Chapter 68

"Hmm?"

"Eh?"

My puzzled voice and the other person's doubtful voice overlapped.

The ones who emerged from the bushes were not deer monsters, but two men. Or rather, there was a deer monster too. The man was holding the horns of the deer monster, which had its limbs bound and was being dragged. Judging from the shape of the horns, it was a Forest Deer. It was still alive and struggling. That's why the Heart Sense of Kokushin didn't fail.

"Scared me. I didn't expect to run into people here. What, are you guys here for hunting too?"

The man holding the horns spoke. He had short, reddish-brown hair and looked to be in his twenties. The other man was tall and slender, with gray hair. Both of them were likely hunters or adventurers, as they had swords hanging from their waists.

"Well, more like gathering, really."

As I answered, I put my bow away in my magic bag. I glanced at Rada, who shook her head slightly. Even though they were human, I couldn't let my guard down. I put away my earth magic because I thought it was better for dealing with humans.

The gray-haired man looked at my hands. The charm on my magic bag wasn't there when I bought it from the adventurer guild. It was a small silver one with a lion roaring engraved on it. It was in a position where my fingers would touch it when I placed my hand on the bag, so I often touched it absentmindedly. However, the man's gaze was focused on the magic bag itself.

"Nice thing you've got there. That's a magic bag, right?"

"…Yeah."

I thought for a moment that it might have been a mistake. It was so convenient that I put it away without thinking about others watching.

Kokushin took a step closer to me. The gray-haired man raised his hands slightly, realizing he was being cautious.

"I'm not gonna do anything."

Whether his carefree smile was trustworthy or not was another matter, but it would be rude to show unnecessary hostility.

"Bride. Stop staring at other people's stuff and help over here!"

The reddish-brown-haired man shouted, and Bride, who was called out, scratched his head and turned around. Kokushin looked back at me. I shrugged slightly. Milko, carrying Schwartz, trotted back and sat down beside us with a thud, looking disappointed that there was no fight.

Before I knew it, the Forest Deer was immersed in the river. The reddish-brown-haired man lifted its head by the horns. Bride drew his sword and beheaded it.

"Close call! Just stabbing the heart would have been enough! You almost got me too!?"

"You wouldn't make such a mistake. It didn't hit you, so it's fine, Jiren."

"Fine? Look, I'm covered in blood!"

"Clean it off. We're in the river, after all."

"Remember that!"

The man called Jiren, who was splattered with blood, was shouting. No, yeah, that's not good. Actually, maybe his position for the attack was wrong.

"They seem pretty lively, don't they?"

I nodded at Rada's murmur.

"Should we head back to the road?"

When Kokushin asked, I nodded again. It would be strange to continue our tea break while watching them butcher the deer, so we might as well end our break and return to the road.

"Hey, wait a minute."

Since we weren't particularly acquainted and they were doing their own thing, I was about to leave without a word, but I was called back. It was the man called Jiren.

"Want to buy some meat?"

"Meat?"

Kokushin asked doubtfully.

"We're quite far from town. We can't carry it all by ourselves. It would be a waste to leave it, right? It's fresh and has a lot of fat, so it should be delicious."

"Didn't you hunt it for the meat?"

"The main goal, or rather, the quest, is the horns."

While talking, Jiren's hands moved quickly, skinning and removing the organs. Bride, on the other hand, was just examining the Forest Deer's head from side to side.

"Hey! Stop staring and cut the horns already!"

Jiren, realizing this, thrust a skinning knife at Bride.

"Look at these magnificent horns. They might get us a bonus reward."

"Who knows. If you think so, cut them carefully."

"Not a single scratch. I'm getting excited."

Jiren frowned at Bride, who was rubbing his cheek against the head with a dreamy look.

"Just get it done. So, what do you think?"

Kokushin glanced at me at Jiren's question.

Hmm, to be honest, it doesn't matter to me. We have plenty of meat. The meat of the Forest Deer is indeed delicious, but I'm not sure about the price.

"How much do you want?"

"Anything. We're just going to throw it away. Let's see, three silver coins… no, one silver coin is fine. It would cost more in town."

One silver coin is about a thousand yen, right?

"How much meat can we get for that?"

"We can carry this much, so the rest is all yours. Actually, this is the second one. We can't carry much with the skin and horns. Unlike you, we don't have a horse."

Jiren lifted a leg to show us. I see, so we get almost all of it. The Forest Deer is quite large. The horns alone must be quite heavy.

"Alright. One silver coin it is."

"Great. I'll get to work right away."

Jiren grinned and raised his bloodied hand.

Grr, grr, grr...

By the way, Bride was in the process of splitting the Forest Deer's head open, not just cutting the horns. There was something he shouldn't have seen, and even Rada, who was used to butchering, was a bit taken aback.

"You're making things complicated again."

"Cutting from the skull makes the horns longer."

Bride grinned ferociously at Jiren, who looked exasperated. I see? Trying to get a bit more length on the horns, huh? Normally, you'd cut them at the base like with deer antlers. But does that even matter?

"Check it out. Look at these curves. Isn't it amazing?"

Bride, holding a cut horn, beckoned me over. I walked over without much thought, and Rada followed. The horns were indeed impressive. Since Bride was tall, I had to look up quite a bit when he held the horn up. Why did he hold it up so high when he told me to look?

"Leite!"

Kokushin suddenly called out to me. As I turned to respond, I felt my body float up. The next moment, splash! I fell into the river on my back.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Leite!"

"Hehe, now I'm rich!"

Jiren, shouting, grabbed me. Kokushin pulled me away, patting my back as I coughed. His grip was strong. Rada quickly squatted beside me, ready to give me a basic healing potion.

Wait, not now. My nose hurts from the water, my nose! No, Milko, I appreciate your concern, but no headbutts. Schwartz, your arm is choking me!

"Bride, you bastard!!"

It was almost a roar. Coughing, I looked up to see Bride, holding our magic bag and the horns, grinning from a distance. What? Why does he have them?

I quickly checked my waist, and sure enough, they were gone.

"See ya!"

Kokushin drew his sword, and Jiren reached for his. Bride turned and dashed. Kokushin raised his sword.

Crack, crack, crack, crack!!

"Ah!!"

Before Kokushin could attack, Bride screamed as he was struck by lightning on the spot. It wasn't like the skeletons in old gag manga, but the image was similar. After a flash of light, Bride stood there, smoking.

"Eh... what...?"

The target of his anger suddenly turned black, and Jiren, still in the position of drawing his sword, looked around in confusion. Unfortunately, it wasn't the work of reinforcements.

Bride collapsed with a thud.

The lightning was powerful, but I hoped the magic bag was okay. Finally, my coughing subsided, and with Rada's help, I stood up.

Hmm, do I need to go? Kokushin offered his hand. I secretly removed the ring I had been wearing on my thumb and handed it to him, making sure Jiren didn't see.

Kokushin cautiously approached Bride. He poked the fallen body with his sword, then slowly squatted down to retrieve the magic bag. He then took a rope from the bag and tied Bride up.

Surprisingly, it worked quickly.

Actually, the lightning was from a theft prevention magic item attached to the magic bag. The lion charm and the ring worked together, and if they were separated by a certain distance, the lightning would strike.

I didn't expect it to be that strong. I hope that guy isn't dead...

I received it from a magic item craftsman at a party in exchange for showing him how to disassemble a Minser. Magic items are expensive, so I was surprised to get one just for showing it, but he said it sparked his creativity. Well, it's good to have.

By the way, he can apparently make a hand mixer and said, "I'll come after you when it's done!" We shook hands and parted ways. He's planning to visit the dungeon city later.

"...Why did he do such a thing..."

Kokushin dragged Bride back. Jiren, looking deflated, slumped to the ground. Rada urged me to step back.

"Doesn't seem like a conspiracy, from the looks of it."

Kokushin's unusually cold voice made Jiren hang his head.

Thank you for reading.

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