The Owner of the Golden Goose (3)
“…Oh ho.”
The Golden Goose’s owner, Somnia, narrowed her eyes into even longer slits.
Her lips curled upward in a matching arc, stretching wide across her face.
“So that son of a bitch sent an actor this time instead of a subordinate.”
That son of a bitch?
A distinctly ominous feeling settled over me.
Somnia gave her fan a light flick.
At once, her subordinates who had been hiding behind the pillars and ceiling beams revealed themselves.
Just under ten of them. But…
The half-naked, muscular men each gripped a scimitar in one hand.
They’d brought out weapons that were particularly troublesome to deal with.
This is awkward.
While I debated when to draw the hidden dagger at my waist, the women who had been lazily playing instruments now turned their gazes toward me as well.
They giggled as if they had stumbled upon an amusing spectacle.
“Go on, then. Prove it right here.”
Somnia smiled with pure malevolence.
“Prove that you are Kayla Angel.”
The moment the Golden Goose’s owner finished speaking, her armed subordinates charged at me all at once.
Swish. Slash. Clang.
It had been a long time since I felt this kind of tension.
I deflected the blade flying toward my nape and delivered a spinning back kick.
“Guh!”
The man who had crept up behind me let out a groan and flew backward.
But there was no time to rest.
“Die!”
No allies. Eight enemies.
Even after dropping one, another immediately swung his sword at me.
In that case, I’ll just have to incapacitate them one by one.
I gritted my teeth and threw a punch.
This body was weaker than before, and its shorter reach meant a smaller attack radius.
Yet that very fact also gave me advantages.
I can move much faster.
It was lighter and far more flexible than my previous body.
The loss of raw power was compensated by speed, and my smaller frame allowed me to slip deep into an opponent’s blind spots.
Still, the outcome of a fight is ultimately decided by physical superiority.
The men Somnia had sent were not more skilled than me, but they outnumbered me and possessed greater strength. Dragging this out would only diminish my chances.
I’ll only aim for vital points.
This time, two of them rushed me simultaneously.
I spun away from the sword slicing toward my waist, then used the dagger in my hand to knock aside the blade flying at my face.
“Sorry, but it’s rather inconvenient for me to die right now.”
I struck the backs of the necks of the two men who had attacked me, one after the other.
Since I’d hit them hard with the pommel of the sword, they wouldn’t wake for at least an hour.
That’s two down.
Perhaps because they had watched their comrade collapse unconscious right in front of them, the remaining subordinates hesitated and took a step back.
Now’s the time.
The best defense is a swift offense.
I had to seize the moment while they were frozen with tension and make sure they couldn’t even think of counterattacking.
I leaped up and landed on the nearest man’s shoulders, then clamped my thighs around his neck and gave a sharp twist.
Crack.
With a sickening sound, the man collapsed without even managing a scream.
Three.
They looked shocked even though I hadn’t taken any lives.
I charged at the dazed men.
Four, five, six…
One to the solar plexus, one to the groin, one to the temple.
By striking only their vital points with all my strength, three more fell in the blink of an eye.
“Now only two of you are left.”
The two men still standing flinched the instant our eyes met.
Though they adjusted their grips on their weapons, they showed no sign of wanting to attack.
One look at their terrified eyes told me everything.
I turned my head toward Somnia.
She was staring at me with her mouth agape.
“Do you still need more proof?”
The room fell deathly silent.
Somnia slowly rose to her feet at my words.
“…Ha. Hahaha.”
She let out a laugh that sounded like air escaping from a balloon.
Her purple eyes were clouded with confusion.
“It’s true… your skill with your body is remarkably similar to hers.”
Somnia, who had stepped down from the platform at some point, looked down at me intently.
She looks even taller from this angle. I think our eye levels used to be about the same before.
Somnia was as tall as the empire’s well-built men.
The bare skin visible between the folds of her gown was covered in countless scars, most of them from her days as a slave.
“How strange.”
Somnia leaned forward slightly and brought her face close to mine.
Her eyes were full of suspicion.
“You’re really Kayla Angel?”
“That’s right.”
“Then tell me something only the two of us know.”
“When we first met in Lionel, you—”
“Stop. That’s enough.”
She told me to speak and then shut me up.
I stared at Somnia.
She looked extremely flustered.
“…You’re really Kayla Angel? You?”
As if there could be a fake.
Instead of answering, I simply gazed steadily into Somnia’s eyes.
I like people who don’t avert their eyes. It makes them look like they have nothing to hide.
I remembered the words she had once said to me.
Her expression flickered with surprise for a moment before one corner of her mouth lifted.
“Yeah, I can tell from your eyes. That arrogant gaze of yours is impossible to forget, even in death.”
Somnia straightened her posture and raised her fan once more.
“This really is astonishing. The Death God we all thought was dead has come back to life.”
“…So you knew I had died.”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Somnia furrowed her brows at my words.
“You could have come to collect on my life debt at any time. Of course I’ve been keeping an eye on you.”
She fluttered her fan as she spoke.
Her mysterious purple eyes were still filled with doubt.
“But I definitely confirmed your death. Were my subordinates blind?”
“It may be hard to believe, but…”
I took a short breath before continuing.
“I did die. I simply opened my eyes again inside someone else’s body.”
“What did you say?”
Somnia let out a sound that was half gasp, half shriek—something very unlike her.
Even I still sometimes wondered if this was all a dream. How much more shocking must it be for others?
“Hah. Truly, the longer you live, the more you see. To think such a miracle could actually happen.”
Somnia raised one eyebrow.
“That old sage would find this incredibly entertaining.”
I flinched at the words “old sage.”
The image of Sage, happily plucking herbs in the third prince’s palace, flashed through my mind.
If she finds out that Sage left Luxen and is now living in the imperial palace, she’ll cause a huge fuss.
In the past, Somnia had been one of the merchants who coveted the scale disease cure that Sage had created.
“All right, Kayla Angel.”
Somnia casually draped an arm over my shoulder.
“We should throw a welcome party for the Death God who overcame death itself. I’ll have to treat you to some of my finest liquor. You’d better not refuse.”
Who was it that had just tried to kill me to make me prove I was Kayla Angel?
“I’ll pass on the welcome party. But I’ll drink if the liquor is good.”
I smoothly slipped out from under her arm and smiled.
“I came here to make a deal with the Golden Goose’s owner.”
Glug.
Somnia poured wine into a jewel-studded golden goblet and handed it to me.
Inside the lavish room, only the two of us remained.
“You said you woke up in an entirely different person’s body. So your name must have changed too?”
“It did.”
“What is it now?”
“Rachel Brown.”
The moment I spoke the name, Somnia’s eyes sharpened.
Then she suddenly burst into laughter, looking like someone who had just eaten a hallucinogenic mushroom.
“Puhahaha! That name doesn’t suit you at all!”
Why did everyone who knew me from my previous life react exactly the same way the moment they heard the name Rachel? It was truly baffling.
“Well, I do prefer your current appearance over the old one.”
Somnia lifted her own goblet and smiled sweetly.
Her gaze seemed to linger for a moment on my lips.
“Too bad. I’m not into that kind of taste.”
“I was only joking.”
She really never changed—always making those mischievous jokes.
I took a sip of wine and changed the subject.
“By the way, what did you mean earlier when you said that son of a bitch sent someone?”
“Ah.”
Somnia let out a small sound of realization, then gave a hollow laugh as if she couldn’t believe it.
“That arrogant brat.”
Arrogant brat?
When I looked puzzled, Somnia spoke with a hint of irritation.
“The insolent little fool you gave your liver and gallbladder to.”
“…You don’t mean Ian, do you?”
Somnia gave a small nod and rested her chin on her hand.
“It was last year. You suddenly vanished, and I thought it was strange. So I was going to investigate quietly, but that bastard kept sending his subordinates here as if he knew what I was planning.”
Like a thief whose own feet are noisy.
I bit my lip as I thought of Ian.
Somnia stared at me for a moment before asking.
“Did that bastard kill you?”
As expected, her instincts were frighteningly sharp.
Instead of answering, I took another long drink.
Somnia waved her fan lazily.
“I figured as much.”
“…What do you mean?”
“He’s always rubbed me the wrong way. Unlike you, I could never tell what he was thinking.”
I had trained longer than anyone to keep my inner thoughts hidden from others.
Or rather… had he really seemed that way to other people? Ian Angel.
“Just what did you see in a guy like that to give him your heart?”
Somnia asked as if she genuinely couldn’t understand.
“Who knows.”
I lowered my eyes and gave a bitter smile.
A small ripple spread across the surface of the wine in the golden goblet.
“…Probably.”
Maybe it was the alcohol.
Words I would never have spoken under normal circumstances slipped out without thinking.
“Because he was the only one who always stayed by my side. I think that’s why.”