When the Serial Killer Next Door Gained Harem System

Chapter 152: The Couple

She immediately pointed at me.

"You!" she called out with an excited grin. "It’s you! So you actually came for me, huh?"

I blinked.

"What? I don’t understand..."

Before anyone answered, a loud thud echoed through the stable. One of the fighters in the makeshift arena collapsed flat on his back.

The victor threw both fists into the air.

"Ha! Another one! I’ll get that loyal pussy, baby!"

The small crowd erupted into cheers.

A stable hand climbed over the wooden fence, grabbed the unconscious man beneath the shoulders, and dragged him out of the ring, leaving the winner alone inside.

The drunken guard beside me suddenly raised both arms.

"We’ve got a new challenger!" he shouted. "A new champion has entered the arena!"

Several heads turned toward me.

"If he wins," the guard continued with a wide grin, "he gets to spend the night with Lady Duskima!"

My eyes widened.

"No, no. I won’t. I’m not here to..."

"Oh, you will." Duskima leaned forward against the railing above, her smile turning mischievous. "Or I’ll call the guards and tell them you’re the one arranging illegal fights in my stable, you bastard."

I stared at her in disbelief.

"..Seriously?"

She simply smiled.

I let out a long sigh. "Ah... fuck. What is this..."

The drunken guard gave me another shove.

"Get in there!"

Grinding my teeth, I climbed over the wooden fence and stepped into the makeshift arena. "What a shitshow..."

A stable hand climbed into the makeshift arena carrying a roll of cloth.

"Hands."

I held them out.

He quickly wrapped strips of cloth around my knuckles and wrists, tightening them before tying them off.

"There."

Without another word, he vaulted back over the wooden fence and disappeared into the crowd.

The man standing across from me cracked his neck. Then he spat... ah, come on. The spit landed across my forehead and cheek.

"Seriously?"

I grimaced, wiped it away with the back of my hand, and flicked it onto the dirt.

The fighter pointed toward Duskima with a grin that showed more missing teeth than intact ones. "I’ll win your royal pussy, Lady Duskima!" he shouted. "I swear upon every god in the heavens!"

Duskima laughed from the catwalk above. "Then stop talking and earn it."

What in the hell was this guy’s problem?

Was he completely out of his mind?

I had no idea what kind of alcohol they had been drinking, but this man clearly wasn’t thinking straight anymore. The way he kept shouting about "winning" Duskima was ridiculous. I had somehow walked into the strangest gathering this kingdom had to offer.

I slowly raised one hand. "I give up," I said. "You can have Duskima. The love you have for her is unbe..."

The man lunged forward before I could finish.

His fist slammed into my face.

My head snapped sideways, and I staggered backward until my shoulders crashed against the wooden fence.

Someone standing outside the ring laughed.

"There you go!"

A hand suddenly shoved me hard between the shoulder blades.

I stumbled forward straight into the fighter’s second punch.

His fist smashed into my nose. Pain exploded across my face as I lost my footing and hit the dirt.

The crowd erupted into cheers. The fighter threw both arms into the air and beat his chest before pointing at Duskima once again.

"For you, my Queen!"

Duskima giggled, clearly enjoying every second of it.

"You’re making me blush. Hit him again."

I let out a slow breath as I pushed myself back onto my feet.

Rolling one shoulder, I wiped the blood from beneath my nose with my thumb. Guess I had to fight this one after all.

I raised my hands into a loose guard and kept my eyes on the drunken fighter.

He charged at me with a roar, throwing a heavy hook that carried enough force to knock someone out if it landed. The problem was that he was too drunk to control his own body.

I simply stepped to the side.

His fist sliced through empty air.

Unable to stop himself, the burly man stumbled straight past me. He tried to regain his balance, windmilling both arms, but his boots slipped across the dirt. A heartbeat later, his forehead slammed into the thick wooden stable door with a loud crack.

He collapsed onto the ground and didn’t move.

For a moment, the entire stable fell silent.

Then the cheering exploded.

"That’s our champion!"

"What a fight!"

"He didn’t even touch him!"

The drunken organizer climbed onto the wooden fence and raised both hands.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" he shouted. "We have a new champion! The brave warrior who has earned the right to spend the night with Lady Duskima, the Queen’s beloved sister and the kingdom’s most beauti... beautif... biyaautiful... cutest woman in the entire kingdom!"

The crowd laughed while I rubbed the bridge of my nose.

This whole thing was completely ridiculous.

Then an idea came to me.

Duskima was the Queen’s sister. If anyone here knew where Cadence was before the ceremony, it would probably be her. I didn’t have to play along forever. I only needed to keep this act going long enough to ask a few questions.

I climbed over the wooden fence and looked toward the upper level.

Duskima stood from the narrow catwalk overlooking the stable and disappeared into one of the small rooms built along the walkway.

I headed for the stairs.

As I reached the first few steps, I glanced over my shoulder and noticed several men following behind me.

I frowned. "What happened?"

"We’re coming to watch!" one of them answered with a grin. "You won, didn’t you?"

Another nodded eagerly. "Wouldn’t miss this for the world."

I sighed. "No. Go away."

Before any of them could answer, Duskima’s voice echoed from upstairs.

"Leave, you fools, or I’ll have every one of you hanged by your tiny little dicks."

The men immediately lost their enthusiasm. Several of them grumbled under their breath before turning around and heading back downstairs.

I continued climbing until I reached the upper walkway. There wasn’t even a proper door, only a thick cloth hanging over the entrance.

I pushed it aside and stepped inside.

The room was barely large enough for two people. Loose hay covered parts of the wooden floor, and a thin mattress rested against one wall with a folded blanket beside it. A small wooden chest sat in one corner next to an oil lamp, making it obvious that this room belonged to one of the stable hands.

Duskima sat casually on the mattress and stretched her shoulders before looking up at me.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked. "Take those pants off."

"I’d like to ask you something first, Lady Duskima."

She smiled faintly. "Now I’m Lady Duskima? That’s interesting after you stood me up in the royal palace."

"I didn’t know who you were," I replied. "I’m sorry."

She tilted her head. "Then tell me something instead. How did a boy like you gather enough gold to enter this ceremony?"

"I have my ways."

Boy? Hell, she looked only one or two years older than me.

She rolled her eyes. "Mysterious. You’re surprisingly unlikeable."

"I’ll accept that," I said. "Do you know where I can find the couple? I’d like to give them their gift before the ceremony begins."

She looked at me for several long seconds. "For some reason, I don’t trust a single word that comes out of your mouth."

"I’m sorry if you feel that way," I replied. "I really do need to find them."

She folded one leg beneath herself.

"Why did you even come here if you’re in such a hurry? This celebration lasts for three days. People come here to eat, drink, dance, and forget about their worries for a while. Yet you wanna leave even before the ceremony starts."

She got up from the mattress and walked toward me. She kept coming until I had no choice but to step back, my shoulders pressing against the rough wooden wall of the stable. She raised one knee and pinned it lightly against my crotch, her sharp eyes never leaving mine.

"Why are you really here?"

"To have fun."

She blinked, clearly caught off guard by how quickly I answered.

"You’re lying."

I shook my head. "No, I’m not."

Footsteps echoed from the stairs outside.

Shit.

If a guard or someone caught me alone with the Queen’s sister inside a stable room, I was finished. Considering the Queen was already here, she’d probably watch with satisfaction while ordering my execution. There was no way I could let that happen.

This was supposed to be simple. I was only supposed to sneak into the ceremony, find something that tied Cadence to Jelda and her mother’s murders, then report everything to the District Captain.

Without another thought, I grabbed Duskima by the wrist and pulled her with me toward the back of the room. She let out a surprised yelp as I practically dragged her along. When we reached the rear exit, I realized it opened to the outside, behind the stable.

"Oh, come on..."