Chapter 33: Flexing (Part 4)
“W-why is your skin so goddamn smooth?” Cynthia asked hesitantly. “Every single one of you.”
She had finally asked the forbidden question. The same question every man at the table had been thinking since earlier but didn’t dare say out loud.
“Oh?” Erika replied innocently. “You noticed?”
“Of course I noticed. I’m still a goddamn woman, you know,” Cynthia shot back. “Your skin, your face, your hair, and especially that flower smell. What the hell is that?”
“Well, we call it beauty treatment,” Erika replied calmly.
“B-beauty treatment?” Cynthia repeated slowly.
“That’s right,” Erika said. “Just like the name implies, we use special ingredients every day to keep ourselves looking… fresh.”
Erika deliberately kept her tone humble instead of boastful, as if she were discussing something completely ordinary instead of a luxury nobody in Border Prison had ever heard of.
Then she reached into her clothes and pulled out a small vial.
“And for the flower scent,” Erika continued, “this is called perfume.”
She handed the vial to Cynthia.
“We apply the perfume oil to our skin after bathing.”
Cynthia carefully opened it.
Immediately, a soft floral fragrance spread into the air around the table. Not the usual smell of sweat, leather, smoke, or alcohol everyone in Border Prison had grown used to. This smelled clean and pleasant.
Several chiefs unconsciously leaned closer.
“You can keep it if you want,” Erika said with a gentle smile.
“A-are you serious?” Cynthia asked.
And just like that, the fierce scavenger chief from earlier was gone. What remained was simply a woman staring at the tiny vial in disbelief.
“In fact,” Erika continued gracefully, “we already prepared gifts for all of you before you return home tomorrow. Perhaps I should include some beauty treatment packages as well.”
She smiled warmly.
“You could always give them to your wife or daughter. I’m certain it would make them very happy. I can also teach you how to use everything tomorrow.”
The entire table stared at Erika like she had descended from heaven itself.
“M-miss…” Drak muttered carefully, “isn’t this all… too much?”
He gestured weakly toward the table.
“All this food… and these beauty treatments…” he continued. “Wouldn’t gathering this much from the forest take an enormous amount of effort?”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Erika replied smoothly. “We still have plenty in storage, and replenishing them is actually quite easy.”
Cynthia frowned immediately.
“Easy?” she repeated. “How the hell do you called replenish this much is easy?”
“Because I can simply make them grow faster.” Another woman’s cheerful voice suddenly entered the conversation.
Every chief at the table turned toward the source, and then they froze.
Another beauty had appeared beside them. But unlike Erika’s youthful charm, this one carried a mature elegance.
It was Delilah.
Every male chief at the table froze the moment Delilah appeared beside them. For several long seconds, none of them could pull their eyes away from her face—
—or the proud cleavage openly displayed beneath it.
“Tch…” Erika clicked her tongue before she could stop herself, briefly dropping the graceful persona she had been maintaining all night.
“Yes,” Erika muttered, regaining composure almost immediately, “with her druid’s magic, she helps us grow things much faster.”
“…She’s a druid?” Cynthia asked slowly.
“That’s correct,” Delilah replied warmly.
She gave everyone at the table a respectful bow.
“My name is Delilah. I’m currently under legal contract with Blackstone Village.”
Unfortunately for the male chiefs, the bow only gave them an even clearer view of her cleavage.
Unfortunately for Delilah, Erika noticed every single one of them staring.
“Legal contract?” Cynthia asked, remaining the only person at the table whose attention stayed where it should. “What is a legal contract?”
“I’m… not entirely sure myself,” Delilah admitted, looking slightly troubled. “But apparently it means I’ll be staying here for a while to help the village.”
The problem was that Delilah answered the question while still halfway bent forward, meaning the male chiefs received several extra seconds to admire the scenery.
“All right, I think we’ve bothered everyone long enough,” Erika suddenly cut in a little too quickly.
She flicked her fingers toward the other women, signaling them to move. The women immediately began leaving the table, while Erika personally grabbed Delilah by the arm and started pushing her away.
“Well then,” Erika said smoothly to the chiefs, “please enjoy the food.”
Then the women walked off, leaving the table completely silent.
Some of the chiefs remained frozen because of Delilah’s beauty, others because they had just realized Blackstone somehow also possessed another powerful figure.
“…They even have a druid,” Drak muttered heavily.
Another advantage, another thing their villages could never compete with alone.
---
Outside The Village – The Next Day
The following day at noon, the chiefs and their escorts finally prepared to leave Blackstone.
Under the bright summer sky, groups from each village slowly departed across the grassland while Tara and several Blackstone soldiers stood near the entrance seeing them off.
“Very well,” Drak said. “My people will arrive within two weeks.”
“We will be waiting for you,” Tara replied confidently.
Then Drak’s eyes shifted toward a nearby hill mound in the distance, and his expression stiffened.
Theo stood at the top of the mound wearing the same dark necromancer robe and carrying the same sinister staff from yesterday.
But today, he looked even more intimidating, because what he sat on top of was the alpha demon hound.
The massive beast was noticeably larger than the other hounds, its body covered in scars and old battle wounds. Even while resting, it radiated the kind of presence that made ordinary people instinctively keep their distance. And now the creature belonged to the necromancer.
Theo and the alpha silently watched each departing contingent that leave Blackstone behind. The message was obvious. The necromancer and the hounds knew where they lived, and they would be waiting.
“You sure he’s not going to do anything to us?” Drak asked carefully while keeping his eyes on Theo in the distance.
“Relax,” Tara replied casually. “As long as you’re part of the alliance, he’ll treat you the same way he treats Blackstone.”
Drak stared at Theo for another moment before finally nodding.
“…I’ll see you again soon then.”
“The Grassland Alliance waits for you,” Tara replied with a grin.
Drak gave one final glance toward the hill before turning around and leading his people away.
Tara remained there, casually waving at the last departing contingent until they disappeared farther into the grassland.
Then, a few moments later, Theo finally approached her while riding the alpha demon hound. He climbed down from the beast and gave its neck a few pats.
“Good job, Bianca.”
The alpha hound let out a pleased rumble before suddenly licking Theo straight across the face.
“Ugh, dammit.”
Theo wiped his cheek while Bianca simply laid down nearby, looking completely satisfied with herself.
Then Theo walked toward Tara.
“Well?” he asked. “How’d it go?”
Tara immediately broke into a huge grin.
“All eight chiefs agreed to relocate and join us,” she declared proudly. “Even Cynthia. Though the stubborn bitch refused to look me in the eyes while saying it.”
“HELL YEAH!” Theo shouted.
The two of them instantly slammed into a celebratory high-five.
“I mean, we were already confident we’d get all of them,” Tara said excitedly, “but it still feels damn good seeing it actually happen! Your whole carrot-and-stick strategy seriously worked!”
“Of course it worked,” Theo replied smugly.
“Hahahahahaha—!”
The two burst into loud, satisfied laughter together.
“—hahaha… hah… ha…”
Then the laughter gradually weakened, until both of them slowly fell silent.
“….”
Theo and Tara kept staring at each other with the same lingering smiles still stuck awkwardly on their faces.
Because both of them had just remembered the exact same problem waiting for them.
“…Guess that means we have to release him now,” Tara muttered.
“…Yeah,” Theo replied heavily. “I guess we do.”
Silence again.
“….”
“Siiiiiiigh…”
The smiles disappeared completely as both of them let out a long, exhausted sigh together.
---
Theo’s Tent
A few moments later, Theo and Tara stood quietly outside Theo’s tent. Neither of them looked eager to enter.
“Last night was the first proper sleep I’ve had in an entire month,” Theo muttered bitterly.
“Well, we can’t keep him tied up forever,” Tara replied.
Another hesitant pause.
Then finally, the two of them entered the tent.
Inside the tent sat David. The halfling looked exhausted. Dark circles hung under his eyes, and the bloodshot stare alone made it obvious he hadn’t slept at all last night.
“Oh, hey boss,” David said with a tired smile. “Is it done?”
And beside him—
Old man Shum lay on the bed completely tied up from head to toe with layers of rope, while a bundle of cloth had been stuffed into his mouth as a gag.
“MMMMPH! MMPH! MMMPPPPHHH!!”
And judging from the murderous glare in his eyes, he was absolutely furious.
The old man violently wriggled against the ropes while continuing to scream incomprehensible rage through the gag.
“Siiiiigh…” Theo dragged out a defeated sigh. “Yeah… you can let Archimedes go now.”
“Ah, thank goodness,” David muttered immediately. “Means I can finally get some proper sleep after this.”
David walked over toward the struggling old man. Then very visibly hesitated, like a man approaching a chained wild animal.
“…Well,” David muttered, “here goes nothing.”
Finally, he pulled the gag out of Archimedes’ mouth.
Then—
“VHAT ZE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING YOU BRAINLESS APES?!!”
The scream exploded through the tent so loudly that Theo, Tara, and David instantly covered their ears on reflex.
Yet somehow… None of them looked surprised anymore.
“Oh boy…” Theo muttered exhaustedly like he had been in this situation many times before.
“Here we go again.”