Chapter 276 Independence -5
Chapter 276 Independence -5
Enril and Leticia had each left Waris. Jiha lay on a bed in the barracks infirmary, lost in thought as he mulled over that fact.
'My side's combat strength has decreased. Lowchen aside, Alex would know this too. The cards I can play now are Yura and Asira, Narsha and Barjet, Pairan...'
Five Uniques. Judged by high-tier rank alone, it was no different from holding an entire faction. But Jiha analyzed his forces coldly.
'Narsha is too hasty, and Barjet isn't a usable card yet. Pairan is seasoned, but she isn't truly loyal to me, so I'll have to use her as bait. The ones I can actually use are Yura and Asira.'
The moment he raised the flag of independence, he had to seize control of all of Waris. Considering public order and the problem of occupying the city, Jiha couldn't commit much of his combat strength to dealing with Alex and Lowchen.
"One or two at best..."
To carry out independence and the clean-up simultaneously, his forces would be split.
'They said the stronger the person Lowchen kills, the stronger the Shade that emerges. In the end, I can't use anyone besides Pairan.'
No matter how many times he recalculated, the conclusion remained the same.
'If I meet with Alex under the pretense of offering up Pairan, Lowchen will come for sure. I have to sweep them both away then...'
Pairan had submitted to Jiha for now, but he couldn't fully trust her.
'Taking a gamble is a low-percentage move. It's best to cross as few dangerous bridges as possible. But...'
He was stuck at the final stage of independence. He had manufactured a reason for Alex and Lowchen to tear each other apart, yet they weren't clashing first.
Those two were on a different level from Quority, Heinrich, and the other Harbari. Alex was putting on a kind face, but he would try to kill Jiha at the first opportunity. Lowchen was the type to try to kill him outright without any particular emotion—would Jiha be any special exception?
Jiha, Alex, and Lowchen each harbored the ulterior motive of killing the other two.
"In this situation, the first one to move loses. A losing move, but..."
But time was pressing for Jiha. If he didn't launch his independence around now, both factions, having obtained intel on it, would begin to move in earnest. Everything would go up in smoke.
"There's no answer..."
He had conceived numerous stratagems to force Alex and Lowchen into armed conflict, but he lacked a decisive blow.
"For now..."
Jiha shifted his thinking to another matter. He had sent Leticia and Enril away without going further. He could have taken them both on the spot, but Jiha deliberately postponed it. The two women were leaving on military operations, and if their minds were unsettled after a threesome, they might make a mistake. And from a distance, Jiha couldn't correct them. In terms of the two women's motivation, it was also right to do it after everything was finished. If their motivation was to achieve better results than their rival and be loved by Jiha, they'd strive for perfection. From Jiha's perspective, that was perfect motivation. Once Lowchen and Alex were both dead, he'd become the first man in Warsland to lay an elf and a dark elf in the same bed and enjoy them in turn. Sexual desire and the act itself were also a powerful motivator and reward for a man. He was suppressing himself even though there was more than one woman who would strip if he asked. But with independence—this monumental task—ahead of him, getting involved with women could ruin everything. Enjoyment came after settling matters.
Just as Jiha was trying to redirect his thoughts, the infirmary door opened and someone entered.
"La la la."
It was Sirel, humming a cheerful tune. Jiha had something to say to Sirel, which was partly why he'd come here to organize his thoughts. Just as Jiha started to rise from the bed, Sirel, still humming, took off her gown.
"Ah, I'm tired..."
Sirel shook her head and began unbuttoning her shirt.
"..."
Jiha froze as a mint-green bra came into view. The bed he was lying on had a curtain drawn around it, so Sirel hadn't noticed him. There was a slight gap, however, through which Jiha could see out.
'She's careless...'
The infirmary was Sirel's own space, so being alone, she had no reservations. With a sigh, Sirel took off her sweat-dampened shirt and reached for a spare one hanging on the rack.
"..."
The sleek curve of her back, her clear skin, the line running from the dip of her waist down to her pelvis, vanishing into her skirt—it was mesmerizing. Usually concealed by her gown, Sirel actually had a fine figure. Unconsciously, Jiha stared intently. As his eyes traced the contour from her armpit to her slender waist, he swallowed hard. He could see a woman's body anytime he wanted, but somehow this moment felt different. It was like uncorking a top-shelf liquor that had been aged for a long time.
Sirel moved as she changed, stepping out of Jiha's line of sight. Even so, the rustle of fabric reached his ears, stoking his imagination. The ensuing footsteps—and as Sirel pulled back the curtain to tidy the bed, she started violently.
"Kyaa!?! What the—!!"
"It's me."
Jiha answered nonchalantly. Sirel, one hand pressed to her chest, had a genuinely shocked expression.
"Ah, you—you startled me. Goodness. How long have you been in here?"
"A while now."
"Why? Did you get hurt or something?"
"No, just because."
At Jiha's calm reply, Sirel had been about to fetch a chair when she hesitated. She blinked, then asked cautiously.
"Did you... see?"
"You showed me."
"..."
"Be more careful."
When Jiha scolded her, Sirel's face flushed red and she smacked his shoulder.
"You, really! If you're there, you're supposed to say something! How mortifying!"
Her voice was raised, but she wasn't truly angry; she was just embarrassed. Sirel poked Jiha's forehead with her finger.
"...Forget it. Understand?"
"Don't touch a man's body carelessly. I'll gobble you up."
Jiha meant it, but Sirel burst out laughing. She acted as if there was no funnier joke in the world.
"Oh my, did getting one single peek boost your confidence that much? Pretending you're all that with women for no reason."
"..."
Now that he thought about it, what exactly was the reason Sirel treated him like a clueless innocent who'd never even held a woman's hand? There was that incident back at the drinking party, but Sirel was acting as if she had completely forgotten it.
"Anyway, I'll let it slide this time, but no peeking from now on. Got it?"
As Sirel tried to wrap things up neatly, Jiha asked her calmly.
"So it's fine if I just ask you to show me?"
"...Huh?"
Sirel's eyes went round. It was the reaction of someone who'd truly been smacked upside the head, so Jiha added a qualifier.
"I've never asked a woman before, so I'm asking."
"...What's with you? Are you sick?"
Sirel gazed at him with worry. It was the face of someone genuinely concerned that some serious trouble might have caused this.
"I heard you were attacked again. Is something going on?"
"It's nothing for you to worry about. Least of all something to fret over."
"..."
Jiha drew a line, airily. Sirel stared at him blankly for a moment, then let out a small laugh.
"In any case, no more peeking. Otherwise I'll bar you from the infirmary."
"Sure, I'd hate to not be able to come here myself."
"Oh my, still, don't hide any injuries. You have to come right away if you're hurt, okay?"
At Sirel's playful tone, Jiha laughed. Even though Jiha had become the master of an entire power bloc, Sirel was still treating him the same as ever.
But...
"The reason I came today is because of that promise from before. To have a proper drink together. I came to bring it up."
"What a surprise. Our Jiha. Didn't forget this time, huh?"
"Right? Maybe I've improved."
The matter with Sirel couldn't be put off any longer. In a few days, he would be the overlord of an independent faction. Keeping things informal with her would reach its limit, too. He had to choose: make her his woman, or wrap things up cleanly. Jiha asked directly.
"First of all, when are you free?"
"Let me see..."
Sirel thought for a moment, then smiled with her eyes.
"Our Jiha, barely scraping by, yet you're acting so bold. What if I say let's go somewhere expensive?"
"..."
His assets exceeding 15 billion was old news. No, the entirety of Waris's operating funds now belonged to Jiha. Of course, he'd have to use it as faction funds going forward, but... In any case, no matter what establishment Sirel wanted to visit, if it was within Waris, Jiha could pick and choose freely. No need to even reserve—full access everywhere.
Humming, Sirel pulled an envelope out of her gown pocket.
"For a Jiha like that, here's an invitation. Ta-da."
"What's this?"
"Hm? Don't you know an invitation? A party invitation."
"..."
When Jiha just looked at her, Sirel explained.
"I was invited to a party hosted by the Species Alliance, but I was thinking about not going since it's a bit awkward alone. But if there are two of us, we can go. Right?"
"..."
Jiha didn't let his agitation show on his face. The Species Alliance—wasn't that Alex's stronghold? So why had Sirel received an invitation from them?
"You're Blue Seal, aren't you? You were invited?"
"Ah, you're wondering if the Species Alliance is Purple? Well, of course they are. But Waris is like this sometimes. Affiliations run loosely here. It's a party where invitations are sent out randomly to barracks staff. A friend went before and bragged it was amazing, and guess who the invitation came to this time?"
Jiha closed his eyes.
'Alex, you son of a bitch...'
There was no way this was a coincidence. That Jiha and Sirel shared a special relationship was hardly a great secret. After all, Sirel was truly the one and only woman who could treat Jiha without any reserve. If Alex had an intelligence network, uncovering that wouldn't have been difficult. He was provoking Jiha, signaling that he would lay a hand on Sirel.
"Jiha?"
"..."
Jiha raised his head, composed. Sirel had stopped her cheerful chatter and laid a hand on his forehead, looking at him with worry.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?"
As Sirel reflexively started to use a healing art, Jiha grabbed her wrist firmly. Sirel's expression became startled, but Jiha looked her straight in the eye.
"...Jiha?"
"You want to go there?"
"Th, that was just something I said."
Sirel wore a rather flustered expression. She had seen a side of Jiha again that she hadn't known. Not during a drinking session, but stone-cold sober.
"No, let's go."
Jiha made his decision, calm and firm.
"Let's go eat our fill."
This was a provocation. This was a trap. Jiha, Alex, Lowchen—each was trying to kill the other two. In this strange triangular standoff, whoever moved first would be at a disadvantage. All three knew this. Which was why they had all been restraining their movements, waiting for the other two to clash first... and then Alex had slyly picked a fight. The provocation was that if Jiha stayed still, Alex would touch Sirel. If he took the bait, he'd be struck.
'But there's nothing more careless than the one who dug the trap.'
There was nothing more satisfying for a strategist than the moment the enemy fell into a trap. When everything in the world smoothly unravels just as you've planned in your head, exhilaration inevitably sets in. If Jiha pretended to fall into the trap, Alex would reveal his fangs and try to finish him off. Lowchen would also show up, aiming to reap the benefits as a bystander. If the enemy had painstakingly dug a trap, he would oblige them by falling into it. He'd pretend to fall, and in turn, eliminate the other two.
Especially Alex.
He'd show him what a miserable death truly meant.