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Chapter 68 Part 3 – Side Story: The Blood-Sucking Madam of the Abandoned Castle (Part 1)

The rocky terrain diffused Alisa’s voice and made it difficult to grasp her whereabouts.

「Alisa!! Shout as loud as you can!! Then I’ll sleep together with you tonight!!」

I shouted.
It’s not that the screws in my head has flown off.

「…… Naughty stuff are not allowed.」

Just in case, I didn’t forget to give her a warning.

「Yeahhhhhhhh!!!! It’s my first night with Scarlet-samaaaa!!!」

With a deafeningly loud voice, Alisa let out a shout of joy. The air rumbled.

I told you that naughty stuff is not allowed. Listen carefully to what I’m saying.

Alisa’s power is extraordinary when it comes to eroticism, even though she is usually a bit of a dweeb. Not only will her head go crazy, but her physical abilities will become crazy as well.

She once did a cartwheel in the air in order to take a bath with me. Another time she ran up the wall and jumped onto the second floor balcony for a kiss. Even though she’s a comedy character, her dance skills are top class. This girl is probably extremely gifted in athletic ability, but because of her foolish behavior, her brilliance has been covered up ……

The fog suddenly moved and became thinner at her loud voice.

I could see the silhouette of Alisa with her familiar twin-tailed hairstyle and someone clutching her wrist and trying to drag her away. Judging by the figure, that person should be a woman. That woman was standing still.

I endured the ringing pain in my eardrums and decisively charged forward.

Alisa’s voice was damaging even to me who was at quite a distance from her. It was like an air bomb.

On the other hand, the suspicious woman was in close contact with Alisa as she tried to kidnap her, which caused her to be exposed to that deafeningly loud voice at close range.
There is no way she wouldn’t get affected by it.

Unless they’ve been trained, when a person is suddenly exposed to an unexpectedly loud sound or light, the brain is overwhelmed and becomes momentarily stunned. That slight pause was more than enough time for me to get Alisa back.

I head-butted the suspicious woman in the side with all my weight and momentum. She screamed, did a somersault, and was blown away. After all, my stone head has an established reputation. Besides, the assailant weighed less than I had expected.

That was one of my 33 self-defense techniques as I do not have fists as strong as those of a man.

It was taught to me by my father when he was still alive and it has saved my life many times until now.

I didn’t go easy on her, but I did take into consideration the fact that she’s probably a woman.
The other 33 techniques included murderous methods, such as crushing the throat with the tip of the iron-ribbed fan and slicing the carotid artery with its blade-like edge.

Seeing that that woman was groaning and trying to get up, I was going to kick her lower jaw to knock her out.

Please don’t think of it as a savage act.
Rather, it was a merciful act so that she doesn’t have to be killed.

But I had to hurriedly put the brakes on my kick.

My toes were tingling, but I somehow managed to stop right before her chin.
I felt relieved.

That woman …… or rather, that child only had her front face exposed and a white cloth was wrapped around her hair, ears, and neck to hide it. It was like a wimple or a veil. Only nuns would dress like that. Even if it’s me, it wouldn’t be good to kick a servant of god in the face.
Besides, she looks very young.
Around 12 or 13 years old?
More than the fact that she looks like a nun, I want to refrain from kicking a younger girl in the face.

And what caught my attention even more was the right half of the girl’s face.

I gasped.

「…… Are you hurt?」

Her right eye was almost completely covered by the swelling of the eyelid.
Her skin was covered with scars, torn in several places, and dripping with fresh blood.

M-My kick did stop in time, right?
It’s not my fault ……

「S-Scarlet-sama kicked a girl’s face ……」

Hey, Alisa!! Don’t turn pale and back away from me!! I didn’t do that!!

I rushed to take out the ointment to stop the bleeding that I always have ready inside my pocket and put the tip of my finger with the medicine on it close to the girl’s face. The child quickly covered the right half of her face with her hand, twisted her neck, and turned her head away from me. She’s trembling. Well, it’s only natural that she’s afraid of my retaliation. Moreover, she has no idea what I’m trying to smear on her face .

「Don’t worry. It’s a proper medicine.」

The cost of the ingredients is ridiculously high, but as expected from Ethelreed who improved the Shylock company’s secret prescription, the effects are outstanding. It’s all thanks to this medicine that I am able to keep my pearl-like skin even after being constantly wounded from the struggle for the throne.

「That medicine is very effective. It costs 20 gold coins.」

Alisa proudly puffed out her chest as if the medicine belonged to her.
The girl’s shoulders jerked.
Yeah, I also think I would be reluctant to make it my regular medicine if Ethelreed hadn’t given it to me.

「Besides, Scarlet-sama is a good-natured person, so it’s okay. She always ends up listening to anything Alisa says when I pretend to cry.」

The fool Alisa said proudly.

Hey Alisa, come over to the backyard later on, got it?

The girl’s eyes turned round from surprise.
She looked like a frightened little animal.

「There’s no reason for you to treat me with such an expensive medicine …… Besides, I did something really bad ……」

My sisterly spirit was ignited when I saw the girl looking down with anguish.

This child is probably not a bad kid.

「How can I leave a girl alone when her face is hurt? Now, stop covering your face. I’d appreciate it if you could cooperate.」

I acted as frank as possible and urged the girl to turn her face toward me.
This kind of person is not good at refusing.
I’m confident in my ability to observe people as I am used to being in the eye of the storm on a daily basis.
I could not have survived otherwise.

At any rate ……

If I look at her closely, this child is wearing very old-fashioned clothes.
She’s wearing something like a long-sleeved dress and a sleeveless cloth that is wide open on both sides that is layered over the dress. But that’s not an apron. There is fabric not only on the front but also on the back.

I’ve only seen it in old paintings, but I think it’s a surcoat. Come to think of it, that white wimple that nuns wear was also worn by ordinary women about 200 years ago ……

That’s right, these outfits were worn by people that lived in the period when Elisabeth Sylvania was alive ……

No way!! There’s no way that could be possible ……

I shook my head.
I chased away the fear that was welling up inside me.

In some rural areas, there are surprisingly old forms of clothing that still exist. This area must be one of them.

「…… Aren’t you afraid of this unsightly face of mine ……?」

The girl timidly asked me as I applied the medicine.
I was startled.
I might have given her the wrong impression .

「I have a lot of acquaintances who returned from the battlefield. I’m used to seeing scars on the face.」

I’m not saying this just to comfort her, it’s the truth.

One of my guardians is Matzo, a former captain of the Imperial Guards. He is a true warrior who would laugh heartily while saying, 「Battle scars are a man’s highest honor」. I got influenced by him and now when I see scars, instead of shuddering like the other ladies, I would think, 「This is a spear wound, this is a sword wound, this is an arrow wound, ohh this guy has fought a lot of battles」. I would lick my lips and evaluate their wounds and scars. I’m concerned that I’m somehow moving further and further away from the right path of acting as a lady ……