Chương 64: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 64 - Entrapment (3)

A white tiger. A natural, born-that-way, pure white tiger, not the man-made kind. Man-made ones were always a disappointment. This was clearly the genuine article, the sort that only appeared in doujinshi. A bunch of blonds had never laid eyes on a divine beast like this in their lives. Every single one of them was ready to charge straight in and take a closer look. But they hadn't forgotten why they were here. They were on a rescue mission. Save the girl first, make a good impression.

Whatever came after that would be so much easier. Besides, she was dangling way up in that tree. It wasn't exactly accessible from down here. Their average height was under 1. 6 meters. Just as the whole crew was about to surge forward, the cautious Yamamoto Nanjirou suddenly raised his voice.

"Hold it!" The blonds exchanged looks. Nobody understood why their president was stopping them.

"Silvermoon Forest is full of danger. This could easily be a trap."

"You guys are the Bullhead Society's most precious members. I'm not about to let you take that risk."

"As president, it falls on me to go first!" His face was dead serious. His voice was stirring and impassioned, carrying the unmistakable air of a man who did not fear death. The blonds were deeply moved by their president's noble character. Moved enough that they each mentally saluted him with a proud middle finger. But hey, if the president said he'd go first, then let him go first. They'd still get their turn. In Sakura Island's gang culture, the boss eating first was completely normal.

Yamamoto Nanjirou coughed twice, quietly pleased with how his men had taken it. He straightened his clothes, made himself look halfway decent, and strolled politely over to stand beneath the suspended girl. This angle... Sugoi! His eyes went green. Unfortunately, her face was buried under thick, curly hair, and she was tilting her chin upward, so he couldn't get a clear look. But that smooth, rounded jawline? Undoubtedly a beauty. This was an absolute win.

"Beautiful lady, I've come to rescue you. Hang tight just a little longer — I'll get you down right now!" Bird Demon Leader Ji Taimei glanced down at the human below her and quickly lifted her head higher. She was worried her drool might drip on him. Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Who even knew how long it had been since she'd last hunted a human adventurer?

Her headlights swayed as she performed her role, voice going soft and tearful, broken Common Tongue of the Continent spilling out in a pitiful whimper:"Uwah uwah uwah... Great warrior, I was accidentally caught by the vines of a Ghost Vine Tree. It's fallen dormant now."

"If you want to save me, cut the third vine wrapped around the trunk. That will bring me down safely without waking the Ghost Vine Tree." Yamamoto Nanjirou wasn't completely swept away by the moment. He cast an Appraisal Art on the nearby tree. Ghost Vine Tree, confirmed. Whether it was actually alive was another question, but the girl up there had no reason to lie to him. DRIP. DRIP. Something cool and wet landed on his face. This... this couldn't be... The last surviving thread of his reason snapped clean.

He raised one hand, murmured softly, and a Fireball spell hit the third vine dead-on. But the girl did not come down. Instead, the ground disappeared from under Yamamoto Nanjirou's feet.

"... ⊙ω⊙??" Right. As Yamamoto Nanjirou was just now figuring out. This was a trap. He rolled straight into a pit ten meters deep with a SPLAT. The vine was the trigger. The whole thing was a setup. The fall didn't hurt, but Yamamoto Nanjirou's HP was down to a quarter.

"BAKAYAROU! It was a trap all along! Who's playing games with me?! You're all dead!" He clawed his way upright, looked up, and started yelling, then stopped. In the darkness surrounding him, a swarm of tiny green lights had just blinked on.

"This... this is..." He backed away, heart hammering, and his back hit something large and very solid.

"Grrr..." A low, rumbling growl came from directly above. Yamamoto Nanjirou slowly tilted his head back. By the dim light filtering into the pit, he made out a creature over two meters tall, wolf-faced, human-bodied, every inch of it wrapped in knotted, coiling muscle. A Gnoll. It raised one paw the size of a serving platter. WHACK, The slap caught Yamamoto Nanjirou clean across the face. He spun clockwise, five full rotations. The backhand came right after, WHACK, counterclockwise, five more.

"Guh—" He got one strangled noise out before the lights went off and he crumpled to the ground, out cold.... Outside the pit, the rest of the blonds had their own problems. They were surrounded. Stocky Kobolds astride spear boars, eight-pack abs visible through their armor. Basilisks with claws thicker than a grown man's thigh, circling the group in a constant lateral shuffle, only their legs moving, their chicken heads locked perfectly still, cold eyes tracking every twitch.

Gnolls over two meters of solid muscle, riding massive rock-armored crocodiles. Thick black pythons coiled around their necks or tucked under their arms, jaws open, radiating pure menace. And behind all of them, a dense, packed crowd of Blazing Rabbits. Absolute beefcakes, every last one. The one at the front wore a thick gold chain around its neck. A rolled leaf cigarette dangled from its mouth. Its eyes glowed red. The deltoids on its shoulders were nearly as large as its head.

Its chest was inflated to balloon proportions, the kind that could pop a man like a grape. All of them just stood there, silently watching. The air went heavy. Even the temperature had climbed, warmed by the sheer heat radiating off that many bodies. It was terrifying. The blonds looked around and came to a collective realization. This was not Silvermoon Forest. This was a yakuza bathhouse.

"U-um... monster brothers, we're just passing through..."

"Yeah, yeah, passing through, totally just passing through."

"That girl, we, we weren't even going to save her, she's all yours, we'll just be going now—""Going now, yes, leaving immediately." They clustered together like a flock of quail, dropped to their knees, and grinned up at the monsters with the most desperate, fawning smiles they could manage.

"Oh my~ You're not going to save little old me? Such brave adventurers?" A sweet, lilting voice cut through the silence. Every blond head swiveled toward it, and every face went white. The girl who'd been bound in vines had come down from the tree. Her figure was stunning. Skin smooth and pale as cream. Fleshy wings folded against her back. Not a stitch of clothing on her. If you stopped looking there, she was a peerless beauty. Wings and eagle claws and all, nothing could take away from what that body was.

But then they looked at her face. And the mood died instantly. Every blond felt their stomach drop out from under them. Top-tier beauty? This thing was a sacrificial offering. ➤ Next: Interrogation (1)