Chapter 96: Acquiring Weapons - 12
Chapter 96: Acquiring Weapons - 12
"What...."
Schluk.
Leticia flinched at the hard pressure against her lower stomach.
The rigid length straining inside Jiha's pants pressed into her.
"Ah."
Startled, she tried to jerk backward, but it was impossible.
Jiha had already seized the perfectly sculpted rear that curved up from her long legs, his right hand kneading the toned flesh. His left arm was locked around her slender waist, pulling her tight.
"Nn, nnn."
Leticia rose onto her tiptoes, trembling and desperate.
She was trying to put any sliver of distance between herself and the hand gripping her backside, between herself and the manhood digging in below her navel.
But Jiha didn't budge an inch.
Schluk.
"Ah."
He only pulled her closer, and the bulge in his pants ground harder into her stomach.
The moment Leticia froze in shock, his hand slid lower.
His fingers slipped audaciously under the flutter of her pleated skirt.
"Eek?!"
"Someone will hear."
Leticia shrieked at the bold touch, but Jiha was unruffled.
He could warn her about noise while doing whatever he pleased.
What kind of shameless man did that?
And she was the one who had come here, furious and ready to demand answers....
Instead, Jiha was casually stroking over the curve of her backside before seizing a handful.
Right over her panties.
Tight.
Squeeze!
"Ow, that hurts!"
"Does it? Want me to be gentler?"
"...G-gently. Do it gently."
"Alright. There."
He actually loosened his grip.
His fingers flexed and relaxed rhythmically over her springy rear, savoring the feel of it.
Squeeze. Knead. Squeeze.
"...."
Hadn't she basically just begged him to touch her?
Leticia's face turned the color of a ripe persimmon.
The sudden embrace and this meltingly intense kneading had left her completely disoriented.
She kept herself stretched on her toes, straining to escape his hand and the thing in his pants, but it wasn't real resistance.
If anything, the strength was draining from her body.
"What color are your panties today?"
"...D-dunno."
"Shall I check for myself?"
"N-no. Don't."
When Jiha's fingers teased a slow, knowing path over the fabric, Leticia gasped and begged.
It was only early evening, but people walked this path. To do something like this here....
Jiha lowered his voice and probed.
"If you won't say the color, should I just take them off?"
"...G-green."
"Really?"
"R-really."
"Show me."
At his clipped command, Leticia's face clouded with anxiety.
Her eyes darted around them, checking their surroundings.
They were alone, but it was outside. She was terrified someone might pass by and see.
Jiha rested his forehead against hers and spoke.
"Show me where only I can see."
"I... I don't want to. Not here."
"I want to see it right now."
"...."
Leticia cast her eyes down, uneasy.
He'd grabbed her, started touching her, and was pushing hard. She had no idea what to do.
But... what she felt wasn't dislike.
If this human male decided to, he could strip her bare in seconds, yet he was demanding it with words, and that made her resolve weaken.
Besides, even if someone did see, Jiha would somehow handle it.
Thump. Thump.
Anxious and yet reassured, her heart pounding, Leticia's breathing grew ragged.
"Leticia."
"...F-fine. Only you. Only you can see."
Looking close to tears, Leticia undid the buttons of her top.
Pale collarbones came into view, and then a green bra.
Her white breasts, cupped in the lingerie, gleamed in the moonlight.
Leticia's chest was beautifully shaped with exceptional firmness.
On her otherwise slender upper body, her breasts swelled with an obscene fullness that made the mouth water just looking at them.
"...."
The moment Jiha's gaze settled on the valley between her breasts, Leticia quickly pulled her collar shut again.
"You s-saw. Right? It's green."
"I didn't get a good look."
"...Too bad. I'm not showing you again."
She sulked, acting prim.
It wasn't anger at him, but the reaction of someone so embarrassed she didn't know what to do with herself.
Like a bashful schoolgirl playing coy with a boy she likes.
Jiha kept his grip on her rear and teased her.
"But the panties might be a different color, right?"
"...N-no way. Not that."
"Then you get that I'm holding back, yeah?"
Schluk.
He ground his hardness against her lower stomach.
The fact that Leticia had blushed and shown him her bra and breasts—that reaction had gotten him genuinely worked up.
"...Uh. Uhm. Nn."
The unyielding pressure kept jabbing her, harder than before, and Leticia's face burned red as she squirmed.
She'd let the atmosphere sweep her along, but showing him her underwear and chest was mortifying.
And the fact that he'd immediately gotten harder was disconcerting.
But secretly... it was also gratifying.
'What... what is wrong with me. Why am I like this?'
While Leticia floundered in a mess of nerves, anxiety, and strange pleasure, the rigid bulge in Jiha's pants dragged a long path across her stomach.
Slllk.
"Don't know? Want me to show you directly?"
"I... I know. I get it...."
Leticia's voice shrank into a mortified squeak.
"F-fine, I get it. I was wrong."
"Hm? Wrong about what?"
"...I'm sorry. For misunderstanding. And suspecting you."
She admitted it honestly, and Jiha pressed the advantage with a teasing edge.
"You say sorry and that's it? What should I do about this, then?"
"Th-that's...."
"I've been holding back from what I really want. Yeah?"
"In, in that case...."
Leticia's lips twitched.
Face burning with humiliation, she stared at the ground and mumbled.
"...I'll... do it for you."
"Do it? Do what?"
"...."
Even knowing he was toying with her, teasing her, Leticia couldn't make her lips form the words.
She felt bad about the misunderstanding.
And seeing Jiha latch onto her this hard just because she'd shown a little skin... it was secretly reassuring.
A man this interested in her wouldn't possibly turn his attention elsewhere, right?
She chewed her lip for a moment, then whispered.
"...What you want to do."
"Yeah? Anything I want? So me, a human man, can do whatever he likes with the noble high elf Lady Leticia?"
Jiha kept the pressure on, hooking a finger into her panties and yanking them upward.
The fabric bit deep into her secret places in a dizzying, sustained rasp.
"Kyah...."
Leticia jumped in his arms like a startled rabbit.
But Jiha just lightly caught the side of her neck between his teeth, freezing her in place.
"Nn."
Was he going to bite her again?
Leticia squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself.
She was unbearably embarrassed and off-balance, but she knew for certain now: when Jiha decided on something, there was no stopping him.
Even when he seemed to be running wild, he was always thinking and calculating every move.
Nip. Nip.
But Jiha only grazed his teeth softly, repeatedly, against her neck. He didn't bare his fangs and sink them in.
Still, the fear that he might bite at any moment—and... a strange sense of anticipation—kept building inside Leticia.
"Nn, ah. Oh."
As his lips and teeth kept catching and releasing the white column of her throat, Leticia let out a soft, helpless sigh.
Every press of his lips tickled, but the small bites sent a peculiar thrill through her.
Shivering slightly, Leticia hesitated, then nipped at Jiha's neck in return.
Like a beast making its advances.
The blonde elf bit down very gently, tame and careful, as if afraid she might actually hurt him.
"...."
Pleased, Jiha stroked her hair, and Leticia pressed closer.
"...Mmm."
Now she was nibbling at his neck insistently, as if pleading.
Jiha grabbed her rear again, pulling it upward before suddenly letting it drop back into place.
"!"
Leticia's biting stopped in shock.
The wildcat in his arms froze, blinking. Jiha cupped her backside and began to knead it in slow, deliberate circles.
Leticia's lines were beautiful—from her calves to her thighs to the swell of her rear.
With both hands, he seized the sculpted, perfectly curved flesh and massaged it relentlessly....
"Ah... Mmm."
As her rear was grabbed, kneaded, released, and seized again, Leticia shook and let out a thin, trembling moan.
Her voice was strangled low, afraid someone might hear, but it was a sweet, panting sound.
The golden-haired elf had come here with fire in her eyes, fully intent on confronting him. But after a few words from Jiha, after being held and touched like this, she was blushing and compliant.
Schluk.
Jiha hooked his fingers into the band of her panties again and pulled upward, letting the fabric press tight against her cleft.
The strip of cloth cut deep between her legs.
"Ahhk. H-hah. Mmm."
A more explicit sensation hit her, and Leticia squirmed, pressing her body flush against Jiha.
She didn't care anymore that his erection was digging into her stomach.
She clung to him as if she believed that pressing close would hide her shameful state from the world.
Conditioned.
Satisfied, Jiha kept kneading her rear... when she asked him a trembling question.
"...Are you done? With what you wanted?"
Was she nervous because she suspected this wouldn't be the end?
Or was she nervous because she was afraid that this might actually be all there was?
At a question she couldn't even sort out for herself, Jiha turned his head.
Lips drew near.
"...Ah."
Leticia's eyes closed on reflex, waiting....
Smack.
Jiha landed a playful kiss on her cheek.
Then he released his grip and took a full step back.
As if the intense press from a moment ago had been a complete lie.
"Huh?"
Released, Leticia touched the cheek his lips had brushed. Jiha smiled at her.
"I'm done."
"...What? Over?"
"We'll stop here for tonight. The situation's bad."
"...."
Flustered, Leticia found herself feeling disappointed despite herself.
Jiha spoke again.
"Asira's here."
"...Asira? Asira Hellrunner is here?"
Leticia's expression sobered instantly at the name.
Asira, the Unique from Blue Seal, had distinguished herself in so many skirmishes that Purple was keeping close tabs on her.
Jiha nodded.
"Yes. So I need to focus on that for now. You stay put in the Purple barracks as well. Don't do anything to stand out."
"...Okay. I'll be careful."
Leticia also straightened her clothes and nodded.
If she'd known beforehand that Asira was coming, she wouldn't have acted so rashly.
Jiha inclined his head.
"Thanks for the info. Head back safely."
"...R-right."
Leticia fidgeted, unsure what to do.
If she happened to run into Asira, things would get complicated, so she knew she had to leave quickly....
But she still clung to the feeling that it had ended too soon, and she was deeply confused by her own reaction.
As she hesitated, Jiha said,
"I'll make time next time."
"...Okay."
Leticia pressed a hand to her cheek and turned away.
Her steps were slow.
She walked a long while, then glanced back over her shoulder.
When she realized Jiha was still standing there, she flinched, then sped quickly away.
Leticia had vanished completely.
'Enril and Yura are both already aware that I have other women. But Leticia is different. She believes she's the only one... I'll have to handle that carefully.'
The foundation of Jiha's Mana was his vampiric Mana.
To rapidly grow his power and obtain various Special Abilities, biting many women was a necessity.
Having many women was the natural result.
He'd have to stay on his toes to prevent problems....
Rustle.
A footstep.
Jiha turned his head. The half-elf with the black hair was standing there.
Once Lijin knew Leticia was gone, she had come back.
Lijin bowed her head respectfully.
"I apologize, Sir Jiha."
"I put you in charge of the Leticia matter, didn't I?"
"...Yes."
"And you didn't catch on beforehand that she was going to pull something like this?"
It was just luck that Uben had stepped up to block her and Jiha had finished cleaning it up.
He couldn't imagine the mess if Leticia and Asira had run into each other.
A tower built with so much effort could have collapsed in an instant.
Jiha pressed again.
"Someone as observant as you had absolutely no idea Leticia would do this?"
"I was planning to report to you soon. Forgive me."
Lijin bowed her head again, and Jiha continued his line of inquiry.
"If I picked you specifically for this, you'd have to know it was important. No, you couldn't possibly not know."
"...."
Leticia was a key officer Jiha had planted inside the Purple barracks.
Contrary to her appearance, her mental toughness was weak, so Lijin had been attached to her as a precaution for exactly this kind of scenario.
"So there were signs, but you didn't report them to me. No, wait—did you try to soothe her yourself, fail, and then it came up to me?"
"...."
By rank, Leticia, a Unique, was obviously Lijin's superior, a Normal.
But in Jiha's current organizational chart, the relationship was the exact opposite.
Lijin hesitated, then spoke.
"...You're correct."
"You should have just reported it to me. Why didn't you?"
Jiha's voice was calm.
"Don't make this messier. Speak honestly."
"I didn't want to make you form a bad impression of Lady Leticia. She was still very inexperienced with men...."
"That's not your call to make."
Jiha had no intention of discarding Leticia.
But that judgment was his alone to make. A subordinate had no business meddling in it.
The authority of the leader had to be absolute.
Jiha frowned and asked,
"Why shield Leticia so much? Didn't you expect me to react like this?"
"She feels like someone I have to look after."
"Leticia is far older than you."
Lijin smiled softly.
"Lady Leticia has an immense need for recognition and praise. She was never properly acknowledged in elven society."
"...."
"And since you're the first man she's ever really known, her feelings are complicated. If you praise her, Sir, she'll move with even greater energy. Though it's impertinent of me to say so."
"Yes. It is impertinent."
Lijin bowed her head deeply once again.
Jiha spoke levelly.
"I give you a task, and you keep edging over the line, testing my limits... Do I have to keep letting it slide?"
"...Should I look for another position?"
"You probably should."
But firing Lijin now was impossible. She already knew too much.
Lijin closed her mouth and kept her head bowed.
'She's not begging or promising she'll fix it. She's perceptive and quick-witted, which is why I kept her around, but she's got an unexpected stubborn streak.'
After a moment of thought, Jiha spoke.
There were presences around them.
"Raise your head."
"...."
"This isn't forgiveness. Come stand beside me."
Jiha was glaring ahead into the distance.
His conversation with Lijin had delayed his awareness.
'I didn't actually think I'd get attacked here....'
Even though they were inside the Blue Seal barracks, he could sense presences in the darkness beyond.
Crack!
A stone flew and smashed the Mana lamp, scattering its faint glow.
Now all he had to distinguish anything was the moonlight.
"Have these bastards lost their minds...."
The moment Jiha tsked, gray-furred shapes came lunging at him.
Gnolls.