Chapter 258 Scheme to Divide -6
Chapter 258 Scheme to Divide -6
The Night Restaurant.
A place reserved for high society, it usually only accepted customers who'd booked a month in advance, but tonight was an exception.
Because Jiha had invested in the business.
The owner rushed out the moment he heard Jiha was arriving, bowing deeply at the entrance.
"Welcome, Lord Jiha."
Jiha had dressed for the occasion in a sharp suit, a departure from his usual style.
Sure, he could've stormed right in wearing something shabby, but he'd made a point of suiting up.
He had other business here tonight.
"Business going well?"
"Of course, of course. Thanks to your generous investment before, Lord Jiha, we managed to stave off bankruptcy. I really can't thank you enough."
"I'm running a business too, so save the flattery. Just make sure I see a return."
"But of course."
The owner's gratitude was genuine.
By now, there was practically no one left in Waris who didn't know Jiha was the real power, the de facto ruler of the city.
People had seen and heard and felt it for themselves: even the Uniques bowed their heads to him, and no one, regardless of grade, could treat Jiha lightly.
As Jiha and his companion moved to enter, the owner's face clouded over.
"Ah, Lord Jiha, is your companion also coming inside?"
"Why?"
Uben, his companion, was also in a suit. He'd followed the dress code. Was there a problem?
The owner spoke awkwardly.
"Our establishment does not accept beastmen."
"......."
"I apologize. It's not that I harbor any personal feelings, but many of our guests find it distasteful."
Uben nodded indifferently.
"Then I'll wait outside, Chief."
"What are you going to name your next restaurant?"
"Excuse me?"
The owner blinked, caught off-guard by the apparent non sequitur.
Jiha's voice was quiet.
"It sounds like you want to shut this business down as of today. Have you picked out a name for the next one?"
"L-Lord Jiha, I..."
The owner's face went rigid before he hastily bowed his head again.
"Forgive me. I misspoke. Please, have mercy."
"Just so long as we're clear."
When Jiha walked in, Uben followed silently behind him.
Inside, soft music drifted through the restaurant.
A beautiful waitress who'd been standing by to receive them looked momentarily flustered at the sight of Uben following Jiha inside, but quickly fixed a pleasant smile on her face.
"Lord Jiha, let me show you to your table."
As Jiha and Uben walked together, the patrons already seated quieted one after another, watching them with odd expressions.
Jiha, of course, was a man on everyone's lips—the power who'd vaulted to the top and become this city's ruler overnight, so naturally he drew attention. But quite a few people frowned at seeing a beastman walking with him.
Uben couldn't have failed to notice it either, but he followed silently.
At their table, another beautiful waitress pulled out chairs and welcomed them.
"Plenty of idiots, but the service isn't bad."
Seated, Jiha looked at Uben, who remained standing.
"What are you doing? Sit down."
"Chief, do I really need to be here?"
"You want me craning my neck to talk to you?"
"......."
Still looking uncomfortable, Uben took his seat.
Then, keeping his voice low enough not to carry, he said:
"Beastmen being shunned isn't anything unusual. The open hostility you get from people like Leticia Yormun—that's mild. During the Thousand-Year War, most beastmen were kept as slaves."
"......."
"Male beastmen were used as strong laborers, female ones for pleasure at night. And their children, if they were beastmen, were slaves too."
"What's that got to do with me?"
Uben continued in a roundabout way.
"Thinking about it rationally, it's not totally impossible to understand why other species look down on beastmen. Male beastmen frequently end up pairing with women of other species, and physically they're superior. Female beastmen, on the other hand..."
"You're my subordinate. That's all that matters."
Jiha cut him off flatly.
One of his core principles: kill the enemy, take care of your people.
"You don't need to live your life looking over your shoulder at anyone but me."
"......."
Uben seemed at a loss for words for a moment, then bowed his head.
When he lifted it, he was wearing a wry smile.
"If I were a woman, I'd have thrown myself at you already, Chief."
"I'd have told you to take a number."
After the brief back-and-forth, Jiha moved on to business.
"The troops are in position?"
"Three rings of encirclement, manned by Uniques and soldiers. Fifteen hundred will move on your command alone. The Waris security officers are also on standby, but..."
"For now, keep them loose. If things go as planned, we won't need to mobilize anyone."
Jiha had stationed forces around the area as a contingency.
His appointment tonight was with Alex.
'He obviously knows I can call in troops. The fact he still requested this meeting like he owns the place means he's got his own countermeasures.'
Killing Alex was a given.
But Jiha wanted to extract information about Ouroboros first, and to use the process of dealing with Alex as a pretext for independence.
And, while he was at it, he wanted to deal with Lowchen too.
'There's no doubt Alex and Ouroboros summoned the Shade to kill Lungtao and stir up chaos. The question is how to make the public believe it.'
Once he pulled this off, Jiha could break away from Blue and Purple, chart his own course, and still have the people's support.
As Jiha sank into thought, Uben rose from his seat.
"Then I'll be waiting outside."
If direct combat broke out with Alex, Uben—whose fighting ability was somewhat lower—would be a liability.
By going outside, he intended to help command the troops.
"Fine."
"Ah, and... some of the others felt it might not be ideal, Chief, for you to face Alex alone."
"'The others' told you this?"
Word coming through a different channel. In other words, a woman.
Uben scratched his head, looking a bit put-upon.
"I think they assume going through me might land better than speaking to you directly."
"I haven't been paying enough attention. I'll sort it out."
"I don't mind. And..."
"Women are my personal business. You're my subordinate. There's no need for you to get tangled up in my private affairs."
It was a living, breathing world—wasn't he allowed some downtime after work?
So long as his subordinates stayed loyal and followed orders, Jiha saw no reason to run them ragged.
"That's not it. To be honest, I did also want to speak up myself, if only for security's sake. I held my tongue only because the person in question asked me to keep it a secret until the last moment."
"I see."
Jiha nodded simply.
He often preferred moving alone for the convenience, and so tended to neglect the matter, but he did need security.
Didn't it seem pointless because his bodyguards were weaker than him?
Strength and weakness were situational... and, at the end of the day, a bodyguard's job was to throw themselves in harm's way to protect their charge and buy even a little time.
'It may be a hassle, but I should have someone at the important events. And there's also the matter of appearances.'
Uben bowed his head.
"Then I'll be on standby."
"Yeah, go on."
After Uben left, Jiha sank back into thought.
Alex had only requested to meet, but had not said what he wanted.
'Does he think I won't make a move in front of all these witnesses?'
If so, he'd badly misread him. Jiha was prepared to turn this restaurant into a bloodbath if that was what it took to eliminate Alex.
The main reason he was letting Alex live for now was so he could use his death as a pretext for independence.
'And Gashiel Remaker's whereabouts...'
His first instinct was that Pairan might be connected, but... something in his gut said otherwise.
'First, I need to extract everything I can from Alex. If possible, I want to squeeze information about Lowchen out of him too, then take care of both at once...'
As Jiha was sorting out his thoughts, the atmosphere inside the restaurant shifted subtly.
He looked in the direction where everyone was now staring with open admiration and saw Yura walking toward him.
Gold ornaments accented her vivid red hair, and a touch of makeup made her quiet, gentle beauty shine even brighter.
A form-fitting red dress showcased every inch of her fantastically slender yet voluptuous figure.
The male guests couldn't tear their eyes from the sway of her walk, the seductive movement of her breasts and her succubus tail.
The women in their company glared at those men with irritation.
Those who'd come without female companions were straightening their clothes in a hurry, a few even rising from their seats as if they planned to approach and speak to her.
But Yura, the center of all that attention, spared no one a single glance and walked right up to Jiha.
"Welcome."
Jiha greeted her with a smile.
A sigh escaped the men around them when they realized this enchanting beauty already had someone.
The jealous, envious reactions would have made any man puff out his chest, but Jiha remained calm.
Yura asked, her voice soft and demure.
"May I sit next to you, Lord Jiha?"
"You can sit on top of me, if you like."
"...Oh, honestly."
Yura colored prettily and gave him a reproachful look.
But her expression was far from displeased.
If anything, her gaze was thick with the implication that she'd love to.
"I'm kidding. We'll save the climbing on top for later. Sit down."
"Yes!"
Unable to hide her happiness, Yura sat.
Some might think, what's the big deal? But... Jiha was working right now.
And when he was working toward an objective, he did not tolerate interference from his subordinates.
That applied to Uniques, and to women, no exceptions.
When it was just the two of them, sure, they could be less guarded. But during work, that wasn't the case.
So even the women who were by now well accustomed to Jiha knew not to involve themselves carelessly when he was pursuing a goal.
Yura had just quietly bent that unspoken rule.
Under Jiha's gaze, she spoke.
"You heard about the security issue from Uben, right? I'm here to stay by your side, in case anything happens tonight."
"Obviously I'm glad to talk with you like this. But in a situation like this, there ought to be a good reason why it has to be you specifically, don't you think?"
It was just the two of them.
Jiha's tone was gentle as he said it, but he was quietly making a point.
If she wanted to help him with his work, she needed to have the nerve and the calculation to back it up.
A woman to guard Jiha? Among the Uniques?
Asira had exceptional command ability, so he'd positioned her outside.
Narsha's temperament made her unsuited for gatherings like this.
But Leticia or Enril could serve.
Yura, it seemed, had given this some thought of her own.
"Because I'm the one best suited for a setting like this—where we must observe formalities while still keeping our posture low."
"Right. That works."
Leticia and Enril had intense pride.
They might be cautious and tame around Jiha, but their basic natures didn't just vanish.
Yura, on the other hand, had a gentle personality and the flexibility to read the room and maneuver accordingly.
Jiha changed the subject.
"I heard you went shopping with Pairan earlier."
"Yes. I've built a little bit of trust with her. ...And I probed to see if she knows about what happened that night."
The time she and Asira had come to Jiha together.
Yura blushed, looking embarrassed.
She would readily perform any sort of sexual service for Jiha's sake, but she still felt shame like anyone else.
Maybe even more intensely than most.
When she joined her body with Jiha's, it was the joy of a woman and the instincts of a succubus driving her.
Yura explained the results.
"Sure enough, Pairan... already knows about that night. And she's a bit jealous of me."
"She sure keeps busy."
Yura shook her head.
"Pairan's quiet jealousy toward me—that's been there for a long time. But it's a little different now. She's actually happy that I spent the night with Asira."
Yura smiled, a bewitching glint in her eyes.
"And she's thinking, maybe she could take my place there one day."
"Which means she'd have to do it with me."
"For now, she's just leaving the door a little open."
Jiha let out a brief laugh.
"She must really be madly in love with Asira. Almost to the point I don't quite get it..."
"Ah, that's not quite it. It's not that Pairan prefers women... I don't think she's ever liked anyone except Asira."
"......."
Having grown up under Asira's protection, Yura had known Pairan for a long time.
"Good. In that case..."
Just as Jiha was about to issue an order, he felt the atmosphere among the guests shift again and turned to look at the entrance.
Alex was walking in.
"We'll finish this later."
Now it was time for the dismantling.