Chapter 187: Records of the 1st Irregular Meeting
Chapter 187: Records of the 1st Irregular Meeting
Four days after the battle with Lungtao ended.
The mayor's office in Waris.
Jiha sat facing Waris's mayor, Dudinel Kamadra.
Dudinel was the first to speak.
"So things are finally moving in earnest?"
"That's how it worked out. We're calling it the Fact-finding Committee for now, but we'll change the name as needed and absorb the city's administrative staff. Start preparing."
"I'll be looking forward to it."
At Dudinel's agreement, Jiha stared at him.
"If you've got something to ask, go ahead."
"Those attackers this time... what exactly are these 'Shade'?"
A disaster witnessed by countless citizens.
Dudinel was already working hard to grasp the situation.
"I don't know the details either. I've only heard they were a race that disappeared during the Thousand-Year War. Never seen one in person."
Dudinel sighed.
"There are still many races in Warsland, and there were even more before. It's impossible to know the circumstances of every race that's risen and fallen."
"......."
Jiha nodded after a moment's thought.
Unlike Earth, Warsland wasn't a place with developed communication and recording technology.
Information transmission was slow, books were expensive, and each race kept its own shameful past and secrets hidden.
"A closed-off approach."
"The elves are a closed society... but their population is relatively large, so some information leaks out. There are many races even more secretive than them. I didn't know the Shade still lingered in Warsland."
Dudinel, having lived for nearly a millennium even among elves, might know something more.
Jiha thought for a moment, then spoke.
"Those Shade, they aren't residents of Warsland. I heard they were banished to another world and then summoned back with magic stones."
"Is that true?"
Dudinel's face was startled.
He shook his head after a long pause.
Even in the privacy of the mayor's office, he suddenly lowered his voice.
"Do you remember what I told you before? Why the high-ranking officials of both factions go to the trouble of using expensive magic stones to continue the Summoning War?"
"They want to summon something from another dimension?"
"If it's true the Shade are a race banished to another dimension, couldn't we think of it as an extension of that? Someone in Warsland summoned and used them. Under a condition like... if you follow my orders, I'll summon all your remaining kin."
"......."
A plausible hypothesis.
Ultimately, the Shade were ambush specialists at best, not particularly strong.
If Jiha's body had been in good shape, they were guys he could've handled without much trouble.
In other words, disposable pawns.
The mastermind was someone else.
"Who's the culprit?"
"...If magic stones were used, a Unique would've been found out. It's someone above that."
"A Legend, or..."
Dudinel nodded, his face filled with dread, as if he loathed to even speak the word.
As if it were terrifying even to mention the Epic, the strongest creature in Warsland.
"Three Legends, one Epic. One of those four is pulling some bullshit."
Jiha drew his conclusion.
The enemy they would face, in the end.
***
Blue Seal's barracks.
A garden overflowing with all manner of beautiful flowers—red roses, white lilies, yellow peonies.
Four women whose beauty could make even those flowers pale sat in a pavilion.
Dark Elf, Enril Woniak.
Succubus, Yura Hairedeu.
Demon, Asira Hellrunner.
Elf, Leticia Yormun.
They were all beauties, and all Unique Grade representatives of their respective races.
A long silence stretched between the four of them.
Even their eye contact was awkward.
The woman who had arranged the meeting quietly spoke up.
"How is everyone doing these days?"
It was Yura.
While busily carrying out the tasks Jiha assigned to the Fact-finding Committee, Yura had suddenly called them together.
Enril furrowed her brow.
"You want to share gossip or something?"
"...Or did you hear some information to share, Yura?"
Asira spoke, visibly awkward.
Leticia just wore an irritated expression.
Why was the atmosphere such a mess?
The truth was, none of these four were in a position to bow down to anyone, and Enril and Leticia were like cats and dogs the moment they saw each other.
It was strange enough that Leticia, a Purple Unique, was even here.
Leticia, realizing this herself, maintained a pissed-off look the whole time.
Setting down her teacup, Yura spoke gently.
"I just thought we should meet in person and confirm a few things."
"Confirm what?"
Enril's voice was icy.
Asira smiled and tried to soothe her.
"Given the state of things, we should cooperate more, Enril. I was just thinking of arranging a meeting like this myself."
"If this is just about socializing, I'm leaving. We're busy. If you want to play at being friends, do it among yourselves."
Enril spoke haughtily and snorted towards Leticia.
A provocative look.
Are you really going to keep playing along with this pathetic meeting?
Leticia, catching the jab, scrunched up her face... but then Yura suddenly spoke.
"Jiha...."
*Thump.*
Instantly, the other three women's eyes and ears locked onto Yura.
Yura continued leisurely.
"...He's been to this garden too. He liked it very much."
"......."
The three women fell silent.
Leticia's lips parted slightly, and Asira blatantly averted her gaze.
Enril, who had been agitated, suppressed her emotions with a cold expression.
Confronted with this sensitive topic, a sudden stillness fell.
The women grew defensive, gauging each other.
Not wanting to be caught off guard.
Ready to attack before being attacked.
Yura smiled outwardly, but sighed internally.
'Everyone likes Jiha, but...'
A succubus's instinct.
Yura could roughly sense the feelings of women who harbored affection for Jiha.
It wasn't some mind-reading trick, just enough to grasp their general feelings.
And when Yura combined this with what she already knew...
Enril had figured out Jiha had other women, yet played dumb.
Leticia simply knew Jiha had other women. She was itching to know if he slept with Enril or Asira, but was too scared to ask, so she just stewed in anxiety.
Asira was a real piece of work... she honestly believed she was Jiha's only woman. She was consumed by guilt, thinking she had a shameful physical relationship with Jiha, who was dating Yura.
'I want to clear up Asira's little misunderstanding soon, so we can all serve Jiha together. He'd be completely smitten then...'
Yura herself was plotting (?) to convince Asira to join them in bed... a scheme to stand out among Jiha's women.
Cunning? But this much was necessary.
Uniques were powerhouses who thought nothing of slaughtering over a thousand people.
And such women had their eyes on one man?
Women who didn't even know the first thing about love?
If things went wrong, they could clash and spill blood at any moment.
'I know this situation better than anyone else here... I should take the lead.'
Yura was also brimming with the desire to spend time alone with Jiha, but right now, she was the only one who could mediate this.
He would recognize her efforts someday.
Or not, it didn't matter.
Because she was confident about the night she'd please Jiha together with Asira.
As a succubus, she could outdo any other woman here.
"So what's your point?"
Enril glared coldly at Yura.
A hostile look.
She'd noticed that the usually gentle Yura was now harboring some crafty design, trying to manage them.
"Jiha seems tired lately, don't you think?"
"...So? What's that got to do with anything?"
Leticia retorted sharply.
Whether she meant 'what does it matter to me if Jiha is tired,' or 'who are you to worry about him,' was unclear.
Yura could only offer a wry smile.
The real problem right now was that all four of them were Jiha's women, but none were willing to admit it.
Things were different when they were alone with Jiha, of course.
But in front of other women, they feigned complete ignorance and acted like they didn't even know him.
Enril, Leticia, even Asira.
They secretly kept each other in check and knew the truth, but kept it tightly hidden.
It was working for now, but this couldn't go on forever.
"I think Jiha is heartbroken."
"...Oh, really?"
Asira stiffly played along. She was desperate to hide her guilt over lying to Yura.
Leticia snorted.
"Heartbroken? Why? Everything's going well. Did he hit a snag somewhere?"
"If you can't think, at least keep your mouth shut, elf."
"...What?"
Leticia glared at Enril.
She even summoned her purple Mana.
Ready to fight.
Asira was startled, but Enril just rested her chin on her hand and sneered.
"Surely you realize I'm not taking the succubus's side. Spare us the bullshit about getting along because we're both Blue Seal. It's a waste of time."
"......."
Leticia was dumbfounded.
Just when it seemed like Enril was siding with Yura, she drew a clear line in the sand.
In one sentence, Enril had turned Leticia, Yura, and Asira into enemies.
Enril stared off into the distance and continued.
"Lungtao died. It's probably because of that."
"What? What difference does one filthy dead tiger beastman ma—"
"Say that to Jiha's face."
Leticia's face flushed red with anger at Enril's words. But even as she trembled, she kept her mouth shut.
Honestly, Leticia had reacted angrily because Enril said it, not because she truly believed that.
She understood that Lungtao was different to Jiha.
Asira spoke softly.
"Lungtao was a rare hero. A bold man with great spirit. If Jiha only wanted to defeat him, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths."
Waris was already Jiha's stronghold.
Though the Dirga's escort guards numbered over two thousand, if Jiha had been determined, taking Lungtao's head wouldn't have been difficult.
Yet he used every scheme, created a stage, and competed with him directly.
Asira concluded.
"He must feel as if he's lost a kindred spirit."
"...Yes."
Yura answered quietly, but she had nothing to add.
She had been cherished as the youngest of the succubi, but she had never had a friend. She glanced at Enril and Leticia, wondering if either of them had ever had a friend.
'...Neither of you has friends, I see.'
Yura realized it, but kept her mouth shut.
Asira, the only one among the four with a wide circle of friends, sighed again.
"I've also lost people I cherished, friends. I think I understand how he must feel. What's more, Jiha had to send off a friend who fought alongside him to the very end. A sense of loss like that isn't easily filled."
"Then... what should we do for him?"
Leticia asked earnestly, setting aside her irritation and her attempts to hide her feelings.
Wanting to do something for Jiha.
Asira trailed off.
"Everyone has their own ways, but..."
"Why don't we just go see him together?"
Yura neatly wrapped up the conversation. As the three women's gazes converged on her, she smiled.
"Why don't we just go see him and talk? Under the guise of reporting on the progress of the work he's entrusted to us."
Silence.
Asira nodded, and Leticia, while unresponsive, didn't seem opposed.
And Enril...
"Let's go."
She got up immediately.
Women who sparked with hostility at a glance.
But for Jiha's sake, they could cooperate.