Chapter 82

Ŕｅaｄ& ;өǹ Ka&t;ＲｅãdｉnĝＣａf&e;

“Huhu, you trashy bastards, six of you came at us at once.”

“But they weren’t threatening at all. They went down with one punch each. That little wolf pup fought way better. See this bite mark on my arm?”

Bron and Daren, who had brought Dracania, were covered in blood.

Priscilla asked with a horrified expression.

“What did you do…? Did you hurt Thor’s siblings?”

“Hurt them? More like half-killed them.”

“It was fun. A good stress reliever. Is this the sword you were talking about?”

Bron showed the sword in his hand to Priscilla.

Dracania.

It was the sword Thor had spent months crafting.

“It is, but… You shouldn’t have done this. Hurting Thor’s siblings? And who’s that girl?”

Daren was holding onto a girl.

A beastkin girl with long ears and a tail.

Her arms were tied behind her back, and her mouth was gagged with cloth.

Daren grinned.

“We picked her up. She was in the house.”

“Shall we settle the payment now?”

Bron held out his hand.

“The reward.”

“…”

Priscilla bit her lip.

She had only asked them to steal the sword, but she hadn’t expected them to hurt Thor’s siblings.

And seeing that they had also captured a beastkin girl, it was clear that Bron and Daren were dangerous individuals.

“G-Give me the sword first…”

At Priscilla’s words, Bron smirked.

“No way. We’ve decided to keep this sword. It looks pretty valuable.”

“Th-That’s the sword Thor spent months making!”

Priscilla lunged at Bron.

She wanted to snatch the sword back.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Bron’s fist struck Priscilla’s jaw.

Thud!

Priscilla lost consciousness and collapsed.

When she woke up, her body was tightly bound with ropes.

Bron and Daren were ransacking Priscilla’s house, taking anything of value.

“Y-You bastards! Betrayal, huh? I knew humans were…”

Slap!

“Shut your mouth. Before I kill you for real.”

“Ugh…”

Priscilla pleaded with tears streaming down her face.

“Please return the sword… Thor will be so disappointed if it’s gone…”

Slap!

“I told you to shut up, didn’t I? You’re the one who asked us to steal it, and now you’re throwing a fit? This is what happens when you don’t have good intentions. Got it? Live a better life from now on!”

“You bastards…”

“Bastards? Did you just call me a bastard?”

“Yes, you bastard!”

“You dwarf pig.”

Thud!

Bron kicked Priscilla.

Priscilla fell to the ground, still bound.

Bron stepped on Priscilla’s face and applied pressure.

“Ugh!”

“Be grateful you were born a dwarf. If you weren’t, you’d be dragged away like that beastkin girl.”

At that moment, Daren approached with a sinister smile.

“Hehe, Bron. Even though she’s a dwarf, she’s not bad, right? I kinda like her.”

“What?”

Bron frowned.

“Now you’re into dwarfs? You’re such a pervert. If you like her, why don’t you take her with you?”

“No, not to that extent. Just a little fun here…”

That’s when it happened.

Creak.

The door to Priscilla’s house opened.

Bron and Daren turned their heads toward the door.

Entering through the door were a white-haired girl and a dwarf with a bushy beard.

Lucy and Thor.

◈

“Priscilla!”

Thor rushed toward Priscilla.

Seeing Bron stepping on Priscilla’s face, Thor lost his composure.

“How dare you touch Priscilla!”

Thor swung his hammer at Bron with all his might, intending to shatter his ribs.

Whoosh—

But Bron easily dodged Thor’s attack.

Daren kicked Thor from the side.

“Ugh!”

Thor tumbled to the ground.

Bron and Daren burst into laughter.

“Pfft, dwarfs really can’t fight for crap.”

“They’re not built for fighting. What can you do with those stubby limbs? They should just stay holed up in their workshops making tools… Wait, hold on.”

Daren stopped talking and looked at Lucy.

“Oh… What do we have here?”

He walked over to Lucy and reached out his hand.

“This one’s definitely coming with us…”

Crack!

At that moment, Amon, who had appeared behind Lucy, grabbed Daren’s arm and twisted it.

Daren’s arm was bent in the opposite direction.

“Agh!!”

Daren screamed in pain and collapsed.

Lucy turned her gaze to Sophie.

Sophie’s face was drenched in tears.

Her arms were tied behind her back, and her mouth was gagged.

Lucy untied the ropes and the cloth, and Sophie immediately clung to her.

“Lu, Lucy…!”

“It’s okay now.”

Lucy tried to comfort Sophie by patting her back.

But unintentionally, her hand moved toward Sophie’s butt.

It seemed her habit of touching tails had taken over.

Well, it didn’t matter.

Pat. Pat.

“Damn it, Bron, help me!”

Daren screamed.

But Bron was already gone.

As soon as he saw Amon, he bolted out the back door.

A quick decision, one might even call it wise.

But,

[Amon, catch him.]

It was futile.

In the end, he would be caught by Amon.

Poof!

Amon disappeared from the spot.

Thud. Thud.

Lucy approached Daren.

Daren, sitting on the floor, looked up at Lucy.

“Wh-What the hell… Was that a demon? Why is a demon here…”

Lucy’s hand grabbed Daren’s forehead.

Daren sensed something was off and widened his eyes.

At that moment,

“Goodbye.”

Whoosh!

Daren’s head was engulfed in black flames.

◈

“I’m sorry, Thor…”

Priscilla knelt down and apologized.

“I was wrong…”

Tears streamed down Priscilla’s face.

Thor was utterly baffled.

“No, why on earth…”

He had heard that Priscilla had hired mercenaries to steal his sword, but he couldn’t believe it.

“Why did you try to steal my sword?”

“I hated you… I just wanted to mess with you a little, but I didn’t think things would turn out like this… I’m really sorry. Because of my stupid actions, even your siblings got hurt…”

“You hated me?”

“Yes…”

“But we’re friends. I’ve never hated you, not even once.”

“It’s just…”

Priscilla lowered her head, embarrassed.

“You… you never treated me like a woman…”

“Huh?”

Thor’s eyes widened.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ve always been kind to me, but you’ve never treated me like a woman. You never asked me out or proposed to me. When we were kids, you said you’d marry me when we grew up.”

“I said that?”

“You did! It was on a drizzly spring day! Under the Lumiel tree in front of the Silverforge Mine! You definitely said that to me!”

“…How old were we then?”

“Five years old.”

“…”

Priscilla sniffled and continued.

“Sniff… I was so happy that day… Ever since then, I’ve only had eyes for you… But you never showed any interest in me… Am I really that unlikable?”

“Wh-What do you mean unlikable? That’s not true at all.”

Thor waved his hands dismissively.

“You’re the most skilled female blacksmith in our village. Plus, you’re pretty and have a great figure. You’re practically perfect. What dwarf man would reject you? You’re really popular, aren’t you? I’ve seen a lot of guys hitting on you.”

Priscilla’s face turned red.

“Th-Then why don’t you hit on me?! If I’m so skilled, pretty, and have a great figure, you should be hitting on me! You should be begging to go out with me!”

“Priscilla…”

Thor looked aggrieved.

“You always said you were happy we were friends. I thought that meant you only wanted to stay friends. I even thought you didn’t see me as a man. I… I’m not as good a blacksmith as you.”

“What does that have to do with anything? I like you! I like you no matter what! I even wore a dress to impress you, and all you said was it didn’t suit me!”

“That dress was torture for me. It was so low-cut and tight-fitting. Do you know how hard it was for me to look at you? I’m a man too, you know. There’s only so much I can take.”

“Then don’t hold back!”

“I told you! I thought you only wanted to stay friends! I couldn’t just pounce on a friend!”

“Pounce on me!”

“I’ll really do it!”

“Do it!!”

As the two dwarves bickered, Lucy narrowed her eyes slightly.

What is this situation?

It seemed like Thor and Priscilla had feelings for each other all along, but there had been some misunderstanding. That seemed to be the gist of it.

Should I leave them alone?

At that moment, Amon’s voice echoed in Lucy’s mind.

[Lucy… That guy fell into the canyon.]

[The canyon?]

[Yes. He slipped and fell before I could even catch him.]

[Is he dead?]

[He probably melted without a trace. There’s poisonous mist at the bottom of the canyon, and it’s so potent even I can’t withstand it.]

[Then that’s… Oh, what about the sword?]

[The sword? The one he had?]

[Yes.]

[It fell with him.]

[…]

Lucy raised her head.

Thor and Priscilla were still bickering.

“Hey.”

Lucy spoke softly.

“We have a problem.”

Thor turned his gaze to Lucy.

“A problem?”

“Your sword fell into the canyon.”

“Dracania?”

“Yes.”

“Wh-What canyon?”

“The one with the poisonous mist.”

“…!”

Thor’s face turned pale.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Thank you for reading.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
You would think they would be dying in fear, but I guess being a pervert comes with extra stupid privileges… Maybe I should ask the lewd saintess about it.