Setting down his cup of tea, Reinhard let out a heavy sigh.

He had a lot on his plate at the moment. First he found the fifth candidate for the Royal Selection and has to take care of her, second he has dozens of bounties to go after, and third, well... just the average everyday catastrophes he had to stop.

But right now, he was simply having a tea break. After demolishing a boulder that was threatening a village with his bare hands, Reinhard thought that a good cup of tea would be suitable afterwards.

However, after a few moments of peace and quiet, and completely off in his own world, Reinhard noticed that the shop he was at was completely empty. No employees. No customers. Strange, as the server was here just a few minutes ago. Although, he could faintly hear the sound of someone behind him.

Someone whose entire being radiated murderous intent.

"Finally. We have this space all to ourselves," a soft spoken yet sadistic voice cooed. Immediately, Reinhard dodged an attack from a curved blade. Glancing at the table he was sitting at being sliced in two.

His cup however, was perfectly fine with his tea falling right back into place despite him flipping through the air.

"The Bowel Hunter..." Reinhard muttered. He had encountered her not too long ago, and successfully warded her off from harming Emilia and Felt. But he was unsuccessful in killing her, but now it looked like he was given a second chance.

"Ah! You remember me!" Elsa said as she licked her lips. "How sweet of you, Sword Saint." She raised her arms, showing off her blades. "Hmm... your eyes are just as deep blue as I remembered. I got the color right."

"Huh? Color?" Reinhard blinked, confused as to what she was talking about.

"But as hypnotizing as your eyes and hair are, I'd much rather see what colors your bowels entail!" Elsa said. She lunged towards him with her blades ready, aiming for the gut.

Reinhard effortlessly dodged, avoiding all of her oncoming attacks like it was nothing. To an outsider, it would seem as though he was mocking her with how nonchalantly he parried her.

"I'd rather finish this as quickly as possible," Reinhard muttered. Cup still in hand. Elsa didn't respond, instead giving a slasher smile as she attempted to slash Reinhard's belly.

Reinhard dodged the attack, and with just a swing of his arm, effortlessly cleaved through the Bowel Hunter's own stomach, spilling blood and entrails onto the wooden floor.

And with that, the Bowel Hunter was now dead.

Reinhard grimaced as he closed his eyes in frustration. He wished he didn't have to resort to such drastic measures, but unfortunately he had no other choice. He glanced down at the blood-soaked flooring, internally apologizing towards the poor soul who would have to clean up the mess.

Taking a step outside, Reinhard prepared to gather some knights to collect the body. But just as he ruled the infamous assassin as dead, however…

"Did you really think I'd go down so easily?" Elsa sang. Reinhard of course dodged her attempt at his life, and then looked at her completely bewildered.

"Wait… Didn't I just kill you?" he asked genuinely. He stood still as Elsa threw a slew of needles at him, which went around Reinhard, who was unmoving and didn't even flinch.

"Hmm… Perhaps. Or maybe you didn't? Who wants to know?" Elsa said playfully.

"I do!" Reinhard said, mouth agape. "I swear you were literally in two pieces just a second ago."

Elsa grinned, thrilled that the fight had only really begun in her eyes. "Oh. It will take much more than two to fully put me down!"

Dashing across the area, Elsa made sure to go for the gut this time, fully intending on slicing the Sword Saint open.

Reinhard however had other plans. Using nothing more than his foot, he stomped on the ground, creating shockwaves that disrupted the Bowel Hunter's concentration. Giving Reinhard the perfect opportunity to land a hit right in the chest, shattering her bones and rupturing her organs. Elsa was sent flying into a building, becoming more or less a red smear on the wall.

"That should do it..." Reinhard said to himself. He exhaled. He had to admit he was slightly caught off guard when Elsa attacked him again. She must have had the Divine Protection of The Phoenix or something along those lines.

The redhead eyed the red smear cautiously, cringing as a piece of intestine dripped from the wall and splattered on the floor. Yep. She was as good as dead. This time for sure.

Reinhard spun on his heel, ready to gather some knights to scrape whatever they could of her remains off. But as he began walking, he spun his head around, anticipating her to be well and good again.

Nope, still a red splotch. Exhaling again, Reinhard figured there was nothing to worry about anymore, now.

He continued walking. The streets were empty, and it was now night. He must have been drinking his tea for quite a while. It wasn't like him to lose track of time. But as he was finally relaxing and letting his guard down for a moment...

*SWISH*

One of Elsa's blades flew in the air aiming right at Reinhard's head. Of course, it failed to reach its target, and was caught in-between Reinhard's fingers.

"This is really starting to get annoying..." Reinhard growled. He turned behind him to lo and behold, see the Bowel Hunter once more.

"That was an excellent punch. Mind giving me more?" Elsa said as she licked her lips.

Reinhard wasn't all that fazed, more-so annoyed.

"Ugh... Can you just... stay down? Please? I have things to do..." Reinhard said. "Seriously. It's almost dinner time and-"

"Don't care!" Elsa lunged at him, swiping her blade back and forth. Reinhard jumped back, glaring at her.

"If you would just surrender, then I wouldn't have to harm you!" Reinhard proclaimed. "So stand down!"

"I refuse!" Elsa shouted. "Not until I have your insides!"

Elsa flew forward trying her best to attack Reinhard with just one blade. She raised her leg to kick him in his ribs, but Reinhard's arm was caught between it and demolished her poor leg. Looking at her mangled leg in shock, Elsa was then grabbed by that very same leg and thrown many meters away, her leg being torn off in the process.

Reinhard confirmed by the sound of her body hitting the ground that her injuries were far too grave to simply walk off. Hearing her roll on the ground and loud snapping signalled that she had to be dead now.

"And stay down." Tossing the leg, Reinhard turned and began walking faster to the knight's station. He just wanted to get this over and done with.

But of course, Elsa got up to attack him again.

"Oh Od..." With the blade he caught still in hand, he tossed it with minimal effort, watching as it sliced through Elsa's face and made her body fall limp on the ground in midair.

"What is wrong with you?" Reinhard asked. "How many times are you going to cheat death?"

Standing over Elsa's 'corpse,' Reinhard shook his head. "You really are troublesome. I can see why your bounty is so high now."

Elsa then raised her arm and grabbed onto Reinhard's leg, before looking up at him with an eager smile. "How fascinating..." she said in delight. "I've never had an enemy quite like you before. We should do this more often..." she purred.

Reinhard wordlessly kicked her face in.

"Now, I should probably get some rope to contain you in if you're not going to die," Reinhard said as he pursed his lips. "Perhaps I should just chain her to something and then carry her to the station? That seems like the most reasonable option-"

*FWISH*

In an instant, more needles flew at Reinhard, but he turned his neck to avoid them. "Will you stop that!?" he shouted. "You're not succeeding! So quit it!"

Giggling, Elsa stood up, gathering her weapons. "Why Reinhard, the fight's only just begun. Do you really think I'll stop at just a few deaths?"

Sighing, Reinhard rubbed at his temples. "You're seriously starting to bother me. Please, just leave me alone," he pleaded.

Elsa didn't respect his wishes, and instead attacked him.

Again, again, and again.

"Oh my Od!" Reinhard said after the ninth death. "Just stop! Please! I'm begging you!"

Panting, Elsa realized that her healing factor was beginning to weaken. It'd be best to retreat and rest for a bit before her ability wore out. Curse Doll did had a limit of course, to its immortality. Despite being able to come back from many fatal injuries, suffer too much and it might just become permanent.

So, Elsa decided to retreat. Hopping onto a building, she looked down at the Sword Saint with glimmering eyes.

"Very well then, Sword Saint. I will leave you be, for now. But rest assured, Reinhard. I will be back."

"Please don't," Reinhard said simply. Before he could act to subdue her though, she disappeared into the night.

"How troublesome..." he muttered.

Reinhard made sure to put out a warning in the area that Elsa was still loose. And in his reports he also mentioned her seeming immortality.

And at the footnote, he made sure to mention just how much of a pain in the ass she was.