“Hello everyone, I have returned to the mansion!” Marvin said as he waltzed inside the mansion. Everyone stopped and silence ensued.
Ah great.
“What’s the commotion all about?” Marvin asked to no one in particular.
“Someone defiled Heinrich’s wife, Sir Hero. And they blamed one of your companions for it.” A maid near him answered.
Dammit, you really had to show up right now!?
“Wait his wife? Maybe it’s the maid I fucked in the dining hall?” Marvin said.
Because of the silence, Marvin’s comment was heard throughout the place and was heard by everyone present. Heinrich’s eyes became more bloodshot as he heard it and he glared at Marvin. “YOUUUU!!?” He growled.
Marvin turned to Heinrich and slowly walked to him, ignoring those who tried to stop him. “You’re her wife then? The maid I fucked? Thank your gods then for I have blessed her with the hero’s seed.” Marvin said as he exaggeratedly raised his hands.
Heinrich waited until Marvin was close enough and when Marvin entered his strike range, he lunged at him and swung down his sword. Marvin’s left forearm was immediately cleaved just below the wrist and his severed hand fell to the ground. Marvin’s once jubilant expression quickly turned to horror as he watched his hand fall to the ground. His brain must’ve processed it slowly as his reaction came a couple seconds later.
He screamed in pain as he held the stump of his hand. “AAAAAAAARGH! WHAT HAVE YOU FUCKING DONE!?” Marvin yelled.
Heinrich raised his sword again, and this time it looked like he was aiming at Marvin’s head. The armed men with Anna leapt into action, but they were still too far away to stop his sword. It was happening in slow motion in my eyes again and for some reason, my hand was moving on its own as my finger moved from the trigger guard to the trigger itself. My hand aimed the gun at Heinrich and the trigger was squeezed.
*BANG*
My aim was true, and it hit Heinrich on his back. If it was a spherical musket ball, then perhaps his armor could’ve protected him somehow. But the bullet that came out of the Colt M1911 is a .45 and it’ll have no trouble penetrating his steel armor, especially at this close of a distance. He staggered backwards and blood spurted from where I hit him. My hand then moved to aim at his head and without missing a beat, pulled the trigger. The aim was true once again and more blood spurted from his head, and he fell to the ground moments later.
[Experience Gained: 108xp… Lvl 27 Man-at-Arms…]
I killed another man.
My hands lost their strength, and I dropped the gun on the floor. There was a lull as everyone seemed to still be processing what happened. The lull was broken when the other armed men rushed to Heinrich’s side and Marvin picked up his severed hand trying to reattach it to the stump.
“DAMMIIT!” Marvin howled in agony as he stood up and stomped on Heinrich’s head. “YOU FUCKER!”
The men around Heinrich grabbed Marvin to stop him from further disrespecting the dead. “Take his arm and take him to the infirmary, they might still be able to mend his hand.” The captain ordered and a pair of men took Marvin out of the mansion. The captain then ordered the rest of his men to carry Heinrich before finally turning to me, “Sir hero, I humbly ask for your forgiveness for this whole incident. If you find the need to punish someone, please let me bear the whole weight of the punishment and not on my men.”
“I-I... N-No punishments are needed.” I replied. “I also accept your apology.”
“Thank you, sir hero. I will forever be grateful for your mercy.” The captain said before turning to leave. The lull once again returned as all the commotion died down as soon as Marvin and Heinrich were taken out of the mansion. Time stood still for me as I stood still looking at my shaking hands. Only when someone called out to me did time flow again.
“JAN!” Someone shouted. I turned to the voice and saw Cess, Rika, Carlo, and Kelvin looking at me with concern. I did not want to face them right now, so I picked up the gun and ran out of the mansion.
“JAN WAIT!” Someone shouted, but I decided to ignore it as I continued to run away.
+ + + + +
As soon as Jan ran outside the people inside the mansion reacted in different ways, his friends were filled with concern, the servants were still at a loss, Jose was still cowering after witnessing how Jan easily dealt with an armored man, and the rest of their group were still processing what happened.
“Something’s wrong with Jan.” Rika said. “I think he’s been acting weird since this morning.”
“I bet it’s because he slept with that maid.” Carlo said.
“You’re just jealous that he slept with someone, ain’t ya.” Kelvin retorted.
“I am not.” Carlo answered back.
“Guys.” Cess said, “It’s not just Jan that’s acting weird, right? Even we are acting weird, I mean we forgot what happened last night and we just passed out a while ago.”
“Now that you mention it.” Rika said in agreement. “My head did feel kind of fuzzy this morning and just a while ago when we woke up.”
“Something weird is going on here, let’s continue our discussion in my room.” Carlo suggested, “There might be someone listening in on us here.” The other three agreed and went to Carlo’s room. Carlo locked the room and closed the windows. “It might not still be enough, but this is the most privacy we can get.”
“So do you guys feel anything off?” Rika began. “For me it’s just the fuzziness of my mind when waking up.”
“Same for me.” Cess added, “Plus I feel a bit sluggish too.”
“Yeah, same here.” Carlo said.
“Me too.” Kelvin responded.
“Hmm. Let’s try to meet again if we feel like something’s off again.” Rika said, “And always remember that we’re not alone and that we’ll all make it through this.”
“” Yeah. “”
+ + + + +
A couple of minutes later just outside the castle infirmary, Marvin and the two men escorting them arrived and knocked on the door. “Let us in! We require immediate medical care!” One of the men said as he banged on the door.
“Please wait a minute.” Came a voice from the inside.
The door was opened moments later and a woman in a white dress and a veil covering her face greeted them. Once she saw that one of the men outside was injured, she led them inside and asked the men to put Marvin on a bed.
After laying Marvin on the bed and placing the severed hand by the bedside, they excused themselves and left. Left alone in the bed, Marvin looked at his arm and over to his stump and he began to scream again. “HAAAAAAAGHR!”
The woman in white rushed to his bedside and cast some spell at him which caused him to calm down. After she made sure that Marvin was already calm, she removed her veil which revealed her beautiful face. Marvin, despite his earlier outrage, immediately took notice of the woman’s face.
“With a beauty like you by my side, I be that I’ll be healed in no time.” Marvin said, “But I think I’ll be healed faster if you would let me fuck you.”
The woman didn’t react in any way, instead she just took the severed arm and placed it on the stump. “Now dear hero, I’ll give you a lesson on healing magic.” She said, “There are two types of healing, one that uses the mana around us to mend the injury and there is the other type that uses the body’s natural healing process but speeds it up for near instant regeneration.”
Marvin looked confused at what she was saying and only managed to let out a “Huh?” as a response.
“The first type consumes a lot of mana but there is no pain. I’ve already performed it this day on another hero. So how about I do the second type on you?” The woman said with a smile.
Marvin was still dumbfounded and only looked at the woman in confusion.
“Let me demonstrate.” The woman said before placing her hand between the severed hand and the stump.
Seconds later, Marvin flailed around while screaming. “AAAAAAARGH! STWAAAWP!” Marvin howled in agony as he felt every fiber, muscle, and nerve of his arm rapidly regenerate and reattach themselves to one another. He screamed and begged the woman to stop until he eventually passed out from the pain.
The woman continued to heal Marvin for a couple more minutes before his arm and hand was fully healed. The woman then glanced at Marvin’s face, and when she saw that his face was contorted by the pain, she smiled sadistically.
“That should teach you to mess with me again.” she said as she left Marvin.
+ + + Jan + + +
I ran and ran until my feet were too tired, I was so focused in just running away that I don’t even recognize the place I’m at right now. I looked around and saw an expansive garden around me with flowers of different kind blooming everywhere, a tall hedgerow to mark the boundaries, various plants were growing here and there, and topiaries of different shapes were scattered everywhere. It was a truly picturesque location, but what caught my eye the most was the gazebo at the middle of it all.
In the gazebo, I could see a couple of people gathered and they were having what looks to be like a tea party or something. I walked towards the gazebo, but after just a few steps I fell to my knees and clutched my chest in pain. I forgot that I might have several broken ribs and I may not have felt it while I was running because of the adrenaline rush or something.
I slowly stood up and unsteadily made my way to the gazebo. When I was just only a couple of meters away, they finally noticed me. Someone rushed to my side and caught me just as I was about to fall. I was led into the gazebo and was seated on one of the chairs. My eyes were getting a little blurry, so I did not recognize who aided me.
“Are you okay?” they asked.
“I-I'm fine...” I answered. “I just need to go to the infirmary...”
“I’ll escort you there then.” Someone said before I was helped up. “Can you walk?”
“Yes...” I answered, but when I took a step, I fell to my knees again.
“Call a guard!” Someone said and I still managed to see someone running before my consciousness suddenly faded.
When I awoke, I found myself staring at a wooden roof. Such a cliché line. I sat up slowly and stood up. I touched my chest and other areas where I previously was in pain, but they were magically gone, so I decided to leave. When I was about to leave someone called out to me.
“Leaving already?”
I turned to the direction of the voice and saw a woman in a white dress with her head covered by a hood and her face was covered by a veil. “Uhmm, yes. If it is possible to leave now.” I replied.
The woman stood up and walked towards me, “Why not stay for a while.” she said as she stopped right in front of me and removed her veil and hood. Underneath it was a beautiful face, she has a pale unblemished skin, her eyes were as green as a verdant forest, her hair was light brown which complemented her eyes. She was simply stunning and beautiful.
“Care to keep me some company?” She said in a seductive tone.
“I need to go back to the mansion as soon as possible.” I replied. I reached at the door but the woman blocked the way.
“One thing about me, sir hero, is that I get whatever I want.” She said before she grabbed my hand.
Screw it, if I’m doing this then I’m going to do this right.
I removed her hand and pinned her on the wall. She was shocked at the sudden turn of events and was perhaps not expecting me to take the initiative. I pressed my lips on her lips. At first, she was a bit hesitant as she was not kissing me back, but after a while she began to kiss me back.
“Is this what you wanted?” I asked her.
“Yes...” she replied with a euphoric look on her face.
I locked the door and carried her to a bed where she began to undress, her body was so stunning and perfect. She had a petite build but had curves on the right spots. I removed her undergarments and began to undress myself.
“Please be gentle...” she said.
“I will.” I replied.
“Hnngh... aaah...”
+ + + + +
In the King’s study, the King and Antonius were once again discussing about the irregular. The King was holding the pistol that the irregular first used to kill the archer.
“It seems like that the irregular killed another soldier today.” The King spoke.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Antonius answered, “Using the same weapon he used to kill the archer.”
“Then it would truly seem like he has a way to produce such weapons, yes?” The king inquired.
“It would appear so.” Antonius Answered, “According to those I asked, a swirl of light appeared on his hand before the weapon appeared.”
“A swirl of light?” The King said with an inquisitive look.
“Yes, Your Majesty. It would appear that the irregular can already use magic.” Antonius said, “I do not know if the world they came from has magic already, but based on the others, I guess not.”
“Then this irregular might truly be an irregular, not just in our world but in theirs as well.” The King said, “But I do not care about his circumstances, the fact that he can create these weapons is truly amazing. I want him on my side, as soon as possible. Use any means necessary, just make sure that he’ll be on our side and that he’ll supply us with these weapons.”
“By your will, Your Majesty.” Antonius answered with a bow before leaving the room.
