Chapter 31: Expanding Power - 3
Chapter 31: Expanding Power - 3
The next day.
Jiha opened his eyes to the ceiling of the barracks infirmary.
"Drank too much......."
Last night's banquet with the Blue Seal Commons.
The memories surfaced naturally in his head.
"Hahaha."
"Chief! Allow me to offer you a drink!"
The mood had been lively and cheerful. Everyone had been excited.
With good reason.
Gathering all the Commons just to drink was already a rare event in itself.
And a full-scale gathering outside the barracks was unprecedented.
Commons were little better than slaves, not even free to leave the barracks on a whim.
But Jiha could now do whatever he pleased with the barracks, so nothing stood in their way.
The freedom the Commons had longed for.
They were all feeling it firsthand now.
"The Chief truly is an incredible person."
"Please accept my glass as well."
Everyone's view of Jiha had changed dramatically, and now genuine respect had taken root.
A leader who didn't just talk, but showed them results.
Now, as if they'd made a pact, everyone was calling Jiha "Chief."
Thinking back on it, Jiha shook his head.
Out of respect, the Commons had vied with one another to offer him drinks.
Just counting those, he'd put away more than four bottles.
"My stomach was churning, so I came here......."
He'd used Mana to dispel the alcohol's effects. But it seemed that while he'd lain down to organize his thoughts, the lingering drunkenness had lulled him to sleep.
Ssshhk.
The curtain slid open, and a familiar face looked down at him.
"You're awake now? The sun's high in the sky."
"......."
It was the mistress of the infirmary, the healer Sirel.
When Jiha greeted her with a glance, Sirel fired back sharply.
"I have work to do, so how about you quit faking and get out?"
"It's empty in here anyway."
"So you're just going to loiter in someone else's workplace and not leave?"
Sirel snapped at him, and Jiha scratched his head.
"What's wrong with you?"
It was obvious at a glance that Sirel was in a foul mood.
As Sirel frowned, Jiha struck preemptively.
"You've heard what's been going on — I've been swamped and couldn't help it. I apologize for standing you up back then."
"......."
Back then, when he'd been suppressing Enril again, Sirel had been called over, waited until she was fed up, and left without even seeing Jiha's face.
"Don't you think that apology's a bit too late?"
"I said I'm sorry."
Sirel was special to Jiha.
She was the healer who had treated him kindly even in his dark days when all he did was surrender.
'Sort of like the lady at the soup kitchen who used to slip me extra meat when I was starving.......'
Sirel was a sophisticated beauty in her twenties.
Sirel stared at Jiha with an angry face, then shook her head.
"Even if I let that slide, you're acting like you completely forgot the promise you made to me. You said you'd properly buy me a drink, stood me up, went completely silent, and then suddenly show up dead drunk and passed out."
Sirel sighed.
"I'm saying this just in case, but you absolutely can't do this to another woman. You'd earn real hatred. You're getting off with just words because it's me. Another woman would've been far harsher, you know?"
"What?"
"So be more careful from now on. If you ever get a girlfriend and pull this crap, the relationship will fall apart instantly. Got it?"
Sirel's tone was one of giving advice for his own good.
Jiha was a bit dumbfounded, but he simply nodded.
She was jumping to conclusions, but he could let Sirel get away with it.
Along with Okram, hadn't she helped him through his hard times?
Sirel's expression relaxed.
"Good, you really are sorry, right? Then you're buying me a proper drink, including the one from before. Know that I'll actually be furious if you stand me up this time."
"Hmm......."
"Why aren't you answering?"
"Fine, if it's just the two of us drinking."
Jiha had briefly considered whether he should let Sirel keep treating him like this. He was now the leader of the Blue Seal Commons, and more than that, he intended to turn all of Warsland on its head. He would fight without rest, grow his strength, and elevate his authority.
'Okram already stepped back on his own.......'
Now Okram treated him with formal deference, serving Jiha as his superior without complaint.
The reason Jiha had ended up with a private room was that Okram had excused himself, saying that remaining as his roommate would undermine the organization's discipline.
Jiha had been inwardly sorry to lose that, but it was necessary.
The hierarchy of an organization had to be clear.
Jiha was now the leader of this barracks.
'But Sirel isn't part of my faction yet.......'
Well, if she acted like this in front of others, he'd have to caution her.
But if it was just the two of them, he could let her behave like old times.
"Here."
While Jiha was sorting out his thoughts, Sirel held out a cup.
It was filled with honey water.
"Your stomach must be upset, so drink it slowly."
"Thanks."
Despite her nagging, she'd prepared it in advance out of concern for Jiha.
"If your head hurts, lie back down and rest."
"I have something I want to ask. Do you have any contact with the Rare Grade folks on the Purple side?"
Commons had to get permission just to leave the barracks, but Rare Grades were employees.
Sirel was a healer who commuted to the barracks on a kind of contract basis.
"Yeah, I have friends there. Our affiliations are different, but this is Waris, you know? Nobody really cares, and we meet up when we have time."
"So do you know any rumors from that side or anything?"
"Hmm......."
Sirel even pulled a chair over beside the bed, sat down, and crossed her legs.
The line of her legs was alluring.
"Looks like our Sookmaek, who used to bury himself in books at the library every single day, has finally taken an interest in worldly gossip. What's gotten into you? Suddenly curious about all this stuff."
"I hear there's a Rare Grade who's engaged to a Purple Unique......."
"Ah, Pamin Rosen? I know him."
The name came out immediately, suggesting he was known among the Rare Grades.
Sirel spoke smoothly.
"He's the elf engaged to Leticia, the Purple Unique, right? They say it's an arranged engagement between families. Elves place so much weight on bloodlines, so Leticia just had to accept it."
"Had to?"
"She's a Unique herself, but the guy is only Rare Grade. She can't be very satisfied."
True enough. That was clear from Leticia's attitude yesterday.
"So he's a man who's not good enough for the great her, but she's stuck engaged to him because of her family?"
"Well, that's the problem with Uniques. It's hard to find a man who meets their standards."
Wasn't it said that high-earning women were often single? It was exactly the same.
"So he doesn't really catch her eye, but she's forced into the engagement to preserve the elves' pure blood. From what I hear, they've been engaged for a hundred years now?"
"That's insane."
Elves might live a thousand years, but to stay engaged for a century and never marry was still absurd.
Sirel agreed.
"Right? That's why there's a lot of talk about Pamin being pitiful. On top of that, his fiancée Leticia is notorious for having a terrible personality. Elven supremacist, blatant species-racist, openly despises humans and beastmen."
The information flowed easily.
"Is Pamin strong?"
"For an elf man? They chose him based on his race and bloodline more than ability."
In other words, from Leticia's perspective, Pamin was a thoroughly unsatisfactory match.
"But Leticia is really too much. No matter what, he's still her fiancé, right? Being engaged for a hundred years basically means she has no intention of marrying him, and she hasn't even promoted him to Super Rare. The fact that she didn't grant him that power, even though Uniques can choose their own aides and grant them strength beyond Rare... that's open contempt."
"......."
This was exactly why Jiha had found it strange yesterday that Pamin was only Rare Grade.
"I doubt they've ever even held hands."
"If the rumors are true, he's never even touched the hem of her clothes. That's why people call him pitiful."
Sirel's tone was sympathetic.
"Rather than live so openly humiliated that everyone knows, he should just break the engagement and find someone else. Elves and their fixation on bloodlines, honestly."
"Sirel, that friend you mentioned — female, on the Purple side?"
When Sirel nodded, Jiha added,
"Find out more about Pamin and Leticia for me. Their recent movements."
"......Hmm, what's this about?"
"I'll explain when I buy you that drink."
He had already tasked Uben with digging around, but that would be through the Commons' information network, among men.
Women had their own networks.
Jiha wanted to prepare as thoroughly as possible for the coming decisive battle.
Sirel looked at him skeptically, then gave a wry smile.
"Fine, I haven't seen my friend in a while anyway, so I'll meet up and ask. But in return, you'd better buy me a proper dinner. Got it?"
"You have my word."
Paying an information fee made it simple.
Sirel nodded and rose from her seat.
"Then I'm off to grab lunch. Want anything? If you're resting, I'll bring it to you."
"No, I'm fine. Take your time eating."
"Not gonna sober up?"
"The honey water took care of it."
When Jiha declined, Sirel smiled and waved.
"Okay. You do know not to do anything weird because you're lonely, right?"
"Hurry up and get out so I can get around to doing weird things."
Jiha shot back, and Sirel left the infirmary.
Left alone, Jiha lay in bed and sank into thought.
Pamin and Leticia were not a normal relationship.
Even the biggest fool would realize he was being treated with contempt by his woman.
He might have written it off as elven patience, but yesterday he'd taken a pathetic beating from Jiha.
In Leticia's eyes, Pamin's value would have fallen even further.
From a man who never caught her eye to a loser who got thrashed by a Common.
Pamin would know that too.
"He's in a situation where he'll try something reckless to restore his honor."
He just had to catch him by the scruff of the neck.
As Jiha was organizing his thoughts, he sensed a presence outside the door.
Had Sirel forgotten something?
No — if it were Sirel or anyone else with business, there'd be no reason to hover outside.
'They were here for me.'
They knew Jiha was in the infirmary and had come looking for him.
Jiha closed his eyes and feigned sleep.
He'd lure them in, see what action they took, and then respond.
Creeeak.
Time passed, and the door opened with a small noise.
There were no footsteps, but he could feel movement approaching.
'......Hostile intent.'
Silent footsteps drew closer. Jiha readied himself by gripping the dagger concealed behind his back.
The sound of the curtain being pulled back followed.
"......."
The intruder was silently looking down at Jiha, who was pretending to be asleep.
After a long stillness, the intruder adjusted their grip on whatever they were holding and drew closer.
Jiha immediately sprang up as if launched from the bed, drawing his dagger and swinging it.
Ssaak!
Because he had been channeling Mana in preparation, Jiha's movement was extremely fast.
Rising with a spin, Jiha halted the blade right beside the intruder's neck and frowned.
"It was you?"
A beauty with light-brown skin — the intruder was the dark elf Enril.
What Enril was holding was not a sword.
It was a book.
"What's that?"
"......I should be asking what you're doing."
Startled by the blade suddenly at her throat, Enril's face quickly hardened with anger.
Jiha had reacted thinking he was being ambushed, but that hadn't been her intent.
He didn't know the reason, but Enril had been trying to place the book beside the sleeping Jiha.
"Put that away, right now."
It was only natural for Enril to be angry.
But Jiha ignored her.
"What if I don't want to?"
When Jiha pressed the flat of the dagger lightly against her neck, Enril froze completely.
Unique or not, with a blade against her throat like this, there was really nothing she could do.
"......You're doing something you'll deeply regret."
Her low voice was uncharacteristically tense for Enril.
Of course, Jiha knew this had all stemmed from a misunderstanding.
But he couldn't apologize and back down.
Show weakness to a beast, and it will devour you.
Even if it was a misunderstanding, he had to suppress her as if it had been his intention all along.
He had to keep branding it into her that he was on top.
Jiha's gaze moved to Enril's ample breasts. Under his blatant stare, Enril, uncharacteristically, moved to cover her chest with her arms.
Before, Enril hadn't cared whether men looked or not.
No one dared to harass a Unique, and if it came to that, she could simply gouge out their eyes.
But under Jiha's sweeping gaze, a deep part of her body tingled involuntarily, and the memories of their chaotic entanglement surfaced.
Jiha stared directly at her as he spoke.
"If you came to a man's room while he was sleeping, you must have come prepared."
A man who draws his blade has to cut something.
Jiha had already made up his mind.
He'd break her again here.