Doomed to Die in 3 Minutes

Dealing with Deceit

Panic ensues as things escalate from bad to good to awful. Corai could only continue to attempt to triumph with the truth and jabbing with well-placed words. “She’s lying! She’s just messing with us! Do not shoot me, both of you! C’mon, can’t anyone act like a reasonable adult!? Olivia, you should have no horse in this race unless perhaps, you’re attracted to me? Oh, that can’t be it, right? A high born elf attracted to a lowly human? What a mark of dishonour and shame if it were true! Especially if that man slights you in favour of another! So that cannot possibly be it!” Olivia lowers her bow, not out of reasoning but embarrassment. Her own sense of self would prevent her, and Corai’s words strike truer than any arrow she could loose. 

She is disarmed completely by self-importance. Olivia grits her teeth curses under her breath and walks out of the room. One down. Corai wasn’t out of the woods yet as he began to sweat bullets as the shotgun was aimed at his head. Shrapnel and explosive force that can take a head clean off in the hands of a pissed off dad. “I did not sleep with Alisa. She is just trying to have some mischief. I’m sure you’ve seen this happen before, but let’s say I was you, I wouldn’t take that chance, if someone defiled my daughter in the way she’s suggesting, I’d be livid too.”

He’s taken the bait of actually listening to Corai first, the old man knows Corai is a hero who helped save his city from the yolk of oppression, but for him this and that are two separate matters. He lowers the weapon just a tiny bit but keeps the gun trained on him but his fingers don’t look anywhere near as itchy to pull the trigger as they were before. Then sobbing filled their ears. “Father… you’d really, really, believe someone like him before me? You’d think I’d lie to you over something like this of all things? I can’t believe this! Uwaaaaaa!” Corai knew these were crocodile tears but if he had still been in his acting troupe, he’d have hired her on the spot.

The old man raises the shotgun higher and puts the back of the gun against his shoulder, priming it to fire with reckless abandon. “Wait! Stop! Just hear me out! She can joke about this as much as she wants! You realise that right! Even though this isn’t something you should ever joke about, Alisa is special. The gun you’re aiming at me would do nothing to her. She could easily leap in the way of the shot and tank the hit for me without being worse for wear! So knowing that, allows her despite her honourable stature to mess around with sensitive topics like this! She’s not lying, she’s playing around, having fun! If you shoot at me she’ll guard it. I realise that now. I’m safe now… but still, don’t use that thing for something like this. It’s not worth it!” 

Unless Alisa chooses to let him eat a bunch of buckshot and just heal him after, which would be fine but still hurt like hell. That would be very unpleasant and still something to avoid. “Father! I can’t believe you! You’d really… uwa! I can’t believe this… make him take responsibility for what he’s done! I…” Alisa suddenly covers her mouth with a hand and rolls under Corai and to the far left side of the bed and… “hrrrrkkk!” Vomited through her own volition on the floor.

Corai’s mouth opened agape. She’d go this far to screw him over with a bad joke? “W-why do I feel so sick in the morning… father…? Is this… normal?” Corai began to wonder if he should just give up and take two rounds of the shotgun to his body and just let it be done with, the stress and fear of being shot may have been overtaken by the frantic and crazy machinations of the woman near him. The old man begins to froth at the mouth. “You…! How dare you…! You will pay for this! Someone get a priest! You will not escape the consequences of your actions! Death would be too good for you!” 

Corai was not liking this development. An actual shotgun marriage but in a feudal fantasy world. He once again found himself wondering why everyone in this world is so quick to resort to crazy gambits and extreme reactions. He decided to use his final card in this scenario. “Alisa, stop this prank, please! I’ll… I’ll go on a date with you if you stop this!” He lays his cards on the table. A concession and a compromise to escape this madness. 

Alisa’s eyes flash with a knowing look at him. As if she was asking for more. Corai figured it out. Playing this prank has a cost. A currency that is known as trust. Her foster father would not fall for this sort of thing a second time. If she stops this joke now, she can never do it again. A single and mere date like the night before would do nothing. She had raised to his check. He had to put more on the line to win the hand.

“Fine! We’ll date! Like… as a couple! I’m not sure how things will turn out but I’ll try and give it a shot! My best shot! Alright? That’s the best I can give you!”

Alisa leaps out of the bed and hugs her father.

“Sorry, papa. I was just playing around.” 

The old man freezes for a while… he lowers the gun and sighs deeply as he walks out of the room. “Same old Alisa, no matter what happens. I should have known… but it’s quite nostalgic.”

Corai had escaped again, but at what cost?