Chapter 48: Reaping the Harvest
Chapter 48: Reaping the Harvest
"The Rosen Family sits on the Elf Council?"
The Elf Council was the decision-making body for the elves.
Blue and Purple were coalitions formed by multiple species banding together, and each species maintained its own internal council.
Sirel continued.
"Yormun is a family that only recently gained the right to attend the Council. In terms of pure prestige, Rosen is far higher—an old family that prides itself on history and tradition."
"So Leticia accepted the engagement to strengthen her own family's position."
"Exactly. The Rosen family members are all male, so their actual power has weakened. Leticia had to accept."
Which meant the Pamin whom Jiha had beaten halfway to death was something like an elven prince.
"So Warsland runs on the rank system, but elves put their traditions first. That's why Leticia got engaged to Pamin against her will."
Sirel agreed with Jiha's assessment.
"Yes. The elders on the Council wanted to unite the two young people. If Leticia joined the declining Rosen family and bore children, it would correct their derailed tradition. With the Council pressing her, Leticia had to give in."
"Contradictory."
Jiha let out a dry laugh.
Leticia openly disdained other species, yet she couldn't defy an Elf Council weaker than herself.
"So she can't break off an engagement to a man she despises, but she also can't stomach marrying him, and she's been stuck in this farce for a hundred years?"
"I felt a little sorry for her once I learned the details. I assumed a Unique Grade could live however she pleased. In the end, she was forced to accept the Council's arranged match."
Sirel shook her head with a pitying look.
"After the Thousand-Year War ended and the rank system took hold, Warsland changed drastically. But elves live for a thousand years, don't they? Even as the world changed and centuries passed, they maintained a closed society that clings to their traditions. Leticia got caught right in the middle of it."
"Truly contradictory..."
Leticia was a Unique Grade, an irrefutable powerhouse.
Yet her strength and ability went unrecognized in elven society.
The elves had always kept to themselves. They valued family and tradition far more than Warsland's rank system.
'Outside, she's an acknowledged Unique Grade, but she can't defy a Council weaker than she is. Can't break her engagement, can't stomach marriage either. In the end, she rationalizes it by despising non-elves.'
The analysis of Leticia was complete.
Right down to the final crack in her facade.
"Well? Did that help?"
"Yeah, quite a bit..."
Jiha, who had been smiling, froze.
Sirel had reached out and was playfully tugging at his cheek.
"If you're going to smile, smile a little nicer. You look far too cold sometimes when you do."
"..."
"That's how you end up unpopular. Coochy-coo."
The Commons watching from a distance stood rigid as statues.
Jiha decided it was time to draw a line here.
But at that exact moment, Sirel set down her utensils and rose from her seat.
She had finished eating while they talked.
"Glad I could help. Don't forget your promise to treat me properly sometime. Let me know when you're free."
Sirel swept her gaze across the Commons who had been avidly spectating.
The Commons, who could tear an ordinary human apart with ease, flinched.
She was Rare Grade, but Sirel was a healer with zero direct combat ability. All the same, the hulking Commons reflexively averted their eyes.
Sirel inclined her head politely.
"Sorry for interrupting your meal. Please continue to take good care of our Jiha."
"Uh..."
"Yeah, er..."
Meaningless grunts drifted around as Sirel flashed a smile at Jiha and departed.
A chill awkwardness settled over the mess hall before someone spoke up.
"A commander needs a woman too, y'know."
"..."
Jiha opted to ignore it.
The meal ended on a strangely warm, deflating note.
Jiha left the mess hall, having barely touched his food.
"What to do about Sirel."
There was no denying she was a sophisticated, urbane beauty, and her friendly personality was charming.
No man would turn her away.
Everything Sirel had said and done just now came from goodwill toward Jiha.
But Jiha's objective now was to overturn Warsland entirely.
He hadn't forgotten how, back on Earth, getting tangled up with a woman had nearly wrecked his life.
Here in Warsland, he blended his body with women to grow stronger, to confirm the hierarchy.
It sated his lust and had its pleasures, but he never lost sight of the goal.
"Should I start drawing a firm line from now on..."
The reason Jiha went soft with Sirel was because she had helped him so much in the past.
Back in the days when he had no vampiric Mana and was just groveling and surrendering constantly.
"Ah, you got hurt training? Don't push yourself too hard."
"Here, a painkiller. You'll be fine after a meal and some sleep."
"The supervisor called for you? Just don't go. Say you were talking with me."
...That was how Sirel had looked after Jiha.
Okram had been like that too, but now Jiha could only treat him as a subordinate.
Sirel was the only person left with whom Jiha still had a relationship from the old days.
"At this rate I'm going to slip up again..."
Jiha steeled his resolve as he walked, then spotted a shadow leaning against the wall.
Long silver hair, light brown skin.
The aloof, ethereal beauty who had been standing with her arms crossed, staring straight ahead, stepped forward to block his path.
"A moment. May we talk?"
Enril. Judging by her timing, she had been waiting for Jiha to come out of the mess hall.
She wanted a private conversation, out of sight. Enril had been avoiding Jiha lately, so her seeking him out like this was rare.
But Jiha's nerves were on edge right now.
When he stared without answering, Enril actually flinched. That was very unlike her.
Enril no longer took Jiha lightly. Not by any measure.
"...If you're busy, we can do this later."
Seeing her read his mood, Jiha drew his gaze back into focus.
Enril was someone he needed to keep using. She was learning to come to heel on her own; no point in being spiteful.
"Speak."
"Here is a little..."
Even though no one else was around, Enril scanned the area anew.
"What, do you want me to hold you?"
"Wh-what..."
Enril recoiled backward in shock.
The fact that Jiha would truly do it if he felt like it, and that she couldn't resist, had already taken root inside her chest.
The old Enril would have attacked him by now.
'She can't even harbor hostility toward me anymore.'
Every time the black panther resisted, she was thoroughly suppressed. Through that experience, Jiha had tamed her.
Trained her to see him as someone she must not defy.
Looking at the results of his own handiwork soothed his mood a little.
Jiha softened his voice.
"I'll dote on you later, so state your business."
"I-I didn't come here for that..."
Enril denied it in a somewhat defiant tone, but Jiha ignored her.
Under his expectant stare, Enril got to the point.
"The security officer contacted me. He was confirming whether it was true that you were talking with me in the library last night."
"You answered well."
Enril had aligned her story to serve as his alibi, all on her own.
Even though Jiha offered a rare compliment, Enril's expression remained tight.
"...You did it, didn't you?"
"..."
She was asking him to confirm that he had killed the elves.
Enril was clearly tense.
A Common human in front of her had killed four Rare Grade elves? Without a single visible wound?
No one in Warsland would believe it.
But Enril believed it.
If he had overpowered even her, a Unique, were a few Rare Grades really that big a deal?
"What, looking to avenge your kin?"
"Elves are not my kin."
Enril drew a sharp line before letting out a sigh.
"...What exactly are you trying to do?"
"..."
Enril was asking about Jiha's objective.
Right after she first ended up in Jiha's arms, Enril had dismissed it as a shameful incident—getting bitten by a beast in heat.
But watching Jiha's movements, they were far from normal.
He had rallied the Commons.
Now, having reached the point of killing four Purple elves in a single night, he had moved beyond her understanding.
Enril spoke.
"...Ordinary people in Warsland try to live a little more prosperously. Those with greater strength and honor try to refine their skills and rise upward. Even Commons fight hard to return to their original world."
"And?"
"...Couldn't you just fight hard and return? I don't know what it is that you want."
Enril no longer felt any urge to defy Jiha.
She gauged his mood, and had even given false testimony.
Purple's Rare Grade elves were dead? For a dark elf like Enril in Blue, that was welcome news.
But she couldn't guess what Jiha was aiming for. And that had suddenly become frightening.
What Enril felt was fear of the unknown.
She sensed, instinctively, that Jiha was about to do something beyond all common sense, that he was preparing something immense.
"..."
Jiha slowly raised his hand and brought it to Enril's cheek.
As the man's hand neared, she flinched but did not avoid it.
Jiha traced her moist lips with his fingers.
A man, a lowly Common, was touching her lips, and Enril accepted it without resistance.
She merely kept an eye on their surroundings, wary lest someone passing by should see.
"And if I tell you, are you ready to answer for it?"
"..."
Enril's resistance toward Jiha had vanished, but that did not mean she was his subordinate.
If she learned what Jiha was plotting, she would have no choice but to pick one of two paths.
Become his enemy and oppose him, or side with him and become his subordinate.
At Jiha's question, Enril found no words.
"You'll find out when you're ready."
"..."
As Jiha's fingers left her lips, Enril let out a heavy sigh.
Jiha spoke lightly.
"There's something I promised you, so you can observe. Tomorrow morning—no, this evening, Leticia will sneak over from Purple. I'll be resting, so let me know when she's here."
"What in the..."
"I said I'd fuck the elves over, remember? Time to finish it."
He had no intelligence report telling him so, but it was obvious: Leticia's feet would be itching by now.
It wasn't something she'd send someone else to do, so she would come herself.
Enril looked bewildered, but also clearly intrigued.
"You look awfully pleased. Do you hate elves that much?"
"Wouldn't liking them be stranger?"
Enril said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Dark elves and elves seemed to be on sincerely terrible terms.
Suddenly curious, Jiha asked.
"Why do you hate them so much? Even within the longstanding rivalry between Blue and Purple, elves and dark elves seem to share a special animosity."
"That is not something I can tell an outsider."
Enril's expression turned serious as she drew a line.
Jiha strode up to her with a wide grin.
"I'm asking you, and you won't answer?"
"..."
Enril held her silence, her face uneasy.
"Right. You won't answer..."
Jiha reached out and grabbed Enril's backside firmly.
The voluptuous rear that every man stole glances at crumpled tightly in Jiha's grip.
"Hnk..."
Not expecting this in a corridor where people passed, Enril reflexively twisted her hips.
But her rear was already caught in Jiha's clutch, and she couldn't escape.
Smush.
As Enril tried to pull away, Jiha brought his other hand to her rear as well, trapping her.
A human male and a dark elf beauty pressed close enough for their noses to nearly touch.
A full embrace.
Enril floundered, her full breasts crushed against Jiha's chest.
"Ah, w-wait, you can't possibly, here..."
Shame flooded Enril's face bright red.
Jiha looked directly into Enril's fearful blue eyes and applied more force to his hands.
He squeezed hard, as if branding his handprints into her generous rear. Squeeze, squeeze.
When he put force into it, almost as if he meant to crush it, Enril furrowed her brow in distress.
"Ah, it hurts..."
Afraid someone might overhear, Enril pleaded in a hushed voice. At that, Jiha released her and stepped back.
When Jiha stopped so readily, even through the pain Enril looked bewildered.
She had obviously expected him to do something much worse, yet he'd stopped.
Somehow that only made her more uneasy.
"It's fine. I wasn't all that curious anyway. But make sure you remember this: I asked you something, and you held out and didn't answer."
"Ah..."
Enril hurriedly moved to call after him, but Jiha paid no heed and strolled forward.
'Looks like she still prioritizes her species' laws, or whatever it is.'
Her resistance had vanished, but it seemed the pride she dedicated to being a dark elf remained.
He could just grind that into powder next time.
Jiha returned directly to his room and went to sleep.
The night was going to be long.
With Okram moved out and now in a room of his own, Jiha slept deeply.
Knock. Knock.
Jiha opened his eyes at the sound of a knock.
"Chief, they say a Unique Grade has arrived from Purple."
At the news he had been waiting for, Jiha rose from the bed.
The time had come to pin Leticia down once and for all.