Chapter 140: Stepping into the Light - 12
Chapter 140: Stepping into the Light - 12
A café in the afternoon.
Jiha was idly killing time on the terrace.
Across from him sat Mayan, contentedly sipping warm cocoa.
She cradled the cup with both hands as if it were a treasured possession, licking at it in tiny sips. It was oddly endearing.
Her face had gone slack with a smile, and her tail swayed gently side to side—clearly, she was enjoying it.
"...Ah."
Mayan, who had been drinking for a while, suddenly snapped back to her senses and rose from her seat.
"Hold on. What are you doing right now?"
"We're on a date."
Jiha played it shamelessly straight.
His teasing grin made Mayan turn stern.
"I am sworn to serve my lady. I have no interest in men."
"Was Enril a lesbian?"
"........."
Mayan's mouth fell open, speechless.
Her expression was one of pure horror, as if she'd just witnessed a notion too terrible to contemplate.
Since insulting Mayan herself seemed unlikely to provoke much of a reaction, choosing Enril as the target had hit the mark.
Mayan looked ready to fly into a rage, but noticing there were ears around, she kept her voice low.
"It's loyalty. Loyalty..."
The growl rumbling in her throat was probably meant to sound threatening, but to Jiha, it looked like nothing more than a dog's attempt at a trick.
'She's a Super Rare, so her Mana reserves must be considerable...'
But in terms of attitude or strategic thinking, she was practically a child compared to Jiha.
Normally, she kept a composed face, but whenever she saw Jiha, she'd openly snarl, which only made her look cute.
She's not a woman. She's a puppy.
"Want me to order you another cocoa?"
"N-no, that's fine. Sweet water like that only muddles the mind."
"Does Enril not drink this stuff either?"
"Unlike an immature person like myself, my lady is flawless. She never loses her composure no matter what she enjoys."
"Is that so?"
He wondered what kind of reaction he'd get if he showed them Enril crying pitifully beneath him.
At Jiha's leisurely response, Mayan's face soured.
"You, of all people, should know about my lady. Since you're..."
Mayan hesitated for a long moment, then slowly voiced the words.
"Her confidant."
"..."
A beat later, Jiha burst out laughing.
As he clutched his stomach and laughed, Mayan scowled deeply.
"Ah, so that's what this was about..."
Now he understood why Mayan had kept snapping at him. She'd been laboring under a complete misunderstanding.
Jiha was aware, of course, that some people saw him as Enril's confidant.
Because the notion that Jiha had tamed Enril and was making her dance to his tune was simply too outlandish.
Just considering the difference in their grades, Enril was so proud and haughty toward everyone else that no one could imagine her panting and trembling in Jiha's arms even in their dreams.
"So you saw me as a rival?"
"..."
As Enril's chosen aide, the Super Rare Mayan had been conscious of Jiha ever since he burst onto the scene, secretly harboring a sense of competition.
A classic case of the newcomer supplanting the old guard—or so she'd mistakenly believed.
"And since I saved you, you're grateful too now?"
"...I am grateful."
Mayan admitted it honestly.
Jiha nodded.
"I like that you're cute. I have no intention of taking your place, so don't get worked up over nothing."
"What are you saying? Whoever can help my lady more should become the Super Rare."
Mayan grew serious.
Her loyalty to Enril was genuine.
"I'll tell Enril that today's success was your credit too, so relax."
"..."
Mayan looked distinctly uncomfortable, but Jiha turned his gaze toward the main street.
Men who were visibly well-built could be seen going in and out of the inns, standing around the street and talking loudly.
On closer inspection, all of them had a hammer emblem engraved on their weapons or armor.
'They'd rented out all the nearby inns to quarter two hundred men. But where was the money coming from? 2,300 men was an army.'
Maintaining a force like that required enormous operating funds, yet the Dirga famously didn't sell their weapons—they only gave them to men they personally acknowledged.
It didn't add up. Looking into it further, he'd learned that the guards were given a minimal allowance.
But it was laughably little. Could an armed group really be satisfied with pocket change?
"Let's go, then."
Time to stir the pot.
Bringing Mayan along, Jiha entered the inn where the escort guards were staying.
Rough-looking men were clustered in small groups, talking, laughing, and making a racket.
All of them were men. The only women were the staff carrying food and drinks.
The moment Jiha took an empty seat with Mayan, the men stopped their conversations and fixed their attention on him.
"Um, sir, currently this inn is..."
A server approached, hesitating as she spoke.
Jiha put on an oblivious expression and said,
"What's available in the kitchen right now?"
"Hey."
A man with a knife scar across his face strode over with heavy steps.
"Looks like we've got ourselves some young master. Get the hell out. We've rented this place out."
"Where'd the money come from?"
"...What?"
The man, who'd spoken in a threatening tone, frowned.
Jiha kept his voice calm.
"Renting out a whole establishment like this usually requires paying a hefty premium. On top of that, when rough, violent types like you occupy the place, it wreaks havoc on the local business district. This inn charges 40,000 rel a night, has fifteen bedrooms, and even if you negotiate a discount for a long-term stay, alcohol and meals cost extra. They could easily clear a million rel in daily sales."
"What..."
"I'm talking numbers here."
Jiha spoke as if lecturing an ignorant child.
"But with you lot here, customers like me won't come. Which means you'd have to pay two or three million a day just to reach a deal with the owner. So where's all that money coming from?"
"..."
The scarred man blinked, then slammed a hand down on the table.
"None of your damn business. If you don't want to look bad in front of the lady, get out. Now."
"Hey, why don't we just tear that bastard's mouth open and rip the bitch's bottom half apart while we're at it?"
"With your little pecker, that's never gonna work. A feisty bitch like that needs a real man's sturdy tool to do the ripping!"
"Like a proper dog, does she bark in bed too? Bark when you stick it in, bark when you pull it out!"
"Woof woof! It feels so good, master. Woof woof!"
At the obscene jeers from the men watching, Mayan's face flushed crimson with fury.
But remembering what Jiha had told her before they came, she kept her mouth firmly shut.
The scarred man shot an irritated glance toward the back, then muttered in a low voice to Jiha.
"Hear that? Get out before your maid sees something ugly, young master."
"Wasn't this supposed to be a female-superior world? What makes those guys so cocky?"
Jiha played dumb.
Following Jiha's instructions, Mayan had removed her rank insignia beforehand.
Seeing her as nothing more than a powerless maid, the rough men had let their mouths run loose.
"Whether you're a weak woman or a weak man, bad things happen to you either way. If you've got strength, you can do whatever you want."
"So you're saying you have strength?"
The scarred man silently tapped his weapon a few times to show it off.
Jiha ignored it completely.
"About what I asked earlier—did you actually pay the inn a proper leasing fee?"
"Talking only gets you so far..."
The scarred man grabbed Jiha's shoulder in a vice grip and started squeezing.
He probably meant to demonstrate the power of his grip... but Jiha subtly summoned his Mana and reinforced his defense.
"..."
The scarred man, who'd been applying force, furrowed his brow.
Jiha sighed.
"Seriously, take it easy on the solo sessions. There's no power in your hand. No power at all."
"You little shit..."
The scarred man bristled and swung a punch with his other hand.
His forearm was thick, so the power behind it was probably hefty, but the trajectory was an obvious telegraphed swing. Jiha casually opened his palm.
As if being drawn in, the scarred man's fist landed squarely in Jiha's grasp.
It didn't budge an inch.
"What..."
"The old rule: paper beats rock. Didn't you know?"
Realizing the opponent wasn't some pampered young noble, the scarred man's face hardened.
Having stopped the man's punch, Jiha gave Mayan a command.
"Show them they're wrong for looking down on you as weak."
"...Are you certain it's all right?"
"Don't kill anyone. And no blades."
This would be a good chance to see how Mayan fought.
Given permission, Mayan sprang to her feet.
The men's lewd taunts must have been deeply offensive—her tail stood rigidly upright as she walked, practically stabbing the air.
"What's this, the little mutt?"
"Coming over on her own two feet to get pounded, is she?"
"Get on all fours and lift that ass up. Then maybe—"
Mayan drove a kick into the belly of the snickering one-eyed man.
He clearly hadn't expected a maid in uniform to use violence—his body flew horizontally and slammed into the wall.
"What the hell, you crazy—"
The faces of the jeering men changed in an instant.
They might be thugs, but they'd survived a harsh life and had instincts.
Seven opponents remained. Mayan hesitated briefly, then waited for them to attack.
When the nearest one threw a punch, she deflected it with her arm and kicked out with her leg. As he crumpled without a sound, the other men shouted.
"Hey, rush her all at once!"
"You goddamn bitch! We're gonna mess you up bad today!"
"..."
When three came at her simultaneously, Mayan kicked lightly off the floor and launched a sweeping spin kick.
She seemed accustomed to fighting groups, but that turned out to be their undoing—the fluid, flowing kick sent all three flying into tables, smashing them apart as they tumbled.
Three left.
"What the hell."
"Where'd this crazy bitch come from..."
Ignoring the curses, Mayan waited for them to move.
The men exchanged glances, then drew their weapons.
Maybe their pride was wounded at the thought of pulling blades and charging a bare-handed woman all at once—they hung back, gauging the moment.
Then Mayan ghosted forward, gliding across the floor.
"Shit!"
The first man stabbed, and the next slashed in from the diagonal.
Mayan slipped just to the side of the first thrust, then rammed him with her shoulder. Thrown off balance by the body-weight blow, the first man reeled.
"You moron, get out of the way!"
The second man, who'd been bringing his blade down, panicked when the first man's body entered his cutting arc.
Shhk!
He tried to pull the stroke, but a deep gash opened on the first man's arm regardless.
"Gyaaah!!"
The first man collapsed with a scream, and in the second man's moment of confusion over having attacked his own ally, Mayan kicked him as well.
The last remaining man edged backward cautiously, then ground his teeth.
"What's your goal here? What are you thinking!"
"I don't know."
"What?"
The last man was dumbfounded, but Mayan meant it sincerely.
She'd come along because she owed Jiha her life, and though she didn't understand the situation, she was simply doing it because she'd been told it was all right.
"Stay back!"
Mayan waited for the last man's wild sword swing to pass, then smoothly slipped inside his guard and thrust her palm forward.
Caught square in the chest, the man crashed through a table.
"Huff..."
As Mayan wiped away sweat, the scarred man flew through the air.
"Aaargh!"
When Mayan turned, she saw the one-eyed man she'd kicked first pinned beneath the scarred man—he'd been trying to draw his sword.
Jiha, having simply intervened, assessed her with a flat comment.
"You're sloppy at finishing them off."
"I could have handled it properly."
"And get taken hostage again?"
"..."
The moment Jiha brought up the Kamain incident, Mayan flushed red and couldn't argue.
"What's all this commotion?"
Hearing a voice from above, Jiha raised his head.
'Break the minions, and the boss shows up.'
Accompanied by steady footsteps, a figure in full-body armor descended the stairs.
A delicate-featured beauty with short-cropped hair.
Jiha reflexively said,
"What's that?"
"...What do you mean, what are you?"
The armored beauty seemed to find it rude to be spoken about that way right in front of her, and her temper flared.
Jiha opened his mouth incredulously.
"Weren't all the Dirga escort guards men? Why is there a woman here?"
The armored beauty descending the stairs stopped.
The one-eyed man, who'd been wheezing on the floor, looked at Jiha and grinned smugly.
"...You, you guys are dead now. Nobody who's called our captain a woman has ever walked away in one piece."
Jiha tsked.
"Is he seriously trying to claim that face is a man's?"
"...I think we're past the need for further words."
The androgynous beauty drew her sword.
But Jiha subdued her with a simple sentence.
"I'm here to collect a debt."
"What...?"
As the woman's face grew puzzled, Jiha opened his palm.
"I said I came to collect money on behalf of the merchants, you morons."
Sometimes, money is sharper than any blade.