Self-Defense

Pfft— The feeling of a sharp edge driving into a human body was uncannily strange. The resistance shifted layer by layer—soft, then tough, then all at once empty. But Xialuote had no time to register the difference. The slow-motion scene in her eyes snapped back to normal the instant the attack was finished, and what followed was the heavy breathing and groaning of the man before her, and a curse forced out between his teeth. "Fuck..." The curse startled Xialuote to her senses. She let go of the dagger she had been gripping with both hands, as if releasing a lump of red-hot iron, and, still holding that posture, backed away step by step, her heart pounding. In her previous life she had killed countless people in every manner imaginable in virtual games, and she had seen no shortage of bloody scenes in films and anime. In reality, though, she had never so much as killed a chicken. Yet now, not long after transmigrating, she had killed a living person with her own hands... No—why did I stab straight for the heart just now... Xialuote's gaze moved back and forth among Aidian's swaying legs, which could not hold him steady, the chest slowly seeping blood, and the palm clamped over the wound, and at last came to rest on his face, which was rapidly turning pale. Those wide, bulging eyes slowly turned and looked this way. Wait—he wasn't dead yet? Xialuote gave a violent start. The bewilderment and panic of having killed with her own hands receded at once, leaving only fear. With the weapon still buried in his chest and blood dyeing his shirt red, Aidian gripped the dagger's hilt in one hand and raised the other to clutch at empty air. As if he were a zombie seething with resentment, he worked his legs and came on, one step at a time. A thrust to the heart ought to have killed him already. Perhaps a single kick would be enough... Thoughts spun quickly through her mind, but Xialuote found her hands and feet ice-cold. She could not make herself act on the idea at all. Suddenly a tall figure stood in front of Xialuote. It was Baron Lai'ang Gusitafu. This noble, who had been looking out for Xialuote all the while, clenched both hands, sank his body slightly, and set himself in a stance from which he could throw a punch at any moment—yet he was careful not to attack first. He, too, seemed to be waiting for Aidian, who had plainly taken a fatal wound, to fall on his own. At once Xialuote felt a wash of warmth flow from her chest out into her icy limbs. Woken in the dead of night and caught up in a strange dispute, this baron had stood on her side throughout, and even now dared to place himself in front of her and protect her. Xialuote, who knew him only from the original body's memories, was quite moved. Just then, another vase dropped from above. Seemingly to avoid the baron and Xialuote, who were already extremely close to him, the vase did not strike its target directly. It landed behind Aidian. The crisp crash and the spray of shards made him, already sluggish in his movements, pause. He bent his neck stiffly and looked up. At the second-floor window, Luosaier Gusitafu had half his body leaning out. He was cradling a third vase and itching to throw it, as if the costly thing in his hands did not belong to his own household. Before he could hurl the expensive porcelain, several of the baron's household servants came hurrying up from the rear. Two of them each carried a flintlock musket that looked as though it served more for show than for use. The moment they reached the courtyard, they leveled them at Aidian. "Fire!" The baron gave the order without the slightest hesitation. Bang. Bang. Flint ignited the powder. The reports were unexpectedly dull. As gunsmoke rose, two lead balls struck Aidian one after the other. One tore his shoulder into a mangled mess of flesh and blood; the other hit him directly in the chest. Under several pairs of watching eyes, he, dealt a fatal wound for the second time, at last swayed and toppled backward. With a thud he fell onto the ground littered with vase shards, and did not move again. Xialuote's heart, which had nearly leapt from her chest in fear, finally settled. Only then did she notice that a good deal of sweat had broken out over her chest and back, and that a sore ache was spreading through every muscle. She wished she could simply lie down and rest. But there was still much to be done. First, of course, the corpse on the ground had to be dealt with; after that would come the magistrate's questions... I never thought it would turn out like this. Why did I draw the dagger and stab him straight in the heart just now—was it fear, or a lack of identification with this identity after transmigrating? In this age, even a noble who killed a commoner could not be entirely absolved. But this was self-defense. It ought to lessen the responsibility somewhat. Xialuote's thoughts were in some disorder. She instinctively turned her head toward the master of this residence, Baron Gusitafu. He, however, looked entirely calm. In the gaze he turned this way there was a thread of comfort. "Don't worry, Xialuote. Everyone here can testify that this man attacked us first and meant to take you away. "You struck only to protect yourself. What truly killed him were the two shots I ordered fired." With that, he began directing the others present. He had the two manservants with the guns reload their muskets and stand guard by the door, sent another servant to the Suolun household in Saint Luoke District to notify the baron to come for his daughter, and told the rest to preserve the scene: aside from putting out the burning lamp oil, they were not to move anything, the corpse included. At his orders, the courtyard—thrown into chaos only moments before because an intruder had been killed—quickly became orderly. The atmosphere affected Xialuote. Her panic eased somewhat, and in its place there rose a surge of admiration for Baron Gusitafu. To judge so quickly amid the scramble after being startled awake, to choose to protect Xialuote rather than let Aidian take her away, and, the moment the killing occurred, to set the keynote of a "lawful counterattack" and clear everyone of blame—for that, a clear head and rich experience were both indispensable. He had even taken the main responsibility upon himself... After all, he was a baron, and I am only a baron's daughter. The incident happened at the Gusitafu residence; it is more reasonable that he should bear the responsibility... Turning this over, Xialuote looked again at Aidian lying on his back with the dagger still in his chest, and sighed inwardly without end. Whether or not it was self-defense, she feared she would never forget what had happened tonight for the rest of her life. Noticing her staring blankly at the corpse, Baron Gusitafu frowned with worry, patted her on the shoulder, and said by way of reminder: "Xialuote, next tell me everything that happened before. Do not conceal anything." Matching our accounts? But I really have nothing worth hiding—except the transmigration... She understood inwardly, and told the baron, just as it had happened, of her bewilderment on waking in the alley, her panic at having lost part of her memory, her fear when the night watchmen pressed her with questions, and her terror on realizing that Aidian was taking her in the opposite direction. "So that was it. You truly had never met this Aidian. He said your father sent him, yet he was vague about it, and he tried to take you to the Dock District—even out of Suxite..." The baron summed it up, weighing his words, then fell silent, as if reconstructing the whole course of events in his mind. Xialuote was making her own summary at the same time. She found that so long as she concealed the transmigration and put the muddle of her memory down to a brief loss of memory, nothing unreasonable could be found in her conduct. She would be entirely able to handle whatever questioning, or even an interrogation, might follow. Still, with Baron Gusitafu so clearly taking her side, it was not very likely that a baron's daughter would have to undergo interrogation after an act of self-defense. All the more so since her own father was a noble as well... She had only just sketched in her mind that face, at once strange and familiar, when from beyond the half-open great door came the urgent sound of hoofbeats and the creak of wheels rolling over the road. One of the servants guarding the residence with a musket stepped tensely out of the courtyard. A moment later he led back a red-haired middle-aged man. It was Xialuote's father, Lawuer Suolun.