Infatuation of a Merman

Chapter 14-Tightening the Noose

"What?" I asked, the word coming out in a strangled gargle.

"The falling pottery was probably meant to hit you; not me. And the four-headed dog was clearly aiming to take your life." Kiraize leaned away to take a good look at my face.

It felt like someone was harshly wringing the blood out of my body. A rock of anxiety crushed my chest as it became hard to breathe. Someone was trying to kill me?

Probably noticing my distressed state, Kiraize's calm confidence morphed into quiet shock as he let go of my hair in an almost absentminded manner.

He said his next words slowly and carefully, as if deliberating them. "A dog beastman entered through your bedroom window one night with a knife?"

"What!" My heart rate spiked.

"Don't worry, I eliminated him. But did you seriously not know?" He paused. "How are you still alive?"

I couldn't say anything; a million thoughts racing through my mind. Was my hair color to blame? Was the stain on my bedroom floor blood? Did I offend anyone? Well, I know I did. But it had been years already; how could they still be holding a grudge?

The Cerberus growled, snapping my thoughts away from their endless cycle. A new worry strangled my mind as I peeked over Kiraize's shoulder. When I saw that the Cerberus was still laying down like an obedient puppy, I let out a breath of relief.

Then, with a high-pitched whistling screech, something shot from the sky to harpoon itself into the Cerberus' fur. The feathered shaft of an arrow poked out from the Cerberus' hide, but the beast made no move to defend itself. Even as more arrows rained down to sink into its flesh, the beast's only action was to lowly growl.

Was it going to kneel until it died? Why wasn't it doing anything? It wasn't like I wanted it to burst into rage, but it was a bit surreal to see an animal obediently await its death.

I looked up to see four archers shooting arrows down at the beast. A unit of two knights were demolishing the fence, probably so that they could enter the lamia den. I didn't understand why they couldn't just jump over, but maybe their plated armor was heavier than I thought it was.

A menacing roar thundered and sent slight tremors through the ground. A feathered arrow lay embedded in one of the Cerberus' eyes, the steady stream of blood nearly blending with its fur. Its legs were shaking as it struggled and failed to lift itself from the ground. And all the while one of its heads resolutely glared at the archers, knowing the perpetrator of its pain. But for some weird reason, the other heads were content to continue groveling the ground. Their eyes were blank without a shed of movement.

Then the knights arrived. Their sword blades were drenched in a dark purple liquid which sluggishly dripped to the ground in violet globs. Each of their expressions were stern and focused as they cautiously approached the animal, circling the still kneeling Cerberus. With silent communication probably forged through teamwork or knight school, they simultaneously stabbed the unmoving Cerberus in non-fatal areas of flesh. The ferocious head took its chance to snap at one of the knights, but he was ready and deftly stepped out of reach.

Another person dropped down from above. He wasn't wearing a shred of metal armor, but his easy gait spoke of purpose and confidence.

When he started walking in our direction, Kiraize's eyes locked onto every single one of his movements, and he used his fingers to write something on my arm again. At that moment, a burst of curiosity to know what he was writing overcame me.

The man bowed. "I must say that I am deeply sorry about the fright the Cerberus has caused you. However, we will be sure to identify the root cause of its behaviour and put it down so that such an accident does not happen again. In the meantime, we are willing to provide you compensation."