SWNOVELXO Chapter 114: Rune
"Please...! I will be your property...! I will be good or whatever...!"
"Aww~"
Luna couldn't hold back as the enhanced pain easily broke her resistance – but her cry only made Medea gush over her as if she was the cutest, fluffiest bunny.
He let go of the knife and couped the girl's face in his hands, squishing her cheeks, and making her look like a chipmunk.
"Of course, you will be good and obedient~ I will murder you in the most painful way otherwise~!"
"...!"
Medea hummed, smiling friendly, causing Luna's body to shiver all over.
"What I expect of you is the protection of my woman from the shadows while I am not around. If she gets wounded, you will be the first to die when I get there."
Medea explained patiently while continuing to squish the crying girl's cheeks.
"From this point, your name is Rune. A personal guard of young lady Zorivia Rotteloss, and you respond only to me or Zorivia's wishes."
He said while playing with Rune's face as if she was his long-time pet.
"...young lady Zorivia's...? W-wait... but you said that... Crown prince's fiance is your woman?!"
Rune was so shocked that for a moment, she forgot about the pain and breathed out in disbelief, staring at Medea, completely baffled.
"If you have any questions, you can consult Charlotte about it. Come to me for all the equipment as well as money for the everyday expenses. You will be properly rewarded for doing a good job. You will be killed for failing to do your job. This is your only warning."
*squish*
"AUGH...!"
Medea patted Rune's cheeks and moved back – as he stood up, he grabbed and pulled out his knives, making the girl whine loudly.
"Last thing. Since you are a conscious being, there is a chance to rank up from property into treasure. But don't get your hopes up – you will most likely be discarded before that could happen."
*crack*
Medea added, standing over Rune, taking out another green marble, and crushing it against her forehead.
"Charlotte as in... the first princess...? O... okay..."
The healed girl gulped down her saliva and nodded her head timidly, looking up at him.
"..."
"...!"
She watched as Medea moved his jaw while furrowing his brows, and her eyes widened when he opened his mouth and pulled out a key.
*click*
*click*
*click*
...and used it to unlock her shackles.
"..."
As she watched him speechlessly, the black-haired man leaned down and put his arms around her waist, pulling her up like a sack of potatoes – or more accurately, just like a very confused large puppy who had no idea what was happening.
"Your legs will feel odd for a few days – recreated limbs are literally brand new and sensitive like that of a baby, but you will get used to it in no time."
"!!!"
Medea pointed out while letting go of the girl, who almost fell down as her knees shook like that of a newborn fawn.
"..."
Rune gulped down her saliva loudly and stared right at Medea as if she expected him to reveal why he spoke about it as if he had experienced the same thing, but the black-haired man had no intention of humoring her.
"Wait here a bit."
Instead, he patted her shoulder and stepped away before walking out of the cell and going in the opposite direction to where the crown prince had left.
The ashen-haired girl fidgeted awkwardly, realizing that the rags slapped on her so the crown prince's eyes would be spared from her unbecoming state and was barely hiding anything now that her body was completely healed.
Medea didn't seem as if he was paying any attention to that earlier, but against all odds, Rune blushed and looked around in search of anything she could cover herself with.
"...eh...? EH?!"
But then she gasped, and her eyes widened as she had a proper look at the cell.
She kind of realized already that whatever Medea did with the magic pellet and that oddly colored coin not only completely recovered her body to perfect health but also got rid of all the blood and excrement spilled on the floor – but in fact, it wasn't just the organic matter that ended up restored to its perfect state.
The chains, the table with various torture tools, the torture tools, even the stone floor, walls, and ceiling, and even the metal bars... all seemed to be brand new and sparkling.
"...!"
Only then did Rune realize that even her blood on Medea's hands had been removed from what she could see before he left.
"What in the world was that...?!"
The girl gasped to herself, feeling completely lost.
"Catch."
"!!!"
But while Rune was zoning out, Medea returned to the cell, stepping out of darkness - throwing a small bag right into her hands from the gate, making her flinch while barely managing to hold onto the gift.
"Don't look at me like that. You can't do your job in those, can you? So change."
"...! OH! AH! Thank you!"
Medea raised his brow and shrugged his shoulder, making Rune gasp out loud and open the bag to see black clothes, very similar to Shadow Guard's outfit.
As she trotted to the corner of the cell, Medea actually walked in...
...dragging a severely beaten up corpse of an ashen-haired girl with traces of frostbite on her thighs – clear proof that the rest of her legs was amputated via ice pellet – and a face permanently stuck in a horrible grimace.
"?!?!"
Rune stopped right in her tracks, holding the black pants, with her bulging eyes following the corps that Medea dragged by the hair and chained to the wall the same way that she was constrained moments earlier...
"..."
"..."
Rune gulped down her saliva and looked at Medea, who returned the gaze but didn't say a word.
"... i... is this why you decided to change my name to something basically the same...?"
The girl fidgeted while lowering her gaze and continued putting on the clothes.
"I want to freak out the crown prince, but I don't want to give his majesty the King or old Trident a serious reason to investigate you. I'm petty like that."
Medea responded with a shrug while propping up the body.
"You know the name of the Shadow Guard's commander...?!"
"..."
Rune gasped, making Medea straighten his back and stare at her with a serious expression.
"...sorry..."
The girl cowered and hurriedly put on a mask and pulled on a hood, completing the black outfit.
"Survive a week while guarding my dummy, and you will receive resistance charms."
"Yes, sir!"
Medea pulled out half a dozen red marbles and placed them in various spots around the cell before shooing Rune out.
"Haaa... in case you don't realize – you don't have to try too hard to hide your presence as we leave. We want the Shadow guard outside the dungeon to notice both of us leaving together."
"...!"
As both of them were out of the cell, Medea pointed out while locking the gate, causing Rune's eyes to widen.
"In their opinion, we are working for Zorivia. From their perspective, it would be completely natural for us to be ordered to get rid of someone potentially harmful to Zorivia's fiance's good name. Do not make me spell everything for you. You are not an animal that should require it."
"Yes, sir."
The black-haired man breathed out while pulling out a white marble, and the masked girl nodded her head vigorously as the two of them moved towards the exit.
*crack*
*WHOOOOOOOOOO*
A few moments later, Medea crushed the magic pellet, and within the same heartbeat, the temperature in the hallway increased immensely, followed by the sound of a blazing inferno swallowing the last cell.