PROTECTORS OF THE SWORD PRINCESS: THE CARROT AND THE STICK
“You’re telling me Little Rookie got to see Aiz bathing?!”
“That little twerp!!!”
On the eighteenth floor of the Dungeon, the camp of Loki Familia was in an uproar, having just learned about Bell’s little misadventure in the women’s bath. The air was filled with the angry voices of those who considered themselves Aiz’s defenders, men and women alike.
“He mustn’t be allowed to get away with this!! How dare he taint Ms. Aiz’s perfect body with his filthy, brutish gaze! I’ll use my magic to burn him to a crisp!”
“Somebody stop Lefiya before she goes on the warpath!!”
Aiz stood and stared at the chaos unfolding before her. It was the middle of the night on the eighteenth floor, when any right-minded people should have been asleep in their beds, but half of the camp had their swords and other weapons drawn, seeking violence. Aiz had never seen such a crazed look in their eyes before. One particularly enraged mage wanted to blow away the tent Bell was sleeping in, along with everyone else inside it, and it took several people to hold her back.
Suddenly, a group of men burst from Bell’s tent, throwing the captured rabbit at Aiz’s feet.
“Ms. Aiz! We’ve apprehended the perpetrator! Please hand down your judgment!”
The young boy was pressing his forehead so hard into the ground it seemed likely to bleed, but Aiz’s fellow familia members still cried out for more. Bell himself seemed resigned to pay the ultimate price for his misdeeds and silently awaited Aiz’s sentence.
The offended adventurers formed a circle around him. “Off with his head! Off with his head!!” they chanted. None of the other girls were around to help her talk them down. Aiz was puzzled over what she should do when suddenly an idea struck.
When Aiz was young and made mistakes, Finn and the others always employed a technique he called “the carrot and the stick.” Aiz could use that. She could make sure that Bell learned his lesson, without hurting him any more than was strictly necessary.
And so, with a determined look, Aiz raised her right hand. The crowd cheered. A slap from the Sword Princess was sure to blow the white rabbit’s head clean off his shoulders.
Bell squeezed his eyes shut. Aiz did the same and swung her arm.
Pompf…
The sound was disappointingly brief. Bell looked up in shock, rubbing his cheek. With the punishment over, Aiz moved quickly to follow it up with the carrot.
“You mustn’t do things like that, okay?”
“Y-yes, I’m sorry…”
Bell flushed scarlet as the Sword Princess tousled his hair.
“““““That’s just a reward!!””””” the crowd screamed.
In the end, nothing could be done to pacify their bloodlust.
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