Soup And Book

Cyrus refrained from talking. He sees Yuno's poker face breaking as his brows furrowed, behind him Derick was looking at him with a mix of confusion and horror.

He resisted the urge to slap his mouth and so, the three of them just stood there awkwardly. No one dared to speak a word. Cyrus just shut his mouth, fearing that he might say something inappropriate from that dream again.

Yuno on the other hand was quickly using every ounce of his braincell to analyze what the General just said. Unfortunately, unlike the quiet and calculative Yuno, Derick was straightforward with it.

"General tell me who's gonna cut off your d*ck, I'll cut their head's first! Let's see if they ca-"

Before he can finish talking, the scabbard of Yuno's sword came straight to his gut making him bend in pain as he clutched his stomach.

"Shut. Don't use crude language in front of the General."

"Ack...you piece o-ow-"

Derick who was about to lunge himself at Yuno curled forward and grasped his stomach in pain instead. Cyrus looked bemused as he saw his left and right hand man quarrel.

Though deep inside, he thanked Yuno, speaking of the man, Yuno was quickly searching his inner pocket before pulling something familiar out.

'The book!'

He then handed it to Cyrus, who quickly accepted and gave him an appreciative nod.

Yuno nodded back, he walked towards Derick who was still hunched forward and grabbed him by the collar and started dragging him.

"H-Hey wha-mnph"

Derick tried to wiggle out of Yuno's grasp, but to no avail. Instead, a restriction spell was casted on his mouth and muffled his words.

Yuno turned back to Cyrus, eyeing him up and down before sighing. The General just stood there quietly as he waited for Yuno to speak. Ever since they were young, Yuno would have this kind of habit where he would eye Cyrus from head to toe. If he ever see something amiss then he would stay, if he saw nothing suspicious then he would leave.

Cyrus didn't know how he looked-'probably a mess' and he was afraid that Yuno wouldn't leave and question him instead. He has no trouble of explaining his worries with his closest confidants, but this time he doesn't even know what to explain.

"I'll tell the servants to prepare some soup and a bath. With that estimated amount of time, you'll probably have enough to skim through the book."

"I appreciate it."

"It's no problem General, though I would appreciate it if you clarify your earlier words."

"That...I still don't know."

Yuno gave him a small nod, his face already back to being emotionless.

"Then you owe me an explanation."

With that he turned away while dragging the still struggling Derick. Cyrus watched their back before he quickly went back to his room and shut the door.

He picked up a fallen chair and seated himself. He placed the book on his lap and he quickly frowned when he saw the title once again.

"I've Turned Into An Omega?"

Each word was spat with different kinds of negative emotions.

'Omega...omega...sounds familiar. I think I've heard it somewhere around Sou-'

Suddenly a memory flashed through his mind. It was getting late and they've just finished their expedition.

Yuno and Derick fought over camping through the woods or resting by a nearby inn. The fight was so annoying (courtesy of Derick shouting) that the other troop members beg the General to put a stop on it. In the end, it was settled by voting and Derick won suprisingly.

The group looked for a nearby inn which took them towards the border up South. During their stay there, the owner of the inn was really cautious of them.

Cyrus couldn't really blame them, at that time the North have just took over the side of the West so it wouldn't be a suprise if others start fearing them.

"Ugh, why does that geezer keep glaring this way, so rude! He wasn't glaring when he saw Yuno! He even looked soft-what the heck?!"

Cyrus agreed inwardly, beside him, Derick gulped down an entire glass of beer. It didn't take long for him to pass out, just in time for Yuno to come back to their table.

He took a seat opposite to the drunk Derick before pushing away the empty glasses of beer.

"Is something wrong?"

Yuno looked up, he was in the process of wiping the beer spillage in his side of the table when he noticed Cyrus staring at him.

"The inn owner."

"Oh that."

With just two words spoken, Yuno quickly understood what Cyrus was on about. He continued wiping the table clean before setting back down. He picked up a clean, unused glass and poured himself a minimal amount of beer.

"The owner's daughter is an omega and she's in heat currently."

Cyrus gave him a confused look, which made the other sigh and continue.

"The General might not know this but the South's gender system are very different from ours."

Yuno took another sip of beer and Cyrus waited for him to continue.

"If the North has Male and Female then the South has Omega, Alpha and Beta. You can say that alphas are mostly regarded as the highest among gender, even the King of South is an alpha. Betas, you can just treat them like the regular male and female."

"And omegas?"

"Well...they're a bit complicated. I won't be going through the whole ordeal, but you can say they're hmm...a bit more sensitive than the other genders. Omegas experience heats."

"The owner's daughter."

Yuno nodded "That's right. When omegas go into heat, they're at their most vulnerable state. I've already explained to the owner that our people have no secondary gender. Still, just to make sure, no one will stay in the upper most floor where the owner's daughter is resting."

Cyrus was deep in thoughts. He still hasn't figure out the whole South gender system and why it's so different from theirs, but he gives Yuno a short nod nonetheless.

Cyrus skimmed through the book and its contents. Halfway through the end, a knock was heard through the other side of the door.

The maid tasked to bring their General his meal, continuously knocked, but to no avail. She needed to bring the soup to the General while it's still warm or else it wouldn't be that delicious as it is now.

Luckily, though the General looked like cold-blooded killer, he was quite nice and reasonable. So the maid, quietly turned the doorknob and opened the door.

"Sorry for the disturbance General but Commander Yuno said that your me-"

The maid's eyes turned to the corner where their Esteemed General was holding a raging oil lamp and a book. He looked like he was contemplating whether to burn the book or not.

"Umm General?"

"Pan, I'm about to burn the book so step aside. This book is wicked so it might do some dirty tricks."

"Eh?! General that's dangerous!"

But before the maid can put the tray of soup down and rush towards her master, the book had already touched the flame and...nothing happened. Pan sighed in relief, she really thought that something bad would happen-THUD.

Her eyes suddenly shot up. The standing figure of his master was nowhere to be found. Pan moved her gaze to the floor and sure enough the General was there. On his left hand was the oil lamp who's fire was put out, and strangely enough the book he was supposedly holding with his right hand was now on top of his head. His eyes were rolled up as his mouth was slightly agape.

"G-Gen...GENERAL!"