Blood splattered across the ceiling as I performed a sneak attack against the swordsman, all five of the claws on my right hand slashed right across his chest at a diagonal angle. His face contorted in pain and surprise, but as though muscle memory, he still unsheathed his sword and swiftly swung at me.

  Bastard managed to slightly chip one of my ears, even though I had already been backing off right after landing my own strike. In my escape, I picked up the little mouse, holding her like a princess.

  The man pointed his sword at me.

  “Put the girl down”

  I glanced at the cute beastfolk, gently rubbing her big ears–It was time for me to engage in slander.

  “I won’t let you anywhere near her. I know you well already. What were you planning to do to her inside this room, huh? You filthy, dirty scum! Did you really think that you could escape the law inside of a nightmare? Think again!”

  “Pardon?!”

  I restrained myself from laughing, leaning to whisper to the girl.

  “You were lucky I spotted you two. That man is well-known for luring cute girls like you away”

  “...This is libel!”

  “Did you see how he refused to open the door even as I banged on it and screamed for help? That’s a very, very bad man right here. I am sure your parents told you to be careful of such people… But he took advantage of the situation to gain your trust… He is nothing less of a monster than the creatures roaming this place!”

  Ohohoh. I’m really killing it with that little speech. I might actually convince myself that this isn’t a load of bollocks I came up with on the spot!

  I retained my serious expression even as I dearly wanted to laugh so hard that I would fold myself over.

  The little mouse might have a good head on her shoulders, but I was an expert, and the swordsman unfortunately had no good way to falsify my claims on the spot, so he was left stumbling over his own words trying to come up with a rebuttal to the reputation-slaughtering accusations I was throwing his way in the same manner that a monkey would slung its own faeces.

  No one wanted to be accused of something they hadn’t committed. However, it was often way easier to invent things than it was to pick apart lies, no matter how obviously false they may be.

  In the eyes of the cute mousefolk, the confusing situation, the sight of blood, and the lack of immediate rebuttal made her believe that the lady who had been holding onto her so warmly and gently, especially since my acting was so convincing to begin with.

  I really should have sought out some acting jobs back in the day. I would have absolutely killed it there–Actually, that was a huge oversight on my part. Who goes to watch theatre performances the most? Nobles! I totally could have found myself a good husband this way, right? Damnit.

  Putting aside the fact that I had missed an obvious opportunity more than twenty years ago, I put the girl at a distance, putting myself between her and the swordmaster.

  Ah yes… I am a beastfolk right now as well. So…

  “Filthy-minded human. I will make sure that you never get close to another girl like her again”

  “Will you stop with the baseless slander?!”

  “I know what you are”

  “We’ve never met before!”

  “You are quite good at lying…”

  “You’re the one who’s lying, you-! Fuck this! You must be a monster in disguise… I’ll cut you down and reveal your true form!”

  I shrugged before flexing all of my claws out–Including those from my toes.

  “If you think you can kill me, you are welcome to try”

  Without waiting a second longer, the swordsman surged forward, the five deep gashes across his chest bled strongly as his muscles flexed. I could see his face twisting in agony as he forced himself to push through the pain.

  I like this expression.

  The sword slashed through the air at an impressive speed, but I dodged to the side with ease, using my feline agility to my advantage.

  He seems to be employing physical augmentation spells

  Of course he is… He might have been able to put more pressure on me normally, but my sneak attack was proving fruitful. The bursts of pain he had to endure for simply moving in the way he always did when fighting made him twitch and slow at random, throwing off his sword style.

  Credit where credit is due, though. He was doing quite well, considering how much he was bleeding and worsening his injuries trying to fight me. Clearly, Mister Swordsman over there would be a tough cookie under normal circumstances.

  Alas, ‘normal circumstances’ was what happened when you engaged in a friendly spar… In a real fight, a code of honour or chivalry was nothing more than a self-inflicted disadvantage. If you managed to win when burdened like this–Well, congratulations, I suppose. I wasn’t one to engage in such nonsense.

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  This, I believe, made me a good warrior. My old knight instructor disagreed with this notion, though…

  That fool was probably already dead by now. Either from his own stupidity, or from all the booze he guzzled down after I convinced his wife that he was a filthy cheater!

  I leaned backwards, bending my flexible spine to a degree capable of inflicting phantom pain on onlookers. I put one hand down and slashed at my opponent’s thigh using the claws on my right foot.

  The man gritted his teeth, pushing through even this, allowing him to slash me right across the chest.

  …Oh sweet, sweet pain…

  I felt the burning sensation of a fresh cut across my flesh. This was a sort of pain I no longer felt in the real world due to being mostly made of steel, and the flesh I did produce just wasn’t the same as this.

  My adversary probably didn’t expect that I would not only enjoy being slashed, but that it would give me a burst of clarity akin to being suddenly doused in cold water. This instant of clarity, coupled with the bestial instincts of this body, made for a dangerous mixture.

  I barely even realised it, but I caught hold of the warrior’s sword-holding wrist, forcing his arm out of the way before slashing him across the torso and stomach again, making for a nice X-shape before I kicked him away.

  Oh… That was a bit weird. This body’s instincts are way stronger than I had imagined. It feels like my thoughts and actions were all fast-forwarded.

  My opponent grunted out in pain. He was keeled over and was supporting himself using his sword. He clearly wasn’t in a very good state, but not yet defeated… Does he think I am stupid enough to approach him right now? I can’t sense mana, but I can smell bullshit. He is clearly acting weak to lure me closer.

  It’s a classic manoeuvre. He knows that he is too wounded to keep fighting normally, so he is going to try and land a surprise attack, carrying basically all that’s left of his strength to finish me off. This is a tale as old as time. It was literally featured in some stories my mother would read to me when I was still as tall as three stacked apples.

  I find it rather insulting that he believes for even a second that this could work against me. Do I look like an idiot? Does he take me for an idiot?

  Instead of approaching, I took a step back and dusted my shoulders.

  “Come on. Show me that you still have an ounce of goodness in your body, and don’t force me to kill you in front of her”

  It was hard not to smile while saying such ridiculous things, but as per usual, my delivery was on point.

  “Something is… Definitely wrong with you”

  Mmh… Hold on, there is a term that I could use here in response to this. I think I learned it in one of those debate classes I had back in the day… Ah yes.

  “Please, do not project your own faults onto me. Look inward, and think: Were my intentions with this young miss really appropriate? The answer is no”

  The swordsman was visibly seething. I would be, too, if I were being slandered while bleeding out. The difference is that I usually get back at people at a later date instead of in the moment.

  My knight instructor? I could have cracked his skull on the spot back then. I could have turned him into a smudge of red across the floor for his offence against my person, but I did not. Because I am a calm, composed, and perfectly rational woman.

  Vengeance is often like strawberry pie. It tastes better after being put somewhere cold for a while after being cooked in the oven.

  Also, being a woman of a sane mind, I know that violence is not always the answer. Sometimes spreading falsehood and ruining someone's life is better than beating them to death with a digging bar.

  Unfortunately, the swordsman wasn’t half as good a person as I was–Filled with resentment, he madly lunged at me with a distinct lack of finesse or refinement in his attack. He launched a blade of mana through the air at me. The swing was so obvious that even being grazed by it would feel like humiliation.

  I stepped aside to evade it, slashing the swordsman's face, tearing open one of his cheeks, causing his lower jaw to slacken on one side. He kept swinging anyway, but the strike was utterly pathetic.

  I was able to grab his arm, forcing it into an armlock using just one of my own arms, allowing me to absolutely mangle his biceps down to the bone before he managed to punch me in the face with his other arm.

  My nose bled, but I frankly couldn’t care less. My prey was simply done.

  “As I said… You need to have some dignity in front of that girl!”

  I elbowed him straight in the forehead, stunning him long enough for me to slap his sword down, pick him up, and hurl him right through the room’s window.

  And…

  He splattered against the stony ground all the way down. Turned into a bloody lump of flesh protruding with shattered bones.

  With two swift motions, I dusted my hands. This was a job well done.

  I turned my attention to the shivering mouse in the corner of the room.

  “Aww… Don’t cry! There is no need to cry. The bad man is gone”

  “Is… Is he dead?”

  “Yes. He is gone forever. Come, we are still stuck in a nightmare. I’ll take you to the top of the building. Take my hand”

  I wiped the blood off my hands and extended my right hand.

  The cute little mouse was clearly scared, certainly not used to witnessing such violence, but she still grabbed my hand, allowing herself to be picked up.

  Right now, with just a little bit of force–I could squish her into pulp… Which I did not do.

  Nara, would it technically count as a loss if I let one prey escape?

  She took a few moments to respond, probably checking something first.

  Not quite, considering the number of prey for you to deal with in this particular trial, it would seem that allowing just one prey to escape would not count as a loss at all. Just one still makes it count as a victory

  Good. This little mouse does not have the right feel to be a little sister of mine, but it would be a shame to steal the soul of one of the minuscule few spawnlings that I can actually somewhat enjoy the presence of.

  “Listen, Little Mouse… Stay a good girl. If you stay a good girl, you will never be pulled back into another nightmare, alright? Stay good, live a nice life, and have lots of children that you will raise to be just like you, understand?”

  She slowly nodded.

  I caressed her hair.

  The walk up the structure was a peaceful one. The monsters were interested in the beastfolk, but they did not approach.

  They do not dare to disturb you. They know that you are superior to them

  “M-Miss… What is your name?”

  The little mouse asked just before we reached the roof.

  …I can’t tell her I am Mara Nebulo, or a Nebulo at all, for that matter…

  “Maeve. You can call me Maeve”

  The little mouse soon left the trial, and thus, the nightmare began to crumble.