Hidden under the veil of the early night, I made my way through the complex maze of stone sandwiched in between the wide main city roads

As I lithely leapt from ledge to ledge, I precisely manipulated my Psychokinesis skill to flip on the traps I had scattered around yesterday night.

Though they could be counted on only one hand and none of them is fatal, each is capable of immobilizing creatures below 10,000 stats with ease.

Well, this is kinda irrelevant since today’s victims are gonna be dead by tomorrow morning anyways. 

The difference is that I’ll be the one to personally and physically end their insignificant lives, not some random magic spell or trap.

Call me crazy, but I really wanna do it with my bare hands.

Just imagining a scene where I elongate my fingernails with Shapeshifting and pull out a heart before coldly announcing you are already dead to its owner is enough to send waves of dopamine crashing into my fish brain…

On the other hand, it can also serve as a final confirmation of whether I actually have a shred of humanity left inside me, if that’s an acceptable excuse. 

Not that I ever felt like I had any of that before.

It has already been two days since I registered with the guild, and all the actors are set in their positions and ready to start the play.

I took my first collection request just earlier today, during which there was at least one pair of eyes locked onto my figure at any given moment, intently studying my abilities and looking for my weaknesses.

If I hadn’t deliberately made a show of preserving my strength out of nervousness, those guys would’ve probably jumped me hours ago, without caring about whoever could be watching.

But it is because I did that they decided to call it a day and go back to report the ‘intelligence’ they learned.

And now, they’ve all gathered around in an abandoned warehouse in the suburbs, including several others that weren’t part of surveillance duty.

Ahhh, did I forget to mention that is the same exact warehouse my future maid is locked up in?

This piece of information should explain why I’m being targeted in the first place. It also explains why I didn’t exterminate those pests until now.

If I send my improved Poison Fog spell through the window, my cutie might get caught in the crossfire, and I can’t really do anything else since all my killing methods are painful as hell.

My cutie might develop some psychological scars or traumas if she’s exposed to an inhumane massacre scene.

That would only add to her already troublesome list of mental issues, which I’m eventually gonna have to deal with.

I gotta give it to them though, they’re definitely an amazing bunch– that is only if you ignore their negative luck values, malicious personalities, and incredibly lacking sense of crisis though.

I don’t know much about their previous feats, but not only do they currently have a high tier product in stock, but they’ve even got their eyes on a fine piece of top tier merchandise!

….Hey, wait a minute. Shouldn’t I like, feel angry about this and what not? Why do I feel kinda flattered instead?

Looking down at my clearly visible toes, an expression of realization immediately flashed across my face.

So that’s it! It’s because these folks are the first to ever make me feel appreciated as a woman, not a child!

Such nice people…! Perhaps I should make their deaths teeny tiny bit quicker and a tad less painful as a reward.

I’m such a good girl, am I not?! Wahahaha!

 

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Demon Lord LV 6] has become [Demon Lord LV 7].}

 

Hmmm? Did you hear anything, Sage? No? Yeah, it should be just my imagination.

Winding up the last poison laced bear trap I had personally crafted, I swaggered back to the inn in full view of everyone on the street. I was pretty much broadcasting my location to my lovely stalkers by now.

Although this is a medieval city, the people around here sleep much later than you’d expect. 

This is largely due to the strong influence of cheap lamps and torches that only require a level in Magic Conferment, Light Magic, and regular ol’ stones to manufacture.

At least they’ve already solved basic problems like lighting, heating, and cooling with magic, though such basic products are sold with exorbitant prices for some reason.

Entering the inn, I went to my room after giving the motherly proprietress lady a nod. I locked the wooden door behind me and hopped onto the small, hard mattress, quickly entering a state of meditative sleep.

Meditative sleep is a genuinely great ability when it comes to acting. It’s basically normal sleep, but I can still accurately perceive my surroundings.

And that little bit of downtime everyone experiences right after waking up is completely gone. It’s like having a car that can instantly accelerate to maximum speed.

My sleeping posture was quite sloppy since I felt like they’d at least wait until it’s midnight before kicking off tonight’s show. 

Contrary to my expectations however, it was only an hour later when my guests stealthily broke into the inn. 

After which they decided to stage some sort of Chinese drama for some reason…? I was creeped out, to be honest.

First, they knocked out the inn’s proprietress lady, her husband, and toddler son with a chop to the back of their necks. Next, one of them pulled out a special stick of incense and lit it up.

It certainly wasn’t any ordinary incense though, it contained a mixture of poisonous powders that not only cause paralysis, but also act as a powerful sleep inducing agent.

…Well, I could easily cook up something much more potent with Poison Synthesis, but I ain’t gonna judge them when they’re working so hard. That would be very mean of me!

The thing is, no matter how many of those you burn… it’s all for naught, y’know? My resistance to poisons as a whole is close to evolving into immunity.

So sorry to break your bubble, but the chances of me being affected by anything a human could come up with are frankly less than zero.

A few seconds later, muffled footsteps could be heard heading towards my room, followed by a violent kick landing on my door.

Whatever strength remained in the rusty lock I was handed for security was effortlessly overwhelmed, and the lock was pretty much split in two.

Okay, I take all the praise back, these guys are total idiots. 

DUDE! Who the fuck breaks into the room this loudly after they’ve used a drug that could knock down their victim for at least a few hours?!

I even deliberately left the fucking window wide open so that you guys can climb into my room unimpeded, but you still chose the freaking door?!

You could've at least aimed your kick towards the weak wooden supports instead! No matter how rusty it is, an iron lock is still iron, morons!

Unreal, man… I suddenly feel a lot less motivated to go through with this little game.

Anyways, the door was broken down and a short… man? woman? human? entered. They had a short, thin body and their entire face was covered by an oversized hood and a large scarf.

They only took a few steps when their legs were entangled by a thin but incredibly solid wire. A hidden contraption I had set up beforehand was activated, resulting in a transparent cage of bones falling down and trapping them inside.

Both were made using my spikes and Shapeshifting, but I purposefully decreased their fragility to make sure they’d break if any strong force was applied to them.

It would be bad if I left behind some legendary tier materials by mistake, after all. As for the poison I laced them with, it’s too weak to affect me, so no worries about that.

Hearing the sound of the cage making heavy contact with the ground, I immediately jolted out of bed and leapt out of the window. One down.

The cage might be easy to break, but it was built in a way that guarantees the captor would be scratched by its debris no matter what they do. This one's definitely out for the duration of the hunt.

Flexibly nailing the superhero landing, I flexibly transferred my body’s momentum into a somersault, sprang up to my feet, and stealthily dashed into the side alley.

A few minutes later, I heard the sound of rapid footsteps coming from behind– granted, I only used less than 1% of my full speed and intentionally left traces behind.

Making a quick left turn, I took advantage of my petite body to run under several sets of hanging clothes, and broke into a sprint towards the next location.

The two men who were directly behind me didn’t bother crouching or sliding, which resulted in them setting off a snare trap that was cleverly hidden under the clothes.

Out of nowhere, a few sets of steel-like wires silently appeared and closed in on them. Both chasers were immediately caught and tied up, subsequently getting knocked out by the poison. Three down.

I ain’t no taratect, but I definitely have a few nifty tricks hidden up my sleeves. I’d make much better use of thread if I was in Kumoko’s shoes.

Seemingly realizing that not only was their ‘prey’ had in fact discovered them long ago, but that I was also fully prepared for their chase, the remaining pursuers gave up the last semblance of secrecy they had.

“She’s over there!”

“Don’t let your guard down, she’s already got three! Go around and block her way, Shadow!”

You might wanna learn telepathy for operations like this one, pal. Then, you could yell orders all you want while communicating your true intentions through the skill.

As for Shadow…that’s definitely a code name, right? It must be, right?!

I sensed one of them using magic, getting a sudden boost in speed, and splitting from the rest of his buddies.

The other four continued chasing me like before, but they evidently went about it with much more caution than before.

Can’t blame ‘em though, the way their comrades drop down at the slightest touch of my traps is reminiscent of some disturbing horror movies I watched before.

Arriving at the next location, I gradually slowed down while making it look as if I was running out of stamina.

However, it seems that my pursuers were finally smart enough to learn their lesson. Instead of jumping on the chance to capture me, they slowed down and increased their vigilance instead.

I briefly looked back and threw two weak lightning bolts at their general direction, but they were easily evaded.

Repeating this a few more times, my chasers gradually got used to the new tempo and their caution decreased ever so slightly.

But what they didn’t know is that this was exactly what I was aiming for. I began knocking down random wooden barrels and planks while frequently switching alleyways to throw them off.

This continued on until their lone member finally made it into position, jumping down from a house’s roof and blocking my way right as I was about to enter a specific alleyway.

“I got ‘er cornered, boss!” He yelled.

I faked surprise upon seeing him, and replaced it with panic shortly after.

Halting my steps, I drew out two expensive looking daggers with gems embedded in their handles and pounced on the obstacle standing in my way.

Afraid of being hit with the same poison his comrades suffered from, my opponent is forced into an undesired battle of fine swordplay.

However, he must parry or dodge every single slash of mine as just a nick would leave him paralyzed– potentially even dead.

I aimed a quick stab at his chest, but he easily parried with his shortsword. Taking advantage of my momentum, I dropped down and went for a leg sweep. To which he dodged with a light skip.

Since that left me in a very awkward position, he tried to incapitate me by stomping my extended leg while putting his back and shoulder muscles into a heavy downward slash at the same time.

“‘Urry up, boss! This bitch’s gettin’ real feisty over here!” He urged in a loud voice, but the trembling in his voice betrayed the nervousness hidden in his heart.

I just realized something. Seeing as their actual goal is to capture me alive, this guy should have been consciously holding back during this mini duel, right?

He’s awfully strong for someone who’s holding back though… for a human, that is.

However, I have no doubts that they’d promptly switch goals to killing me at the first feeling of real danger they feel from me.

Faking an increase in my agitation, I threw away any kind of technique and began an endless assault of wild strikes at his body.

I aimed a swift stab at his heart, but he accurately blocked it with an iron bracer he wore on his wrist. I swiftly transitioned that into a 360 full body spin, followed by side slash with my other dagger, but even that was briskly parried with his rough but experienced swordsmanship.

Obviously, I couldn’t make use of my enormous strength to overwhelm him in my current disguise, so punches or kicks would be utterly useless.

An ordinary human’s resistance to my specially created poison is zero, applying any of that stuff directly to my body would cause eyes 

“Give it up already, little girl. There’s no way yer getting away tonight. He-he-he.” feeling my distraught, his face twisted into a wide, gleeful grin.

I believe it’s the other way around though, big guy. But I’ll be a nice girl and let ya keep that false sense of accomplishment for a bit more before I crush it into nothingness.

Our confrontation continued until I sensed the remaining pursuers closing in on our position.

I surprised the man with an instant cast lightning bolt to the neck, dove under his sword, and dashed into the previously blocked alleyway.

Two barrels I had previously prepared came into view. I waited for my pursuers to take a few steps into the alleyway before I knocked down both of them.

This was the moment I’ve been waiting for.

Instead of just falling down and blocking the way like usual, the barrels broke and their contents spilled out, covering the entire road.

They were actually magic tools I enchanted with Spatial Storage and deposited a large amount of seawater inside, so breaking those caused a localized flood.

In their stupor, my pursuers made a minor lapse in judgment and carelessly tried to trace back their steps without checking for traps.

As they took the first step back, a strong pain assaulted their senses. Looking down, they discovered that they had unknowingly triggered several camouflage bear traps.

Motherfucker. Was probably their last thought before they lost feeling in their entire body.

Adding insult to injury, I climbed the walls, carelessly sat down on a high ledge, and casted my strongest lightning magic spell on the water.

And what happens when a high voltage current comes into contact with some ion-filled seawater? Well, let’s just say my captors had a very electrifying moment.

As I was about to give a victory speech and what not, I heard multiple sounds of footsteps coming from everywhere around me.

Shadow, the guy I paralyzed at the entrance of this alleyway leisurely walked out from behind my new afro buddies while loudly clapping his hands.

Accompanying him were at least twenty more men. This was the real team responsible for today’s capture operation.

“Ya honestly gave us much more trouble than we expected, missy. Unfortunately, this is the end of the road for you.” He stated while signaling his subordinates to surround me.

Whether it’s the cobblestone-paved ground, or the tiled building rooftops, there were cloaked thugs blocking all my escapes.

I could see some of the residents wake up through my sphere, but they understandably opted not to interfere in this clearly dangerous situation.

“Yer the one who wer’ responsible for catchin’ her in the first place, Silver. So finish yer task!” He ordered.

“Yes, boss.” The answer came from an unexpected person.

It was actually the idiot who broke into my room at the inn. Somehow, they were able to break free of my poison and now they’re expressionlessly walking towards me.

They had already removed their hood and scarf, so I was able to take in their face for the very first time.

It was a swordswoman that looked like she was in her late teens. She had long silver hair – just like her codename – going down to her waist, deep black eyes, and sharp facial features.

Even though her face was expressionless, I could feel the anguished emotions practically rolling off of her body in my perception.

Calm down, lady. Geez.

My cutie’s despair was many times more than this, but it’s still rare to feel such strong emotions with my sensor.

What’s up with you,anyways? Why’d a kidnapper/slave trader be sad at doing their job? …I smell some juicy drama!

The closer she came, the more distraught her emotions became. And just when she was an arm’s distance away, she closed her eyes and whispered a few words of apology.

“I’m sorry, this is the only way I can save them.”

Having had enough of this awkward atmosphere, I decided to speak up and take this game to the next phase, which I dubbed: The Real Game.

“You don’t have to be sorry, big sister. It’s all gonna be over soon.” I declared, my innocent, quivering voice abruptly echoing through the quiet alleyway.

Her eyes shot wide open at hearing my eerily calm voice, and she focused on my face, only to flinch upon glimpsing my expression.

It’s totally understandable however… After all, I currently had a wide, morbid smile taking up the entire lower half of my face as I gazed at my captors with sparkling eyes filled with excitement.

“Hope that was enough of warmup for you, ‘cause it’s my turn now, fuckers! Wahahaha!”

That felt kinda lame? A shorter, more concise phrase would’ve probably been more impactful.

That’s for the future though, now it’s playtime!

---