#101

Ironically, the carriage I was riding in was easily plundered by some lunatic who appeared out of nowhere.

A Jabis carriage, getting robbed so easily? How could that happen?

Well, I wasn’t officially traveling with the Jabis knights. Besides, up until a few days ago, Zerakiel was by my side, so I hadn’t even considered that something like this could happen.

And who would have thought that Hebel’s knights would be this weak?

They were worse than useless. In fact, I had been captured while trying to protect them.

To make matters worse, Ella couldn’t transform into her human form for some reason, making it even easier for us to be caught.

Right now, she was curled up in my arms like a pet, desperately trying to shift into human form.

Just then, Ella licked the back of my hand and let out a pitiful whimper.

“Kiing…”

“Don’t apologize. Even if you had transformed, we still would’ve been caught.”

I meant it as a form of comfort, but Ella just turned her back to me with a hurt expression. She looked like she was about to start digging at the ground, probably wallowing in self-pity again, so I pinched her butt.

“Squeak!”

Ella flinched in surprise and stared at me. I rubbed her cheeks between my fingers and spoke.

“I can tell when you’re beating yourself up even if you don’t say anything, so stop doing that.”

“…Kiing.”

Ella hung her head gloomily. Since she kept fidgeting her hind leg as if the pinch still hurt, I gently patted her in apology.

But now what?

Of all things, I possessed pheromones that were completely unsuited for combat. And the only guards I had—Hebel’s knights—were already tied up and locked inside a cage-like prison.

Whatever enchantment was on the cage seemed to prevent them from transforming into their human forms, leaving them whining helplessly. From the sound of it, they wanted me to help, but I had no intention of getting caught again just to save those useless fools.

At least they brought the carriage along, so maybe that’s a small relief.

When I first rode in a Jabis carriage, Ayla had told me about its special magic—an enchanted tracking spell.

Since the Jabis family was overflowing with brute strength, they hardly bothered with defensive magic, but they did have tracking spells for one simple reason:

In case a member of Jabis went on a rampage outside.

Apparently, it was a precautionary measure so they could quickly subdue them if necessary.

I always thought it was a pretty useless function compared to everything else, but I guess it’s coming in handy now.

I had already sent a messenger to Jabis when we left Hebel. If my arrival was delayed, they would definitely come looking for me, so staying near the carriage was the safest option for now.

By some stroke of luck, the crazed bandit who attacked us seemed to be after the carriage itself.

I had heard it loud and clear—the arrogant way the bastard had boasted:

‘Hah! So Jabis isn’t all that, huh? This carriage is gonna be my throne! Sitting on a carriage with the Jabis crest carved into it will feel damn good!’

The one who seemed to be the leader was different from the other lowlifes—his pheromones were considerably strong. He was probably the illegitimate child of a noble beastman.

Otherwise, there was no way he could wield that level of pheromones.

Of course, he still couldn’t compare to direct noble bloodlines, but in this lawless wasteland, his strength was enough to let him play king.

He was surrounded by subordinates who also had fairly strong pheromones. Judging by their strength, most of them were probably illegitimate half-nobles, each carrying the secret of their birth.

Their group seemed to function under a simple rule—the strongest among them became the leader.

I glared at the arrogant bandit who had made himself comfortable, sitting atop the Jabis carriage in front of me.

At that moment, he casually dug his pinky into his ear and asked one of his lackeys,

“She must be someone important if she was riding in the carriage, right?”

“Well, judging by the pathetic level of her guards, I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“Hah, true. Those weaklings were so useless, even eating them wouldn’t be worth the trouble.”

After flicking away the earwax, he sneered at the caged Hebel knights. The knights, enraged by the insult, let out low growls, but trapped as they were, there was nothing they could do.

“Hey, you. What’s your name?”

“If you’re so curious about my name, shouldn’t you introduce yourself first? That’s common courtesy, don’t you think?”

The moment I replied curtly, something in him seemed to snap. In an instant, he leaped toward me.

Before I could even process his ridiculous jumping ability, he bent forward, leveling his gaze with mine.

“You still don’t get what kind of situation you’re in?”

“Do I look like I don’t?”

I understood all too well—and that was the real problem.

At the very least, I knew for sure that these guys wouldn’t last long.

As I stared daggers at him, his head tilted in curiosity.

“Oh? You’re not scared?”

“I’ve seen way scarier guys than you.”

“Heh, I’ve never met such a mouthy little brat before. You’re tiny, but you’ve got guts.”

“Hah! You don’t look that big yourself, so what’s your point?”

I exaggeratedly measured his size with my hands and smirked, making the bandit scowl.

He was probably expecting me to cower in fear, but instead, I was staring him down, unfazed.

How ridiculous.

As if I’d ever be intimidated by some loser who didn’t even compare to Ivan, let alone Zerakiel.

I was just about to bare my fangs and growl when—

The bandit suddenly threw his head back and let out a roaring laugh.

“Aha-ha-ha! What a feisty little girl! You’re hilarious!”

…What exactly was funny?

Can someone explain this to me?

Even Ella was just blinking at me in confusion. But despite her bewilderment, she kept her guard up against him, which was both pitiful and oddly reassuring.

I watched the bandit laughing so hard he was practically crying, my expression cold as ice.

Then, suddenly, he grabbed both of my shoulders and said something truly absurd.

“Alright! I’ll make you my concubine! You’re still young, but once you grow up, you might be quite the sight.”

“…Like hell I will.”

I nearly spat on his face but barely managed to hold it in.

If he had dared to say that in front of Zerakiel, he wouldn’t have even finished his sentence before being sent straight to the afterlife.

For once, I regretted shaking off Zerakiel when he kept hovering around me.

Hearing something that ridiculous made me laugh in sheer disbelief.

“Haha…”

As I let out a hollow laugh, the bandit tilted his head, puzzled.

“What? Why don’t you like the idea?”

Are you seriously asking me that, Animal?

I scoffed and shot back,

“No woman in the world likes being a concubine.”

But my words seemed too complex for his tiny brain to process.

He furrowed his brows in deep thought, then suddenly clapped his hands as if he had a revelation.

“Ohhh, you want to be my official wife?”

…No, that’s not what I meant. Not even remotely.

I looked at him with utter disgust, shifting my weight onto one leg.

How much longer did I have to entertain this idiot’s nonsense?

If only I had combat-oriented pheromones, this would have been over in a single hit.

But unfortunately, I was just a small, cute, and fragile white weasel with a limited lifespan.

Sure, I regularly smacked around a certain black lion, but without him around, I was as helpless as a tiger without its fangs.

At that moment, Taby’s voice rang out in my head with a cheerful declaration.

— At least we’re good at defense!

— Should we dig a tunnel?

Then Jonathan, ever the airhead, chimed in with something utterly useless.

I let out a deep sigh.

The real problem was that I had no means of attacking.

If I had no choice but to run, I could have escaped on my own ages ago. But now that the Hebel knights were here, my chances of fleeing were slim.

And honestly? Zerakiel realizing the situation and coming to get me would be faster than waiting for Jonathan to dig a tunnel.

As I wallowed in frustration, the bandit suddenly grabbed me and lifted me up.

“Alright! You’re good enough to be my main wife! Marry me!”

At that moment, rage boiled over inside me.

Even though I knew I was in enemy territory, I couldn’t stop myself—I swung my foot as hard as I could.

“Like hell I will!”

WHAM—!