Chapter 6: The Spoils
Chapter 6: The Spoils
In Warsland, there were those who used Mana to heal people.
Healers.
After receiving treatment, Jiha returned to the waiting room.
Okram was waiting.
"You're back, Jiha."
Commons were generally not permitted to watch other Commons' matches.
So Okram had also been forced to wait in the waiting room.
Jiha pulled up a chair and sat in front of him.
"I won thanks to you, Okram."
"I'm glad it helped."
Seeing the long, torn wound on Okram's arm, Jiha asked,
"Aren't you going to ask anything?"
"You asked me to fill a bowl with blood. You said it's a special ritual from your world—a Je-Sa, was it?"
Jiha nodded.
Absorbing Okram's blood had been several times more effective than the blood he'd gathered from small animals so far.
On top of that, he had temporarily been able to borrow Okram's physical ability, Instantaneous Rigidity.
Deflecting Zrambul's sword with his head was a trick only possible because he'd converted Okram's blood into Mana and consumed it.
Okram had given his blood without questioning it and then left, which allowed Jiha to discover a new function of his Bloodsucking and enter the match with that knowledge.
By absorbing the blood of higher lifeforms, Jiha could also use that individual's Special Ability.
'I don't know if it'll be permanent...'
He needed to study it more, but that was for later.
Jiha looked at Okram and smiled.
"Sorry. You must have a lot of questions, but I can't tell you just yet. Keep this a secret for me."
"There's no need to say that. Tell me when you're comfortable."
Okram answered immediately and stood up.
Orcs are known for rapid stamina recovery and wound regeneration, but Okram didn't seem to care at all about the whole 'give me your blood' request.
"More importantly, congratulations on your first win. Let's go drink today. It's on me."
"Leave the barracks, you mean?"
"When you win in the Summoning War, you get free leave. A percentage of the bets placed on you becomes prize money, so you can spend it however you like."
Jiha had heard that early on but had completely forgotten about it.
Since he'd only ever lost until now.
Okram let out a hearty laugh.
"To think the day would come when I'd be the one giving you information about Warsland."
"I didn't teach you that much..."
"Didn't you tell me plenty of things when I was freshly summoned and couldn't get my bearings? I was truly grateful."
Jiha had explained a thing or two once he realized his roommate Okram was a decent man.
Okram had inwardly been grateful for that.
"Let's save the cheesy talk for drinks."
Jiha laughed and got up from his seat.
His first hard-won victory—it promised to be a pleasant night of drinking with a friend who had shared blood with him.
Screech.
As they were about to head out together, Jiha and Okram stopped.
The person who opened the door and entered was a beautiful, silver-haired woman.
With lush red lips—it was Enril.
Enril snapped at Okram.
"Get out."
"...See you later, Okram."
Sensing Enril's ominous mood, Okram silently asked with his eyes if Jiha was sure he'd be all right.
When Jiha nodded, he asked no further questions and left.
Once the door closed, Enril gave a long sigh.
"So the trash figured out a trick."
"Already eyeing the prize? Impatient, are we..."
Slap! Jiha's body jolted as he was speaking.
Enril had abruptly slapped him across the face.
Hit without warning or reason, fury boiled up inside Jiha, but he suppressed it for the moment.
The taste of blood lingered in his mouth, likely from a cut inside his cheek.
But it was instantly reabsorbed.
'I see, so Bloodsucking can absorb my own blood as well?'
Though he didn't feel his Mana increase.
Dying from excessive blood loss could likely be prevented to a certain degree.
Having filed that new piece of information away in his head, Jiha glared at Enril.
"What's the meaning of this?"
"Don't get cocky just because you won one. Before I really kill you."
As Enril threatened him, Jiha snorted.
"Look at the old lady who farted getting mad. Are you planning to beat me up and threaten me into pretending our deal never happened?"
"..."
Struck right at the heart of the matter, Enril furrowed her brow and fell silent.
She hesitated for a moment, then changed the subject.
"I'll give you money."
"What's so expensive about just one meal?"
"..."
"Ah, I get it. Eating at the same table with a lowly slave lowers your standing. Is that it?"
Enril's brow furrowed harder—he had hit the mark exactly.
A world where women dominate and men are lesser. In that world, a Unique like Enril eating alone with a Common like Jiha?
If word got out, all kinds of scandals would follow Enril.
Ridiculous as it was to Jiha, even sharing a single meal was a loss of status for someone of Enril's standing.
"Ah, you want to overturn the deal as if it never happened because you hate being seen by others? After arranging an impossible matchup, now, of all times?"
"..."
"And if I don't obey, you'll take my head?"
It was an absurd way of thinking, but it was more than plausible for a woman of Warsland.
Because they look at men like insects.
The logic of power—no matter how unfair the strong are, the weak must follow.
But Enril, unlike her usual self, didn't answer immediately.
A rare hesitation in her attitude.
'So she's not completely without a conscience.'
Having picked up on it, Jiha changed his approach.
"Then we can just eat where no one will see us, right?"
"...What?"
"We don't have to eat together in front of everyone. I'm not familiar with the local customs; I didn't mean to insult you. Where I come from, sharing a meal is how you bond."
Jiha spoke calmly.
"We'll do it out of sight, at your place. That should be good enough, right?"
"..."
Enril's face became extremely displeased.
Jiha shrugged.
"Why so guarded? I know my place, I know my limits, and I set the conditions with you in mind. If even this is no good, then I did win, just like we agreed. So what exactly can you do for me?"
"..."
When Jiha sneered, Enril couldn't answer.
Because turning him down over and over was a bit awkward.
High-handed as she was, Enril was the type who valued honor. Having to take back her own words would surely bother her.
Enril tsked.
"If you try anything funny, I'll kill you. Don't do anything rash, if you don't want to leave as a corpse."
"I eat with you twice, and you'll kill me anyway. What are you so on edge about?"
"..."
Still, Enril was utterly unwilling.
To think a Common, who was no better than garbage to her, would step over the threshold of her home.
She seemed to feel a visceral rejection of the idea.
Times like this, he needed bait.
"Well, there's something I want to discuss over dinner. The reason I can use Mana now—in the centuries of Summoning War history, a Common using Mana is a first, isn't it?"
"..."
Enril's curiosity seemed piqued.
Jiha, who had always lost, had suddenly won one day by using Mana.
A Common using Mana was unprecedented in Warsland's history. The circumstances must be intriguing.
It was something Jiha would be interrogated about soon anyway.
So better to use it as bait.
In the end, Enril nodded.
"Seems you've finally finished figuring out your place. Rather late."
"If you've decided, let's get going."
Enril tsked and turned around.
"I'll call for you once I'm ready."
Evening came.
Enril did not reside in the barracks.
She had acquired a grand mansion of her own in the city to stay in.
He passed through the huge front door.
For a long while he followed, admiring the alluring sway of her brown hips with every step, and before he knew it, they had reached a room.
Click.
Enril opened the door and entered the room.
Jiha followed her in and was surprised to find it was Enril's bedroom.
Dinner had been set on a table next to the bed.
Chicken with steam curling up, bread, and a salad.
Entering a peerless beauty's bedroom would normally make one's heart pound...
But Jiha first registered the fact that there was only one serving of food.
She'd kept his visit a secret, even from her own subordinates.
The mansion was enormous, yet he hadn't seen anyone on the way in.
Enril had likely concealed his coming and ordered a simple meal set in her bedroom.
An ordinary person would still be reluctant to let someone into their bedroom. But this situation only came about because Enril didn't even see Jiha as a man.
The twisted pride of a high-and-mighty person—Jiha knew it all too well.
Enril snarled unpleasantly.
"I sent everyone away because I have no wish to be seen associating with the likes of you. See that you don't go blabbing about today either."
"Right, so there's no one else here..."
Sensing something untoward in Jiha's words, Enril turned back and warned him.
"For the record, this is the first time a man has been let into my room. Don't try anything funny."
"What an honor."
Well, she said she'd never even eaten with a man before.
A woman as fierce and acerbic as Enril wouldn't find any ordinary man to her liking.
No, in this world of female dominance, could a man good enough to catch a woman's eye even exist?
Enril spoke coldly.
"The washroom is to the left. If you want to wash your hands, use it."
"Right..."
Jiha took a moment to look around the bedroom once more.
It was ten times larger than the room he shared with Okram.
The bed was big enough to sleep a good dozen people comfortably.
This wasn't a house, it was a top-class hotel.
He could slightly understand how Enril had always looked down on him as a Common.
Living in such luxury, ordinary folk would look like lowlifes.
"So, how exactly did you win that match earlier?"
Enril sat down at the dining chair.
Crossing her brown legs, flaunting a captivating silhouette, Enril asked haughtily.
"How is it you can suddenly use Mana? Or were you able to all along and simply hiding it this whole time?"
"It'll be a long story to tell... How about you bring some drinks before we eat?"
At his request, Enril seemed displeased, but headed for a display cabinet in the corner of the room.
"..."
Watching her back, as shapely as a gourd bottle, Jiha steeled his resolve.
Today was the opportunity.
If he bit another woman, he'd be discovered by Enril.
On top of that, he had to keep his Bloodsucking a secret too.
Better to bite Enril herself, evade the interrogation, and obtain her ability and power.
'Just indirectly consuming Okram's blood made me stronger. And if I directly feed on a Unique like Enril... I'll grow beyond all comparison to before.'
"This should do."
Enril returned and set a bottle of liquor down on the table.
Even though Jiha was standing, she didn't offer him a seat.
She didn't offer him a seat, as if he should remain standing until given permission.
"You probably don't even have the skill to properly pour a drink. I'll do it."
Having said that, Enril grabbed the bottle and stirred her Mana.
She even gave an explanation, for whatever reason.
"This is using Mana to chill the wine. Rares can only use Mana in very limited ways, like self-enhancement, but for a Unique, this level of application is effortless."
"Hoo..."
Perhaps she thought the guy who didn't know his place had finally learned to obey?
Enril's voice softened slightly.
"You may sit down to eat. I'll specially allow it."
"No, I'd rather stand."
That way, your nape stays in clear view.
Unaware of Jiha's true intention, Enril gave a cold laugh.
"Fine, seems you've finally figured out how you're supposed to act. What on earth happened? How did you use Mana overnight?"
"A lot of things happened. Hand over the drink first."
When Jiha pressed her, Enril smoothly poured a glass of wine and handed it to him.
But Jiha's fingertips trembled as he reached for it, and the wine glass slipped and fell.
Crash!
The sound of shattering glass rang out as red wine spread across the floor.
Enril tsked in irritation.
"Here I thought you'd finally gotten a clue, and this is what I get. Clean it up, now."
"Right. It was my mistake. I'll pick up the glass too."
Without any backtalk, Jiha didn't even look for a rag. He simply took off his top and began to wipe up the spilled wine on the floor.
Enril sat and looked down at him, clicking her tongue repeatedly.
Perhaps growing bored of waiting, she sipped her drink.
The spilled wine had flowed quite far. To wipe it all up, Jiha had to move behind Enril's back.
And there she sat, drinking her wine, without the slightest hint of wariness.
"..."
Jiha's eyes, while still wiping the wine, moved to Enril's nape.
An opportunity.
Jiha stopped wiping the wine and slowly stood up.
Even as a man's shadow loomed over her, Enril paid it no mind at all.
It was only natural. She was a Unique, a powerhouse without equal even in a world of female dominance. Why would someone like her care what a Common did or didn't do?
It was only natural that she was completely off-guard, even with him baring his fangs right behind her.
But Jiha had canines.
Fangs for hunting.
The sharp teeth aimed for the beautiful Dark Elf's nape.