Chapter 105: Teran and Hana

「Yo lady! Don't stray away too far from me. I won't be able to protect you from Yinese soldiers' ambushes if you're not within my line of sight.」The mutant ogre complained as the rabbit beastwoman leapt swiftly from one dead grasslander to the other, hoping to find at least a few more survivors from the battle. The allied demihuman forces of Monas Kye were able to achieve a pyrrhic victory against the Yinese incursion this time. However, sustaining this level of loss of grasslander lives was clearly untenable, for soon enough, another Yinese army would appear beyond the horizon, while the depleted and injured natives could do nothing but retreat further back to the South.「Can't you hear me, Hana?」The ogre shouted, before annoyingly followed after the rabbit beastwoman. 「Listen here, Lady! You're not the only one I need to protect. Although your village and your brother were the one who hired me, there are like a dozen more in the medic corps that I need to watch out for. Don't make my life any harder…. Seriously, the pay for this job is not worth the effort.」

「Hmmph」Hana tore the cloth bandage using her teeth, before carefully wrapping it around the bleeding body of a lucky survivor she found. Once done tightening it, the young woman angrily turned around to look at the mutant ogre.「Why did you accept this job then, Teran? I thought you did because you care about your own homeland.」

「I couldn't care less about this place.」Teran shook his head.「If your homeland actively discriminated and persecuted you for being a mutant, would you care if it's being conquered by some empire?」

「I…」Hana wanted to protest but even her would find it hard to refute his logic.

「I only accept this job because Ashura told me to take a vacation.」The mutant ogre explained.「Since this job is fairly easy and the duration of the contract is only for five months, I figured it's a perfect job for me to take for now.」

「Our people are suffering and you think of this as a vacation?」Hana angrily asked.

「Not my problem.」Teran grinned.「and in four more months, it won't be.」The ogre whistled.

「Hana!」Another beastman called out to the rabbit beastwoman as he rushed toward her.「Did you find any lucky survivor?」

「Just one.」Answered the young beastwoman.「Eugene, can you help carrying him back to our medical tent?」

「Of course, leave it to me!」The beastman flexed his bicep, then turned to the mutant ogre. 「You're seriously not helping?」

「Again, it's not in my job description.」Answered Teran.「The contract clearly stated my only job is to protect the medics.」

「Leave him be, Eugene.」said Hana.「You can't cure his selfishness.」

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「Ahhhhh!!! Help!!!」Hana called out in panic. The outpouring rain had caused her to lose her balance and slip down the deep ravine as she tried her best to pick the rare herb that grew on the edge.

「Hana?」Teran called out to her. Before the young beastwoman could process what had happened, she could feel a warm embrace wrapping around her body.「Stop doing dangerous things like this! Think about yourself for just one minute!」The ogre, alerted by Hana's scream, had quickly jumped after her, hugging her tight to cushion her fall. Thanks to him projecting his Nen, the former 12th captain of Hyakki Yagyo was able to crash onto the bottom of the ravine with minimal injury. Still, the impact easily dislocated his shoulder joint.「Are you okay?」The ogre asked.

「I'm fine…」answered Hana in a daze. It took a brief moment for the young rabbit beastwoman to realize what had just happened.「Teran, your arm!!」

「It's fine.」answered Teran.「... it just fell out its socket a bit.」

「Here!」Hana put the mutant ogre's one good arm around her shoulder, then slowly led him to rest under a large tree found near the cliff.「Let me look at your injury!」

「Ouch!」

「Sorry… Teran. This is all because of me.」Hana blamed herself.

「Heh, as long as you're okay. After all, my job requires me to protect you.」

「Is that all?」

「Huh?」

「Is jumping after me just a job for you?」Hana asked with a hint of anger.

「...」The ogre remained silent

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「Teran!」The rabbit beastwoman made her way past the other injured soldiers, to the lone spot where the mercenary was laying.「Time to change your bandage.」Hana carefully wrapped a new cloth bandage around Teran's torso after removing his old bloodied one.「It's so unlike you, Teran.」The young beastwoman irritatedly commented

「What's unlike me?」The ogre let out an exhausted smile.

「Being reckless to the point of seeking and clashing against Hou Yi himself.」Hana answered.「You know he's Wei Shimin's second in command, right? He's not someone who you can just defeat outright, especially when he had his elite corps with him.」

「Heh, if you think my injury is bad, wait until you see the injury he sustained after fighting me.」Teran grinned.

「Why would I care about his injury? It's you who I…」Hana stopped short of finishing her sentence.

「Don't blame him like that, Hana.」Ectharen, the leader of the House of the Mane, spoke up from behind the rabbit beastwoman.「He only fought Hou Yi because he knew the man's route would lead him directly toward your group of medics. Had Teran not rushed ahead to intercept that cursed Hou Yi, you and your group would be annihilated.」

「I… I didn't know.」Hana turned to Teran.

「... I'm a mercenary. I just like fighting strong opponents, just as much as I like my money.」denied Teran.

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「Cheers!!!」The group of grasslanders loudly shouted, clanking their beer mugs together, as they celebrated their recent victory over the Yinese force.「Today, we vanquished those idiots! They should just learn their lessons, run back to their Empire with their tails between their legs!」

「Heh, it was just a battle, it's not like they won the war」Teran, sitting alone in the corner, pointed out.

「Don't be a killjoy, Teran.」Ectharen gave the ogre a giant cup of a special strong wine, a specialty of the land .「Didn't you also participate in the battle? Let's celebrate with us.」

「I'm not saying no to some alcohol.」The ogre took only minutes to chug the whole mega-pint of wine.「This is good! Another one!」demanded Teran.

「...That was a really strong alcohol. It was supposed to be drunk in sips throughout the night.」explain Ectharen.

「Too late! Another one!」The clearly drunk Teran dismissed the beastman's concerns, and continued to ask for the next mug to be delivered to him. The celebration continued long into the night, until most of the men had fallen asleep, hugging one another as their snores echoed around the town square.「Hic… Where's Hana?」The drunk mercenary looked around, trying to find the woman, though the only one he could find was the drunk Eugene sleeping soundly near the large bonfire.

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「Haaahhhh」Hana stretched her arms right after she entered her room. She had spent the whole evening taking care of the injured combatants from the most recent battle of which the Grasslanders had emerged victorious. The rabbit beastwoman slowly discarded her clothes, then lazily made her way toward the bathroom, where she could finally enjoy the warm late night shower. Since it was already late into the night, although she wanted to join in the party at the town square, she figured the men must have finished with it and given all the alcohol that were present, most likely all of them would have drunkenly passed out cold.

「Hana! Hic… Where… hic… are you?」A familiar male voice called out for her as she finally finished with her shower.

「Teran? What are you doing here?」

「Come hic… and join me!」The mutant ogre demanded.「Everyone else has already passed out!」

「Teran, I'm still taking a shower. Wait out there!」Hana hurriedly tried to dry her body.

「What? Hic… You're in here?」The ogre busted opened the bathroom door, only to see the woman he had been having a special feeling for standing there naked, her pink nipples, perky breasts, shaved pussy were all fully visible in front of his eyes for a few seconds, before the young woman tried her best to use both of her hands to cover her body. Though, a few seconds were all it took for the drunken mercenary to be mesmerized by her beauty. His cock started to swell underneath his pants and his weakened inhibition due to the mega-pint of wines he had earlier was not helping him to restrain himself either.

「Hana… You're really beautiful.」Teran blurted out. The compliment caused the young rabbit beastwoman, who had been screaming at him to get out to finally freeze, unable to process it. Her blushing face was now of the beet red color and a smile could finally be seen on her frowning face.

「What… what are you saying?」

「Be mine, Hana!」Teran lunged at her before picking her up.

「Stop, Teran! Put me down!」Hana protested as Teran carried her naked body in his arms, walking out to the bedroom before throwing her down onto the bed. Before Hana could orient herself and sit up, she had found herself being pinned down by the drunken ogre. His hands held tightly onto her wrist as he moved on top of her, his enlarged cock was now grinding against her naked pussy.

「Teran! Stop this! You're not being yourself!」Although she shared the same feeling for Teran as he did for her, the young rabbit beastwoman did not want her first time with him to be because he was inebriated. Hana struggled to break free from his constraints.

「... You… don't want to be with me?」Teran asked in a vulnerable tone. Hana couldn't tell if it was his tears or not since the room was not lit by any candle light, but she could feel droplets falling onto her face from his.「... I know… a mutant like me… can never be with… hic… someone… hic… like you」

「Don't be an idiot, Teran.」Hana wondered if it was because of the alcohol that caused Teran to be in such a vulnerable state. Although this was not how she pictured how they would get together, she knew she could not leave him alone tonight. The young beastwoman's hands slowly reached out to the ogre's face after he voluntarily let go of her wrist.「Of course I want to be with you, Teran. I don't care if you're a mutant or not. To me, you're just Teran. To me, you're just some man who I had fallen for, all this time.」Hana pulled Teran's head down, letting it rest between her heaving breasts.

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The night marked a new chapter for the relationship between the mutant ogre and the rabbit beastwoman. Soon enough, the unlikely couple was the talk of the entire grasslanders in the vicinity, much to the chagrin of Eugene, who has fancied Hana ever since they were children. Despite his 5-months contract finally ended, the ogre voluntarily extended it for a year and continued staying by Hana's side to protect her and her medic corps. Even to this day, the brief time he spent with Hana was Teran's most cherished memories that drastically changed his life. From the time when he laid his head onto Hana's lap during a hot summer day to the nights when they showed their love under the dimming candle lights, the memories would pop up in his dream now and then. Of course, the brief happiness the couple experienced was not to last, for Hana would soon receive the news that her brother had perished in a Yinese raid, leaving her bedridden mother uncared for. This forced her to return to her village to take care of her grieving mother.

「Let her go!」Eugene confronted Teran alone outside the town at dusk.

「Huh? What the hell are you talking about?」Teran irritatedly snapped back.

「Now that Hana has to return to the village, are you planning to come with her? You know even if he hired you before, our villagers would never accept a mutant setting foot inside the village.」Eugene explained.「How do you think her already sick, grieving mother would react if she finds out her daughter, the only blood relative she has left, is going out with a mercenary, on top of being a mutant like yourself?」

「I…」Teran hesitated.

「Just let her go.」Eugene again suggested.「Don't make her choose between you and her mother. I know I've lost her to you and it's not my place to force you to do anything, but I just want you to think about how much pain you would put her through if you continued to be selfish. You were hired by her brother to protect her and the medic corps, now that your paymaster has passed away, maybe it's time for you to finally have a reason to sever ties with this place… and Hana. 」

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「You're a jerk, Teran!」Hana slapped the ogre hard across his face before turning around and walked away with tears flowing from her eyes after he suggested that they should break up.

「Are you sure this is what you wanted?」Having witnessed the fight, Ectharen asked from the shadow of the alley close to where Teran was standing.

「Yeah… she'll find her happiness with someone else.」Teran nodded.「I can't make her choose between the only family member she had left and I.」

「What will you be doing now?」

「... I… I will join your fight.」Teran answered.

「Huh?」Ectharen was unsure of what he had just heard.「Why would you?」

「If we can hold the Empire's advances here… or even at Alsen further to the South, it would keep them away from her village.」explained Teran

「and how long are you planning to fight together with us?」

「Until we can repel the Yin empire from this land… so that she can live in safety.」

「You know Ashura the Yonko, your boss, would probably not allow you to do that.」Ectharen pointed out.

「Then I'll resign from my post.」Teran smiled.「I thought at least you, of all people, would be thrilled that I join your force.」

「... I do. But… the reason… the circumstances of why you're fighting with us… it's just…」

「Don't worry, Eskaren, it's ultimately my decision.」

「.... What the hell, Teran! We fought side by side for almost a year and you still can't remember my name? It's Ectharen! ECTHAREN!」The beastman angrily reminded the mutant ogre.

Hana soon returned to her village to take care of her mother, but it didn't take long for her already bedridden mother to depart Esthar. It was then, in her grief, she finally learned she was pregnant with Yuusei and five months later, a new hybrid was born to this world. Unfortunately, just like his father, the newborn could easily be identified as a mutant, for his sclera was completely black and a faint layer of Chaos miasma was emitting from his body. Against the advice of the villagers, Hana adamantly decided to keep him instead of abandoning him in the woods to feed the monsters and wild animals.「It's the proof of our love.」Hana explained to the concerned Eugene as she held tightly onto the newborn. 「No matter what, he's my ultimate gift.」Her tears fell down onto his soft baby cheek. Yet, as the miasma continued to erode her sanity, any happy memories she had about mutant ogre would soon be twisted and warped. Even her memories of the special first time with Teran on that fateful night was turned into nothing but violence and struggles.

Hana (AI generated based on Yuusei's picture, click on comment on the link):

https://imgur.com/8LZtq7H

Ignore the human ears lol