Chapter 192: Gathered Around the Campfire ②

Chapter 192: Gathered Around the Campfire 2 Gathered Around the Campfire 2

* * *

“......It’s no good.”

I lost my concentration and fell backward.

The fluffy grass mowed like the lawn growing to cover the base caught my body.

A green, grassy scent wafted gently.

“It’s difficult after all, huh.”

The old man sitting cross-legged while floating and grilling aburi-na over the campfire muttered softly.

“It’s difficult.”

“I see.”

And after saying that, both of us fell silent.

What I saw when I looked up was a peach-colored sky.

In it, orange clouds dyed by the setting sun flowed slowly.

“Myogomyogoshugo! Myogomyogoshugo!”

Somewhere in the distance, the myogomyogoshugo were singing.

But it will be night soon.

In less than an hour, it will probably become quiet.

<Um...... Don’t get discouraged, Emi.>

Extra-sama tries to comfort me considerately.

Yeah, thanks Extra-sama.

“Sigh......”

But I can’t help sighing, you know.

Today, my efforts didn’t bear fruit again.

I still haven’t been able to reproduce and master the old man’s 【Invisible Hand】 myself.

“Hey, hey! What’s with the gloomy faces! The pot is ready!”

Saying that, the perverted old geezer tapped the edge of the simmering pot he was cooking over the campfire with a ladle.

These cooking utensils and the seasonings used for flavoring the pot were brought in by the perverted old geezer.

This perverted old geezer may be a pervert, but he’s a former special-rank adventurer and a veteran with extensive camping experience.

Thanks to the perverted old geezer’s arrival, the old man and my diet has become much richer.

We’ve been freed from the two choices of “raw or roasted whole” and can now enjoy a wide variety of meals.

......Well, I still eat various things raw when I enter the forest to hunt because normal meals alone leave me hungry.

<Come on, Emi! Let’s change the mood! Don’t sulk and let’s eat!>

I’m not sulking or anything.

I sluggishly get up and receive a bowl from the perverted old geezer.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome!”

Today’s menu is “Zamago Toad Demon Realm-Style Hot Pot.”

It’s a dish made by butchering freshly caught Zamago Toad and simmering it with various edible wild plants and a miso-like seasoning.

The chunky toad meat cut into large pieces is sparkling, illuminated by the campfire and the setting sun.

It looks delicious.

Like chicken.

By the way, Zamago Toads are poisonous creatures, and if not properly butchered, they cannot be eaten (by ordinary people) (I ate them without worrying about the poison though).

But it’s actually a high-class ingredient, and there are many gourmet lovers who enjoy it.

It’s like the pufferfish of frogs.

Slurp.

“Thank you, Earthcell-dono...... Well then, let’s eat.”

The old man expressed his gratitude and brought the soup from the bowl to his mouth.

“Oh...... We were able to stay alive for another day. I give thanks to...... the Panty God.”

The perverted old geezer offered a prayer to the god he believes in.

No, there’s no way such a god exists.

<There is.>

It exists!?

<Ah, but don’t misunderstand. The Panty God is a lower-ranking god created by the Clothing God and governs techniques for making panties and such. It’s definitely not the god of perverts.>

Of course not!

There’s no way there’s a god of perverts!

<No, there is a Pervert God who governs perverts.>

It exists!?

* * *

The campfire crackles and pops.

Before I knew it, the surroundings had become quite dark, the noisy myogomyogoshugo had gone to sleep, and now only the quiet cry of shumicappe echoes.

“Foooh~~~! Emi-chan, you really eat a lot!”

The perverted old geezer said with a satisfied look, narrowing his eyes while staring at the bottom of the pot.

“Is that bad?”

“No way! It’s a child’s job to eat a lot and grow big!”

“......You’re right. Children are...... that’s right......”

The old man...... upon hearing the perverted old geezer’s words, made a pained expression with distant eyes.

His conscience is probably hurting because of the grave sin he says he committed in the past.

“............”

I don’t say anything about that.

As long as he doesn’t try to die, I have nothing to say.

I can’t say anything.

Because that’s a problem the old man has to face.

I want him to suffer on his own.

“............”

But you know.

After eating a delicious meal.

I really wish they’d stop creating this depressing atmosphere.

This story that I couldn’t help but be curious about and asked ended up making the atmosphere even heavier, and instead of resolving the question, it only deepened the mystery.

The sound of the campfire crackling echoes around.

“Old man.”

“What is it?”

And I couldn’t help but ask.

“Do you dislike me?”

Something I deliberately didn’t ask until now.

“Why?”

“Because I’m a cursed child.”

I stare intently into the old man’s eyes.

“............”

The old man looked down and sighed.

Then he slowly stood up and started walking.

Slowly approaching me, and then.......

He lightly tapped my head.

“Ouch.”

It doesn’t hurt, but I mutter that.

The old man roughly ruffled my head.

Then he plopped down beside me.

“You see, I’m grateful to you.”

“............”

“It’s because of your words, ‘If you want to live, then live,’ that I am here now. Well, I feel like I was threatened quite roughly, but......”

The old man continued, smiling wryly.

“Even so, thanks to you, I am alive now. It’s hard every day and...... sometimes painful, but it’s quite fun, you know? It’s all thanks to you.”

“............”

“Thank you, Emi.”

“............”

The old man said that while staring at the campfire.

...... Weren’t you taught to look people in the eye when expressing gratitude?

It’s fine though.

My vision is also a bit blurry.

I don’t want to be seen like that.

“”............””

Ah, silence.

Silence after all.

But it’s more of an embarrassed silence than a heavy one.

“......What about you, old geezer?”

“Foh?”

And I ended up asking the old geezer too.

“Don’t you dislike me, a cursed child?”

The same question as before.

The old geezer smiled gently and patted my head like the old man.

“I don’t mind! Indeed, I often hear stories about misfortune occurring when a cursed child is around, but that’s not all! Do you know a man named Yogin!?”

“......I’ve heard of him.”

“He’s amazing! A fellow adventurer of mine from around the same time, and despite being black-haired and black-eyed, he achieved many accomplishments and made people happy! I don’t know what he’s doing now, but anyway, there are people like that too!”

“............”

“Besides, I! Before being a cursed child or whatever......”

And he grasped my small hands tightly with both hands.

“I’m on the side of cute girls!”

He winked mischievously.

Swiftly letting go of my hands.

And what was in the palm of my hand......

It was panties.

“To change a depressed mood, first wear bright-colored underwear! I’ll give those panties to Emi-chan, so please BUWEEEEEEH!!?”

For now, I punched him seriously enough not to kill him.

Well, in this way, another noisy night in the demon realm passes.

The peach-colored sky gradually changes its color to purple and then black, and before I knew it, it was completely night.

......I noticed something.

Despite various things, I quite liked living at this base.

At first, I thought I would stay here until I mastered 【Invisible Hand】.

It’s still inconvenient now.

But someday, I want to build a nicer, warmer house at this base and eat delicious meals with Extra-sama and the others.

Such a future flickers in my mind.

However, from this day on.

An unerasable anxiety took residence in a corner of my mind.

Because I’m here.

Because I’m a cursed child.

The anxiety that some irreversible misfortune might befall the old man and the others in the future.

The issue of black-haired, black-eyed cursed children has finally been brought up as a topic.

Why are black-haired, black-eyed people discriminated against in Ardyst?

The answer is, ‘Because in this world, black-haired, black-eyed people often bring misfortune in reality.’

However, the real mystery of why black-haired, black-eyed people bring misfortune still remains.

But you know, to be honest, in terms of the story of ‘The Reincarnated Extra,’ that’s not the main mystery.

The real mystery that has not yet been directly mentioned but has been continuously presented in this story is......

No, but, well, I’m sorry for writing in a suggestive way, but actually, even that doesn’t really matter.

Because the essence of this story is the figure of Emi, the superhuman protagonist, rampaging sometimes joyfully and sometimes miserably.