KK finished her cookies, wriggled out from under the covers into a comfortable position, and lay on her stomach. She kicked her long, fair legs back, like a child treading water.
Even though she was only wearing a plain maid’s uniform, it accentuated her slender, pale figure. Her red hair was like a burning fla.
KK hugged a pillow and let out a satisfied, girlish sigh.
"So, how did Carn pick you to be a Knight back then? And why did the Red Dragon approve of you? By the way, how did you even get to Prole? Even Golden Tiers have a hard ti getting in here."
She studied Baron suspiciously. "But you’re obviously not Golden Tier. Could it be because of Taboo Items?"
She suddenly scrambled closer, peering at Baron’s face from side to side.
"Hmm, your physical strength seems to be at the point where you’ll be growing Dragon Scales soon. At this rate, you might even reach Bronze in a year or two. Not bad talent."
"By the way, back when your Spiritual Sense awakened, what color were your pupils?"
Baron silently watched Witch KK roll around on the bed like a kitten. He subconsciously thought that if he had t KK first, he might not have run around the Inner Side like a headless chicken.
Baron then gave KK a general account of what had happened. He omitted the crucial detail that he had two professions and, following KK’s cue, attributed his arrival in Prole to Taboo Items.
He wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was the sense of kinship from eting soone from his world in a foreign land. Or perhaps it was because of the Red Dragon, or that he didn’t feel the sa sense of danger from this Witch that he usually did.
Baron found himself naturally telling the Witch about everything that had happened since he t Carn—from being frad and imprisoned to his escape and life on the run.
As Baron spoke, Witch KK’s lively expressions never ceased. She was constantly offering emotionally supportive reactions like, "Oh, I see," and "So that’s how it was..."
If he’d been talking to soone with Carn’s personality, she probably would have just coldly countered every one of his statents with more questions.
When he had more or less finished his story, Baron feigned nonchalance and asked KK, testing the waters, "So, do you know why any of that happened?"
He was asking why a Witch had chosen him, and why soone had frad him.
KK thought for a mont. "I do know about the deal Carn ntioned. But that was a long ti ago. It was before I was influenced by the Red Dragon. I think it was..."
She counted on her fingers. "It was several decades ago."
’Several decades?’
Baron’s voice was urgent. "Who was it?"
Who made a deal with Carn to make him a Knight? That was likely the reason he was set up to take the fall.
KK said, "That’ll be one Gold Coin."
"..."
Baron was silent for a mont, then asked why. Hadn’t he just given her cookies?
KK said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "I want a Gold Coin *because* I’m full."
"I’m the Dragon Witch. Isn’t it perfectly normal for to like Gold Coins? If you want to know, trade a Gold Coin for it."
"Hurry, hurry, Lord Dragon Knight! You’ve made a lot of money, haven’t you? And you have plenty of enemies chasing you. What’s one little Gold Coin?"
KK coaxed, "If you want revenge, you first have to know who you’re getting revenge on, right?"
Baron sighed, took out a Gold Coin, and had just handed it to the Witch when she took it, jumped off the bed, and went to the window, peering cautiously outside.
Baron asked KK what was wrong, wondering if she was planning to go back on their deal.
But KK didn’t speak. Baron saw that her lively, gold-flecked red eyes had lost their sparkle, replaced by a clear look of annoyance.
She slamd the window shut. Like a cat hissing at another, she leaped onto the bed, pulled the covers over her head, and said to Baron:
"Soone’s coming to check the room. Just pretend I’m a prostitute you hired."
"But this is a church." Baron didn’t ask why. "Prostitutes aren’t allowed here."
He went to the window. Through the stained glass, he saw a troop of Knights in black cloaks outside the church. Their horses were also draped in black, standing tall like a row of dark towers.
The master of one such tower saw him. His gaze was cold and lifeless when their eyes t. Looking at him, Baron felt as if he were staring at a block of ice.
But the man rely nodded at Baron before leading the troop of black-clad cavalry into the clear night of Fude City.
A mont later, KK poked her head out from where she’d buried herself in the blankets. Her hair was a ss, and her eyes darted about nervously.
"They’re gone."
"Who were they?"
"Palr Witch Riders. A cavalry unit made up of Wizards. They’re here to take back."
"Back? You’re from Palr?"
The Wizard Country Palr, world-renowned for its Magic and Alchemy.
Considered the most troubleso of the Seven Great Dukedoms.
’Wait, is the Dragon Witch actually one of the Prole People?’
’That would make sense. Otherwise, how could she know so much about Prole?’
KK gathered her disheveled hair and shook her head. "I’m not from Palr. I just arrived in Prole by accident many years ago. Just like you go by L here, KK is just my na in Prole."
"Why do the Palr Witch Riders want to capture you?"
"To get married," KK said, lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling. "My teacher, Kuman, the Tower Master of the Wizard Tower, arranged it. He’s a Golden Mage. I don’t want to get married, so I ran away."
’Running from a marriage? Hmm, that does sound like sothing a Witch would do.’
"But I ca to Prole in a hurry this ti and didn’t cover my aura properly. My teacher sensed that I was in Fude City, so he sent my fiancé with the Palr Witch Riders to drag back."
User Comments
0 comments from readers