128 – Jess is a smart werewolf!
While Iris embraced Ryan with a drowsy expression, a red-haired hunter approached Ryan stealthily.
Iris, who sensed the presence belatedly, quickly turned her head towards the source of the presence, but it was already too late.
“My darling!”
Jess, who had risen behind Ryan, hugged his shoulders brightly.
“Eek!”
Feeling a soft touch on the back of his head, Ryan blushed and hurriedly covered his mouth and nose with his hand. Fortunately, no blood spurted out.
“Back off!”
Iris shouted at Jess with a fierce gaze. In response, Jess looked at her innocently.
“Huh? Why?”
“He’s my brother!”
“But he’s my darling!”
Jess was much smarter than his peers, and his animal-like instincts made him quick-witted. He could discern where the line was drawn and knew exactly where he could push his luck.
It was because of Jess’s behavior that made Rian uncertain, even when she firmly told him, “You can’t do this anymore!” She couldn’t help but wonder if she should still accept his skinship, despite her words.
If it weren’t for Iris and Noah, Rian would have ended up being dragged along, from confusion to acceptance and even to their honeymoon house.
Because of their long time together, Iris knew very well that Jess’s behavior of poking his head and wagging his tail, which he usually hid, was a deliberate attempt to weaken Rian’s resolve.
As a result, Rian couldn’t help but shoot a sharp glance. Iris hugged Rian’s waist and glared at Jess.
“Oppa feels uncomfortable. Stay away.”
“Huh? Jjoo-in, I… feel uncomfortable?”
His ears perked up, and his eyes, which seemed fierce, became watery. Rian couldn’t easily let go of his lips, just like a kitten or puppy getting drenched in the rain and shaking its body. But when he felt the soft touch behind his head, he snapped back to reality as if he had been splashed with cold water.
He cleared his throat and spoke softly.
“Well, cough… I guess so?”
“See? Oppa feels uncomfortable.”
“So let’s both stay away. Okay?”
“…!”
It wasn’t fair for Jess to be the only one asked to stay away in this situation. Moreover, it was only a matter of time before it was revealed that they were not siblings once they arrived at the duke’s residence. So Rian thought it was necessary to reduce the skinship between Iris and himself.
‘…If the knight reports this appearance to the duke… Uh, even if I took care of Iris, I would be dragged to prison.’
He couldn’t imagine it happening, but this was a hierarchical society. There wasn’t a single noble who would see Rian, a lowly slave-born, as more valuable than Iris, who was born with noble blood.
He would be lucky if he wasn’t killed for erasing a mistake.
‘At least Iris’s mother isn’t that kind of person, so my life shouldn’t be in danger.’
If Rian were to lie to calm Iris down, she would understand and express her gratitude. But even that had its limits.
From Noble mtl dot com
‘..If it becomes known that I mocked the future head of the duke’s family, no matter what favors I received, my life would be forfeit.’
For that reason, Ryan pushed Iris away.
“But oppa…”
“Iris, as I mentioned before, we’re adults now. It’s better to stop being so close and just stick to light hugs.”
In modern terms, Iris was not yet an adult. She was probably somewhere between 15 and 18 years old. But in this world, she was definitely an adult.
Ryan didn’t really think of Iris as a true adult, but he purposely used words like “now that you’ve grown up~” to separate her from him.
Iris looked like she was about to cry, but Ryan had to be firm today.
“I have to start preparing for our eventual separation.”
It was a bitter pill to swallow, but there was no choice.
“If Iris becomes a noblewoman, I… will do my best to help her from afar.”
Even though there was hardly any source material left, Iris still had the blood of a hero and would continue to be a hero in the future.
Heroes needed all kinds of obstacles and opportunities to grow. Having a cheat-like comic relief character by their side was of no help at all. Cheat codes should only be used in truly dangerous situations.
That’s why Ryan decided to stay far away and only help Iris when she was in danger.
Thanks to his determination, he was able to push away the teary-eyed girl. Iris then looked up at Ryan in shock.
“Hee-ing…”
While Iris, with her stunned face, and Jess, with his gloomy face, were both taken aback, Jess just stood away from Ryan and wandered around nearby.
It felt like his heart was being torn apart, like a dad who had just become aware of his five-year-old daughter sulking with a gloomy face and holding a letter that said, “Daddy, you did something wrong,” but Ryan managed to endure it.
What was truly terrifying was the fact that Ryan pushing Iris away was all part of Jess’s plan. It was a scheme to separate Iris from him, starting from her approaching Ryan and expressing her desires(?).
In front of her master, she was a gentle lamb, but behind his back, she was no different from a wolf. She would do whatever it took to get her mate.
Jess was gloomy, yet satisfied, as he watched Ryan, who never showed him any affection.
She couldn’t approach him, but at the same time, Iris couldn’t stick around as his younger sister.
If it had been any other time, Iris, who would have noticed Jesse’s mood so keenly and turned to anger, looked at Ryan with a dazed expression, clearly shocked.
Her eyes sank as if she had discovered the Spirit King. Somehow, it felt like her hair color had become even duller than before, but no one noticed this change.
Noah was hit with a sense of reality when he realized he had become jealous even of Ryan’s younger sister.
Iris was deeply shocked by the rejection she received from Ryan.
Jesse felt dejected because his owner didn’t stroke him as affectionately as before.
The atmosphere among the three of them was not just empty words, but their journey was surprisingly peaceful. Of course, there were occasional monster attacks, but compared to the Demon King’s territory, it was nothing more than a walk in the park.
“Lower your stance a bit, like this!”
“Hoo, hook…”
To illustrate how peaceful it was, the monsters that appeared were used as teaching materials for inexperienced children.
After traveling through the forest for a while, they finally arrived at the village where people lived.
“Ah…!”
“I-It’s the village!”
Unlike the Demon King’s territory, there was a peaceful village under the blue sky and warm sunlight.
Everyone was overwhelmed with emotion at the serene scenery they had never seen even in their dreams.
“…Let’s go.”
Starting with Noah, everyone began to enter the village. When nearly a hundred people arrived at the village, some figures that appeared to be guards ran towards them from a distance.
The village requested to see their identification, which was more substantial than they had expected. In this world, there weren’t many people with identification, but traders and mercenaries who traveled between villages always carried it.
This was due to the high level of caution towards outsiders, as they mostly lived and grew up in their own land.
“Here it is.”
They had prepared for this situation since they planned to escape to the Empire. It cost them a lot of money, but obtaining a mercenary identification in Cardisian, a place filled with all sorts of crimes, was a simple task.
The guard, expecting the refugees to be a group that had fled from another village, anxiously inspected over 90 identity badges one by one.
They were a group of mercenaries organized in family units, a group that had never been heard of before. There were many young children among them, making it too dangerous to just let them roam freely, but a group of about 100 mercenaries was also threatening.
“We are mercenaries, but we’re no different from refugees. We plan to fill up on supplies in the village and leave immediately.”
As Lily spoke, she discreetly slipped some silver coins to the guard, causing his mouth to gape. It was a large sum of money, almost half of his monthly salary.
While he was still stunned and unable to respond properly, another silver coin was placed on top of the first. When his eyes couldn’t possibly grow any wider, Lily smiled softly and also slipped money to the other guards who had come with him.
“W-Well then…”
“Just…don’t cause any trouble!”
True to the nature of the decaying world, the guard decided to turn a blind eye to the group of mercenaries numbering a staggering 100. It would be enough to report them as passing refugees from above.
As the guard group left, they began to enter the village. To avoid drawing too much attention by entering all at once, they divided into groups of ten and slowly made their way into the village.