Flower of Steel

I sighed and gave the books to Daisy to get them checked out. Suddenly, she threw the books and pulled me towards her. It was so sudden. There was a man who was closing in with a sword. A book had struck him, so he held his head with his hand.

We quickly pushed the bookshelves down to stop him from coming over and ran for the exit. However, the door was already locked and couldn’t open. We ran toward the cashier, only to find out the owner had a sword stuck in his chest and died. While I was in despair, I heard a frightening voice.

“Kyahaha. It’s most enjoyable cutting a girl like you. I can finally complete the request.”

“Request? What do you mean?”

The man didn’t answer my question and only cackled. After his cackling stopped, he spoke again, “You don’t need to know. Just cry nicely when you die.”

Then, I saw him closing in. I thought about the best choice I could make in such a situation. There’s no way he’ll go after my servant as his target was surely me. So, I spoke to Daisy, who I hid behind my back.

“Daisy, run. Go and tell the others.”

But Daisy didn’t answer. Thinking she might have gotten afraid, I turned to look at her. However, she was looking at me, puzzled.

“Why did you say that?”

I felt a bit annoyed at her for asking me that, but I realized that there was no way for her to run when our only exit was locked. That’s when Daisy kicked the door, breaking it and opening it a bit. It seems it would open if pushed. Shocked, I looked at her, and Daisy spoke harshly, which didn’t seem like her at all.

“You can’t even fight.” I looked at her surprised by her unusual appearance. Her green eyes, brown hair, and unusually sharp eyes. Then she added, “Stay behind me.”

Daisy already had multiple daggers between her fingers as she glared at the man. It was so unrealistic that I stared at her. She was Daisy but was so unfamiliar. Was she really Daisy? My doubts exploded when she turned to look at me again. She was back to her usual self again.

“You don’t need to feel depressed about this. You’re not getting my help. I’m your servant, your hands and feet. You’re responsible for using your head, so leave the rest to me.”

Before she could finish, the man charged at us. Daisy threw her daggers immediately. The man dodged it quickly, but one of the daggers got stuck on his shoulder. It didn’t seem to hinder his movement, so he was getting closer.

Daisy looked at her empty hands and sighed as she spoke in shame, “I’m sorry. I think my skills did get rusty after being away for a few years.”

I closed my eyes at Daisy’s words. It didn’t matter. She had tried her best, so it was time for me to do something. I told him, “Just let her go.”

The man just grinned at my words. Then I felt chills running down my spine. This man likes killing.

“Hah! You ran out of daggers! I’ll beautifully kill you both!”

When he charged in with a sword, Daisy kicked her skirt that came down to her knees. It happened in an instant, where she quickly pulled out the dagger strapped on both her thighs. She threw them quickly at the man.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of the rapid exchange of attacks. I was worried that Daisy might get hurt. But contrary to my worries, she quickly kicked the man’s sword away from his hand. After becoming empty-handed, the man realized he was going to lose and began to beg her for his life.

“D-don’t kill me! I’ll do anything!”

The man, who was about to take another one’s life just until now, seemed to value his own life and was begging for it. But Daisy didn’t seem to want to stop. Just when her daggers were about to strike his neck, I spoke to her.

“Stop,” I ordered.

The dagger stopped right in front of his neck. The man had a hint of hope in his eyes as he looked at me. Daisy was also looking at me, awaiting my orders, so I told her why I stopped her.

“Daisy, we can’t question him if he dies.”

Yes, that was the only reason why I spared him. I needed to know who requested him to kill me.

“Y-You devil!”

The word “devil” made me feel weird. I was astonished to hear such a word by a man worse than the devil, who was willing to kill for money and pleasure.

“Shut up. You’re worse than the devil himself. You should look forward to what’s going to happen. Things that you’ll have to say will be a confession to your crime.”

As the man was about to say something to me in return, Daisy suddenly took her daggers back and glared at him. I looked at her with a puzzled expression. That’s when I saw something very unrealistic happening in front of my eyes. I promise that it was almost the devil’s work.