No Beast Girls on the Western Front

Page 49

"Um... around November, I... I'll be molting for winter, and my tail will grow back by then... so... you'll just have to wait a little while..."

Upon hearing this, Payne's gaze immediately turned strange, making Ruby uneasy. "Wh...what's wrong?"

"Do you think I'm that kind of person? Just because you burned a little bit off your tail, you don't like you anymore?" Payne retorted.

Ruby was confused: "But...but you're not touching my tail..."

Payne interrupted her: "Yes, I really like your tail. It's so addictive to touch that it's all fluffy, warm, and soft. Humans don't have tails."

"But it's not just your tail that I like. You, with your tail, are the most important thing. Do you understand?"

Payne was very confident that his words would be enough to completely dispel Ruby's unease and also win her favor.

And indeed it seemed to be true. Ruby blushed instantly, looked around helplessly, and couldn't utter a word for a long time.

But just as Payne was about to end the contest perfectly with a good morning kiss, Ruby unexpectedly countered from a tricky angle.

She looked at me with a mixture of dissatisfaction and disappointment, and asked, "But... I feel like you like 'orcs,' not just me, okay?"

Payne: "..."

He was completely unable to refute this.

There were no beast girls on Earth in his previous life, but there were countless works depicting this virtual image, which he longed for but could not have.

After transmigrating, he found that this world not only had beast girls, but they were also just as fluffy, cute, and beautiful as he had imagined, making him think that he had arrived in paradise.

But soon he realized how pitiful the beast girls' situation was, and he couldn't help but want to save them from hell...

The worst part is that if he shows even the slightest bit of kindness to the beast girls, they won't mind having him help them solve the divergence problem!

For Payne, who spends most of his time in the military and never sees a human girl, who is constantly facing life-or-death crises, the prospect of living with his dream beast is an irresistible temptation!

So Payne closed his eyes, and after making his face thicker than a city wall, he reopened them and said, "Well... if you put it that way... then you're not wrong..."

"You didn't even bother to argue back!" Ruby became even more dissatisfied and disappointed.

"Haven't we talked about this before?..."

Payne shrugged and continued, "I do like you partly because you're an orc, because you have a big, fluffy tail, but the main reason is because you're Ruby, not any other orc."

These words finally calmed Ruby down a bit. She coughed twice to ease the awkwardness and tried to speak in an authoritative tone:

"Then... say that sentence again. You know which sentence it is."

Payne knew exactly which line it was. He pulled Ruby, tail and all, into his arms and stroked her back, saying, "Yes, my favorite beast is definitely you."

And so Ruby was easily won over. She happily wagged her tail and rubbed her head against Payne's chest.

"Pine~"

"what happened?"

"Their splitter might expire tomorrow, you know? Today might be their last chance, right?"

Faced with the little squirrel who dared to provoke him like this, Payne naturally couldn't swallow his anger. He immediately flipped over and took the high ground, which amused Ruby, who chuckled softly. The blanket also slid to the ground with the movement of the two.

But just as they were about to begin, as the blankets were removed from their cover, Payne caught a glimpse of white on the other side of the bed!

Both the man and the beast were startled and turned to look at each other at the same time.

A pure white sheep was sleeping there so brazenly!

Although she had a furrowed brow and looked like she wasn't sleeping comfortably, she insisted on keeping her eyes closed and refusing to wake up.

“…Xiao En?! What are you doing here?!” Payne raised his voice and quickly got off Ruby.

Didn't I just see Xiao En lying on the bed next to me when I woke up?!

Payne turned his head sharply, only to find that the bed he had thought Xiao En was sleeping on was just covered with her military uniform, with a steel helmet with two holes placed on the pillow.

...Could I be mistaking this scene for Xiao En lying in bed?

Payne rubbed his eyes in disbelief, but he couldn't recreate the scene he had seen a few minutes earlier.

But seeing how soundly Xiao En was sleeping, it was hard to believe she had sneaked into his bed just a few minutes ago.

Even if he wasn't fully awake at that time, it was impossible for him not to notice such a large, living beast crawling into his bed.

That leaves only one possibility:

It seems he was really exhausted last night. Not only did a squirrel crawl into his bed, but a sheep did too, but he didn't notice.

The thought that she hadn't been able to have Payne all to herself last night made Ruby's face turn cold. "Hey, Shawn, what are you doing?"

But before Xiao En could wake up from her dream, Lacey, who had been woken up by Payne's roar, also climbed onto the bed. The dog, still half asleep, licked Payne and Ruby's faces, stopping the two from asking questions.

It wasn't until Payne and Ruby worked together to get Lacey out of bed that Shawn was finally woken up by the noise.

She groggily opened her eyes and immediately saw Ruby's piercing gaze and Payne's puzzled expression.

The sheep blinked a couple of times, looking a little confused, and immediately realized it was in trouble. It quickly waved its hands and explained:

"I!...I...I was just a little scared! And...and at the time I saw that neither of you had any objections, so...that's why..."

“Of course I had a problem with that. I didn’t even know you’d climbed up there.” Ruby rolled her eyes at her, then turned to Payne. “And you? You didn’t know either?”

“I really didn’t notice anything!” Payne quickly said.

"Oh? Is that so?"

Ruby's expression grew increasingly hostile, and her voice gradually rose:

"Xiao En was sleeping right next to you, you know. It's one thing if you didn't notice last night, but you didn't even realize it after waking up for so long this morning? Who are you trying to fool?!"

Chapter 76 LXXVI. Aftermath

"But I really didn't feel anything!..."

Payne was also helpless, and turned to Xiao En to ask, "How did you manage to do that?!"

Xiao En was so nervous that her speech was almost involuntarily attuned to ancestral behaviors:

"Meow... I was really scared, but... but you were sleeping so soundly, so... so I didn't want to disturb you, so... so I was very careful not to touch you..."

"Is that really true?" Ruby was clearly skeptical.

Payne quickly tried to salvage the situation: "That must be it! Think about it, we fought all day yesterday, everyone was exhausted, no one turned over in their sleep, so they wouldn't bump into each other..."

He then abruptly changed the subject without giving Ruby a chance to speak: "Xiao En, what are you still afraid of? You're a veteran who has already participated in three battles."

"...Huh?! Does participating in three battles make you a veteran?!" Xiao En was shocked.

She had heard from the rear that the fighting in some areas was extremely fierce, with not only new recruits dying in large numbers, but even veterans were not spared. Therefore, as long as one could survive a few battles, one could be entrusted with important responsibilities.

But the fighting on this front wasn't very intense, was it?

Moreover, she basically did nothing in the first two battles, only throwing a few dozen grenades this time. How can that be considered a veteran?

Facing Xiao En's puzzled expression, Payne smiled and said in a relaxed tone, "Just kidding. What I really meant was that the first battle is when new recruits are most likely to get into trouble."

"But you've already survived three battles, so the battles to come won't be so easy to kill you. You don't need to be so afraid."

"Is...is that so?"

Xiao En readily believed Payne's words, and a smile unconsciously appeared on her face. She then said, "Okay, I will try my best not to hold everyone back in the battles to come."

"I'm just... a little afraid of fire, so after being attacked by a flamethrower before, I've been a bit scared ever since..."

After expressing her concerns, Xiao En felt much better, but Payne's smile gradually faded.

“It’s not your fault, it really isn’t your fault.” Payne’s expression was slightly unnatural. “Don’t even mention you, I was scared too.”

"Ah...is...is that so?"

Xiao En saw that Paine and his three beasts all nodded with lingering fear. Ruby, in particular, smoothed the missing corner on her big tail, and the smile on her face gradually disappeared.

"It's okay. Being scared is nothing to be ashamed of. We'll be scared with you."

As Payne spoke, he stepped forward and touched her fluffy hair again. "But being afraid won't help. You have to confront your fears and learn how to take down flamethrowers."

"Fortunately, their weaknesses are also obvious, so they are relatively easy to deal with."

Xiao En immediately shrank back, "I...I can't do it..."

"Don't say that. You just blasted a passage for us yesterday."

Payne got out of bed and started getting dressed. "Get up, everyone. I'll probably be busy for the next couple of days... If I have time, I'll have to give you some special training, like jumping through fire hoops or something..."

Xiao En immediately showed a ">﹏<" expression, "No...no, please..."

……

Thanks to Shawn's brilliant assist, Payne not only escaped Ruby's questioning but also gained a training program that terrified the beasts.

However, since we need to thoroughly clean up the battlefield starting today and spend some time modifying the enemy's trenches, the four beasts can escape this calamity for the time being.

"Grace, how are you feeling today?"

"Hmm...it's...still the same...don't worry, tonight should be over..."

"I'm sorry, I probably can't help you this time."

"It's...it's okay..."

As Payne was backfilling a crater at the bottom of the trench, he looked up and saw Grace carrying two huge beams supporting the trench ceiling, so they chatted for a bit.

Grace's timing for arriving at the splitter was really unfortunate; it coincided perfectly with Ruby's splitter and the time for her to launch an attack.

I really want to try what the bovine sister tastes like, but unfortunately I probably won't be able to this time.

There aren't too many disagreements in a year, so the next one might have to wait at least three months.

It is very regrettable.

The only good news is that although Grace showed a wary look towards him yesterday, she acted as if nothing had happened today and returned to her calm and gentle demeanor.

It seems she has realized that although she sometimes says hurtful things (which is quite unfair), her XP is a bit puzzling to beastmen, and she is a bit too loving in her emotions, she is really a good person who loves beast girls.

It's better to wait a little longer. Once we've built up a relationship, she'll be more receptive and more interested in cooperating with me.

With that thought in mind, Payne nodded in satisfaction, picked up the shovel, and prepared to continue his work of filling the hole.

"Paine!"

Recognizing the company commander's voice, Payne quickly responded, "I'm here! What's up?"