Blood was everywhere. The stench was so bad that I had to breathe through my mouth which was almost just as bad. I could taste metal on my tongue.

Goblins were screeching, crying, some even pleading for their lives all around me. Organs, severed limbs, and torn goblin phalluses littered the cave floor like garbage left out on a dirty street. Luckily it was dark so I couldn't see as much as I should have.

"Kill her!" The clerk screamed, shooting a fork of lightning from her fingertips aimed at Shizu, "Don't let her out of your sight!"

The lightning lit up its path against the darkness, hissing towards Shizu who was fending off 4 goblins by herself. But before the lightning could reach its target, Shizu stepped backwards into the shadows and the lightning crackled into one of the goblins, jumping to the other three goblins and zapping them all to death.

"Where the hell is she?!" One of the goblins wheezed with a guttural voice.

"Aaaaarghhhh!!" Another goblin shrieked as he was cut down from behind.

"There's no way this is an Iron-ranked adventurer!"

Amidst the chaos, goblins were dying left and right, chopped down and dismembered by something inside the darkness with their screams growing fewer and fewer until finally only the clerk was left, alone with her frantic breathing.

"Fire!" The clerk casted a spell to light up her surroundings with a ball of flame in her hand, but the only thing to see was the mutilated remnants of her goblin comrades lying around her. "Shit. Shit. Shit...!!"

The clerk's eyes found me lying in the corner, then her pale face took on a look of desperation, "H-h-how about we call it quits like what you were saying before? I'll walk away and forget this ever happened? Heck, I'll even give you all the money we--"

She fell down to the floor, smashing her face into the dirt ground, tried to scramble back up but froze when she saw Shizu standing in front of her, having seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

Shizu was completely drenched in blood like she bathed in it. I couldn't even see a spot of her purple hair amidst all the maroon red.

If I wasn't so exhausted from consuming all my mana earlier, this would be the point where I would had ran for my dear life. Instead all I could do was watch the nightmare unfold before me.

"Hello." Shizu said, her violet eyes hollow as she stared down at the clerk, "Please don't try to talk to Ryuji. He is mine."

"I-I..."

"Oh, remember you said you were going to rape Ryuji with your pack of goblins?" Shizu said, then glanced around, searching, "Hm, looks like they're all dead."

"I-I'm sorry, p-p-please... don't do this..." The clerk started crying, snot and tears escaping her face and steaming up her steel-framed glasses, "I didn't want to do this... My parents were in debt, this was the only way I could make the money to help them...!"

Shizu wasn't listening to what the clerk was saying at all, she sighed, giving up her search, "Too bad. I was supposed to leave a few of the goblins alive so that I could make them fuck you to death for what you said to Ryuji. Oh well."

The clerk's face grew even more pale, her lips shaking uncontrollably like she was having a seizure.

"I guess you'll just have to make do with this," Shizu said tonelessly, raising something in her hand.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The clerk screamed. It was the kitchen knife Shizu had used to kill the goblins. Except it no longer looked like anything remotely resembling a kitchen knife. The blade was so horribly bent and damaged that it just looked like a deformed metal screw with jagged edges everywhere.

"Y... y-you monsterrrrrrrrr--!!!"

Those were the last words the clerk screamed. The rest were just inhuman screeches and cries.

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"Wake up, Ryuji."

My eyelids fluttered, then slowly I opened my eyes, seeing the sun shining down upon me through a clearing of trees. Then I looked further down and saw Shizu's cute face smiling down at me.

"S-Shizu...."

My head was lying on top of her lap. I felt grass grazing the sides of my body. The cool wind blew against my cheeks.

"You were having a nightmare, Ryuji. You kept turning in your sleep."

"Yeah I was."

One with you in it. I remembered everything. But I was trying to pretend to be normal. It's clear as day now that Shizu was batshit crazy. Just like what the squirrel god had first told me when I was isekai'd. I can't believe I had almost fell for her trap.

The easiest way to die to a yandere was to freak the fuck out and unsettle her emotions. Better play it cool, keep her calm, look for an opportunity to escape when it arises. No doubt I was weaker than her. I had seen what she was capable of.

"So, where are we now?" I asked, getting up from her lap. She frowned, watching me get up.

"Just in the forest outside our town. Also they--"

"You're finally awake."

A third voice entered our conversation and I glanced to my side to see a knight standing there. I recognised her. It was the female knight captain that had knocked on my door before. If I remember correctly, her name was Catherine.

That's when I looked around and realised we weren't alone. There were other knights all around us.

"What's going on here?" I asked.

"They rescued us from the cave." Shizu said. "You passed out before it happened."

Catherine nodded. "Shizu told us all about it. You guys were very lucky to escape with your lives."

"She told you...?" I said.

"Yeah, she said the both of you were out on an adventurer quest when you were ambushed by the clerk and the goblins." Catherine replied. "That's when some other unknown adventurer stepped in and fought the clerk and the goblins, right?"

"That's right." Shizu nodded. "It was so scary, wasn't it, Ryuji? There was so much blood everywhere..."

Shizu hugged the side of my arm, cuddling up to me while I was processing the story.

"Poor girl. To be caught in the middle of something so traumatic." Catherine said, giving Shizu a sympathetic look. "You don't have to worry anymore, Shizu, it's all over now. We will find that other adventurer too. I promise."

"Hang on a second..." I said. "What will you do if you find the other adventurer...?"

"Well, even though that adventurer saved the two of you, manslaughter is still against the laws under the Mideron empire. And for that, the adventurer responsible would need to be trialled. Also, the way that they killed that clerk..." Catherine grimaced, her face paling a little, "That was the most horrific corpse I've ever found. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it in all my years as a knight."

"R-right..." I said.

"I have to add, that clerk was no weakling too," Catherine said, "From what I've heard, she was capable of B class magic which is already quite impressive. Whoever that other adventurer is, he's definitely someone very skilled and dangerous. So please don't try to chase after them on your own, understand?"

"Yes." Shizu gave a small nod.

"Also, to tell you the truth, we were already in the middle of doing investigations on that clerk since we were alerted by the high adventurer death rate in this town's Adventurer Guild." Catherine said, then hesitated. "But whatever happened in that cave today wasn't justice. It was just... cruel."

Catherine shook her head, then smiled at us with her wary blue eyes, "Anyways, the important thing is that the both of you are safe. This town has already lost enough adventurers."

"Thank you." Shizu bowed her head to Catherine. "We really appreciate you for taking care of us."

"You know..." Catherine said, turning to me, "You really do have a good wife, Ryuji. You're a very lucky guy to have Shizu by your side."

"Ahaha... we're not 'officially' married yet..." I laughed weakly. Like a chance in hell I'm going to let that happen.

"Jeez," Catherine sighed, raising a hand to her head, "You need to learn how to treat Shizu better. She's such a good girl."

"Captain." One of the knights called out to Catherine.

"Ah, I'll be right there," Catherine said, walking over to the knight that called for her.

Staring at Catherine's back, I thought about what I should do next.

I think I now understand the gist of the story that Shizu spun to the knights.

The question is should I tell Catherine the truth about what really happened? Was this my chance to escape...?

...

I felt Shizu tightening her grip on my arm at the side. Her breath at my neck. What should I do...?

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AI generated image : Shizu

[https://i.imgur.com/UOXbqx4.png]