"Ahahahaha... It tickles! Hahahahaha... No! Stop..."
Night had fallen, and breathless laughter echoed throughout the treehouse, the trembling voice carrying an inexplicable mixture of indignation and misery.
"Is... is she going to be okay?"
Freya, passing the backyard on her way down the corridor, could not help stopping. She tugged at the hem of Samael's clothes and asked worriedly.
"Don't worry. Listen to how happily she's laughing. She's definitely fine."
Leaning against one of the courtyard pillars, Samael took a leisurely sip of the fairies' specialty mead and answered with a smile.
Is that really laughter? Why does it sound like she's crying?
Freya was a little confused, but after receiving Samael's assurance, she obediently stopped asking and went back to packing their luggage.
There was no longer much reason to remain in Gloucester. Early tomorrow morning, they would set out for the Great Cathedral.
As though she had overheard the conversation outside, the laughter erupting from one of the low huts suddenly turned into broken curses.
"Samael! You... bastard! You... you jerk! Pig... hahaha... pig! Just wait! I'll never... forgive you! Something... like this... will never... make me... surrender! Hahahahaha!"
The corners of the Ancient Serpent's lips curved upward in delight as he sighed in admiration.
"Tsk, tsk. A fairy's constitution really is different. You've been cursing for half an hour and still have that much energy. In that case, let's add another two hours to your punishment. Hang in there, Baobhan Sith."
"..."
The commotion inside the hut instantly stopped, as though someone had grabbed a duck by the throat.
"Ahahahahaha... Wuhaha... Despicable... shameless... Mother... Mother, save me!"
A moment later, her trembling voice, warped by uncontrollable laughter, began accusing someone of bullying her as she resorted to every troublesome child's ultimate weapon.
Calling for a parent.
"Calling your foster mother won't help. Calling your real mother wouldn't help either. You're under my supervision now, so save your strength. You'll last longer that way."
Samael paid her no mind. He raised his cup and continued drinking, treating the half-laughing, half-crying wails as though they were beautiful music.
After all, he and Morgan had already agreed on the rules. Starting today, the menace known as Baobhan Sith was his student.
Given the precedent set by the Knights of the Round Table, along with Morgan's trust in Samael, she would not casually interfere with matters of education.
"I... I'll last your head! How dare you... do this to me! Once I get out, I absolutely won't... ahahaha... I absolutely won't let you off!"
"Harboring resentment and insulting your teacher. You're pretty brave. Twenty more minutes!"
"You... Wuhaha... It tickles... Get away! Get away! Waaaah... Once I get out, I'm going to stew every last one of you!"
Whatever terrible punishment Baobhan Sith was suffering through had left her gasping and whimpering between fits of laughter. Although she had not openly surrendered, her curses toward her unscrupulous teacher had already shifted into threats against another tormentor.
Under the flickering lamplight, however, the executioners merely stared back.
They had devil-like horns on either side of their heads, shaggy fur, strange rectangular pupils, and gray-white eyes that gleamed faintly in the darkness.
"Baa?"
Then they lowered their heads and licked even more enthusiastically.
Baobhan Sith immediately erupted into another round of wailing that sounded halfway between laughter and sobbing.
Creak...
The door slowly opened, allowing flickering lamplight to spill into the room.
Inside the dim hut, Baobhan Sith had been firmly tied to a chair. Her legs were stretched straight and securely bound, while amber honey glistened across her long deer-like hooves.
Two goats tethered nearby followed the sweet scent and repeatedly dragged their rough tongues across the fairy girl's hooves, scraping away the honey as they enjoyed this rare delicacy.
"You bas..."
Under the lantern bearer's kindly gaze, Baobhan Sith abruptly swallowed the mouthful of curses she had been about to unleash.
Who came up with a punishment this horrible? How despicable! How vicious! A bastard like this deserves to be stomped to death by me a thousand times! A thousand times!
Although the fairy girl no longer dared curse aloud and give someone another excuse to abuse his authority for personal revenge, Baobhan Sith's fury had already soared through the roof.
In her mind, she had cursed the smiling bastard in front of her from head to toe.
Her eyes nearly swollen like peaches from crying, Baobhan Sith sniffled and forced herself to maintain a defiant expression.
"Time... time's up. Hurry... let me down!"
"Who said time was up? You still have two whole hours left."
Samael blinked and shook his head slightly.
Then he gently stroked the fluffy heads of the two goats, slowly took out a jar filled with amber liquid, and smiled at the still-defiant Baobhan Sith.
"I was worried there wasn't enough honey and they might still be hungry, so I came to brush on some more."
"..."
The fairy girl's stubborn expression vanished instantly.
Her face went deathly pale, her body began trembling like a leaf, and tears gradually filled her eyes as she stared at the culprit before her with grief and fury.
Only one word remained in her mind.
Beast!
"Baobhan Sith, if you want to beg for mercy, now would be a good time."
The Ancient Serpent smiled as he dipped a brush into the honey.
Baobhan Sith had been somewhat frightened before, but hearing that teasing tone made her expression harden.
She summoned a rare burst of courage, gritted her teeth, and spat out,
"Dream on. Go die!"
Samael nodded in satisfaction and gave her a thumbs-up in appreciation.
"That's the spirit. You spent four or five hours during the day playing something as boring as baiting ants with honey. This is nothing by comparison! Keep it up! I believe in you!"
To show his encouragement, the man began meticulously brushing the "sauce" over her pale, faintly flushed deer hooves.
He spared no expense and used the entire jar of honey.
Mm. Glossy, evenly coated, perfect!
A short while later, the scummy snake finished marinating the deer hooves to perfection.
And while he was at it...
He brought in two more goats from outside.
As the door slowly closed, Baobhan Sith, who had still been putting on a brave face, heard the demonic chorus of "baa, baa" and immediately went ashen.
Her eyes turned hollow.
A moment later, her miserable cries, somewhere between sobbing and laughter, once again echoed from the dark little room.
They gradually went from loud and defiant to weak and exhausted.
Even the words she shouted changed again and again as time passed.
Fifteen minutes later.
"Samael! Bastard... hahaha... beast... sob... I'll never forgive you..."
Forty minutes later.
"Hahaha... Stop licking! It tickles, it tickles... sob... Mother... I can't take it anymore... save me... I'll never do it again..."
One hour later.
"Hahahahaha... No... let me out... sob, hahaha... I know I was wrong... I was wrong..."
"Waaah... I was wrong... I'll never do it again! Help! Somebody help me! Teacher! Teacher Samael!"
After more than an hour of torment, Baobhan Sith's will had completely collapsed.
Her psychological defenses shattered, and she finally cried and begged for mercy.
At last, the soft creak of the door reached the tortured fairy girl's ears like heavenly music.
A spark of life returned to her hollow eyes.
Baobhan Sith, who had been slumped there like a corpse, suddenly seemed to receive a shot of adrenaline, her eyes blazing with an intense desire to survive.
"All right. Since you're being so sincere, I'll end the punishment early..."
With a resigned sigh, the restraints around her hands and feet were undone.
Like a frightened quail, Baobhan Sith immediately threw herself toward Samael.
Only beside this "teacher" could she feel even the slightest sense of safety.
But enduring that maddening itch had already drained every bit of strength from the fairy girl.
The moment she tried to stand, her legs gave out beneath her. Her reddened feet throbbed painfully, and with her limbs weak and unsteady, she pitched straight toward the floor.
Fortunately, Samael caught her in time and kept the little girl from falling.
The instant she collapsed into that warm embrace, Baobhan Sith wrapped her arms tightly around Samael's waist and refused to let go.
Overwhelmed by grievance and exhaustion, she burst into messy sobs, tears and snot streaming down her face.
Still dazed, Baobhan Sith was helped over to a chair and seated.
When she finally came back to her senses, she discovered that the demon from moments ago was crouching in front of her, carefully applying a magical potion to her slightly red and swollen feet before putting a pair of shoes on them.
They were beautiful red shoes.
The fairy girl's attention was captured instantly.
"Sigh. If you'd behaved this well from the beginning, none of this would have happened..."
As Samael gave her his earnest advice, his warm hand settled over the girl's head and gently stroked her hair.
Baobhan Sith paused, then nodded in agreement.
Afterward, she closed her eyes and curled into her teacher's embrace.
Unable to resist her exhaustion any longer, she soon fell into a deep sleep.
After such an emotional roller coaster, the sense of security she finally felt brought a faint trace of relief and dependence to her tear-streaked face.
***
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