Chapter 39. A Katana Is the Worst Way to Say ’Nice to Meet You’

Chapter 39: 39. A Katana Is the Worst Way to Say ’Nice to Meet You’

I looked at Millie, who had followed her in and was standing in the doorway with a tray of cups. She was staring at the floor, and her shoulders were hunched under a weight that no one should have had to carry.

I stood up... took the tray out of her hands, set it on the table, and took her hand.

I didn’t say anything. She leaned against my arm, just slightly, and I felt her breathe out.

Magnara left in the middle of the afternoon to attend an emergency session of the Council, and she took her time coming back.

By the time the sun was dropping toward the mountains, I’d eaten two bowls of Marrow’s questionable soup and been lectured by a goat on the dangers of standing up too fast.

At last, the front door opened, and the temperature in the house dropped about ten degrees.

Magnara ducked inside. Behind her, two women followed.

The first thing I noticed was that every hair on my arms had stood up... The second was that Elsbeth had slid her hand onto the hilt of her sword, and Bonette had moved in front of Millie without anyone asking.

"The Council has made its decision," Magnara said, still standing in the doorway. "I will be brief about this..."

She laid it out in short, flat sentences. The treaty with the Northern Wolf Clan was ancient and binding, and Elarune would honor it.

A full relief column would take several days to organize, and Magnara would lead it. A smaller, faster vanguard would leave at dawn tomorrow to reach the clan’s borders as soon as possible.

"And Leon?" Elsbeth asked.

"That was the hardest vote of the day." A corner of Magnara’s mouth twitched. "In the end... the Council granted him a probationary writ."

"He may leave the gate district, but only under the direct watch of the vanguard commander and one other..."

"If he steps out of line, they will have the right to deal with him however they please."

"That’s... very generous of them," I said weakly. "Tell them I said hi and thanks."

"It passed by one vote."

"Then I guess not..." I slumped, but still curious about that one vote. "Who was the one?"

"Ysolde... She said she wanted to see what you did next."

Oh my fucking god... Ysolde, you’re the best! I made a mental note to send her a fruit basket after I came back.

I would have said more, but then I looked over Magnara’s shoulder, and my radar went off twice in a row, so hard that the little chime made me jump.

Ding! Ding!

[SSS-RANK TARGET DETECTED]

[Species: Pantherkin]

[Gender: Female, Adult]

[Rank: SSS]

[Threat Assessment: Extremely High]

[Warning: Approach with caution.]

The first woman stepped into the room, and I stopped breathing.

She was tall, almost as tall as Elsbeth, with posture so perfect that it looked painful. Her long hair was split down the middle in two shades, silver-gray on one side and pitch black on the other, pulled into a high ponytail and tied with an enormous white ribbon.

A pair of pointed cat ears of the same colors sat on top of her head. Her eyes were a hard, burning gold, and she looked around my little stone house like she’d stepped in something unpleasant.

She wore a white military uniform, immaculate and elegant, with gold embroidery on the cuffs and collar, engraved buttons down the front, and braided gold tassels hanging from her shoulders.

Black stockings... polished black boots... you name it.

And even a katana in a lacquered sheath at her hip, with a hand resting on it that looked like it had never once been far from the hilt.

Holy shit... another beastwoman that literally made my cock twitch. And she’s beautiful as fuck. I didn’t know Pantherkin was possible even though it still looks like a cat girl anyway.

She did not look at me, which in my experience... is always a bad sign.

"I am Velora Nightclaw," she said, in a clipped, glacial voice. "Duchess of House Nightclaw and commander of the vanguard."

I did what any reasonable man would do. And also wanted to get to know her better.

I gave her my best smile, the one that had worked on everyone from nuns to landladies, and I took a step forward with my hand held out.

"Hi there, my name’s Leon, you must be..."

The katana was out of its sheath before I could finish the word.be.

SHINGGG!

I didn’t even see her draw it.

One second her hand was resting on the hilt, and the next there was a long, gleaming blade held perfectly level, with its tip about a finger’s width from the hollow of my throat.

Her gold eyes finally met mine, and they were as flat and cold as winter metal.

"You will not speak to me, lowly human!" she said. "You will not address me... and you will not approach me!"

"By any means... get the fuck away from me, you piece of shit! Even if you must breathe in my direction, do so quietly."

Oh wow... isn’t this kind of nostalgic? I said that to my thought while having a quick glance at Elsbeth and then back at Velora.

"Ooookay then... Noted loud and clear. "I still have the chance to smile. "That’s a really clear set of rules... I appreciate the clarity, honestly."

"I am not finished."

"Oh... Sorry." I do a gesture with my hand while saying, "Do please continue, kind commander."

"I do not care what you have done... and I do not care what Warden Ysolde thinks, or what the Council decided by a single vote."

"You are a human... and you are in my camp!"

"If you hinder this mission... I will cut you down instantly, and I will call it an accident!"

Bloody hell. This one is even worse than the first time I met Elsbeth, but eh... this kind of woman... I always see it in my previous life anyway.

What makes it better is that they start falling in love for you, and then you can punish their bad behavior like this on the bed until they beg to stop. Well now... isn’t that a great idea?

"That’s... um... very thorough."

"Silence!"

"I thought you said I could..." I started, and the tip of the sword pressed forward, hard enough that I felt a bright sting.

A single warm drop ran down my throat and soaked into my collar.

I closed my mouth while having a chance to raise my thumbs up so that she knew I got it.

"She is worse than I was," Elsbeth murmured from the corner, in a voice so quiet that only I could hear it.

"Trust me, wolfy... You were nowhere near this bad," I whispered back, without moving my lips.

"I had not yet decided to dislike you."

"That’s honestly the nicest thing you’ve said to me."

Magnara stepped forward and laid one massive hand on Velora’s shoulder. "Now, now, Velora..."

"The Council has decided," she said. "Put it away."

For a second I really thought Velora might ignore her.

Then, with great reluctance, she lowered the katana and slid it back into its sheath with a sharp click. She turned away from me as if I’d stopped existing.

I let out a breath that I swear I’d been holding for a minute and a half.

I did some quiet digging afterward, mostly by watching her. As far as I could piece together through Elsbeth’s talk before, House Nightclaw was an old noble line from the southern border of Elarune, a family of warriors who had held their land for six hundred years.

Velora had been a girl... when a human army burned her house to the ground, and her mother had been executed in a public square in front of a crowd.

She had spent the rest of her life building the Nightclaw Guard into the most feared fighting force in the valley.

She wasn’t a bad person, I thought. She just hated everything I stood for, and she had a really good reason for hating a human like that.

But eh. You know the phrase ’I can fix her? ’Yes! I’m totally going to do that anyway.

I was working that out when I noticed that she had been watching me too, out of the corner of her eye, for the last few minutes.

It wasn’t a friendly look. But it wasn’t blind hatred either.

She was watching the way I stood close to Millie, and the way I’d shifted slightly so that I was between her and the door.

I couldn’t tell what she made of it, and I decided that was probably for the best.

The second woman had stayed in the doorway the whole time.

The second I looked at her, my brain left my body and went to live somewhere else.

Ding! Ding!

[SSS-RANK TARGET DETECTED]

’REALLY?! ANOTHER!?’

[Species: Deerkin]

[Gender: Female, Adult]

[Rank: SSS]

[Special Classification: Moonbound]

[Hidden Trait: Locked]

[Warning: Classification similar to Target: Millie.]