blogombal Page 23
Page 23
"He didn't make any mistakes, he's just too slow to react, and he can't work without being led around." The soldier said, lighting a cigarette and turning to leave. "I've brought the beast to you, it's no longer my responsibility."
Payne wanted to yell, "Who the hell cares what you do?", but he simply didn't have the strength left.
He looked the two beast girls up and down. One was a dog girl with long, droopy ears hanging down her head, and the other was a horse girl, the one with the injured ear.
So he went over and touched the skin near the horse girl's wound. "Does it hurt?"
The female horse visibly frowned, but shook her head frantically.
Payne sighed, took out his dagger and cut the ropes as he said, "I'll apply some medicine for you when we get there."
Only when the two beasts felt the pressure on their necks eased did they gradually show surprise. They looked at each other, then turned their gazes to Payne together.
“Come on, there’s still a lot of work to do.” Payne turned and walked away, then added:
“You are not in the right condition to work right now, but this is not an orphanage, and the situation on the front line cannot be delayed... Let’s figure out how to get through this difficult time first.”
He turned around and saw the two beast girls still hesitating in the same spot. "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
The two beasts looked at each other for a moment, then shook their heads at the same time.
"Don't want to talk about it?" Seeing the fear in their expressions, Payne changed his tone and asked, "Oh, you're afraid to talk about it?"
Seeing that they were becoming increasingly helpless, Payne advised again, "The person who brought you here is already far away and won't hear anything. But if you don't want to talk, that's fine too. Tell me when you've figured it out."
Ignoring the two beasts, Payne continued walking forward. He could hear their footsteps gradually approaching him.
"...food."
It wasn't until the man and the two beasts emerged from the grove and returned to the trench that he could discern a barely audible plea amidst the booming cannon fire.
“What?” Payne turned his head again. “It’s too noisy here. Speak louder.”
The horse girl had spoken just now. The two beasts exchanged glances again, and this time it was the dog girl's turn to muster her courage and say, "We...we wanted to ask, is there...is there any food? We...haven't had a full meal in a long time..."
Payne stared at the two beasts for a long time, making them feel uneasy and even causing the hairs on their ears to stand on end. They even thought they were about to be beaten and scolded again.
Just as the two beasts were about to break down and apologize, Payne muttered to himself:
"They're not even willing to feed them anymore... This is a real-life version of 'wanting the horse to run but not wanting it to eat grass'..."
"
Hey~
The host's depressing jokes were detected.
Depression level: 10%
Funny level: 10%
Freshness: 10%
Note: Meets the reward distribution criteria
Points increased by 30
"
"You don't have to give points if you don't want to."
……
Ruby watched, somewhat confused, as Payne hurriedly led the two new beasts onto the mud slope without saying a word, and then rushed off towards the shelter. She could only turn to the two beasts and ask, "You're here to help? What are your names?"
"Number 2791, reporting for duty." The dog girl quickly stood at attention and saluted.
"Number 3026, reporting for duty." Upon seeing this, Ma Niang also stood at attention and saluted.
"He hasn't named you yet?" Ruby was a little surprised to see the two beasts looking so serious. "Never mind, hurry up and help. He really doesn't treat squirrels like squirrels... What's Payne doing? He's the one who brought you here."
Seeing Ruby's haughty demeanor, the two beasts figured she must be on good terms with that human named Payne, so they didn't dare to be negligent. They pulled on the rope while saying, "He said... he'd get us some food."
"Why didn't you go find Tomato Head to make food... Oh, maybe the timing was just wrong."
Seeing Lacey already sniffing around the two new beasts, Ruby's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty. "Looks like he's going to make a move on my stockpile... tsk."
The "Tomato Head" that Ruby mentioned is actually named Heinrich, and he is a cook in B Company.
Logically speaking, a hot meal is the best thing to soothe the soldiers' parched stomachs and depleted spirits, so at least no one should dislike the cook.
But this tomato-shaped tomato head is really not to my liking...
Several times, because of him, the food that B Company waited for in the trenches was cold.
Even if the artillery fire wasn't intense, he didn't dare move the pot even a tiny bit forward, forcing B Company to run a much longer distance than other companies to get their food.
What's worse, he was an extremely pedantic and rigid person.
If it weren't for the ongoing war, going to him outside of mealtimes would only get you the reply, "What are you gluttons doing here at this hour? We don't serve food from 2 to 5 pm, get out of here!" No one could expect to get a single crumb from him.
Everyone is wondering how this person has managed to survive on the front lines without being killed. Is he perhaps the son of some important figure, sent here to gain experience and prestige?
In the trench, Payne pondered these questions as he pulled chestnuts from under Ruby's bed and put them in his helmet.
But when I think about the work he does—cooking—and his appearance—fat head and big ears, with only a tuft of hair left on his head and a mustache—he really doesn't look like a child from a wealthy family...
This will likely remain one of the unsolved mysteries of the battlefield.
Payne shook his head to clear these random thoughts from his mind, then grabbed a helmet full of chestnuts and hurried back.
But from a distance, he could tell that something was wrong:
The cannon, which had been pulled halfway up the slope, returned to the bottom. People gathered around, seemingly watching something, while Xiao Ma, hunched over, stumbled towards him.
Seeing this, Payne quickly went over and handed her two chestnuts. "What happened? Why are your hands so cold?"
Little Horse's face was pale and bloodless, and her hair and tail were soaked with sweat, but her hands felt cool to the touch in the middle of summer.
"It's nothing, I just used too much force and probably strained my back." Xiao Ma forced a smile, holding his own back with one hand and poking Xiao Ma's back with the other. "It's half your fault."
Seeing that she still had the energy to joke, Payne gave her a few more chestnuts. "You've worked hard. Okay, okay, go and rest now. If anyone asks, just say you're sick. I gave you permission to take leave."
Payne wanted to ask more questions, but as the cannon fire from the front lines grew increasingly intense, and remembering that the two new beast girls were still hungry, he walked along, glancing back every now and then. He watched as the little pony limped and sat down against a large tree before he felt relieved.
Chapter 35 XXXV. Silent Departure
When Payne arrived behind the group of soldiers who had surrounded him, two dusty figures eagerly pushed their way out of the crowd and pounced on him.
Payne knew the two little creatures meant no harm; they were just starving. But to maintain his authority as tamer, he had to sidestep their attack and shout:
"Back off! Back off! Back off! Stand at attention! All of you, stand still! Don't move!"
Upon hearing that stern tone, the two beasts immediately sprang to attention as if by reflex. If it weren't for the trembling of their ears and tails, Payne would have thought they had turned to stone.
"What are you doing?! You're turning your back on people just because you see food?! I don't know what those gluttons in the back are doing all day, handing over this kind of orc to me... If you can't even train them to refuse food properly, go back and start training again!"
Payne's cry startled the two new beasts, causing them to lower their heads deeply and swallow back the apologies they had prepared—unfortunately, they couldn't satisfy their hunger.
The B Company soldiers who were watching the cannon turned their heads to take a look, but since this wasn't the first or second time that they had sent En to train beast girls, they quickly turned back to continue discussing something.
Seeing that his intimidation had worked, and with Lacey, Grace, and Shawn casting worried glances his way, Payne softened his tone and casually patted the heads of the two beasts, whose ears and tails immediately stood up.
"Alright, alright, relax, don't be so scared. I won't do anything to you, and I certainly won't send you back to the rear."
"But... you have to understand that this is a battlefield, in some ways worse than the rear."
"So from now on, you must obey my orders. You can only act when I give the order, do you understand?"
"I...I understand..." the two beasts replied timidly.
"Also, you two need names..." Payne said, turning to the dog girl first, "You can call me Wangcai for now, got it?"
"Remember...remember..."
"Wangcai".
"……exist!"
"Take it."
Payne grabbed a handful of chestnuts and placed them in her hand, then turned to the horse girl, "Your name is...your name is...Gan, there are just too many horse girls coming, we don't have enough names...Oh well, you'll be called Little Horse too, you're Little Horse Number Two. Got it?"
"Huh?... Oh, I... I've got it..."
"Little Pony II".
"……exist!"
"Take it."
After distributing the chestnuts, Payne put his helmet back on and clapped his hands. "Eat slowly, don't choke. If you're not full, just bear with it; it'll be mealtime soon."
Now that they had the food, the words of the human in front of them had no power over them. The two beasts, like hamsters, swallowed the chestnuts whole without even peeling them, chewed them, and then spat out the broken pieces of shell.
Only then did the dog, cow, and sheep relax.
Ruby, on the other hand, remained calm and composed from the beginning. Only after everything was over did she approach him, resting her small hands on Payne's ribs to rest her feet, and asked, "My inventory, right? How are you going to compensate me?"
Payne rolled her eyes at her. "Compensation? Sharing food with the new teammates is what you should do! Besides, who told me that squirrels forget half of the storage points? You can't finish it anyway, so what's wrong with me taking some?"
"Alright, alright, let's not talk about that anymore. What's wrong with this cannon?"
Seeing that the group of soldiers still showed no sign of dispersing, Ruby explained:
"It's nothing, the rope on the right broke when it was halfway down. The team on the left, especially Xiao Ma, had a lot of effort to get the cannon to slide safely to the bottom, and thankfully it didn't capsize."
"The officers have gone to find a rope, and everyone is discussing how to prevent this from happening again, while also taking a break."
“Hmm…like putting a piece of wood under the wheels or something…” Payne said casually, as he saw wisps of smoke rising from the crowd—they were smoking together.
I rushed back to get back to work, but I ended up being forced to sit idle.
I should have gone to rest with Xiao Ma for a while.
Payne turned to look at the horse girl under the shade of the tree. She was sitting quietly against the tree stump, her head bowed, motionless.
After a few seconds of blankness, he casually said, "It's good to be young, you can fall asleep as soon as you turn your head."
"
Hey~
The host's depressing jokes were detected.
Depression level: 100%