Vincent's blood pumped wildly along with the racing beat of his heart. He wanted to wait until the last moment one of the three laid a finger on his girls or Tula to tear them a new one. He forgot about Tulip in this agitated moment.
Koss kept an eye open all night as well. He felt something strange when noticing the new recruit's expressions before he leaned to sleep.
Koss quietly pulled himself up without a hint of a sound while he saw them approach the women... approaching his one and only precious daughter.
It was a situation to be angry at, but his daughter was one of the possible targets causing him to become enraged. The pair of tightly clenched fists were primed and ready for discipline.
Koss protected his daughter in Lusterfall City. His daughter was as attractive as his wife, causing many men to woo her. But he shooed them away with the fists of discipline and additional training as punishment. Soon she became an unobtainable beauty in the few ranks of women that decided to join the army.
Tula worked as a message carrier in her father's army instruction division. She also liked to assist her father as an army instructor assistant and train sword combat.
Koss soundlessly approached the three new recruits like a trained assassin. He approached the closest one named Tame, and furiously shouted, "Wild Blow!"
Both his hands became enveloped with a breeze of hot wind, increasing the power of the next blow. The clenched fists swiftly arrived at the targeted destination.
*Boom, Boom, Boom
The three new recruits soon flew meters in the opposite direction until they violently crashed against a tree and ragdolling on the ground with one strike each.
The powerful strikes reminded Vincent of when the Demonic Beast sent Tula flying. However, the three Wild Blows Koss unleashed weren't on par with the Demonic Beast's regular strikes. Not enough to kill them.
The shouting and the loud crashing ringing noise of metal armor slamming against a tree for three times woke the girls up from their slumber.
They opened their startled eyes and noticed Koss with a fighting stance. His fists were pointing at the three new recruits piled on top of each other while Vincent walked towards him.
"I'm sorry for these brats, Vincent. They only joined the army a few months ago, they are only around fifteen years old, and their hormones got the best of them..." Koss quickly said as he heard Vincent approaching with an aura of killing intent surrounding him. His intentions couldn't escape the army instructor Koss.
Koss withdrew his fighting form and turned his gaze towards Vincent. The pair of brown eyes looked cold with the intent of murder.
There was no doubt that Koss wanted to kill the three new recruits, but he is used to teaching spoiled brats. He took a deep breath and gently exhaled, releasing the built bloodlust and calming his nerves.
"No one will touch my daughter. " Koss said to the unmoving pile of new recruits.
Vincent felt a chill down his spine after seeing the murderous gaze for a few seconds until it subsided. He could feel Koss was strong like his twin brother. But he couldn't tell by how much.
However, the bloodlust Koss displayed made Vincent wary not to antagonize him. He soon started to fear Tula while wondering what her father would do to him if she hugged him like she sometimes did.
[I wonder if Tula told her father how she wanted to marry you. I have a feeling Koss is a doting father and might kick your ass if you get too close to her, haha.]
-Don't make me regard this old man as a dangerous existence, or I might not be able to sleep near him...-
-Heh... let me Inspect if these bastards are still breathing.-
.
[Name] Tame
[Condition] Medium Injury, Unconscious
.
[Name] Hara
[Condition] Medium Injury, Minor Bleeding, Unconscious
.
[Name] Culo
[Condition] Medium Injury, Minor Concussion, Unconscious
.
"Tsk... they are still alive. Thank you for protecting my girls." Vincent clicked his tongue and then thanked Koss.
However, to Vincent's surprise, Koss smiled and responded, "No need to thank me, at least I saved their lives." Koss meant about the soldiers instead of the girls.
Vincent could tell from his tone that not only Koss knew he was awake, but Koss also knew he was out for blood with a murderous intent surrounding his body.
Koss showed them mercy as the other person to stop them from possibly committing a vile act might have gotten emotionally consumed by anger and killed the three in the heat of the moment.
"Your father is a kind man, Tula. He lightly punished them. I hope they will learn from their mistakes." Ester said while brushing the innocent Tula's hair. Tula tried to figure out what was happening, but Ester's gentile words put her worries to rest.
"Looks like my mate was going to stop them, hehe. " Lupa lightly said with her arms already shapeshifted into combat form and her claws ready to rip them a new one.
On the other hand, Tulip felt scared and terrified to have stayed with men who were about to try and do something she never imagined to happen to her.
Tulip couldn't understand why the three other potential victims didn't care. As if they knew nothing terrible was going to happen to them.
Ester and Lupa placed their trust in Vincent. He would protect them no matter what happens, while Tula didn't understand why her father had to punish the three new recruits.
Only Lupa had an additional ulterior motive. To swiftly wake up and help Vincent beat them. Then she would ask to sleep beside him as a reward. But her plan failed, increasing the urge to beat them senseless when they wake up even further.
"Don't worry, everyone. The three are still alive and won't be waking up soon. I will take the guard shift by myself." Koss said as he checked their condition.
"I offer to take the second shift five hours later. I can see you didn't have a good night's sleep with those three around for quite a while." Vincent offered.
"If you don't mind... I will gladly take you on that offer, boy." Koss raised a warm smile. The tension and stress relieved by a bit from the support Vincent provided. He could finally sleep without worrying about something terrible happening while asleep.
Vincent and the four women went to sleep. Koss stood guard and the invisible guard Kazumi as well.
Kazumi could perceive how much he cared for his daughter as he would glance at her from time to time. He would sometimes smile while and other times frown.
Koss looked like he was stuck in a deep long thought regarding his twin brother, his brother's fiancee, and Tula.
*Day 27*
Midnight passed, and Koss woke Vincent to change the shift.
Vincent sat near the campfire while Koss went to sleep. A few minutes later, he could hear a chuckle behind his back from a familiar voice that should be asleep.
Vincent turned his gaze at the sleeping girls. However, Lupa wasn't with them.
"Caught you, hehe." Lupa giggled as she hugged him from behind.
-Why didn't you warn me?-
[So I miss this drama? My security services as currently out of order, hehe.]
Vincent sighed. He raised his hand and patted Lupa's head. The delighted wolf girl withdrew her arms and swiftly sat on his lap, surprising him without giving any chance to decline her.
"I missed you, and I can't sleep without your arm. " Lupa said with a pair of puppy eyes, asking to be spoiled.
"Ye, ye. You love to numb my arm every night, heh..." Vincent sighed and continued after checking everyone else was asleep, "You can sleep like this if you want. I need to stay guard."
Lupa raised a joyous smile. She quickly rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. His shoulder became her pillow and his body her bed.
[That's unexpected. I thought you might reject her like you usually do.]
-The Hero bed from another world was available, and a cute wolf desiring to sleep sat on my lap. I couldn't say no to that.-
[You're becoming good with words, I see. But jokes aside about your red nervous face... I'm happy for you. You deserve to be loved.]
-Thank you, Kazumi sensei.-
Lupa slept cuddled on Vincent in the night. She felt happy to do something like this and, more so, something Ester never did.
Lupa had a triumphant dream that night as her mate's body heat and a hearth beating in many different rhythms caused her to sleep in utter delight. It was the best nap of her life, she believed.
On the other hand, Vincent became used to holding the cute wolf girl in his arms. Her cute sleeping face and seductive body caused him to fight against his lustful urge until emerging victorious and denying such thoughts.
Ironically, Vincent placed his primary focus to stay guard against his urges instead of any possible approaching hostile life form. The naive Lupa did what she felt like doing without thinking of the consequences.
Many hours later, the sun dawned, and the twenty-seventh morning appeared.
*Yawn
"Good morning, my mate, hehe." Lupa seductively giggled. Then she rewarded her Hero bed with a peck on his cheek for a great night's sleep.
Lupa was the first person to wake up. She also was the happiest person in the area while glancing at Ester with a triumphant cheeky grin.
"Want to help me tie those three sleeping on each other?" Vincent asked with a smirk.
Lupa nodded with a smile. She felt happy to spend some time alone with Vincent. She grabbed the rope, the three new recruits held and followed Vincent's instructions.
Six identical long ropes cut by the wolf girl's sharp claws were used to tie the three new recruits' hands and legs. The two of them made space in the cart and threw the three new recruits inside. Vincent inspected their condition and saw the unconscious condition remained.
Not long after, Ester woke up, followed by Tula and a few minutes later, Tulip. Koss remained asleep, so Vincent decided to let him rest until he woke up by himself.
Vincent engraved a few rules in his heart when surviving in a dangerous place like this forest. One of them was to sleep when it was safe, as it would be the only time to sleep comfortably.
Vincent and the four girls ate a few Ani Bananas. He prepared them after when throwing the three new recruits like useless luggage in the cart.