-----
-----
Although Hatsuse Fia's hand was soft, Riku didn't have any weird thoughts. He just shook it once and let go, still not caring about appearances as he sat back down on the ground.
What a strange human.
Curious, Hatsuse Fia glanced at Riku again, then looked down at her own hand, shaking her head as she sat down beside him.
If she was tired, it was no less than Riku. Even though using blood magic had no side effects for her, it still drained a lot of energy.
"Princess! Are you okay?" A few minutes later, dozens of orcs rushed over anxiously.
"—!" But when they saw Hatsuse Fia sitting calmly side-by-side with Riku, they all froze, dumbfounded, with question marks on their faces, utterly shocked.
The battle scars here, especially the collapsed mountains, terrified them. They were so worried about Hatsuse Fia. Who would've expected to find this peaceful scene?
Seriously, what's with this calm? It didn't look like a life-or-death fight at all.
"Um, Fia, did you win?" The orc leader cautiously looked at Riku, then nervously asked.
All the orcs were hopeful, wishing Hatsuse Fia had won and captured this human.
"No, I lost. Completely." Hatsuse Fia glanced at her tribe and said softly.
"—!" Hearing this, all the orcs showed shocked expressions, looking at each other in disbelief. They thought they'd misheard.
"Fia, you really lost? Captured by this human?" The orc leader's face darkened, his blood energy stirring—a sign he was about to use blood magic.
The others also looked grim, staring fiercely at Riku, ready to attack.
"Don't misunderstand. Although I lost, I wasn't captured. We'll talk about the details later. Show some respect to Mr. Riku." Seeing her tribe go into battle stance, Hatsuse Fia quickly stood up to explain.
"Uh..." Hearing this, all the orcs exchanged looks, a bit confused about how things had turned out.
"Fia, later please prepare some hot water. You're dirty and might feel uncomfortable." Riku stood calmly and patted Hatsuse Fia's blue hair with a smile.
"Don't touch my head! It'll never grow!" Hatsuse Fia glared at Riku unhappily. "Besides, your hands are dirty!"
"Alright, alright, don't take it so seriously." Riku just ignored Fia Hatsuse's protests and kept patting her head with a carefree grin.
Fia puffed out her cheeks in frustration, looking like she was mad. But if you looked closely, her cheeks were a little flushed and her expression showed she was actually kind of enjoying it. All of that combined made her look unbelievably cute.
Noticing this, Riku chuckled to himself. Honestly, she reminded him a lot of Hatsuse Izuna from six thousand years in the future. Izuna loved getting patted on the head by Blank and had that odd speech quirk too.
Fia, on the other hand, had her own unique way of speaking.
"..." The beastmen were totally speechless watching their princess let a human touch her like that without fighting back—just sulking instead. Their brains couldn't process it.
Just a while ago, they were enemies, going all out in a deadly battle. And now… they were suddenly all friendly?
Still, even though they didn't get it, nobody dared say a word. Riku might be human, but with power like his, nobody was stupid enough to mock him or underestimate him.
After all, even their unbeatable princess had lost to him—and honestly, she seemed kind of okay with it.
"Mr. Riku, please come with us," the elder of the beastmen finally spoke, his tone respectful. Since it was clear they weren't enemies anymore, there was no point in being hostile.
Plus, if Riku really meant harm, he could've easily wrecked their hidden home now that he'd found it. But he didn't.
"Mm."
Riku nodded at the elder, then started walking with Fia beside him. Every now and then, he'd reach over to pat her head, and each time she'd grumble a little in protest. It was honestly really cute.
Of course, what Riku liked most was how nice her head felt to touch—it was kind of addicting.
Soon enough, with all the beastmen watching in stunned silence, the "invader" Riku returned to the village, casually chatting and laughing with their princess and the elder like they were old friends. There wasn't even a trace of the earlier hostility.
The beastmen were all left dumbfounded—but none of them dared ask questions.
It wasn't until Riku was taken to the hot springs for a bath that the others finally worked up the nerve to ask the elder what the hell was going on. But all they got in return was a shrug and "I don't know either."
That just made things even more confusing. Nobody had a clue how things had turned out like this.
For now, with Riku and Fia both soaking in the hot springs, they didn't have a chance to ask what really happened between them.
"Didn't expect you beastkin to have a hot spring here. This place is actually pretty nice," Riku said lazily, leaning back against the rocks on the men's side of the spring, calling out to Fia who was in the women's side, just across a thin wall of bamboo.
"....."