24. The Nine-Headed Snake (3)
24. The Nine-Headed Snake (3)
"Are you all right?!"
"It's fine."
My body felt light. The Saintess's healing magic lived up to the title; its effect was undeniable. I seemed to have been unconscious for an hour or two, yet I felt completely refreshed. Healing magic like this every night before bed sounded wonderful, though there was no way I could afford such a luxury.
Karina's mana was finite, so it had to be used exactly where and when it was needed.
We needed to conserve as much mana as possible if Karina was going to baptize that Hydra bastard in holy magic.
"What kind of creature keeps moving on its own after its head is cut off...?"
Reni's incredulous voice tickled my ear. My eardrum had regenerated, but perhaps it had not healed perfectly—or maybe this was an aftereffect of being torn and restored. I couldn't tell. I wondered whether I should ask for a little more treatment.
...No. It'd come back on its own soon enough.
I pushed myself upright. Damp leather clung to my upper body. I must have sweated buckets fighting that Mini Hydra; my leathers were soaked right through. Without a second thought, I stripped off the soggy, unpleasant armor and tossed it aside.
Whew. I finally felt alive again.
I swept back the sweat-drenched hair plastered to my forehead. I hadn't cut it in quite a while, so it had grown past my shoulders, reaching my shoulder blades. It slipped right back into place, resisting my effort.
Maybe it was time to cut it. Shaving it all off might not have been a bad idea either. Hair had little value in the wild, and maintaining it was a nuisance.
"Karina, how much mana do you have left?"
"Huh? About two-thirds..."
Would that be enough...? Reality was not a game, so full strength would have been preferable, but how much time did we have? We needed to reorganize quickly and deal with the Hydra, which should now have had eight heads, as soon as possible. I brushed myself off and stood.
"You should rest a little more..."
"I'll rest once I'm back home."
Strictly speaking, the reconnaissance hadn't been successful, but we'd obtained important information. It was time to prepare properly for war, so I needed to return home quickly.
...Of course, right after I dismantled this snake bastard.
Reni had been prodding the Mini Hydra, but stepped back when I approached with my shovel. She seemed to understand roughly what I intended. I was about to dismantle the head when I looked back at Karina behind me.
"This'll be a bit hard to watch, so turn around. Or you can go back home with Reni first."
"...I'll turn around."
The second I heard Karina's answer, I turned my head toward Reni. She scratched her cheek and simply shrugged.
"Tell me when you're done. I can carry the load."
"Got it."
I thrust my hand into the Mini Hydra's mouth, which I'd already thoroughly mangled.
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The next morning, after a long sleep, I dragged my still-tired body to the workshop I'd prepared. It was only a temporary workshop built with my Skill the previous night, but I'd put enough thought into it to make it comfortable enough to work in. I'd once worked wherever there was room inside the house, but with more people living there now, that had become distracting...
I looked at the snake hide lying on the workbench that occupied one wall of the workshop.
Yesterday's harvest.
The venom extracted from its body had been sealed and stored separately. I planned to turn the fangs into useful work knives, while the hide would become armor against acidic poison.
I didn't like the idea of wrapping myself in Hydra hide, but surviving in a harsh world sometimes meant accepting unpleasant things with an open mind. I ran my hand delicately over the hide. This was no time to be picky, so I needed to make good use of a piece large enough to cover two people.
Since I needed to make gear for three, I was also planning to make active use of the Alpha Bear leather, bones, and tree bark I'd brought back to the house earlier.
I'd use the snake leather for areas that absolutely couldn't melt, and the existing materials for the rest.
The design... needed a few changes.
Even I thought that one was a bit too much.
I started sketching the design on a wooden board I'd brought for the purpose. Honestly, my drawing looked like cave-wall graffiti, but it only needed to make sense to me. I set the charcoal-scribbled design aside and reached for the hide.
I would start with the most important pieces: boots and gloves.
...Though first, I had to measure everyone's hands and feet.
I left the workshop and went into the house. Reni, polishing her blade with a cloth by the hearth, and Karina, in the middle of preparing a meal, both looked up at me at the sound of the door hinges scraping.
"Ah, Yohan. Weren't you going to work?"
"I need to confirm a few things first."
"This feels a little unsettling."
I breezily ignored Reni's nonsense and addressed both of them.
"Would you mind if I touch your hands and feet?"
"Excuse me?"
Why were they staring at me in shock? I had no idea what they were imagining, but I was only measuring them for gloves and boots. Even if the Skill made the equipment, the details were still my responsibility, so I had to pay attention to each one.
"I'm just measuring sizes to make gloves and boots."
"Oh, ah..."
Karina bobbed her head as if she'd finally caught on. Reni seemed to fully accept my explanation too and pulled off her shoes along with Karina.
I crouched in front of Karina and felt her hands and feet. They were soft and supple, completely unlike my hands covered in calluses and scars. Were they really both human hands? How could hers be so soft?
"Um... Yohan?"
"...What is it?"
"Well, my hand's starting to hurt a little, so how much longer will you..."
"Ah, sorry."
I hurriedly released her hand. For some reason, I felt a stare burning into the side of my face. When I glanced over, Reni was watching me suspiciously. Was she bothered that I had been handling Karina's hand? I promptly lowered my gaze to Karina's foot.
A small, soft-looking foot.
As expected, its softness tickled my palm. That seemed about right.
I released her foot and looked at Reni. Wearing an awkward expression, she held out her hand. I took it and checked the size. Her palm was somewhat rough, a natural result of years spent gripping a sword, although the back of her hand was fairly soft.
Once I'd confirmed their feet as well, I rose to my feet.
I had to get right back to work. There wasn't much time. As I was turning my back to leave, a beautiful voice, like a siren's temptation, reached my ears.
"Yohan. The meal is..."
"I'll eat after I'm done working. You two eat first."
I left the two of them and returned to my workshop, diving straight into the task. Though in truth, all I really had to do was use my Skill...
"Craft."
After I blinked a few times, a pair of snake-hide boots sat neatly on the workbench.
As expected, my bread-and-butter Skill.
Its effects were undeniable. At first, with all its annoying restrictions, I'd wondered what the hell kind of Skill this was.
Looking back, discovering this Skill had been close to a miracle.
I had discovered the Skill by accident while trying to start a fire, shouting random words after my mind had nearly broken. Without it, survival would have been impossible. I'd have ended up as nothing but a few bone fragments scattered somewhere in the forest.
In that respect, Craft was incredibly useful. If I knew how something was made, possessed the materials, and could visualize it clearly, I could create an object or building in seconds—even if the process was a huge pain.
I inspected the immaculately finished snake-leather boots, then immediately made the gloves. Now the basic protective gear was complete. All that was left was the body armor to protect their torsos.
I got straight to crafting the torso pieces.
I'd already made body armor once, so producing new sets adjusted to their sizes took little time. Soon, freshly made armor rested on the workbench.
I wiped away the beads of sweat forming on my forehead.
Using the Skill seemed to tire me out a little. Still, I didn't have time to rest.
"So we leave as soon as we eat..."
The decisive battle was close.
Now we would send that Hydra bastard off for good and prepare to enter the dungeon.
No matter how strong the Hydra was, it remained only an intermediate step.
Yeah. An intermediate step.
My final objective... was the dungeon.
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"Can you move in it?"
"Y-yes. I think I can move. Running might be a bit difficult, though..."
I'd deliberately focused on making it lightweight, but it still seemed pretty heavy for Karina.
"I can carry Karina on my back."
"No. We'll start slow. There's no need to burn energy right at the start."
"I'm all right, Reni."
"But Karina..."
"Reni. I. Am. All. Right."
At Karina's firm tone, Reni nodded with a helpless expression. Whatever else might be said, when Karina became stern, Reni grew restless and hurried to obey her. Was that because she was the Escort Knight, or did she simply become weak when put on the defensive? Either explanation was fine so long as the matter was resolved easily.
"Then we're moving out."
With a leather sack stuffed full of all sorts of materials slung over my shoulder, I took the lead and stepped into the forest.
Our destination was the former bears’ territory, specifically its broad clearing.
I'd chosen it as the Hydra’s tomb.