Swan Hunter(6)

After I had issued the challenge, all that was left for me to do was to keep waiting for the challengers to come but before that, I needed to sort something else out.

I wasn't even a mage myself so it was hard for me to accurately track and identify the senses of the mages spying on me, but perhaps because of my grueling training as a warrior or something else, over the years, I had developed a sort of instinct, a sixth sense that warned me in advance whenever someone was spying on me or eyeing me with ill intentions and at that time that sense was tingling in my head.

I knew, therefore, that the mages that had promised to leave me alone hadn't withdrawn, they were just waiting for me to let my guard down and then they would make a move on me and snatch my goods away.

It was a tight rope I was walking on, a very daunting and demanding task. I couldn't afford to take my eyes off of any one of them, else if they played any tricks on me, it would spell 'dead end' for me.

Since Swan A was already very supportive and tame, I needed to focus on the rebellious Swan B, who looked as if she wanted to bite me for a long time already.

She was a determined one though, I had to give her that.

After I had the city far behind me, I knew I couldn't go to another city like this and so I had to take the road less trodden, well not really a road but a narrow path that went through the wilderness.

Even the natives only took that path during the daytime because it was plagued with dangerous beasts and wild animals, but since I already had more dangerous and nasty animals chasing me, I didn't believe those animals and beasts would still dare to make a move on me.

If they did though, hehe, I wasn't afraid, since I had such a cute meat shield, I bet one of our 'hidden protectors' would come out to save us.

The sun had already set by the time, I found a place to drop those two and take some rest. Well, not really rest but pretend to rest for my followers

It was the cave of a magic beast, definitely a dangerous one I presumed from the number of exotic herbs growing around in the vicinity.

Some of them were so old that the beast protecting them couldn't have protected it on its own. It was definitely a second-generation young master of the best world whose parents had protected the herbs for it.

Who knows, it might even be a whole family, probably a bear.

The cave was pretty deep and it kept on widening as I traversed inwards with my two lovely companions.

The responsibility of guarding it naturally fell on the shoulders of my vicious fans.

Another advantage the cave gave me was that since its entrance was narrow and inside was wider, from the inside, I could see the entrance and would get some time to react if the mages suddenly decided to attack.

With that burden off my heart, I threw Swan A to the side and told her to gather firewood. She blankly nodded her head and prepared to leave, but before she could, I threw her another carrot and whispered, "The circumstances have changed. If you perform well here and play the role of a perfect damsel in distress, I would release you. Don't doubt me, I keep my words, unlike the losers outside that are listening sneakily. Go gather some wood now, and if you try to sneak out of the cave, I'll trigger the poison pill I had fed you."

With that, I had given her some more hope and assurance as she was looking somewhat glum and depressed today. As for the rest of my words, they were for the mages because I was annoyed with their sneaky antics.

I didn't like when I was pestered like this. At least now, they knew that I was aware of their presence and had taken some precautions.

Including that thing about the poison pill, all of it was to give them a fake appearance that even if stood in front of me with the power to take my life, I still had control of everything.

That fake confidence was the only card I held in my hand at this time.

After I shooed Swan A away, I finally released my hold on Swan B, who, instead of coughing and wheezing to breathe some air as she should, screamed for help.

After she was done, she looked proud as if she was just waiting for me to apologize to her. Perhaps, she was also aware of the presence of the mages, especially now that she heard me instruct Swan A.

Too bad the heroic mages that she was waiting for wouldn't come inside to help her because they weren't certain of rescuing her. Simply put, they were more scared of screwing up such a simple task, simple, because I wasn't even a mage.

Swan B had an alluring face as well, especially when she looked angry, but with my history, I had already learned to equate beauty with a sense of danger, and the sense of danger that she presented me was somewhere around 8, hm no, 7 out of 10.

When she saw that none of her rescuers arrived and the mocking smile on my face, she sensed something was wrong but she was a doer and not a dreamer.

And so she did what she knew best, she screamed for help again and threatened to break my legs and kill my family if I didn't let her go.

Things like, "You're just an ant to my family, know your place and let me go.", "There's still a chance of salvation, kneel down, apologize, and break your arms and legs if you don't want to be slaughtered like a dog along with the rest of you family."

Now, Swan A was very pitiful when compared to this fierce Tiger-empress wannabe, and I wasn't about to let go of such a good punching bag when presented with a chance.

So, with a backhand slap, I shut her up, then with another left-hand jab, I made her cry, then I yanked her hair and made her stand up before kneeing her guts with relief apparent on my face.

I was thankful to her for being bitchy enough to allow me to discipline her. If not for that, who knows how much longer I would have remained pent-up.

When I saw that she was about to spit out blood, I became afraid that someone from outside would come in, thinking that I was about to kill her and so I slapped her again and made her swallow her blood.

She shivered with a miserable expression, disappointing me a little since I had prepared much more ways to discipline her.

As for why her threats of killing my family didn't disturb me, it's because whether it be my original family or my family over at Mount Shu, none of them would cause a shift in my heart if they were slaughtered, but that she could still be as domineering sight was something I cherished.

Remembering her threat brought a natural smirk to my face as I patted her head. Who would've known that she was so weak that she would roll over from it, I guess I did put some unnecessary strength there.

Oh well, at least she didn't puke blood. By the time I was done with her, Swan A had already ignited a fire and was inviting me to share its warmth with her.

I asked Swan A to drag Swan B over as well. We were good guys after all.

As we waited there around the fire for my first few challengers to come and strike the villain(me) to gain fame, fortune, and beauties, Swan A gradually fell back and slept soundly, not minding the rough and dirty floor, quickly adjusting to a change in circumstances, as a good human should.

She was a perfect example for others, but for people as brain-dead as Swan B, who were too used to having their demands satisfied, it was pure torture.

Eventually, she couldn't hold herself back and asked, "...c-can I have something to eat?"

I looked at her hesitant and miserable face and decided to reward her, "You can eat... her if you're hungry. I've heard flesh is quite tasty, you can even roast her, hehe, your words are quite sharp aren't they?"

...but since we didn't have any food, I could only feed her with a good dose of laughter, but seemed like she didn't take it well.

I guess privileged people would have privileged jokes that I had no information about.

Seeing that I was dissatisfied, Swan B quickly thought of something and gave a broken laugh, "Ha Ha Kha Ha–ptui."

PA!

Her attempt to fake a laugh resulted in her coughing up blood she was suppressing, after which I couldn't help but give her a backhand slap.

As I prepared to educate her about the harm of coughing blood like that, I heard the shout of a 15-16-year-old teenager from outside the cave,

"COME OUT BANDIT, WASH YOUR NECK AND SURRENDER YOURSELF IF YOU DON'T WANT A PAINFUL DEATH."

I gave swan B another smile and said, "Now, prepare to act as the damsel. Don't make it seem like I've been treating you well, we need to lure more of these idiots, you see."

Swan B 'happily' nodded.