‘It’s embarassing…’, While walking through the main center of the lower town, Esme found herself burying her face in the neck of a black masked man who exuded an aura of nonchalance. He was dressed in a black robe adorned with orange stripes and sported a straw hat, his amber eyes reflecting the grim reality of the streets drenched in blood.
“How comfortable”, Moving deliberately and calmly down the street towards the auction house, Ryuk made a conscious effort not to hurry and enter the auction directly. He wanted to enjoy the moment, teasing the woman clinging to him like a koala. Her hand was tightly wrapped around his neck, while her legs were interlocked behind his waist to prevent her from falling.
“I-indeed”, Esme quietly murmured to herself, feeling a touch of embarrassment at being hugged in front of a crowd. However, her illusion shielded her from their gaze, making her appear as the only visible figure with the man in the black robe. Despite her initial discomfort, she found comfort in the reassuring embrace, letting her instincts take precedence over her embarrassment as she spoke those words.
Naturally, under the Curse of the Tenebri family, it is inevitable for these women to be drawn to someone from outside the continent. However, the harsh reality reveals that not all of them will find a perfect love life.
In many cases, their feelings are not returned, or they end up desiring someone whose death is inevitable.
And whenever a woman experienced such a situation, she began to gradually lose her sanity simply because she couldn’t obtain the love she desired.
Esme considered herself very lucky to have a partner who reciprocated her love. However, hugging him like a koala felt embarrassingly awkward.
“Who knew you would be enjoying it?” Upon hearing her direct words about how Esme also found it comfortable, Ryuk felt slightly perplexed yet amused at how honest she was in expressing her thoughts.
“Focus in way or we would fall”, Esme’s grip on the collar of the black robe intensified as she tried to convey to him to stop talking to her and concentrate on walking forward.
If she desired, she could have instructed him to release her, but she was aware he would not stop. However, she had no intention of asking him to put her down; in fact, she was content to keep holding him close.
“SENIOR BROTHER! WE ARE HERE!”
Suddenly, a harmonious sound from four individuals emanated from a particular direction, causing the Ryuk’s eyes to quickly shift towards the source.
Despite Esme’s unwavering confidence in her abilities, her heart began to race, betraying the facade of nonchalance as she felt the weight of being noticed in such an embarrassing position—a feeling reminiscent of a child caught in their mother’s embrace.
The problem was that neither she was a child, nor was it the man holding her mother.
‘I thought they would run away.’, Ryuk looked over and saw three individuals being escorted by a bulky man. They hurried towards him, frantically waving their hands before stopping abruptly. With widened eyes, they exchanged glances, gulped nervously, nodded in unison, and then resumed walking towards Ryuk.
thud thud thud thud
All four of them immediately knelt down, hitting their heads to the ground in a display of loyalty before crying out in unison.
“Greetings, Senior Brother and Sister-in-law.”
“We pledge our loyalty to Sister-in-law.”
“Our eyes can see how much sister-in-law loves you to even hug you in front of everyone!”
“Your orders are our command, sister-in-law!”
All of them cried in unison, their foreheads drenched in sweat beads, trembling with fear and visible horror. They knew they must have seen something they shouldn’t have, questioning if it was their fault that their eyes had caught a glimpse of their senior brother roaming around the town while holding a woman like a child.
All four of them understood they had witnessed something they shouldn’t have, and the best chance they had to survive and escape this situation was to rely on their acting skills. Otherwise, the consequences could be dire.
“WHHHHAAAAATTTTT—-!!” Esme’s face turned a deep shade of crimson, and her ears began to warm up with embarrassment as she realized that her Illusion had not been working properly all this time in this town. Her eyes filled with tears as she remembered all the people who must have seen her in this state. Her voice broke as she yelled near the man whose hand was in this.
“No..Please put me down! Wait, No!” Embarrassed and flustered, Esme struggled to articulate her thoughts clearly, her mind clouded by self-consciousness. She couldn’t bear to face the individuals who had undoubtedly witnessed her awkward display of affection, resembling a Koala clinging onto Ryuk as they made their way through the town’s streets.
‘What have you done!’, Esme’s hands tightened around his neck, not caring if he suffocated, knowing how shameful the whole situation was just because this man had used his powers to nullify her illusion.
“Acceptable, she is indeed your sister-in-law.” Ryuk’s face lit up with a smile as he recalled how everyone had been glancing in their direction, while Esme remained unaware of their stares, mistakenly believing her illusions were concealing everything.
“Huh?, t-this?” Due to expecting a different outcome, even imagining how they would be crushed to a pulp if the Senior Brother in front of them decided to step on them, they felt surprised when instead he replied calmly.
“What? I can’t hear you clearly.” Ryuk stood tall, gazing down at the four figures bowing before him, their bodies trembling as they pressed their palms to the ground. It was fascinating to him how their words seemed to have such power, sending Esme’s heart racing. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of her in this state, pressing her face into his neck while tightening her grip and pulling her body even more closer to him.
‘?!!’
As they listened to his words, all four of them involuntarily flinched, feeling their hearts sink at the realization. Their mission to beat that young man to death had been interrupted by a group of strangers, causing them to lose sight of their target.
Upon arriving at the auction house, they were met with a chilling sight – multiple dead bodies and monstrous creatures littered the area.
This unprecedented act of violence in the presence of several cultivators in this part of lower town suggests the involvement of a much more powerful entity than those currently residing in the area.
Indirectly making all of them understand that this was the work of none other than their senior brother.
“Senior Brother, you have chosen a most noble and dignified wife.”
“Indeed, Sister-in-law, your beauty and elegance are unmatched.”
“Sister-in-law, if there is anything you need, please let us know.”
As they continued on without a break, the trio unleashed a flurry of polite remarks, realizing that this was their final chance at making it out alive. Without any delay, they carried on, fully aware that their Elder Brother would expect them to shower her with compliments.
And finally, a string of final declarations echoed throughout the area as they all cried out together.
“Sister-in-law, your presence brings great honor to us all.”
[ Should this Vulnerable One also hire sidekicks for myself? Hearing praises seems deserving of someone of my status. <(￣︶￣)> ]
‘…..’ While listening to the system’s words, it appeared likely that Ryuk fell silent for a moment, observing how this individual, who had not fully revealed the truth about Shunya, was once again becoming involved as if nothing had happened.
However, Ryuk decided to give it a chance, choosing to ignore that and instead focus on Esme’s body movements as she was in his embrace.
“Place me down” Her voice was steady as she released her grip around his neck and allowed her legs to gently fall open, signaling her desire to exit the koala position and plant her feet firmly on the ground.
Ryuk was taken aback by how unexpectedly normal her voice sounded. He had anticipated her to stammer or speak with broken words due to her racing heart rate.
However, Esme’s composed demeanor led him to gently place her down, realizing she was likely not going to be further embarrassed.
“OH! HERE YOU ARE, YOUNG MASTER!”
The sound of another voice calling from a distance caught Ryuk’s attention, prompting him to turn his eyes in that direction.
There, he spotted a man dressed in what appeared to be soldier attire, bearing the insignia of the auction house on his uniform—a insignia of a swan pierced by a sword—as he waved towards him, clutching a letter in his hand.
‘It seems things will be interesting now,’ Ryuk smiled while holding Esme’s waist as he was in the middle of placing her on the ground. But halting, his eyes kept looking towards the soldier before another voice reverted inside his mind.
[Should I kill that auction house guy?]
‘….Yes.’ Previously, Ryuk had focused on important matters, disregarding the thoughts that the system may have been trying to hide something from him. He would eventually uncover the truth, but for now, he remained focused on dealing with certain individuals.
[ Activating Grimoire….]
DING!
[ Target has been Eliminated ]
The sequence of unassuming noises emanated one by one, yet their underlying purpose ruthlessly claimed the life of a man sitting half a mile distant in the most horrifying manner imaginable.
“Huh? Is that Mistress? Young master,” that soldier approaching the black-robed man noticed a woman in white hugging him in front of many people.
This made him think that she was probably the man’s wife, but the issue was that she looked different from the woman the young master had brought in the morning. ‘Oh, certainly, the young master is a man of culture.’
The soldier understood that the young master was taking another woman with him, so he added pleasantries to gain favor with the young master. “Indeed, just as Young Master is honorable and esteemed, Mistress is beautiful and graceful. Greetings, Mistress.”
[….]
“….” After listening to the man’s words, Ryuk glanced at the woman beside him. He noticed a slight tremor in her hands, which were placed on his chest. She looked into his eyes with visible dampness.
“I…hate you” Esme only quietly muttered those words to the man who had caused her embarrassment up to this moment.
