“Everyone, stay where you are!”
---
Every cell in her body itched to make a run for it, but she resisted—stayed as cold and unreadable as a tree stump. This declaration from the guards seemed to be standard protocol, because none of the other villagers dared to move an inch. They simply stood there, hugging themselves or fidgeting their thumbs, and waited for the guard to deem them suitably non-evil. After that, they were then shuffled into a roped-off garden to the side of the main plaza.
Luckily for Akemi, she was standing at the corner of the plaza where it broke off into the residential area. Most of the guards—and the trembling villagers—were in the central area by the inn. There were only two men in yellow to deal with here. They were standing an equal distance between the cobbler’s home and the blacksmith, presumably assigned to guard the town’s local merchants.
“You there, little chainmail girl, don’t move an inch,” one of the guards bellowed at her from the blacksmith’s porch. Of the two, he seemed to be the one in charge: a beer-bellied man whose stomach stuck out of his gambeson. He had a thick beard, bushy eyebrows, and walked with a slight staggering limp. His sword sat sheathed by his belt. He strode towards her with an air of thinly veiled arrogance, his mousey lackey following close behind.
Andreas Pollo | Level 18 Knight
Level 18? Yikes. Then again, Chef Pepperoni-or-whatever had been level 15, and Akemi had cut him down like butter. That said, he had been a chef, not a knight, and based on what she had learned earlier, non-combatant classes seemed to have basically nonexistent combat-related skills and stats, even at higher levels. It was mostly common sense—a level 45 seamstress was a sacrificial lamb going against a level 15 warlock, and a level 4 accountant with no idea what the hell was going on would be an idiot to try to take on a level 18 knight.
Doesn’t mean I can’t try.
“Akemi Nakamura. Accountant,” he said gruffly, his pupils going in and out of focus as he analyzed her profile. Akemi bristled at the sound of her family name. It felt so out of place here. “Which kind of accountant, huh? You got an official guild membership card on you?”
“The neutral kind, obviously,” she said. “And no. I have it… at home.”
He snarled. “That’s the kind of thing you’re required to carry on your person, young lady. It’s the rules of the duchy. Haven’t you read the rules? Oye me, can you even read?”
Akemi’s face went hot. His voice, his tone, the way he loomed over her like a condescending grizzly bear—it brought her back in time, drove a needle through her paper-thin patience.
“Oh, fuck it. Get out of my way, old man.”
Taking him by surprise, she reached up and clasped her hand over his mouth.
“[Chloroform].”
A sweet-smelling perfume wafted from her outstretched hand. In his shock, Andreas inhaled it, then coughed hard, wheezing. “W–what is that smell?” He fumbled for his sword, but his trembling limbs betrayed him. He fell to his knees. Akemi’s smile crept back up her face.
“That’s right,” she said, pulling him up by his hair and forcing eye contact. His eyes were sagging, his scowl slipping off his lips as he fell to sleep. “Read these lips, bitch.”
“Sir Pollo! What have you done?” the junior guard croaked. His face had drained completely of color. He looked at Akemi as if he had opened his bedroom closet and found a monster lurking within, gnawing at his clothes. “You! Don’t m–move. Don’t c–come any closer.”
He fumbled for his weapon, but Akemi was faster, unsheathing her [Knife Fingers] and burying her claws deep into his chest. The kill was so quick, he didn’t even make a sound.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
*You have defeated a level 7 Junior Knight - 300xp gained*
Villainous Achievement Unlocked! [You Killed Him Because Of… What?]
You traded a human life for a pair of shoes.
Does that not haunt you?
[+200 XP] [ -100 Reputation]
“No, it really doesn’t, actually” she mumbled, waving the System notification away.
The junior knight went slack, falling atop his sleeping superior. Akemi wasted no time in repositioning the bodies. She dragged them both behind a large oak tree, its sizable trunk blocking the view of them from the rest of the guards in the plaza. Lucky for her, they had been too far a distance for anyone to hear the junior knight’s final gurgles.
Her crimes obfuscated, she looked at the sleeping hump of flesh that was Andreas. She contemplated ending him. She wanted to—the way he had talked down to her made her irrationally irritable—but she needed to prioritize. Shoes. Her sole reason for returning here. Killing him would take too long. He was too massive, his Health Points were probably in the hundreds. Not to mention she still didn’t know how long [Chloroform] lasted. You didn’t want the sleeping grizzly bear to wake up while you had a knife in its belly.
She glanced towards the cobbler’s house.
Through the window, she could see Mar’Mar in the corner, his hands busy with leather. He looked completely unaware of the bedlam just outside his doorstep. His terrible sense of hearing and lack of spatial awareness was a gift from the universe. At least for Akemi.
She reluctantly left Andreas and walked briskly towards the house, making sure no eyes were on her. None were. The guards were preoccupied with the noisy, uncooperative cowboys. Smiling, she opened the cobbler’s door, closed it quickly, and cleared her throat as loud as she could manage.
Mar’Mar jumped, his current project—a pair of leather shoes with pointed toes—leaping from his hands. He didn’t seem to mind, immediately brightening when he saw Akemi.
“If it isn’t the book fetcher!” he said, scooping up the shoes from the floor and placing them on the countertop. “What a fine coincidence. I was just putting the finishing touches on your turnshoes here.” He knocked his knuckles on the leather shoes, which had lotus-like patterns sewn into them. “Now then, get on with it. Show me my book.”
Rolling her eyes at the title of book fetcher, Akemi extracted the Lusty Lizard from her inventory and placed it in front of him. He immediately giggled with glee, his hands making ridiculous motions in the air before scooping the tome up and hugging it to his chest. He gave it a shake in the air—once, twice—and Akemi heard a faint jingle echo from within.
Akemi’s eyebrows creased in confusion. She hadn’t noticed that sound before.
“Is there something else in there besides lizard erotica?” she asked bluntly.
He chuckled darkly. “Nothing that concerns you, dear.”
She stared at him, mouth slightly agape. Weirdo.
“Now now, don’t insult me. Try on my shoes already,” he commanded, pulling over a stool for her to sit on. “Sit, sit.”
“Sorry. I really don’t have time,” Akemi said, grabbing the shoes and putting them in her inventory.
Her eyes kept drifting towards the window, where she had a clear view of the stacked bodies laying by the tree. Andreas was still slumbering peacefully. The guards hadn’t noticed him yet.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said, scornful. “I won’t let you leave until you do.”
He looked suddenly like Akemi’s grandmother back when she, a little girl with very picky taste buds, had refused to eat the woman’s shrimp sandwich cake—a Swedish speciality, and Akemi’s personal nightmare.
Telling from his expression, Akemi knew there was no way she was getting out of here without either trying on his shoes or killing him. And she didn’t particularly feel like stabbing the orc-shaped phantom of her late grandmother.
With a groan, she sat and quickly took the shoes back out of her inventory. She slotted her feet into them, and then groaned again—pleasurably, this time.
“Oh my god,” she said, standing up. “These feel amazing.”
Enchantment received from [Superbly Crafted Turnshoes]!
[Longwalker]: In these boots, walking is a beautiful Sunday breeze. Your endurance when walking long distances has increased by 600%.
He clapped his hands together and cheered.
“Oh, they simply caress those feet of yours. I have outdone myself yet again,” he said. “Alright, now that I’ve gotten my satisfaction, I permit you to leave. But I will ask just one more tiny favor if you don’t mind, dear. It will only take a half-second, promise.”
She was already halfway towards the door, but she risked a look backwards, sighing.
“What is it?”
“Can you please move those bodies you dumped in my backyard?” he said, shrugging casually. “Dead bodies really put a damper on my view.”
Akemi paled. Seeing that he wasn’t kidding, she uttered a small “sure thing” under her breath, determined to get out of there—and away from that weirdo—as fast as humanly possible.
As she swung open the door again, now two shoes richer than when she entered, she was greeted with the impolite tip of a blade. No, actually: it was not one tip of one blade, but sixteen different tips of sixteen different blades.
The knights had found her, and she was completely surrounded.