Chapter 154: The Man - 11
Chapter 154: The Man - 11
The red-light district in the late afternoon.
Jiha paid a visit to Iroha's residence.
The top floor of a three-story building that looked like it could collapse any day now.
The gray-haired elf was smoking her long bamboo pipe, always in the exact same pose—the one-eyed elf, perched by the windowsill like a painting.
She didn't flinch at Jiha's unannounced visit and spoke first.
"Take the weapons. I'm running out of space."
The daggers confiscated from the gnolls, hidden away in Iroha's home.
Jiha opened the chest and checked inside.
Dozens of daggers—every last Grade 2 weapon Kamain had leaked was now in Jiha's hands.
Among them, one that emitted a distinct glow had been stored separately.
"This isn't a dagger."
A shortsword sized for humans, a wide-bladed gladius.
Jiha took it in hand and nodded with satisfaction.
Out of seventy weapons, exactly one Grade 1 weapon—this was it.
'The Special Ability is...'
"It extends."
Iroha answered before he could ask.
"Pour Mana into it and you can momentarily extend the blade by about thirty centimeters. The durability isn't great, though. For a Grade 1 weapon, it's a modest ability—but it'll suit you, since you use your head."
"..."
Iroha had a way of speaking as if she saw straight through Jiha.
Jiha fastened the gladius to his belt and closed the chest.
With the fight against Lungtao coming up, it would serve as a decent tool.
"Keep the rest stored for a while longer."
"So you want to remodel a woman's home into a grim weapons warehouse."
"It'll get grimmer soon enough. The Dirga escort guards will be sniffing around everywhere."
"They're more gentlemanly than you'd expect. Of course, there are a few who rough up women or stir up trouble—but that's the same anywhere."
"Any word about them looking for aphrodisiacs?"
When Jiha brought up the intelligence Uben had gathered, Iroha frowned.
Clearly an unpleasant topic.
"I was planning to tell you once I had more details... For now, this isn't being done under the Dirga's orders. She's not the type to seek out such things. You can assume it's the escort guards acting on their own."
"Why would they want it?"
"They want to use it, obviously. It seems they've been tempted by rumors of a powerful aphrodisiac unlike anything before... I doubt it's for any good purpose."
Iroha explained with a cold edge to her voice.
"Normally, escort guards travel from place to place following their Dirga and mix with the local women. Going out of their way to obtain an aphrodisiac means there's something beyond just wanting a woman."
"Is it an order from Lungtao or Bran?"
"The drug is called Bugra. I'll pass on more as it comes in."
Jiha nodded.
Silence stretched. Under Jiha's gaze, Iroha wordlessly puffed on her pipe.
If there was something to say, she'd say it first—Jiha cut straight to the point.
"It's about time you come under me, Iroha."
"A difficult proposal to accept."
"You must have some idea of what I'm doing by now."
Iroha's intelligence-gathering ability was unrivaled.
Jiha collected information through Uben and other channels, but he couldn't match Iroha, who had dominated Waris's underworld for centuries.
The person in Waris who understood Jiha's movements most accurately was this gray elf before him.
"I'll see to it you don't have to live in hiding anymore."
"..."
Iroha rarely left this three-story building.
Even when she did go out, she wore stifling clothes that covered every inch of skin, not even the back of her hands showing, and pulled a hood low to hide the fact that she was a gray elf.
And yet she was always seated by that window, looking out.
Iroha answered coolly.
"We've had a fine partnership so far. Is there any real need for you to take me in? It's not as if I've been feeding you false information."
"Outsourcing intelligence has its limits."
There would be more to conceal from now on, more that had to remain secret.
And Jiha, who wanted to track Lungtao's whereabouts and movements in real time, saw the need to overhaul the intelligence system.
Iroha had to be brought under his command.
Iroha took a sip of her drink and shook her head.
"Lately, your name has started drifting around the streets more and more. More people are gradually learning about you."
"What are they saying?"
"The opinions are mixed. But everyone knows you're up to something—and that you'll keep at it. I hear you kidnapped that adorable elf girl and turned her into your slave. I also hear you stepped in personally to resolve the trouble for the innkeepers who were being harassed by the escort guards."
Little by little, people were coming to know Jiha's deeds.
"It's not just street rumors anymore. Your name is starting to surface between the two camps as well."
"A necessary stage to pass through."
Jiha had already brought four Uniques under his control.
With Narsha the Dirga, that would make five.
Once half the Uniques in Warsland were tamed by Jiha... there was no hiding it any longer.
And the Dirga's escort guards alone numbered in the thousands—the process of subjugating them would inevitably erupt into a major incident.
Jiha had calculated what lay ahead, steeled himself, and then stepped into the light.
"Spread false information about me. That I'm nothing more than one of Enril's subordinates. That I'm a fool courting Leticia. Whatever the details, as long as the spies from both camps are misled about my objectives and my identity. You can do that, can't you?"
Iroha laughed coolly.
"That's a request that can only be made if you truly trust me. What would you do if I were the one to spread your real information?"
"Then I'd expose the fact that you're a gray elf. When you came to meet me, you must have braced yourself for that too."
Jiha snorted.
"Enril, Leticia—the dark elves and the elves know about you and stay quiet because I made arrangements to keep it that way."
"How very grateful I am."
When Iroha's voice dripped with sarcasm, Jiha smiled.
"Right, you should be grateful. You recognized me, and I recognized you."
"..."
Iroha had assumed that Jiha, acting with grand ambitions, wouldn't do anything rash.
That was why she had shown herself to him.
And Jiha, reading that very assumption, had kept his mouth shut.
The two of them understood each other's intentions, yet maintained a partnership that stopped short of full trust.
Jiha spoke again.
"The cooperation so far has been satisfactory, but it's reaching its limit. Either you come under me—or your identity gets exposed and you end up on the run."
"In that case, everything you're trying to accomplish would fall apart too. Do you honestly think I don't have the means?"
"Follow me, and if I achieve my goal, you'll gain the freedom you've wanted. Defy me, and you'll never have it."
"..."
"Bet on the side with slightly better odds."
Iroha closed her eyes and did nothing but smoke for a long while.
Jiha didn't press her.
A gray elf who had lived in seclusion for centuries—there was no way she'd give an answer right away.
"Your request means you're willing to take responsibility for me. Am I right?"
"It means I'm willing to buy your abilities."
"I had you pegged as a womanizer. Seems I was mistaken."
Tap, tap—Iroha rapped the floor with her pipe.
She was referencing the false information he'd planted when they'd first gotten acquainted.
"I was wholly fooled at first too... but I haven't heard a single word about you seeing any of my girls since then. Not the women, and not the men either."
"I've been busy, that's all. You know as well as I do—cleaning up the gnolls, tying up all sorts of loose ends."
"Is that so? Then let me prepare the girls right now. I'll pay the fee myself, so make sure you enjoy tonight to the fullest before you go."
"..."
Tonight, Jiha intended to ambush the meeting between Lungtao and the elves.
Besides, Iroha's tone made it clear she'd already seen through his false information.
Iroha nodded with something close to admiration.
"The information was so cleverly planted that even I took a while to catch on. Well played."
"And your reason for bringing that up?"
Even if she had seen through Jiha's false information, there was no need to say so.
She could have feigned ignorance and used it at a decisive moment—but Iroha had given that up.
Iroha put the pipe to her lips and spoke.
"I dislike men who aren't considerate to women."
"..."
"By considerate, I don't mean soft-spoken or a pushover. I mean the kind of man who has breadth of character."
Iroha stated it plainly.
"If you want to take me in, then show me that kind of character."
"Be more specific."
Jiha found Iroha's intelligence-gathering ability enormously desirable.
Bringing her under his command would allow for far more detailed and rapid intelligence, and on top of that, the spies from Blue Seal and Purple Liberation could be thoroughly misled.
He wanted to secure Iroha before he raised his banner.
"Make sure you bring in that innocent young lady and the cute young lady who pretends to be angry."
"Why is that necessary?"
The innocent young lady referred to Enril. The cute young lady who pretended to be angry, Leticia.
Though Jiha had already bedded and was making use of both.
Iroha smiled coolly.
"I'm telling you to bed them both at the same time."
"..."
A threesome.
That was breadth of character?
Under Jiha's gaze, Iroha spoke without missing a beat.
"Ever since history has been recorded, elves and dark elves have hated each other fiercely. They don't mix well with other races either, but they reserve a special hatred for one another."
"..."
"It's rare for an elf to bond with another race. It's even rarer for a dark elf to do so, but it's not unheard of. But there has never been a case of an elf and a dark elf bonding with the same person. If such a thing were to happen, the elf and the dark elf would either try to kill each other, or one would give up and leave. No one has ever pulled it off."
True enough—Enril and Leticia spat venom at each other the moment they saw each other's faces.
Even in Jiha's presence, they mind their manners but neither yields a single word to the other.
Iroha grinned playfully and waved her pipe.
"Enjoying an innocent dark elf girl and a cute elf girl in bed at the same time—a fantasy every man in Warsland has dreamed of but none has ever realized. It'll be enjoyable for you too."
"Is that your condition?"
"A man of that caliber would be worth following. If you have that kind of mettle, I'll give you my body and soul."
At first glance it seemed absurd, but Iroha's face was serious.
'Is there some hidden intent behind this?'
Jiha probed, casually.
"Is this about that treasure?"
"..."
Iroha only gave a bitter smile.
That was a yes.
A certain treasure that elves and dark elves had supposedly fought over the use of.
Enril too had kept her mouth shut about that.
'The gray elves are said to have known its whereabouts...'
The Iroha before him was likely the last gray elf.
She might well know where the treasure was.
"Fine."
"Don't underestimate it. It'll be quite difficult. Especially that cute young lady—be gentle with her."
Iroha said that with a note of concern in her voice.
"Elven women devote themselves entirely when they fall in love, but they take their own lives if they're betrayed."
"What?"
"You must not know the stories of elf women who've bonded with other races. That cute young lady—I pity her, really. She's kept her mouth shut because she didn't want to burden you."
Iroha shook her head back and forth.
"When elves bond with other races, it's mostly elf men meeting women of other species. When it's the other way around—an elf woman meeting a man of another race—she's expelled from their society and ends up with nowhere to go. Most lived out unhappy lives."
"..."
Jiha's secretary, the half-elf Lijin, had an elven mother.
The obliging and good-natured Lijin never spoke of how she'd grown up, but it must have been harsh.
"A woman abandoned by her own kind has only her man to lean on. And if that man betrays her? All hope of living vanishes. She'd be left with nothing and an absurdly long lifespan to endure alone."
"..."
"No one ever speaks of the women who ended their own lives that way. I just hope that cute young lady doesn't follow the same path."
Iroha looked at Jiha sidelong.
"I'll keep giving you information. I'll mislead the spies from both camps, as you asked. So don't rush. As I said, I want a man who is considerate to women. Not just to me, but to other women as well."
"..."
Iroha was a woman who had run brothels for hundreds of years—she must have seen and felt a great deal.
Jiha gave it genuine thought and realized what a difficult challenge this was.
Whether it was Enril or Leticia, Jiha could demand their bodies at any time.
But doing so with both at once?
'No simple matter...'
Forcing the situation and pushing through by pressure was possible.
But Iroha's demand wasn't merely that.
She meant for the elf and dark elf to give both body and soul.
If he could manage that, then she, a gray elf, would also acknowledge Jiha and follow him.
"Understood. I'll keep it in mind."
"You've grown more considerate than before. Seems something gave you cause to open your heart."
Iroha spoke as if she'd caught on to something.
"Treasure that person. Then I'll have no reason to turn my back on you."
"Bold words from someone who barely knows a thing."
"If you do that for me, I'll tell you Lungtao's weakness."
Now that was an offer that pricked up his ears.
Iroha said it lightly.
"You're planning a bout tonight, aren't you? You'll want to know."
She really did have all the information.
Jiha nodded.
"Fine. Tell me."
No matter how strong someone is, no one is without a weakness.
And the stronger they are, the more fatal that weakness tends to be.