Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Thrust.
The next morning.
Yuna was smiling brightly, looking very satisfied.
“We should’ve traveled like this from the start.”
“As if I knew we’d be able to talk to the bear.”
At that, the bear lowered his head.
“I should have spoken sooner. My apologies. I didn’t realize.”
Right now, our party was riding on top of the cart while the skeletons pulled it.
Actually, this had been Yuna’s idea the day before.
But I rejected it.
The iron bars on the cage weren’t dense enough to stop the bear if it attacked.
If the bear reached through the bars and swung its arms, Yuna and I would be split in half.
Melaym, of course, would probably be fine.
But that wasn’t an issue anymore.
The bear had promised not to attack.
Of course, I didn’t know whether I could trust that promise, but… he seemed like a nice bear.
While I was thinking that, Melaym spoke.
“Ah, Luka. The place we are heading to was the territory of Count Kite, was it not?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Why?”
“I know a shortcut.”
A shortcut?
How would she know—ah.
Melaym must have eaten quite a variety of adventurers with all kinds of useful knowledge.
“Then can you show us? If possible, I’d like to arrive today.”
“But it will require climbing the mountain. That cart will no longer be rideable.”
“Then what about the bear?”
The bear answered.
“If it’s something like that, I can push the cart as well. I too wish to get out of this cart as soon as possible.”
Yuna lit up.
“I’m in favor too! Let’s take the shortcut.”
“Huh? Isn’t the cart comfortable?”
“But there were bugs when we slept yesterday… I want to get to a town.”
No… it’s not that bugs appeared.
We appeared in the bugs’ habitat.
Well, whatever.
Everyone seemed to agree, so I guess shortcut it was.
“Then Melaym, can you guide us?”
“Leave it to me.”
Melaym jumped down lightly and took the lead.
…
The shortcut Melaym guided us through had absolutely no signs of human passage.
Well, with slopes this steep, no wonder nobody came this way.
Damn, I’m dying here!
At least two skeletons were clearing the path ahead of us, cutting through plants with their swords.
And Yuna, who summoned them, was riding on the bear’s back.
Lucky bastard.
Suppressing my exhausted expression, I asked Melaym:
“Do we have to keep climbing like this?”
“The uphill path will end soon. There will be flat ground ahead. After that, it is downhill.”
Thank god…
Just like Melaym said, the uphill stretch ended before long, and flat land spread before us.
Though “flat” was a generous term.
It was still full of trees, and there wasn’t an actual road.
Still, it was much better.
While walking across the flatland, we found a crudely made sign.
At first, I thought it was a directional marker, but apparently not.
“What’s this?”
“To my knowledge, there was no such thing before. It must have been installed recently.”
Not your knowledge.
Someone else’s memory.
Anyway, the sign read:
—Danger! No Entry! (You Might Die!)—
Hmm…
The handwriting was awful.
Did a child write this as a prank?
No, no way a child came all the way out here.
Since Yuna couldn’t read, I read it aloud for her.
“It says it’s dangerous and not to enter. What should we do? Go back and take the normal road? We’d probably have to camp one more night.”
“No. Absolutely not.”
Yeah, after coming all this way, no way we were turning back.
I didn’t want to either.
And if we’re talking dangerous, nothing beats my party members.
A necromancer.
A doppelganger.
And a temporary companion bear.
…Suddenly I felt depressed.
“Then let’s keep going. What could happen?”
Yuna gave me a flat look.
“Don’t say things like that. It makes me nervous.”
Huh?
Wasn’t that supposed to be optimistic?
Figures a necromancer would be so negative.
Ignoring the warning sign, we continued forward.
And after a while—
Rustle.
A sound came from the side.
The moment I turned my head, something jumped out and threw itself into my arms.
Light.
Warm.
What is this?
“Huh?”
I looked down.
In my arms was a silver-haired girl.
She looked up at me with moist eyes.
There was a strange ache—
No, not strange.
This hurts.
“…!”
I tried to speak.
But instead of words, blood spilled from my mouth.
Huh?
In the girl’s hand was a blade.
And that blade was buried deep in my chest.
The girl in my arms spoke.
“Sorry… I’m sorry.”
What the hell is this…?
“Grab her!”
Yuna shouted.
The skeletons rushed toward me.
At the same time, Melaym’s tentacles shot out in all directions.
The world turned red.
And then I lost consciousness.
…
Bit by bit, my senses returned.
…Dizzy.
I moved my hands a few times.
This feels weird…
Where am I?
Then someone looked down at me, lying on the dirt.
“Oh? You’re awake.”
Ah, Melaym.
The doppelganger.
My party member.
She grinned.
“I patched your body up as best I could. But don’t move too violently, just in case.”
What did she mean?
I turned my head slightly.
And saw the silver-haired girl tightly bound in Melaym’s tentacles.
That’s right!
She stabbed me!
“You…!”
Ugh!
I tried to sit up, but my head spun and I failed.
Melaym looked down at me.
“I gave you a transfusion, but it still may not be enough.”
“A transfusion?!”
Isn’t there supposed to be a matching type for that?!
I heard you couldn’t just shove random blood into someone.
Though… I’d also heard magic or tools could check compatibility.
And as far as I knew, doppelgangers could use the skills of the people they ate.
I looked at Melaym.
“…Can you use a skill to check blood compatibility?”
Melaym shook her head.
“Of course not. I’ve never eaten a mage.”
“Then you just guessed?!”
At that moment, Yuna’s voice came from nearby.
She was lying on the cart carried by the bear and skeletons.
“It wasn’t a guess. I’m type O.”
“Type O…?”
What’s that?
Melaym explained.
“She says it means someone whose blood can be given to anyone.”
There’s such a thing?
Well, it’s not like I know much about transfusions.
Yuna continued.
“She’s from another world, so I wasn’t sure it’d work… but it was worth trying.”
I’ll ignore the way she phrased that.
Still.
I really almost died!
Lucky, but still—
The girl bound in Melaym’s tentacles was brought closer to me.
Well, brought closer because Melaym dragged her over.
“I kept her restrained. I leave her fate to you.”
“To me?”
“You are both the party leader and the injured party.”
I stared at the bound girl.
She was pretty.
But remembering that I nearly died still sent chills down my spine.
And it pissed me off.
The girl lowered her head and spoke.
“…Sorry. Whatever you do to me, I’ll accept it without complaint.”
Ah…
When someone apologized that obediently, it was hard to stay angry.
Was it because she was pretty?
No.
I’m not that simple-minded.
“Why did you do this?”
The girl answered honestly.
But could this even be called an answer?
“I couldn’t hold back.”
Uh…
“Hm? Can you repeat that?”
“I wanted to kill you. So badly I couldn’t endure it.”
What the hell was this crazy woman saying?
Then the girl raised her head.
The obedient look vanished, replaced by a grin.
“To be honest, I still do.”
Then her expression returned to calm.
“It’s not because it was you. I just wanted to kill someone, and you happened to be there.”
What kind of answer was that?
She just randomly had urges to kill people?
That’s pure insanity!
But her next words drained my anger.
“So I’ve been hiding out here… I even put up a warning sign. But I guess I failed to manage myself. Sorry.”
I remembered the childish handwriting on that sign.
Danger.
You might die.
It had said that.
And I was the one who ignored it.
Melaym and Yuna didn’t seem shaken.
Looks like they’d already talked while I was unconscious.
No.
They just pushed the decision onto me.
“Why… why do you feel that urge?”
The girl hesitated, then answered.
“When I was young, I was kidnapped and trained as an assassin. They must’ve done something to me there. My friends were all like that too. But the organization collapsed, and they all died.”
Ah…
Now it felt even harder to be angry.
She must have gone through some serious conditioning.
That urge to kill…
She was hiding out here to suppress it.
And she even put up warning signs in case someone wandered in.
Of course, ignoring the sign didn’t justify stabbing me.
Melaym looked at me, deep in thought.
“No matter your decision, you need not dirty your own hands. I will handle it.”
“…Eat her?”
Melaym walked over to the bound girl and gently stroked her cheek.
“She does look delicious. But unfortunately, I cannot.”
“Why?”
“The chances are low, but if I eat her, I may inherit not only her memories but her murderous urges as well.”
Ah, no.
That was bad.
Yuna and I would definitely be the first victims.
Look at Yuna.
Even she looked scared.
Melaym seemed to notice my thoughts and smiled.
“Luka. Do not overthink it. Simply say the word, and I will crush her, tear her apart, and leave no trace.”
Why would you put it like that?
That just made it harder.
Melaym stepped closer and locked eyes with me.
Was it because I knew she was a monster?
Even with her beautiful face, I felt like a frog staring at a snake.
“You cannot simply release her, can you?”
“But…”
“Will you leave her here? Another person may become her victim. One day, she may lose control and go to a city. And besides, she has seen my beautiful tentacles.”
Melaym was right.
Except for the “beautiful tentacles” part.
And the bound girl looked resigned, as though accepting her fate.
When I couldn’t answer, Melaym grinned.
“Well… there is one other option besides killing her or abandoning her.”
“Another option?”
What, neither killing nor releasing?
Half-killing her?
Don’t tell me you’re planning to tear off a few limbs—
But Melaym’s proposal was far more moderate.
And far more dangerous.
“Make her a party member. If you cannot kill her, then the only option is to keep her by your side.”
“What are you talking about…?”
Melaym’s tentacles bound the silver-haired girl’s limbs and lifted her into the air.
“Choose, Luka. Will you take her with us… or kill her?”
As Melaym spoke, the bound girl’s limbs began to stretch tight under the tension.