〈 Episode 5 〉 Yandere Youngae 5

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The Bastards stared in disbelief at the current situation, and I could only stare in disbelief at the fallen corpse. Murder. It was a great horror to me, who had only ever run away, or been caught pickpocketing and fought, and it was a horrible end to a life that left me unable to do anything.

"...."

No matter how I looked, it didn't change the outcome. There's only one body in front of me, stabbed by my knife, eyes rolled back in his head, bleeding from the neck. I'd hit his carotid artery, and his airway was still blocked, apparently from shock.

"You, asshole!"

Even the street thugs couldn't help but be stirred by the sight of one of their own dead. One of the Bastards shouted, but there's a world of difference between a thug and a murderer.

"What the hell, hit him!"

They creep closer, but can't get close enough for fear of being knocked down like that and becoming a corpse themselves.

"Ah..."

A small sigh. I realize my heart is beating even harder than it was when Noel held me earlier.

"You can poke it like that."

Slowly, Noel, standing beside me, strokes my wrist.

"What are you doing?"

She whispers. Her whisper was sweet and echoing, like a female devil corrupting a believing bride, or a royal lady bringing down a royal family.

"You must protect me."

I must protect her. If I somehow failed to keep Noelle safe in this situation, my life would have a similar outcome to the corpse that now lay before me.

"Go for it..."

My time to think was short. I pick up the dagger again and take an awkward stance.

"Hey, you bastard!"

If they weren't rookie thugs, they would have swung their blunt instruments right at me after a moment's hesitation. The agitated Bastards lunge at me, belatedly, swinging their clubs.

"See it through."

Her advice. My eyes darted as quickly as they did when I picked pockets, when I picked merchants' pockets, or when I picked at the bread on display in the marketplace. I see his trajectory in plain sight.

"Hmph!"

I quickly dodge his club and plunge the dagger into my defenseless thigh.

"Ow!"

He falls to the ground. He'd killed once, but this was the kind of knifeplay that made him think twice about killing them.

"These aren't people, they're just animals living in a pigsty."

"Hmph, hmph...hmph..."

Noel gasps for air as he cheers from the sidelines. Are they really lucky? In terms of their lives, yes. Their lives of kidnapping, rape, and assault, living in poverty and slums, sucking blood, would be better spent killing them than saving them. But...

"I can't.

I stabbed him in the thigh, not daring to touch his neck, not daring to touch his heart.

"Here, try again."

Her eyes lit up with pleasure, and I couldn't figure out why. She wasn't screaming or freaking out like a normal young lady would in this situation. She was just giving me a very pleased smile.

"Fuck!"

One of the thugs lunged at me. If I'd tried to fight them all, I'm sure I'd have gotten smashed. But they were afraid of me. One bleeding corpse, another clutching his thigh, swallowing back screams. What they saw was a gruesome, gruesome murder scene.

"Tub!

I had to block with all my might as he lunged at me with his dagger at his side, kicking out with his elbow, knocking me to the ground.

"Tsk!

He grabbed the creature by the throat with his free hand and pointed the dagger in front of its eyes.

"Kaaaak!"

I hear Noel scream, but it's not a scream of terror, it's more like a squeal of delight at something funny.

"You want to blind me, come on in."

I glare at the others, drawing my dagger closer.

"Ugh..."

He looks like he's about to pee himself in fear. His eyes widen in horror as the knife slowly approaches. Three already. The rest of the ten or so bastards don't dare approach.

"Fuck off."

"You, motherfucker, you think you're going to get away with this?!"

I don't know. Fuck. I didn't mean to kill. I just...I...

"You have two eyes, don't you?"

She grabs my dagger by the right wrist.

"I'm sure your intimidation would work just as well without one."

"Poof!

Lightly, she grabs my wrist and shoves it away, and the dagger goes straight into the eye of the throat-grabber.

A scream echoes through the slum. Everyone turns to look in horror.

"There you go. Now the story will be easier."

Her voice. I wish she would leave me alone. He tries to loosen his grip on my throat, but I grab his stabbed eyes with both hands and struggle.

"Ha..."

Slowly, I clutch the knife and stand up. Her gleeful laugh is driving me crazy. My hands tremble, but I know better than anyone that I can't stop. The slums, and the Bastards in particular, were the last thing I wanted to encounter.

"Oh, don't come!!!"

He screams, clutching his thigh, and looks like he's pissed himself when he sees the other one lying on the ground next to him, bleeding profusely.

"Open up."

The guys slowly back away, realizing they've actually gouged out his eyes.

"You, you murderer!"

"Freak!"

They start swearing.

"The pigs are starting to squeal."

Noel looks at them, smiling.

"Women, women first, yes, women first!"

The stabbings have already begun, and the men are lunging, unwilling to back down.

"Pfft!

One of them lunged, trying to hit Noel with a club, and I leapt up and blocked it with my left arm.

"Poof!

At the same time, I plunged my knife into his armpit.

"Let go..."

My left arm tingled. But it was a much less painful sensation than when Noel snapped my wrist.

"Get off me... !!!!"

He glared, covering his armpit with one hand. He tossed the club, already in his hand, far away.

"Come here!"

There was a gap between them. Without missing a beat, he grabbed Noel's wrist and stomped through the gap. The panicked others scrambled to get out of the way, widening the path even further.

"Come on, get him!"

"Hurry up!"

The others shouted from the distance, but there was no one to hear them. Eventually, the two broke through the encirclement. When they got a little farther away, they began to chase.

"Hmph."

The nuanced onomatopoeia of her liver. Noelle's pace was strangely quick. I felt like a normal woman running with my pickpocket-trained stride. In her white silk dress and stilettos, she matched my speed.

"There she goes! Get her!"

"Surround him!"

They tried to cut across first and take a shortcut. As well as I knew this neighborhood, they knew it too.

"This way, Noel!"

I ran, and ran, and ran, until I found a path that they couldn't surround. Occasionally, I caught a glimpse of the slumlords, but they quickly shut their doors, not wanting to get involved. They must have heard the screams of Bastard's men.

"Where to go.

There's no clear path out, no way out. I realize I'm heading down a path I don't recognize.

"This is..."

Eventually, I realized that the only road they don't take is the one that's blocked. Ahead of me was a black slum cliff. A place they sometimes came to for the view.

"Shit...shit..."

The view from the slum is spectacular. With blood on your hands and a beautiful maiden in one hand. It looked like a fairy-tale picture of a hero defending his maiden, but in reality, he was just a damn pickpocket trying to escape the slum thugs. Slowly, the sun peeked over the Deckers Mountains in the distance, casting a beautiful red glow.

"Hey, Noel."

"Yes?"

"I hope you're behind me."

With the cliffs behind them, Nama's back was safe. She felt like she could... at least try.

"Hmph...hmph...you little rat!"

"I will avenge Peten."

Their equipment had already been replaced with knives instead of sticks. To survive in the slums, you have to carry a dagger in your arms.

"Damn it...

The techniques that had worked before, like the clubs and the daggers they wielded in fear, were now the eyes of men determined to get revenge. I knew I was no match for them.

"I apologize. Mr. Noel."

Noel just smiled. If only I wasn't a pickpocket, if only I wasn't a fucking asshole living in the slums. Or so I thought.

"Good job."

She put her hand on my head and stroked it as if in praise.

"What?"

"You did really well, for a first year old, calming your excitement quickly and finding your way out."

"But..."

I felt like a herbivore cornered in front of a cliff.

"Let's go home now."

"...Noelle?"

She slowly steps in front of them.

"What the hell?!"

"Hostage! Take him!"

The Bastards reach for her. And then.

"Uh..."

The sun, now over the mountains, illuminates Noelle's silver hair, which shines like a jewel. Her hair flows to the side, and the blade of her white, fine hand slices from left... to right.

"Tududududud!

Blood glistened and splashed to the other side. Eight or so familiar faces floated through the sky, and soon they fell to the ground and lay in a heap.

"Wanna go?"

She asks, playful. Her hand gestures are beautiful, her violet eyes sparkling brighter than diamonds. And the bodies that have fallen with their necks out.

"Ah..."

"Shit!

I fell to my knees in horror, stunned by this beautiful and gruesome sight.

.

"Are you awake?"

I slowly open my eyes as I feel someone stroking my hair.

"Uh..."

A beautiful woman's naked body. I realize I've been dreaming. Was it all a dream, my first kill... and Noel's hand slashing through the throats of several people at once... and that beautiful backside.

"Ugh!"

I breathed sharply, waking up. As soon as I realized I wasn't dreaming, I remembered why I was currently lying down. The scene was at once unbelievable, bizarre, and beautiful, and I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Noelle?"

She was stroking my hair, wearing only a bra and panties. She's wearing a silk slip, revealing her curvy, thin waist and white flesh.

"Yes."

"Noelle, how did I get here..."

She was in her familiar room. The fluffy sheets and white curtains of a bed that looked much larger than a queen-size, and the expensive-looking vanity and table.

"You collapsed and I brought you in."

"...Thank you."

She doesn't know how she got him. What kind of strength she must have had to drag an unconscious adult man to her.

"By the way."

She cupped my ear in a cute way.

"How was it?"

"What?"

"My first taste of killing."

Once again, I remember stabbing one of the Bastards in the neck. In the darkness of the night, lit only by the single lamp on my bedside drawer, I relive it vividly.

"..."

I remember feeling nauseous. I can't breathe, and my heart is pounding in my ears.

"You're excited, aren't you?"

"Oh, no!"

Gently, she places her hand on my servant's top, over his heart. She listens to my harsh heartbeat as if slowly savoring it.

"Ah...it's exciting, Tir finally being like me."

Her happy face fills me with dread again.

"He's changing."

"Mr. Noel, it's getting late. I'm going to..."

I started to say, but Noelle grabbed my wrist and climbed on top of me.

"Why?"

"You can't do this, I'm just a servant!"

"So."

Slowly, she sniffs my flesh, panting like an excited cat.

"It's mine, why shouldn't I do this to it?"

"Noelle..."

The conquest and pleasure I can read in her eyes. She seems filled with the satisfaction that comes from knowing I've killed. It's a mistake, I think, manslaughter, but then she remembers that she's just struck the Bastard in the throat with a single blow.

"No!

A murderer, and a monster. In my mind, the full extent of her danger is realized. I don't know what she did, but she was...too dangerous.

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