chsdbacks Page 53
Page 53
"Haha... Well... that's true..."
Grace's face grew even more embarrassed, and her voice became increasingly hesitant, "I...I'm sorry..."
Payne pondered for a moment, then asked, "Although I know that orcs can lose control of their behavior when they're driven by lust, haven't you considered how I'll treat you afterwards?"
"Ah... this... well..."
Grace's voice grew softer and softer. She stopped working and just stood there, head down, fingertips touching, her tail tucked nervously between her legs.
After a long pause, she hesitantly said, "Well... actually... I have considered it..."
"I...I thought that someone as protective of orcs as you might...might not do anything to me, that's why..."
Actually, Payne was somewhat surprised by Grace's actions last night.
Because he had seen the wary look in this older sister's eyes more than once.
If it's just a matter of being on guard, then there's nothing strange about it.
After being tortured by training officers, the more independent beast girls generally develop a wary and resentful attitude towards humans.
As for those beast girls who lack autonomy, all that remains is fear and submission.
The strange thing is, if Grace was the former, why would she choose me?
Did they change their opinion of me because they saw how Little Pony and Ruby treated me, and combined with their own experience in this team?
After a moment's thought, Payne decided to ask another question to test the waters:
"You said before that you didn't think I had fallen for you yet, so what do you think of me?"
"Um... well... this..."
Sure enough, Grace lowered her head even further, and her tail even nervously wrapped around her legs twice.
After a long pause, she finally answered in a voice barely above a whisper, "Well... I guess... I have some feelings for you..."
"'Some'? So there are still things you're unhappy about? Why don't you say so?"
"Forehead……"
"Didn't you think I wouldn't do anything to you? Or is this just an excuse you came up with to please me?"
"Hmm... Moo..."
Grace realized that Pine had used her perspective to create an ingenious trap.
No matter how she answers, this wretched human can ensure that he is in a favorable position.
Or rather, it is precisely because of this environment that humanity is always able to easily occupy the high ground of reason.
Humans are all the same...
However, despite her general condemnation of humanity, deep down she still believed that Payne was different and was willing to trust him, so she decided to tell the truth:
"Well... actually, there's something about you that I don't really like... it's... that you're indiscriminate in your approach to all beast girls..."
After saying those words, Grace felt much less stressed.
She felt her heart was strong enough to accept any punishment, but at the same time, she secretly prayed that Payne was truly as "loving" as he claimed, so that she might escape this punishment...
Just as she was muttering to herself, she saw that Payne was not angry at all. Instead, he smiled and said, "You hate my indiscriminate acceptance of anyone, but at the same time you're glad that I can accept you?"
Grace looked up into Payne's eyes and froze.
It's not that she had never thought about this issue; on the contrary, she had long been aware of her conflicted feelings.
On the one hand, she did dislike Payne's behavior of using the orcs' divergent devices to satisfy his own selfish desires, but on the other hand, she did hope that Payne could accept her.
Although she had already cooked the rice into meat before she had fully accepted it...
Only now, when she saw the look in Payne's eyes that said, "I've seen this far too many times," did she understand the inner conflict she had always felt.
Payne at least considered orcs as equals to humans, and was willing to treat them as his good friends, comrades-in-arms, and lovers.
He may not be a good person, but compared to those scum who enjoy torturing orcs, he's practically an angel.
Even if he has a bit of "philanthropy," so what? The sense of security he can give to animals is something that cannot be obtained from any other person (or animal) or place.
Seeing that Grace gradually relaxed, Payne knew that this bovine older sister had come to her senses, and he confirmed his guess:
Although Grace concealed her initial wariness well, her thoughts were ultimately no different from those of the other beast girls:
It's purely because among the chaotic humanoid creatures, he can at least ensure the beast girls' basic needs are met, he won't beat or scold them arbitrarily, and he tries his best to make them play their maximum role in battle, instead of sending them to their deaths like cannon fodder.
Moreover, he never took advantage of her kindness or asked her to do anything excessive.
In comparison, his little quirk is really harmless.
At this point, both the human and the beast were fully aware of the situation, and there was no need for further verbal communication.
People just need to stay in the bomb crater and rest, and the cows can continue working. Just pretend nothing happened, so as not to be too obvious and cause some embarrassment.
However, while Grace tried to get away with this consensus, Payne hadn't forgotten another matter that had been put on hold:
"Wait a minute, you don't really think I'd be kind enough not to punish you, do you?"
So Grace's tail, which she had just lowered, tensed up again.
Chapter 82 LXXXII. Receiving Chocolate from Comrades
After arranging the punishment for Sister Niu, Payne retreated back into the bomb crater, intending to use the free time to help Detlin write a letter to his family.
He had promised the other party this right after the battle ended, but he only had the opportunity to do so now.
However, he had only managed to write two lines when he heard a familiar voice in front of him:
"Hey, Payne, what are you doing hiding here all by yourself?"
Payne paused, looked up, and said, "Paul? It seems like I haven't seen you for a few days... Where have you been?"
Standing in front of Payne was Paul, the company's young artist. He stretched out his right hand and waved it in front of Payne's eyes. "See that?"
Payne paused for a moment, "You... your little finger was knocked off?"
Paul's right hand is no longer intact; where the little finger used to be, there is nothing there, only a bandage wrapped around the area close to the palm.
"Haha, that's how it is. I'm actually quite lucky; at least this way it doesn't interfere with shooting or drawing."
Paul spoke with an indifferent attitude, his mindset was unbelievably good, "I don't even know when I was knocked out, I didn't feel any pain at all, I only went to the hospital after the battle was over."
"Such a minor injury could have been easily treated with disinfection and bandaging and I could have come back, but the doctor insisted that there was poison gas on the front lines that might seep into the wound, so he kept me in the hospital for two days."
"Later, I couldn't take it anymore, so I secretly ran back to avoid you thinking I was being too dramatic, hiding in the hospital for so long just because I broke a finger."
Listen to this, is this even human language? "It's just a broken finger."
Payne's lips twitched: "Are you sure the wound is okay?"
Paul grinned and said, "It's nothing. I always follow doctor's orders. I brought the morphine and iodine he prescribed with me. It's not a big problem."
Although Paul's desire to stay with the brothers in B Company touched Payne, from a scientific perspective, he still said:
"It would be good for you to stay in the hospital for a couple of days to have your wound checked. It'll also give you time to wait for the gas to dissipate. Who knows if the new stuff the French came up with will have any other terrible effects..."
"It's okay, look at me, I'm standing here perfectly fine."
Paul just waved dismissively, then mysteriously approached and touched his bulging pockets.
"Want to guess what gifts I brought back for you?~~"
Payne glanced at the pocket, then at his face. "It must be some good stuff specially made for wounded soldiers, right?"
The two then simultaneously revealed wicked smiles.
“That’s right.” Paul said, pulling a huge rectangular block from his pocket; judging from the packaging, it was probably chocolate.
"This is real chocolate, it tastes like honey when you put it in your mouth! It's not like those bitter, black bricks in emergency rations!"
"Hmph, that annoying doctor actually tried to bribe me with a small piece of chocolate every day just to keep me in the hospital! Does he think he can fool me like a three-year-old?!"
"To teach him a lesson, I scouted out where he kept his chocolates, and when I sneaked out at night, I stole all of them, hahaha..."
"You're so mean, hahaha..."
The two of them burst into mischievous laughter at the same time. Then, without a word, Paul shoved the whole bar of chocolate into Payne's hand and asked mysteriously again, "Want to know how many chocolates I got?"
Seeing the expectant look on Pine's face, he stretched out his hands in slow motion, like in a movie, and slowly opened his palms.
Payne easily guessed the answer, but his attention was uncontrollably drawn to the bandaged area, as if a small section of it still remained.
"Uh... 9.2?"
"
Hey~
The host's depressing jokes were detected.
Depression level: 50%
Funny level: 75%
Freshness: 100%
Note: Meets the reward distribution criteria
Points increased by 225
"
So Paul's expectant smile was now clouded with confusion.
Analyzing jokes is a particularly bad way to ruin the flavor of a joke, so Payne insisted on not saying anything, just trying to suppress his laughter while constantly glancing at the severed finger to give him hints.
Paul glanced at the bandage, then subconsciously clenched his fist slightly before suddenly realizing what was happening.
Just as Payne had expected, he was neither sad nor angry. Instead, he looked like he was about to burst out laughing, his mouth wide open and a series of slurred laughs coming from his throat.
If he himself seemed bothered by the severed finger, then Payne certainly wouldn't joke about it.
But since he himself can laugh and say "it won't affect shooting or drawing," then Payne doesn't need to steer the atmosphere in a heavy direction; he should just go along with his wishes.
However, Paul's joy turned to sorrow. While praising Pine, "You're so talented!" he patted him on the shoulder with his dominant right hand, then gasped and clutched his hand...
"Haha...you'd better take it easy..."