“Fire!”
At the command of a Fox-kin who looked like a Red Fox Captain, only three arrows were clearly fired from different tree canopies, yet they split in an instant, turning into a downpour of arrows.
‘The contact with Inafa happened earlier than expected,’ Siloque thought. Without waiting for Hill to use a skill, he placed his hands on the grass even faster.
[Alchemy] extracted soil and grass to construct a mushroom-shaped building with a layer of green grass on the outside. The rain of arrows fell upon the mushroom and remained firmly lodged, making the structure look like a curled-up hedgehog.
Arrow volleys continued from the perimeter. Occasionally, a few poisoned arrows were fired with even greater speed and precision, but they were drawn away by Hill’s constantly active [AT Field Defense].
“No matter how many times I see it, it truly is convenient, you stupid human. Although it is simple material creation, your magic control is indeed excellent.” Inafa admired the newly constructed mushroom building, running her hand along the incredibly smooth pillar. Because the structure was not large enough, the hulking Blood-Armored Demon Ape beside them had to hunch its body into an egg shape.
“Brother, is this the Beastman Race? Specifically, Fox-kin? Their fur color doesn’t look very healthy… but those big tails are so fluffy. They must be very comfortable to touch.”
‘Do you think you’re here to buy a pet?’
“Hill, let me remind you first, don’t be too ruthless and accidentally kill them.”
“I won’t, Brother. Hill will keep them under control to the extent that ‘even though I used a lot of big moves that look like they would kill someone, they only end up fainting.'”
“We aren’t acting in One Piece.”
Inafa rolled her eyes at the two of them, speechless. “Even if the little animals that came to our door are weak, you two siblings are being far too lax.”
“Because having Inafa around makes me feel very safe. Whoa!” Hill silently poked Siloque’s side again. It didn’t hurt at all, but it was extremely ticklish.
“Hmph, you stupid human, you have stated the obvious. I can easily deal with puppies of this level.”
The Fox-kin who had given the order earlier — temporarily referred to as the Red Fox Captain — was hiding nearby. The rain of arrows ceased. Inafa raised her hand, condensing crimson mana. “Hehe, since you were the ones to attack first, it means you have already prepared yourselves for Death — “
Siloque pressed both hands onto the blonde, golden-eyed vampire’s shoulders.
“Eek — Meow! Don’t… don’t just touch me! You scared me so much my heart almost jumped out of my chest!”
‘Did she just get the subject and object mixed up?’ Siloque thought that her strange cry sounded quite pleasant. If Hill weren’t here, he would have looked for an opportunity to make Inafa make that sound a few more times.
“Please don’t kill them either, Inafa. Of course, if they truly become a threat to you, feel free to kill them.”
“You, the Customer, have so many demands… Anyway, you stupid human, you want me to control my strength, right? Hehe, we’ll see how I feel.”
Clang —
The Red Fox Captain raised his long spear high. “Everyone here is the bravest Warrior of the tribe! Today, we shall avenge our Chieftain! Archers, provide cover! For the tribe! Everyone, charge with me! Kill the blood-sucking monster and take her head back to appease the heroic spirit of our Chieftain!”
“Uwaaaaah!!”
Fifteen Fox-kin let out a battle cry with the momentum of 1,000 people, shaking the forest and causing birds to fly in all directions. The reason he didn’t say 1,500 people was because the five archers remained silent. In reality, only ten Fox-kin were charging down the slope with aggressive momentum.
“Hehe.” Inafa laughed, calmly crossing her arms.
Ten Fox-kin charged before them with a fearsome, death-defying aura. They formed a semi-circular encirclement, raising their long spears to pierce the vampire and the two humans.
One minute? No, perhaps only seven seconds at most.
“How can this be… damn it…” The voice was full of regret and resentment at his own powerlessness. He collapsed onto the soft grass.
“So strong. Inafa is a true stats monster.”
“Hehehe, even though I don’t understand what you mean, Hill, I can feel your admiration for me.”
Hill found the female Fox-kin with the most beautiful tail and kept petting the large, orange-red tail. “Oh, Brother, this is so soft! Do you want to try?”
“No thanks. Don’t pet it for too long, or it won’t be good if you leave a scent behind.”
In fact, petting their animal ears and tails was comparable to petting the hair of a beautiful girl you had just met for the first time; it was quite a sensitive area. Seeing that Hill was so happy stroking the female Fox-kin’s tail, Siloque couldn’t be bothered to remind her since she was only doing it this once.
He returned his Greatsword to its sheath and looked at the “tragic” scene before him. “Well, even though I knew it would end like this from the start, I didn’t expect it to be so one-sided.”
Fox-kin were sprawled or lying all over the ground. The five archers who were originally in the trees were either hanging motionlessly from the branches or lying still at the base of the trees. The one thing they had in common was that not a single person was standing.
The Blood-Armored Demon Ape picked up the five Fox-kin archers and placed them together with the other ten on the ground.
If one were to summarize what happened in the battle just now, it could be done in one sentence — the Blood-Armored Demon Ape beat all the Fox-kin unconscious.
‘I hope they weren’t beaten to death.’ The speed was so fast that Siloque had only barely seen the afterimages of the Blood-Armored Demon Ape striking each Fox-kin’s neck with a hand-chop. The Fox-kin had fallen one after another, following the essential movements of Kogoro Mouri’s signature unconscious pose.
“How was that, stupid human? I controlled my strength very precisely and didn’t let them die.”
Siloque praised her with a gentle smile. Inafa turned red and expressed her dissatisfaction. “Are you trying to coax a child?”
“Yes, yes. Impressive, impressive. Inafa is very good.”
“Stupid human, what is going on with them? They rudely called me a ‘blood-sucking monster’ just now, didn’t they? In my memory, I’ve only met them once. Why did they act as if I killed their parents?”
Inafa stepped on the upturned buttocks of one of the Fox-kin on the ground. She had already begun to get used to the fact that Siloque seemed to know everything.
“To put it simply, it’s a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?”
Siloque weighed his words, determining how much information to give. “Recently, the Chieftain of their Fox-kin tribe died. Rumors began to spread within the tribe — that the culprit who murdered the Chieftain was the vampire living in the Castle.”
“Hah?” Inafa’s face was covered in dark lines, beyond speechless. “Which fellow said that? They came to challenge me at the risk of their lives based on a single sentence from someone they don’t even know? How simple-minded are these guys?”
The blonde, golden-eyed vampire glared at the Fox-kin on the ground. “Coming here to die just for a rumor… are all Fox-kin idiots?”
“Not quite. These are just the minority of radicals who believed the rumor.” Siloque’s voice sank slightly. “They were also deceived.”
“Hehe, no wonder you told me not to be too serious, stupid human. It seems you still have unnecessary sympathy for the foolish weaklings. I had originally planned to suck them all dry.”
It wasn’t exactly sympathy; it was just that he would still need them for the future Storyline. Inafa’s eyes flashed with a red light; she was being serious.
“Originally, I had no interest. If I killed challengers, I’d just use them as fertilizer. But since someone actually went behind my back and started rumors that I killed their Chieftain… that is a blatant provocation. I have to find the instigator and crush them.”
Inafa stepped forcefully on the Red Fox Captain’s head. Siloque truly envied the Red Fox Captain.
“Let’s change locations and continue to grind monsters.”
The blonde, golden-eyed vampire was quite easy to talk to, though her pride was subtly high. Normally, if no one bothered her, she would stay obediently in the Castle and sleep; if someone provoked her, even if she found the opponent terrifying, she would definitely fight back while crying.
In this current situation, he and Hill were actually the ones caught up in it. To be precise, it wasn’t so much being “caught up” as it was something he had chosen himself. From the moment he saved Inafa, he had already stepped into this complicated web of fate.
Thinking this, Siloque reminded Hill to prepare to leave for a different area. She looked at the large tail with lingering reluctance.
“Brother, aren’t we going to do anything to them? These are all Experience Points.”
‘You were just petting someone’s tail a moment ago… and now you actually want to recreate that decapitation feast from before. My sister seems to be more radical than I thought.’
“Just leave them be. We will come into contact with the faction behind them in the future. Try to avoid drawing unnecessary hatred.”
Hill showed a conflicted expression. “Hill understands. If Brother wants, Hill can take action, but it would feel like a bit of a waste if the beast-eared girls were gone.”
‘One second you want to cut them down, and the next you stop. Your love for beast-eared girls is truly complicated.’ Siloque smiled wryly at his sister’s fickleness.
Inafa swept a glance over the fifteen Fox-kin on the ground, wearing an expression of dissatisfaction as if she were wasting food. “Stupid human, if you leave them here, aren’t you afraid they will be eaten by monsters?”
Siloque shrugged. “They were the ones who attacked us after all. We’ve already spared their lives; as for the rest, let them fend for themselves.”
He couldn’t anger the Fox-kin tribe too much, but he couldn’t completely kill them either. He could only maintain this strange “death-like” state. Inafa’s villain persona still had to be used.
—
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