Taking advantage of the moment he doubled over, I leapt again. I extended every single claw and raked them mercilessly across that ugly mug of his.
Full-on scratch attack!!!
“Agh! Aaaagh!!”
The idiot squeezed his eyes shut and stumbled backwards again. He swung his fists wildly at me, but I dodged each one, bit into his calf one more time, and bolted.
“Huh—”
Did you really think a sorry attack like that would land on me? I leapt up onto the windowsill out of his reach. When I flicked my tail back and forth to taunt him, his eyes had gone completely unhinged — and he reacted immediately.
“Get over here, you little— fucking…!”
I jumped down from the window, and he scrambled over the windowsill right after me.
Just as I thought — I’m the target.
In the original webtoon, he breaks in in the dead of night to try to kidnap Aria, but right now that bastard seemed to be coming after me.
It looked like he’d redirected his rage from Aria onto me. Which is probably why he’d made his move earlier than in the original story.
If anything, that works out better.
Having successfully lured him out of the shop, I stopped and turned to face him. I was thinking of testing out the ability Kami had given me.
“Got you—”
Just as he came up close behind me—
“Myaaa-yang nyanyanya!”
Shrink the Earth, Inch by Inch — nyanyanya!
I cried out and took one step forward.
A strange sensation washed over me. At the same time, space warped and bent, and in an instant the scenery around me twisted completely.
The moonlit surroundings filled with trees transformed in a heartbeat into a pitch-dark space enclosed by walls.
“Wh— where are we—?!”
The man who had been trying to grab me was also startled, frantically looking around. I turned back to face him with a sense of grim resolve.
It didn’t matter where.
Let’s settle this tonight. You sorry excuse for a stalker!
I charged at him first. I sank my teeth hard into his arm like a cat gone feral, and drove my claws deep into his clothes.
“Aaargh!!”
I scrambled rapidly up the back of the screaming man. Then I struck the back of his head without mercy.
Never mess with Aria again! Stop doing disgusting things! Don’t break into someone’s home!!!
Thwack! Thwack! Thwackthwack! Thwack!
Satisfying sounds rang out through the alley. While I was delivering blow after blow with my front paws—
Suddenly the man’s hands flew back and grabbed me. He forcibly yanked at my head and body.
I tried to hold on by hooking my claws into his clothes, but he was stronger.
Riiip — with the sound of tearing fabric, one of my claws snapped clean off. Having finally managed to peel me off his back, he slammed me straight down onto the ground.
“Kyang!”
I landed badly and twisted my hind leg. As I limped, trying to get back on my feet, a shoe came into view right in front of me.
Agonizing pain erupted in my stomach. My body, kicked like a ball, rolled and tumbled to the side.
The force was incomparable to anything I had dealt out. …Classic bottom-of-the-barrel scum — going full power on a tiny cat.
“…This damn cat keeps pissing me off…! Huh?!”
The man loomed over me, staring down at me beneath his feet, his voice seething with rage.
“It’s because of you! Aria hates me because of you! Aria is… Aria is the only woman who could ever love me!”
“KYAHYAAAK!!”
Why the hell would Aria ever be with someone like you, you absolute psycho. You’ve got a screw loose.
I tried to push off with my legs — knowing I had to get away — but my body wouldn’t cooperate.
The pain crashed over me again, and for a moment everything went dark.
Thud, thud!
My body rolled and stopped, rolled and stopped. He kept kicking me in the stomach like a madman. He really seemed like he was trying to kill me.
…In that moment, Coco came to mind.
Coco must have been in this much pain too. Because of a piece of trash like this…….
Something warm and iron-tasting rose in my throat. Knowing I couldn’t just let myself be beaten to death like this, I forced myself to dodge the next incoming kick with everything I had left.
And I tried to kick off the ground with all four legs and run, but—
“Disgusting little shit. You’ve taken this much of a beating and you’ve still got the strength to run?”
His hand was faster. He grabbed me by the throat with one hand and hoisted me high into the air.
“I can kill something like you easily with just one hand…. Heheh.”
A small drop of blood dripped down onto his sneering face. It was probably blood dripping from my open mouth.
“…Khk, khyaong.”
I struggled with every last bit of strength I had. I clawed and raked at his arm with my extended claws, but the grip tightening around my throat only grew stronger.
“Heheh, it’s funny watching you fight to survive…. Aria will just think you ran away, won’t she? Heh.”
The sight of him taking pleasure in my suffering — he was every bit a madman.
…I can’t just keep taking this. It’s infuriating.
Then it happened. The grip around me suddenly released, and my body dropped to the ground.
Thud! I hit the ground helplessly, but my whole body already hurt so badly that I felt nothing at all.
I’m alive.
I struggled to catch my breath, forcing open my eyes that kept threatening to close. Someone had entered the alley.
It was a tall man in a black robe pulled low. It was too dark to see clearly, but the lower half of his face was just barely visible beneath the robe.
“Wh— who are you?”
“…….”
“I said who are you!”
The man in front of me cried out in immediate alarm, but the man standing at a distance gave no answer. He merely gazed over at the scene with an air of unhurried calm, as if he were simply watching.
All the while, the man before me didn’t move either.
True to form for a coward — he can’t do anything bad when someone’s watching. As if to illustrate that very thought, the distant man finally spoke.
“Why have you stopped?”
“…….”
“Weren’t you just kicking that cat and choking it, not a moment ago.”
“……! What does it matter to you whether I beat up a cat or not?! It’s not even yours!”
“It’s none of my business.”
The man’s composed footsteps echoed through the alley. As he drew closer and the man seemed to judge that he was outmatched in build, he turned to bolt.
“But I can help.”
Rather than stopping him, the man simply spoke at his own leisurely pace. Then, in a voice so low it was barely audible, he began to recite something. It sounded like a prayer — or perhaps the incantation of some dangerous curse.
“Wh— what is this?!”
The fleeing man suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and cried out in shock.
In the darkness, faintly glowing crimson markings rose and hovered, small, over both mine and his body. The unsettling, uncanny patterns then seeped into our chests.
Could this be……
Before I could even finish piecing together what this was—
“Ghhk!!”
The man vomited blood. Then he clutched his stomach and collapsed to the ground.
“Uggh, …khaaagh.”
Unlike the man convulsing on the ground, blood pouring crimson from his mouth, I felt no pain whatsoever.
Then, once again, unhurried footsteps approached.
“…Nngh, ah… it hurts….”
The man came to a stop in front of the groaning stalker’s head.
“P— please, spare me. Please…….”
“You want to live?”
The man gazed down at the one begging for his life and spoke in a soft voice, as though offering a chance.
“Give me ten reasons why you should be allowed to live. Then I’ll let you.”
“At home… I have a sick father… I’m still only… thirty years old… hhkhk. I still need to get married… hk, start a family….”
“Hahahaha.”
The man burst out laughing. It was a smooth, pleasant voice — somehow languid and bright at the same time.
“I finally understand what it means to say watching someone fight to survive is funny.”
“…khhgh, you, you— son of a—!”
“Don’t be so indignant. I only gave back what you did.”
The man tilted his head and continued in a soft, unhurried manner. Like he was telling a delightful fairy tale to a small child.
“Come morning, someone will find you, cold and still. And they’ll think you were unfortunate enough to be beaten to death by a street vagrant.”
“…….”
“When in reality, you died from your own hand.”
The man’s face, twisted in agony, went pallid as a corpse — the color of a dead man’s skin.
“I’ll… I’ll apologize. Khk, nngh. Please… spare—”
“May you find peace in your rest.”
As though already standing before a dead man, he quietly offered his condolences, then turned to walk away.
…Seeing it in person, it’s a terrifying ability.
He transferred the injuries I had sustained directly onto that man. And the only person I knew of who could do something like this — there was only one.
A pair of sleek shoe tips came to a stop in front of me. I looked up — and met a pair of eyes the color of blood.
“Stay still.”
“…Uung.”
A large hand lifted me.
“Good.”
A hand stroked gently over my head. I had no strength left to protest. My consciousness kept slipping in and out.
Beyond the darkening edges of my vision, I could see the man’s jaw. And his lips, curved up in a pleasant smile.
“…Shall we go together.”
And with that, I surrendered myself to the tranquil feeling and lost consciousness.
Early morning. Raymon rode out of the capital on horseback. About an hour later, he arrived at the village of Oslin.
He passed through the village streets with practiced familiarity and reached a place where green trees grew thick. There stood a small two-story building. On the first floor was a shop with a wooden signboard that read Welcome to Aria’s Teahouse.
He had just tied his horse to a nearby tree and was about to step into the shop when the door flew open and someone came rushing out.
“…Oh!”
“……!”
Raymon looked down at the woman who had tumbled as if falling right into his arms. The shock that had set his heart pounding lasted only a moment — as soon as he realized she was sobbing, his heart went cold in turn.
“…hk, Raymon.”
