33 – encounter (3)

I remember being curious and asking.

What is the most insulting swear word among the elves?

It was a question I threw with a light sense, like asking a foreigner’s name first when learning a language.

I wondered if it would be possible to ask another time if not this time, and I thought that it was a perfect topic to calm down the swelling in the middle of the conversation, so I asked for it at my own expense.

Moreover, among the few elves I’ve met, she’s also the type of mouth that can be said to be unique.

The word “right in the right place” must be a word for this kind of situation. I used to have such embarrassing thoughts.

Of course, I was flatly rejected at first.

She was the one who stuck a tough cotton gourd down my ear with a cold will of refusal, asking what a clergyman with a name was curious about such a thing.

I couldn’t win over my persistent questioning for several hours, and even though I showed signs I didn’t like it, I eventually let it know.

”This bastard is going to burn.”

I never thought I’d hear it again like this.

It might be an absurd expression in front of the Elves, who live dozens of times longer than humans.

It was really something to live for a long time.

◈◈◈

”When you say something nice, open this door right away… This bastard to burn…”

Is it possible to put an arrow right into a person’s heart like this without being Cupid?

If I didn’t cloud my thoughts with such sloppy thoughts, I felt like I would lose my legitimacy right now. I tried to look at the current situation in the brightest and most positive way possible.

I’m dead. now.

”····You misunderstood the person.”

rattle!

My consciousness was disturbed by the rather disproportionately large response to my change to my ant gallstone-sized voice.

rattle! rattle!

Like the lid of a pot over boiling water, I desperately blocked the iron door that was swaying ominously with my whole body and with all my strength.

test. Yes, this must be an ordeal.

The thing I am firmly holding on to right now is not a simple doorknob, but a Pandora’s Box, which is said to contain all kinds of disasters and evils that threaten mankind. Is that the latch?

Even for the well-being and peace of this world, I, who is the last bastion of mankind, cannot be broken here and now.

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Kwakwang!

It was then.

Right after experiencing the unfamiliar floating feeling, the sense of crisis within me let out a loud scream.

The thing that made me realize that the door I was holding on to soared along with my body, and soon, I was helplessly rolling on the floor.

It wasn’t because of the dull pain pressing down on her back, nor because of the rough holey feeling created by the old iron door being dented.

eye level.

Those yellow eyes that looked down on me as I lay down on the ground, hugging the hollow iron door like a teddy bear.

I was making myself realize that my current position is that of a prey facing a predator.

It seemed impossible any longer to look away from this terrible reality that had arrived right in front of us.

”you····!”

With his eyes wide open, it was very clear what kind of emotion the eerie expression chewing his lower lip was describing.

Because that was Apis’ habit when he was extremely angry.

It was the first time I had seen Apis so angry since I tried to heal her from the poison of the hydra, and the poison spread to my body.

No, I thought I’d be fine with a mask on.

trudge.

Chicken meat grew on my body at the creepy sound that slowly closed the distance to me.

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Just like that, like a hedgehog facing its natural enemy, curling up its body and straightening its thorns, I hid myself using the dented door as a shield, around the time I was now preparing the maximum defense posture I could create.

”no! You! What the hell are you guys doing!”

With a command that seemed to have boiled a train firebox, an elderly bookstore owner stormed fearlessly onto the blue stage.

”If you smash the door of someone else’s store like this, what should I do with the business! You guys know how many books I’ll have to sell to get my door repaired! uh! You guys stay there! I’m going to call the guards now and take your heads off!”

Ajae’s anger, which had risen to the veins in his neck, was legitimate and valid.

I also thought I would feel quite noble if a stranger broke into my house without warning and kicked my door open.

However, like this brave old man, he didn’t think he would be able to express his anger at the person responsible for smashing the door.

That would be too.

Because I knew very well that the person who destroyed that sturdy door was at the top of the food chain, capable of blowing up the entire store, let alone the door, if she wanted to.

If I had been there, it was clear that I would just sit there and give up everything, as if I had suffered a natural disaster, rather than insisting on my dissatisfaction.

”sorry. storekeeper. break down the door I’ll make sure to pay the indemnity. receive.”

”What? reimbursement? Do you know how much this door cost! This door was commissioned directly from skilled Dwarven artisans and made of the highest quality…”

”I don’t need change.”

Ajae nervously took over the bag of gold coins that Apis had casually handed over, checked the contents inside, and suddenly hardened.

The book boasts a value that is not suitable for its weight in a thin and light subject. Bookstores, which can be said to be the most attractive targets for petty thieves, inevitably have to pay a hefty price for store security.

That’s why it must be quite difficult to cover the maintenance costs of a bookstore in a country’s capital with only a penny or two.

”Sorry for the disrespect. customer. If you’re not rude, I’ll do my best to pray for you to visit our bookstore next time.”

It was a perfect etiquette worthy of being a gentleman from a prestigious noble family.

The movement of the bookstore man, who quickly bowed down to Apis, with a dazzling smile enough to guess the amount of money in the pocket of gold coins, was so graceful and beautiful that there was not even a hint of extravagance to be found.

bookstore man. I heard that business is not cool these days, so I’m confused. You look happy now as if you have the whole world. I’m so glad

Like that, I silently gave my blessing to the bookstore man and tossed and turned to get out of this place quietly.

OK.

”Where!”

”Hick!”

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Kang! Kang!

An unidentified projectile that flew into me like a shot from outside my consciousness. I managed to block the unexpected attack by lifting the iron door just in time.

The identity of the projectiles that hit the thick iron door like a dagger was three or four bookmarks.

Whether I should be surprised by her skill at penetrating steel with paper, or whether I should be surprised by her control, aiming precisely at the location where my tendons were located in the midst of it, I was constantly floundering in threadless agony that was close to escaping reality.

In a savage tone, as if she was barely, indeed, barely restraining her fluctuating rage, she pronounced an ultimatum on me.

”you····! When I say good things, come here…! Before severing all the tendons in the limbs…!”

No, I didn’t say anything nice.

Before the bad words could even end, I turned my back on her and kicked the ground as hard as I could, carrying the dented iron door as a shield.

Not to show your back against a beast is one of the essential common sense that you can realize even if you only watched the animal kingdom three or four times in your childhood.

The reason why I took such a risk and adopted the stupid option of ‘escape’ was because there was a good reason to do so.

Apis now has no bow and arrows.

Among the Elves, who were considered to have no talent in archery, Apis’ archery skills were so extraordinary that it was openly accepted that they were described as exceptional.

Yes, to the extent that it would not be an exaggeration to call him the best archer in the history of the system.

but.

The fact that she is the best archer in the archipelago is the story of when she had a bow and arrow.

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Just as a wild beast with its teeth and claws pulled out cannot even be called a beast, against Apis in its current state without armor, the option of running away is worth trying, at least sitting still is a hundred times better judgement, I said that thought

The probability of escaping from an Apis with a bow and arrow is 0%, but the probability of escaping from an Apis without a bow and arrow is at least 10%.

No matter how much Apis has a somewhat outgoing personality, there’s no way he can use ‘that’ in the city.

The odds, no, hope would be enough.

”Fire. Come on—”

There was a time when I thought so too.