【Optional Adventure Quest: I'm No Pushover!】
【Repel the invading enemies. Rewards will be granted based on completion rate.】
Looking at the translucent prompt that suddenly popped up, Rosie was dazed for a moment.
Immediately after, the hint of anger on her face was replaced by a grin.
Since resolving the trouble with Hawk last time, the Adventure Guide had been like dead, not making a single peep.
She carried cargo at the docks every day and practiced her Swordsmanship at home. Her proficiency had gone up, but no quests had triggered no matter what.
Now it seemed it wasn't that there was no reaction, but that she hadn't met the right trigger.
“It's finally here...”
Rosie casually tossed the finished apple core, her entire being instantly coming alive from her previous frustration.
The last quest let her choose a reward, but this time it gave rewards based on completion rate.
In other words, the cleaner she handled it, the better the reward she would get.
Rosie licked her lips, her gaze sweeping across the room.
The firewood in the fireplace was burning vigorously, the orange-red flames casting flickering shadows on the walls.
She walked over, squatted down, and used the back of her short sword to poke at the ashes accumulated around the hearth.
These were the fine ashes left over from the past few days, still slightly hot to the touch.
She grabbed a large handful and stuffed them into the pocket of her linen clothes.
She sheathed her short sword back at her waist.
Having done this, Rosie stood up, clapped the ash off her hands, and walked toward the door in a swaggering manner.
“Which blind bastard dares to kick my door down?”
Outside, the sun had already sunk behind the city walls.
The last few rays of dark red twilight squeezed through the low rooftops, staining the rammed-earth walls in the alley like rust.
The wind was colder than it had been in the evening, scraping against her face like a small knife.
Five burly men stood not far outside Rosie's door, lined up in a row, all holding weapons in their hands.
They were either hardwood clubs wrapped with iron wire or short clubs clad in iron sheets.
Rosie recognized the front two at a glance.
One was a bald guy with not a single hair on his head—none other than “Ghoul,” whom she had paralyzed with a single punch.
Standing next to him was the skinny guy who had been kicked in the crotch and had his voice changed on the spot.
Having not seen them for over half a month, these two had recovered, but their eyes were filled with a hatred that wished to skin her alive.
However, Hawk and his lackey Quick hadn't come.
It was definitely because these two couldn't swallow their anger, so they gathered a few people to get revenge.
The residents on both sides of the alley had already been startled by the commotion of the door being kicked.
From the cracks in the windows and behind the door planks, pairs of eyes quietly peeked out, not daring to show themselves fully.
A few braver ones opened their doors a crack, hiding their bodies behind the doors and only poking half a head out to watch.
“Little girl!”
Seeing Rosie, the veins on Ghoul's forehead throbbed.
Being beaten to the ground by a girl had made the name “Ghoul” a laughingstock for many.
“Last time you got lucky and ambushed me, but it won't be that easy this time! I'm going to rub your ugly face into the dirt!”
The skinny guy next to him also shrieked in a high-pitched voice, “I-I will make you regret kicking me...”
Because that kick last time had been too brutal, his voice was still abnormal.
The surrounding accomplices couldn't help but twitch their lips upon hearing this.
Rosie curled her lips. “Hehe, I'm so scared! Don't think I'm afraid just because you have more people!”
Her voice was not small, echoing in the alley.
“If I could beat you up once, I can beat you up twice!”
Last time she only knew wild brawl punches, but now she had Swordsmanship and a combat skill.
Moreover, after more than half a month of adjustment, she had completely mastered her body.
“Sister Rosie, run—”
A tender voice sounded from the side; it was Little Klee.
She had only yelled half a sentence before a large hand covered her mouth, and she was dragged back into the house.
The door slammed shut with a bang, and the bolt slid into place with a clatter.
Ghoul turned and spat, growling viciously, “Dead kid... Once I deal with you, I'll go knock on her door next.”
The smile on Rosie's face vanished.
“Is that so?”
“I'll make...”
Ghoul wanted to say a few more harsh words.
But before the words could roll out of his throat, Rosie moved.
With a sudden kick of her foot, she shot forward like a tightened bowstring suddenly released.
At the same time, her left hand reached into her pocket.
“Still trying the same trick? I won't—”
Rosie flung her left hand.
A handful of hearth ashes exploded in the last rays of the sunset, like a small gray mist, flying straight into Ghoul's face.
The hot, dry ash forced its way into his eyes, and the rest of Ghoul's words turned into agonizing screams.
“Ah... My eyes! My eyes!”
He rubbed his eyes frantically. The more he rubbed, the more it hurt, and the wooden club in his hand fell to the ground.
The skinny guy raised the iron-clad club in his hand. “You wretched girl! Today I'm going to beat you to...”
Before he could finish, a flash of cold light pierced through the lingering dust of the hearth ash.
Rosie had no intention of wasting words with him at all. Her right hand had already gripped the short sword at her waist, and using her forward momentum, she slashed upward.
The tip of the sword drew a silver-bright arc.
The skinny guy only felt a chill at his throat.
It was as if someone had pressed an ice cube against his neck.
He subconsciously wanted to speak, but only a strange sound came from his throat.
“Sssss—ssss—”
It sounded like something was leaking.
He reached out to touch it, only to feel a warm, sticky substance.
Looking down, his hands were covered in red.
Blood was spurting from his throat, flowing down his neck into his collar, staining his clothes red.
The skinny guy opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Then his vision went dark, and he collapsed like a boneless doll, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
“She—she killed Skinny Monkey!”
A thug standing in the back cried out in terror, his hand holding the iron-clad club beginning to tremble.
They were just thugs from the outer city, used to bullying the weak, collecting debts, and brawling.
But killing someone by slitting their throat right off the bat was not something just anyone could do.
The other two thugs realized this as well.
Ghoul and Skinny had previously beaten their chests and promised them that they had only been ambushed last time, and in a head-on fight, a girl would be no match for them.
The others only needed to stand by and cheer.
But what was the result?
In a single exchange, Skinny was dead.
However, before they could digest their shock, Rosie had already shifted her feet, slipping behind Ghoul. With a flick of her wrist, her short sword pierced into the gap between his ribs.
There was a moment of resistance as the sword tip broke through skin and flesh, before smoothly sinking in.
With a twist and a pull of her wrist, blood gushed from the wound, soaking Ghoul's clothes.
He clutched his ribs, kneeling down with a thud, before rolling onto his side.
His body was still twitching, but he was clearly not going to survive.
The alley suddenly fell deathly quiet.
The wind blew away the remaining dust of the hearth ash, revealing Rosie's figure holding the dripping short sword.
She raised her head and looked at the remaining three.
“Anyone else?”
Her tone was extremely arrogant.
The three exchanged glances, seeing the sheer terror in each other's eyes.
The next second, they turned and bolted, running in three different directions. The sound of their panicked footsteps quickly faded into the distance.
Rosie didn't give chase. These three cowards were clearly just brought along to bolster their numbers, and her quest was only to repel the enemies, which was already overachieved.
She walked over to the twitching Ghoul.
Squatting down, she first wiped her short sword clean on Ghoul's clothes before sheathing it.
Then, she began to search his body.
Soon, she pulled out a coin pouch.
Next, she walked over to Skinny's corpse nearby, and within a few moves, she pulled out another coin pouch sewn from linen.
Without even looking, she stuffed them into her chest pocket.
Then, without looking back, she ran toward the outside of the alley.
Killing someone in the Royal City was not something she could easily get away with by just claiming self-defense.
The last ray of twilight completely sank.
The alley grew dark, and the wind howled, blowing the scent of blood into every crack of the doors.
None of the peeking neighbors dared to open their doors and come out.
Only when Rosie's back disappeared around the corner of the alley did a low, suppressed gasp sound from behind a window.
Then came a second, and a third.
Rate on N.U.
