Yeah. Do I need to do more?”
“Yes.”
I did it again. Twice. On the third stroke, something like horns sprouted from both sides of her crown.
What the hell is this?
Curious, I poked one with my fingertip. The horn wiggled playfully.
“Mmm… that’s enough now. Take your hand away.”
“I did… but what is this?”
“You don’t need to know. Put your hand down before I cut your fingers off.”
Isn’t this a bit much? She asks me to touch her one minute and then calls me a barbaric witch the next. A lewd pair of breasts. I point with my finger and she threatens to cut it off. I’ll cut your horns off first, you—
The witch seemed to be in a good mood; her hips were swaying side to side. The plump flesh of her backside jiggled up and down, each cheek competing to look bigger. Sigh. What’s so great about those lumps of fat? I’m only putting up with this because of them.
The moment we arrived, I set the barbecue over the fire. Meat always tastes best when it’s warm. I even dragged the wooden table out of the house. Once the fire was going, I got everything ready to eat.
“Witch, come eat.”
Only then did she crawl out of bed. She stretched in front of the door. Her shirt rode up. Ooh…? A glimpse of the soft skin beneath her breasts. My mouth fell open.
“What are you staring at, you pervert?”
I quickly wiped the drool from my lips.
“I-I wasn’t looking. I was looking at the window.”
“Bullshit.”
The witch sat down on the simple chair. Then she opened her mouth wide.
“What are you doing? You’ll get bugs in your mouth.”
“Read the room.”
“What now…”
“Why do you think I’m opening my mouth?”
Hmm… if it’s something heavy, I could put it in. Wait, is that what she means?
I stood up and started to pull down my pants.
“Shall we test how sharp my newly sharpened nails are?”
“No! My pants just kept slipping, that’s all.”
When I saw the long claws she’d extended, I immediately yanked my pants back up.
“If you open your mouth, I have to feed you the barbecue.”
“Me?”
“Then who else would do it?”
“I guess you’re right.”
The witch opened her mouth again. I tore off a piece of barbecue meat with my hand and placed it inside.
She chewed loudly. Wow, she eats so well.
I tried to tear off a piece for myself too.
“Aah~!”
“Can’t I eat some too?”
“Aaaaaah.”
“Fine… I’ll feed you. Just say so.”
In the end, the witch ate everything except the wild boar’s feet. I was left sucking on the remaining trotters.
‘Sigh. Whether it’s Lucas or you…’
Still, the meat clinging to the bones was excellent. Tender and savory. I spent a long time sucking every last bit off the trotters.
“Aren’t you going to tell me?” the witch asked.
I turned my gaze toward her.
“I said, aren’t you going to tell me?”
“Tell you what…?”
“Why your ass is like that.”
“What are you going to do even if you know?”
“Kill them, obviously.”
“What…? Why would you say something so extreme?”
I could feel killing intent radiating from her.
“I need to show them what happens when someone touches my slave.”
“Slave? Who are you calling—”
“You.”
“I’ve never once thought of myself that way.”
“How admirable.”
“Anyway, just let this incident slide.”
“I’ll let it slide if you tell me what happened.”
The witch stared straight into my eyes as she spoke. Her gaze was hotter than flames and sparkled brighter than stars. I finally understood what it meant to be bewitched by a human. Just looking at her properly made me feel dizzy.
“W-well, you see…”
Why am I even telling her this?