episode_0036
by fnovelpia“Princess, today is your first experience day!”
I couldn’t say anything in response to Anderson’s words, which came out with a big smile.
First experience?
what?
I want to say that it is absolutely not my fault that my thoughts naturally flowed in that direction because of that unconventional word.
But when I glanced down at my body, I saw that it was a plump and chubby little boy.
I don’t think the word crime is enough…
Anderson, who had been absentmindedly standing there, lifted me up with one arm and walked briskly, and I could see Yu Gram following behind him slowly.
“..Does everyone do this around my age?”
“Well, I guess that’s how it is! Princes have all experienced this at the same age as princesses!”
I was even more shocked and floundered.
Even though they say that the physical development of royalty is fast… I don’t think I’m there yet..?
“I, I think it’s still a bit early for me.. Is this really necessary..?”
“Well.. I completely understand the princess’s feelings. However, it is absolutely necessary to fulfill the duties of a noble or royal family!”
“I was quite scared of this when I was younger!” Anderson added.
..I think I understand, but I don’t think I understand..
“..Then what about the other person?”
“She’s a really bad woman. She’s a convict who killed 14 people and ran away, but was caught. ”
“Prisoner!?”
That too, same sex!?
Is this another world’s culture!?
“If it’s the opposite sex, there’s a risk of getting caught up in personal feelings. My first experience was with a really bad thief. He grew his beard so messily that it was almost connected to my nose hair. ”
I desperately tried to resist imagining Anderson’s ‘first time’.
“They say that in the past they used animals and monsters, but in the end, it turned out that targeting people was the most effective.”
“That, that’s right.”
Even as I was confused, Anderson strode forward.
It was a place I had never been before.
Past the area where I live, the area used by the Royal Knights. A place where the ornate decorations have diminished, and something feels hard and cold, and a sweaty smell that shouldn’t be there can be felt.
And there, further and further, into the dark and damp air, Anderson was going.
─Yes, I actually knew. I knew what Anderson was talking about, and I also knew that Anderson and Yugram would never notice the nonsense I was talking about while pretending to be mistaken. Maybe it’s a cultural difference? Neither Anderson nor Yugram would attach any meaning to the word ‘first experience’.
The sound of metal clashing could be heard as Anderson walked. Today, Anderson was different than usual. Instead of a training sword that didn’t need a scabbard and had no edge, he was carrying a real sword in a proper scabbard on his waist.
The iron bars opened with an unpleasant sound, as if the lock had been opened in advance. Inside was the prisoner Anderson had mentioned. The prisoner’s limbs were tied to iron chains attached to the wall. The untreated wounds all over his body and his sunken cheeks clearly revealed that the prisoner did not have much time left to live.
As Anderson lowered him to the ground, I absentmindedly walked toward the prisoner.
Although various thoughts filled my head, surprisingly, I felt no emotion. Was ‘Lilianne’ the same as me now?
I accept the sword that Anderson hands me. Its weight is not much different from the training sword I usually use, but for a moment, I almost drop the sword because I can’t handle the weight. This is the weight of a real sword. The weight of life.
As I was blankly staring at the prisoner, I heard Anderson’s voice in my ear.
“Okay, princess. Just do as you were taught in class.”
─I guess so.
I absentmindedly assumed the posture I had practiced hundreds and thousands of times and swung my sword.
.
.
.
It brought back some very fond memories.
This is a memory from before I was cursed. The day when blood first stained my hands. I vaguely thought that as a member of the royal family, there would come a day when I would have to take not just one or two, but dozens or hundreds of lives. But doing it myself was something else.
At that time, I remember being more surprised at myself for not feeling any change or feeling anything, rather than being shocked by the fact that I had killed someone with my own hands. I don’t know if Lilianne became strange because of me, or if Lilianne was strange to begin with.
Why did that memory suddenly come to mind?
In an instant, hot liquid fell from the sky and soaked my lower half. The familiar texture and temperature made me think. I had just blown off the head of a man who seemed to be the leader of a bandit group. Oh no, I should have dodged it. I could handle it somewhat with the magic I learned from Yugram, but considering the current situation where I couldn’t wash it properly, it was stupid.
Judging from the man’s gait and his well-trained body, I could tell he was quite strong. Of course, that was the level of strength of ordinary people who thieved in places like this, and even by the standards of the shitty academy I attended, he would be at the lower end of the scale. Still, he was able to defeat Mathias and Cosette, so I guess I should say he’s pretty strong.
Anyway, for someone with that kind of skill, the man approached me without any real hesitation. Even though he saw that we were wearing our academy uniforms and that they even had real swords.
It’s not an expression that fits the difference in skill level, but I guess I should just say that they let their guard down. It’s not that I don’t understand at all. Three kids who look like they’re in their first or second year, and one lanky young man who looks like he’s only studied his whole life. It’s not hard to look down on them.
What his common sense would not have predicted at all was that I have more blood on my hands than all the bandits who are currently surrounding us.
The severed head hit the ground first and rolled, and the headless body, still in the same position as when it was about to swing its sword, fell backwards. The bandits who were joking among themselves and pulling out their weapons, and the members of the upper class who were preparing to fight him, were all quietly looking at me.
“..What are you looking at like that?”
Is this your first time seeing someone kill someone?
.
.
.
“Oh my… I really can’t live because of our cutie. Did I almost get killed by these weaklings?”
“Ah, ahh.. It hurts..!”
“Aila, give me a chestnut.”
“gu-eok”
After defeating the bandits, the upper group decided to sleep out there. It was a place filled with the smell of blood, but there were also quite a few injured people, so they had to deal with them without being able to move right away, so it was an inevitable decision.
While the upper personnel were moving the thieves’ bodies and preparing to sleep out, Ayla sat in a corner, nagging at Mathias’s bandaged thigh while hitting his back with her hand. She looked really upset. If someone saw her, they would say she was his real older sister. Also, Mathias knew that she was worried about him, so he didn’t try to run away like he usually did. He said that he would give her a good beating because he said something weak.
In fact, with Mathias’s skills, there was no way he could be defeated by these rascals. It’s true that he wasn’t properly trained in swordsmanship, but with his improved physical strength and reflexes, which were so good that he could be mistaken for someone else, he was able to defeat his opponents without much trouble.
Yes, that was the minimum, and in fact, it was quite sufficient. Mathias exposed all his weak points on his body, and he accurately received the sword slash from the bandit who rushed at him with textbook-like precision, and his body, hardened by countless repetitions, naturally continued the movement and swung the sword, cutting down his opponent’s body.
Yes. It was cut. Both the thief who was stabbed and the person who did it opened their eyes wide in disbelief, and the former lost his life and had no time to think any further, but the latter ended up panicking.
My thoughts must have stopped at the thought, ‘I swung my sword and killed a person!’
Yes. It would be shocking to an ordinary person. So, the bandits who had lost their comrades could not have left Matias, who was just standing there with his sword swung, blankly. If Ayla had not been there to help, Matias might have been hit in the neck instead of the thigh. If it weren’t for Ayla, Matias would have died.
What about Ayla? It is true that Ayla has outstanding skills, but does she have experience in one-on-one combat… Does she have experience in cutting down people? I don’t know Ayla’s past well, but I don’t think so. Ayla must have been shocked just as much as Mathias.
As if trying to turn a blind eye to that fact, Mathias and Ayla were acting more ‘like themselves’ than usual. As if nothing happened, as if this was just how they were. However, Mathias and Ayla couldn’t hide their slightly shaking legs. They probably didn’t know that their legs were shaking either. I didn’t bother to point it out and just looked away.
For both Mathias and Ayla, tonight seemed like a long night.
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