Chapter 57: Reaping the Harvest - 10
Chapter 57: Reaping the Harvest - 10
The day of the appointment with Dudinel, the mayor of Waris, arrived.
Jiha headed to the mess hall. Uben approached and bowed his head.
"Rugin and Garaon are standing by as your escort for the afternoon outing."
"Good."
This was a trip to see the mayor, but there was no way it would end peacefully.
Jiha intended to do some reaping of his own.
Uben added, "And you have a visitor. I've kept them waiting in the visiting room."
The barracks had visiting rooms for Commons who lacked the freedom to leave, but they were virtually unused. People dragged into another world out of nowhere had no one to come looking for them.
"Who is it?"
"They said they'd finished settling their personal affairs."
It was one of his appointments.
When Jiha entered the visiting room, a delicate beauty who looked like a college student rose from her seat and greeted him. It was the half-elf, Lijin.
"We meet again, Sir Jiha."
"Yeah. You look good."
Lijin, dressed in a black suit, smiled brightly. She showed no trace of the stress from her workplace going under overnight or of watching someone die.
Catching Jiha's gaze, Lijin explained, "While taking care of the task you gave me, I realized something... this kind of work actually suits me."
"Threatening people to keep their mouths shut?"
Lijin shook her head.
"Oiling the gears to keep them turning smoothly."
"How did you handle it specifically?"
He had left the method of silencing the tavern's humans entirely up to Lijin. Partly to see what she was capable of.
Lijin explained.
"I arranged new jobs for the staff on the condition they don't mention what happened. I scattered them to different places so their paths wouldn't cross. The money for the placement fees came from my uncle."
"Oh ho."
"My uncle was desperate to stay out of prison, so everything was wrapped up cleanly. I used the leftover money to get this suit tailored."
Lijin smoothed the black suit she was wearing. A clean, well-tailored suit—clearly made for a job interview.
"Not bad at all."
"I wasn't skimming off the top. I needed it for a fresh start, so it was a necessary expense. I didn't spell it out for my uncle, but it's an amount he'd understand."
Lijin looked thoroughly satisfied.
And Jiha was quite satisfied as well. He'd given no detailed orders, yet she'd handled matters with meticulous care. Even Jiha, with his background as an executive assistant, would have handled it the same way.
Lijin was an asset.
"I like it."
"Thank you."
Lijin smiled, but Jiha shook his head.
"I'm not just saying that. I mean it. Hmm..."
"What would you have me do now, then?"
"Be my personal secretary for the time being. I'll issue specific instructions as time allows."
"Yes, understood. Shall we discuss salary and working conditions?"
Lijin accepted the offer in a heartbeat, making Jiha chuckle.
"Deciding on the spot, huh? Sure about this?"
"I had a feeling this was coming."
A quick-witted subordinate was invaluable.
Jiha and Lijin dove straight into discussions.
"Your monthly salary starts at two million rel. The contract renews every three months. You can do as you please unless I've given you an order. But when I give an order, that takes top priority."
"Understood. And my working hours?"
"The tasks I give you won't be desk work. Handle your own hours on the condition you meet the schedule."
Lijin had no combat ability, but she was free to roam. She was sharp, tactful, and reasonably sociable. And with her old contacts from the tavern, she had an information network reaching into the darker corners of society.
Jiha intended to use Lijin as his source of information and a convenient pair of hands.
"If I need additional pay or operational expenses, I'll report them separately. We can't write an employment contract, can we?"
"I could write one up if you want, but it'd have no legal force."
What meaning could a slave's promise have? The only personal possessions allowed to a Common were clothing and armaments bought from the tool shop. Legally, they could own nothing else. Even if they staked their lives and saved hundreds of millions of rel, they couldn't buy a house to sleep in. That was why Commons were usually indifferent to money—squandering it on drink and women until they grew dull and died.
"If you need it, I can even pay you half a month's salary in advance right now."
Conversely, even if Jiha went back on his word or failed to pay her, Lijin would have no legal recourse. Because a Common couldn't enter into an employment contract with another person at all.
"That's fine. I have money for living expenses. Let me work for a month, and you can pay me next month."
"Didn't you say you needed to earn tuition money? Getting stiffed would be a problem."
"I think I'll learn a lot working at your side, Sir Jiha. And it seems like I'll get to experience all sorts of things."
Lijin accepted with refreshing promptness.
"Good. Then here's your first instruction. It's the day I'm meeting the mayor, so follow me."
"My intuition was right."
Lijin gave an expectant smile. Jiha was about to smile back when he sensed a presence behind him.
An absolute beauty with silver hair and brown skin—Enril—was leaning against the door frame.
"Hold on. We need to talk."
Not looking directly at anyone, speaking unilaterally while showing only her profile—she was every bit the arrogant noble.
"Wait for me outside."
At Jiha's instruction, Lijin gave a quiet nod and rose. As Lijin passed by and gave a silent nod in greeting, Enril shot her a disapproving glare. Once the two were alone, Enril closed the door and approached Jiha.
*Been a while since I've seen this attitude.*
The haughty words and manner were the Enril Jiha had first known, but this was an act she'd consciously put on. She was aware of the other person, of Lijin's presence.
The proof came when Enril, standing right in front of Jiha now, found herself unable to speak first.
"Talk."
"...I came to see what was going on, and it's the half-elf? Surely you're not planning to bring her to the meeting with the mayor?"
"Is that a problem?"
"Elves see half-elves as bastards born of their race, a disgrace, and despise them intensely. They don't even consider killing a young half-elf without a guardian to be murder. The mayor is an elf too, so bringing her would be a significant disrespect."
"Elves sure do love their racial supremacy and eugenics..."
Jiha asked, baffled.
"How do dark elves see half-elves?"
"They're only half elf, so they're less hated than full elves. But they aren't welcome."
"Well, that's useful information. I'll definitely have to bring her."
When Jiha refused to change his approach even after being told, Enril furrowed her brow.
"If you're so set on that, then I'll come too..."
"Stay here and guard the house like a good girl."
Jiha cut her off flatly as he stood. When a look of discontent surfaced on Enril's face beside him, Jiha smiled and asked, "Jealous that I'm leaving you behind to take another woman?"
"Jealous? What are you..."
Jiha brought his face close to the bristling Enril.
"Wait—"
Enril reflexively tried to turn her head, but Jiha caught her chin and kissed her. He pressed his hand against the back of her head as she tried to push him away, and wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her in.
"Nnh..."
Jiha gently bit the peerless beauty's lips and sucked on them, slow and sticky. As Enril closed her eyes and gave a slight shiver, Jiha's hand slid lower from where it had been holding her waist. He gave her impossibly full rear a light squeeze, then gripped and lifted. Enril, forced up onto her tiptoes by Jiha, had no choice but to lean meekly against him.
"Haaht..."
He savored the haughty beauty's soft lips fully, lightly tangling their tongues. He rubbed her tongue with his, coaxing it out, then nipped it with his lips, drawing a trembling whimper from her.
Smack. Sluurp. Sllurrp.
Jiha trapped Enril's drawn-out tongue between his lips and sucked on it freely. Her tightly shut lashes fluttered, her breathing growing ragged.
"Nnhh..."
As a faint moan escaped her, the strength drained from Enril's body. Jiha stepped backward while hungrily sucking her tongue, lowering his posture. He moved them while still tasting Enril's tongue, and yet through it all, their lips and tongues never parted.
The light pressure of Jiha's hand on the back of her head guided her, and Enril followed with her eyes still closed.
Creeeak.
Seated with her legs spread wide atop the now-chair-bound Jiha, the dark elf was the picture of bewitching allure.
"Ah... haahh..."
When Jiha finally released her lips, Enril gasped for breath. She was in an awkward, straddling position over the man, her legs spread. Both of them were clothed, but their sexes were pressed tight together.
Prrress. Prrress.
Jiha moved his hands from Enril's thighs to her waist, then pressed on the outer curves of her breasts. It was an exploratory touch, his palms mapping the contours of her body as if confirming her shape. Each time, Enril flinched and shivered. But she showed no sign of fleeing, not a trace of defiance.
"Nn, nnh."
Sitting meekly atop the man, her cheeks flushed, waiting for what came next.
Jiha savored the sight and... stroked the nape of Enril's neck with a finger. When he then touched her cheek and her ear, she flinched and turned her head, as if the touch to her face had suddenly rekindled her embarrassment. But when Jiha pressed the back of her head...
"Ah..."
Her head bowed, and she met his lips. Her eyes were gently closed, and she leaned her body into the man's, breathing heavily.
This time, Jiha hadn't pushed her head down firmly. He'd guided her with the barest touch. Yet as if she had been waiting for it, Enril had clung to Jiha first, kissing him.
"Ah... haah..."
Still, she seemed unwilling to be the one to slip her tongue in first, only pressing their lips together and letting out a plaintive sigh. Enril cracked her eyes open and gauged Jiha's reaction. The man who had been toying with her had suddenly stopped, and the uncertainty made her anxious.
"...What?"
"You're the one clinging to me now."
"..."
Flitch.
Enril froze at the observation. The idea that she'd climbed on top of him and kissed him of her own accord, as if just waiting for him to touch her... The Enril of old would never have dreamed of such a thing.
When Enril, now jolted back to her senses, reflexively tried to rise, Jiha grabbed her waist.
"Feeling empty?"
"..."
Enril's eyes flew wide. Was he human, or some kind of spirit? The words seemed to see right through her.
But for Jiha, it wasn't difficult. Enril's recent attitude—how she was clearly fretting over what had happened between Leticia and Jiha but wouldn't ask. And the reaction she'd just had toward Lijin. It was all new for Enril, and she didn't know how to hide it. She spoke less and tried not to show her hand, but to Jiha, who knew women, it was all visible.
The fact that Enril was anxious and restless. And the fact that when Jiha touched her body, that anxiety vanished, and she'd been the first to press her lips to his and climb on top. Trying to soothe her heart's unease with her body. Trying to stop her male from going to another female with her body.
"..."
Enril shuddered, the realization that he'd read her completely washing over her, and she could only watch Jiha for his reaction. With the anxiety that she was in the palm of this man's hand no matter what she did, and the expectation that Jiha would soothe this ache in her heart.
But Jiha merely took his time admiring this version of Enril. The peerless dark-elven beauty, cheeks flushed, her heart pounding as she—Enril, of all women—sat atop his lap and gazed down at him with a tense expression. Waiting expectantly for what Jiha would say, hoping he'd say the words she wanted to hear.
This transformation was immensely satisfying.
Jiha cupped Enril's cheek again, then... moved his finger.
"Nn."
The man's finger touching her beautiful lips. Enril flinched, but Jiha kept tapping and stroking her lips with his finger. The lips he'd just been sucking and tasting. as if to say he wanted to enjoy them differently now.
"..."
The man's silent demand. Just like when they'd first lain together—an order to lick and suck his finger. A command the dark elf who had once looked down on him would never accept. Back then, at least she'd had the excuse of being drained by Bloodsucking. But now she was in her right mind. No—if she simply called upon her Mana right now, this defenseless...
"Ah..."
But now, Enril had no such desire at all. Because that gnawing emptiness that had plagued her all night while she watched the place where Jiha and another woman were—the emptiness that had vanished the moment their lips met.
Enril's lips, beneath Jiha's finger, parted slightly. An instinctive response of a female wanting her male. When Jiha stopped moving his finger and held perfectly still...
"Haah."
Enril opened her mouth and kissed the man's finger of her own accord. Her soft lips pressed against the finger, and her tongue licked it. Without even being told. As proof of submission.