“Wait, wait, wait! I apologize! Don’t move yet!”
Aurelia’s movement halted, her crimson eyes fixed tightly on the other person.
“Apologize?”
Aurelia’s voice lowered, but she didn’t withdraw her knife.
“Why didn’t you apologize last time? Was it because I seemed easy to bully before?”
She hadn’t forgotten the solid impact of hitting the ground, the pain from her right wrist getting twisted, and that infuriating attitude of his as he strode away.
“That time was my fault.”
The cloaked man’s voice was hurried, carrying a hint of helplessness.
“I was in a rush last time, and I wasn’t in a good mood. I… apologize to you!”
He seemed to want to raise his hand to scratch his nose or make some other small gesture, but restrained by the cold gleam before him, he only slightly curled his fingers.
Aurelia narrowed her eyes slightly, sizing up the previously utterly rude bastard before her, and said: “An apology, that’s easy to discuss.”
She then revealed a faint smile, extending her other hand, palm up, and beckoned towards him with a hooking motion: “Compensation.”
“Wh-what?”
He didn’t react for a moment, his voice full of astonishment.
Her smile widened as she took a few steps forward: “Last time you bumped into me, causing a soft tissue contusion in my wrist. The pain lasted for several days, severely affecting my daily work and personal training progress, indirectly leading to a decrease in my income, hindered strength improvement, and increased potential risks.”
“This time, you collided with me again, causing me mental shock and wasting my precious rest and personal time. According to various penalty regulations I’m not entirely clear about and general moral understanding, you should now compensate me for my physical and mental damages and time loss.”
“…You damn brat, why so much nonsense! It was just a bump! How are you more long-winded than a church priest?!”
He was clearly thoroughly enraged by Aurelia’s compensation spiel, or rather, his patience had run out.
He no longer attempted to argue.
His entire figure suddenly blurred for an instant as he lunged fiercely towards Aurelia.
‘Huh? Getting impatient already? Your defense is so fragile, can’t handle pressure.’
She mentally mocked, but her body moved simultaneously as he did.
Her right arm swung out.
In the time of a single short breath, a pitch-black dragon claw brimming with inhuman power replaced her originally fair and slender arm.
At the same time, that pair of crimson pupils transformed into a pair of cold, sharp, vertical draconic pupils.
The moment the draconic pupils formed, the entire world changed in Aurelia’s perception.
The cloaked man’s originally fast, almost afterimage-dragging lunge instantly seemed to slow down several times.
Every detail entered her eyes with crystal clarity.
His left leg slightly pushing off as he charged forward, the trajectory of his body’s center of gravity shifting, that hand grabbing towards her wrist, and even the smug, condescending glint flashing in the eyes beneath the shadow of his hood.
Everything became slow and clear.
‘Whoa… isn’t this almost like time stop? Really channeling the head maid now?’
Aurelia even had the spare mental energy to continue mocking internally.
Her right hand shot out, grabbing the cloaked man’s wrist.
“What?!”
The cloaked man’s exclamation of surprise hadn’t even fully escaped his throat when he felt immense power transmit from his wrist, bringing his forward momentum to an abrupt halt.
But this was only the beginning.
As she firmly gripped the cloaked man’s wrist, she twisted her waist, using the residual momentum of his charge and her own explosively increased strength after dragonification to pull his arm forward.
Simultaneously, her left leg swept out, accurately hooking onto the ankle of the foot that was currently his sole support.
The cloaked man felt the world spin, his vision wildly flipping.
He was like a puppet that had lost its support, utterly powerless to resist as Aurelia yanked him up.
His entire body flew through the air for half a circle, and then—
“THUD!!!”
A solid, sickeningly meaty thud.
The cloaked man felt like every bone in his body was about to be shattered by this slam.
Face-down intimate contact with the rough cobblestones instantly filled his mouth and nose with dust and the taste of blood.
Darkness swam before his eyes.
What horrified him even more was the terrifying, beast-like strength of the grip clamping his wrist.
No matter how hard he struggled or exerted force, it didn’t budge an inch. Instead, it brought the ominous creaking sound of bones under unbearable stress.
Aurelia pressed a single knee into the small of his back, firmly pinning this guy who had tried to violently attack her to the ground.
The dragonified right claw still tightly gripped his wrist, twisting his arm back to an angle that looked suffocating.
The vertical pupils had already reverted to round human ones, but the coldness lingering in their depths from the dragonification hadn’t completely dissipated.
She was breathing slightly heavily.
Clearly, simultaneously dragonifying both eyes and her right arm still took a toll she couldn’t quite handle easily.
“With just these measly skills, you still wanted to grab me? Are you even awake?”
“How is this possible?! I’m a Bronze Grade warrior! How could a damn brat like you have strength I can’t resist at all?!”
Aurelia looked at the cloaked man pinned under her knee, his right arm twisted back almost to the breaking point, and snorted disdainfully.
“Then today, I’ll let you learn the consequences of looking down on people.”
Seeing his arm about to be forcibly broken by her, the cloaked man hurriedly begged: “No, no, no! I’ll pay! I’ll compensate you!”
At this moment, he recognized with utmost clarity that this seemingly petite and delicate maid before him was far from as simple as she appeared.
And what was up with her right hand?
That was definitely not a human right hand!
“Eh? Ready to pay now?”
Aurelia’s tightening dragon claw paused slightly, but didn’t let go.
“Weren’t you quite tough just now? If I really were an ordinary, weak maid, wouldn’t you have succeeded today?”
As she spoke, the strength in her right hand loosened just a tiny bit, as if genuinely considering accepting compensation to settle things.
The arm covered in black scales also began slowly returning to normal.
The inhuman texture receded like a tide, revealing the fair skin beneath.
Just as Aurelia’s right hand was about to fully revert to human form, the cloaked man erupted into action again.
His left hand, which had seemed limp and powerless on the ground, shook with astonishing speed.
A dark, short sword, less than the length of a forearm, slid out from his sleeve.
Simultaneously, he threw his entire body backward with force.
Without a hint of hesitation or any extra movement, he stabbed with precision and ferocity towards Aurelia’s seemingly off-balance abdomen.
“Die!”
However, when he saw the young girl’s face, clearly off-balance yet still wearing a light smile, he realized he was in trouble.
Just as the short sword was about to pierce her body, Aurelia’s right hand dragonified again, clenching into a fist.
As she dodged backward from the stab, she swung a punch straight at the cloaked man’s left arm.
“CRACK!”
A crisp bone-breaking sound was especially piercing in the silent back alley.
The cloaked man’s scream of agony almost tore from his throat but was forcibly suppressed by the intense pain, turning into a short, sharp gasp.
He felt as if his left forearm had been struck by an incredibly heavy forging hammer.
An indescribable, intense pain shot from his elbow joint.
His entire arm instantly lost all strength, hanging limply.
The short sword also slipped from his grasp, clattering to the ground with a ‘clang.’
Aurelia slowly straightened up, glanced at her maid outfit to confirm it wasn’t torn, and shrugged helplessly.
“Did you think I was some naive, innocent girl? Knowing the enemy still has the capacity to act, I’d dare to deactivate my combat form? Carelessness and letting your guard down gets you killed, you know?”
Holding White Shadow, she walked over to the cloaked man lying on the ground, almost devoid of resistance.
Blurred by pain and dizziness, he could only see a blurry figure in a maid dress approaching, then feel a weight settle on him.
And Aurelia unceremoniously sat down on his chest.
Her weight wasn’t heavy, but for the cloaked man, whose ribs were probably broken and who was already having difficulty breathing, this was undoubtedly adding insult to injury.
Immediately after, a cold metal object patted his face.
The force wasn’t heavy, but it made his heart jump with each tap.
“Seriously, you’re so weak? You can’t even beat a tavern maid with almost no combat experience. You might as well go back for a total remake.”
Aurelia’s slightly mocking words made the cloaked man’s face flush red then pale green.
Unable to hold back, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
‘Ah, this… Did I hit him too hard? Wait, no… I just slammed him once and broke one of his arms. What kind of decent person coughs up blood from that?!’
“You… what exactly… are you?!”
“Me?”
Aurelia pointed at herself.
“A tavern maid with grand ambitions.”
“…”
The air froze for a few seconds.
“You bastard, are you messing with me?! A tavern maid whose right hand can turn into that monstrous thing?! Who can easily subdue a Bronze Grade warrior like me?? Bullshit!”
“I don’t have a hobby of messing with people.”
Aurelia sighed helplessly, looking at his furious, flustered state.
“See, I’m still wearing my maid uniform. Even though I’m on break now, I’m diligently practicing hard. All to get promoted, get a raise, buy a house and land someday, and live a stable, secure life.”
“As for this,” she waved her right hand, now fully restored, flexing her fingers open and closed, the fair skin particularly conspicuous in the dim alley.
“You want to know? Sure.”
She extended her right hand in front of the cloaked man’s eyes, still wearing that smiling expression.
“Pay up.”
“Let me calculate…”
Aurelia withdrew her hand, counting on her fingers as she spoke: “Lost wages, medical fees, emotional distress compensation, psychological comfort fee, humanitarian compensation, plus miscellaneous expenses…”
She made a fist with her right hand, then smiled at the cloaked man beneath her.
“I won’t ask for much. Give me one gold coin, and we’ll consider this matter closed. How about it? A good deal, right?”
“O-one gold coin?!”
He immediately grew agitated again, struggling to get up but finding no strength in his body.
One arm broken, the other twisted back painfully, having taken a heavy slam from her, and now being sat on by this bizarre maid—it was utterly humiliating!
“You beat me up like this, and then turn around and demand money from me?! Why don’t you just rob me!”
“Eh~ I’m a law-abiding, orderly, upstanding citizen. Don’t make false accusations, okay? Or I’ll hit you!”
As she said this, she patted his face again with the flat of White Shadow’s blade.
“I… I don’t have a gold coin!”
He almost ground the words out through gritted teeth, his eyes filled with humiliated and desperate fury.
“I only have a dozen or so silver coins on me! Where would I get that kind of money!”
Aurelia glanced at the cloaked man’s belt, snatching a small pouch hanging from it.
This immediately made him frantic, as if he wanted to bite.
“You can’t take that! Give it back!”
“Hmm? Important? What is it?”
Aurelia tilted her head, putting on the expression of a curious young girl, which to the cloaked man seemed no different from a demon.
“That… Anyway, you can’t take that! Give it back!”
“You don’t want me to take it?”
Aurelia glanced at him.
“Then I’ll definitely take it.”
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