No Beast Girls on the Western Front

Page 2

Chapter 2, Section II. The First Signs of the Depressing Joke

Payne took out a water bottle from behind him, intending to give her some water—but if her abdomen was injured, he couldn't give her anything to drink.

However, when Payne asked her, Norma merely blinked. She no longer had the strength to answer.

Payne had no choice but to put down the water bottle again, look at her hands pressed against her chest, compose himself, pull her arms away, and tear open her tattered military uniform.

...The dazzling...the towering mountains and flowing waters—all of these have been replaced by the shattered landscape.

Norma's chest was badly wounded, large patches of charred black and dark red intertwined on her body. With each breath, Payne could even see the beating of her lungs through the wound.

Only then did Lacey frantically unroll the two rolls of bandage, nearly dropping one into the muddy water, but she managed to properly cover her wound.

"Ah... gently... gently... gently..." Norma finally let out a soft moan.

At least she wasn't bleeding too much—Paine thought to himself, as he went over, held her head, and fed her some water.

Her beautiful blue eyes, as clear as glass beads, darted around, seemingly glancing at her right arm.

Payne then noticed that her right arm was bent in an unbelievable direction, and the sleeve was soaked with blood.

Lacey then pulled out several more rolls of bandages from the bag of a nearby corpse. The two carefully used the bandages to secure Norma's severed limb to the handle of the shovel, and then used the remaining bandages to cover the horrific wound.

As if to comfort someone, Payne turned to Lacey and said, "See, I told you, having a shovel is useful."

However, neither of the two beast girls spoke. Their eyes, one yellow and one blue, were fixed on him, filled with a look of despair and hope.

Payne didn't look anyone in the eye; he just looked around, "It's been so long, why haven't the medics arrived yet..."

He pulled Lacey to her feet, saying, "Let's go find a stretcher. Hang in there."

Norma's expression instantly turned to extreme pain, her breathing became heavy, and she struggled to open her mouth to say, "Don't...don't go..."

Lacey lowered her head and said, "We'll be right back, we're just going to get you a spare stretcher."

As if grasping at a last straw, Norma grabbed Payne's clothes with her intact left hand and sobbed, "Don't go...don't go..."

Payne paused for a moment, reached out and touched Norma's face, but ultimately resolutely pulled his clothes back, grabbed Lacey's arm and led her away.

"No...no...don't go..."

After walking a dozen meters or so and making sure Norma couldn't hear them, Payne looked around, then whispered in Lacey's ear:

"How about... we just shoot her and finish her off?"

Lacey's ears twitched, and the downy hair brushed against Payne's nose, making him feel a little itchy.

She didn't speak, but simply looked up at Payne, her eyes filled with anger—the anger of betrayal.

Payne also got angry and raised his voice slightly, shouting, "Then what do you want me to do? What can I do? I can't handle her injuries!"

"And even if a doctor were willing to treat her, she simply couldn't withstand the arduous journey; she could only last a few days at most!"

"The pain she will experience then will make all the pain she has endured so far seem insignificant!"

"She is now gradually losing consciousness and her mind is in disarray, but in an hour, the unbearable pain will only turn her into a cursed screaming doll!"

"Every day she lives becomes a maddening torment!"

"What good would it do her to keep her alive?"

Lacey neither nodded nor shook her head, but said in a cold tone, "Yes, you're right, she should be shot."

Payne heard what the other person said clearly, but he just stood there, motionless.

Half a minute later, Lacey looked him up and down. "Shall you do it, or should I?"

It seemed that Payne hadn't breathed for half a minute. Only then did he let out a long sigh, say "I'll do it," and take the pistol out of its holster. His fingers kept rubbing the handle, but he remained standing still.

Lacey's ears darted around like radar, and she said, "If you're going to do it, hurry up, the battle should be over by now."

It was only then that Payne noticed that the distant gunfire had stopped, the thick fog was gradually being dispersed by the breeze, and the hazy sunlight was gradually casting shadows on the uneven, muddy ground.

The weather is finally going to clear up.

As if he had made up his mind, Payne turned around, gripped his pistol tightly, and walked toward Norma.

But in the next instant, Lacey grabbed his arm. "Wait, the medic is here."

Payne looked around and realized that there were more than just the two of them there.

A few wounded soldiers, supported by others, emerged sparsely from the thick fog. Behind them, several medics carrying stretchers appeared in the trenches, their helmets bearing white backgrounds and red scepters.

They placed the wounded, including Norma, on stretchers and jogged towards the rear.

Payne stared at the direction Norma had left for a long time, then put his pistol back into its holster. "Sigh—what a fine little pony..."

Lacey didn't say anything, she just wiped her eyes.

……

After washing their faces with the machine gun's cooling water, the man and the beast began searching for the other two beasts, Ruby and Troy.

According to the wounded soldiers who had retreated, the enemy had been driven back, they had recaptured the first line of defense, and the front line had returned to its initial position.

Moreover, according to reports, the losses in this battle exceeded expectations, so many companies on the defensive line were given the opportunity to return to the rear for rest and reorganization ahead of schedule.

That's a pleasant thing.

However, in theory, orc soldiers should be very conspicuous wherever they are, but Paine asked around among the soldiers and no one saw the other two orcs - which made him a little worried.

"Paine!"

A male voice suddenly came from behind him. Although he was certain it wasn't an orc soldier—orcs were only female due to some technological limitations—he still turned around happily, "Paul! You're alive too!"

A thin figure emerged from the dissipating fog. He recognized him as Paul, his comrade from the same company. The two had known each other on the battlefield for a whole year.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

"I'm fine, how about you?"

"I'm fine too."

After quickly confirming the other party's situation, Payne immediately asked, "Have you seen Troy and Ruby?"

Paul: "Oh, I see. Those two were forced by Company Commander D to work as laborers and carry wounded soldiers."

Hearing him say that, Payne finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

Good, it seems they are both alright.

Just live.

Paul glanced at Lacey, who was walking beside him with her head down, then looked around and asked jokingly, "Where's your other horse? What's wrong, is she sulking with you again?"

Paine's expression, which had just begun to improve, immediately fell back down.

This guy really knows how to bring up the most sensitive topics...

Although his pause was enough for Paul to realize what had happened, and Payne didn't want to say anything more, the horrifying wound on Norma's chest and her lungs slowly beating with each breath uncontrollably flashed through his mind...

He glanced at Paul. "No, she has become much more open-minded."

Then, a monotonous system notification sounded in his mind:

"

Hey~

The host's depressing jokes were detected.

Depression level: 85%

Funny level: 100%

Freshness: 25%

Note: Meets the reward distribution criteria

Points increased by 210

"

……

Strangely enough, Payne did not notice anything unusual the moment he traveled through time.

For the first twenty years of his life in this world, he always thought it was just an ordinary, unsystematic reincarnation.

But when he was first sent to the battlefield and faced the whistling bullets and shells for the first time, the thing he called the "Depressing Joke System" was activated without warning.

This system has no fixed tasks. As long as you tell a humorous joke, the system will give you a score with unclear standards and reward you in the form of points.

Points can be redeemed for physical rewards in the system store, ranging from compressed biscuits to bulletproof vests, from pistols to penicillin, but there are no super-powerful items that can save your life simply by buying them.

Moreover, all the rewards were incredibly expensive; even the most basic can of chicken cost several thousand points. As a result, Paine, who had been on the battlefield for a whole year, hadn't redeemed anything much.

His ability to survive a whole year of meat grinder-like battles had little to do with this tasteless system; it was purely because he and the beast girls were tough enough, plus they had good combat skills.

As for the jokes that made people feel depressed, Payne was somewhat disgusted with them in his previous life, but after spending a whole year on the battlefield, he had completely come to terms with them.

An army that is currently engaged in combat is basically a production base for depressing jokes.

Moreover... obtaining survival supplies by joking about the dead is not an unacceptable thing.

After all, the dead must make way for the living.

Chapter 3 III. About this World

When Payne regained consciousness, the first thing he felt was a comfortable rocking motion, like lying in a baby's crib, and his head felt like it was resting on a soft velvet pillow. It was so comfortable that it didn't feel like the real world...

A roar of an engine, growing louder and louder, mixed with the clanging of rusty metal like wind chimes, filled Payne's head.

He slowly parted his slightly sticky lips and tentatively asked, "Lassie?"

"Well, I'm here."

A gentle voice came from above him, which made him sigh slightly.

"Where's Ruby?"

"Still asleep."

"What about Troy and Norma?"

"Troy is sleeping too."