No Beast Girls on the Western Front

Page 51

In the end, Ruby was really discouraged and finally let go of Payne's head, deliberately sitting down a distance away from him.

I went to so much trouble to create this atmosphere, and even thoughtfully roasted pine nuts, and this is how you treat me?

It was clearly... clearly the last day for the divergence device...

Thinking of this, Ruby became furious and simply poured out pine nuts from her lunchbox and started cracking them open fiercely, the crisp cracking sound echoing continuously in the trench.

It has a crispy texture and a caramelized flavor; it's delicious.

You're so hungry! Don't even think about me sharing any with you!

Ruby deliberately cracked the pine nuts at the loudest volume, but Payne didn't even glance at her until the ground was covered in pine nut shells, still engrossed in reading the letter.

Well, it seems that in Payne's heart, I am really not as important as this Miss Mary.

After a resigned sigh, Ruby lay down on Payne's lap, drawing circles on his stomach with her fingers. "Ugh... when will this ever get better..."

"Right away."

"Don't try to fool me. Even if it's just an hour or two, can you give me a definite answer?"

"It really was right away. I just glanced at it briefly to get a general idea of ​​the situation."

"Oh... so is it something important?"

"Well... it's not really a big deal, I'm just a little impatient to know the result."

"Oh... so what is it?"

Payne flipped through the letter quickly and continued, "I complained to Miss Mary about something before, saying that the training of orcs in the rear is too brutal and unscientific."

"She said she should have a way to get those people to listen to her, so I wrote a long list of suggestions as a professional for her to use as a reference when discussing with the person in charge."

"I thought she might not care about orcs as much as she cares about humans, but it hasn't been long and she's already started this work."

"Oh, that's all. She didn't mention the specific results. The rest of the content contains some points that will make His Majesty the Emperor uneasy, mainly discussing the contents of my last letter..."

Ruby stopped drawing circles with her hand and didn't listen to what Payne was going to say next.

She suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

What he was focused on was how to rescue more of my orc brethren from their inhumane environment. Logically, that should be the most important thing, but all I could think about was that "important thing"...

But... what can I do... the orcs' branching devices aren't something the orcs can control with their own will...

Ruby looked up and saw Payne's face illuminated by the flickering candlelight, his stubble-covered chin, his focused gaze as he read the letter, and his calloused hands from holding a pen and a gun...

She felt that the man in front of her had an irresistible attraction.

Moreover, it wasn't entirely the splitter's fault. Ruby could sense that, under these circumstances, the restless impulse within her gradually subsided.

Ruby felt that this was probably the first time she had ever known what "intellectual charm" meant.

At that moment, she was truly grateful that she had learned a lot from Payne.

She thought to herself, "I must continue to listen carefully to Payne's lectures and make sure I get that elementary school degree."

She even felt that "serious business" had become dispensable—she could watch Payne like this all night long.

But less than two seconds after the thought crossed her mind, she realized she was being incredibly presumptuous—Paine's diverging device had arrived!

"Oh...I see...Okay! I completely understand now! We'll look at the rest later!"

Ruby didn't know what Payne had figured out, but the man quickly stuffed the stack of letters back into the envelope, rubbed his hands together like a fly, and gave her an indescribable smile. He then lifted her up by her armpits.

"Hehehe~~ My dear little squirrel~~ Sorry to keep you waiting~~ Leave the rest to me~~"

Ruby: "..."

Why does this guy never disappoint me when it comes to letting me down? ...

Chapter 79 LXXIX. A Brief History of the World

Although a few minor incidents delayed them, Payne and Ruby still had a very pleasant evening once things got down to business.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it was the most enjoyable night of the entire splitter period.

Without any other people (or beasts) to disturb you, and without worrying about future battles, you can simply focus on enjoying the present moment.

The man and the beast made a ruckus until almost midnight, burning a third of the candle before Payne finally fed the little squirrel, bringing the last day of the Divergent to a perfect end.

Seeing the faint smile of happiness on Ruby's sleeping face, Payne couldn't help but smile too. He gently rubbed her head and covered her with a blanket.

He felt he had enough energy and was likely too excited to sleep anyway, so he decided to take advantage of the calmest time of his day to carefully read Miss Mary's letter.

He wasn't embarrassed at all about doing this; he and Miss Mary were just friends.

He took both candles and leaned against the wall of the trench, quietly reading the letter. Ruby had one hand on him.

Pine's guess was correct; Miss Mary's family probably has some connections.

He had offered suggestions to the training base as a beast girl expert on more than one occasion, but his words, if not crucial, were at least ignored.

It's the kind of thing that skips a stone on water and never bounces back.

But when it was Miss Mary who made the suggestion, regardless of whether the people at the training base listened or not, they at least put on a sincere attitude and specifically invited her to their office for a face-to-face meeting.

The content of the suggestion was exactly the same, but the different people making the suggestion could produce such a big difference.

This world is really magical.

Although Miss Mary had not yet achieved anything when she wrote the letter, she later wrote that she might come to Payne's current location for an interview in ten days or half a month, at which time the two of them could talk face to face.

An interview... It seems that even after switching careers to become a nurse, she still can't bear to give up her profession as a journalist.

It just so happens that it has been a few months since he last saw her, and Payne is starting to miss her a little.

The candlelight flickered, and the words on the paper became somewhat dim and indistinct.

My eyes are a little sore... I feel like I've been reading the letter for a long time...

Payne rubbed his eyes, looked up and saw the curtain of the shelter sway a few times, and several dark, beast-like figures walked in from outside.

Both Lacey's triangular ears and the horns on Shawn and Grace's heads were very conspicuous, so Payne simply put his index finger to his lips to signal them to be quiet and said nothing.

The dogs, cattle, and sheep have all returned safely. Read the letter and then go to sleep.

Ruffled the dog's head that had come over to lick his face, Payne turned to the last few pages of the letter and began to enjoy the pleasure of forensic examination.

Miss Mary wasn't so rebellious as to want to overthrow the Emperor; she simply had the idea of ​​ending the war.

But Pine believes that being anti-war is still quite risky in this world.

To understand this problem, a basic understanding of the world situation is needed.

The domestic environment of the Dexter Empire has always been quite stable, and the successive emperors have all been relatively enlightened, managing both the economy and people's livelihood in a decent way.

But that doesn't mean the country is perfect and without any flaws.

Whether it's the dissatisfaction of ethnic minorities within the country with the government's repressive policies, the dissatisfaction of farmers with land annexation, or the dissatisfaction of the emerging bourgeoisie with the traditional aristocracy, these are all potential hidden dangers that could erupt at any time.

Of course, the biggest bombshell is the endless world war launched by His Majesty the Emperor.

The propaganda department has always portrayed the Fasfort Empire as the most evil country in the world, claiming that as long as the French are defeated, everyone can live a peaceful and prosperous life.

They also said that France was like a dilapidated house, ready to collapse at the slightest kick, and that victory was just around the corner. Not joining the war now would mean losing the chance to become a hero.

And what happened? The war is almost three years in the making, and what happened to the promised dilapidated house in Fasfort? What happened to our peaceful and prosperous life?

Although the military has not released casualty figures for a long time, according to public speculation, the number of dead soldiers alone could reach 600 million, and the number of injured could very well be more than double.

Although tens of millions of beast girls and countless tool beasts have deeply participated in the operation of society within the entire empire, such casualty figures still put considerable pressure on the entire country, which has just reached a population of 4 million.

Perhaps the only saving grace is that their enemy, the Fasforo Empire, is no better off, so Dexter still holds onto the hope of completely crushing the enemy.

But aside from this hope that no one can guarantee, what allows the people to temporarily forget their current difficulties and pain is the all-encompassing conflict between them and the Fasfulo Empire.

Unlike the complex landscape of Europe on Earth, this land, known as the "main continent," has almost always been divided between Fasfort and Dexter.

Neither of the two empires could completely defeat the other, nor could they annex it, and so they fought intermittently for thousands of years.

Even if a third challenger emerges, or an empire splits, it will only last for a short time, and eventually the main continent will return to the balance known as the "Scales of Iya".

Therefore, this long-standing feud has been deeply ingrained in the politics, economy, and culture of both countries.

The conflict between these two countries is not only a conflict between the ruling classes over hegemony, territory, and colonies, but also a conflict between ordinary people over ethnicity, religion, and customs.

Although the two countries have cooperated in many areas since the advent of the industrial age and the development of technology, and globalization has begun to emerge, the changes that have taken place in just one hundred years are not enough to eliminate the suspicion and hatred between the two countries.

And so it went. After the world's colonies were divided up, and with old and new grudges piled up, a modern world war broke out on the main continent.

Payne had a vague premonition that the great war in this world might not end as "simply" as World War I on Earth.

There is no other country in the world powerful enough to affect the balance of power. As long as the industrial and agricultural production of both countries does not collapse, and as long as there are still people in both countries who can carry guns, the war will not end.

After much deliberation, Payne could only come up with three scenarios that could at least bring the war to a temporary halt:

I. Widespread famines may occur due to natural disasters such as crop infectious diseases, or due to a sharp decline in productivity caused by the inability of technological development to fill labor shortages.

Second, the collective rebellion launched by overseas colonies seriously affected the country's military potential.

Third, a country's technology suddenly leaps forward, enabling it to completely defeat the enemy on the main battlefield, or to cause significant damage to the enemy's interior at a very low cost—such as with the atomic bomb.

Although Payne didn't want to dampen Miss Mary's enthusiasm for trying to end the war, he felt he should explain things to her.

What a bleak world...

Thinking of this, Payne sighed, blew out the candles, lay down on the bed, and hugged Ruby.

The course of history is beyond my control, so thinking about it too much is useless.

As long as my fluffy animal girl can continue to stay by my side, that's enough for me~~

After burying his face in Ruby's big tail, Payne immediately became content, as if nothing in the world could bother him anymore.

However, just as he was drifting off to sleep, something new happened—

He kept feeling a warm sensation on the back of his neck, as if... someone was breathing on his neck.

If you listen carefully, you can indeed hear a series of deliberately suppressed, heavy breathing sounds.

Moreover, this doesn't sound like a human; it must be the sound of some kind of large animal.

Based on the scent of hay in the air, Payne guessed that Grace must have been behind it.

Is it because of the splitter that I can't sleep at night? But why is she breathing on my neck?