Chapter 109: Three-Way Battle - 8
Chapter 109: Three-Way Battle - 8
Jiha gathered Mana internally, but his course of action was already decided.
'Avoid fighting if at all possible.'
Until now, Jiha had always shaped the situation before a fight began.
That let him crush stronger opponents with minimal effort.
Charging in blind, without preparation, was never a good idea.
Gambling was best avoided whenever possible.
Winning here offered little gain. Losing would cost him far too much.
.......
Kamain's brow twitched at Jiha's words.
The phrasing was open to interpretation—curious, maybe even concerning.
Jiha, feigning ignorance, spoke calmly.
"You must have your share of worries."
.......
Kamain didn't answer, just stared at Jiha.
His hand hadn't left the sword hilt.
'If he kills a Common who's known as Enril's close aide, the cleanup would be a nightmare. He still thinks killing me is the better option. He's committed to it.'
Kamain had concluded that Jiha, as a variable, had thoroughly wrecked his plans. Even if it meant taking a heavy loss, he intended to sweep Jiha off the board.
Right now, conflicting calculations were churning in Kamain's head.
"What does that mean?"
Kamain's voice came out cold and hard as he glared.
He was caught between the resolve to kill Jiha and whatever feelings he harbored for Asira, unable to settle on either.
But he'd opened his mouth. The hook was partially set.
If a conversation started, Jiha could push it into his own rhythm.
'The ones who attack without a word are the biggest pain...'
Kamain had originally planned exactly that.
Wary of Jiha, he'd hesitated to launch an immediate assault. Bringing up Asira had shifted him into a state of at least hearing him out.
"Didn't you say you hate talking about Asira?"
"...Speak."
Kamain drew his sword halfway from the sheath.
A show of force. Jiha didn't care.
"She said she hoped you and I would get along."
.......
"Since you don't get along with other men."
Kamain's brow furrowed.
"You think a Common like you should be friends with me?"
He'd tossed aside his polite mask entirely.
Jiha nodded with a sigh, as if commiserating.
"Right, that would be asking too much, wouldn't it? I told her it was impossible for me to be friends with someone who has tainted incubus blood. Some biological disgust is impossible to overcome, isn't it?"
"You bastard!"
Kamain drew his sword completely.
His face hardened, eyes blazing. Jiha tsked openly.
"Can't be the first time you've heard that. Why get so worked up? Climbing the ranks like you have, you must've heard that kind of talk behind your back and to your face plenty of times."
If Kamain lost his head and attacked in a blind rage, fighting was an option too.
A crazed opponent was relatively easy to handle.
Flames coiled around Kamain's blade in spirals, blazing to life.
'So that's his Special Ability...'
Annoying.
Not ordinary fire—Mana-generated flames had different properties.
Even a glancing touch would burn him up, so Jiha would have to dodge everything.
On top of that, for a Super Rare, an ability like that was the baseline. Plenty of variations would be available.
"You run your mouth too much, Common..."
"I never get tired of compliments."
Jiha moved his own hand behind his back.
In that instant, Kamain seemed to surge forward—then kicked off the wall and lunged at Jiha.
A triangle jump, an acrobatic assault. But Jiha had already summoned a Shadow Hand.
Fwoosh!
In the quiet corridor, the flaming sword and the hand of darkness tangled together.
!
Astonishingly, Kamain's blade cut clean through the Shadow Hand.
The hand recoiled, seemed to dissolve into black dust, then seeped back into Jiha's shadow.
.......
But the flames wreathing Kamain's sword had noticeably diminished.
His ambush blocked, Kamain pulled back and fixed Jiha with a glare.
'He's hesitating.'
Everything so far had gone according to Jiha's calculations.
Only by proving he wasn't an opponent Kamain could crush with sheer force would there be room to negotiate.
"About Asira... she's got an awkward hobby."
.......
The hesitation on Kamain's face shifted into visible confusion.
Jiha knew something.
Something Kamain himself didn't know.
Jealousy mixed in with it—another man knew something about Asira that he didn't.
'He doesn't know.'
Kamain had no idea Asira secretly read romance novels.
"It would be a problem if the higher-ups found out. In more ways than one..."
"...What are you talking about?"
Kamain lowered the sword slightly and asked.
Jiha smiled wryly and held out a hand.
"Mind putting out that torch of annihilation? If your hair catches fire and you go bald, I won't be able to keep talking because I'll be too busy looking forward to it."
.......
Kamain extinguished the flames around the blade.
As he did, Jiha changed the subject.
"I'm satisfied as things stand. I recovered the weapons. Made a contribution. Koral's keeping his mouth firmly shut about where they came from, but I'll hand him over to your side. Deal with it as you see fit."
"What?"
"Don't lose your temper. Let's split this down the middle."
Jiha let out a dry laugh.
"Enril and I caught the culprit. You people figured out where the weapons leaked from. That's a picture the Legends should be happy with, don't you think?"
"...You'd hand Koral over to me?"
With Koral locked up in a detention cell, Kamain was in a position of having to constantly keep his guard up.
He wanted to eliminate Koral and the gnolls entirely to erase any loose ends, so Jiha willingly offering this made no sense.
"From where you and I stand, looking up at the higher ranks, guys like that don't really matter, do they?"
"...Why?"
Seeing it as a peace offering, Kamain couldn't bring himself to trust it.
He had no way to gauge how much Jiha had heard from Koral.
"Because wrapping this up now is good for both of us. Isn't it?"
.......
Kamain wrestled with himself internally.
His plan was in tatters, but Jiha was showing him a way to seal everything off.
If he silenced Koral and disposed of him, then wiped out the gnolls one by one, the fact that he was the mastermind behind this would be buried.
And from their brief clash, he'd learned Jiha wasn't an easy kill.
Kamain was in the position of having to protect everything he'd built.
"Just between us men... every time I see Enril, I go insane with wanting her. A body no other woman can compare to. From the waist down to her hips—my mouth waters just looking at that line."
.......
"But that woman won't give me the time of day. I'd love to get her drunk and do it, but I can't even set up the opportunity. I just want to pin her down somehow..."
Kamain's expression went cold.
Jiha smiled deliberately.
"I heard you've got a skill that could help me out... aren't you good at getting your hands on certain drugs?"
"You piece of trash..."
"Enough with the compliments. You'll make me blush."
No matter how much someone cursed you, if you just laughed, they'd exhaust themselves eventually.
Kamain stared daggers at Jiha.
"Is that your demand?"
"We've both got a woman we're after, don't we? I think we can coexist."
"Don't lump me in with scum like you."
Kamain exhaled, then composed his expression.
He sheathed his sword and spoke coldly.
"I'll prepare it within a few days. Before then, shut Koral's mouth and hand him over to me. Or deal with him yourself."
"Ah, that's not possible. I've already reported Koral's capture to Asira."
.......
Now that Asira knew, disposing of Koral on his own wasn't an option.
"I need some insurance too."
"You rely too much on your tricks."
Kamain glared at Jiha like he was looking at filth, then turned away.
As the sound of Kamain's footsteps faded, Jiha smiled.
"Idiot..."
Kamain should have attacked him right there.
That was probably his best chance at winning.
He'd seized a moment of surprise Jiha hadn't anticipated, then pulled back and sheathed his sword.
"Still looking down on me..."
That was why he'd done it. Underestimating Jiha, confident he could handle him anytime he chose.
The bait Jiha had laid down at the very start—the information that he was a fool obsessed with women—Kamain hadn't questioned it.
Because he wanted to believe it.
Kamain put on an act of being diligent and upright, pretending disinterest in women, but inside he was a lecher.
He'd never hesitated to rape ordinary women either. Thoroughly rotten.
'Probably assumes every other man is just like him...'
Jiha was the complete opposite.
His outward front of being interested in women was what had fooled the enemy.
"Now he's going to write me off as a little pervert who chases skirt. He'll stop paying attention for a while... then try to kill me if things get urgent."
Jiha walked toward his room, deep in thought.
While Kamain thought he'd regained control of the situation, Jiha had to finish this.
'That drug or whatever he's got... using it to expose that bastard's true nature would be ideal. I should set several things in motion before then. Koral's the type who'll shift his stance however the situation demands. I need someone who'll move entirely on my side, someone with a bit of combat strength...'
As he was thinking and heading to his room, someone was waiting for him.
Brown dog ears on her head. Mayan.
"This isn't a kennel. Go back."
.......
Mayan stared at him icily at that greeting.
"You know what it means when a woman waits in front of a man's room late at night, right?"
"If you try anything funny, I won't let it slide."
Mayan's tone was sharp, but from Jiha's perspective it just looked like cute posturing.
'Actually, she is a Super Rare too...'
Barking dogs rarely bite.
"If you and Kamain fought, who'd win?"
"Why are you asking..."
Mayan, who'd come with a purpose, frowned.
"I've never faced Kamain Batalion directly. No—Super Rare Grades don't clash over personal grudges. If there ever is a day we fight, it would only be following our master's orders, with our lives on the line."
"Overflowing with loyalty, aren't you? Enril would be delighted."
"...I take no pleasure in praise from you."
Mayan spoke in anger, but her tail was wagging left and right.
Jiha nodded.
"What did you come for?"
"It's about my lady. We didn't finish our talk properly last time."
"Ah, that..."
What his relationship with Enril was. How her behavior had changed since meeting Jiha.
That sort of utterly pointless interrogation.
A good idea came to Jiha.
If you had a dog that wanted a fight, you just pointed it at a target.
"That one called Kamain. Seems like he has his eye on Enril."
"...Such outrageous—!"
The instant he spoke, Mayan was furious.
"How dare a half-breed like that set his sights on our lady! It's unspeakable! Absolutely impossible!"
"Asira seems to be trying to play matchmaker."
"This is absurd! Our lady is exceptional even among dark elves, a wise woman! She is not someone who would take such a shifty-eyed wretch as a husband!"
Mayan was reacting with extreme emotion.
Her tail stood stiff, practically bouncing. Jiha smiled deliberately.
"But Kamain being a Super Rare is a fact. In Warsland, isn't he top-tier marriage material?"
"I cannot hand our lady over to a man with the filthy blood of an incubus! This preposterous matchmaking—I will not tolerate it as long as I draw breath!"
'She's genuinely furious...'
Normally she was curt, calm, cold. Now she'd completely lost it.
Just like a dog, her loyalty to her master ran incredibly deep.
Jiha threw her a bone to soothe her.
"No matter how worked up you get, this is a matter between Uniques. It might even be a suggestion handed down from higher up."
"...The Legends?"
"I don't know the details. But Asira coming to Waris... seems connected to that purpose."
Mayan showed no sign of doubting Jiha's barefaced lie.
She had no information channels of her own, and what Jiha said didn't seem wildly illogical.
"...I must stop my lady. No matter how much she prioritizes the clan, this is wrong."
"That won't work."
Jiha shook his head with exaggerated motion.
"If you go and talk to her, Enril will just cut you off and say she'll handle it herself. And that's exactly what would happen, right?"
.......
"This is something we have to handle quietly, behind the scenes. Without Enril knowing. Without anyone knowing. We just move discreetly."
Mayan's dog ears perked up.
"You and I should stop the bastard who doesn't know his place and has his eye on Enril, don't you think? What do you say?"
"...Is it possible?"
"If you give it everything you've got."
Mayan considered it, then nodded.
"Understood. What should I do?"
Jiha smiled.
With a silver tongue, he'd tamed a dog that could fight quite well.
Now she'd run wherever he pointed and bite down.
Kamain would never get the chance to regret sheathing his sword tonight.
Because dead men can't regret anything.