Chapter 217 Internal Cleanup -14
Chapter 217 Internal Cleanup -14
"...What?"
Pairan recognized the figure in the maid uniform—a dog beastman named Mayan—and her face filled with bewilderment.
"Mayan Hardrock... The Super Rare under the dark elf Unique, Enril Woniak. That's right, isn't it?"
"Yes. We saw each other once, long ago. You're the Yogwi who lost her mind over a man and ran away, abandoning your master."
Mayan couldn't suppress her hostility and growled. Her dog ears and tail stood rigid—she was furious. Super Rare Mayan, who served Enril with all her heart. There was no way she'd look kindly upon Pairan, who had discarded Asira and fled, despite holding the same Super Rare rank. Add in the fact that Pairan was now aiming a drawn blade at Jiha, Enril's lover, and Mayan had completely lost it.
But Pairan had plenty of temper herself.
"Who lost their head over a man and ran away?"
"You did. Have some shame."
Mayan delivered the sermon sternly.
"A Unique can only choose a single Super Rare. It means you were trusted that deeply. You ought to serve with total devotion, body and soul. Have you ever stopped to consider what it means that you were chosen, especially when you aren't even the same race as the one you served?"
"..."
Pierced by the irrefutable argument, Pairan seethed but couldn't immediately retort.
"You haven't, have you? That's why you tossed that grace aside like an old shoe and ran. Did you spare a single thought for how much trouble you caused Lady Asira, or how humiliated she must have been before everyone's eyes? You fled, obsessed over some man, and now you come slinking back, brazenly skulking around. There's a limit to how shameless a person can be!"
"...Shut your mouth before I decide to kill you. You don't know the circumstances."
Pairan's face went cold, while her voice turned vicious. Mayan gave a snort of scorn.
"What possible circumstances justify betraying the one you served? Whatever they were, they were your circumstances, not the circumstances of the lady you served. They're no reason to betray trust!"
"..."
"You threw away your oath to serve with body, mind, and life, yet you've got the nerve to still be breathing? Kill yourself right now. As a fellow Super Rare, just looking at you disgusts me!"
Mayan spat the words out, a genuine snarl rolling from her throat after them. Pairan's face drained pale, then her teeth clenched, and her expression cycled through something intensely complicated. Mayan's accusation had struck her weakness with brutal precision.
"If you can't muster even the courage to end your own life, I'll lend you my hand today. I'll put you down, and offer my life to the young lady as atonement for your crime of acting as you pleased..."
"Ah, that's enough."
Jiha, who'd been listening, wrapped his arm around Mayan's waist from behind and pressed her head down with his chin. His other hand gave her butt a firm squeeze right through the maid uniform. It was small but taut.
"Gyaaahk!! What—! What is this! Get off me!"
"A plump little puppy butt."
"Don't touch me! What are you doing?!"
"Chubby little butt."
As Jiha kneaded her rear freely, Mayan struggled—until she remembered she was holding a blade, and hastily concealed it. One wrong move and she might cut him. Once she did, Jiha released her and said,
"I understand how you feel, so quiet down. Let's leave it at that."
"Wh-What on earth are you..."
"Want me to keep going?"
Mayan's mouth snapped shut, her face bright red.
Jiha jerked his chin toward Pairan. "Sheathe your sword, too."
"..."
"Or do I have to make you?"
At his warning, Pairan thought for a moment and then sheathed her blade. Jiha's stolen kiss had enraged her, but she was powerless to act on it now.
"Both of you calm now? I'm going to need you to accompany me to a party in three days. Get ready. Dress up nicely."
"What?"
"Huh?"
This was news to Mayan, and Pairan tsked at the news that Mayan was coming too.
"The high and mighty types are throwing a party, and I need partners. You two will do."
"In that case, you should go with the young lady."
"Because it's probably a trap." Jiha spoke calmly. "Or would you rather send your mistress into a death trap while you stay home and masturbate, pooch?"
"Who said I was going to... I'm not a pooch! And I don't do that!"
"It's forbidden until after the party. You'll drain your energy."
"I never have!" Mayan's face went scarlet as she shouted back. Jiha just laughed it off. To him, Mayan was a cute puppy. Teasing her was simply too entertaining.
"You're coming?"
"...Understood. I can't let the young lady go to a dangerous place, and you might be in danger yourself. I'll accompany you. However." Mayan turned a cold look toward Pairan. "It bothers me to go alongside someone who abandoned her master. She might run again. Is that acceptable?"
"...Say that one more time and I'll cut you down."
"I'd welcome it. Turncoat. I'm not so weak that you can cut me with the blade you used to betray your master— Kyaaaah!"
Smack!
"Stop hitting my butt!"
Mayan had been about to snarl at Pairan again, but she wheeled on Jiha, furious. Jiha, however, had stopped smiling.
"I told you to leave it at that."
"..."
At the abrupt shift in mood, Mayan flinched.
"I get that neither of you is the type to hide her feelings. But do the job properly. If you screw this up, it won't end with just the pair of you—I'll hold Enril and Asira responsible too. Keep that in mind."
"Wh-What does that..." Mayan's expression hardened. She was gradually catching on that Jiha was no ordinary person. She'd watched from the side as Enril, once proud and aloof with never a man's shadow near her, now sighed more often and sank into deep thought.
Jiha spoke evenly. "Both of you, do your best. I'll be inclined to listen to the one who performs better."
"...So if I do well there, does that mean you'll have dinner with the young lady?" Mayan asked, fidgeting cautiously. Her strong animal instincts had been quelled internally by Jiha's display a moment ago.
"Right. And I'll spank your butt some more, too."
"...I did not request that!"
Seeing that Jiha had softened again, Mayan felt inwardly relieved, though she still shouted. Then, fixing a hostile glare on Pairan, she added, "I have no desire to do this with you, but for the young lady's sake, I won't back down. Pairan, you can just be the side dish."
Having made her declaration boldly, Mayan turned back to Jiha.
"You said three days from now? Rest assured. I'm fully capable of providing flawless service even at gatherings of high-status individuals."
"No, you're not going as a maid. You're going as an honored guest. This time, you are the high-status individual."
"...You mean I won't be preparing the food?" Mayan blinked, looking as if her mind had gone blank.
Jiha turned to Pairan. "Got anything else to say?"
"...I can't figure out what the hell you are." Pairan's face grew increasingly baffled, both at his easy handling of Mayan and at the talk about him being Enril's fated companion.
"What I am? I'm the man who sleeps with Asira."
"..."
A furious expression came over Pairan's face, and she spun on her heel and stormed out. Once she was gone, Mayan nodded her head with satisfaction and cried, "Thank you, Lord Jiha. You certainly know how to tell a lie!" Mayan was thoroughly pleased, convinced Jiha had just delivered a cutting mockery. She didn't seem to imagine that Jiha could have other women besides Enril. Jiha placed a hand on Mayan's head and gave a soft laugh.
"You really live an adorable life."
"Pardon?"
Mayan tilted her head, her tail swishing gently left and right. Chasing out Pairan apparently felt like a gratifying victory in her role as the house-guarding dog. Taking Jiha's head-patting as a reward for a job well done, her dog ears had relaxed contentedly as well.
"I've never been a high-status person before, but I'll do my very best!" Mayan clenched a small fist, overflowing with motivation.
Jiha left the office and headed for the library.
"First, let's assess the situation..." He'd keep gathering information, and dealing with it on the day would suffice. This massive game board—what it was, how it operated—he'd find out by cracking open the skull of that bastard Alex.
'Crack it open, and use it as justification for independence.'
Justification always mattered. Even Yi Seong-gye, when founding Joseon, had deposed the reigning Goryeo king on the grounds that he wasn't the legitimate successor. Even Cao Cao in Romance of the Three Kingdoms died as a king, not an emperor. Even with power and force clenched in your fist, you couldn't act recklessly. You needed at least a minimal pretext, a plausible process, for the world to accept it.
Jiha had no intention of standing alone. If he meant to stand atop the peak, above all others, and overturn Warsland itself, he would have to hand people a justification they could rally behind. Just as he'd used the emergence of the unidentified attackers from Shade as his basis for creating the Investigative Committee that effectively ruled Waris.
If his faction was to walk an independent path, free of both Blue and Purple, it would require not just money and power, but a justification.
Jiha was nodding to himself when a pair of pale arms gently coiled around his neck from behind. There was no footfall, only the whisper of shifting air. And then a soft, springy pair of sensations pressed against his back.
"You're here?"
"I missed you, Lord Jiha."
Yura, who'd floated slightly to embrace him from behind, murmured into his ear. Her breath carried a mix of petulance and discreet invitation, asking if he hadn't missed her too. Her fine-boned hand caressed his nape as she spoke in a gentle, coaxing tone.
"You haven't told me how you want me to handle Lady Pairan. Please, tell me."
"Mm, first of all..."
Just as Jiha began to speak, Yura's hand slipped suddenly inside his shirt. Her touch was lewd as it traced slowly across his chest.
"Lady Pairan cares so much for Asira that she hardly knows what to do with herself. How should I handle it?"
The succubus whispered, pressing a light kiss to Jiha's ear as she spoke. Whatever Jiha wanted, she would do. Jiha's ear twitched reflexively, and Yura smiled with satisfaction and hugged him tighter. She seemed to know about the situation between Asira and Pairan too. Yura's tone was silky.
"Shall I try to shake Lady Pairan up? If I just show her how close Asira and I have become, she'd probably fall apart in no time. If I find a chance to slip Lady Pairan into a gathering where Asira and I are together, don't you think her resolve would melt away in a heartbeat? If she so much as got to hold Asira's hand, she wouldn't sleep a wink that night."
"..."
Jiha turned his head to the side. Yura was smiling demurely where she hung from his back, but the words coming out of her mouth were far from tame.
"You've changed a lot since the beginning."
"I want to make Lord Jiha proud of me."
He hadn't even mentioned Pairan, yet she'd thought of it first, came to find him, and was actively pitching her case. The quiet, passive Yura had transformed. She wasn't just blindly clinging to him anymore; she brought up official business to catch his attention, playing it with cute coquettishness—all while her hand was caressing his chest in an obscene manner. She had changed for the better.
"..."
As Jiha registered his approval, Yura whispered bewitchingly.
"So, may I?"
"Fine. Go ahead."
"...Then that means you've chosen another woman to take to the party?"
"Has word spread already?" Had she figured out he'd chosen Mayan and Pairan to accompany him to Alex's invitation? It wasn't exactly a secret.
"Everyone knows. That's why they were all waiting, hoping."
"..."
Meaning Enril, Leticia, and Asira had all secretly been hoping to be called. Jiha had chosen his party by cold calculation, but to the women he'd gathered, it seemed the occasion was seen as a special opportunity to be with him. Yura brushed her lips against his ear as she whispered.
"Mhm, you don't need to worry. Everyone knows it's an important affair."
"..."
Yura was a succubus subordinated to Jiha; she could discern the emotions the women felt toward him to some degree. And if anything unusual happened, Lijin would certainly file a report. Yura's voice was sweetly insistent against his ear.
"But I'm going to play the part of the shameless woman."
"How so?"
Lick.
Yura slid her tongue into his ear canal and exhaled hot breath.
"When you return from the party... please dote on Asira and me together."
"..."
"I'll get everything ready, so Lord Jiha can focus entirely on the matter ahead. In return... could you hold back a little, starting tonight?"
It was the greed of a woman wanting to monopolize her man's nights. She would give him pleasure he'd never experienced before, so she was asking him to ignore other women's temptations. And then Yura played her final gambit.
"Asira's room is right next to Lady Pairan's... The sound will carry quite well."
She meant to use the same method Jiha had used to provoke Camilla. A scheme that would greatly help undermine Pairan. Jiha laughed at the idea, seeing all the careful thought she'd put into it.
"You're a truly wicked girl."
"Lord Jiha is the one who made me this way."
At Yura's soft smile, Jiha nodded.
"Fine."
He would use taming Asira completely as a foothold to tame Pairan. And since he'd also need to embrace Enril and Leticia sometime soon, he might as well get a threesome under his belt beforehand. Yura beamed, pressed a kiss to his cheek, and then pulled away.
"Thank you. Please look forward to it, Lord Jiha."
Once Yura's weight had vanished and she'd slipped away, Jiha gave a nod. He liked this transformation of Yura's, her proactive movements. The anticipation of a threesome he'd never tried before stirred anew...
"Good."
First, he'd meet this Alex bastard—and if the situation called for it, he'd crack his skull. Everything else would come after.