CH 7

“Are you…. talking about that ‘special meal‘?”

“Yes. As a commemoration of coming to our place, we need to feed her properly.”

“All right!”

The cook smiled mischievously and began to cook something passionately.

Asha looked at him curiously, but her eyes widened. 

It was a ‘fried wolf spider’.

Asha’s face turned white and she covered her mouth with her hand. The terrifying spider was the size of her palm.

Jackal asked mischievously.

“You said you were hungry. Why a wild boar, and not a spider?”

“But this….Do I really have to eat this?”

“Of course. It has a rich amount of protein. It’s also used as a medicine. It’s crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, so it’s perfect as a side dish with alcohol.”

Then someone else joined the conversation with a beer in hand.

“Lady, that’s expensive! Eat a lot!”

As Asha was about to throw up, Jackal said sarcastically.

“Jeez…. You’re a picky eater. You lost your appetite because of the bad food in the palace. If you don’t quickly get used to common people’s food, it will be difficult for you to make a living.”

Food is hard to find in the northern regions, and wolf spiders were a great nutritious food. 

Jackal casually ripped off the spider’s leg and popped it into his mouth and chewed on it. 

He asked sarcastically when Asha looked at him as if she had seen something she couldn’t.

“Why? Is it disgusting? Do you want some?”

He held the wolf spider with two fingers, looking carefully if there was any flesh on it.

Seeing that, Asha said with an expression that seemed to have no appetite.

“……No, thank you. I’ll just eat it on my own.”

Asha stared at the spider.

The spider’s black eyes were staring at her menacingly. 

Jackal watched Asha engage the dead spider in eye contact and burst out laughing.

Surprisingly, he thought that she was a fun woman to tease.

Asha turned her head and stretched her hand as far as she could to pull one of the many spider legs.

Her body trembled at the eerie sensation of ripping a leg off the spider, she quickly closed her eyes and put it into her mouth.

Before she could properly feel the chewy texture, Asha swallowed quickly and cleaned her mouth with alcohol.

Jackal scolded her.

“You swallowed it without slowly savoring this delicacy. What a pity.”

Asha rinsed her mouth with alcohol and then she said confidently.

“I ate it anyway, is it okay now?”

“I didn’t force you to eat it.”

Asha looked at him seriously, but Jackal laughed softly again.

She has never seen him laugh so naturally, so Asha relaxed.

Even though he looked strict and cold, he know how to smile and laugh.

But then, Sosa, who had gone outside, approached him with a serious face and whispered in his ear.

“Boss. Let’s talk outside for a while….”

Jackal got up from his seat, it must be something very important.

Asha looked at them leave but kept munching on the food.

She thought that she needed to replenish her stamina If she wanted to tell him something important later.

* * * * *

As soon as they stepped out of the noisy fortress, the cold air of the winter mountains enveloped them both. 

He looked back at Sosa and asked.

“What’s going on?”

“That is, the patrol team reported traces of someone caught in the trap placed on the border of the town.”

“Is it a person?”

“I think so. An animal would not have cleverly turned the trap around and fled. I think one of the bandits we met today was spying on us.”

Jackal murmured

“Troublesome flies followed us. Should I have taken care of them …..”

“They found a trap, so they most likely realized we were staying close.”

Jackal’s expression turned serious. 

If they found out that Asha was here, they would go wild even more.

It didn’t matter if they were targeted, but she was in danger. 

Jackal went directly to the border with Sosa and meticulously checked the traces. 

He sniffed the leaves and checked the smell of strangers, then said seriously.

“I will strengthen the security and I will send more recon team more often. Tell your men to pack important things in advance in case we have to leave here at any time.”

Sosa answered seriously.

“Yes, Captain.”

* * * * *

While they were out, Asha had a friendly chat with Yuri.

Perhaps because there are only a few women here, the two exchanged a few words and quickly became close.

Yuri, who is on her chubby side, pointed to someone with a slightly shy face.

“That man over there is my husband.”

When Asha looked up, a man who was relatively thin compared to the others smiled and raised a brown leather-gloved hand.

Yuri also smiled and whispered in her ear so that only Asha could hear it.

“I’m trying to feed him.”

Asha covered her mouth and laughed.

“Even though he looks skinny, he is actually a manly man. All Lycaons here are beasts……. No, they’re very aggressive. Courtship is no joke when it comes to the girl they like.”

Yuri said that she had rejected him twice. He wasn’t her style, but she decided to marry him after seeing him risk his life for her.

Her husband blew a kiss, and Yuri caught the kiss and swallowed it.

And he skillfully blew kisses again.

At the unstoppable love affair between the two of them, the Lycaons around them shook their heads laughing.

Listening to the delightful love story of the two, Asha wondered if she would turn violent if suddenly another woman took a liking to Jackal.

But then she shook her head. 

He looked so cold and blunt that it was unlikely.

But then, a screeching noise was heard from somewhere.

“….Just because she is pitiful, he brought an unknown woman. Lycaon is going down the drain.”

In a noisy space, she heard the voice very clearly. 

Suddenly, there was silence.

Asha knew that the intention was for her to listen, and looked back to where the voice come from. 

In the corner, a man with dark reddish hair was staring at her with a sneering expression on his face.

“Hey, ill-mannered princess. Come over here for a second. Let’s find out how empty your head is.”

“Gabe! What a rude thing to say to the captain’s partner!”

“Partner? She is his partner?”

He said with a genuinely absurd face.

“Has the captain officially declared that woman as his wife? Or, did you ever go along with her fuss just once?”

They did not respond to those words. 

Clearly, Jackal was taking an ambiguous attitude as to whether or not to take her as his wife.

When Asha got up, Yuri, who was next to her, grabbed her wrist.

Asha looked back at her, and Yuri shook her head seriously. 

With that look, she meant to stay out of it.

A woman without a mate could be targeted by other Lycaon at any time.

Yuri recalled the two members who used to fight like dogs over a woman, so she was genuinely worried. 

That day, two members caused a riot and almost got kicked out of Lycaon, but ended up crying, asking for her forgiveness, and both gave up on the woman. 

There is a rule that anyone who touches someone else’s partner will have their wrists shredded.

When it comes to women’s issues, they can become more sensitive and violent than anyone else.

“I’m fine. It’s not a big deal.”

Asha walked towards him, Gabe said, looking up cheekily with his wolf-yellow eyes.

“You want to join Lycaon, princess?”

“Yes.”

“Then go the easy way, why do you want to go the hard way?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Gabe jumped up from his seat. 

And, like a hawk, with one eye, it pointed threateningly at her face.

“If you want to seduce the captain, do it properly. Stop talking nonsense like being a hunter, and just be good at hunting men.”

At those words, Asha’s eyes sank.

“That madman…… !  What if the captain finds out?”

“Stop drinking!”

Some of the men approached him violently, but Gabe didn’t even pretend to listen. 

He must have been offended by eavesdropping on her earlier offer to Jackal to be a hunter.

Although he was not as tall as Jackal, he was also tall and had a good physique.

There was a sense of danger in his cheeky expression, but Asha did not back down and confronted him.

“Why is it nonsense to be a hunter? I meant it.”

Everyone was surprised by her statement. 

Gabe said openly, snorting at her.

“Do you know why we don’t hire female hunters? It’s because one woman can cause the organization to collapse in one shot.”

He continued speaking while looking at Asha with bewildered eyes.

“Do you understand? Lycaon doesn’t need a weak female hunter. This is not a charity that feeds and puts you to bed for free. To protect you alone, we, strangers, risk our lives, huh?”

“Gabe, stop it.”

The members approached him and tried to stop him, but Gabe roughly shook his arms.

“Hey, let me go!”

Asha looked at him and said calmly.

“It’s understandable. You have the right to be dissatisfied with me.”

“Really? So now it makes sense. Don’t say that you want to become a hunter again, and work hard to seduce the captain. I won’t blame you for that.”

He blew a bottle as if he had finished talking.

Then everyone began to curse at him with grim looks.

“You..you.. you mother***ker….!”

“How can you say that to a woman? That’s why you will always be a jerk!”

They clicked their tongues, but Asha stood silently and observed him.

He had an eagle badge on the back of his neck with a cape.

It was a badge that meant ‘patrol‘.

He was always the first to go out on patrol so that the organization would not be endangered so that her existence felt like a threat. 

But Asha didn’t feel particularly bad because Jackal had been in the same position since the beginning.

Gabe tilted the bottle and saw Asha still standing there, and asked her a little crookedly.

“Do you still have something to say, Princess?”

Asha sat down, facing him without a word. 

Gabe frowned slightly, Asha turned to the cook and asked him.

“Mr. Wede, can I have a bottle of alcohol, too? The same thing as him.”

“Wow, you want to play a game with me?”

Gabe wiped his mouth with a glove, then cheekily looked up. 

Then Asha said with a soft smile.

“I think I’ll join the same patrol from now on, and I’ll try to get close with you.”

Gabe’s relaxed expression instantly hardened as if he had been shoot.