Chapter 134

Chapter 134: The Owner of the Golden Goose (3)

“…Oh?”

The eyes of Somnia, the owner of the Golden Goose, narrowed even further.

As her eyes narrowed, the corners of her mouth lifted higher as well.

“Looks like that bastard sent an actor instead of a subordinate this time.”

That bastard?

Somehow, I got a bad feeling.

Somnia flicked her fan lightly.

At that, the subordinates who’d been hiding behind the ceiling beams and pillars revealed themselves.

‘Just under ten. But….’

The sturdy men, half-naked, held scimitars, crescent-shaped blades, in one hand.

So they came out with a troublesome weapon.

‘This is annoying.’

While I was thinking about when to draw the dagger I’d concealed, the women who’d been playing instruments with languid smiles were already looking my way.

They were giggling as if something entertaining had come up.

“Go on. Prove it here.”

Somnia smiled as wickedly as she could.

“That you’re ‘Kyla Angel.’”

The moment the owner of the Golden Goose finished speaking, her armed subordinates rushed at me all at once.

***

Swoosh, swish, clang.

It was tension I hadn’t felt in a long time.

I deflected a blade flying toward the back of my neck and threw a back kick.

“Ghk!”

The man who’d been sneaking up behind me let out a groan and went down.

But there was no time to breathe.

“Die!”

No allies, only eight enemies.

Even if I took one down, another immediately came at me with a blade.

‘Then I’ve got no choice but to make them unable to fight, one by one.’

I clenched my teeth and threw a punch.

This body was weaker than before, and shorter, so my attack range was smaller too.

But because of that, there was an advantage as well.

‘I can move faster.’

My body was far lighter and more flexible than before.

In exchange for losing strength, I could move much faster, and in exchange for being smaller, I could dig deep into the opponent’s blind spots.

‘But in the end, the outcome of a fight is decided by the advantage in size and strength.’

The subordinates of Somnia I was fighting weren’t more skilled than me, but there were many of them, and they were stronger. Dragging things out would only reduce my chances.

‘Only the vital points.’

This time, two of them charged at me at once.

I avoided the blade sweeping toward my waist and spun in a circle.

Then, with the dagger clenched in one hand, I knocked aside the blade flying toward my face.

“Unfortunately, dying right now would be a bit inconvenient.”

I struck the backs of the two men’s necks in succession.

I brought the pommel down hard, so they wouldn’t wake for at least an hour.

‘That’s two.’

Maybe seeing their comrades collapse unconscious right in front of them made them wary.

The remaining men hesitated for a moment and stepped back.

‘Now.’

The best defense is offense.

I had to seize the moment they were tense and unable to act, and hit back so hard they couldn’t even counterattack.

I sprang up and climbed onto the neck of the man closest to me.

Then, with his neck trapped between my thighs, I twisted my waist slightly.

Thud.

With a chilling sound, he collapsed without even managing a scream.

‘Three.’

I didn’t even take his life, yet they look shocked.

I lunged at the others who were standing there dumbstruck.

‘Four, five, six….’

One in the solar plexus, one between the legs, one in the temple.

I put all my strength into striking only vital points, and in an instant, three more went down.

“That leaves only two of you.”

The two men who still hadn’t gone down flinched the moment their eyes met mine.

Even as they readjusted their grips on their weapons, they didn’t seem able to bring themselves to rush me.

You could tell just by looking at their terrified eyes.

I turned my head toward Somnia.

She was staring at me blankly with her mouth open.

“Do you still need more proof?”

The room was so silent you could’ve heard a pin drop.

Somnia slowly rose at my words.

“…Ha, haha.”

She let out a laugh that sounded like air leaking out. Her violet eyes were stained with confusion.

“For sure, the way you use your body is similar to that woman’s.”

Somnia, who’d come down from the platform before I knew it, was staring down at me.

‘Looking at you like this, you seem even taller. Back then, I think we were about eye level.’

Somnia was tall, about the same height as the Empire’s sturdy adult men.

The bare skin visible between her robe was covered in all kinds of scars, most of them from her days as a slave.

“It’s so strange.”

Somnia bent at the waist slightly, then thrust her face right up in front of mine. Her eyes were full of suspicion.

“You’re really Kyla Angel?”

“Yes.”

“Then tell me one thing only the two of us know.”

“When we first met in Lionel, you put your lips….”

“Stop. That’s enough.”

You tell me to say it, then you cover my mouth.

I stared Somnia down.

She looked extremely flustered.

“…You’re really Kyla Angel? You?”

Like there could be a fake.

Instead of answering, I just held Somnia’s gaze.

Because I remembered something Somnia once said.

“I like people who don’t avoid my eyes. They don’t look like they’ve got a guilty conscience.”

At that, she made a slightly startled expression, then lifted one corner of her mouth.

“Yeah, I can tell just by your eyes. I couldn’t forget that damn unlucky look even if I died.”

Somnia straightened her posture, then lifted her fan again.

“This is truly surprising. To think the Reaper I believed dead has returned alive.”

“…Seems you knew I died.”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Somnia narrowed the space between her brows at my words.

“I never knew when you’d demand the price of my life, so of course I kept watching.”

She spoke as she fluttered her fan. Those strange violet eyes were still brimming with doubt.

“And yet I clearly confirmed you were dead. Are my subordinates all fish-eyed idiots?”

“Hard to believe, but….”

I took a breath, then continued, “I did die. I just opened my eyes in someone else’s body.”

“What?”

Somnia, unlike herself, let out a shrill sound that was somewhere between an exclamation and a scream.

Even I sometimes wonder if it isn’t all a dream, so how much more would someone else?

“Huh, seriously.”

Somnia lifted one eyebrow.

“You live long enough to see anything. To think something that mysterious could happen.”

“And if that old sage heard, he’d find it hilarious.”

I flinched at the words “old sage” for no reason.

I pictured Sage, living the good life in the Prince’s Palace, picking herbs.

‘If she finds out Sage left Luxen and is living in the Imperial Palace, she’ll make a huge fuss again.’

Even if it was in the past, Somnia was also one of the merchants who’d targeted the Scale Disease cure Sage created.

“All right, Kyla Angel.”

Somnia casually slung an arm over my shoulder.

“I guess I should throw a welcome party for the Reaper who overcame death and came back. I should at least treat you to some fine liquor. And don’t refuse.”

Who was it that just pushed me like they were ready to kill me, telling me to prove I was Kyla Angel?

“I’ll refuse the welcome party. If I need a drink, I’ll drink.”

I smiled and naturally slipped out from under Somnia’s arm.

“I came to do business with the owner of the Golden Goose.”

***

Glug.

Somnia poured wine into a jeweled golden goblet and handed it to me.

In the lavish room, it was just the two of us.

“You said you opened your eyes in someone else’s body. Then your name must’ve changed too?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s your name now?”

“Rachel Brown.”

The moment I said my name, Somnia’s eyes lit up sharply.

Then, all of a sudden, she burst into laughter like someone who’d eaten a Clown Mushroom.

“Pwahaha, that name doesn’t suit you at all!”

I had no idea why everyone who knew me in my past life reacted like that every time they heard the name Rachel. It was truly beyond me.

“Well, I do like your current look more than your old one, though.”

Somnia lifted her glass and smiled. For a moment, her gaze seemed to linger on my lips.

“What a shame. I’m not into you.”

“I was joking.”

She only ever makes nasty jokes, back then and now.

I took a sip of wine and changed the subject.

“Then what did you mean earlier, when you said that bastard sent me?”

“Ah.”

Somnia let out a sound of realization. Then she gave a hollow laugh like it was absurd.

“That little punk.”

A little punk?

When I made a puzzled face, Somnia said in a slightly irritated voice, “That arrogant little punk you gave everything you had to.”

“…Don’t tell me you mean Ian?”

Somnia nodded and rested her chin on her hand. “It was last year. You suddenly vanished, and I thought it was strange. I tried to investigate on my own, and somehow that bastard found out and kept sending his subordinates here.”

So it really is true, a thief’s guilty conscience gives him away.

Thinking of Ian, I bit my lip.

Somnia stared at me and asked, “Did that bastard kill you?”

She really does pick up on things fast.

Instead of answering, I took another sip.

Somnia lazily waved her fan.

“Figured.”

“…What?”

“I’ve found that bastard irritating for a long time. Unlike you, he was the kind of guy whose thoughts you could never read.”

I’d trained longer than anyone to keep my true feelings from showing. No, more than that, was Ian Angel that kind of person even to other people?

“What did you even see in a bastard like that to give him your heart?” Somnia asked like she truly couldn’t understand.

“Well.”

I lowered my eyes and let out a bitter smile. A small ripple rose in the wine inside the golden goblet.

“…Maybe.”

Was it because I’d been drinking?

Words I normally would never say slipped out without thinking.

“Because he was the only one who stayed by my side. I think that’s why.”