Chapter 94: Acquiring Weapons - 10
Chapter 94: Acquiring Weapons - 10
An evening banquet.
A dinner gathering was held in the barracks' special hall, attended by the Commons, the Unique, and the Rare Grade personnel on duty.
The occasion was Blue Seal's official welcome for Asira Hellrunner, who had come under the pretext of an inspection tour.
The demon beauty in black-and-purple attire rose from the seat of honor and lifted her glass.
"I'm grateful for this chance to join all of you. Tonight, let's set aside formalities—eat, drink, look back on old times, discuss what lies ahead, and see the night through together."
"Yes!"
Everyone raised their glasses.
The meal went on.
Asira had seated Yura beside her and was pressing food and drink on her.
When Rare Grade soldiers came over to introduce themselves and pour her wine, she accepted with a smile and poured for them in return.
Most of the Rare Grades couldn't hide their surprise at her unpretentious, easygoing demeanor.
A crowd naturally gathered around Asira.
Enril, on the other hand, sat for only a brief while at the start before excusing herself, claiming she had business to attend to.
The Commons at the far end kept stealing glances at Jiha and barely touched their food or drink.
"What's with you guys?"
Jiha turned to them with a grin, and the Commons spoke in low voices.
"What should we do?"
"Just eat and drink like you normally do. Don't worry about it."
"Yeah, what the captain says goes."
Garaon took the lead, loudly tearing into some meat.
They're flustered.
Their captain, Jiha, was sitting at the same table—at the foot of the table—and it felt unfamiliar, a little awkward for them.
If Jiha wanted to march up and sit at the head table right now, neither Enril nor Yura could stop him.
No, truth be told, everyone already took it for granted that Jiha would occupy the seat of honor.
But then a visiting Unique had plopped herself down at the top and Jiha had moved lower, and the Commons couldn't help feeling out of place. It felt like a guest walking in and taking the host's seat.
If she were unlikable, they'd resent her—but even the Commons found Asira's character admirable.
"Just wait a few days."
At Jiha's low murmur, the Commons' heads snapped toward him.
"I'll set the hierarchy straight."
His promise to sort things out put their minds at ease, and they threw themselves into eating and drinking.
Jiha tipped back his cup, draining it in an easy swallow, and studied Asira and Kamain, who stood waiting behind her.
Kamain was barely drinking and kept a watchful eye on whether Asira was getting too drunk. Handsome as he was, even when women approached him first to strike up conversation, he simply turned them down with practiced ease.
On the surface, he's the picture of a loyal subordinate—but underneath, it's a different story...
Asira might be noble and generous in character, but her direct subordinate Kamain was another matter.
"He's a cambion."
Uben, sitting beside him, spoke quietly.
He must have gathered information over the course of the day. When Jiha shifted his gaze, Uben continued.
"Kamain Batalion isn't a pureblood demon. He's a dream demon—an incubus and human hybrid. Half-human, half-demon. They're called cambions."
"Incubus?"
"A race that went extinct during the Thousand-Year War. If succubi are the female form, incubi are the male form—but they weren't on good terms, apparently."
Jiha motioned with his eyes for him to go on.
Even in books, information on Warsland's species was thin, and much of it was shrouded in secrecy.
"In the distant past, multiple races branched out from the demon root. Among them were the dream demons; the male incubi are said to have perished during the Thousand-Year War, and only a small number of succubi survived to carry on their lineage. Asira treats Yura specially because they were raised together from childhood through inter-species exchange."
"So Kamain was born right after the Thousand-Year War? What's the lifespan of an incubus?"
"I haven't confirmed that far, but it's certain he's the last cambion. And..."
Uben lowered his voice even further.
"An incubus, said to possess the ability to seduce women, is a species rarely spoken of in this era. There's even a rumor that Blue Seal's Legend, Cheonho, personally eliminated the scant few incubi who survived the Thousand-Year War."
"Cheonho did that? She's been quite busy, hasn't she?"
"Speculation. It's not confirmed."
Jiha nodded.
Asira belongs to Cheonho's faction—so from Kamain's perspective, his master's liege is the enemy of his entire race?
Jiha sorted it out in his head and asked,
"Then Kamain must not have heard many kind words either."
"Since Asira, a pureblood demon, took him in and protected him, no one could harm him officially—but kind words were scarce."
"And?"
"He only reached Super Rare Grade recently. About half a year. But I hear there was some... friction in the process."
Now this was interesting.
When Jiha gave him a questioning look, Uben shook his head.
"The information doesn't line up yet. I'll need to dig a bit more."
"Good. Find out as precisely and quickly as you can."
Once the conversation ended, Jiha picked up two cups of wine and rose from his seat.
If you want to catch the general, shoot the horse he's riding first. Shall I probe him directly?
When Jiha approached the head table, Kamain's face stiffened subtly.
He seemed to think Jiha was making a move on Asira—but Jiha extended the cup in his right hand toward Kamain.
"Let's have a drink while we talk."
"..."
When Jiha made the offer politely, Kamain looked dumbfounded for a moment before quickly straightening his expression.
This was the same Jiha who had been insolent and provocative toward Asira yesterday, now suddenly acting genial and affable.
This guy's expression management is completely lacking. He's trying, in his own way, but...
Look closely and it all shows.
Jiha smiled as he spoke.
"Everyone else is drinking. Looked a bit lonesome by yourself, so I thought I'd offer."
"I'm on duty. I'll pass..."
Since Jiha was being polite, Kamain returned the courtesy and shook his head.
But Asira, who had been mingling with the others from her seat, turned and spoke.
"Kamain, at a gathering like this, relaxing and joining in is a form of courtesy, too. Don't mind me—have a drink."
"..."
Finding it difficult to ignore his master's words, Kamain accepted Jiha's cup and barely wet his lips.
Jiha stood facing Kamain and struck up a conversation.
"I saw earlier—you're quite popular with the ladies. I'm envious. What's your secret?"
"..."
Kamain was a handsome man with long, narrow eyes and thin lips that left a strong impression.
To a man it might come off as greasy, but women would judge his looks differently.
On top of that, the only male Super Rare in all of Warsland—it wasn't an exaggeration to call him the most eligible man around.
At Jiha's compliment, Kamain shook his head.
"I'm someone who must keep striving. Talk like that doesn't interest me."
"No, wait—don't tell me you've never even slept with a woman?"
When Jiha feigned exaggerated shock, the Rare Grades gathered around Asira paused their conversations and looked over.
Kamain glared at Jiha with displeasure.
"You may be drunk, but you're overstepping. Do I have to answer such a foolish question?"
"Isn't this the sort of thing men can talk about among themselves? If it's really that uncomfortable, shall we move elsewhere?"
Kamain glanced at Asira, who was busy in conversation, then stepped aside to a corner.
Jiha followed, shrugged, and apologized.
"Ah, my apologies. I might be a little drunk. But it's just—I'm so envious, you see."
Words he didn't mean in the slightest could still roll off his tongue—for the sake of his objective.
"If I were as popular as you, I'd be with a different woman every day. A new one for morning, noon, and night."
At Jiha's shameless posturing, Kamain let slip a contemptuous smirk.
A smile that looked down on an inferior male.
Look at that. It's not the topic itself that bothers him—he thinks I'm an idiot.
Definitely not a chaste, innocent type. This was a man who had played around plenty.
His suspicions confirmed, Jiha kept going.
Kamain sneered. "If you need women that badly, why not just go to a brothel?"
"Ah, well—that's because I've got no money."
Jiha could walk into a brothel with empty pockets and the women would welcome him with open arms, but...
Kamain gave him a look that said don't talk nonsense.
"No money? You? A Mana-using Common who can stop the Summoning War in its tracks?"
"I've been living it up too much lately. And it's been a long time since I was in the Summoning War, so I've got no income. Just getting by doing odd jobs."
Kamain knew who Jiha was, too.
But he had no idea that Jiha collected money from the Commons, or that he'd done a great deal to seize control of this city—and succeeded.
Kamain looked at Jiha coldly.
"So what's the point of this? You need money?"
"I'm not here to beg. I'm suggesting we scratch each other's backs."
Jiha raised his cup with cheeky good nature.
"I'm a local in this city. I've been here longer than any other Common. I know Waris inside and out. If you want to have some fun with women, I can show you the real hot spots."
"..."
Kamain took a fresh look at Jiha.
An appraising gaze—eyes judging whether Jiha could be useful.
"Doesn't sound like a bad deal."
Kamain spoke coolly, then produced gold coins from his breast and handed them to Jiha.
Jiha accepted and counted: 300,000 rel.
"If you need a woman, use that to have your fun. When something comes up, I'll let you know."
Got him...
Jiha smiled to himself with satisfaction.
Kamain had dismissed Jiha as a thoughtless fool and, to some extent, revealed his own true colors.
"Ah, this. Feels a bit off to enjoy it alone, though."
Jiha pocketed the money, playing sheepish.
Kamain snorted.
"I have no interest in women who sell themselves to anyone. Go ahead, knock yourself out."
"Then what kind of woman catches your eye?"
"..."
Having his own casual speech thrown back at him, Kamain furrowed his brow.
Jiha grinned.
"Maybe I could be of some help, you know? Hmm? A guy who's good-looking but short on experience with women."
Kamain's face grew more irritated, but this wasn't the place to make a scene.
Jiha feigned a sly, over-the-top realization.
"Ah, could it be..."
When Jiha turned toward Asira in the distance, Kamain's face went stiff.
"Let's stop right there, shall we?"
"No, if that's really the case, I think I might be able to help somehow—"
"Stay out of it. I'll handle my own affairs, so don't go sticking your nose in."
Kamain's words were sharp.
"Oh my, forgive me for failing to grasp the delicate personal circumstances of a lofty figure."
Jiha nodded, playing the drunk, playing the fool.
"I'll earn what I've been given, so if you ever need help, just say the word."
Jiha waved a hand at the coldly dismissive Kamain, turned away, and returned to his seat, smiling to himself the whole time.
He's so dense he's showing me his whole hand...
Males compete for rank.
The moment they meet a stranger, they try to assess whether he's above or below them.
With just that exchange, Kamain had firmly categorized Jiha as beneath him—a blockhead not even worth keeping an eye on.
Playing the skirt-chasing moron is pretty useful, isn't it?
Thanks to that, he'd extracted plenty of intel.
Kamain was nothing like his master Asira.
To her face he played the righteous knight, but behind the scenes, he had his own schemes running.
He's definitely a womanizer, and it's just as clear he's got his sights set on Asira.
A despised half-breed of incubus and human, ending up with Asira—a pureblood demon and a Unique?
By the social conventions of Warsland, it was impossible.
Asira didn't show the slightest sign of looking at Kamain as a man, either.
He might be the strongest among men, but he was still beneath her—a subordinate she'd taken in and granted power to. Only natural.
Jiha had barely settled back into his seat when a commotion behind him made him turn.
The banquet hall doors had opened, and a blonde elf was striding in.
An eye-catching beauty with lips pressed tight, barely restraining her anger—Leticia.
Why was she here?
The thought was instantaneous; her gaze was fixed on Jiha.
...This is a problem.
He couldn't afford to face Leticia with Asira and Kamain present—it would blow his cover: the fact that Jiha was no mere Common, the fact that he was a power player in the process of swallowing Waris whole.