52
Chapter 52
I let the Black Human go peacefully.
I spared his life in return for the sacrifice.
...Actually, that is a lie.
To be honest, I just didn't chase him because I wasn't confident I could win.
If Sweet Fist didn't activate, we would have been the ones to lose.
Even if that Black Human had run away without offering a sacrifice, I would have just let him be.
I didn't want to fight if possible.
Deep down, I was hoping he would run away.
It is best to avoid uncertain fights.
Besides, that Black Human wasn't even the target of my revenge.
But not only did he run, he misunderstood the situation and even left a sacrifice before fleeing.
Isn't this working out a little too well?
It seemed this was also the power of Luck.
"Woong, woooong!"
Hop, hop!
Looking at the mountain of monster corpses, Tosuni jumped up and down with joy.
Those are all mine, so why are you so happy?
I didn't think that at all.
Of course I should share them with Tosuni too.
I have no intention of hogging all of it to myself.
Excessive greed eventually becomes poison.
I'm not a greedy bear like that.
I plan to share the corpses I got today with Tosuni, as well as Ailee, Baby Doll, and Jjokkomi who are resting in the Dungeon.
Isn't it nice to grow together harmoniously?
More importantly, it would be hard to fit all of those into the Dungeon.
There are just way too many monster corpses.
The size of the Dungeon created by Baby Doll couldn't accommodate all of those bodies.
Should I just leave them here for now?
Hmm. Yeah, let's do that.
Most monsters wouldn't be able to approach anyway because of the Flag that Tosun's Mom left behind.
It was a relief to have Tosun's Mom's Flag.
If there was no Flag, monsters living nearby might have smelled the scent and slowly crept over.
Aiming for this large pile of bodies.
After deciding to leave the corpses as they were for now.
I decided to move the Old Man's corpse into the Dungeon first.
Because I needed to let Jjokkomi know that our revenge was complete.
Jjokkomi might feel a little better after seeing this body.
I grabbed the Soul Weapon in one hand, grabbed the Old Man by his hair with the other, and dragged him into the Dungeon.
Tosuni followed closely behind me as well.
"Huh? Bear Baby, you're back already?"
Inside the Dungeon.
Ailee expressed her confusion upon seeing us.
She seemed surprised that we were already back when we hadn't been gone for long.
Soon, Ailee's gaze turned to the Old Man's corpse I had dragged in.
"...Who is that person?"
This corpse?
It's one of the Spoils of War.
I brought back the culprit who killed Mother Bear and Urami.
Thud.
The moment I dropped the Old Man's corpse onto the floor.
"Kku-o...?"
Jjokkomi, who had been lying there lethargically, reacted.
Jjokkomi slowly laid her eyes on the Old Man.
Soon, her expression completely changed.
"Kku, kku-o-o?!"
Jjokkomi jumped up from her spot.
She was standing and supporting her body with her two legs.
So she was capable of bipedal walking too.
Thump, thump.
Jjokkomi approached the Old Man's corpse without hesitation with heavy footsteps.
And with a very furious expression,
"Kku-o, kku-o-o-o!!!"
Whack, whaack!
She began to violently strike the Old Man's face with her remaining front paw.
It was an attack filled with hatred.
That's a relief.
That I didn't bark up the wrong tree.
I was worried what to do if the target of revenge was someone else.
Seeing her attack with such anger, it seemed certain that the Old Man was the culprit who killed Mother Bear and Urami.
Anyway, revenge complete.
"Kku-o, kku-o-o-o! Kku-o-o-o-o!!!"
Yeah, hit him to your heart's content.
Until your anger is resolved, Jjokkomi.
***
What we had just experienced outside the Dungeon.
Tosuni told Ailee the whole story.
After hearing the story, Ailee made a complicated expression.
"Astral Slayer......."
Holding the Purple Badge in her hand.
Ailee slowly looked back and forth between the Badge and the Old Man's corpse.
She looked like she couldn't believe it even while seeing the corpse with her own two eyes.
"Bear Baby, did you really kill this person yourself? You didn't just bring the corpse from somewhere?"
Nod, nod.
It's not a lie.
Of course you wouldn't believe it.
Yes, yes, I completely understand.
Because even though I did it, I can't believe it either.
I never dreamed that Spicy Fist would suddenly activate on its own in that situation.
"How on earth? I'm not doubting you, but Bear Baby, you weren't that strong."
I sent him to the grave with a single strike of my spicy cotton fist.
I took a stance by stretching my left hand forward.
"...Are you saying you killed him with that fist?"
Nod, nod, bear.
"Ugh, my head hurts...... There's no way Bear Baby and Baby Tosun would lie, but still, this situation makes too little sense... Does Bear Baby happen to have some special skill? No, even if so, it doesn't make sense. Just how amazing of a skill is it to kill an Astral Slayer in one strike...?"
Ailee muttered to herself.
Uh-uh.
Stop denying reality now.
The evidence, which is this corpse, is right here.
Don't overthink it; your mind will be at ease if you just admit that I am amazing.
Ailee crouched down.
In that posture, she closely observed the Old Man's corpse once more.
"...As expected, it's exactly the same as the Mercenary King's face I saw in a picture before."
The Old Man's face was intact.
Even though he was continuously beaten by Jjokkomi until just now.
Perhaps because his entity level in life was high, and it hadn't been long since he became a corpse, his body seemed hard and tough. Well, he will soften up as a little more time passes. Since he's not an entity like a Slow Stone.
For reference, Jjokkomi got tired from hitting and is taking a short rest right now.
"Since there's no way a Human who isn't an Astral Slayer would have this Badge in the first place, the fact that this corpse is the Mercenary King can't be denied...."
Ailee stood up from her seat.
She let out a deep sigh and said.
"I don't know. I'll just have to think of it as... Bear Baby being a much more amazing monster than I thought. Like the type who isn't usually that strong, but unleashes immense power in moments of crisis."
It seemed she had finally decided to accept it.
The fact that I had taken down an Astral Slayer.
"By the way, guys, you said there are monster corpses piled up outside the Dungeon, right?"
Ailee suddenly asked.
Tosuni and I nodded our heads at the same time.
"Were there any of the Flame Bear's family members among those corpses?"
Mother Bear and Urami?
No, I didn't see them?
I tilted my head.
Not meaning that they weren't there, but that I didn't know.
I couldn't see them because there were too many bodies, but maybe they're there if we look carefully?
"That means you don't know, right? You must not have looked yet. Then let's go out right now and search."
"Woong!"
Bear nod.
I was planning to do that anyway.
Because it was about time to sort out the Spoils of War.
"Since we need to find your family's corpses, you should come out with us too, Flame Bear. And our baby, just wait here for a little bit. You can wait without crying even if you're alone, right?"
"...!"
Baby Doll couldn't go out with us.
Because the Dungeon would face Annihilation if it left.
Well, there wouldn't be any problem even if it was left alone.
There was nothing threatening in this place, after all.
Furthermore, we were going to keep guarding the Dungeon entrance, so there was no need to worry about outside intrusions.
Ailee knew that as well, so she probably decided it was fine to leave Baby Doll alone.
Of course.
Her face was still full of worry despite that.
"Mommy will be right back."
"...!"
This must be what maternal love is.
Before leaving the Dungeon like that.
I handed the Soul Weapon I was holding to Baby Doll.
"...?"
Hey, Baby Doll.
Please hold onto this for a moment.
After handing the Soul Weapon over to it, we calmed Jjokkomi, who was wildly beating the Old Man's corpse again, and brought her outside the Dungeon.
***
Outside the Portal.
"Wow... There's really a ton, just like Tosuni said. Just how many are there?"
Ailee admired the mountain of monster corpses with her mouth slightly open.
Hehe. How is it?
The Spoils of War I brought back through hard work!
You can marvel and be surprised to your heart's content.
"It looks like there are quite a few useful Magic Tools too?"
Magic Tools?
Ah. She means the items the Black Human offered as a sacrifice.
"Huh? This is a Magic Tool that creates water when infused with Mana, isn't it? It's even a Magic Tool that generates drinking water!"
Items called Magic Tools.
Unlike Soul Weapons, which can only be used by races like Humans who do not have a Mana Stone in their bodies, it seems we can use those tools as well. Since she just said they were useful.
I don't know how to use them because the Helper didn't display the info, but there's still no problem.
Ailee probably knows how to use most of the Magic Tools anyway.
Because Ailee was once a Human.
"Ah. But its durability is completely worn out. I can't use it."
Swoosh.
Ailee threw the Magic Tool away.
So Magic Tools have something called durability too.
It seems they become unusable once their durability runs out.
That Black Human, why did he leave trash behind?
After that.
Ailee didn't pay attention to the other Magic Tools.
She tried her best to look away and not stare at them.
In truth, she was very interested, but since our current priority was finding the corpses of Mother Bear and Urami, she seemed to be holding back her desires.
Ailee, Tosuni, me, and Jjokkomi continued searching the corpses.
After a little time had passed.
"Kku-o-o-o!!!"
Jjokkomi's scream rang out.
She was the first to find the corpses of Mother Bear and Urami.
A Flame Bear with its upper and lower body separated.
A Flame Bear with its head severed.
The former seemed to be Mother Bear, and the latter Urami.
"Kku-o, kku-o-o! Kku-heo-eok!"
Sob, sob.
Jjokkomi wailed as she looked back and forth at their bodies.
For a long time, she licked Mother Bear and Urami's corpses, rubbed her face against them, and shed endless tears.
We stood still and watched Jjokkomi's back in silence.
Only after quite some time had passed did Jjokkomi barely calm down.
We carefully approached Jjokkomi, stroking her body to comfort her.
While comforting Jjokkomi, Ailee suggested making a grave for them, since we couldn't just leave their bodies like this.
Jjokkomi seemed not to know what a grave was.
Noticing this, Ailee explained in detail what a grave was.
Upon hearing that a grave is meant to honor and remember the dead, Jjokkomi weakly nodded and agreed to build one.
After getting her agreement.
Right next to the Portal.
Under the crushed Boxwood.
We dug the ground and buried the bodies of Mother Bear and Urami.
Then we carefully built a grave by covering them with dirt.
"May you rest in peace."
"Woong...."
"Kku-o, kku-heu-heuk......."
"So sad."
Bow.
The five of us expressed our condolences toward the grave.
.......
...Wait a minute, five?
Sensing something odd, I quickly turned my head and looked to the side.
Ailee.
Tosuni.
Jjokkomi.
A Fox with white fur.
And me.
A weird guy had naturally slipped in among us.
[Star Fox lv.33]
┗Pw.330
┗Rnk.Unique