Chapter 144

Chapter 144

Deathbringer slumped his shoulders as he watched the others continue searching through the night.

Although he’d always been more comfortable during the night than day and, since joining them, had grown accustomed to staying up all night... it was still exhausting. His body was beginning to feel heavy.

“Aren’t they hungry?”

And it wasn’t just the lack of sleep; hunger was also a problem for him.

Extended periods of hunger had always been a familiar companion to him, and moving around all day on an empty stomach was practically a close friend... but that didn’t mean it wasn’t miserable.

If they were going to stay up all night, he wished they’d at least give him something to eat. He absolutely didn’t enjoy being hungry.

“...”

But what right did he, the most useless member of the group, have to complain about food? Back in his homeland, he wouldn’t have even considered it in the first place, right?

Deathbringer swallowed his rising discomfort.

He recalled his past: the days when he went hungry for more than just a day, and the sleepless nights spent solely in pursuit of revenge.

The comfort and abundance he’d recently come to enjoy was only possible because of his companions’ wealth, so he concluded that he shouldn’t get used to it.

When he thought about it like that, he felt a little better.

Rustle

“...?”

However, it seemed he’d been a bit too lost in thought.

He only noticed the beast’s presence when it was practically standing right next to him. There was no way he could dodge. His years of experience whispered this truth into his ears.

In that case, he had to minimize the damage, at least. The iron wall could save him as long as he didn’t die.

Deathbringer skillfully lowered his body and protected his vital points. He was prepared to sacrifice an arm or a leg if necessary.

Squelch!

Thud!

However, the pain never came. There was only the sound of flesh and bone breaking.

The eyelids he’d reflexively squeezed shut fluttered open again.

“You let your guard down, young hunter!”

Berserk, who’d already gone ahead by more than ten meters, was now standing before him.

“Yeah... Thank you, Miss.”

“Hah, you damn troublemaker. How careless. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“If you’re going to scold me, just scold me.”

The iron wall was also quite weird. He clearly wasn’t injured anywhere, so why did she even ask?

As he stood up with Berserk’s help, Deathbringer’s ears twitched as if something tickled them.

Unlike the two approaching him, the Demon Knight just continued advancing steadily. True to his word, he was leaving behind anything that would hinder him.

“...Let’s go quickly.”

Deathbringer shook off his clothes, feeling a peculiar bitterness in his mouth.

“Yeah, let’s go!”

Then he paused. He glanced at the beast that had attacked him but was now lying on the ground, having been knocked away by Berserk’s punch.

Funnily enough, there was a hole in its head about the size of a circle one could make by touching one’s thumb and index finger together. A precise strike.

“Ah, right. Buddy, Berserk’s hungry. Let’s eat before continuing.”

“Do you have a piglet in your belly or something?”

“Let’s roast that beast I just killed!”

“Tsk.”

“Ah, food? I didn’t bring any utensils or seasoning, though...”

Deathbringer scratched his head, feeling a little perplexed. He really didn’t know what the Knight was thinking.

“Sigh. I figured as much. Come on. I have some seasonings and hardtack, at least.”

“Oh!”

“By the way, we’ll have to roast everything. I didn’t bring a pot because it’s too heavy.”

If he truly didn’t want anyone interfering with him, he should’ve been less considerate toward them.

* * *

“Damn, the mist is making it hard to light the fire. Hey, priest. Can’t you use that piss-colored barrier to clear the mist?”

“P-Piss-colored?! And don’t even think about using the Divine Barrier for something trivial like that!”

“What do you mean ‘something trivial like that’? What’s wrong with using it that way?”

“Grrr!”

I offered a silent prayer for the puma that had tried eating Deb but ended up being eaten by us instead.

Of course, I didn’t feel sorry for it. It had almost hurt our precious meat dumpling.

“Ooh, the fog is clearing.”

“I-Is it not sacrilegious to use Divine Power for something like this...?”

“Shut up and start the fire. Miss Fighter, please cut the meat as small as you can.”

“Is this size okay?”

In the meantime, the meat dumpling showed off his impressive skills. Using wet branches would create too much smoke, so he peeled off all the bark to expose the dry parts.

“Wow, Miss Fighter. I’ve always wondered, have you ever trained in butchery?”

“No!”

“It shows. Give me that. I’ll handle it from here.”

Just watching him debone and prepare the meat was awe-inspiring every time I saw it.

Neither I nor the Inquisitor could hope to replicate his skill, and even the Archmage, who relied entirely on magic, couldn’t compare.

“Look, if you slice it thinly and grill it like that...”

“Oh!”

“It’s cooked already? That quickly?”

“This is the quickest way to prepare them. The other parts don’t taste as good, and since there’s so little meat in these parts, they’re rarely prepared like this.”

I always thought, what would we have done without Deb? Even with the Archmage’s magic, our practical skills were severely lacking...

“Ah, it sure would have been nice to have some alcohol!”

“Th-That smell...”

“What are you even doing? Of all the pieces, you had to pick the one touching the innards. Put that down and eat this instead.”

Previously, we either didn’t camp at all or only did so for short periods, but considering we were now doing it more frequently...

Yeah, the meat dumpling really was the best.

“Buddy, are you really not going to eat any meat?”

Meanwhile, Bers, who was happily eating the meat, asked me that.

I must have looked pretty pathetic chewing on dried fruit instead of meat. We didn’t even have a pot to make soup.

“Mind your own business.”

But I’d rather eat grain powder than meat. I responded dryly while popping a dried berry into my mouth.

Since it was super sweet, it didn’t even feel like a meal to me. It was more like a snack.

“Hey, Miss Fighter. Come here for a bit...”

After some time, Deb dragged Bers away, saying he needed to go to the bathroom.

Why did it die? As I was about to think more about it, Deb exclaimed, “Huh!”

“This one’s dead, too. That one, as well.”

“B-But I applied just enough pressure to keep them alive, though...?”

I joined the others, firmly holding the one creature that was still alive. It seemed that some of the beasts the Inquisitor had captured also died.

“Why did they die?”

Five of the nine captured beasts had died for unknown reasons.

We carefully bound the mouths and limbs of the four remaining to ensure they wouldn’t die. We planned to transport them to the city.

“Seriously... What kind of disaster is this?”

Indeed, they say one shouldn’t disturb even a dog while it’s eating, yet trouble came looking for us during our meal.

“I can’t sense any Demonic Energy from them... They might be similar to those snakes we saw in the Great Forest.”

“Hmm. Could this be a clue?”

“I’m not sure. But we can’t simply ignore this... so we might as well consider it a clue.”

“Berserk is hungry again after all that work...”

“Oh, really? But the meat has probably gone cold by now...”

“We have to carry these things to the city anyway, so let’s have a proper meal once we get back, okay?”

“Hmm?”

“...You’re not planning on staying here, are you?”

“No, that’s not my intention...”

I found myself the focus of everyone’s attention, which left me a bit bewildered.

We hadn’t found the Demon, but we did find some clues that might be related to it. Besides, continuing the search would be inconvenient with these creatures in tow.

Of course, the logical step would be to return to the city. So, why were they looking at me like that? Did they seriously expect me to suggest we keep searching with these things in tow?

“Are you also going back?”

...Was that how they saw my character?

* * *

“There they come.”

Just how poorly did they think of my character? With such trepidation, we headed back to the city. To our surprise, the Archmage was waiting for us atop the city walls.

“Hey, did you guys just come back from the forest?!”

“What? Adventurers returned from there alive?”

“Adventurers actually made it out of there alive?”

As the Inquisitor waved at the Archmage, I noticed something peculiar.

Why was the top of the wall... so crowded? Something must’ve happened overnight, as the gates, usually open by morning, were tightly shut.

“Is there a problem?”

“Did beasts attack this place, as well...?”

“Is it a battle? Are we about to fight?”

While they opened the gates, we had a serious discussion. Most of our thoughts centered around the assumption that something significant had happened.

“You guys, did you just come out of that forest?”

“Yes, but...”

Finally, some people came down to meet us.

“Then, did you see that black pillar shooting into the sky last night?”

Three gazes turned toward me.

“I-It was fired five times, accompanied by loud roars. Did you see what caused them?”

Th-Thaaaaat...

I saw it extremely well. I’d had a first-class seat, at that.

“So, it really was you guys?”

The Archmage, who’d hurried down with the guards, whispered quietly. Based on his expression, he seemed to have a pretty good idea of what had happened.

“Could it be that the Demon is nearby...?”

“N-No, that’s not it.”

“No, it wasn’t the Demon.”

No, erm, so.

Wasn’t this a bit much? It hadn’t been that loud, and it was black, so it should have blended into the night sky. How did they even notice it?

“Could it be that you saw it in person?”

“If you’re asking whether we saw it directly, then...”

“Haha, that guy did it!”

Before the hesitant Inquisitor and Deb could continue, Bers cheerfully shouted.

“I told him I saw a Demon in the sky, so he shot at it! Got a problem with that?”

“What?”

Was that the right choice? I wasn’t sure. The guards froze in place, mumbling, “That man did it?”

The Inquisitor and Deb hurriedly tried to explain.

“There’s quite a bit to say, but first...”

Meanwhile, the Archmage shifted his gaze to the animals we were carrying. It was clear he intended to prioritize understanding the situation over lecturing us.

“Are you all okay?”

“Huh? I’m okay.”

“And the others?”

“As far as Berserk remembers, no one got hurt!”

“That’s a relief. And those animals...?”

“We encountered them in the forest! They attacked us in packs, so we killed a few and captured some of the rest.”

“Is that so?”

“Ah, the priest mentioned that these things were consuming Divine Power. Can animals consume Divine Power these days?”

“...What did you just say?”

Would he be able to scold us after hearing that?!

Having confirmed that the conversation had changed direction, I dropped the leopard I’d been carrying to the ground. The animal, bound tightly with vines, writhed about.

“Can I put them down?”

Bers also laid down the beasts she was carrying. After checking whether they were still alive, we found them all in seemingly good condition.

“...We need to examine them immediately.”

“Ah, right. Mister Wizard, some of those things just dropped dead, even though we didn’t even touch them. Thought I should mention that, as well.”

“Hmm. I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.”

Ah, were the explanations over? With that, I turned and walked toward the inner part of the city, not noticing Deb glancing back at us.

The guards eyed me warily, but no one stopped me, perhaps because our explanation had been sufficient.

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