Aurora calmly raised her sword and thrust it at the giant dog that had bitten her.
Her swordsmanship was divine, even better than the kingdom's top Master Swordsman, and everyone who saw her wield a sword would praise it as the finest swordsmanship.
These two dogs were bigger, stronger, and fiercer than the first, but the trained Aurora was stronger than them.
The cold gleam of the sword flashed under the moon, and in just a few moves, Aurora defeated these two terrifying monsters.
The two dogs, dragging their profusely bleeding bodies, fled in panic.
The blood they shed dyed an entire street red, staining the bakeries, alchemy workshops, luxurious inns, and people's homes; the blood flowed into the river, turning the river red as well.
From then on, the capital had a street filled with red houses.
The Soldier ran and ran, sprinting through the moonlit streets.
"Phew, phew, phew, I'm exhausted. I escaped, didn't I? I should have gotten rid of that monster, right?"
The Soldier recalled what had just happened; it was like a dream.
What a beautiful girl she was, he thought, why was she so terrifying?
Temporarily out of danger, the affection and desire he had forgotten due to fear surged back, and the Soldier suddenly felt that he shouldn't have run so fast, so far. He even had an urge to turn back.
"Perhaps that girl can still be reasoned with? She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. If I could just be with her, that would be perfect."
Just as the Soldier thought he was safe and slowly stopped, a hemp rope on the side of the street suddenly came alive, pouncing with a whoosh and binding him tightly.
The hemp rope twisted like a snake, as if endowed with life, and no matter how the Soldier struggled, he couldn't break free.
...
"Quite an excellent performance. To be able to defeat those three dogs, you are already a capable warrior, Aurora!"
Rhine appeared from nowhere, applauding Aurora.
He hadn't captured the Soldier beforehand because he wanted to witness Aurora's growth with his own eyes.
However, Aurora's face showed no joy of victory.
"Mentor, is the story that stranger told just now true? Has the kingdom really been cursed?" The blonde girl wiped the blood from her face.
Rhine nodded gently:
"Yes."
This was something Aurora would have to be told sooner or later.
What truly worried Rhine was that the Soldier had said that the hostile neighboring country, Ender, was preparing to reveal the truth of the curse.
Fear is a more terrifying weapon than swords. If people knew that the country would be destroyed in a few years, the entire kingdom would surely fall into chaos, order would cease to exist, farmers would abandon their fields, and Soldiers would be unwilling to fight. Ender could then seize the opportunity to plunder everything.
Aurora sighed again, with a hint of regret:
"It's a pity that the culprit who almost killed Granny Rosa escaped."
"No, I've caught him. He will receive the judgment he deserves," Rhine said.
Saying that, Rhine looked back at the hotel room.
On the floor, the heavily wounded, howling dog had disappeared—it was clearly still alive, but its whereabouts were unknown, as mysterious as its appearance. It would only reappear when summoned by its master again.
...
From Rhine, the King and Queen learned of the Soldier's attempt to abduct their daughter.
They were extremely angry, arrested that Soldier, and locked him in a cell.
The Soldier was imprisoned in the cell, which was dark and stuffy.
The other prisoners in the same cell all said:
"Friend, you'll be hanged tomorrow."
The Soldier was terrified upon hearing this. He searched his entire body, trying to find the life-saving tinderbox, but found it wasn't on him.
"Oh my, this is truly unfortunate! I remember now, when I was tied up by the rope, the tinderbox fell out. It rolled into the ditch by the roadside!" The Soldier despaired.
The next morning, at dawn.
The Soldier saw through the small window with iron bars that many people were pouring out of the city, wanting to watch him being hanged.
He heard the thunderous drumming, saw the King's guard marching, and saw the King and Queen sitting in a magnificent four-wheeled carriage. Large crowds were all heading towards the outskirts of the city.
"Even the King came, did I really kidnap the Princess?"
"No way? But the creature I saw didn't seem human at all."
"Could it be that the King imprisoned the Princess because he didn't want people to discover that the Princess was actually a monster?"
The Soldier made various guesses.
By now, he was increasingly confused about the truth of the matter.
At this moment, the Soldier saw through the iron window that among the people running towards the city outskirts, there was a boy in a hood and cloak running particularly fast, his hood covering his face.
The Soldier looked out from behind the iron bars:
"Hey, little fellow, why the hurry? There's nothing good to see until I arrive."
He then tempted the boy:
"If you fetch something for me, I'll give you four copper coins. But you must swear, you must run as fast as you possibly can!"
The Soldier told the hooded boy which street and which ditch the tinderbox had fallen into. The hooded boy then ran towards the street where the Soldier had previously lived.
"Please bless me, that the tinderbox hasn't been picked up yet." The Soldier knelt on the ground in the dark, stuffy cell, praying.
Before long, the hooded boy ran back, much faster than the Soldier had expected.
As soon as the Soldier saw the tinderbox in the boy's hand, he was so happy he almost jumped.
"Here, this is your tinderbox. Give me your copper coins."
The Soldier happily pulled out the copper coins and gave them to the boy, then put the tinderbox into his pocket.
"Hahaha. My tinderbox is still here, it's still here! As long as I have the tinderbox and the three dogs, the King can't execute me."
However, what the Soldier didn't see was that as the boy walked away from the iron bars, turning his back to him, a strange curve suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth, revealing a hint of a smile.
"Your wish has been granted."
A few strands of silver hair peeked out from under the hood, gently swaying in the morning breeze.
...
Outside the city, a large gallows had been erected, surrounded by the King's guard and many common people.
The King and Queen faced the jury, sitting on two magnificent thrones in the best position to view the execution.
The judge loudly pronounced the Soldier's two crimes:
One was attacking an innocent person with a sword, and the other was kidnapping and attempting to molest an underage girl. The former seemed to refer to the attack on the old witch—although the Soldier didn't know how he was discovered.
The Soldier was already standing on the execution ladder.
When the executioner was about to put the noose around his neck, the Soldier suddenly spoke loudly:
"I've heard there's a tradition in this kingdom, that a condemned criminal, before receiving punishment, can make one request. If it's a reasonable request, his wish should be granted."
"Indeed, there is such a thing," said the King from the stand.
"Right now, I really, really want to have a puff of smoke. Please, merciful and just King, I truly want to smoke a cigarette! And this will be my last cigarette in the world, surely the King wouldn't refuse even this request."
The King agreed to the Soldier's request.
So, the Soldier reached into his pocket, pulled out the tinderbox, and rapidly struck it several times.
His face was overflowing with uncontrollable laughter.
The Soldier saw the future, yes, an incredibly beautiful future:
All three dogs would jump out to save him, one with eyes as big as teacups, another with eyes as big as watermill wheels, and one whose eyes were bigger than the first two combined. They might have been injured, or perhaps miraculously healed. But whether wounded or not, they were terrifying, powerful monsters.
Those dogs would pounce on the judge, the jury, and the King's guard, biting off their legs, tearing off their noses, throwing them into the sky, tossing them dozens of meters high to make them all fall into a bloody pulp.
The King and Queen would suffer the same fate. He could choose to let the dogs eat the King and Queen, or choose to spare their lives—if he wanted to show his mercy. People would praise his mercy.
The surviving guards and the surrounding common people would fear him, support him, and take him to sit in the King's four-wheeled carriage, with the three dogs guarding him beside the carriage. He would become the new King of the country.
As for that blonde girl, who he didn't know if she was a princess ("She's truly a terrifying monster, but I swear, she's also the most beautiful girl I've ever seen!" the Soldier thought), God knew where she was now. If possible, the Soldier hoped to re-establish a good relationship with the girl, after all, he was now a noble King, and no one was more suitable to be his Queen than that girl. They would have a grand wedding that lasted eight days and eight nights, and the three dogs would also attend their wedding, their eyes staring wider than ever before.
After becoming the new King, he would enjoy himself for two or three years, and then, before the curse disaster erupted, he would escape the kingdom with his Queen. He had three magical dogs, and he would live well no matter which country he went to.
The fantasy ended.
The Soldier's mouth opened, the momentary dream almost making him drool.
His gaze was fixed on the tinderbox in his hand.
Strike, strike, strike.
He struck it again and again.
But nothing happened.
Not a single dog appeared.
"Why?"
"How could this be?"
"Why is my tinderbox not working?"
The Soldier trembled violently with fear.
He even suspected that everything he had experienced this past month, including the magical tinderbox and the three dogs, was just a morning illusion, an unrealistic fantasy—just like the fantasy he had just had.
"Your tinderbox seems to have gotten wet, it won't light. Let me light your cigarette for you."
The executioner smiled. He pulled out a tinderbox—the most ordinary kind, without magic—and lit the Soldier's cigarette for him.
His cigarette was lit, but the Soldier's legs went weak, and he fell to the ground with a thud.
He rarely spoke such a genuine truth—this was indeed the last cigarette he would ever smoke in his life.
The execution proceeded as usual.
The executioner put the noose around the Soldier's neck and hoisted him into the air.
The onlookers cheered. People praised the King and Queen, the judge, and the jury for giving a deserving villain in the kingdom the judgment he deserved.
The Soldier, hanging in the air, saw that among the common people watching the spectacle and cheering, there were a few friends he had known when he was a wealthy man at the inn.
A few days ago, these "friends" were praising the Soldier's generosity, hoping to get an extra silver coin as a reward from the parvenu.
Clearly, now, his friends didn't feel that their actions were inappropriate at all—because they no longer needed to flatter and please the Soldier.
The rope around his neck was extremely tight, and the Soldier struggled with his legs in the air.
His eyes were indeed wider than ever before—almost as big as teacups.