Swindlers And Vultures
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“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said the man. “You must be mistaken.” He was a tall, thin fellow with long hair and an unkempt beard who had been sitting at one of the tables in front of us when we entered.
His clothes were tattered but clean; he wore no jewelry or other adornments that might have marked him as someone to avoid on sight—but then again, I didn’t think anyone would mistake me for anything except trouble if they saw my face.
The only thing distinguishing his appearance from any number of beggars wandering around town was the fact that he carried himself like a gentleman: upright posture, head held high, hands folded neatly across his lap. It made it all too easy to imagine how much better off this man could be without having to deal with people such as myself.
“Do not lie!” shouted another voice behind me. A woman’s shrill cry echoed through the street before she appeared out of nowhere beside our table, her eyes blazing red hot and tears streaming down both cheeks.
She looked so distraught by whatever argument had just taken place between them that I couldn’t help wondering why neither of these two seemed particularly concerned over their disagreement until now. Then again, maybe they’d simply decided to let sleeping dogs lay after getting into yet another fight…or perhaps there wasn’t actually a dog involved?
Maybe they were arguing about something else entirely…? Regardless, I found myself growing more curious than ever before regarding exactly what kind of situation I had walked right into here today!
The man stood up straight once again and tried to calm his wife back down while simultaneously trying to keep me from noticing the look of fear in his own eyes. But even though he clearly wanted nothing more than to get away from me as quickly as possible, he still hadn’t managed to do either of those things quite yet.
In fact, judging by the way he kept glancing nervously toward the door every few seconds, I suspected that he probably never intended to leave anytime soon unless forced to. Which meant that I needed to make sure that happened sooner rather than later.
So instead of waiting for him to come closer, I stepped forward first and reached beneath the table where I had stashed my dagger earlier. When I pulled it free, however, I immediately noticed that its blade was coated with blood. That certainly explained everything.
Apparently, this guy had already gotten stabbed somewhere along the line during some previous altercation, which is precisely why he felt compelled to hide his wound under layers upon layers of clothing whenever he went outside.
Unfortunately for him, however, hiding your injury wouldn’t prevent others from seeing it, especially since most people tend to notice wounds far quicker than they realize. Sooner or later, everyone eventually notices scars, whether they want to admit it or not.
After all, they can’t possibly miss them given how obvious they are. Even if you try to cover them up using makeup, bandages, or other similar methods, chances are good that people will see right through them anyway. Not because they’ve got superhuman senses, mind you, but simply due to the simple fact that they’ll be able to tell that something isn’t quite normal.
Given enough time, anybody really should begin picking up on certain details that seem slightly odd or unusual. At least, that’s usually the case. Of course, there are always exceptions to every rule, but I’m pretty confident that nobody reading this book has ever met one of those.
If you did happen to meet somebody like that, though, rest assured knowing that he would definitely stand out among the crowd.
Anyway, the point was that I knew full well what sort of condition this knife was currently in thanks to all the blood coating its surface. As such, I also understood perfectly well why the owner of the restaurant had become so terrified of me back inside. For reasons unknown, the man obviously believed that I was going to kill him.
Or at the very least, I was planning on stabbing him. Either way, I figured that I shouldn’t take any unnecessary risks. Especially considering the fact that I had absolutely no idea whatsoever as to whom I was dealing with here.
This whole mess could easily turn deadly if I wasn’t careful. Fortunately, I had plenty of experience fighting against men armed with knives, swords, and other such weapons, so I doubted that I’d end up needing to resort to any lethal tactics.
Still, I didn’t intend to go anywhere near close-range combat with this particular individual. No matter how skilled he may have been, I was still several times stronger than he was, and I fully expected him to underestimate me based solely on the fact that I was female.
And unfortunately for him, underestimating women tends to lead to bad results all too often. Just ask any of the countless victims whose lives ended prematurely because they failed to recognize their attacker’s true strength prior to engaging in battle.
That said, I supposed that it was ultimately impossible to completely eliminate the risk altogether. There were simply many different variables involved when taking part in a physical confrontation, each of which required consideration and analysis.
The best thing anyone could hope for, therefore, was to reduce uncertainty wherever possible. While doing so might increase the likelihood of failure, it also made success much easier to achieve. It basically came down to weighing the odds versus the potential consequences associated with various strategies.
Ultimately, only an idiot would choose to ignore the latter in favor of focusing exclusively on the former. Because in reality, life rarely works out according to plan. Instead, we’re constantly faced with unexpected challenges and obstacles that require us to improvise new solutions on the fly.
Sometimes these problems involve matters of great importance, whereas other times they don’t hold nearly as much weight. Regardless, however, our ability to adapt remains critical regardless of the situation. Otherwise, we run the real risk of failing miserably before long.
“You know,” I started off, “I think maybe I’ve heard about you guys.”
At first, the man just stared blankly into space without responding. Then after another moment passed, he finally managed to respond by saying:
“…What?”
It seemed that he hadn’t actually known who I was until now. In truth, I suppose that was hardly surprising given the circumstances. But then again, even if he had recognized my face beforehand, it probably wouldn’t have changed anything.
After all, the last time I saw him, he looked nothing like the person standing before me today. He must have undergone some kind of radical transformation over the past few months, perhaps while trying to escape from whatever trouble he found himself caught up in. Who knows?
Maybe he decided to change his appearance entirely in order to avoid drawing attention to himself. Whatever the reason behind it might have been, however, I couldn’t help feeling somewhat disappointed. After all, I had hoped that he would remember me better than that.
Perhaps he thought that I was someone else instead. Well, hopefully, things wouldn’t get awkward between us once I told him exactly who I am.
After giving myself a quick mental pep talk, however, I continued speaking to the stranger in front of me.
“The name is Aoi Shirogane. You may not recall meeting me earlier since I look rather different nowadays. However, I do believe that you might have seen me around town somewhere recently. That’s assuming, of course, that you haven’t already forgotten everything that happened during your little ordeal.”
In response, the man gave me a puzzled expression. Apparently, he wasn’t aware of who I was either. Which meant that neither one of us remembered the other despite having spent most of yesterday together. To be honest, though, I really did expect more out of him.
If he truly wanted to forget something, there should have been no problem with erasing every trace of memory related to the incident. At the very least, that was certainly what I would have done under similar circumstances. Unfortunately, I guess that sometimes people are simply unable or unwilling to let go of certain memories. Even ones that clearly need to stay buried forever.
Regardless, I pressed onward anyway.
“Well, never mind that right now. What I want to know is why the hell you attacked me back there! Do you seriously think that I’m going to forgive you for kidnapping me?! Are you insane?!”
Apparently, I hit a nerve. The man suddenly went pale white, and his eyes began darting left and right rapidly. Clearly, he was terrified of getting stabbed by surprise. As far as I knew, however, he had no weapon on hand, nor did I see any obvious signs suggesting otherwise.
So unless he planned to use magic somehow, I honestly felt pretty confident that I could handle him. Still, I didn’t feel comfortable pushing too hard at this point. Not yet, anyway. First, I needed to figure out how serious he was being. And second, I still hadn’t figured out where he’d come from in the first place.
So I took another step forward, forcing him to take several steps backward along with me. Once I got close enough to reach out and touch him, I grabbed onto his shirt collar tightly. By doing so, I effectively trapped him within arm’s length range. This way, he couldn’t easily dodge my next punch.
Then, using both hands, I punched him directly across the jaw.
***
As expected, the blow sent the man flying backward through the air. His body crashed against the wall behind him with such force that I feared he might break apart upon impact. Fortunately, though, he appeared to remain intact afterward.
Of course, I assumed that he would end up suffering some bruises later on due to the sheer amount of damage inflicted upon him by my fist alone. All things considered, however, I doubted that anyone but an extremely skilled fighter would manage to survive a direct attack from me.
Especially considering that I used almost half of my strength when punching him. It was quite possible that he sustained injuries elsewhere, which were only visible because they weren’t immediately fatal. Or maybe he suffered internal bleeding inside his skull. Either way, I doubt that he’ll ever be able to walk properly again anytime soon.
Unfortunately, none of these thoughts occurred to me until much later. For starters, I was completely focused on landing my follow-up punches whenever the opportunity presented itself. Second, I kept forgetting to check whether or not the man was okay.
Third, I also failed to notice that he had regained consciousness long ago. Finally, I forgot to keep track of the fact that he was currently lying unconscious in the middle of the street.
Thankfully, someone noticed our fight sooner rather than later. Specifically, a young woman wearing glasses walked down the sidewalk towards us. She stopped short a couple meters away from where we stood, and her gaze quickly shifted toward me.
Then she looked over at the man lying motionless on the ground beside me before turning back to face me once again. After confirming that I seemed relatively unharmed, the girl finally spoke up.
“Oh… My apologies,” said the young lady. “I thought it best to intervene after witnessing two strangers fighting like that.”
She sounded genuinely apologetic about the whole thing. In addition to sounding sincere, however, the tone of her voice suggested that she probably wouldn’t hesitate to throw herself into danger if necessary.
Her words made sense given the situation, although I found them somewhat unsettling all the same. But then again, I suppose that was just part of growing up. People often find themselves forced to deal with situations that require immediate action without thinking twice. Sometimes even against their own better judgment.
Such experiences can help shape one’s personality significantly. Although, admittedly, I’ve always preferred taking time to carefully consider each option available instead. Thereby allowing me to make smarter decisions overall while avoiding unnecessary risks altogether.
Still, I decided to ignore those concerns for now. Instead, I turned around and faced the man who lay sprawled out on the floor behind me. He wasn’t moving anymore, but judging by the blood dripping steadily from his mouth, I suspected that he should recover eventually.
Assuming, of course, that he survived the beating I gave him earlier. Which meant that I shouldn’t have anything to worry about. At least, I hoped so. Otherwise, I’d need to start looking for a new job real quick. One that required less physical labor. Like perhaps working as a clerk somewhere.
That way, I could avoid having to get involved in fights every other day.
The momentary distraction caused by the girl walking past distracted me slightly longer than intended, unfortunately. During that brief period of hesitation, I allowed myself to become momentarily overwhelmed. While I managed to regain control fairly quickly, I ended up inadvertently letting go of my grip on the man’s shirt collar.
Thus causing him to fall flat onto his stomach once more. Only this time, he landed roughly halfway between the edge of the road and the nearby building. Given how hard he hit the pavement, there was no way he didn’t suffer any serious injuries.
Sooner or later, he would wake up, and he would likely blame himself entirely for what happened here today. And rightfully so. The guy deserved nothing else. Not after everything he did to others throughout his entire life.
But despite knowing exactly why he fell, I still felt compelled to look over at him. As if somehow hoping that he would suddenly stand up right then and there. Unfortunately, that never came to pass. Nor was I expecting it to happen either.
Because the truth is, I knew full well that the man was too far gone to change his ways. No matter how many people tried to reach out to him. Even if they succeeded in doing so, chances are good that he would simply brush off whatever advice he received. Simply because he couldn’t see beyond his own selfish desires.
The End