Chapter 13
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It was a thin voice that broke off unnaturally in short bursts.
But I could clearly understand what it was trying to say.
It can absorb poison?
I had never once imagined that a resentful spirit could possess such an ability.
When I stood there frozen, momentarily dazed, the spirit seemed to think I had not understood and spoke again.
―Poison, absorb, I, can.
I snapped back to my senses and asked, “Really? You can really absorb poison?”
In response to my question, the resentful spirit nodded vigorously.
―Ca-n.
The moment I heard that answer, I hurried back to Isael.
Then I ordered the spirit to draw the poison out of Isael’s body.
The spirit slid smoothly toward Isael. After a moment, Isael’s body and the spirit’s form completely overlapped.
“W-what was that just now? Did an evil spirit possess His Highness?”
Felix muttered in disbelief.
Clasping my hands together, I stared at Isael’s face.
How long did I wait like that?
Soon, I could see the color returning to Isael’s complexion.
Just moments ago, Isael had been frowning deeply with his eyes shut, but now he was breathing evenly, as if he had fallen into a peaceful sleep.
Just as it had when it entered Isael’s body, the resentful spirit slipped out of him without making a sound.
“Thank you.”
At my words, the spirit nodded once, then vanished on the spot as if its task was complete.
I gazed silently at Isael’s face, now far more relaxed, for a long while.
This time, let’s rest properly on the island. Then we can move on to the next one, I thought.
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The resentful spirit could do far more things than I had expected.
First of all, reconnaissance.
This was the second island. It was not as large as the islands we would have to visit later, but it was still bigger than the first one.
The forest in the center of the island was fairly expansive as well, but since the spirit and I split up to search, we were able to finish quickly.
“There’s a lake inside the forest.”
After confirming through the spirit that the lake water was normal, unlike the river, I passed the information on to Isael and Felix as well.
“Oh, then does that mean we can finally wash?”
“Let’s take turns and wash one at a time.”
Before I had even finished speaking, Felix disappeared, his face lit up with excitement as he declared he would go first.
Without giving me a chance to stop him, he ran far off into the distance. I stared at his retreating back with a dumbfounded expression.
No, I was just about to decide the order, and that bastard…
Grinding my teeth at the shameless Felix, I heard Isael ask, “There are no beasts in the forest, right?”
“Yeah. The beasts can’t come up onto this island in the first place.”
Aside from us, there wasn’t a single living creature on the island.
The forest was thick with various plants, and it seemed like we might be able to find food there as well.
Isael had recovered, and we now had a way to secure food.
In many ways, it was a hopeful situation.
Just like the saying that happiness comes after hardship.
“What are you smiling about?”
“I’m smiling because I’m glad you’re all better, that’s all.”
“……”
“There’s really nowhere that hurts anymore, right?”
Isael looked at me silently for a long moment, then nodded.
“…Thanks to you. Thank you.”
This guy even knows how to say something touching now…
He’s really grown up.
I looked at Isael with a satisfied gaze.
Isael met my gaze for a moment, then suddenly brought up that he needed to do swordsmanship training.
“Why not do it here?”
“No. I kind of want to be alone for a bit.”
“……”
“I’ll be back.”
…Has he grown so much that he’s reached the age where he needs time alone, like an adolescent?
“I won’t go far. And I won’t be gone long.”
“No, it’s fine.”
I waved my hand lightly as I saw Isael off.
“I’m fine, so go train as much as you want.”
After that, I sat down on the spot Isael had made soft and comfortable by piling up leaves, and looked out at the scenery beyond the island.
The demonic beasts were still not the least bit tired, fighting each other like mad, blood flying everywhere.
As I stared in the direction of the third island, the one we would have to head to next, I thought to myself, Once Felix comes back, I’ll wash next, then tell Isael to wash after that.
Then we’ll all get some sleep, wake up refreshed, and move on to the next island.
This time, so that Isael doesn’t get badly hurt again, I’ll have to push myself a bit harder and kill more beasts.
As I was roughly organizing this plan in my head, Felix returned.
“Huh, you’re alone? Where’s His Highness?”
“He went to do some sword training for a bit. You’re done washing, right?”
“Yeah.”
Felix smiled, his face looking refreshed.
He would probably get dirty again soon on the way to the next island anyway.
Still, keeping the body as clean as possible was important.
“Then I’ll go wash too.”
“Oh, go ahead! I’ll wait here.”
The moment I got up from my seat, Felix subtly slid into my spot.
When Isael was around, he never even dared to sit there because he was too busy minding his presence.
If he wanted it that badly, he could have gathered leaves himself and made a comfortable spot.
Watching for an opportunity just to sit in someone else’s place, his shamelessness was almost impressive.
Clicking my tongue, I headed into the forest.
On the way to the lakeside, I summoned the resentful spirit.
Summoning the spirit had become easy now, as long as I had the will to do it.
The amount of mana required to control it was gradually decreasing as well.
Because of that, the time I could maintain the spirit had grown longer, too.
And we can communicate, too.
It seemed that I was gradually becoming more skilled at handling this power.
If things continued like this, I might soon succeed in summoning one more resentful spirit.
I gave the spirit an instruction.
“While I’m washing, check the surroundings a bit more and see if there’s anything humans can eat.”
The resentful spirit nodded slowly, then walked off into the distance, leaving me behind.
After parting ways with it, I quickened my pace and soon arrived at the lakeside.
I took off my dirty clothes and laid them neatly on the ground, then went into the lake, swimming around and enjoying a long-awaited bath.
But not long after—
“Rosette!”
I heard Felix shout urgently.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I immediately got out of the lake, quickly grabbed my clothes, got dressed, and ran out of the forest.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
When I asked, Felix pointed somewhere with a flustered expression.
“There, look over there.”
I followed the direction he was pointing.
That was when I saw the island we had passed earlier.
The first island.
On top of it, figures we had not seen before were gathered closely together.
They were none other than Leonard and his companions.
So the protagonist buff really can’t be ignored, huh.
They had reached this place faster than I had expected.
Not only that, when I counted them, every single member except for Felix, who was standing beside me, was there on the island.
They had made it this far without a single casualty.
“What do we do? I think they spotted us from over there too…”
“What do you mean ‘what do we do’?”
Leonard was going to continue overcoming the trials smoothly like that anyway.
And then he would leave the tower.
But it definitely won’t be easy.
Right now, I am ahead of him.
And I intended to stay that way.
All the items that Leonard should have obtained originally, I would sweep them all up and keep moving ahead.
That meant Leonard would continue to fall further behind.
I spoke firmly to Felix, who was biting his nails anxiously.
“I’m going to go my own way. No matter what those guys do.”
“……”
“Oh. If you’re acting like this because you want to go back to them, I won’t stop you. You can just go.”
Or he could wait here and join them when they arrived.
Before my words had even fully finished, Felix flailed his hands in panic.
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
“Whatever you mean, handle it yourself. I don’t care.”
Leaving Felix behind, stiffened as if taken aback, I sat down.
Then I cast my gaze back toward the first island.
Just then, Leonard and his companions were also looking in our direction.
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