Chapter: 160
As Jess grabbed onto her own head and whimpered while looking at Lian, he immediately yanked Iris’s hand away and said, “Iris, Jess is in pain.”
“Ugh, that damn fox…”
“Jess isn’t even a fox, though…?”
Lian, being a resident of a gag-filled world, got lost in thought over the oddity of it all, and in the meantime, Jess made a “Heey…” sound and snuggled closer. Iris’s eyes were filled with the flames of hell.
“Chuin-nim, Jess is hurting here. Heal me, please.”
“Uh, uh?”
“Here, here, it hurts.”
While Jess was technically not lying, it didn’t hurt enough to be unbearable. She quickly grabbed onto Lian, realizing this was a prime chance to act like a spoiled puppy. She wrapped her tail around Lian’s arm, clung to him with her legs around his waist, and, like a koala, rubbed her face against his shoulder while looking up at him with the most pitiful expression.
Lian froze, mesmerized by the sight of Jess looking up at him with those bright, cat-like eyes.
“Uh, um, that’s…”
He could have escaped any chains, but there was no way out of the prison created by a beautiful girl. This was the only surefire way to completely immobilize Lian. It was no wonder that the Magic Sword insisted he get used to female forms.
‘Gasp… What now? What do I do? What should I name my first grandchild?’
His mind went blank, and before he knew it, he was contemplating a future with Jess. This was an automatic reflex he couldn’t help. Meanwhile, Jess quickly seized the moment like a cat after a fish, pulling Lian’s hand over her head with a triumphant grin.
“This damn beast!”
At that moment, Iris completely lost it and started yanking Jess away. Jess took full advantage of the situation.
“Kyah! No!”
“Eep!”
Pretending she didn’t want to let go, Jess held Lian’s head in her arms. Lian inadvertently realized just how well Jess had grown, his face turning crimson as he lost his mind. This was because his entire face was buried, making it hard to breathe.
‘Ah… is this how I die?’
A moment before he could embrace a blissful demise, Jess finally broke free from Iris’s rough grasp.
“Chuin-nim!”
Jess spread her arms wide, gazing at Lian with those sparkling eyes again. When Lian reflexively tried to save her, Iris shot him a furious glare. Only then did Lian snap out of it.
‘Phew, that was close.’
He nearly fell for those innocent eyes and stepped into a trap that promised a happy death. Sighing, Lian pretended to wipe his forehead and gave a stern talk to the now-sullen Jess. She perked up in response, which was so cute that he couldn’t help but ruffle her hair, causing her tail to start wagging like crazy.
“Hehe, Chuin-nim!”
With her face brightening up, Jess tried to hug Lian again, but Iris, standing nearby with her arms crossed, grabbed Jess’s body fiercely.
“Did you forget everything you heard just a moment ago?!”
“Beastmen are too ignorant for that.”
Jess, unabashed, disparaged her own kind as she began to angle herself for another bro hug with Lian. Her innocent face, distracting everyone, made her pounce like a beast aiming for its prey.
Seeing her brother treated like a naive puppy by a stallion ready to swallow him whole, Iris felt a stiffening at the back of her neck.
‘Brother will live with me and never marry.’
But what if Lian were to marry?
‘Even if he does, it should be with family, right?’
Iris had some twisted thoughts, but they felt completely reasonable to her. There was no place for Jess—a mere ‘stranger’—to interfere with what she deemed family.
‘…If brother insists, I might consider it, though.’
In this dark fantasy world, polygamy or polyandry was common. It was a natural phenomenon that arose as the strong coexisted with the weak to survive a brutal world.
While there were not zero cases of monogamy, those with power often unintentionally helped the weaker ones, becoming figures of admiration, thus drawing love without wanting it.
It was hard to find someone who would push away a beautiful woman they were attracted to unless they truly loved someone.
For this reason, Iris thought she could grant Jess a position as a concubine if Lian wanted, because of their bond and Jess’s sharp instincts that would let her know the moment Lian was having a good time with another woman.
‘After all, brother’s favorite will always be me.’
The very moment she thought that, Lian’s words, “We’re not family,” surfaced, causing Iris’s eyes to flicker, but she quickly regained her composure.
As Iris held onto Jess and sorted her thoughts, Lian muttered something about finding Noah and bolted.
“Aah… If I’d just stayed a bit longer, I could’ve tried for a kiss.”
“What?”
Not too long ago, Iris had been thinking about giving Jess a position as a concubine, but she wasn’t so generous as to accept Jess claiming, “I’ll take his first kiss.”
Of course… Lian’s first kiss had already been swiped, but Jess and Iris had no way of knowing that.
“There are times you look at me like I’m a dog or cat, so I was thinking of licking your face clean –!”
It was an outright declaration that she would devour Lian from head to toe.
With a charming smile that twisted her eyes, she appeared sensuous. The previously large and awkward childlike demeanor had vanished.
“You…”
It felt like cold winds swirled in the unseen background of Iris. Had Lian been nearby, the effects of the gag filter could have made it seem like real snow was swirling around, and the people from the Duke’s House would have looked at Iris saying, “Uh? Duke?” due to her furious demeanor. Fortunately, Iris sat at the far end of the camp, behind the carriage, which helped her dodge the gazes.
By the time Jess and Iris started a playful brawl, Lian was wandering deep in the woods with paths barely discernible.
[Hmm, gulp. Almost there.]
He had summoned the Magic Sword just in case they encountered any monsters, which was now burrowing into its form like a needle, eating and guiding the way. Hearing it make sounds like it was gulping soup made Lian’s expression turn wry.
‘Am I really that delicious?’
While he pondered this, voices floated from afar.
[Partner, from here on out, kill your presence.]
‘Huh? Why?’
[It’s uncool… ahem, it would be rude to interrupt an important training session.]
At the mention of ‘important training’, Lian widened his eyes, suppressing his presence as the Magic Sword instructed. Day by day, not only was its power growing stronger, but their connection was deepening, allowing Lian to use some of the Magic Sword’s techniques as if they were his own.
As he suppressed his presence and approached the area the Magic Sword indicated, the sounds of swords clashing reached his ears.
Whoosh, swoosh!
The air was sliced as Noah, swinging her sword at blinding speed, filled Lian’s sight. In front of her stood someone familiar, taking a defensive posture with a disinterested expression while wielding a sword.
‘Wait, why is the Duke here?!’
[Is he trying to teach her a move?]
As Lian’s panicked voice mixed with the Magic Sword’s curiosity, the two lightly collided.
Boom!
When their swords clashed, it echoed like the sound of air bursting. Nearby trees swayed violently as if caught in a hurricane. The grass bent low, and monsters hiding nearby fled like flaming colts.
Unless one were a powerhouse like Lian, the exchange between these two would have been undetectable.
‘So that’s why they came all the way out here.’
If they had clashed swords near the campsite, it would have caused a major upheaval.
The martial atmosphere leaking from the two was problematic, but the bigger issue lay in the fact that the Duke was teaching Noah, an outsider, how to wield a sword.
The Duke only ever taught his own retainers, so this training session could be perceived as him accepting Noah as a retainer of the Duke’s House.
Even if the Duke said that wasn’t his intent, the Knight Commander would be eyeing Noah with interest, wanting to recruit her into the Knight Order. Teaching her swordsmanship meant she possessed overwhelming talent. This setup could lead to complications for Noah, which was likely why they were having this training duel far from camp.
Bang! Thunk!
The sounds exchanged were so ferocious they couldn’t even be described as mere blade clashes, and once all the monsters and animals had completely vacated the area, Lian stood transfixed, watching Noah as thoughts raced through his mind.
‘…When did she get so strong?’
Noah had always been the first to draw her sword, leading their group in defense. That meant he had ample opportunity to witness her skills firsthand, time after time.
She had undergone tremendous growth, to the point that Lian began to question if all her previous displays had been hiding her true strength.
To explain this in fantasy terms – it was as if she had leapt from advanced knight status beyond master level to the brink of grandmaster.
Her progress was shocking, even for someone from a comedic world.
[The trials this time must have been exceedingly difficult for her.]
‘Trials?’
As Lian came across the familiar word, his eyes widened as he looked down at the Magic Sword.
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