Chapter 97: Acquiring Weapons - 13
Chapter 97: Acquiring Weapons - 13
Distracted by his interrogation of Lijin, he'd been slow to notice the enemy's approach.
'And on top of that, my night vision isn't great.'
Jiha had grown stronger through accumulating Mana, but his five senses hadn't been augmented. His perception and reaction speed had improved, yet his sensory organs remained as human as ever.
The gnolls lunging at him from the darkness were exploiting that weakness.
"You think this is a joke?"
Jiha tsked in irritation and summoned the Shadow Hand.
The Shadow Hand slammed a fist forward, and a charging gnoll went flying with a shriek.
When one of them got taken out instantly, the gnolls poised to follow up flinched and quickly retreated.
But their presence was still there. Three of them lurked nearby, waiting for an opening.
"Don't leave my side."
The enemies' individual strength was nothing special, but they were using the darkness to their advantage, and he had Lijin to protect.
'This is the barracks. A disturbance like this will draw people here within five minutes, three at most.'
His eyes would adjust to the darkness as well. Time was on Jiha's side.
The gnolls, realizing dragging this out would be bad for them too, charged simultaneously as Jiha held still. A coordinated attack from three sides—no dodging this one!
'And they're committed to kill.'
Jiha, having summoned up his Mana to the limit, drove his fist directly into the face of the one assaulting him head-on.
Crunch!
With a sound like a watermelon splitting, the gnoll's breath was cut short.
"Hup!"
He pulled Lijin toward him with his free arm, and the follow-up blow from his brass knuckles was wreathed in Wind Blade—a fatal strike. The two closing in behind him screamed.
"Kyyaaaak!!"
"Graaaaagh!?"
Their bodies carved open by the Wind Blade, the gnolls collapsed, spraying blood. Sensing no further hostile intent, Jiha let out a sharp breath.
"Lord Jiha, are you alri—"
Lijin's face went pale as she spoke.
Jiha stared blankly at the blue-tinted dagger embedded in his shoulder.
He'd been at a disadvantage in several ways, and the gnolls had just committed to a lethal assault. Coming out unscathed was unlikely, so he'd sacrificed his flesh to shatter their bones.
"Using your head, I see..."
A night raid, a small-scale ambush targeting only Jiha inside the barracks itself. It was only natural Uben had no intel on this; a handful of individuals could conceal their movements.
On top of that, it had barely been any time since the elves were annihilated after storming the barracks. The idea that someone would try the same thing again so soon was a psychological trap.
As blood streamed down, soaking his upper body, Jiha continued to think. Lijin's face was deathly pale, but she knew he was calculating and did not interrupt.
'An ordinary woman would be screaming her head off by now... She's useful.'
Jiha opened his mouth to summarize the situation.
"There's a collaborator behind this. Someone inside the banquet hall."
"...I see."
The barracks had Normal Grade guards controlling access. Even more so now, with the elven attack so recent; security was airtight. The fact that gnolls had reached the inner, secluded area without detection meant the guard patrol information had leaked.
"They weren't after just anyone. They targeted me specifically and sent a relatively elite unit."
Because Jiha had crushed the gnolls and confiscated their Grade 2 weapons. They must have judged that this becoming public would bring a crisis down on the entire organization, so they sent assassins.
Despite his shirt being drenched in blood, Jiha's thinking remained detached.
'From here, the approach is broadly twofold. Make them think the attack succeeded, or make them think it failed. ...The pain is making it hard to think clearly.'
Jiha focused Mana into the wound. The effect of his Vampiric Mana allowed him to suppress the bleeding. But suppressing bleeding at this level consumed Mana at a drastic rate. A situation he couldn't endure for long, so Jiha made his decision.
"We disguise ourselves as if nothing happened and return to the banquet hall. Then someone is bound to be rattled—that's the collaborator."
Lijin, flustered, spoke up.
"What about your wound? Should I discreetly call Sirel from the banquet?"
"No, it can't look like Sirel is moving. That would expose me being injured, and healing takes time too. The less information we give, the easier it is to grab them by the scruff of the neck."
By now, the collaborator in the hall would be desperate to know if Jiha was alive or dead. He intended to ambush them before they could mentally prepare.
'I have a strong suspect for the culprit, but I need confirmation. To wrap up the aftermath quickly.'
Jiha steadied his breathing, clenching and unclenching his fist. Suppressing the hemorrhage was reaching its limit. Even deliberating this coherently with a punctured artery required superhuman endurance.
"You can't, Lord Jiha. This... this is too dangerous. If you just pull it out, you'll die."
Lijin looked at his wound and shook her head desperately. Instead of replying, Jiha just looked at her.
There was a way to handle the immediate problem.
"You admit you overstepped by interfering about Leticia? And that's how this mess happened?"
Had Lijin not diverted Jiha's focus, he never would have allowed such an ambush.
Lijin conceded and begged.
"...Yes, I was completely out of line. Overstepping and gravely disrupting Lord Jiha's business—I will accept any punishment later. So please, treat your wound."
"No, I think punishment needs to happen now..."
Staggering, Jiha grabbed Lijin's shoulder and opened his mouth. Lijin blinked, then froze at the unexpected sight.
Two fangs.
Shunk.
"Hnghhhh!? Kuh..."
Reflexively trying to push Jiha away at the piercing pain in her neck, Lijin bit down hard on her lower lip.
Screaming here, letting out any cry, might be heard by someone.
Instead, Lijin clung to Jiha, burying her face against his shoulder. Not even knowing what was being done to her, her priority was clear—she must not make a sound.
'Break that odd stubbornness of hers, and she'll really be of use...'
Jiha felt a private admiration even as he drank her blood.
"Ah, haaangh..."
Her face buried against Jiha's chest, Lijin trembled, struggling not to make a noise. Beneath the moonlight, an embrace like two lovers holding each other.
'Should I use this chance to break that stubborn streak a little?'
Jiha gently stroked her back as if soothing a child. His hand slid down her suited back and pressed into the concave dip of her waist, and her body trembled for an entirely different reason.
"Ah..."
His hand, descending to the swell beneath her waist, began to trace circles in a lewd motion. Strangling any noise in her throat, Lijin exhaled thick with tension.
"Ah?!"
Jiha's hand pushed inside her suit's skirt. Clearly not anticipating this, Lijin let out a flustered moan, her body quaking.
The hand that had just been lewdly grasping and shaking a blonde elf's rear was now groping the backside of a black-haired half-elf. Feeling up two beauties in a row was quite arousing.
"Ah, haa... W-wait..."
With her neck bitten, Lijin showed signs of rejection, pressing her hands to Jiha's chest. Trying to push him away. But those hands had no strength. Instead, Jiha seized the opening to thrust his hand inside Lijin's dress shirt.
Pop. Rip.
Without even properly unfastening them, he tore the buttons off by force, his hand burrowing inside her clothes.
"Ah, ah. No..."
Lijin tried a feeble cry, then swallowed it back. Of course she would: a man was groping her breasts and kneading her rear in the open night. Instinctively, it would be terrifying and repulsive.
'A virgin.'
He'd known that when he kissed her at the bar last time. No—he'd touched her while kissing her before, but now Jiha's hand was completely serious. Even the strong-willed Lijin realized that, and was shrinking back from it. After all, she was still a virgin who didn't know a man.
"Ah, uh. Uh. Hnngh..."
As Jiha's hand kneaded her breast over her bra while he continued draining her blood, a weak moan slipped from Lijin. Her face showed strong rejection, and she tried desperately to curl inward, but Jiha had already driven his leg between Lijin's thighs. So she couldn't close them.
Next, Jiha withdrew his right hand from her rear and slipped it between the woman's legs.
"Wai—"
Not that, she meant.
Lijin desperately clenched her thighs together, but Jiha simply forced his way through with strength. A man's hand pried apart the chaste female secretary's thighs and invaded beneath her skirt.
Press.
"Ah, ah..."
The moment Jiha's fingers rubbed her cleft through the fabric of her panties, Lijin's body convulsed.
Press. Press.
As he firmly pressed and rubbed, the lips she had kept sealed parted against her will.
"Ahh. Hnk, haaaa. Haaang..."
The woman let out a sweet cry, yet she kept blinking as if she couldn't believe she was doing this herself.
Press.
As Jiha's fingers pressed harder, her panties grew damp. As if they had only been waiting for him to do just that.
"Hic, hnngh. Uuuh."
Sobbing and convulsing, Lijin tried to hide the sounds by bowing her head, but it was impossible. Since Jiha was still biting her neck and drinking her blood. She had no choice but to abandon herself, thrash, and gasp.
"Ah, haa... Haa. Haaah."
He had the female who'd been testing his temper by the throat, biting down hard, kneading her breast, and shoving a hand between her legs to toy with as he pleased. She'd gotten uppity, so he was making her taste something fierce.
Sluuuuurp.
Sweet blood seeped into his mouth, converting into Mana. Bloodsucking also accelerated his healing. His shoulder grew hot, and then the dagger pushed itself out on its own and clattered to the ground. Jiha felt a grudging admiration even now. He'd planned to pull the blade while drinking blood anyway, because of the massive hemorrhage.
'I felt it with Leticia, but this wound-healing ability is incredible. There's no pain, and it recognizes anything entering the body as a foreign object and expels it. And it's instantaneous.'
"Ha, haaah, aaaa..."
By now, nectar was unmistakably trickling from beneath Lijin's underwear.
Once he could taste the blood, Jiha detached his lips and pulled his hands back. The moment his fangs withdrew, Lijin's body gave a little shudder, and she buried her face against Jiha's chest. Her face bright red, she couldn't even open her eyes and could only manage ragged breaths.
"M-my body..."
"No idea about your body, but you've got a decent chest to feel up."
Jiha answered while still kneading her breast, his left hand still buried inside Lijin's shirt. Average in size, but with firm resilience and elasticity, making it entertaining to squeeze. His fingers pressed into the soft flesh exposed above the cup of her bra, and he kneaded it through the fabric in a circular motion.
"Ah, ahh."
Lijin trembled minutely, not knowing what to do. She showed signs of not knowing whether she should pull the man's hand out of her top, or how to handle this at all.
"Wait. Time to clean everything up now."
Saying that, Jiha turned around. Thanks to drinking Lijin's blood, the wound had completely healed. Jiha retrieved the dagger from the ground, then finished off the gnolls who were still breathing and hid the corpses in the underbrush.
'This should keep them from being found immediately.'
"..."
Lijin, apparently without any strength left, had been holding onto Jiha's collar and following him before sinking to the ground.
"Haa, haa..."
She was struggling not to make a sound, but her condition was not good. When Jiha drinks someone's blood directly, it sends them into heat. And this time, he'd added caresses on top of it. The arousal left Lijin at a loss.
"First, I'll take you to your room."
Jiha picked Lijin up in his arms.
Lijin's bedroom. She'd decorated it to her own liking over the course of her stay. After a brief glance at the pale pink curtains, Jiha laid Lijin down onto the bed.
"L-Lord Jiha..."
Lying on her side, Lijin called out to him earnestly. Her face was flushed; by contrast, her arms covered her chest and her legs were tightly shut, hiding the place between her thighs where a man's hand had just plunged without hesitation to molest her at will.
"..."
When Jiha's stare turned blatant, Lijin went tense and trembled, but showed no sign of opening up. Rather, she clamped her legs even tighter. He could just grab them and force them apart, but...
'Since things have come this far, maybe I'll let it simmer. This wasn't something I planned anyway.'
Right now, this had been unavoidable. Because he had to treat his wound and return to the banquet hall nonchalantly.
"Wait quietly in your room. I have business to take care of first."
"...Haa, haak."
Even while gasping for breath, Lijin nodded meekly. Her eyes were piteously wet, and though holding back her heated body was difficult, she understood that Jiha had matters to attend to.
"When you go out... could you lock the door? I don't want anyone to see me like this. Haa..."
"I will."
Taking the key from the shelf, Jiha looked back. Lying there and watching his back, Lijin forced a smile.
"...I'm okay."
"..."
Jiha gave a silent nod, then locked the door behind him.
After stowing the key in his pocket, Jiha walked calmly down the corridor.
"One thing at a time. First..."
Having thrown on a light vest over his shirt to hide the bloodstains, Jiha first stopped at Enril's office. Enril, who had been alone in the office, was puzzled, but Jiha only reported what was necessary before leaving immediately and returning to the banquet hall.
He had just finished a fight for his life, yet no one looked at him strangely. When Uben spotted him, Jiha silently signaled him with his eyes not to approach. Uben sent a signal to the other Commons, helping Jiha move freely.
'Now, look at me...'
Glass in hand, Jiha slowly circled the banquet hall. If the collaborator saw Jiha returning perfectly fine, there would definitely be some kind of reaction. Averting their eyes, or their face stiffening. A poker face isn't easy. If it were, everyone would be a con artist or a stage actor.
'It's hard for me too...'
Jiha didn't act like a thug and deploy that sarcastic tone for no reason. Because when you make an enemy emotionally agitated, even if Jiha himself gets shaken, they won't notice it.
He scrutinized the Rare Grade staff working in the barracks one by one, but none showed the reaction Jiha was looking for. Only Sirel gave a playful smile.
'Then next...'
Asira, Kamain, and the Rare Grade individuals clustered around them. Enril had apparently left earlier and was not at her seat.
When Jiha approached, Asira, who was at the center of the group, recognized him and greeted him with a smile.
"Enjoying the evening, Jiha?"
"..."
Yura, seated beside her, stared at Jiha with bewildered eyes. It was a look that said she was practically killing herself trying to lie to Asira, so why was Jiha walking right up to them?
'Not them, either...'
He focused on the most suspicious one, Kamain, but the man showed no particular reaction. He merely wore the same condescending smirk he always directed at Jiha.
'...Did I miscalculate?'
There had to be a collaborator inside the banquet hall. He'd looked at everyone's faces, but none of them showed a hint of fluster upon seeing Jiha. Either the opponent was a poker-faced master surpassing Jiha's expectations, or else...
Lost in thought, Jiha felt his ears grow hot.
'What's this?'
When he concentrated a bit of his Mana, he suddenly heard the conversation between Uben and Garaon from far away.
"Uben, these grapes are really delicious."
"That's the fourth time you've said that. You're drunk."
The voices were crystal clear, as if through earphones, even though the distance should have been impossible for human hearing.
"..."
Momentarily flustered by the new phenomenon, Jiha then realized it was a new ability.
'Lijin, then.'
A half-elf with mixed elf and human blood, she possessed hearing far keener than a human's. Focusing a bit more Mana into his ears, he found he could even pick up the sound of people's breathing. Relaxed breaths, breathing that had quickened somewhat from the alcohol...
"Why are you standing there like a statue? I'd appreciate it if you'd sit down in front of me and pour me a drink."
As Asira said it with a smile, Jiha realized another possibility.
The collaborator had leaked the guard post information, but might not have known the gnolls would attack tonight specifically. In that case, he'd let them know. It meant giving them a bit of information, but confirming the collaborator came first.
"There's something you should take a look at. No one else can see it."
"...Oh?"
Without a word of complaint, Asira dismissed the Rare Grade individuals gathered around her. Yura and Kamain remained.
"I can trust these two. So, what is it you have to show me?"
Jiha pulled out the gnoll dagger from his pocket, handed it to Asira, and focused Mana into his hearing.
"A dagger..."
Asira and Yura showed no particular reaction. No—a strange glint did pass through Asira's eyes.
Hngh.
But the low, stifled sigh that burst from someone's mouth came from elsewhere. Jiha moved only his eyes to locate the source of the sound.
Kamain was staring at the dagger with a rigid expression.
He'd caught the collaborator.