Chương 221: My Chivalry Deserves Reward

Nara, the big guy is some kind of wolfman, right? I don't think I've ever personally met any beastfolk of this specific ratio. Is it exclusive to the feral, non-sapient variety? It is indeed a wolffolk, and this ratio exists across the entire board. The first we meet just so happens to lack a refined, intelligent mind… We actually passed by a few beastfolks with this ratio, though. I think you just didn't pay them any attention Ah… Is that so?

I threw the bone spear into the air, and under the influence of 'Steel Manipulation', it kept on spinning upward without stopping, which spooked the bestial humanoid enough for him to move backwards as he dropped on all four, his claws and fingers digging into the ground as he showed me his teeth.

In response, I slightly tilted my head and ran one finger against the fangs lining my helm–I must unknowingly be an exceptional communicator because he immediately took my action poorly and howled my way, and as though feeling the need that he wasn't wary of me in the least, to his followers, he sped right at me. The sight would definitely be a concerning one for most people. After all, seeing a feral creature rushing straight at you isn't exactly the best of views, however…

This creature has no amount of skill in energy manipulation whatsoever–It is just a big brute I manifested a spear using 'Steel Shaping', pointing it forward, I ran forward as well, and although lacking in the intellect department, the wildfolk wasn't a complete fool. I suppose it had a bit of experience fighting weapon-wielding adventurers, and knew not to run in a spear–Unfortunately, my spear popped out of thin air unexpectedly, and it was unable to stop its momentum in time.

The wildfolks under this feral lord's control flinched as it yelled in pain, the spear lodged itself straight in the side of its abdomen, and as it brought both fists down to crush me, I merely let go of my weapon and ducked under its left arm, spun around, and manifested throwing knives, lodging half a dozen of them in its exposed back before it was able to do something stupid and pull out the spear, only then did it turn around, swiping its claws at empty air as I simply took a few steps back.

The anger-filled roar it directed my way came with delicious, wild negative emotions, but more importantly, it was so mad that its subjects, who weren't engaging the adventurers, just stood around awkwardly, presumably afraid to get in their lord's way and thus get torn apart… My opponent did not make any move to give orders or change its strategy, though. The foolish creature merely rushed again. Did this idiot think that anything would change? Absolute insanity. I, for one, was having quite a lot of fun.

It wasn't often that I got to fight using my knightly form… Or any of my forms, for that matter. I mostly stayed with the 'Base Form', which made sense, really. It was the one where all of my upgrades were, and although the basic stuff, it was very powerful… Still, even with my upgrades, I didn't make much use of them in actual fights. I had all these wires, and I hadn't even gotten to fry someone to death with them yet! What a tragedy that was. I suppose my careful approach to most confrontations was to blame.

When given the occasion, I had the natural reaction to stack every advantage on my side and stack all disadvantages on my opponent's side. It was effective enough that I typically ended things without ever finding myself in any real danger. Which was definitely great, but although I no longer had a heart, I still craved some blood-pumping action. The sort of things I used to experience back in the day, before I learned some stuff from the knight lessons my parents sent me to.

When I would beat up people by fighting using only instincts, there was undeniably something greatly exciting about it… The knightly form was what was closest to my original body that was available in the real world, and not just nightmares, the Mindscape, or the Dreamscape. Today, my opponent wasn't exactly a competent threat, but he was a big and durable punching bag.

With an unnecessary, but very stylish flick of my hand, I manifested several stakes of steel floating in the air above and beside me, and with another unneeded motion, I sent them flying straight at the wolfman. The beast's eyes went wide as though that was a surprising move from me… Buddy, I already summoned a weapon, and you saw me throw that bone spear in the air as well! I swear, how is this even a fight when my opponent doesn't pay attention? The wild beastfolk did not stop its charge, though.

The fool simply raised its arms to shield its face and eyes, attempting to ram into me with its full weight backed by an ample acceleration. Unfortunately, 'Steel Manipulation' allowed me to divert my projectiles, as I made them take a sharp nosedive. The stakes struck the creature in the knees, ankles, feet, and even severed a few toes, causing my adversary to fall forward as it wasn't just hit, the stakes that blew off toes stabbed into the ground, tripping him.

It slid face-first into the soil as I moved to the side, summoning a two-handed axe. My opponent rose, spitting out a mouthful of dirt, staring at me as if I had just kicked its baby. It didn't seem to care about the several bleeding wounds it had suffered. The only thing that seemed to have an effect was the brutal amputation of some of its toes, as it caused the wolffolk to struggle a bit to recover a good balance. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

It snarled at me, and I pointed the axe at its face, thinking about what would be something nice to theoretically say in this situation. Mmh… Just throwing an insult doesn't feel right, ahh… If Xlown were here, she definitely would have found something witty to rub in this thing's face… I don't think it could understand such a thing… Don't worry, it's a big idiot, but it does seem to have a good grasp when provoked… Anyway, I can't think of anything right now.

The wolf growled, preparing to pounce, when a dull sound resounded. The beast's eyes rolled back into its skull, its body trembling for a few moments before it fell dead to the ground, its soul now under my ownership. The moment the lord died, all of the minions seemed to be suddenly hit by a bucket of cold water, and as if hard-wired into their brains, they all took off running, not a single one of them hesitating for even a second. I guess the death of a lord is kind of a big deal, even if that one was lacking.

I walked up to the wolfman's remains and grabbed the bone spear embedded in the top of its head. It would have been obvious to a creature of greater intellectual prowess, but the spear I had thrown in the air had never fallen back down. I had been using 'Steel Manipulation' to bring it as high as I possibly could, before bringing it right back down. Combining the momentum of the fall with the pushing force of my ability to pierce right through this fool's skull and brain in the blink of an eye.

This dumbass probably didn't even know what hit him–Mmh? The moment I pulled the spear out, I felt a subtle pulse, and before I could question it, the bone spear popped out of existence, no longer in my grasp. What in the…? Did it go to my Mindscape? Why? Since when can I do that? Have I always been able to do that? Ah fuck, I was always able to do that, wasn't I? Did I miss something important? It is definitely important. If Nara wasn't able to mention it, then it has to be of importance!

Before I could discuss this with my little sister, I noticed that the adventurers had gotten into a bit of a snafu during my fight. Unlike me, who had faced a single opponent, they had been stuck with a swarm of wildfolks, and judging by the amount of corpses lying around, they had defended themselves very well. The only issue was the catfolk. While providing defence for their mage, she had been hit pretty hard, and her shoulder was currently dislocated. …

Nothing too bad, turns out the bunny was a swordsman, and healer–Unfortunately, dislocated bones were actually a common injury that basic healing spells couldn't deal with. Apparently, it wasn't really 'damage' per se, at least not according to whatever the typical healing spells used to determine if they could have an effect on something. I walked up to the ground.

"Miss Knight! Thank the gods you were here to take care of the lord! We would have been overwhelmed eventually if all these wildfolks hadn't run away. We're going to have to quickly return to the border, however…" The rabbitfolk turned to the catfolk. She was clearly not very good at handling the pain. I bent down next to her, and even through the suffering, she looked at me weird. Even through pain, she couldn't get over the fact that another woman was around her beloved white bunny…

The same was true for the rest. They were some real obsessed gals. They were basically a small tribe at this point, united by their desire for the oblivious man of the group. It is certainly a bit odd, if not a bit off-putting, but I found their sheer focus quite cute and endearing. I reached and patted the catfolk's head. Scratching the top of her head and ears–That's some pretty nice fluff, even mostly human-like beastfolks tend to have soft hair, much softer than that of humans…

"H-Hey, what are you doing?" I moved down from her head to her face, squishing her cheeks as I made her look into the slits of my helm. She was as red as a tomato as I pulled the trick I had learned from the physician my parents used to take me to with Leton when I was a child, and very casually went from this to grabbing her arm and shoulder, suddenly popping everything back into place before she could realise what I was doing.

The physician would do it for smaller things, but it worked very well in such scenarios as well. She cried out in pain, but her shout was muffled as I grabbed her head and pressed it against my chest–Since I was here, I might as well continue to enjoy that wonderful fluff. She didn't resist much. I suppose the expertise I had in patting heads and hugging earned from taking care of my little sisters for so long was having an effect, and when it came to handling fluff, Leou had given me a lot of tips. …

The snow leopard still insisted that she didn't like it all that much, though. It was absolutely a lie, I fed on embarrassment, and a bit of shame every time she tried to say that. The other adventurers looked at the scene, confused as it went for a few minutes. The other girls of the team looked at each other with flat expressions, shrugging at each other in some form of silent dialogue. They are definitely reconsidering everything How so?

They are probably assuming that you are actually after them, and not the bunny I would normally deny your fantasies, but alright, I guess it isn't unlikely that they are actually thinking this–But can't a girl just enjoy good fluff? Good fluff always enjoys being taken good care of, just look at Miss Cat, she's loving it. The catfolk looked quite embarrassed when my hug came to an end, and she didn't speak a single word as they returned to the border–Before we got close to the wall, though.

I stopped and reached for a piece of paper and a pen I had tucked away inside my cloak this entire time. I told them through writing that I was going to stay behind, and also pulled the ladies aside to show them words just to them. Just go to an inn, and go for it after dark. He's a rabbit, he'll get into the flow just fine. No point in waiting for him to get it on his own, demonstrate it.

I gave them a thumbs up, patted each of their heads, and then casually went to the bunny to grab his ears as well–I couldn't leave without getting a feel of those. The embarrassed and confused beastfolks were left behind as I walked away. They would have probably tried to tell me that it was too dangerous to be alone in the Northern Wildlands, but my actions were probably too dazing for them to do anything. First, let me claim all that flesh that was left behind…