If You're Being Held Hostage, Wiggle the Carrot! - Chapter 37
The more she thought about it, the more sad and angry she became. This time, the spirits gathered around her while she sat huddled up.
‘Is that her?’
‘Yeah, it’s her. I tried to swing my arm at her, and it bounced off on its own.’
‘She’s an interesting one.’
‘Her ears have a different color from ours, don’t they?’
‘First time seeing pink rabbit folk.’
Though her ears were itching, she ignored the spirits who only gossiped around her without approaching. Ruby remained sat on the ground, quietly catching her breath. Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine.
‘Are you the one causing trouble lately?’
The malice in the voice was distinctly different from the spirits she had encountered until now. Ruby lifted her head and looked at the spirit standing in front of her. First, she noticed the round ears. Seeing the light brown ears and tail, she realized the spirit had come a step closer.
‘When I was alive, I couldn’t even whine, much less directly to a guest…’
At this point, one of the wolf spirits among those surrounding her growled at the round-eared spirit. Ruby looked at the wolf spirit who had just spoken.
In response to the blatant disregard in the comment, the round-eared spirit sneered back without backing down.
‘Hmph! A dead man talking!’
‘It’s the truth! I don’t appreciate a hyena like you daring to be in our Negro territory!’
‘Then come at me.’
The hyena spirit with round ears in front of her snarled, facing the other party.
‘Even if I perish, I won’t bow my head to the likes of you! I’ll show you the strength of the wolf folk!’
Ruby looked on in disbelief at the sudden exchange of blows. Already irritated by excessive attention and feeling resentful for her tribe, she was disturbed by the spirits fighting.
As she watched, Ruby scrambled to her feet just in time to see the wolf spirit get pushed down by the hyena spirit before getting devoured.
“Stop right there.”
‘What?’
“Sigh.”
Deep anger simmered within her. Ruby placed both hands firmly on her hips and said, “Do you want me to tell you something funny?”
‘Yes, please.’
‘I’m curious too.’
The rabbit-folk spirits with their snow-white ears circled around her, chattering. Despite her irritation, Ruby ignored them and continued speaking.
“In our village, there was a spirit exactly like you. How mischievous they were, constantly bothering passing children. Even after being told not to, they kept harassing the kids until I intervened.”
‘How dull.’
‘We already know that you can use your power against us.’
Ignoring the other spirits chattering around her, Ruby directed her words solely at the hyena spirit.
“I beat him the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that… I beat him every day like he did to others, and he couldn’t even run away because he was a ghost.”
‘…’
‘That’s terrible…’
As Ruby spoke, the spirits gradually distanced themselves from her. The hyena, however, bared his teeth at her and moved closer.
“Huh, you think I’m joking? I haven’t finished my story yet.”
‘Shut up! Instead of blabbering, just come at me!’
Ruby chuckled at the audacity of the confident hyena spirit.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Some just won’t listen until the very end. They’ll hear about the ten years you spent beating the sh*t out of him before they come to their senses.
She clenched her small fist firmly, then with a determined exhale, she delivered a swift blow to the head of the approaching hyena spirit.
‘Ow.’
“How dare you, an evil spirit, approach anyone…”
She continued to strike intermittently, feeding blows relentlessly in between her rhythmic speech. With every hit of her fist, the hyena spirit trembled with the feeling of their soul diminishing.
Never expecting to be hit in the face, he begged for mercy, but it was no use.
After a hundred strikes in a row, Ruby raised her fist in the air and shouted at the curious spirits around her, “Hey, do you guys want to try it too? Do you want to know which is harder, his head or my fist?!”
Forgetting all the advice her grandmother had given her, Ruby shouted and shook her fist with glee.
