Chapter 79 - A fight before the hunt

The next day Esdea and her subordinates were waiting at the exit of the village for the late Marc. Esdea was tapping her heel in frustration with an annoyed look on her face. Waiting for others wasn't something she was used to— and people wouldn't dare to let her wait like this. Her subordinates were getting impatient too but they didn't say anything except Balto.

With an annoyed scowl on his face and standing very proudly with crossed arms, Balto told Esdea "General. It's a waste of time waiting for that little shit. He has no respect for you-"

"That's what strength is— the power to do whatever you want. Why should he respect and fear me when he's just as strong as me? The loser has no right to complain, so shut your mouth!"

They waited impatiently for another five minutes before Marc appeared "Sorry-sorry I'm late. The bed wouldn't let go of me."

Balto clicked his tongue in annoyance when he saw Marc apologizing so nonchalantly. He just turned around to control his anger and the overflowing thirst for revenge he was hiding.

With clear annoyance in her voice, Esdea asked "Now that you are here, let's get going" before she turned around without getting an answer.

"Wait a minute. Can we run by a food vendor first? I didn't have the time to eat breakfast." Before leaving his temporary residence, Marc took a little loan from Gina for his breakfast as he was dead broke.

"…"

Esdea breathing turned a little ragged as she was about to blow a fuse. But when she saw Marc holding his grumbling stomach, she couldn't get herself to say no.

"… Fine."

Esdea's subordinates wondered where her usual short fuse had gone as they had never seen her being so lax before.

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After Marc got his breakfast, they traveled north on foot as bringing a ride would be a hindrance.

Marc walked side-by-side with Esdea which she didn't mind. This made Balto feel threatened tremendously and couldn't help glaring daggers at Marc for just a fraction of time. But it was long enough to let Marc feel it and he noted to be careful of Balto. He looked at the pink-haired woman wearing a cowboy hat and the skimpy green-head and realized something.

"Beautiful ladies. I didn't get your names yesterday?"

Feigning a hurt expression, the skimpy lady cried "Now you remember asking? I thought you saw nothing in your eyes."

Marc caught on the playfulness in her voice and played with it. "How can that be? Your beauty just distracted me, so I forgot askin- Ouch! Ouch! It hurts. My ear!!" Esdea pulled and lifted Marc in his ear so hard it could fall off any minute.

"Stop flirting and focus on the hunt!" Esdea was getting jealous and glared at her subordinates. It wasn't up to question. It was an order. They continued walking in silence…

Until-

"So your names?" Marc turned and whispered to the girls. The silence was simply torturing him.

The girls took their time thinking if they should answer him. In the end, they decided to present themselves quickly and shortly. The pink head started.

"Dixie"

"Gypsy"

Hearing their names, Marc gave them a thumbs up and completely disregarded Balto.

The rest of the journey to the Cold Region would have been a silent journey if Marc didn't get bored and decided to make a little sled to help him 'discreetly' peek under Esdea's skirt.

He slowed down on purpose before running forward and sliding on the snow— right by Esdea and the girls.

"I think I almost saw something good." Thought Marc and decided to give it another try.

After he did it a few dozen times, Esdea's patience ran out of fuel. She used her magic to destroy his sled before making a pair of chains for Marc. With a few quick motions, Marc was all hand-cuffed up. Esdea without a doubt had a lot of experience in catching people. After blinking in disbelief at his cuffed hands for a sec, he looked at Esdea for an explanation. She was holding the end of the chains in her hands while smiling in satisfaction.

He was sure he could break these chains rather easily, but he waited.

"Stay put and don't run around anymore. Just follow silently!" Esdea said before continuing her walk down a snowy slope and pulling the chain with her— forcing Marc to follow.

Balto looked mockingly at Marc. In response, Marc just grinned before he took a remnant of the wood from his sled and used it as a snowboard with Esdea pulling him.

Before Esdea knew it, Marc had slid down to her, lifted her in a bridal carry, and continued snowboarding down the slope with her in his arms. With disbelief, she looked at Marc who was laughing as he was having fun watching her blushing cheeks.

There he was, widely grinning at her and amusingly waiting for what she would do— though he was also ready to defend his nuts if she decided to be the nutcracker.

Balto, Dixie, and Gypsy were left near the top of the slope with mouths wide open in shock and one turned into rage.

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When they reached the outside of the Cold Region, Marc had already got rid of the handcuffs made out of ice, and he was currently a lot more serious than when he traveled.

"Why aren't we entering?" asked Marc, confused. He didn't come with them to just look at the magnificent gigantic trees with dark-blue frosty leaves on one side while the other was dark purple and glimmered a little. Around them was still snow, but there were also a lot of bumps.

Looking around for something first, Esdea explained "We need some easy bait before entering. As I have said before, after entering the Cold Region your Magic Power will slowly freeze and be unable to be used. So it's better to get the bait from outside the region first before entering."

Being inexperienced in hunting, Marc asked "So how do we get the bait?"

"Like this."Said Esdea with a predatory smile before she walked over to a bump in the snow and placed a dead insect she had prepared beforehand and was carrying in a bag. She drew her rapier and stood completely still like she was waiting for something.

"What is she doing?" Asked Marc in a whisper to Dixie.

"Shh! Just continue looking."

After waiting for minutes, a little light-blue insectivore with its back full of icicles and long claws suddenly jumped up and was about to use an attack— before it could though, Esdea pierced its body with her rapier and instantly killed it.

"Wow. That's was so smooth and cool." Compliment Marc, which Esdea enjoyed greatly before throwing her bag with dead bugs to Marc.

"Now it's your turn. Catch as many as you can carry without slowing you down too much. You three will do the same."

"Sure thing boss!" Marc comically did a military salute before giving it a try.

It wasn't many minutes before a little accident happened where Balto got his ass filled with icicles that the little Magic Beasts could eject from their backs. It definitely wasn't Marc's fault or anything… Okay, he might have sent it flying in his direction. But it was really an accident.

This little Magic Beast is called Ice Moles and likes to dig in high snow and makes tons of bumps around like a mole.

Giving it a try more, Marc placed an insect on a bump and instead walked a little distance away— unlike Esdea.

When the Ice Mole jumped out of the hole and was instinctively getting ready to fire off its icicles on its back, Marc used [Pressure Cannon] to kill it swiftly.

The others did the same until they each had as many they could carry with them.

"Are we ready to enter now?" Asked Marc while sending a smug look to Balto. It was evident who managed to kill the second most out of all of them, Marc. The winner was Esdea and she proudly pushed her cleavage out and grinned at Marc. Without a doubt, she was already enjoying hunting with him— even though the prey was way too weak to fully enjoy.

"Yes. But first, we will take a break and recover all our Magic Power before we enter." Ordered Esdea before she used her Magic to make a shed out of ice for herself and entered it.

"Isn't she going to make sheds for us too?" questioned Marc to Doxie and Gypsy while pointing at the now-closed door to the shed.

Dixie shook her head "She won't. We have to take care of ourselves. She hates protecting and babysitting people because she thinks only the weak need it." This was the reason Esdea had given her subordinates, and it wasn't a lie— but it also wasn't the whole truth.

Hearing it, Marc contemplated a little about what to do. He had successfully built an igloo made out of mud before after many tries when he came to this world. In the end, he still decided to leech off a woman.

Surprising Dixie and Gypsy, Marc used [Bear Sprint] to make himself appear before the shed and entered it before they could manage to stop him.

"Wait-"

"Don't-"

When Marc had entered and shut the door shut, his eyes opened bigger than teacups and he couldn't take his eyes off what he was seeing.

After Esdea had entered, she unbuttoned her white military uniform and took everything she was wearing off until she was only wearing a white shirt— possibly panties too.

Currently, she was frozen in place when Marc suddenly brazenly entered without knocking or even announcing he was entering. Sure she had an interest in him, but she was sure she didn't feel love, or that what she was telling herself. Love is just a lie. But lately, her actions make her question it.

"Do you want to die?" still, she asked after getting out of her frozen state.

Marc gulped hard— not because he was afraid but at her pure white sexiness of a body that couldn't simply be hidden with a shirt. He couldn't help mumbling after hearing her question "Dying might be worth it for this fantastic view."

"Then pay with it with your life!" Esdea said before she was about to make ice spikes grow down from the roof of her shed.

But she was stopped, as Marc was already unintentionally prepared. Having laid his eyes on Esdea's smoking hot body, Marc's lust was getting way too high and he would without a doubt become an animal in heat soon, so he used [Paw Refresher] to stealthily remove his lust by touching his chest with one hand, and letting the lust flow out from his hand he was hiding behind his back. A pink paw bubble steadily grew.

When Esdea was about to attack, Marc beat her to it and fired the pink bubble he was hiding. Esdea trusted her battle-hardened instincts and didn't sense a threat by it, so she just quickly grabbed her rapier and slashed it over. Big mistake. If she had dodged it or just not taken a step forward to make the slash, then the situation wouldn't have escalated as it would soon now.

The bubbles popped and the air inside the shed turned pinkish in a blink of an eye.

"Aaahh~" Moaned Marc as he had inhaled the air and fallen to his knees just before he could get out. All his earlier ejected lust had attacked him at once, making it an extremely pleasurable feeling— the complete opposite of losing it that makes everything dull for a short time. The lust he had removed wasn't just the amount he had built up from seeing Esdea— it was also the lust he had built up from getting blue-balled by Shirayuki.

The person who had it worse was Esdea "Mmmhmmmm~mhhmm~" she moaned while holding her chest tightly with one hand while forcing herself not to let go of her rapier in the other.

"What… Mhmm~ did you do it? Mhmm~ I will kill you for real this time!" Esdea's head was messy, but she was a tough girl— The Nutcracker. Between her moans, she managed to ask the question with a hiss.

Compared to the Pleasure Magic that Larcade Dragneel used in the anime, Marc's lust spell didn't have the same weakness that only makes it be effective on people who have tried the forbidden fruit.

With a grunt "Fuck!! Aaahh~ Okay, this is my fault! Aaahh~ But woman, why couldn't you just have dodged it?" Marc cursed lightly.

"Why… should I… fear this ridiculous… attack?" Esdea managed to hold her moans back and say with a strained speech that was barely audible.

"Yet… Mmnh~ here we are on our knees. Enough! I'm sending a signal for help to Dixie and Gypsy!" Marc said and raised his hand— about to muster the will he had to use [Pressure Shots] to fire a few air shots through the walls and door.

"Don't! Mhmm~" Exclaimed Esdea with a little panic while forcing herself closer to Marc.

Seeing her approach, Marc thought optimistically that the cliche moment will happen where the heroine decides to sleep with the protagonist to remove the hurting lust. "Has she decided to let nature take its course?" Marc's blood boiled with expectation before he also walked toward her. As he was about to hug her, a sudden jolt of pain appeared on top of his foot. Looking down, he saw Esdea's pure and bare white foot stomping on his own. Sweat ran down his head as he was very grateful she wasn't wearing her high-heeled boots.

"There's… no way… I'm letting my subordinates… see me in this state" She managed to say without moaning, but her face was completely flushed and her lip began bleeding from biting it.

Reaching his limit for self-control, Marc grunted "Aaahh~ Then I will go out myself… Take care!" he said before he turned and was about to move at a snail's pace toward the exit if Esdea didn't grab — near the collar — the hide he was wearing. She once again stepped on his foot with clear dissatisfaction.

"You are just going to leave me like this?"

"Then what do you want me to do-" Esdea didn't let him finish his question.

"Romantic hug!" She said before following Marc's instructions from yesterday and hugged him with open arms and placed her hands on his but— giving it a few squeezes.

It left Marc dumbfounded and he was about to send a hug back, but before he knew it, Esdea had tackled his legs and was standing with one leg between his armpit and the other near his head— giving a clear view up under her shirt and naked legs.

Constantly gulping, he thought "No underwear!!"

"I have had my eyes on you since after we clashed and I have decided. You will be the one. I will only say this once. If you have any previous lovers— abandon them. If you cheat— I will kill whoever whore got your attention. If you backstab and betray me— I will catch you before torturing you and break your mind so much that you will just be my puppet husband." It's what Esdea wanted to tell Marc if she could. Instead, she swore to herself before completely buttoning up her shirt and letting it slide off her arms.

…

Outside the shed, Dixie and Gypsy were looking at the entrance where Marc just entered— waiting to see what reaction Esdea would have after he invaded her privacy. Another thing she considerably hated for anyone to do without announcement.

"What do you think will happen to him?" Asked Dixie with her coat flowing with the wind.

"Do you even have to ask? He will be made into an ice cube soon enough. We should keep some distance if we don't want to be turned into one." Said Gypsy like it was an obvious conclusion before quickly taking some distance and waited with Dixie.

"You don't think she will let him stay with her?" Asked Dixie but the third person here was the one to answer it.

"That won't ever happen!! She would never let anyone stay with her— not to mention another man.." Balto said as he was sure of his claim too, but for a split second his eyes showed anxiety and apprehension.

"I think so too." Backed Gypsy up.

Shaking her head, Dixie thought "Didn't General Esdea say he was just as strong as her? If so then turning him into an ice cube would be hard. And I have never seen her compliment another person so much before— he might be the man she had chosen to be hers." Finishing her thinking, she took a glance at Balto and shook her head. She knew he had a crush on the General, but she also thought it was very unlikely for Ballto to get together with her.

"… Why isn't anything happening?" questioned Dyspy after having watched for a few minutes.

"Guess he really did get permission to stay with the general." Answered Dixie while adjusting her cowboy hat.

"No way!" Exclaimed Gypsy with disbelief and a scandalous expression appeared after.

With gritted teeth, red eyes, and clenched fist, Balto left in rage and jealousy. He couldn't help thinking that Marc would be sleeping in the same place as Esdea. Just that thought was enough for him to turn ugly with envy. If he just knew that his crush was doing much more than just sleeping and was rubbing bodies with a young man that would— and already have changed fate.

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(A/N: Both Esdea and Marc could have easily have avoided going all the way and have sex if they truly wanted to. Marc only tried to leave as he doesn't want to be a bastard that sort of uses an aphrodisiac to force a woman to sleep with him. Esdea's reason to let nature take its course was that she had already decided for Marc to be her man as he was equally as talented as her— and would for sure make her give birth to strong children. It's just that she currently isn't sure what feelings of love are and can't recognize them.)

(Words: 3076)