Leon raised an eyebrow, spinning the ice spike in his hand. "When exactly did you warn me?"
"Still playing dumb!"
Vespa, thinking Leon was toying with her, cursed in fury.
"I gave you the signal! That 'wiping' gesture! That's the universal underworld sign for 'being watched'! Don't tell me you didn't notice?!"
"If you didn't notice, why did you set so many traps?! You insidious jerk!"
Leon: "..."
He really hadn't noticed.
He had thought she was showing gratitude, or that it was some kind of begging ritual.
"So..." Vespa said, growing more aggrieved as her eyes reddened. "I risked my life to sneak in and save you, but I didn't get any benefits and even took a beating! You being fine now is at least half my credit!"
"But you wounded your benefactor! You even tied me up! Are you even human? Shameless! Despicable! Blind bastard! You'll die a miserable death! May your future son be born without a buttcrack!"
"You damned stray cat! Who are you yelling at?!"
Just then, a voice just as huffy—if not fiercer—came from the doorway.
Lucrezia was huffing and puffing as she dragged a small bundle back.
Hanging from her waist was the coin pouch she’d stripped from Kofman’s charred corpse, and she held several looted weapons in her hands.
After these few "experiences," the princess-in-distress no longer felt her initial disgust or fear toward corpses.
In fact, under the influence of Leon's theory that "looting bodies is like opening blind boxes," she felt a strange sense of anticipation and proficiency in gathering loot.
Hearing this ungrateful stray cat dare to insult her servant the moment she returned, Lucrezia's brows shot up in anger.
"He's this princess's small fry! Only I can scold him!"
She rushed forward and raised her hand. Slap! A crisp, loud slap landed on Vespa's dirty face.
"Don't push your luck!"
However...
The moment the slap landed.
Vespa, who had been tightly bound and seemingly helpless, had a sharp glint flash in her eyes!
Using the force of the slap, she suddenly bounded up like a live fish on a riverbank!
Snap!
The seemingly sturdy hemp ropes binding her had been cut at some point, falling loosely to the floor!
As a 【Heroic】 rank rogue, rope-escaping was a basic skill!
Her earlier ranting had only been to distract Leon and mask her subtle movements!
"Nya-da—!!"
Vespa let out a strange cry. Using her momentum, she delivered a fierce rabbit kick, striking Lucrezia’s defenseless, soft abdomen.
"Ugh!"
Lucrezia hadn't expected this at all. She was kicked backward, crashing into the tables and chairs behind her, scattering her loot across the floor.
"Goodbye, idiots!"
Vespa didn't even have time to gloat. She landed in a silky-smooth forward roll and lunged toward the window—which had been blown open and was completely unobstructed—like a bolt of gray lightning!
Once out that window, she'd be in the complex network of alleys! That was her home turf!
In that moment, the scent of freedom was so close!
However.
Leon, whose hand had been resting on Lucrezia's shoulder while he seemingly watched the show, didn't even turn his body.
A mocking "You think you can run?" curled his lips.
He crooked his left index finger.
【Arcane Missile】.
Whoosh—!
Three purple arcane orbs, trailing long tails of flame like miniature guided missiles, traced an eerie arc through the air.
No matter how Vespa twisted her body or zig-zagged.
The three missiles seemed to have eyes of their own. They hit her square in the back with inescapable precision while she was still in mid-air!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Pfft—!
Vespa felt as if a sledgehammer had struck her back three times. A sweet taste rose in her throat, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Her petite body, like a kite with a broken string, lost all strength less than ten centimeters from the window and crashed heavily back onto the room's floor.
Thud.
Vespa lay on the floor in agonizing pain, her fingertips clawing at the gaps in the floorboards as she stared despairingly at the moonlight just outside.
It's... it's over...
I'm really done for this time...
I, Vespa, have traveled far and wide, but I never thought... I’d capsize in the gutter of this tiny Kent Town...
A single tear of regret rolled from the corner of her eye.
A-Ling... I'm sorry... Sis won't be coming back... You must... avenge me...
"Hero, spare my life!!"
Vespa's knees seemed to have springs. Before Leon's ice spike could even take shape, she executed a silky-smooth kneeling slide, her forehead slamming onto the floor in a perfect dogeza.
"Meow-ry sorry! I was wrong! Really wrong!"
"You dared to kick me!"
Lucrezia rubbed her aching belly, fuming with rage.
She snatched up a table leg, intending to give her a few more hard hits: "Weren't you being arrogant just now?! Run again, I dare you!"
"Don't be impulsive."
Leon grabbed the fuming princess, his eyes thoughtfully fixed on the shivering cat-person on the floor.
"This little thing has some skill. Being able to silently cut the ropes right under my nose and break free... she's an expert."
"Big brother! Don't kill me!"
Vespa didn't dare raise her head, her words firing off like a machine gun:
"You're surrounded! Those trash from the Black Tail Gang were just cannon fodder. The elite city guard will be here any second! They even have a 【Crowned】 rank old mage. If you don't leave now, it'll really be too late!"
She looked up, her amber eyes full of sincerity (and a desperate will to live):
"I can lead you out! I'm a 【Heroic】 rank rogue! I've been staked out in this town for days; I know Kent Town's layout like the back of my hand! Even Baron Hawthorne himself might not know it as well as I do!"
"Oh?"
A fireball danced on Leon's fingertips, illuminating his flickering expression.
He was indeed having a bit of a headache about how to escape with a tagalong. Open a portal?
Leon didn't think he'd be lucky forever if he gambled his life again without a beacon...
Breaking through wasn't impossible, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Even if it was just a remote town with only a baron in charge, it was still a town...
Case in point—if this girl hadn't spoken up, Leon wouldn't have known about the 【Crowned】 rank mage. Though Leon didn't think he would necessarily alert the baron's top combatant over this—it was just an illegal business, after all, and exposing it wouldn't look good for anyone...
Still, nothing was absolute. If there was a safer way, he wouldn't turn it down.
"Interesting."
Leon rubbed his chin.
Truth be told, he believed her to some extent.
Thinking back carefully, the little beggar's throwing knife really had been aimed at Kofman.
Although this person was suspicious, looking at the results, she did seem to have come to save him...
Besides, that slippery, street-smart air about her didn't seem like that of a trained assassin.
"Fine."
Leon extinguished the fireball and smirked. "Lead the way. If you try any tricks, I'll cut off your tail and turn it into a scarf."
"Eh?! You're just going to trust this lying beggar like that?!"
Lucrezia glared indignantly at Vespa, looking like she wanted to eat her alive. "She just kicked me!"
"Alright, I'm a good judge of character. Besides, you slapped her, so consider it even," Leon patted her head to soothe her. "We don't have time. She's a free guide. Might as well use her."
"My name is Vespa! And I'm not a beggar! That was a disguise! It's art!" Vespa couldn't help but protest in a small voice.
"Shut up and lead the way."
Leon kicked her in the rear. "Any more chatter and you can stay here as a pet for the Black Tail Gang."
"Meow—! This way!"
Vespa scrambled to the window and beckoned for them to follow.
However, just as she poked her furry head out.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Several sharp arrows whistled through the air, grazing the tips of her ears before thudding into the window frame, their fletching still vibrating.
"Mommy!"
Vespa shrieked in terror, instantly pulling her head back. If she had been a tenth of a second slower, she would have been a pincushion cat by now.
"It's crawling with people down there! The archers are in position!"
Rate on N.U.
