Field had worked some modern touches into the maid's dress: the hem cut to above the knee, the sleeves shortened to short sleeves. There was no black or white stockings — the most crucial element — but the sight of those glistening, rounded toes and smooth, fair thighs was already a feast for the eyes.
"It fits well." Ashina, unable to bear the torment of guessing any longer, spoke in a mocking tone, as if she'd seen straight through Field's intentions. "My lord, is there something you want me to do?"
Her job, the maids had said, was to sleep with the man in front of her. But Ashina thought it unlikely — humans loathed demi-humans. The animal ears and tail made humans see them as bloodlines defiled by beasts, like demon-mongrels born of someone with designs on a goat.
"To help me open up my domain, of course — I just told you." Field answered as if it were obvious. Seeing the disbelief written all over Ashina's face, he could only cover his forehead and sigh. "Let's eat first. We'll talk over the meal."
At the word "eat," Ashina settled instantly. She was so hungry her stomach felt like it was burning.
Field's position was a hard one. Being loathed by his pack of half-siblings for his manner and conduct — that was nothing.
But the old count's health failed a little more each day, and the vast fortune in his hands was due to be divided. Unfavored as Field was, the law of the Holy Griffin Empire held that any direct-blood descendant had the right to a share of the inheritance.
It amounted to an otherworldly version of the Decree of Grace — carving great fiefs into small ones, so that no single lord grew too strong.
So Field's brothers naturally hoped Field would ascend to heaven on the spot, and they were all bitter rivals to one another besides.
Not long after the meal bell rang, two demure maids came in bearing sauced meat cutlets and honey bread.
"Ashina, you possess — huh? Where'd she go?"
Mid-sentence, Field looked up to find Ashina vanished, his face a mask of confusion.
"I'm here."
Ashina sat primly on the floor in a corner, kneeling with her legs folded under her in a duck-sit.
"What are you doing?" Field said, astonished.
"Uh... sitting... waiting to eat. My lord, did I do something wrong?" Ashina tensed up again.
Field strode over, took her by the hand, and pulled her to the table. "Sit on the chair. Eat, now."
Ashina dared sit on only a third of the stool. She stared at Field for a long while, making sure the noble lord before her wasn't about to pull out a whip — or a whip of flesh.
"You're not joking? I can eat this?" Ashina pointed at the fragrant meat cutlet.
Field spread his hands. "Of course."
The poor beast-eared girl, seeing Field didn't seem to be joking, finally lowered her head and gingerly bit into the cutlet. The next moment, the spiced, sauce-laced taste of meat burst across her mouth, and taste buds that hadn't known meat in who-knew-how-long broke into a wild, frenzied dance.
This was the most wonderful thing in the world!
Casting everything else from her mind, Ashina wolfed down the cutlet on her plate and licked the sauce clean.
After that, she single-handedly demolished three meat cutlets and five white bread loaves, until her belly swelled out as if pregnant, and only then did she give up eating.
Field wore the kindly smile of an old father.
Heh heh heh. Eat, eat — and slave away nicely for me later.
"Hahh. I'd die happy right now." Ashina licked the sauce from the corner of her mouth, her two wolf ears perking up with vigor.
"It won't come to that. I intend to make you into a Chosen." Field laced his fingers together and leaned back in his chair.
He wasn't honest enough, of course, to reveal that Ashina was an as-yet-unawakened Chosen; he used the word "make" instead.
"Huh? You may be disappointed, then. The chance of becoming a Chosen is vanishingly small — and I'm a demi-human. I've never even heard a rumor of a human and a demi-human forming a contract." Ashina answered timidly.
By the books, the more prosperous the great city, the more likely a Chosen would appear. Yet even in Golden Eagle City, there had been but three Chosen in a hundred years — two of them noble children, one a member of the clergy.
For a demi-human to become a Chosen was rarer still. They had no mighty nations, no thriving cities; they could scarcely keep themselves fed.
Field chuckled. "How will you know without trying? I believe I can make you into a Chosen."
And if he couldn't, odds were he'd die in the cursed land.
"All right then — if it means there's meat to eat." Ashina licked the corner of her mouth, still not sated.
The next ten days passed swiftly on the road. To build up Ashina's nutrition, Field bought great quantities of meat and medicinal tonics at every city they passed.
Ashina soon realized Field wasn't joking.
Beyond that, Field bought a hundred and fifty gold's worth of mist-dispelling lamps, purifying potions, and awakening crystals. He'd done his homework — these magic implements were essential supplies for opening up the Nightfall Territory.
Soon they reached the last fortress on the road into the Northern Province.
Kashan Fortress, the holding of Baron Bull: a stone castle built against a towering mountain range, able to fend off the corrupted creatures, magic beasts, and dread beastmen out of the North.
"Winter Goddess, bless me — let me become a Chosen!" Hidden in the creaking wagon, Ashina prayed silently to the wolf demi-humans' deity. These past days had left her feeling as if she were dreaming.
She'd ridden in a noble carriage, eaten delicious meat cutlets, even been waited on and served by maids — never mind that they weren't willing, and grumbled often enough.
But these past days had been nothing short of heaven. Mid-thought, Ashina pressed a hand to her own forehead, making sure she hadn't simply cooked her brain with fever.
The one thing she couldn't make sense of was why Field would buy precious tonics for her to drink. She'd never heard of a Chosen being raised on potions.
"Maybe it's some evil ritual," Ashina muttered. "Still — even if I really am being offered up to a devil, it seems almost worth it. Pah, pah, pah, what am I saying!"
"Hah. I really do hope I'm a Chosen — otherwise Baron Field's going to faint from rage, isn't he?" Ashina could only keep praying in silence.
The steward, Kao, sighed in despair. "Hah. To think my last visit to Kashan Fortress would be like this."
Field ignored the man's drawn-out sighing. Seated on his horse, he gave the steward's shoulder a light poke with his riding crop and asked, curious, "You used to come to Kashan Fortress often?"
Kao rolled his eyes. "Of course. You were always donating your living allowance to the villagers here, or slipping it into Baron Bull's little coffers, so he and his soldiers could eat, drink, and make merry."
"Uh, right." The corner of Field's mouth twitched. He'd forgotten the bit about the original being a saint. He gave an awkward laugh and shrugged unnaturally. "At least Baron Bull will be glad to see us, won't he? The locals will sing our praises too. From now on, coming and going through Kashan Fortress should be much easier."