Chapter 145: The Man - 2
Chapter 145: The Man - 2
Jiha closed the book he'd been reading while waiting for Enril to return and, at the sight of the master and servant embracing, he nodded.
"So you really are a lesbian."
"I am not! It is simply normal physical affection!!"
Still wrapped in Enril's arms, Mayan twisted her head around and shouted in vehement denial.
But whether she was happy about the embrace or not, her dog tail wagged gently from side to side.
"If that's what counts as normal physical affection, then enjoy your romance. Should I just head back?"
"No..."
Enril hesitated, uncharacteristically, then asked carefully.
"Why did you come here, anyway..."
"To get on your nerves."
"..."
"I come home after work and there's a man here to greet you. Feels amazing, doesn't it?"
Enril nodded blankly at Jiha's words.
'Well, she planned to come home and rest for once and then I showed up, so of course she's flustered...'
Should I press the advantage while she's off-balance?
No, I came here tonight to settle my relationship with Enril completely.
No schemes. A direct confrontation.
Mayan snapped back to her senses and pushed Enril away with a reluctant expression.
"There, my lady. First, go change your clothes. Quickly!"
"Ah, eh, yes..."
"Hurry! I will pick something out..."
As Mayan hurriedly shooed Enril away, Jiha gestured at her.
"I'm bored, so you come here."
"... Do you take me for some kind of playmate?"
"Enril isn't a child. Can't she change clothes by herself? Come here."
Mayan sighed, whispered something to Enril, and pushed her along by the back.
Enril hesitated, then headed toward the dressing room with a dazed, drifting step.
'I should separate them for now...'
If Mayan stayed at Enril's side, the conversation would go more smoothly, but Jiha hadn't come here to employ trickery tonight.
And the part about being bored was true enough.
Mayan sat down across from Jiha and snapped at him, sulking.
"I should inform you that I cannot entertain you for long, as I must prepare dinner. Just so you're aware."
"I already had a snack."
"That was merely hospitality for a guest."
"So I'm not an uninvited guest anymore?"
When Jiha needled her, Mayan put strength into her eyes and glared at him.
"Most regrettably, you can no longer be categorized as an uninvited guest. It grieves me."
"If we're talking about a meal, just prepare something simple."
"Out of the question. It is a formal dinner."
"It's just the evening meal, why eat that much? Just do something reasonable..."
"For-mal. Din-ner."
Mayan growled at him, and Jiha frowned.
"Do you normally eat like that? This is why Enril's been putting on weight around her hips."
"What exactly is wrong with my lady's hips?! And besides, she was like that before I ever started serving her!"
"Every time I see them, I think they look great."
"Well, of course she is attractive in every way."
Mayan flattened her dog ears and nodded as if she understood, and Jiha let out a wry smile.
Even while she was growling at him, the moment he complimented Enril, she brightened right up.
What a pure-hearted creature.
"Fine, then. Feed her and call her back. In the meantime, I'll just read a bit more..."
"You must participate too. What are you talking about?"
"I already ate..."
"You will attend. No exceptions. Absolutely."
"..."
If anyone else kept cutting him off like this, he would have smashed them by now.
But Mayan's tone was genuinely earnest, and she even bowed her head.
"I beg of you. If you grant me this favor, I will do whatever you wish later."
Jiha tsked.
"I'm not very hungry. I won't eat much."
It didn't really matter anyway.
Today was not the time for coercion alone.
Up until now, Jiha had trained his subordinates using carrot and stick. The fact that they were women hadn't made them exceptions. But in the end, carrot and stick was simply a rational interpersonal skill.
'I need genuine sincerity...'
Satisfying someone's desires and teaching them fear would not secure long-term dominance on their own.
How had Jiha won the hearts of the Commons? By avenging Hakal, by taking revenge on Deubang. In those moments, he had poured true feeling into his words and deeds. He had channeled the bitterness he'd suppressed as a slave, all his fury against this godforsaken world. The Commons felt it in their bones, which was why they had sworn absolute loyalty to Jiha and were fighting and laying down their lives for him.
Believing sincerity alone can carry the day is a soft-headed view of the world. But believing you can carry the day without any sincerity at all is a view that mocks people.
Jiha had been racking his brain ceaselessly, keeping several keywords of genuine feeling in mind—the kind that would captivate Enril and make her submit to him forever. But true feeling, sincerity, isn't something you calculate. A calculated heart eventually reveals itself and invites disaster. His words and actions had to emerge naturally, carrying the emotions appropriate to the moment. Just like when he'd been talking with Enril and suddenly blurted out that she was lovable.
While Jiha was thinking, Mayan narrowed her eyes.
"I should mention that you will likely have to wait quite a while. My lady must bathe and prepare herself, so please expect at least two hours."
"Is she doing movie makeup or something?"
"I do not know what that is, but the fault lies with you for arriving without an appointment. This is the price for telling me not to send my lady a message when I offered."
Well, because a surprise gets better results.
As Jiha regarded her indifferently, Mayan asked calmly,
"Are you staying the night?"
"What?"
"You will be sleeping here, won't you? I shall send word to the barracks."
Mayan answered her own question and rose from her seat.
"Then I will go prepare the meal. I should add that if you try to summon my lady out of boredom, I will curse you."
"You had that kind of talent?"
"I will find a way."
Mayan shot him a flashing glare and trotted away with quick, short steps.
Left alone, Jiha organized his thoughts.
Lungtao would be gathering information on him and starting to piece together everything Jiha had been doing from the shadows. Having seen the man in person and crossed swords with him, Jiha knew Lungtao was more than capable of that. Once Lungtao assessed the situation, what would his first strategic target be? Likely the link between Jiha and his Uniques. He would try to sweet-talk the women Jiha had collected. Leticia now placed more importance on Jiha than on the elves. Yura would be no problem. Asira's personality wouldn't let her be swayed by such overtures either. The problem was Enril. She had a fierce concern for the racial fate of the dark elves, and that could be exploited to make her waver.
"What should I do..."
Jiha closed his eyes and pictured what lay ahead.
'Lungtao and Bran... No question they're in opposition to each other. If I exploit their antagonism to my benefit and then use the Dirga to put a period on it, I think I could place all two thousand of those people under me.'
After thinking it over again and again, Jiha reached his conclusion.
"Good. Then the plan is to start moving tomorrow."
Uben would have the intelligence gathered by now.
He would verify it tomorrow and give further detailed orders.
Still, tonight, I really want to lock down Enril's heart tight.
"..."
Mid-thought, Jiha stopped short. He'd caught himself looking forward, for a moment, to what Enril would emerge wearing—and quite a lot at that.
The meal began an hour later.
Enril and Jiha sat facing each other across a long rectangular dining table.
Mayan continued ferrying in the dishes.
"..."
Enril was wearing a blue evening dress that bared her shoulders.
It suited her long silver hair and light brown skin remarkably well.
A peerless beauty of absolute splendor.
Even if the woman herself was just silently chewing her meat without a single word.
"This feels like the first time we've eaten together."
"... Yeah."
Whatever Jiha said, she kept it to monosyllables, leaving him no opening to dig in.
Mayan merely set down the dishes, gave brief explanations of the ingredients, then fled the spot at a run, leaving nothing to exploit.
Thirty minutes passed with zero progress in conversation.
Jiha changed tactics and set down his utensils.
"Do you have any complaints or suggestions? I came here to listen."
Given Jiha's way of handling people and his experience, that was a tremendously unconventional proposal.
Enril showed next to no reaction.
"... Nothing in particular."
"..."
He had even opened his heart wider than usual to throw out bait meant to rattle her, and she still refused to bite.
Jiha thought for a moment, then spoke firmly.
"Should I just go back?"
"What?"
"I came here to talk and we're getting nowhere. This is just wasting time. We can talk again at the barracks next time."
He deliberately chose the word "next time" rather than saying "tomorrow."
Enril grew flustered, and Jiha said quietly,
"You said you were waiting for me to come, so I came, but it looks like you're not really in the mood."
"..."
Enril hesitated a moment, then answered.
"I never imagined you would just show up out of the blue."
"Things have been happening."
"... And so?"
Enril's voice turned sharp.
"If you came because you have some task for me, say it quickly."
"..."
As Enril snapped at him coldly, Jiha frowned.
Finally she uses a longer sentence, and the content is nothing but picking a fight.
Above all, a beast he had tamed was now baring its fangs.
A reflexive hostility rose up inside Jiha in response.
When a predator you've had chained around the neck starts resisting again, shouldn't you teach it fear?
"What did you just say to me?"
"You only ever come looking for me when there's business. It's always like that. Say it quickly."
"..."
Ah, damn it.
Jiha realized in an instant that any reply to this would land him in a fucked situation.
The pattern where a woman gets angry at whatever the man says!
Jiha came back with the least bad answer he could manage.
"Is that really how I seemed to you?"
"Even now, all you've talked about is work."
"..."
Jiha swallowed the reply that rose to his lips.
Arguing who was right or wrong would just be a quagmire.
'Lijin certainly saw it accurately.'
That business about women being unable to endure Jiha's methods for long—deep down, Jiha had shared that sentiment.
And now it had erupted.
Just as Jiha was about to open his mouth, Enril lashed out.
"And why do you assume I have complaints? If I'd had any, I would have said so long ago. Surely you didn't think I lacked the courage?"
"..."
So I did manage to touch a nerve properly.
Well, fine. It's better than when she was only speaking in short fragments.
As Jiha watched her calmly, Enril burst out even more emotionally.
"Is this the kind of talk you have over a meal together?"
"Done being angry?"
"..."
Enril threw down her utensils, got up from the table, and walked away.
As she stormed off in anger, she came to a brief, hesitant pause, then continued out, letting her footsteps ring even more sharply with emotion.
Either she thought Jiha would stop her.
Or she thought Jiha would catch hold of her.
"Well, then..."
First, getting her angry was a success.
Better than no reaction at all.
"Now that she's gotten emotional."
Rice has to cook before it becomes a meal.
Let it rest a bit.
As though she had grasped the situation, Mayan came running with rapid steps and stood before Jiha.
"Go after my lady at once. Quickly!"
"Wait."
"... I will apologize on her behalf, so please let go of your anger. My lady is merely acting like this because the situation is so unfamiliar to her."
"I'm not angry."
Jiha was thinking.
'Should I give her a cooling-off period? No, in ordinary times that might work, but with Lungtao expected to make his approach soon, it's a poor move. It really is better to finish all of this tonight.'
Mayan grabbed Jiha by the arm and forced him to his feet.
The sight of her groaning and straining without even using Mana was so pitiful that Jiha stood up.
He did not, however, move.
"I said wait. Let me think for a second."
"No. Go now. I am begging you."
Mayan spoke with force.
Her tone was full of conviction.
"My lady wants you to catch hold of her. You idiot!"
"Women always want that from men."
Jiha laughed at the absurdity of it.
Having Sirel treat him as romantically clueless was already more than enough.
"Do you think I can't figure that out?"
"..."
Mayan stared at Jiha with a startled face.
"Still, I am getting angry myself..."
Apart from rational judgment, his insides were beginning to boil.
Jiha had now decided how to lay open his genuine feelings.
His natural emotions.
"Back off."
Jiha shook off Mayan and walked ahead of her.
There was no need to ask where Enril had gone.
She would have barricaded herself in her own bedroom.
Jiha converted his present emotions into a simple logic of dominance.
A predator he had painstakingly tamed is growling at its master? He would make sure it could never defy him again.