Chapter 236 Kill and Take -3
Chapter 236 Kill and Take -3
Taigirl's shop.
Since Taigirl lived in seclusion, he wouldn't meet with anyone who wasn't a familiar face.
They could only see him by having Leticia go in first.
'Better to leave it this way.'
Taigirl was bait. The bait Jiha had laced with poison for Heinrich to bite, so it was best not to arouse suspicion.
They'd moved here while exercising extreme caution, watching for any tails or observers.
Taigirl, who had been wiping his hands in front of a bundle of herbs, looked at the two beauties approaching with Jiha and grumbled.
"Dammit! What am I supposed to do when two drop-dead gorgeous women show up at once?! My cock's gonna explode!"
It wasn't just talk; his hips thrust noisily into the air, and the front of his pants was bulging.
"Just look at those brown tits! Huff, huff, I'm losing my mind!!"
Leticia couldn't bear to watch and covered her face.
"......."
Enril, though flabbergasted, studied Jiha's face.
Normally, she would have wrung his neck immediately, but she was seeking Jiha's permission.
"Don't kill him."
"So maiming him is fine?"
Enril snapped her fingers.
In response, a hand shot out from Taigirl's shadow and clamped around his throat.
"Gurk?!"
Taigirl, who had been feverishly pumping his hips into the air, was hoisted upward.
The shadow-forged hand choked Taigirl while slamming him left and right against the floor with loud crashes.
Each time he was smashed down, the tiles shattered and blood splattered.
"Gyaaaahk!"
Taigirl screamed, bloody froth spewing from his mouth.
Since he was a Rare Grade, he defended himself with Mana, but the pain was still present.
"That's enough, dark elf......."
Leticia sighed and stopped her.
Enril tsked and waved her hand, withdrawing the Shadow Hand.
"What is wrong with him? Let's just kill him."
"......He has ties to the Yormun family, so it's not your place to act rashly."
Even Leticia looked deeply displeased with Taigirl, but she still defended him.
The ties went back generations, so even if his character was problematic, he couldn't be executed on a whim.
"......Wait, Imphal? You're not telling me this is Taigirl Imphal, the dwarven prince?"
It seemed Enril recognized the name, and her expression was one of pure disbelief.
Battered and crawling on the floor, Taigirl gave a lecherous grin.
"Hohoho, I see my name is known even in Blue Seal. Well, I suppose any man with a cock as big as mine would draw the interest of women everywhere."
"......I heard an exceptionally brilliant mind lost itself overnight, but I never imagined this. The dwarves are finished."
Enril shook her head in pity.
At her words, Taigirl shot to his feet and shouted with vigor.
"No! The dwarves are not finished! If I use my magnificent cock to huff-huff, thump-thump knock up all the women so they pop-pop out babies, all of Warsland will be filled with dwarves......!"
Fwoooosh!
This time, Jiha's Shadow Hand grabbed Taigirl by the ankle and flung him up to the ceiling.
Because he'd thrown the dwarf with a heavy load of Mana, the body crashed into the ceiling and then fell vertically to the floor, causing a secondary impact.
"Kuweeeeghk!"
Even for him, that appeared to be a severe shock—Taigirl could only tremble and twitch, unable to move.
"Pulled yourself together? Shall we talk business now?"
"......Get the women out of here first. You're trying to turn me on until I go insane! Like in The Love Adventures of Pensaro!"
"You're already insane, and you wouldn't even meet with us if there weren't women."
Taigirl had set a condition for his submission and full cooperation with Jiha: Leticia must always accompany him.
Jiha had accepted because Leticia had said it was necessary, but this was utterly self-serving.
"How am I supposed to live if I can't even enjoy looking at women? I'm already staying inside and minding my health!"
"You're rambling. A man named Heinrich will be here soon. You'll hand over the Bugra to him."
There were currently three Bugras in existence: one was a fake, one was a 70% complete prototype, and the last was the genuine article.
Jiha had the first two, and the real one was with Taigirl.
Before coming here, Jiha had planted information about Taigirl where Heinrich would find it, so there should be movement soon.
"......And if I hand it over, won't I just die?"
When Taigirl's face turned serious, Jiha shook his head.
"Your life will be safe until he confirms whether it actually works. And if it does work, he'll keep you alive to continue making them."
"Won't be easy to make more, though? No matter how big my cock is, it won't fit through the eye of a needle."
"......."
Jiha sighed and kicked him.
"Gyaaaarghk!"
Taigirl tumbled like a ball but quickly righted himself and stood back up.
Since the kick was purely physical, it hadn't done much damage, but Jiha gave him a stern warning.
"When we're talking business, if you mix in your bullshit, I'll beat you for real."
"The medicinal ingredients that go into a Bugra are far from ordinary. You can't just haul in those materials recklessly."
"What goes into it?"
Leticia asked, a tone of curiosity in her voice.
Taigirl gazed back at her with a sultry look.
"You're making me incredibly horny, but I can't teach you for free. Let me suck on it once, then I'll tell you......."
"......."
This time, Leticia kicked him.
Hearing all this, Enril furrowed her brow.
"Let's just torture him. Too much pointless chatter."
"Having to just stand here watching your ass twitch is torture to me!"
Taigirl roared out, and Jiha smiled coldly.
"Why hold back? It's not like you."
"......."
"Why don't you try pressing forward with your actual body, not just words?"
When Jiha stared him straight in the eye and spoke, Taigirl shut his mouth.
Even as a lunatic who didn't care about consequences, Taigirl knew that Jiha was truly terrifying, and that Jiha would never tolerate anyone laying a hand on his women.
Jiha turned around and asked.
"Leticia, I relayed my message to the elves through Haran, right?"
"Yes, I heard Lochek acknowledged it, but......."
"Good, then......."
Jiha jerked his chin toward Taigirl.
"Go inside the room. Don't come out until I tell you to."
"This is my sacred shop......."
"Shall I stuff you into a sacred coffin?"
Taigirl closed his mouth and headed into the back room.
Jiha shut his eyes for a moment and collected his thoughts.
'I can deal with Heinrich alone, or if it's a hassle, I can have the Uniques do it. But then Barjet will turn hostile toward me, and Alex will make a move, too. I'll expose Heinrich's true nature in front of Barjet, eliminate him together with Quority, take a breather...... and then settle things with Alex and declare independence.'
The grand scheme was already laid out, but he was fine-tuning the details by factoring in the personalities of Heinrich and Quority, along with Barjet's disposition.
"What kind of species are witches?"
At Jiha's question, Enril answered.
"A species that branched off from humans long ago. They're composed entirely of females, but they consider themselves a different people rather than a different species. They don't settle down; they wander in search of an apprentice to inherit their power. Once they find one, they travel together to educate her. They're known as a long-lived, wise, and gentle species."
"And the truth?"
Leticia answered.
"The reason witches wander is actually because they're searching for something. I don't know what it is, but it's something incredibly valuable......."
"......."
Enril's face hardened as she looked at Leticia.
Leticia met her gaze briefly, then shook her head.
"No, it can't be. Why would that turn up here?"
"What is it?"
At Jiha's question, both elf and dark elf fell silent simultaneously.
He could roughly guess what they were hinting at.
"You're talking about that treasure from ages ago, the one elves and dark elves fought over for its use?"
"......."
No one answered, but judging by their expressions, he'd hit the mark.
He could see it was a secret among secrets of their races, an absolute taboo never to be revealed to outsiders.
"To me, too......."
"Regalia."
Cutting Jiha off, Enril spoke firmly.
Leticia, who had been hesitating beside her, looked aghast.
She clearly hadn't expected Enril to blurt it out so directly.
"The Faraway King's treasure. It's said that whoever holds it can control the very power of a species. The dark elves argued it should never be used, while the elves argued it should. This is the reason elves and dark elves have been at odds for so long that the memory of it has faded from common recall."
"D-Dark elf. You, that, that......."
"I've decided to share Jiha's fate. A secret like this means little to me now."
When Enril looked Jiha squarely in the eye, Leticia, with a deeply astonished expression, glanced back and forth between Jiha and Enril.
"No way......."
Leticia had guessed Jiha and Enril were in a sexual relationship.
But she'd clearly never dreamed it was this deep.
Jiha asked Enril.
"So the witches are searching for it?"
"Under the pretext of seeking apprentices, witches freely travel between Blue and Purple. They're probably the species that searches Warsland most freely. Wandering is a witch tradition, and both sides tacitly tolerate it."
"And Iroha Deadheart is in Waris."
At Jiha's statement, Enril nodded.
"Yes. Barjet's reason for coming all the way to Waris—couldn't it be because she caught wind of the gray elf's existence? Finding a gray elf would soon lead to a clue about Regalia. Since gray elves are known to have lived for an extremely long time, she may believe that even searching for other treasures would provide hints."
"That...... woman?"
Leticia, though clearly reluctant to speak of her, cut into the conversation.
She seemed quite averse to being left out of the discussion.
'So Barjet will be tempted by the offer to meet Iroha. Good....... I'll control the timing.'
Jiha reached a conclusion and spoke to Enril.
"Go to Barjet and keep her company. You're part of the Adjudication Committee, but if you tell her you don't like me, you'll earn her trust. And......."
"Wait, I'll do that."
Leticia interjected immediately.
Enril furrowed her brow, but Leticia stated her case logically.
"Barjet is a Purple Unique. I'll be far more effective going and speaking to her myself than a dark elf. Isn't that right?"
"......."
Jiha considered it for a moment, then nodded.
Leticia had a prior acquaintance with Barjet, making her the right person for the job.
"Alright, Leticia. Approach Barjet and get close to her. You don't need to return to the barracks for the time being. Carefully probe for information and investigate her movements."
"Don't worry. And......."
"Be wary of Heinrich. Be careful with food and drink. No—avoid consuming anything when you're near Barjet. Buy your own water outside. Do not let your guard down for a second."
As Jiha firmly instructed her, Leticia nodded triumphantly.
"Got it. I'll be careful."
With that, she glanced sideways at Enril, a bold smile on her face.
"So I can get started right now, can't I?"
"Yes."
Even humming a tune, Leticia strode out with an air of self-satisfaction.
She didn't hide her swagger, acting as if taking on the mission in Enril's place was proof she'd gained Jiha's recognition.
"......."
It was like a childish squabble, but...... Enril's face was genuinely aggrieved.
She wasn't making her usual disparaging remarks, just glaring daggers at Leticia's back, so angry she didn't know what to do with herself.
Normally, Enril would mock and scorn others...... Jiha had never seen her get this emotionally furious before.
"Calm down."
"......."
Enril silently lowered her eyes, but she was deeply offended.
She was like a black panther poised to sprint at its prey, forced to stop and lying prone on the ground, yet radiating unmistakable displeasure.
'Enril is quite primal, too.'
Thinking this inwardly, Jiha laid out his next words.
"I'll have the drug passed to Heinrich, and attach Leticia to Barjet to control the timing for when he uses it. Then I'll goad Quority into fighting with Heinrich, wipe them both out, and tidy up the situation."
"......."
"I can do it alone, but to make it run smoothly, I need extra hands. And this is something I can't entrust to Leticia."
It wasn't just the complexity...... it was rather dark, underhanded work.
Leticia wasn't suited for this kind of scheme by disposition. She was a straightforward fighter, an easy-to-read type.
In comparison, Enril was a cold-blooded assassin, willing to use venomous tricks without hesitation when necessary.
At Jiha's words, Enril's face lit up with anticipation.
"The one who will assist me at my side for this task is you, Enril."
"......I'll give it everything I have."
Enril couldn't suppress the joy in her voice.
It had been a long time since she'd decided to follow Jiha, but he'd never actually entrusted her with a proper job.
Her first mission—her face brightened with happiness at the fulfillment of being a subordinate assisting right at his side, and the anticipation of being able to see him often as a woman.
"......."
She was beautiful.
As Jiha quietly gazed at the dark elf's face...... the sound of footsteps reached him.
Bang-bang! Bang-bang-bang! Bang-bang!
The sound of knocking in a deliberately tricky rhythm, the special signal Taigirl had established.
Heinrich had arrived.
Jiha rose from his seat.
The first step in the cleanup.
He had to ensure that Heinrich got his hands on the aphrodisiac without a shred of suspicion.