TSROTRATBP Chapter 8

Just as I'd expected, Ahin's house held a considerably high standing within black panther territory.

I remembered the Raebien maids gossiping—the friction between the black panther clan and the wolf clan was frequent, they'd said, wondering aloud whether war might break out.

As the night deepened, I carefully rose and studied Ahin, lying with his back to me.

Perhaps because of the wound, he'd bared his broad back tonight instead of wearing his robe.

Had the wolf-beastmen attacked him? My gaze wandered here and there before settling on the bandage, still marked with vivid bloodstains.

That must hurt.

Ahin had acted as though this were routine, but a laceration deep enough to need suturing couldn't possibly not hurt.

His back, apart from today's wound, was covered all over with small scars.

Wolf-beastmen's work?

'The bastards even used a scent to paralyze the body.'

The afterimage kept drifting through my head. As I stared blankly at the blood-marked bandage, my vision abruptly began shaking.

Wh—what?!

In an instant Ahin twisted around and yanked me straight up to his nose, no warning at all. Hot breath brushed my back and haunches, and, startled, I thrashed.

You don't just eat someone out of nowhere, with no warning! I flailed my hind legs as though fighting for my life, but his grip showed no sign of loosening.

For several seconds he kept his nose pressed against my nape, and then a low voice slipped out.

"From your neck,"

Startled, I turned my head—Ahin's red eyes were right in front of my nose. Sleepy and dim a moment ago, they were growing steadily deeper.

"You smell like pheromones."

The breath against my nape was enough to leave my mind reeling.

I really thought he was about to swallow me whole. Steadying my pounding heart with some difficulty, I shook my head.

Pheromones, of all things…

That couldn't possibly be right. Pheromones only appeared as a distinctive scent in beastmen who had undergone humanization.

They could function as a kind of ability, and were sometimes used for sexual intimacy as well.

What's more, predator pheromones tended toward aggression and carried a strong scent, while herbivore beastmen's pheromones were often faint to the point of near-nonexistence.

Which meant that for me—herbivore, and not even humanized—to possess pheromones was genuinely absurd.

Upset enough already, I refused even that much delusion, shaking my head over and over.

Perhaps arriving at a similar conclusion, the hand gripping my nape loosened.

"…An odd breed, huh?"

An odd breed—that was harsh. But I couldn't really argue the point. I'd already been cast out once—the priest's claim that I was cursed went well beyond mere oddity.

"Suspicious."

Watching me with an ambiguous expression, he soon curved his red eyes into crescents.

"Guess I'll just eat you tomorrow, then."

How does that even follow?! Doing my best to look as pitiful as possible, I brought my forepaw to rest on the back of Ahin's hand.

"Begging me to spare you?"

Nod, nod. We'd technically slept in the same bed two nights running by now—surely that much mercy wasn't too much to ask. Right? Right?

Facing my timid plea for my life, he wore that unreadable smile again.

"I told you, didn't I—cry, and I'll spare you tomorrow too."

His voice was soft, almost playful. Dumbfounded, I let my mouth fall open slightly, and Ahin propped his chin on one hand, watching me as though appraising something.

"It gave me a real thrill, you know."

Ah. This guy's completely hopeless. Here I thought he was just a black panther gone mad, but turns out he's no run-of-the-mill pervert.

Horrified, I tried to pull away and flee, but the attempt died before it began. Ahin caught me and pulled my hind leg back toward him.

Let go!

No amount of struggling was going to change anything. I gripped the bedding with my forepaws, but I was dragged along, utterly helpless.

This scheming beast…!

Glaring at him reflexively only seemed to please him further; he gently stroked my back and haunches.

Don't think you'll break me with a touch like that—that's a serious miscalculation. Even as I bristled with that resolve, drowsiness crept over me regardless.

Looking down at me, finally gone limp, hind leg still caught in his grip, the smile faded from Ahin's eyes.

Tapping the bed thoughtfully with one finger, he murmured.

"I shouldn't have killed those men in one blow yesterday."

The grisly image of the corpses surfaced in my mind again, and the color drained from my face. It was likely because—had he not, he could have pressed the men carrying the basket for the truth about who I was.

If this black panther ever learned I'd been cursed and cast out, how would he react?

It was strange to begin with—that he seemed suspicious of me, yet took no real action either way.

Was I just something for a predator to kill boredom with, then? Trailing off into that thought, my eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and before I knew it, I'd drifted off to sleep.