When Ash finally had his fill and moved his hand away, Eris sprang up from the floor in an instant, eyeing him warily as she declared loudly, "I've apologized! Next, you should..."
"Is that how you ask someone for a favor? You broke your promise first! Right now, you should be begging me some more!"
"You! You're actually haggling with a girl like this? Are you even an adult?"
"Sorry, but I treat everyone equally. Even my step-sister, if she acted up, I'd spank her even at age three... Hmm, thinking about it now, I kind of miss those days."
"Ughhh!", Seeing that negotiation was getting her nowhere, Eris gritted her teeth in fury.
She glared at him, her gaze practically boring holes into Ash, but it didn't faze him one bit. She stomped her foot hard, hesitated for a long while, and finally shouted with extreme reluctance, "P-please!"
"No. That's not enough. Is that really how you beg?", Ash remained expressionless, even mimicking her by slapping the table.
"Ugh!"
She was furious, absolutely furious! But she really wanted revenge, and she also worried about leaving loose ends.
For her own safety, Eris forced herself to endure the humiliation, slowly raising her hands to grab her hair, fashioning two temporary pigtails, "P-please help Eris get revenge, nya~"
As she spoke, Eris forced a smile, squinting one eye and trying to act cute.
Though Ash wanted to scold her for using such tactics to test his resolve...
"Hmm... this... not bad at all!"
A red-haired, white-stockinged little girl with a slightly odd cute pose, it was actually really adorable. Ash, who'd planned to make things even harder for her, found himself nodding instinctively.
But Eris's cute act didn't last long. Her smile remained, but her eyes turned utterly gloomy. She shuffled toward him step by step, swaying left and right, her voice turning menacing, "This kind of request, is it okay now, nya?"
"Haah...", Ash couldn't help but wonder.
'Does the nobles of this world ask for things with this attitude? As in, this is a formal request demeanor? Though that is probably impossible. It must have something to do with her beast-kin fetish grandfather again.'
Watching the little girl with her gloomy face, eyes filled with seven parts anger and three parts humiliation, he couldn't help but marvel, 'The Boreas family really knows what they are doing.'
While he was praising them in his heart but couldn't say a word out loud, Eris couldn't hold it in anymore. Maintaining that strange pose, she urged him with what sounded like a growling request, "And also... teach Eris magic! Magic like yours, Nya!"
At the end, she let out an annoyed, "Ugh!", like a beast gnawing at its cage bars, glaring at him viciously... going by her expression, she seemed about to be overwhelmed by humiliation and anger and bite him again.
That funny grinding of teeth made him shake his head helplessly, "The pose is cute, but your tone is terrible? Points deducted for that."
"As long as it's cute, that's fine, nya!", Eris shot back defiantly, her face flushing bright red.
"Eh, fine. But I'm warning you now, if you break your promise again, I'll pull down your skirt and spank you."
"I-I'll tell Grandfather—"
"He won't care... though there's a risk he might make me marry you," Ash added unconsciously, then let out a long sigh for no reason, "If that really happened, that'd be a nightmare in some ways. I'd probably have to run, honestly."
"It's my nightmare! And Grandfather would never do that, nya!"
"Want to try?"
"N-no, nya! Absolutely not! I'd rather die, nya!", Eris trembled involuntarily, her whole body screaming resistance. Ash patted her head and nodded in deep agreement, "Indeed. I'd rather die too. What I want is a sweet, gentle girl, not a lioness."
"You—"
"Alright, alright. Let's just go kill that noble, okay?"
"Huh? Ah, right, nya?", Interrupted mid-sentence, Eris nodded blankly.
"Then wait here. Come back tomorrow."
"Tomorrow, nya?"
"Tomorrow I'll bring you his corpse as a gift."
"Just bury that kind of thing, nya!"
———
Eris didn't really trust him. After arguing for a while, she declared that if she didn't see it tomorrow, she'd never believe him again.
But this time, the other party didn't break his promise, and Ash didn't intend to either.
So the next night, at a deep pit on the outskirts of town, Eris saw the body of the enemy she'd specifically confirmed through her grandfather's portrait, his face frozen in terror.
The man her proud grandfather couldn't even touch had been slaughtered like a stray dog by the roadside. This dealt a considerable shock to the young girl's psyche.
After Ash let her have one look and turned to leave... Eris stared at the body below, tugged at his coat, and without turning her head, spoke softly for the first time, "If... I learn magic from you, can I become as strong as you?"
"I don't think so," He shook his head without hesitation.
"Really? That's fine... Wait, what? You're saying I can't?"
His matter-of-fact response caught Eris off guard at first. Once she snapped out of it, her eyes went wide with disbelief.
Worried she hadn't heard clearly, Ash repeated himself, "No."
"Why not? You haven't even taught me yet, how do you know I can't? Maybe I have more talent than you!"
Eris bristled instantly, gripping the hem of his coat tightly, clearly unwilling to let go without a satisfactory answer.
Helpless, Ash shook his head, crouched down to her eye level, and explained with unusual seriousness, "Because you're an idiot."
"Guh? I-I'll kill-kill—"
"However, learning magic isn't completely hopeless."
"Re-really?"
"Your temper's too impatient. Magic isn't something you can master through brute force. It requires patience and focus. With your tendency to fly off the handle at the slightest thing, hmm..."
After some teasing, his meaningful words made Eris open her mouth to argue on instinct, but thinking about her usual behavior, she was momentarily speechless. Still, she stubbornly declared:
"Th-then I can change! As long as you teach me properly, I'm sure I can learn. And then I'll become even stronger than you, and I'll be able to crush all those bastards who bullied me!"
"You mean me, right?"
"I-I didn't say that!", Eris shook her head vigorously, but under his unwavering gaze, she quickly grabbed her hair to make two pigtails again, forcing a smile in an attempt to bluff her way out, "Eris-nya would never do that... nya?"
"Even if it's forced cuteness, it's passable. I'll let it slide for now."
Ash spoke with feigned reluctance, but his hand couldn't help patting Eris's head anyway.
[T/N: A new fanfic is up guys— "Naruto: Transmigrating with a Gift Pack System" so add it to your collections and give some Powerstones. Have a great day, hope you enjoy it~ 🎉🎉]
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