114: Birthday Present
“Who’s there?” a man with spikey green hair stopped in his tracks when he saw Beatrice’s group approach. He instantly took the bow from his back and nocked an arrow. His flowing purple cape moved, for a moment revealing an orange symbol sown into it—a human heart skewered by a long spear.
Now that the fox girl was closer, Beatrice appreciated how enticing the young beastkin looked. And even the fully covering dress could not obscure her prominent womanly features. Despite having a long, fluffy tail and clearly animalistic, furry ears sticking out from her hair, the girl otherwise looked completely human. Beatrice could have easily mistaken her for a cosplayer if not for the fact that she was indeed in a fantasy world, as well as the fact that the tail continued to move on its own instead of hanging down like a cheap prop.
“P-please help!” the buxom fox girl begged in tears as she fell to her knees at Olivia’s feet, grabbing tightly with trembling hands into Olivia’s clothing. Her eyes and cheeks were bright red from crying and exhaustion. She could barely breathe but still could not stop crying. “P-please! T-they killed my parents!”
“I… I see,” Olivia uttered through grit teeth. She did not even look at the girl. Instead, she stared down the men with burning fury. As if it were her parents those men had killed.
“Let go of her and back off!” one of the men—the biggest among the six men—ordered Beatrice’s group and took his spear. The others followed suit and took up their weapons, ready to cut down anyone that stood in their way.
Beatrice momentarily glanced at the ninja girl and saw that her clenched fists were trembling. The Succubus looked at the six men and asked, “It takes four men to muster up the courage to chase after a single, defenseless girl?”
“Hah! Defenseless!? She’s a monster!” the shorter of the men, with orange mohawk haircut, screamed as he pointed the tip of his sword at the crying fox girl. “She killed three of my friends in a blink of an eye!”
Beatrice was momentarily taken aback by such accusations. Looking at the bawling, trembling girl, certainly, she didn’t seem like the type that could hurt a fly. But upon looking carefully, she did notice that her dark dress was sprayed with blood.
“Then she’s lying about her parents?” Beatrice asked, convinced that the men had ill intentions for the girl they hunted.
“Who the hell do you think you are!?” the biggest of the men—and apparently their leader—shouted. He only had a long spear for a weapon. Despite his size and wide shoulders, his face was lean, which meant that under all that armor he packed massive muscles. He had a neatly shaved beard and a short, shaved haircut. Beatrice thought how this man would’ve definitely been a celebrity, maybe even a movie star in her old world. “The Purple Capes Do not answer to a bunch of half-naked whores!”
“Haa…” Beatrice was at a loss for words. Despite the man’s looks, his tone and choice of words were almost stereotypically awful. She wasn’t even insulted, rather she was amazed at the brazenness of these people, even disappointed a little. Sure, they looked intimidating, and even if the leader of these ‘Purple Capes’ happened to be as dumb as a brick, he had more than enough muscles to compensate. However, Beatrice knew full well that physical strength was not all that mattered in this world and was surprised that these men would disregard the potential for magic so easily. Unless they were in fact that strong…
“Oooh, this is going to be good,” Ember said and took a couple of steps closer to Beatrice and Olivia. “Nobody has dared call me a whore for a long time!”
“And apparently it also has been a long time since you’ve seen what happens to those that get on the bad side of The Purple Capes,” their leader said.
“Captain Flavna warned Lord Belmot about this,” the other man complained to his buddies. “You show the slightest hint of compassion, and even the lowest of drags start stepping on your head, forgetting their place.”
“Agreed,” the leader nodded. “Makes sure to leave their faces intact. Captain Flavna will want the people to look into the dead eyes of those who step out of line. And keep the big-breasted whore alive. She is definitely my type.”
“Mine too!”
“No mine!”
“You hear that!?” the leader shouted and laughed. “You’re lucky that you have a nice bod! You’ll get the privilege of servicing the cocks of The Purple Capes!”
“Charmed,” Beatrice said with disgust.
“Don’t worry,” the archer said with a smirk. “We’ll make sure to take you alive to the barracks to share with the others after we’re done with you so that you get a chance to experience everything that the Purple Capes have to offer!”
“And what about the girl?” Olivia asked, putting her hands on the girl’s shoulders protectively. “You plan to ‘experience’ her too?”
“Ew, hell no!” the leader grimaced. “Who do you take me for? The Purple Capes do not lay with animals! Nor do I have any interest in any woman whose breasts don’t at least rival the size of her head!”
“She’s a birthday present to our Captain!” the mohawk swordsman grinned. “She recently developed a taste for foxkin.”
“W-when you say ‘taste’…” Beatrice hesitated to ask.
“Her parents are getting chopped up as we speak to be served at the birthday party,” the mohawk man cleared any doubt from what he meant by ‘taste’.