Chapter 171: Creating an Opportunity - 12
Chapter 171: Creating an Opportunity - 12
The street.
By the time Jiha and Uben arrived, clusters of figures lay sprawled across the ground.
Every piece of armor and weapon bore the crossed-hammer emblem—Narsha's Escort Guards, every last one of them.
"Looks like over a hundred..."
"A hundred and fifty."
Jiha corrected him and looked ahead.
A succubus who had been bowing her head and handing over coins to a street vendor turned around and brightened.
"Ah, Lord Jiha. You're here?"
Yura approached with quick steps and smiled bashfully.
She clasped her hands behind her back, tilting her eyes up just slightly to gauge his mood—a gesture that was both adorable and laced with sensuality.
"How's the situation?"
"Ah, I heard the Common ranks were in danger, so I took care of it."
Yura had dealt with one hundred fifty Escort Guards on her own, and she didn't have a scratch on her.
"How'd you fight them?"
"I flew around and finished them with light spheres. Is that... not allowed?"
Yura had a look that suggested she was worried she had done something wrong.
Jiha nodded.
'A bomber, then...'
If an enemy flies overhead and rains down Mana-formed energy clumps like a downpour, how is anyone supposed to counter that?
He'd heard succubi fought that way, but what set Yura apart was her Mana capacity.
Asira had said Yura's total Mana reserves exceeded her own.
Her innate Mana reservoir was already large for a Unique, but thanks to Jiha, she'd undergone her Second Awakening and even gained Mana recovery speed, so she could truly bombard without pause.
'What would I have done?'
Jiha gauged how he would have countered it.
'Being outdoors is no good, to begin with. You'd have to draw her into the tightest possible space before you could do anything. Timing and location matter in a fight, after all... Even I'd have trouble reacting in time if Yura attacked me unprepared.'
Yura would never be his enemy.
But that didn't mean an enemy who attacked the same way Yura did—or more savagely—couldn't appear someday.
Above the ten Uniques stood the three Legends, and above them, the one and only Epic.
Kill or subjugate them all, drive flags into every inch of the land—only then would he have truly conquered all of Warsland.
"...Lord Jiha, did I do something wrong?"
When Jiha sank into deep thought, Yura asked uneasily.
Uben bowed his head and withdrew.
"Commander, I will check on Team 4's situation and get things in order. It seems another hundred were hastily thrown in when Yura Hairedeu intervened. I'll be able to confirm who on the enemy side made that move soon."
"..."
Instead of answering, Jiha stared directly at Uben.
"Commander?"
"Fine, get moving."
"Yes, sir."
What Jiha had been briefly considering was the matter of forms of address.
Uben normally referred to people by their full names in a dry manner. That had been fine up until now, but what if Leticia had been present?
With her dislike for beastmen, she might have bristled.
'She'd likely hold back from losing her temper openly out of consideration for me, but...'
The crux was the hierarchy.
Among the Commons, Uben was plainly the second-in-command.
While Garaon and Okram handled raw force, Uben was the brains.
He gathered intelligence, organized everything, and reported to Jiha as an advisor, so the other Commons already treated him as the second-in-command.
'Sooner or later, the Commons will realize that the Uniques submit to me. When that happens, I'll carry out an organizational reshuffle.'
It was a matter to decide carefully.
When Jiha looked up, Yura had grown even more nervous and was at a loss for what to do.
"Was it something I wasn't supposed to do? Then I'm sorry..."
"No, it was well done. Good work."
When Jiha praised her, Yura smiled bashfully as if relieved.
She was so delighted that her face flushed bright red.
'So this is what Sirel's outburst set in motion.'
Sirel had practically lost her mind and lashed out after seeing Jiha's injuries.
The four Uniques, not knowing what else to do, had started finding work on their own.
According to Lijin, Enril, Yura, Leticia, and Asira had put their heads together and discussed it.
If they had simply wanted to smash Narsha, Jiha would have ordered the Uniques to do it himself.
Since Jiha seemed to have a plan for the Commons' operations, they would watch, and if things looked dangerous, they'd step in.
'They're starting to use their heads on their own. Not bad...'
They were thinking for themselves and proactively finding work to do.
That was good.
Jiha had earned the Uniques' submission, becoming both their clear superior and an object of affection.
And now, the fact that the four of them had firmly ingrained the mindset that they had to act for Jiha's sake on their own was significant.
Narsha had attacked Jiha with her Escort Guards, and now other Uniques were beating those Escort Guards down.
The current situation was, in practice, a civil war within Blue Seal.
Considering Leticia was involved, this could easily become politically sensitive.
But the Uniques, faced with the fact that Jiha had been gravely wounded, had simply let their thinking freeze.
"Getting injured isn't all bad."
They hadn't captured Narsha then, but in exchange, the Uniques had more firmly recognized Jiha as both a superior and a precious person.
Yura, still shy from Jiha's praise, cautiously asked.
"Lord Jiha, do you have a moment?"
"Hm?"
Jiha, who had been lost in thought for a while, turned absently and then paused.
The sight of the red-haired succubus looking at him with glistening eyes... was deeply beautiful.
It was also true that her demure, elegant beauty contrasted with her full breasts and provocative body, drawing any man in.
Her sexual allure had always been overflowing, but now the look in her eyes as she gazed at Jiha was thick with heated passion and affection.
She was bewitching enough to make him wonder if she was using some kind of charm magic.
"Ah..."
When Jiha stared blankly, Yura beamed and rose slightly into the air.
She'd noticed he thought she looked pretty.
Floating gently, she pressed close, her cheek against Jiha's.
Everyone was busy clearing up the surroundings, so no one was looking at them.
Then Yura whispered softly.
"Just a moment. If you stay like this, I'll do something nice for you later."
What did she mean?
Jiha was about to ask, but Yura simply turned her head to the side and spoke.
"You're late, Asira."
"It seems so, Yura."
Asira had been approaching with a smile, ready to praise Yura, when her expression froze.
She'd belatedly noticed Yura was embracing Jiha's neck, and she grew flustered.
Yura smiled brightly at the greatly startled Asira and spoke.
"Lord Jiha praised me, said I did well. He doesn't say things like that often, so I'm really happy."
"...I see. That's good."
Asira's expression had stiffened momentarily, but she forced a smile.
To any observer, it was a smile that was struggling to mask her feelings.
Yura smiled gently and kept talking.
"I'm truly happy that Lord Jiha cherishes me."
"It seems there's nothing left for me to do, so I'll be on my way..."
As Asira tried to turn away quickly, Yura whispered extremely quietly into Jiha's ear.
"Wait..."
Yura, who had been clinging tightly around Jiha's neck, pressed her lips against his first.
Soft lips mingled, and a slick tongue pushed in.
Her full breasts pressed firmly against his chest, rubbing subtly.
Hovering by her own power, Yura hung onto him without transferring her weight, nibbling Jiha's lips and twining her tongue.
The woman's tongue rolled from one edge of the man's lips all the way to the other.
It was a deep kiss that made his head and lower body boil in a single instant.
His hand unconsciously groped and grasped Yura's waist, and her body thrilled, pressing her chest against him even more.
As if asking, don't you want to touch? Even through the fabric, her breasts, their shape unmistakable, rubbed secretly against his chest.
At an angle no one else could see, Yura's taut, supple thigh subtly pressed and stimulated his groin.
It was a kiss that provoked him with her whole body.
Schlup. Ssip...
While savoring the succubus's lewd kiss, Jiha opened his eyes and looked straight ahead.
"..."
Asira, who had been on the verge of leaving, was staring at the two of them, her face gone stark pale.
Then, belatedly realizing her eyes had met Jiha's, she bolted away as if fleeing.
When the sound of her footsteps faded, Yura pulled her lips back and looked up at him with a lingering, sticky gaze.
She smiled shyly, her eyes still glistening as she gazed at Jiha.
"Asira... is jealous. Very much."
Yura had kissed Jiha for Asira to see.
Just that kiss alone had made his lower half swell so fast it left his head spinning.
Jiha asked quietly.
"Asira still didn't know?"
"No, but it's fine. Asira likes both me and Lord Jiha too much, you see. The reason she ran away just now is because she felt sorry for having hated me, even for a moment. She's always kind and has always yielded to me. She couldn't bear the guilt of being jealous, of coveting my man."
"You know it well."
"I am Lord Jiha's succubus, after all. Strangely, I can understand the hearts of women who look at Lord Jiha."
Yura had a face full of satisfaction.
"It feels like I'm playing a naughty prank on Asira."
"Sounds like a bratty girl, all right."
That Yura had already given herself to Jiha was something Asira had no idea about.
Yura held Jiha's hand tightly and spoke gently.
"But if I don't do this, she'll try to yield. In the end, she'll understand."
"Alright, leave it to me."
He liked that Yura was pushing the situation forward so proactively, and there was indeed one step left in the process of truly taming Asira.
No secret stays hidden forever.
Sooner or later, the fact that Jiha and Yura had deceived Asira would come to light, and the key would be how to manage that fallout.
"Yes, I'll work harder."
Yura answered, but didn't loosen her arms from around Jiha's neck.
Her face flushed red, she cautiously asked.
"...Aren't you feeling good, Lord Jiha?"
"Are you asking if I want to do it?"
"...Yes."
Yura's red irises gleamed with a lurid light.
Jiha's own resolve wavered under the heat of her pestering, urging him to merge their bodies right away, to dote on her.
No, his lower half was already fiercely swollen and his head was burning hot.
The desire to savor this succubus's body to his heart's content, to conquer her, was running rampant at that very moment.
"Commander, I've received intel."
"...Looks like it's not happening."
"Yes. Next time."
Yura's face was full of lingering attachment as she loosened her arms and stepped back.
When Jiha approached, Uben reported in a low voice.
"Someone has come, insisting they must meet the Commander. Says they're a dwarf apothecary."
"So it's Taigirl..."
The bait had arrived.
Jiha quickly devised the next plan.
"Who's the one who deployed a hundred fifty men here just now?"
"A Centurion called Getereu. According to talk, he's a mouse beastman under Lungtao, the kind who uses his head."
"That bastard?"
It was the one Jiha had smashed during the second round.
"He's consistent, sticking his neck out for no reason and getting wrecked. He'll be even more agitated right about now..."
Jiha nodded.
"Feed counter-intel through the Escort Guard channels so it reaches him. Say that the location of a potent aphrodisiac, Bugra, has finally been uncovered. Sell that intel to the Escort Guards at a high price."
"Understood."
Would Narsha obediently fall in line just because Lungtao was defeated?
Even if all her Escort Guards died, that wench wouldn't bat an eye.
Seeds had to be planted. So that once they'd won, there'd be something to harvest.