No Beast Girls on the Western Front

Page 22

Noticing her unfocused gaze and lack of response to his words, Payne snapped his fingers in front of her. "Hey, still listening?"

Little Horse blinked, scratched its ear, and made a sleepy sound: "I think I just fell asleep..."

But instead of criticizing her, Pine said with some concern, "You really overdid it. You need to take care of your health."

Thanks to her tireless efforts, their group's efficiency in pulling the cannons today was phenomenal. The supervising officer not only didn't whip the horses, but even went next door to say things like, "Look at them and then look at you! Haven't any of you eaten?!"

But the price was that during breaks, Xiao Ma's legs were shaking so badly he could barely stand, and his hands, which were pulling the rope, were worn raw.

"If you really can't hold on any longer, just take a nap," Payne said finally.

"No need, it's more important to hear your life-saving tips. Besides..." Xiao Ma said with a wry smile, "How can I possibly fall asleep with such loud cannon fire... Let's talk about it tonight."

“At night…” Payne pondered for a moment, then gave a wry smile, “I’m afraid it won’t stop even at night…”

……

"Paine, you jinx!!"

"Bullshit! It's one thing if you can't see the new beast, but can't you see the attack is imminent?! What does that have to do with whether I tell you or not?!"

When it was past midnight and the artillerymen on both sides were still tirelessly firing shells at each other, Ruby, who had just returned from her exercise period, finally couldn't hold back and started arguing with Payne.

However, Payne knew that this squirrel liked to bicker with him all the time, so he didn't really care.

Although Grace was new, Payne thought she was a very perceptive beast and should be able to understand his relationship with Ruby.

But for some reason, she seemed oblivious to this, and with a smile, she pulled Ruby into her arms, patting her head and saying, "Alright, alright, let's not bother with this human~~"

As Ruby struggled as Grace forced her head to use the milk face wash, Payne felt a little smug—just shut up for a bit.

Of course, I'm also a little envious—when will it be my turn?

When this happened, he already felt a hand pinching his waist, but he still insisted on watching for a few more seconds, and after confirming that Lacey and Shawn had also safely entered the trench, he smiled and turned around to pinch Xiao Ma's face.

"What's wrong? Didn't you have enough fun?"

Xiao Ma glared at him with a not-so-fierce look, "No, I'm sleepy, go to sleep."

"I told you so, if you're too tired, just rest and don't do it anymore..."

"It's...it's because the next...the next divergence device won't be until next year..."

"A rare opportunity, isn't it?~~"

“…Yes, it was because you had such a rare opportunity!” Xiao Ma pinched his waist again. “Is this how you treat my good intentions?!”

"Okay, okay, don't be angry. Go to sleep. Not getting enough rest will hurt your health."

Payne kissed her on the cheek and pulled the blanket up for her.

Xiao Ma felt that the man in front of her had a kind of magic. Every time he kissed her, her anger would inexplicably dissipate by more than half. The warm touch from his body also made her feel particularly at ease.

As sleepiness grew stronger, the little pony, whose eyelids were drooping, stopped fighting his biological instincts, placed his hand on Payne, closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep the next second...

"Boom!!"

...Sleep my ass!

A muffled explosion rang out in the distance. At that moment, for the first time, Little Ma felt a real desire to kill those Frenchmen he had never met.

And not only did the cannon fire continue, but the marks left by the army of lice on her body also showed no signs of fading; every red bump emitted an intense, unbearable itch...

I really can't get any sleep.

Chapter 33 XXXIII. At Least We Made It Through

By the early morning of the following day, the situation had worsened.

After a night of passionate artillery fire, the two sides not only did not stop firing, but intensified their attacks, completely adopting a "whoever stops firing first is a coward" attitude.

The army of lice finally occupied every single person (and animal) in the shelter, and they couldn't sleep all night because they were too busy scratching themselves.

As usual, the heavens poured down rain for ten minutes or so, like someone taking a piss in the morning, before clearing up again, turning the whole world into a steamer made of mud.

With dark circles almost reaching his cheeks, Payne sat up, scratched his head, and looked at the beast girls lying on the bed, all staring with bloodshot eyes. He sighed and said, "What are you all waiting for? Get up and get to work."

"Sigh—" Xiao En sighed deeply, "I feel like I'm about to die..."

“Don’t say that unlucky word,” Payne interrupted her immediately. “Let me see if I can find you some easy work, like moving shells or something…”

As he spoke, he turned to look at Xiao Ma, "How are you? Are you asleep?"

"Sleeping my ass, sigh—" Little Ma snorted loudly, then sat up with a blank stare. "I'm fine, let's go. How many cannons are we going to fire today?"

"You don't look like you're alright at all..."

……

Their efforts to find an easy task easily failed, as the officers, citing the urgency of the situation, demanded that they move all the cannons to their designated positions that day.

Therefore, during the morning work, Payne kept a close eye on the pony's condition—

With its head bowed and not uttering a word, it took several seconds for it to react to the command, and it moved slowly through the mud like a zombie.

But once she grabbed the rope, she seemed to regain all her energy, leaning forward with all her might. The rope, thicker than a finger, dug deep into the hollows of her shoulder blades, and her mud-covered legs trembled as she took one step forward.

Anyone with eyes can see that she is not in good condition.

So when she lost control of her strength for the seventh time today and fell headfirst into the mud, Payne finally couldn't help but step forward and scoop her up. "Alright, alright, go rest over there for a while. Grace is here too, it's not a big deal."

"But..." she wanted to say something else.

“Little Horse, go rest for ten minutes. That’s an order,” Payne said firmly.

With a hint of dissatisfaction, he glanced at Payne, then looked with some concern at the horses pulling the cannons at the front of the procession. In the end, the little horse said nothing, but simply walked to the side, took out two leaves from its pocket, chewed them, and stood up to sleep.

Although Payne wanted her to lie down and sleep, he hesitated because he knew that horses do sleep standing up in unsafe environments, and he also didn't want to say a word after all the commotion he'd been through these past few days. So, he ultimately kept quiet.

The sun was blazing overhead, and the rising water vapor brought the humidity to almost 100%, yet there wasn't a single cool breeze blowing.

Sweat soaked through the military uniform, dripping from the trouser legs, cuffs, and hair, clinging damply to the body, unable to dissipate the heat through evaporation.

The soldiers quickly stripped off their shirts. Just as Payne was considering whether to take off his pants as well, leaving only his shirt around his waist, he was surprised to see Little Horse walking over with his head down. "I'm rested."

"Don't you want to rest a little longer?" Payne asked. "Weren't you asleep?"

"I'm too tired to sleep," Xiao Ma said, spitting to the side with his head down. "I can't eat anything either."

Payne looked at her with some concern. "Are you really not feeling unwell?"

"No, I even feel better than I did a couple of days ago."

As she spoke, she looked up and gave a somewhat forced smile. "I can feel that my splitter is gradually going away. I'm not anxious anymore, and my body doesn't feel uncomfortable anymore."

"Well... anyway, at least we managed to get through this difficult time." Payne breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, at least we got through this. It's just that it might be a little disappointing for you."

"No, no, I'm already exhausted these past two days. If your branching device gets any longer, I won't be able to handle it either." Payne waved his hands repeatedly. "Take it easy, don't overdo it."

"Okay, okay, I got it." Little Pony gave Payne a tired wink, then grabbed the rope with his calloused, blood-stained hands. "I'm really looking forward to the splitter next year~~"

Upon hearing this, Payne felt a little itchy to try it himself.

For the vast majority of beast girls, the branching device is definitely a form of torture—

First of all, it is absolutely impossible for humans to help them solve this problem. Moreover, due to some technical problems, the species of beast-eared men has not been created for a long time. Therefore, the beast-eared girls can only solve the problem themselves or help each other.

Secondly, even during the period of separation, one must endure the dual discomfort of body and mind to continue doing heavy physical work; otherwise, at best, one's food intake will be reduced, and at worst, one will be severely beaten.

Finally, the fact that beast girls are close to humans in intelligence (although the academic community does not acknowledge this) may sound like a good thing, but for these illiterate people who do not receive education, it is actually easier for humans to use various methods to manipulate and manipulate them.

Some of the punishments imposed on real animals would likely have provoked a rebellion long ago, but not the beast girls. Their endurance is just as strong as that of humans, and as long as they have food to eat, they will continue to work hard without complaint.

Although the beast girls who came to Payne's place eventually got along well with him, it was quite rare for someone like Pony to change her attitude from indifferent to allowing him to help her resolve her diverging device within just a few days, and even seductively book the next diverging device event.

Payne silently made up his mind that he could not let down the beast girls who trusted him so much.

While mentally calculating how many more jokes he needed to exchange for some treats from the system, he wrung out the clothes he had just taken off, sweat dripping onto the muddy ground, and then handed them to Xiao Ma, saying, "Here, tie these to your hands."

"What?... Oh, thanks."

Although wearing pants in this sweltering heat felt like being steamed like an egg, and he really wanted to use his shirt as a skirt to cool himself down, seeing that his dirty clothes could provide some protection for Xiao Ma's bloodied hands, he still felt it was all worth it.

"Paine!"

Just as he grabbed the rope, ready to fight alongside the beast girls, he heard a somewhat familiar voice call his name.

Payne turned around and saw a soldier with a buzz cut waving and walking toward him.

Camerissiere, also Paul's classmate, dreamed of becoming a gymnast. During his physical examination, he bribed the doctor to conceal his flat feet and successfully enlisted in the army.

"What is it?" Payne dropped the rope and went over.

"Two new orcs have arrived. Go and receive them," he said.

"Newcomers? After just being replenished?" Payne was slightly surprised—were they planning to expand the size of the beast girl army?

“I know everything,” Kermoris shook his head. “But you’d better go check it out quickly. The soldier who brought those two orcs doesn’t look like a good guy; his clothes are covered in blood…”

Chapter 34 XXXIV. Succession

Kermeris knew, or rather, the entire B Company knew, that Payne had a crush on the beast girls, and none of them disliked them, which was why he kindly reminded Payne.

After asking him to tell Ruby to "keep an eye on the pony," Payne jogged off towards the back.

After crossing three winding trenches, Payne finally found the soldier with two beast girls in a grove of trees—he immediately noticed the ropes tied around the two beast girls' necks.

These two beast girls look rather drab, which refers not only to their hair color but also to their appearance:

His expression was blank, his eyes lifeless, and he stared down at the ground.

Their clothes were relatively clean, but upon closer inspection, some bloodstains could be found, indicating that they had been whipped while being dressed in new clothes and driven to the front lines.

The marks on the head were even more obvious, with clear whip marks on the neck and face, and even exposed white bone fragments at the mutilated little ear of one of the beast girls.

The soldier in charge of escorting—Paine thought the word "escort" was quite apt—tugged at the rope, and the two weak beast girls stumbled before instinctively straightening up and giving a military salute.

"Number 2791, reporting for duty."

"Number 3026, reporting for duty."

Taking the rope from the soldier, Payne casually asked, "What did they do wrong to deserve being tied up like this?"