Chapter 14: I Don’t Even Know Who This Gun Is Aimed At

On the deck were three quaint little figures, green and dressed in coarse linen.
Upon seeing me, they began to chatter endlessly.

“Listen, human! Whatever you’re planning, you’d better not get any ideas about us, or this lord will show you what a fate worse than death is!”

“No ideas!”

“Worse than death!”

The corner of my mouth twitched.

“Um… excuse me for asking, but this ‘fate worse than death’ you speak of… is it a proper one?”

“Grrrrrrr!” The goblin huffed and stomped its foot in anger.
“I knew it, I knew it! You people see my race as a collection of filth and degeneracy!
We are gnomes, not goblins! Damn it!
One day, I’m going to capture the Saintess of the Holy Nation and torture her severely!”

“Capture the Saintess!”

“Torture her severely!”

…This torture, it couldn’t be the kind of “torture” I’m thinking of, right?

The rabbit-eared young man on the ship, called Peters, visibly stiffened.
He waved his hand to send the three goblins back into the cabin, then turned to look at me again.

“Get lost. We have nothing to say to you,” the young man threw these words at me and walked away, clearly having no intention of speaking to me further.

What now? They don’t trust me!

Do other races have some internal way of identifying each other?

…Maybe I should wait until tonight and let Elvira give it a try?
She can fly, and she’s black.
The chances of being discovered are probably low.

I’ll plan on that for now and discuss it with the little dragon girl when I get back.
So now…

Let’s go buy some delicious food!

Eat well, eat your fill, and have no worries~

I returned to the bustling food street.
I didn’t go back to the barbecue stall, thinking it would be better to look around and cast a wide net.
So I bought a little of everything that caught my eye.

Bread, fruits, desserts, and the like.
I have to say, my appetite isn’t that big nowadays, but my palate is certainly picky.

I get unhappy when I eat something that doesn’t taste good, and the way to improve my mood is very simple: just eat something delicious.

I wasn’t this picky in my past life…

As I was thinking, a robed figure flashed past in the corner of my eye.
It was very fast, but I still noticed it.

Who is it?
Someone from the Church of Mancius?

Didn’t Elvira say they couldn’t catch up…
No, wait, we’re with Little Nia, so our journey has been significantly delayed.

I continued to walk as if nothing had happened, controlling my pace while intentionally weaving through the crowd.
Every now and then, I would stop at a stall for a moment to see if the robed figure was still following.

That person is still following…
Can’t shake them off…

Then I’ll just have to take them out.

I walked through the food street and into a quiet, deep alley.
The alley was long, with a corner at the end, perfect for an ambush.
And I still had my gun.

You like to follow people?
Just you wait and see if I don’t set you up!

I pressed my back against the wall behind the corner, threw the food aside, and listened intently to the sounds around me…
The noisy pedestrians in the distance, the gentle breeze blowing in my ear, and… the almost imperceptible sound of footsteps.

It’s getting closer…

It has already entered the alley… a little closer… closer…

Now!

I suddenly drew my gun and leaned out, aiming the muzzle at the robed figure in the alley, and pulled the trigger!

Bang!—

In this long, narrow alley, that person had nowhere to hide.

That’s what I thought…

Just as the bullet was about to pierce the robed person’s body, my vision blurred.
The robed person ducked with a speed that was hard to discern with the naked eye, dodging the bullet.
They even charged towards me with a faint sound of breaking the wind.

They can react to a bullet?!

My shock only lasted for half a second.
I pulled the trigger again, but a flash of cold light arrived in an instant.
A throwing knife accurately hit the firelock.

Clatter—

The firelock was knocked to the ground.
I immediately jumped back, at the same time drawing a small knife with my left hand, swinging it horizontally in a reverse grip, and then thrusting straight!

But unexpectedly, the black-robed person was frighteningly agile.
They dodged my attack with ease and directly grabbed my arm, pinning me against the wall.

A slightly low female voice sounded:
“Don’t move, or else…”

“Get off!”

I gritted my teeth and kicked backward, aiming straight for the woman’s shin!

“I said, don’t move!”

My back kick missed.
The force on my shoulder increased significantly.
I struggled a few times, but it was no use.

“I ask, you answer,” the person said in a deep voice.

“Answer your snake-skin lollypop… you started it…”

I swung my right wrist, gritting my teeth and smashing it hard against the corner of the wall.
Blood flowed out, and in a moment, it turned into crimson thorns.

“What?!” the woman exclaimed and quickly pulled away.
“Wait! I didn’t really mean to fight you.”

If you didn’t want to fight me, why did you pin me down?
I don’t want to waste my breath on you either!

The blood thorns formed a long whip and lashed out at the woman three times.
The sound of “swish, swish, swish” cut through the air, but she didn’t even try to dodge!

Because… I missed completely…

All my attacks landed around her.
The walls and the ground were scratched, and I had perfectly demonstrated the art of tracing a human silhouette.

The woman tilted her head.
The eyes hidden in her hood were now looking at me as if I were an idiot.

I also tilted my head, looking at the thorny whip in my hand as if it were a piece of trash.

The two of us remained in a standoff like this, neither of us speaking.
An awkward and strange silence filled the air…

This piece of junk is so hard to use!
It was so smart when it was wrapping around Elvira.
Why is it failing me now that I’m in a real fight?

“Ahem, since you don’t want to fight me, then state your purpose. I’ll give you this chance,” I said with great confidence.

So what if I missed?
Everyone makes mistakes, right?

Staring at the eyes under the woman’s hood, I slowly moved my gaze to the firelock on the ground.
If I can just get my hands on it, I’ll definitely give this person in front of me a shot.

I can’t just take her word for it.
If she has no ill intentions, why did she follow me all this way?

Slowly, I reached the firelock.
Just as I was about to bend down and pick it up, I was interrupted by her sudden words.

“Miss Witch, we are of the same kind. There is no need for you to be so wary of me.”

The woman lifted a corner of her hood slightly, revealing a pair of beast ears underneath…

A fox? Is this a fox girl?!

Two reddish-brown, pointed red fox ears fluttered outside the hood for a moment before the woman quickly hid them again.
Seeing my stunned expression, she spoke again.

“Now, can we talk?”

“…You talk.”

“Alright,” she nodded.
“First of all, I apologize on behalf of my crew.
They were unable to identify your race.
Please forgive them.”

“Mm, so, you started following me when I left the port?”

“Even earlier than that. I noticed you right after you entered the city.”

After I entered the city?
In that case, the feeling of being watched when I entered the city wasn’t from those young guys in suspenders, but from this fox lady?

“Another question, why do you think I’m a witch?” I asked persistently, wanting to see what this fox lady was up to.

“Your scent. You have three scents on you.
One of them is extremely similar to my master’s.”

“Your master?” I asked with confusion.
“Is she also a witch?”

“That’s right. But don’t misunderstand.
Your own scent is still somewhat different from my master’s.
So…” the fox lady in front of me suddenly gave a slight bow.
“Please tell me, is there a little girl with blue hair and pink eyes by your side?”