I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 78

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“…Get out quietly.”

 

Outside the open door stood the coachman, holding a sharp dagger with a wickedly honed blade in his hand.

 

Keeping a close watch on his hands, I glanced sideways at the surrounding scenery. Behind the wide open field, I could see several collapsed houses.

 

Around the area, ash piles that seemed to have burned something were scattered, and among them I could glimpse bandages and stretchers.

 

I took a short breath.

 

‘Could this be that place?’

 

The quarantine district of Bukchon where most residents lost their lives to an epidemic a few years ago.

 

As far as I knew, reconstruction of this area had been delayed for various reasons for several years already.

 

Thanks to that, this place gradually became a gloomy ruin, and later people’s footsteps completely ceased.

 

The only visitors were homeless people addicted to drugs who hid in the abandoned buildings.

 

“I told you to get out.”

 

The coachman muttered threateningly once more.

 

Without answering, I looked at him while pretending to raise my hand and quickly grasped the pendant hanging around my neck.

 

The coachman frowned and rushed quickly toward me.

 

However.

 

Clang—!!

 

A blue sphere formed around the pendant instantly surrounded me completely without gaps.

 

The coachman suddenly collided with the barrier and was sent flying far away.

 

“What, what is this!”

 

As he staggered and nimbly got back up, Adam appeared beside me and shouted.

 

[This insolent bastard! How dare he touch my child!]

 

I looked at Adam with wide eyes as he spewed curses.

 

[If only I had a proper body, I could have turned that bastard into pulp! How frustrating!]

 

But only I could see and hear Adam. The coachman frowned and tilted his head.

 

“What is this. Some kind of ability?”

 

Adam beat his chest and screamed.

 

[That, that…!! If I hadn’t been here, what would he have done to my precious child! I should manifest right now and rip out that bastard’s guts!]

 

It was when I was absentmindedly rubbing my earlobes, feeling like my ears might bleed.

 

[Child! Get outside right now! I’ll protect your body, so kick that bastard’s ass and cripple him!]

 

I looked at Adam making his creative suggestion, then turned my gaze to the coachman outside the carriage.

 

He was thinking deeply about something with an annoyed expression.

 

A few seconds later, he spoke.

 

“It’s different from what the client mentioned. But it can’t be helped. That troublesome ability won’t last long anyway.”

 

As soon as those words ended, figures in brown robes emerged from various spots around the open field.

 

‘It wasn’t just one?’

 

But then. I stiffened as I discovered something.

 

I hurriedly opened the door on the opposite side of the carriage and threw my body outside.

 

Bang—!!

 

At the same time, the carriage exploded and shattered to pieces behind me.

 

Due to the dull impact, my body was helplessly sent flying far away.

 

Thanks to the barrier Adam had surrounded me with, I wasn’t injured, but I felt heavy pain in my back and ankle from rolling on the ground.

 

Without even having time to scream, I urgently raised my head to stare at the six unwelcome visitors approaching me.

 

Just then, a broken wheel bounced off the barrier right above my head and flew to the side.

 

“I don’t know how you, known as non-manifested, managed to manifest an ability.”

 

The man on the far right rushed toward me with his face covered by a robe. Then he swung down a long sword and shouted.

 

“If we keep attacking, it’ll break eventually!”

 

Starting with him, the fierce attacks of six people began raining down on the barrier.

 

The barrier was emitting bright light and absorbing all the attacks.

 

I stared at the six assassins attacking me with a pale face, barely keeping my eyes open.

 

More precisely, at the emblem carved on the robes they wore.

 

An emblem of a snake coiled in a triangular shape within a circular border.

 

‘That’s the assassin guild that Selenea commissioned to assassinate Estelin in the original story!’

 

With rising despair, I trembled and bit my lips tightly.

 

Adam’s voice came from beside me again.

 

[These bastards! How dare they touch our child! Ugh…!]

 

But Adam swallowed a short groan and couldn’t continue speaking.

 

When I looked at him in surprise, I could see his hands and feet had become faint.

 

[Child, it seems better to escape from here. There are too many of these damn bastards and my magic power is struggling!]

 

I looked at Adam with anxious eyes.

 

[It’s all my fault! If only I wasn’t trapped in this body…]

 

Adam trailed off sadly and widened his eyes.

 

He seemed to be consuming an enormous amount of magic power to maintain the barrier around my body.

 

After finishing my brief thoughts, I quickly got up and started running in the opposite direction.

 

However, the man who had been disguised as a coachman quickly caught up behind me.

 

“How laughable. Do you really think you can escape from us at your speed?”

 

He ran leisurely beside me with a disgusting smile.

 

“Seeing you run away, your magic power is already being depleted, isn’t it? It would be bad if the barrier breaks.”

 

I gritted my teeth and continued running forward at full speed.

 

‘Just a little, just a little more to get to where there are people.’

 

If I could just get to where people live, then there might be a chance…

 

That’s when it happened.

 

Crack—

 

A chilling sound came from behind me.

 

When I turned my head, I saw the barrier with faint cracks.

 

‘Adam…!’

 

Adam was no longer visible or making any sound.

 

It seemed he was conserving even the strength to manifest in order to maintain the barrier. My eyes filled with bewilderment.

 

Eventually. My footsteps gradually came to a stop.

 

Despite running for so long, I still hadn’t escaped the deserted northern slums.

 

After catching my breath while panting, I turned around to see the assassins surrounding me in a circle.

 

I spoke with a tense voice.

 

“…I know who sent you.”

 

Then the coachman who had brought the carriage exchanged glances with an assassin beside him.

 

“You seem to have some idea? But it’s already too late.”

 

“Yes. I know that too.”

 

I swallowed hard and stared straight at him. Then I spoke with a trembling voice.

 

“…If you, if you just let me go. I’ll give you double, no, quadruple the amount you were offered.”

 

I must have bitten my tongue while running because I could taste metallic blood in my mouth.

 

However, the six assassins just looked at each other and burst into giggles.

 

“Are you asking us to just let you go now?”

 

I nodded while trying to steady my trembling hands.

 

“Yes. If you let me go now, I won’t hold you responsible for anything. I promise I won’t investigate today’s incident at all.”

 

“…”

 

“I even offered quadruple the money, so this isn’t a bad proposal for you either, is it?”

 

I tried to speak as calmly as possible, but my voice cracking was unavoidable.

 

When I clenched my fists to shake off even a little tension, I could feel my palms soaked with sweat.

 

Then one assassin broke the silence and drawled.

 

“What should we do about this. I can’t trust it.”

 

My face turned white. The assassin continued with a sinister smile.

 

“You might not know this since you’re a delicately raised noble lady, but we’ve been doing this kind of work for quite a long time.”

 

The man approached me while spinning his dagger in circles. I staggered back a step.

 

The barrier surrounding my body had now faded to the point where it was barely visible.

 

‘One more attack will shatter it.’

 

An ominous premonition engulfed my entire body. Sirens wailed frantically in my head.

 

“Do you know what’s important in this line of work?”

 

The man who had finally approached right in front of me thrust his blade tip into the center of the weakened barrier.

 

Then, with a crackling sound, a faint crack appeared where the blade tip had pierced.

 

My eyes anxiously watched the crack emitting a blue light. The crack was gradually spreading.

 

At that moment, the man chuckled and twisted the blade tip he had driven into the barrier.

 

Crash—!!

 

A sharp shattering sound rang in my ears.

 

Before I could do anything, the barrier crumbled into pieces.

 

Like a glass window struck by a stone, broken into dozens of fragments.

 

Adam was nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t hear his voice either.

 

A thin breath escaped my lips as I watched the barrier disappear like mist, becoming faint particles of light.

 

The man spoke.

 

“I often meet people who make proposals like yours.”

 

“Pl-please, I’m begging you. Please…”

 

“But there are so many cases where people tempted by money betray their clients only to end up bleeding instead.”

 

“Please, please I’m begging you.”

 

I stared at the man with trembling eyes. My back was completely drenched in cold sweat.

 

“Sorry about this.”

 

But the man paid no heed and raised his dagger high. I looked at him with a face full of despair.

 

“…Ha.”

 

A self-deprecating laugh burst from my lips.

 

Before my eyes, the man’s gesture of bringing down the dagger toward me was playing in slow motion.

 

My eyes stung from the terrible fear.

 

In my previous life, I died from a company collapse, so why do I keep facing death so many times after being reborn?

 

‘This time I wanted to live long and well, since I got another chance.’

 

Making a living is damn hard.

 

It was the moment I bit my lips tightly and squeezed my eyes shut in resignation.

 

“Aaaahhh!!!”

 

The assassin let out a sharp scream right in front of my face.

 

Startled, I opened my eyes to see the sword that had been aimed at me fall to the ground with a thud.

 

Along with the hand that had been wielding it.

 

‘…Along with the hand?’

 

My eyes widened in shock.

 

A familiar voice echoed in my ears.

 

“If you’ve been in this business for so long, you should have learned the most important thing.”

 

I slowly turned my head backward.

 

“When taking contracts, you should have been more careful about who you’re dealing with.”

 

Rin Anosa stood behind me, protecting my back.

 

Just like I had seen at the gladiatorial finals, with her dark blue hair tied up high.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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