Please Kill Me - Chapter 36
The sword that sliced vertically through the straw dummy twirled in Yekaterina’s hand and pointed downwards. With a swift change of direction, she slashed the top – the neck – of the third dummy, kicked off its torso to pivot towards the fourth dummy and shredded its straw.
Finally, a knife pulled from her thigh was thrust into the fifth dummy.
“…Ha.”
It felt like she was finally getting some movement.
Yekaterina inhaled deeply and pulled the dagger from the fifth dummy. Before returning to this moment, she had been locked up in a cell for nearly two weeks, doing nothing but counting the chilling floor tiles to numb the pain.
Thus, her body that was now accustomed to a dulled consciousness, found her current agile state somewhat startling.
‘I didn’t think much of it in the slaughterhouse.’
There’s a distinct difference between moving reflexively in dangerous moments and deliberately engaging in a speed battle. Escaping the slaughterhouse involved her body acting before her mind, but striking the dummies required her thoughts to direct her movements.
‘Certainly, I was much more flexible than back then.’
Yekaterina juggled the dagger and catched it skillfully. She noticed how her reflexes and reaction speed were significantly faster than her previous body.
‘Still a bit clumsy, though.’
Considering she hadn’t expected the effects of her return to be entirely absent, this was satisfactory. Using her body after so long felt surprisingly refreshing.
Yekaterina, feeling unusually cheerful, turned around. Having confirmed her skills were intact, she planned to resume her original purpose of scouting locations for enhanced security.
However, the moment she turned, she had to stop dead in her tracks.
Unbeknownst to her when he had arrived, she saw a man standing next to Vasily.
“I heard Vasily was here, but I didn’t expect to find you either.”
“…Leonid.”
Yekaterina’s voice inadvertently brightened a bit as she called out to him. It wasn’t so much a warm welcome for Leonid as it was more of an unconscious anticipation.
“Did you happen to see what I just did?”
“I caught it from the second one. Thanks for the show.”
“And your thoughts?”
“Maybe you should ask this friend who saw it from the beginning.”
Leonid suggested, nudging Vasily.
Caught off guard, Vasily momentarily made a comically baffled face before quickly composing himself to respond.
“Your skills… seem quite remarkable.”
Despite his grievances with the impolite Yekaterina, Vasily wasn’t one to deny the truth for the sake of his feelings.
However, a slight animosity lingered, prompting him to subtly change his wording. Not that it was remarkable, but that it seemed remarkable.
Leonid chuckled upon detecting the minor barb in Vasily’s voice and tone.
“So, what do you say, Yekaterina? Are you satisfied with this assessment?”
“Others’ opinions don’t really matter to me.”
Vasily’s brows furrowed. Though of course, no one cared.
“What matters is what you think, Leonid. Does this convince you to consider me for guard duty?”
“I thought we agreed not to revisit that discussion.”
“Still stubborn, I see.”
“It’s you who’s still being stubborn. Or perhaps you find some amusement in this argument?”
“I was just wondering if you underestimate my abilities.”
“Hardly.”
Leonid snorted and walked towards Yekaterina.
“Even if the estate’s guards have become lax, they are still soldiers of Rostislav. Would I doubt the abilities of someone who infiltrated my room without killing or even knocking out any of them?”
“Is that so? Many seem to.”
Yekaterina tilted her head, surprised.
Being underestimated was a common occurrence for her in Offenbach. It’s ridiculously strange when the strongest in that house is Yekaterina.
Those who know about Yekaterina’s capabilities, knew, however, the newcomers often refuse to follow her, dismissing her as a naive Miss.
— With such a weak appearance, what’s so remarkable about her?
And proving her strength doesn’t always quiet the skeptics.
— It’s all just a show, nothing special. The monster was just weak.
— She was just lucky. Did you see that guy close its mouth? Who couldn’t beat that?”
— Following such a woman is absurd. It would have been better to be assigned to the young master.
Especially those who find it natural to bow to the young master but humiliating to bow to a lady often make such remarks.
Though it sounds old-fashioned, the lives that ended up in Offenbach were pretty much the same. Therefore, the complaints from the newcomers assigned under Yekaterina were typical.
Of course, hearing such complaints didn’t particularly upset her. Those busy showing off their strength were often dead within a month of arrival.
Thus, the first virtue in Offenbach was humility.
‘I thought he didn’t know my skills since he seems to lack any humility.’
Even though he knew it, he still opposed the idea of her taking on guard duties, which was unexpected for Yekaterina.
Yekaterina felt a bit of surprise.
