Exposure or death—that’s the question.
Before the red-haired matron could resolve this difficult dilemma in her mind, Aurina raised the leather pouch, tilted her head back, and opened her mouth wide, aiming the pouch’s opening at it.
“Don’t eat it! Spit it out!” the red-haired matron screamed, rushing toward Aurina.
But Aurina was faster—always faster.
With a swift motion, she squeezed the pouch. “Pfft!”
The viscous amber poison shot straight into her mouth, leaving the pouch as flat and empty as a miser’s squeezed-out toothpaste tube.
“No!”
The red-haired matron reached Aurina’s side, shouting, “Spit it out now!”
Instead, Aurina grabbed a piece of roasted swordfish, stuffed it into her mouth, and swallowed it in one gulp.
The red-haired matron took a deep breath. There’s still hope, there’s still hope.
If I can spin a convincing lie, I can mislead everyone, make them think Aurina, being mischievous, stole my wyvern venom.
With my fake identity tied to the forest druids, carrying wyvern venom is perfectly reasonable.
“Wait here,” the red-haired matron said, feigning panic. “I’m going to find a priest.”
“Gah! This king said, give me back my seasoning!” Aurina demanded.
The red-haired matron didn’t stop.
Aurina used her trading skill. “I’ll give you one gold coin! Hand it over first!”
The red-haired matron pushed open the door, running and shouting, “Quick! Someone! Call Sophia!”
Aurina chased after her, grabbed her legs, and yanked her back, sending her crashing to the ground.
She roared, “This king offered you a trade, and you won’t even negotiate!”
The dragon was furious.
She’d humbled herself to talk trade, and this woman refused to even discuss it.
The red-haired matron shouted, “The dragon’s killing me!”
At that moment, Aurina’s hand reached for the matron’s hidden pouch.
The matron’s heart skipped a beat—How does the dragon know there’s venom there?
Without hesitation, her body coiled like a spring.
Aurina’s grab missed, and the matron slipped out of her grasp like an eel, vanishing into the shadows and reappearing behind Aurina.
She realized she’d underestimated the dragon.
Earlier, she’d worried Aurina might die from the poison; now, the dragon was lively and trying to steal her wyvern venom.
But if I stall a bit, once the poison kicks in, Aurina will surely collapse, and then everything’s under my control.
The thought vanished as the matron felt her ankle tighten.
Looking down, she saw Aurina’s tail wrapped around her ankle, yanking hard.
The matron displayed astonishing flexibility, raising her right leg high while her left foot stayed firmly planted.
She pulled out a glass orb and hurled it at Aurina’s face—if it broke, it would release a blinding light.
Aurina opened her mouth, her tongue flicking out, swallowing the orb whole.
Her hands and feet didn’t stop; she charged at the matron, kicking at her left leg and throwing a punch at her stomach.
The matron’s agility was remarkable.
She dodged Aurina’s kick with a spring of her left leg while catching Aurina’s punch with both hands.
But Aurina seized the split second when the matron was off-balance in midair, her tail yanking the ankle in a different direction, pulling to the right.
The matron spun in the air.
Aurina grabbed her upper body with both hands and slammed her against the wall.
“Thud!”
The muffled impact shook the entire wall, dust cascading from the ceiling.
The red-haired matron felt she wasn’t facing a young dragon but a terrifying beast with immense combat experience.
She could no longer judge the situation, relying solely on muscle memory as she drew a poisoned dagger and stabbed at Aurina.
But Aurina spun her half a turn in the air, making the stab miss.
One hand grabbed the matron’s shoulder, the other pushed her back, hurling her head and chest into the opposite wall.
“Thud!”
The matron crashed hard against the wall, barely managing to shield her head with her hands.
Even so, Aurina’s strength, disproportionate to her appearance, caused the world to darken before her eyes, her head buzzing, her scalp warm as blood dripped onto the floor.
Severely injured, her consciousness grew hazy.
Aurina grabbed her ankles with both hands, intending to lift her and shake out her possessions.
But raising her arms, Aurina remembered she was now quite short.
If only the beast of burden were here—no, better he doesn’t come.
Thinking this, Aurina held the matron’s ankles and shook her up and down.
The red-haired matron groaned in pain, flopping like a fish out of water, “bouncing” on the floor.
Daggers, poisons, coins, and more fell from her body.
Seeing two or three pouches drop, Aurina exclaimed happily, “Gah! This king knew you were hiding my good seasoning! I smelled it!”
She dropped the matron, blood already pooling on the floor, splattered across the ceiling, walls, and ground.
Aurina swept her tail, collecting the coins and daggers, then bent to pick up the pouches.
Just as she grabbed them, the clank of armor and familiar footsteps approached rapidly.
It was Richard!
Aurina’s tail shot up in fright, flinging the daggers and coins into the air.
She opened her mouth, swallowed them in one gulp, and turned to flee, planning to escape to Sophia, her “conquered” female, and order Sophia to use the fiancée incantation to subdue Richard.
With that thought, Aurina ran like the wind.
Richard charged around the corner.
Sensing Aurina’s breach of oath, he’d rushed over, too fast to turn, his shoulder crashing into the stone wall, slowing him down.
What met his eyes was a scene of blood—droplets splattered on the ceiling, walls, and floor, everywhere.
At the center lay a humanoid creature, barely alive, its arm twisted and broken unnaturally.
Richard looked closer, deducing from the clothing that it was probably the red-haired matron.
“Aurina!”
Aurina ran faster, her tail vanishing around the corner.
His mind raced.
Guilt overwhelmed him at the thought that his negligence had let the dangerous Aurina injure someone so badly.
His heart pounded.
Though what lay before him looked barely human.
“What is this?”
Richard drew his longsword, pointing it at the dying humanoid creature on the ground.
It was gaunt, with gray skin, long, thin limbs, and a round, fat head with octopus-like eyes—large, protruding, with vertical pupils.
An empty wallet lay before it, its lifeless eyes seeming to accuse some cruel robber.
Did Aurina’s magical dragon powers transform someone by beating them?
Fortunately, someone recognized it.
“Doppelgänger?!” a harp-wearer spy blurted out, arriving on the scene.
“A legendary doppelgänger?”
Richard was shocked.
“It’s wearing your comrade’s clothes. Does that mean you’ve been infiltrated? We just shared all our plans with a spy, thinking she was the most trustworthy person.”
“Paladin, you’re too blunt,” the harp-wearer spy said.
“Doppelgängers can take anyone’s form, undetectable by magic, and they can read minds. Damn it, our person must be dead, replaced.”
“Mercy…”
The red-haired matron—no, the battered, barely humanoid doppelgänger—let out a faint voice, interrupting their argument.
“…Save me.”