The ogress gasped loudly; Yamika had just insulted her. She answered angrily, with a scowling expression.
"How dare you offer money, cousin? You will not pay a single penny over my dead body!"
Yamika's lips curved upward into a wide smile, and although the ogress couldn't see her face, Yamika genuinely admired her principles. With praise and sincerity in her tone, still playing the role of the so-called cousin, she said.
"That's exactly what I'd expect from you, cousin ,generosity and hospitality."
Yamika patted the ogress's shoulder in a gesture filled with both affection and mischief.
The three began to move away from the market, while the ogress stood at the doorway watching them leave, waving at them one last time.
At that moment, an ogre wearing a dirty apron around his waist appeared, his green face scowling and his lower tusks jutting upward.
He walked toward the ogress until he stood beside her, looking in the same direction she was gazing, but he saw nothing except the crowds of monsters shopping. Raising an eyebrow in confusion, he asked.
"Who are you waving to, my wife?"
The ogress turned to her husband, her face still adorned with a smile ,quite the opposite of the frown she usually wore ,and replied.
"My cousin Viek came to visit us with her husband."
The ogre tilted his head in puzzlement, his brows furrowing in bewilderment.
"Didn't your cousin Viek and her husband die in a fire at the farm last year?"
The ogress's smile faded away, and her gaze shifted toward the direction where the three had disappeared. She muttered under her breath, words only she could hear.
"That's why her skin was red."
She turned back to her husband, her face now expressionless. Laying a hand on his shoulder, she took a deep breath before speaking.
"Pack up our things. We're leaving."
***
As they walked away, Yamika wrapped her new cloak around her shoulders and tied it tightly around her neck. Now, the three of them were ready to move around the area in peace.
The corners of Haruki's lips curved upward into a sly smile beneath his mask. He threw both arms around Yamika and Noroi, pulling them closer together on purpose, and whispered teasingly.
"So, am I invited to your wedding?"
Yamika clenched her jaw in irritation at Haruki's teasing. Her hand shot out, twisting his wrist behind his back with force, her face scowling as Haruki groaned in pain, immediately blurting out.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry! I was joking! Ow, ow, ow!"
Haruki hugged his arm to his chest the moment Yamika released her iron grip.
Noroi cast them both a tired, almost regretful look for having these two fools with him, then turned away and started walking, ignoring them completely.
Yamika lifted her gaze toward Noroi, who was now a few steps ahead. She let out a low sigh, placed both hands behind her head, and began to follow him.
Haruki rubbed his poor arm one last time before following after them as well.
Suddenly, something caught Haruki's attention, freezing him in place for a moment as his eyes widened at what he saw. It took him a few seconds before he let out a loud scream.
Haruki's shout instantly triggered every defensive instinct in both Yamika and Noroi, who had walked several meters ahead of him. They quickly turned around.
Noroi's hand was already on his wrist-blade, ready to press the trigger and release it, while beside him, Yamika had already drawn her axe.
The movement of the monsters around them blocked their view, preventing them from seeing what had happened to Haruki, and the air grew heavy between them from the tension.
Yamika moved first, shoving monsters aside with her arms, while Noroi followed close behind through the path she was clearing.
___
Thank you for reading! If this moment touched you even a little , please consider adding it to your library.💐