CH 182

Chapter 182 – We Couldn’t Watch!?

One hour after eating lunch, we continued smoothly to the east by boat.

In the meantime, our eyes were directed at the black cat who ran parallel to us on the beach.

Mette said with wide eyes,

“It’s still following us, that black cat…”

“Impressively tenacious.”

Melk praised it.

“It must be desperate to find food… We were once like that as well.”

Asuha said as she looked at the black cat with sad eyes.

And then Iria answered.

“Then let’s…leave some fish for it.”

“Indeed…it may also have some friends. And so I’ll put a little extra… Wait.”

It happened then.

The bushes along the beach were rustling as if chasing the cat.

Melk’s nose twitched as she muttered.

“The smell of blood… Beyond the bushes.”

Upon hearing this, Asuha checked the bushes from the sky before returning to us.

“I could not see anything from above. Whatever it is, it is not very tall.”

“I see… In any case, we should take the cat aboard for now.”

I said, turning the rudder of the ship so that we moved towards the beach.

The black cat noticed this as well, and it sat down to wait.

The movement in the bushes also stopped close to the cat.

“This is bad. Ah…”

Just as Melk said this, a dark shadow jumped out from the bushes, towards the cat.

It was…a giant snake… I had seen them before, in the abandoned mines near Fendel. It was a devil snake.

But by the time that this registered in my head, a single arrow was already flying towards the snake.

The arrow went into the mouth, piercing its head.

As the giant snake collapsed to the ground, the black cat turned around to see what had happened. It then let out an alarmed meow, and started to run towards us. I suppose it did not understand that the devil snake was already dead.

“Amazing shot, princess!”

Mette said as she lowered her crossbow.

It had been Iria who shot the arrow. As always, she was so fast that I wasn’t even sure when she had attacked…

“No, Ms. Monica would have been able to do it with much more skill than me. In any case, we should hurry before other monsters catch the smell of blood.”

Iria said. Asuha nodded and sent wind into our sails. Mette also rowed the oars as hard as she could.

“Alright, I’m stopping the boat.”

Once the boat was on the beach, I quickly went to collect the devil snake’s body.

It was smaller than the one I had seen near Fendel. And while the magic stone I found in its body had an effect that improved healing magic, it was not very big.

“It is surprisingly small.”

I nodded at Iria’s words.

“Aye. But in spite of its size, it is much stronger than something like a boar… And there are probably lots of these around here.”

Well, I could use its skin and venom sacs. Also, the meat was delicious. So I would gladly take it.

As for the black cat, it was shaking with fear as it pressed against Melk, who was in her wolf form.

Melk patted the black cat gently.

“It is younger than I thought.”

“…I’m young, so it cannot be helped, meow.”

“Meow?”

Melk repeated after suddenly hearing those words.

“Meow? What is it?”

We all doubted our ears then. Because the black cat was now talking as it looked around at us.

“…It-it talked!?”

Mette’s voice echoed.