The prominent stench of blood still lingered after entering the city. Countless corpses were on the city walls of Troy City as a result of the siege. The anthropoids may have suffered major losses, but Troy City suffered huge losses, as well.
Courage and determination can only stop one from retreating. It can’t increase one’s stamina or enhance their combat skills. The militia were no match for the anthropoids, so everybody involved in the city defence – other than the Valkyries – suffered severe losses.
The first line of militia was either dead or wounded. If it wasn’t for the Valkyries, Mommy Elizabeth and Lorana fighting with all their might to hold down the fort, the city walls would likely have been lost before Mommy Vyvyan and Tanya managed to slay their commander.
The city was filled with cries. Nothing indicated that we were victorious. Troy City lost too much for the victory.
Ling Yue followed alongside me with her head down the entire time. Even her tail and ears hung down. I looked at her; I had no idea what she was sad about.
I went to touch her head, but she whacked my hand away with her tail and kept her head down. I smiled hopelessly. She was in that state ever since she ran off with me in tow as though she was angry about something and guilty at the same time. I grabbed her tail.
“Kyaaah!!”
Ling Yue shuddered violently. She almost dropped to her knees. I leveraged her reaction to pull her into my arms. She moaned sexily, and then leaned on my chest with a blushing face. She panted and looked at me with her blood-red eyes in a lustful way. As she panted, she said, “I… Don’t touch my tail… I… I… only…”
“Would you tell me what happened if I didn’t do that?”
I grabbed her tail and stroked it, causing her body to shiver intensely. She couldn’t hold back her moan. She couldn’t resist the urge to hug me and lean her head on my shoulder. She bit my neck.
She’s an animal all right. The allure of her fangs in my neck almost made me moan.
“Tell me. What happened?”
I clenched my teeth. She let go, only to then bite my shoulder. I felt her fang grind into my flesh and the sensation of her sucking on me.
With her teeth in my shoulders, she replied with a muffled voice, “What else… other than because I ran away in the end…”
Her tail squirmed in my hands. She tried to struggle, “I… I’m the one who wants revenge most… I want to return every day…. I want to kill them most and return to my home… but I got scared. I fled. I ran away and was absolutely useless… Not even you were scared. Your soldiers weren’t scared. The person who should not have been scared – which was me – ran away!”
A few cold drips of water landed on my neck. I let go and her tail dropped down lifelessly, indicating how sad its owner was at that moment. She leaned on my shoulder and bit me to stop herself from crying out. She tightly clenched her fists and shook in silence.
‘If I could see her eyes, too, how much resentment for herself would be in her eyes?’
I gently hugged her. She let go then bit my ear. She then suddenly slapped me right away. Before I could react, she slapped me again. I was spinning after her slaps.
“Don’t try to take advantage of me crying to hug me! You grabbed my tail, too! Now that I’ve regained my composure, I need to give you a few slaps to make sure you remember!”
The fur on her tail stood up similarly to an angry fox… Actually, she was an angry fox in that moment. I shook my head and responded, “No, I just wanted to comfort you. I don’t think it’s embarrassing to run, especially since you’re a girl.”
“Even if I am a girl, I’m the last of our tribe! I carry our tribe’s last ray of glory and honour! I can’t run, but I did! I got scared! I… I… I was scared to death!”
While she wore her anger on her face, her tears continued to course down her face. I looked at her and firmly said, “I already told you: running away isn’t something for you to be ashamed of, because you weren’t useful there at all… Don’t be angry. Think about it, what could you have done behind me back there? Running away when you’re powerless isn’t something to be ashamed of. What would that make a deserter? They’re armed, and they can fight, yet they throw down their weapons. You were the protected party, so it’s not shameful for you to run.”
“But…”
“No buts. You need to be alive to get revenge, and your desire for vengeance can’t clear everything away for you. If you want revenge, you must rely on the strength of others.” I looked at her, and then chuckled, “Didn’t you want to rely on me to get revenge? You don’t need to take so much upon yourself, then. Stop thinking about how you can return to your home or how you’ll defeat the anthropoids. You’ve found me, so leave everything to me. I’m your strength, your knight. Don’t carry so much on your shoulders. You just need to stick with me and return there step by step. Didn’t you see my courage today? I’ll use my courage for you. I will realise your dream for you the same way I protected Troy City.”
Ling Yue wiped her tears and snorted with her sobbing voice. She looked at me and grabbed my collar. In a somewhat unhappy tone, she then exclaimed, “Since you said that, why are you still not kneeling before me? If you want to be my knight, kneel before me, and I shall confer you with the title!”
I laughed, and then went down on one knee in front of her. I took hold of her hand and looked at her. I smiled, “In that case, I shall stroke your noble-lady ego.”
“Hmph!”
She wagged her tail with her usual stubborn expression. She then looked at me and softly said, “I shall entrust you with everything of mine, then. I won’t do anything alone in the future or ask you to do anything. I will give you everything that I have… However, you must… you must… show me the light of victory… so that I can return to the North…”
I looked up. Her hand quivered a little. She looked at me with her teary blood-red eyes and revealed such a weak expression for the first time.
She gave up her last shred of pride this time.
I looked at her with a smile, “Ah, I promise.”
She looked at my face. The sunset started to show, making her face appear red.
She quickly whipped her tail, and snorted, “Hmph!”
She turned around quickly, almost causing her tail to whip me across the face. She didn’t say anything. She began to quickly walk toward the palace. I chuckled and stood up. I ran over to catch up behind her. I then grabbed her hand without saying anything prior…
“Don’t just go touching me thoughtlessly, you pervert!!”
*Smack!!*
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