108
My Villains Chapter 108
27. Mountain Lodge (4)
I stroked the sleeping Lump's back. The well-dried fur was soft like silk.
A touch that makes my heart feel at ease. Even so, my eyes do not close. Because of Atalante.
I forced my eyes closed while using my arm as a pillow, trying to organize my complicated thoughts. First, it's almost certain that she is the Phantom Hunter Atalante. Her face is an exact match to the illustration, and gray hair is not so common.
And, she is probably my sub-character. Given the cases of Ellen and Luke, Utequais, the probability that this would be an exception is not low.
Next is the level and build...
But, damn, I can't remember anything. At least in the past 2-3 years, I haven't raised a Phantom Hunter, so it would be strange if I did remember.
Moreover, the Phantom Hunter is not a character I prefer. It heavily relies on equipment, has poor survivability, and its PK performance is ambiguous.
So the Phantom Hunter I raised was unconditionally one of two builds. Either a PK build to hunt close-range characters or a grinding build for farming.
So Atalante is likely one of those two builds. I should be able to tell just by looking at the equipment...
"Phoenix."
"What is it? Aren't you sleeping?"
A small voice. Ellen was lying facing this way.
"I'm not really tired."
"Not tired? You used a lot of magic."
"That's nothing now."
"Pfft, is that so?"
As I lay down turning towards Ellen while resting my head, she pulled the blanket up to her nose.
"You're really a genius. How do you improve your skills so quickly?"
"I am a genius, but not in terms of skills. I'm just utilizing the abilities I already had."
"Ugh, right. So you."
"...So I? What do you mean?"
Ellen averted her gaze and changed the topic.
"What do you think about Utequais?"
"What do I think?"
"We've been together for... How long has it been?"
"...About three months."
"Three months? Already?"
"Wasn't it June 1st when we went to release him?"
"Oh, right. Anyway, after three months, you can understand what kind of person he is to some extent."
Ellen paused for a moment, choosing her words.
"Hmm. He doesn't seem as bad as I thought."
"Really?"
"Uh-huh."
"And?"
"And what?"
"Is that it?"
"Yes. What else should I say?"
"No, that's not it."
I continued stroking Lump and spoke.
"Seems like you've gotten quite close."
"Me? With that barbarian?"
"Both you and me."
"No, I'm not."
"Really? Did I misunderstand?"
"Yes. Not at all."
"Anyway, he seems okay. He talks nonsense often, but he's somewhat kind. Sometimes, no, often he can be mature for his age."
Ellen furrowed her brows at my words.
"...Mature for his age?"
"Isn't that right?"
"Do you know how old Utequais is?"
"Well, I'm not exactly sure. Isn't he just under forty?"
"What?"
Ellen shook her head as if it was absurd.
"Forty? He seems not even over thirty."
"Thirty? No, he's definitely over thirty-five."
"I don't think so."
"He has three children, and a daughter about your height. He must be over thirty-five."
"...Is that so. So why are you bringing this up?"
In response to Ellen's question, I scratched my cheek and answered.
"It's been bothering me a bit."
"What?"
"We always do this. You and I sleep together, and Utequais is always alone. As colleagues, isn't it like we're isolating him?"
Ellen's face immediately wrinkled.
"Let me tell you in advance, I absolutely cannot share a room with that guy."
"No, I mean, even if you use separate rooms-"
"I don't even consider him a colleague yet."
"Why?"
"Why? He's a barbarian."
"Is being a barbarian that important?"
"Isn't it important?"
"What does background matter? Whether he's a barbarian or not, he's the same person."
"Whew."
Ellen let out a deep sigh and shook her head with a serious look.
"Not the same at all."
"What?"
"Different religions, different education, different languages, different lives. We know nothing about that barbarian."
I wanted to argue, but I couldn't say anything. Because the scene of Utequais dismantling an ogre came to mind.
The scale ogre Haqurio. Utequais dismantled it, offering the neck and spine to his mother and chewing its heart himself.
I vividly remembered Utequais's gaze while preparing the offering.
"...Yeah. You might be right."
I remained silent for a moment before continuing.
"So, Ellen."
"Yes?"
"Do you trust me?"
Ellen furrowed her brows at my question.
"Why are you asking something so obvious?"
"...Well, it's kind of touching."
"What's touching?"
"Just... Something."
Ellen, who had been looking at me, turned to the opposite side.
"It's not confusing anymore."
"Huh?"
"Don't get confused."
"Oh."
"Not confusing now. Not wavering either."
I lay down straight while using my arm as a pillow. Lump burrowed into my armpit.
"Oh, right. Ellen."
"Hmm."
"How old are you?"
Ellen was silent for a moment before answering belatedly.
"Twenty."
Twenty years old. A good age. But,
"...If you're going to lie, at least make it somewhat believable."
"What?"
"You look like you could pass for fifteen. Twenty? Twenty-one?"
Ellen suddenly sat up at my words mixed with laughter.
"I'm not fifteen!"
"You 'are not' fifteen?"
Ellen closed her mouth for a moment before lying down again.
"...I'm twenty years old."
"Oh, yes."
"If you know that, why are you picking a fight?"
This kid keeps insisting.
"You're not lying to me, are you?"
"...What?"
"You said you trust me."
"Hmm."
"I trust you too, so you wouldn't lie about something like this, right?"
"...Huh?"
"You wouldn't meaninglessly damage our trust. Right?"
This silence lasted quite long. Ellen glanced at me sideways, and I tried to maintain a neutral expression.
"I'll let it slide if you tell the truth now."
"One, two-"
"I'm not twenty years old."
Ellen, seemingly hurt in her pride, kept her mouth tightly shut. I couldn't help but laugh.
"...Hahaha! Oh, not twenty years old?"
"I'm not fifteen either!"
"Hehe, then how old are you?"
"Not telling. Idiot."
"Why?"
"You're being so annoying!"
Ellen shouted and turned over.
...Oh, too cute. I want to punch her philtrum.
After laughing for a while, I calmed down. Lump seemed to wake up from my laughter and let out a yelp. I gently stroked her and fell into thought.
Suddenly, meeting Ellen first seems to be a great fortune. What if I had met someone strange like Utequais or dangerous like Luke first? I would have probably been hostile to all new sub-characters.
Thoughts of Atalante resurface. What kind of person is she? What kind of relationship will we form?
Hoping for a relationship where we can entrust our lives to each other like Ellen is greed.
If I can just stand shoulder to shoulder like Utequais, I'll be grateful.
If she's crazy like Luke... Ugh, I hope that's not the case.
But I won't try to force a relationship. If we're meant to meet, we will. If not, we won't.
I'll just stay steady. The important thing is to protect Ellen and get to know Utequais. Atalante isn't something to worry about.
Repeating this to myself makes me feel at ease.
Even after falling asleep like this, the next morning when I entered the tavern, I looked for Atalante. Feeling disappointed when she wasn't visible, I remembered my resolution from yesterday and tried to suppress my feelings.
After eating at the tavern, I joined the merchant group.
Perso said they were lucky to have a monk at the mountain lodge who could provide treatment. Only minor wounds were completely healed, and the symptoms were only slightly improved, but that was naturally a great help.
The current merchant group numbers twenty-seven. Three died yesterday, and two had died previously. In Seyvern, the bandits were rampant, and they encountered Greenskins in the forest, so they could only say they were unlucky.
However, if I had fought more aggressively, I might have saved two more lives...
I shook my head to disperse useless thoughts. More importantly, there was something bothering me.
"Phoenix, you look like you have something to say."
"No, no."
Utequais's level went up last night. It seems to be from the battle with the green skins yesterday. Well, his last level up was almost a month ago, so it was about time.
The problem is that some of his bonus points were automatically distributed. Even if it was just the amount from one level up, it was a bit annoying that it was beyond my control.
I guess if you accumulate too many level-up bonuses, they automatically increase. I was a bit puzzled since there was Ellen's case, but she seems to be a special situation.
Staring intently at Ellen, who activated the feather decoration to climb into the wagon, I suddenly tilted my head.
"By the way, Ellen."
"What."
"Did you get taller?"
"...Taller?"
"Yeah, stand up straight for a moment."
Ellen slowly got down to the ground. She looked up at me with an expectant face.
"...Did I really grow?"
"Seems like you did."
"Really?"
Ellen's face brightened slightly. I placed the side of my hand on her crown and my chest bone, nodding.
"Yeah, definitely. Look. You didn't reach here before."
"R-really?"
"Seems like about 2 centimeters... Considering her height, it's an incredibly large growth, and I'm only noticing it now. Maybe because she's always sitting?"
"No, how old are you to be growing? You're not under fifteen, right?"
"I'm not!"
The journey resumed with this small event and was quite peaceful.
The mountain was quiet. It was hard to believe they were attacked by Greenskins the day before.
Occasionally, grotesque tree-like creatures resembling humans or dead gray wolves suggested that other merchant groups or mercenary bands had cleared the monsters along the way.
I didn't feel bored or dull. It was due to being tempered during the journey so far.
The reason I couldn't lie down in the wagon with Ellen or play with Lump was only one: visibility.
If the view was clear, someone other than me could detect enemy signs early. But in situations like now, someone as sensitive as me needed to stay as alert as possible.
Just look at the Greenskin attack yesterday - if I hadn't noticed and warned in advance, the merchant group would have been annihilated. I or Ellen could have been hurt. To prevent such things, I needed to stay sharp.
Contrary to my tense vigilance, what blocked our path as the sun was setting was a monster so massive that everyone in the merchant group could notice.
Thump, thump!
"M-Monster! An Ent!"
"Damn, prepare fire!"
Someone's shout was incorrect. The monster ahead was not an 'Ent' but a 'decaying spirit'.
Unlike an Ent, which has a spirit dwelling in it or gains self-awareness through a long life, a decaying spirit is a monster created by the forest's malevolence. It's a giant formed by all the rotting things in the forest.
The one now revealing itself before the merchant group was primarily composed of withered stems of spruce and fir trees. On top of that, it was covered with rotting leaves, broken branches, and dead animal carcasses.
In the game, it was a monster that appeared in random encounters. As expected, reality was filled with the most annoying encounters.
I immediately shouted at Ellen.
"Ellen, summon the spirit of dance! No, first take the antidote!"
"Antidote? What antidote?"
We have a total of three antidotes. They are things that are effective against vascular poison, nerve poison, and paralytic poison.
What kind of poison did that guy use?
"I don't know, just take them all! Uteqway, you too!" Ellen hurriedly searched her sling bag and pulled out the antidotes. I drank the antidotes all at once, chewed, and swallowed, then quickly jumped forward. And then I yelled.
"Don't set it on fire! The entire mountain will burn!"
At my shout, the most veteran dragon soldier of the upper line, 'Tomod', reacted with disbelief.
"Hey, there's no way to deal with that guy except by fire-"
"I'll handle it, so step back! He's going to spew poison!"
As soon as my words ended, a pair of pierced eye sockets turned towards me. I got as close to him as possible and inhaled.
"Hup!"
At the same time, the decaying spirit exhaled smoke from its mouth.
Murky smoke that obscured my view. I quickly raised my shield, but the smoke easily drifted over with the wind.
Ugh, I feel nauseous. I feel like I'm about to vomit at any moment.
But it wasn't unbearable. Thanks to the poison resistance of the Dragon Slayer's Seal and the antidotes I drank, I was enduring the powerful deadly poison he was spewing.
I threw away my shield and drew a line on my palm with Hrunting. It seems like it's been quite a while since I pulled out a blade with my blood.
Whoooo!
At that moment, wind rushed from behind.
It was the Dance Spirit summoned by Ellen, writhing. A desperate dance that scattered the giant's poison smoke into the air.
My view cleared with the wind. The giant was right in front of me. I immediately struck the ground.