A Random in Re:Zero

Loop 3 - Part 11

I ran at him and slammed my foot violently into his chest. I barely had time to rejoice because a moment later I was stabbed by one of the members of the original trio of thieves.

"Arrrghhh!"

The blade sank into my side, causing more anger than pain due to the adrenaline rush. When I turned to the bastard of the trio, he looked at me, terrified by my lack of reaction.

A second later, my fists mercilessly smashed into his face. I might have killed him without realizing it, but I didn't. The rest of the group literally threw themselves at me.

Pressed to the ground, unable to get away, I realized I'd been cornered. The blows were immediate: punches and kicks rained down on my body incessantly.

"FUCKING MOTHERFUCKERS!" My scream echoed in the alley over the sound of the blows. "SHAAAMAAAAAAAK!"

I summoned a cloud of darkness that enveloped all of my enemies. Due to the unexpectedness of the situation, those who were trying to restrict my movements faltered for a second.

I took advantage of that window of opportunity to free myself, pull out the knife that was still stuck in my body, and use it as a weapon.

"Sniff, sniff..."

Despite being surrounded by darkness, with no sight or sound to guide me, I could smell the body scent of every person around me, allowing me to know where everyone was.

I have a theory that the Doppelganger I killed was an expert hunter. Perhaps it's because he used a crossbow to attack discreetly from a distance and carried knives for butchering, or perhaps it's because when I killed him, my sense of smell and general skills improved significantly.

I twirled the knife in my hand and launched myself at the remaining bandits. Some resisted, but they all fell in the end. By the time I finished with the last one, Shamak had vanished.

My body was badly bruised, and my clothes were torn in places. I spat out the blood I'd accumulated from biting my tongue and fell to my knees, exhausted from the fight.

"Haa... Shit, why am I so unlucky today?"

Priscilla came over and spoke to me in an approving tone.

"Good work, commoner. Although you're clearly not strong, you managed to defeat those vermin. I'm willing to reward you for your worth, so tell me, what do you wish for?"

Between moans of pain and struggles to catch my breath, I couldn't answer Priscilla right away. I struggled to my feet and tried to think of an intelligent wish.

However, as I was about to say it, a distorted male voice interrupted me.

"Princess!"

There was the antagonist of arc 9: Aldebaran.

He was just as I remembered him, except for how agitated he was. If I recall correctly, he acted quite casually in his first appearance; after all, Aldebaran knew Priscilla could easily handle the low-level threats of the royal capital.

But now he looked really disturbed, like a mother searching for her lost child.

"I'm afraid you're late, Al." Priscilla told him. "You missed the whole show."

Reinforcing my impression that he was behaving abnormally, Aldebaran stood between Priscilla and me.

"What happened here?" The question could have been for Priscilla, but he never took his eyes off me as he spoke.

"Bandits." I explained, trying not to betray my nervousness. If I wasn't careful, this guy could seal me up and no one would know what happened to me.

"Did you beat them?" He pressed me with more questions.