No Beast Girls on the Western Front

Page 54

In that instant, Payne felt a sharp pain in his healthy right pinky finger as well.

"Hiss—I really need to be careful..."

Paul, who had been wearing a mask of pain for so long, shook his hand lightly and sat down next to Payne with some resentment. "You're right. Even if I come back, I can't help everyone much with one hand missing."

“That means your wound could get infected in this terrible environment,” Payne chimed in.

But Paul remained optimistic: "It's okay, even with only one hand, there are things I can do... Are you writing a letter for someone?"

“Detlin.” Payne nodded. “He didn’t ask for much, just told me to tell his wife everything was fine and not to worry her, so I left it to him.”

Paul shrugged with some regret. "It's a pity I injured my right hand, so I can't do anything like writing letters or drawing... I'll see if I can help move sandbags; you can do that with one hand."

At this moment, Grace emerged from the nearby trench and placed the two boxes on the ground, the dull thuds echoing from one after the other.

Seeing this, Paul suddenly seemed to realize something. As Grace went back down into the trench, he whispered in Payne's ear, "So what happened to you? Could it be...?"

Payne: "..."

Humans are exceptionally perceptive in these kinds of things.

Now that things had come to this, he felt there was no need to hide it anymore and said directly, "It's just what you think. Ruby and Grace's splitters overlapped yesterday."

Paul immediately put on a very funny expression and patted Payne on the shoulder again—this time he didn't forget to use his left hand.

"I really envy you... I hope one day I can accept orcs too."

"Then come on."

Chapter 83 LXXXIII. Grace Wants to Try

As Paul got up to leave, Payne hesitated for a moment, then called him back:

"I appreciate the kindness, but a whole bar of chocolate is just too much..."

Paul waved his hand without turning his head: "It's okay, just share with Lacey and the others."

"Um...no, I mean, the caffeine and theobromine in chocolate are toxic to them..."

"It's alright, it's alright, just keep it for yourself. Consider it a thank you gift for treating us all to drinks last time. Don't forget me next time you have something good!"

"Don't worry, I won't forget."

Watching Paul turn the corner of the trench and disappear from sight, Payne looked at the whole bar of chocolate in his hand, shrugged, tore open the wrapper, broke off a piece, and popped it into his mouth.

A rich, sweet flavor slowly melts in your mouth, comparable even to chocolates from the 21st century.

This is definitely not ordinary chocolate; perhaps it is a supply of troop merchandise sent from the rear?

He looked at the packaging again; the brand name was "Silver Moon," which he had never heard of before.

Could it be a high-end product?

Thinking about this, Payne was a little reluctant to eat it.

This kind of good stuff should be able to be exchanged for something more important at a crucial moment, right?

He had intended to put the chocolate in his inner pocket, but then worried that his body heat would melt it, so he decided to wait until Ruby returned to normal and ask her to help him find a place to hide it.

Once you've drawn a map, you won't have to worry about getting lost.

Just as he was making his plans, he caught a glimpse of another person standing in front of him out of the corner of his eye.

"What are you eating? Can I have some?"

Payne looked up and saw Grace standing in front of him with her hands behind her back, a gentle smile on her face, and her tail swaying gently behind her.

Although Payne was well aware that she was still in a state of division, the faint blush on her face still gave her a youthful and innocent look.

Is this guy... subtly trying to please me?

After the conversation just now, Payne was basically certain that Grace was definitely not a simple character.

Animal girls are generally less emotionally controlled than humans. Although there are differences between different species, they are basically consistent in their personality, doing what they think and rarely hiding their emotions.

But Grace is different. Although she is also very wary of humans, Payne can usually only see the same gentleness in her eyes.

Only when the beast girl is in a potentially disadvantageous situation will she be unable to help but reveal her wariness of humans.

Payne remembered clearly that when he was about to help Pony solve the splitter problem, Grace had given him a wary look.

This beast girl is no ordinary person; she knows how to disguise herself.

If she wasn't born with this ability, it's possible that certain experiences shaped her personality.

If you think about it this way, there are many points worth noting.

For example, although she once said that she had worked in many places because of her strength, it was just a general statement without any details.

While it's unlikely she's lying, she probably deliberately didn't tell the whole story.

For example, did she change jobs simply because she was strong and frequently bought by people at high prices? Would the original owner really be willing to give that up?

Is it possible that she caused trouble, but the original owner had to sell her to someone else in order to recoup some of her losses?

Payne had a feeling that the key to understanding her lay in the details she was hiding.

There's still some time before the sheep and dog get their diverging devices, so it's a good time to spend more time building up her affection level.

Payne was very happy to have such a beast girl who could hide her emotions and was also incredibly strong.

Humans generally refer to "being able to hide one's emotions" as "maturity," and in this sense, there are very few "mature" beast girls in the world, not even Ruby.

What is certain is that Grace will not use this "maturity" against Payne; she will only unite with him against external threats.

However, just as Payne finished thinking this, he saw Grace make a slightly awkward gesture, lower her head, turn her toes a couple of times on the ground, and then look up at Payne:

"My punishments... shouldn't include not giving me food, right?"

Payne blinked twice and smiled somewhat awkwardly. "You still know you're being punished right now?"

I was wrong; this kind of "maturity" can indeed be used against me.

Seeing that her offensive was effective, Grace decided to press her advantage:

“Let’s keep things separate. The punishment you gave me is to do your job for the next few days and practice a few more sets of grenade throwing.”

"But you also said that because the energy expenditure is higher, it's okay to eat a little more, right?"

“Hmm… okay, I did say that.” Payne nodded and handed over the chocolate. “I’m not asking you to eat it. This is chocolate; you’ll get poisoned if you eat it. I want you to give it to Ruby so she can find a place to hide it.”

"Chocolate?" Grace took it and examined it for a moment, then brought it to her nose and smelled it. "Yes, it's chocolate. I remember the taste of this very clearly."

"You know you can't eat it? Who told you that?" Payne was slightly surprised.

“Nobody told me.” Grace looked a little disappointed as she said this. “When I first joined the army, a young soldier took pity on us and secretly gave us his ration of chocolates.”

"I had an urgent mission that day, so I didn't have time to eat. The other beasts secretly divided the chocolates up behind my back. When I got back... sigh."

Payne shook his head helplessly. "This is a classic case of good intentions gone wrong, sigh..."

Aside from those working in the field, few people know that the physiological structure of kemonomimi (animal girls) is actually closer to that of animals.

Although most people do not acknowledge that beast girls are human, their human-like appearance still subconsciously leads people to believe that if humans can eat something, beast girls can eat it too.

Therefore, even if the seller clearly informs the buyer of dietary restrictions and other precautions when purchasing the beast girl, the buyer may still carelessly feed the beast girl food that is poisonous to them.

While a small number of sellers might choose to directly tell the beast girls their dietary restrictions, it's clear that the vast majority find it strange to instruct the production tool itself on its own precautions...

However, Payne has taken another step forward in understanding Grace's experiences.

But at that moment, Sister Niu said something that made him somewhat uneasy:

"So... I've always been curious, what kind of delicacy is this that humans would break the law to steal and eat, but which is poisonous to us orcs?..."

Payne immediately issued a stern warning: "Stop having such audacious ideas!"

He was well aware that this psychological phenomenon—that the more dangerous something is, the more fascinated people become—also applied to beast girls.

Although he thought Grace was a rational beast, he still didn't want to gamble on that negligible possibility.

As expected, although Sister Niu accepted some of the bribes, she didn't completely suppress her bold ideas:

"Even just a lick isn't allowed?"

Chapter 84 LXXXIV. A Battle of Wits in Love Among Geniuses (Seriously)

For some reason, both Grace's tone of voice and her posture made it difficult for Payne to refuse.

Hmm... if it's just a lick, it certainly won't be an excessive intake.

But what if she licked it? What should be done with the chocolate? Should it be wrapped up separately? Won't it spoil more easily because of the saliva? ...

To be on the safe side, I should probably eat it.

No, no, no, this is too extravagant! Just so Grace can lick it once, I have to eat another piece? ...

The aforementioned thought process even proceeded automatically, and Payne himself didn't have time to stop it.

Although after thinking it over, he became more inclined not to let Grace lick him anymore, seeing her excited, expectant, ingratiating, pleading, and even begging expression, he suddenly felt that it wasn't a big deal for the beast girl to be a little willful once in a while.

"Alright then, break off a small piece and try it." So he finally agreed.

"Yay, thank you~~"

Grace thanked her sweetly, carefully broke off a piece of chocolate the size of her fingertip, stuck out her tongue and gently touched it, then smacked her lips.

Then her expression turned as bitter as chocolate.

"—This stuff tastes like poison, I really don't understand why you humans like to eat it so much..."

Payne was immediately amused: "Is this still bitter? I already told you that beast girls' sense of taste is closer to that of animals... Now you've completely given up, right?"

Grace looked at the chocolate between her fingers with disdain. "What should we do with this one? It would be such a waste to just throw it away..."

Payne was about to say, "Since you've already broken it off, just give it to me," but just a second before he spoke, he suddenly saw a sly glint in Grace's eyes.

If he really said that, wouldn't it be tantamount to implying "Let's kiss indirectly"?

Although the two acts involving a human and a beast have already taken place, they are completely different in nature.

Last night, Payne helped Grace out of her predicament. Grace was the one who took the initiative because she needed Payne's help.

As for now, if Payne speaks up, it's Payne who's taking the initiative, because Payne needs Grace's help.