I Reincarnated Into A Single-Celled Organism! - I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 126

“You dare obstruct our lady’s path?” The driver snarled, lifting a whip and sending it out again.

I instinctively flinched, not wanting to feel the pain again. I could always shut down my pain receptors, but I couldn’t do it quickly. They did have various purposes in helping me understand my body, so I let them be after I evolved into a human. This was the first time that anything had caused me significant distress though. Even being stabbed by a knife felt like little more than the poke of a needle. This was because the pain was connected to the amount of damage done, and my high health and high defense made that meaningless, but this driver’s whip seemed to have some strange property that sidestepped that.

Before the whip struck me again, Sammy pulled his blade and managed to block it from hitting me. This was the first time I had ever seen him pull his weapon. He held it one-handed, but despite holding a drinking gourd in the other hand and his feet looking unbalanced like he might fall at any moment, his sword was held steadily.

“Say that again, bastard.” Sammy looked at him with eyes much clearer than they had been a short few moments ago.

The driver looked Sammy up and down, and a moment later, his eyes flashed. “It’s you… so this is where you’ve ended up.”

Before Sammy could respond, there was a click as the carriage door opened a bit and a pretty woman in a servant outfit stuck her head out. “My lady wants to know why we have stopped.”

“My apologies, miss.” The driver’s eyes flashed in irritation. “There are just a couple of mortals who don’t know their place.”

“Mortals?” The girl looked around, her eyes landing on me.

At that moment, I had already guided the child back to her mother. Although the guards were glaring at me, they didn’t stop me from letting the child pass into her mom’s arm. The mother was in tears, and she thanked me quietly with her head down before immediately pulling her kid back into the crowd. The two fled the scene quickly, likely to keep from being identified by the people in the carriage and potentially facing repercussions. I understood how this world was toward mortals, so I didn’t fault her for fleeing and protecting herself.

I turned back, and seeing the maid glancing at me, I gave her a smile and a little wave. Her back straightened, and then she snorted. However, what women didn’t admire a man who treated children well? The playboy in me knew it was a good first impression, so I pushed things a bit further.

“Your carriage almost rode down that young one. I’m sure your lady wouldn’t appreciate the death of a young child on her conscience, especially in front of her mother. I’d encourage you to remind your driver that the city is especially crowded right now and he needs to be especially careful.”

The maid’s flashed with surprise while the driver shot me a dissatisfied glare. Even Sammy glanced over at me with a raised eyebrow as if he was asking me what I was doing.

Inside the cabin, a voice whispered. It was only because of my powerful hearing that I was able to hear it.

“What is going on?” the voice asked the maid.

“I’ll handle it, my lady.” The maid glanced back and assured her before turning back to me. “This is a city of paragons. Mortals shouldn’t make a habit of acting cavalier with their superiors.”

“Is that so?” My smirk widened, causing her face to flush slightly.

“What of me then? Should I also turn my back on a friend?” Sammy spoke out, casually putting his sword back away.

It was as he sheathed the sword that I got a good look at it. It was made of a very fine material and looked exceedingly sharp. There was an emblem on the handle, but I didn’t recognize it from any of the families currently in Stormberg.

The maid turned to him, but before she opened her mouth, she paused for a moment and then narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Who are you?”

“My lady, I recognize the emblem of his sword. I suspect he is wearing a disguise, but I know of only one man who practices his sword technique at his evolutionary level. This has to be Sammuel Goudsmit.”

“Sammuel the broken?” The girl spoke, her eyes widening.

Almost immediately, she turned back to the woman in the carriage, and I could hear them speaking quickly.

“It’s him? I want to see…”

“My lady, it isn’t proper.”

“Move, let me see!”

“My lady, this isn’t prop-ahhh!”

The girl was suddenly yanked back into the carriage. Everyone watching had strange expressions on their faces as a moment later, a new head poked out. This woman appeared only slightly younger, but she wore a diadem on her head and was incredibly pretty. Her beauty was at a level that took the breath away of many of those watching. Her eyes fell on me.

“You’re quite beautiful,” I responded.

She blinked and then blushed slightly. “Are you Sammuel?”

“Ahem, ma’am… he is.” The driver awkwardly corrected.

The woman turned her head, but when she saw Sammy’s old face, she immediately made a repulsed one.

Sammy let out a chuckle. “I suppose there is no point now.”

He reached up and when he pulled some kind of layer of skin off his face. When his hand fell, his face was completely different. It now appeared a young man with a 5 o’clock shadow. He had a dangerous gleam in his eyes, and while he wasn’t overly attractive, he did have a manly appearance that would appeal to most women’s sensibilities. A wave of shocked noises spread out from the observing crowd, and some of the guards even seemed to be affected by his sudden appearance. The name Sammuel the broken crossed several lips.

Upon seeing his true face, the girl let out a sigh. “So, it is you.”

“And you must be?” He asked calmly.

“My name is Lady Gisselle.” She gave a light nod.

“My lady…” The maid had finally recovered and was tugging on Lady Gisselle’s arm. “We must be on our way.”

“What house?” I asked.

Gisselle glanced my way but then turned away as if I was nothing. “Sammuel, to celebrate our first meeting, I’d like to let bygones be bygones. I apologize on behalf of my driver. We didn’t mean to offend.”

“Why apologize on his behalf?” I asked. “He’s sitting right here.”

“You… do you not know how to shut your mouth in front of your betters?” The driver snarled.

“Yeah, you don’t seem very sorry.” I shook my head. “You hit me with that whip, it hurt you know. I… uh…”

I lifted where he hit me. It was clear because there was a gash in my tunic, but the skin underneath was completely unblemished. I realized it would be very hard to sell them on being injured when there wasn’t a single sign of it. In this situation, my high defense didn’t help me at all.

The driver looked just as shocked. Only he and I knew how strong his weapon was, and how strong he hit me. If I had been a mortal, it likely would have crippled me if not just forced me to be struck in a bed for several months. Yet, other than him, everyone else was looking at me like one of those scam artists who falsely claimed injury. She once again glanced at Sammuel as if to give him a chance to distance himself.

Sammy smiled and crossed his arms. “He asks a fair question. Your driver struck him with a whip. If he can’t even be bothered to apologize, how can he even call himself a man.”

“That’s all I’m saying.” I nodded. “To force a young lady to apologize on his half as he attempts to whip children, this truly puts your house in a bad light.”

As the pair of us spoke, the expression on the driver turned uglier and uglier. He looked like he wanted to attack both of us with the whip, and was only holding himself back for the lady behind him. The Lady Gisselle also glanced between me and Sammy before finally sighing and looking over at her driver.

“Apologize.”

“Cousin…”

“The tournament is starting. Will you even have a chance to sign up if you take any longer?”

His eyes flashed, but after a moment, he sighed before staring at me darkly. “You best leave the city after this, mortal. Once the tournament is over…”

“You call that an apology?” I nearly broke into laughter at the ridiculousness of this guy, but that only seemed to make him angrier.

“You…”

“Huntington!” The woman’s voice turned cold.

He winced, and then finally managed to speak quietly “S-sorry.”

“What was that?” I asked, holding my hand to my ear. “Couldn’t hear you.”

He glanced back at the carriage and was relieved to see that Lady Gisselle had already returned inside the carriage. He turned a vicious look toward me.

“Mark my words. You’re a dead man. After the tournament-”

“You won’t have to wait that long.” I chuckled. “We’re on our way there. I’ll be seeing you soon.”

“You… a mortal?” He broke into laughter as he whipped the winged horses, continuing forward. “In that case, I’ll never even have the chance to kill you.”

The pair of us watched as the carriage continued moving and the crowds merged back together.

“Well, you’re right about that at least. You never will…” I smirked.