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Chapter 69 Part 6 – Side Story: The Blood-Sucking Madam of the Abandoned Castle (Part 2)

「Damn you ……!! Someone as lowly as you ……!! How dare you hurt the face of a noble ……!!」

Elisabeth’s expression instantly changed.
The composed and calm expression that was stuck on her face like makeup had peeled off and she hideously screamed.

「It would not be enough to tear you apart into 1,000,000 pieces ……!!」

「Uwah, that’s scary. Even if you tear off a part of me every 3 hours, that would still take over 300 years. You’ll end up becoming exhausted and become more of an old lady. Even right now you’re already …… Ahem, ahem. Sorry for the slip of the tongue.」

I stalled for time as we hurled insults at each other and then put Alisa down in a safe place.

「How dare you ……!! You ……!!」

Elisabeth was furious.
Her mouth was agape.
I guess she wanted to say, 「you bitch」, but she was so angry that she couldn’t speak clearly.

I tilted my head in a deliberate manner.

「…… Have you finally forgotten how to speak? Is this the beginning of your senility? Maybe you can’t even stand upright? It’s sad to get old, isn’t it? Oldie Elisabeth.」

Please don’t misunderstand me.
I think that old people are national treasures.

But I need to make Elisabeth so angry that she wants to kill me right now, no matter what it takes. Then it will be easier to read her actions.

I continued to stir her up.

「Haa, it can’t be helped then. I’ll go over there myself, so let’s settle it between us women. Well, that’s only if you have the bravery to accept a challenge from a young girl. What do you think? Wrinkly grandma Elisabeth.」

「……!!」

Elisabeth no longer uttered a word and just glared at me. She looked like she could kill me just by her glare. That’s all she can think about right now. What a narrow-minded way of thinking.

Elisabeth desires youth and beauty to the point that she would commit murder for it. It was effective to belittle it so badly.

I stepped closer to Elisabeth again.

Concentrating all of my attention on my toes, I carefully advanced step by step. I was trying not to get noticed by Elisabeth.

My legs were cold, my breath turned ragged, and my hands started to sweat.

It felt like I was walking along the edge of a crumbling precipitous cliff. No one would blame me if I squealed like a girl and squatted down. But because I knew what was lying beneath my feet, I had to overcome my fear with willpower. It was very difficult to calmly feel the sensation in the soles of my feet.

When I jumped in to help Alisa earlier, I felt there was something wrong with the floor.
It must have been around here.

…… Found it ……!!

The sound was clearly different.
Sweat broke out on my forehead.
My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.
It took a frightening amount of courage to take the next step.

It took a long time to describe my psychological process, but it actually only took a few seconds in reality.

Elisabeth glared at me and flipped up the tapestry on the wall behind her. There was a caved area on the wall and in there was a chain and a metal ring with a dull gleam.

Elisabeth laughed evilly.

「…… Die!!」

Without any other twists or sarcastic lines, she immediately pulled the chain.

With a bang, the floor around me disappeared. The square-shaped hole, about two meters on each side, was so deep that I could not see the bottom. A cold, stale wind blew from below. The double-door pitfall had been activated.

Elisabeth must have been convinced of her victory due to this trap that had swallowed many victims.

Until she realized that I had jumped into the air a moment earlier.

My experience of seeing a similar trap in an old castle similar to the Vente castle had helped.

「So what will the next trap be? Elisabeth.」

Leaping over the table and landing beside Elisabeth, I looked down at her coldly.

With a disdainful look as if I was looking at a useless piece of garbage.

If I don’t break Elisabeth’s fighting spirit here, she wouldn’t become a meek hostage. I must thoroughly instill in her mind that nothing she does will work on me.

Of course, it’s a secret that my legs are trembling from the fear of walking above the pitfall and the unreasonable jump.

I looked straight at Elisabeth’s eyes.
She still has a fighting spirit. I must be on my guard.

「…… Kuh ……」

Elisabeth bent down and pulled a small crossbow from under the table.
She tried to pull the trigger while aiming it at me.

She may have considered her actions to be as quick as a lightning bolt, but her actions looked way too slow for me.

When I was a child, I was trained by my hero father and now I am trained by Matzo, the strongest person in Hydrangea.
My physical strength is indeed no match for a man, but my reflexes are on par with those of first-rate warriors.

With my rapid reflexes, I succeeded in throwing the iron-ribbed fan at Elisabeth’s forehead. She screamed and staggered backwards. She should be thankful that I didn’t blind her.

The arrow from the crossbow missed me by a wide margin and flew off in a completely different direction.

It hit something near the ceiling, created a metallic clang, and caused sparks to scatter.

I didn’t even have to dodge the arrow.
With my other iron-ribbed fan, I struck the frightened Elisabeth in the wrist. After making her drop the crossbow, I placed the sharp edge of the fan against Elisabeth’s throat and lightly moved it across. Drops of blood appeared in a horizontal line.

「…… If you do anything stupid, next time I’ll cut off your nose or ears.」

When I threatened her in a low voice, Elisabeth turned pale and the light in her eyes died. This line was very effective, as she is extremely obsessed about beauty. She immediately became docile.

It seemed that she finally realized that any resistance would be futile against an opponent who could always defeat her tricks.

Feeling satisfied with her behavior, I took Elisabeth hostage and was about to start escaping from this castle.

But that’s when something unexpected happened.

I heard an ominous creaking sound coming from above.

Thinking that it’s strange, I looked straight up.

Then I could feel the blood drain from my face.

A ridiculously huge chandelier was tilting and swaying.

The metal ring at the base of the chandelier, from which the great weight of the chandelier was suspended, was snapping open. The arrow shot by Elisabeth was right next to the metal ring. The metallic sound that I heard earlier was the sound of the arrow hitting that metal ring.

I reflexively looked at Elisabeth, but she had a stupid expression on her face with her mouth wide open.

It was an unexpected accident.

The fall of the chandelier also happened unexpectedly quickly.
The chandelier suddenly came to a halt, then easily tore off the metal ring attached to the ceiling. With its unleashed ferocity, it plunged down and rapidly came close to us. The thick chains of the chandelier swayed in the air. The spiky decorations were like countless fangs raining down.

A chandelier attack instead of a ferocious dog attack!!

「…………!!」

I grabbed Elisabeth and tried to escape. I don’t want to save her, but she can’t be used as a hostage if she dies.

But Elisabeth was so terrified that her legs gave out. She fell flat on the floor. Not only Elisabeth’s weight but also the friction of her body with the floor was burdened on my slender arms.

I can’t move her like this ……!!
I was appalled.

She cruelly toyed with others’ lives so many times, but then when it comes to her own life she becomes like this.
That’s why I hate small-time villains!!

No!! I won’t be able to make it in time!!
I knew that luck would abandon me at the decisive moment.
And I’m going to end up dying together with Elisabeth of all people!?

As I cursed fate and stiffened at the prospect of death, I got pushed away by a tremendous force and rolled on the floor. Along with Elisabeth who was tangled with me.

The murderous chandelier missed us, only grazing my hair and the hem of my dress. The loud noise of the crash was deafening. The flames of the candles flickered. The floor shook from the impact and caused our bodies to float for a moment.

「……!!」

My cries as I called out her name were drowned out.

The sound of the chandelier crashing was mixed with the dull sound of flesh being pierced.
Blood splatters danced sadly like flower petals.
I got a short glimpse of the small hands that pushed me away.
Her gentle smiling face burned in my eyes.

I shook my head, not wanting to accept what just happened.

From the wreckage of the chandelier, which had dug its way into the floor, came out a familiar hand. It was the hand that had held my hand and guided me through the darkness.

「…… Hannah ……!!」

I screamed hoarsely as I clung to Hannah’s hand.