Chapter 46

Since it was about noon, we were looking for a place to take a break.

We soon came to a slightly open area after pushing through the monsters without much thought.

The ground was overgrown with grass, so we sat down right there.

The three of us sat down, either on guard, tense, or tired, so I secretly put up a transparent barrier.

Each of us took out our portable rations and started eating. I also took out the portable rations given to me by Shell and took a bite.

I couldn't eat it! It was so hard! The taste wasn't bad, but my teeth couldn't handle it at all!

No matter how hard I tried to chew, not a single piece would break off. How hard is this thing? Is it a rock?

When I looked at the others, they were also eating it with a crunch, crunch, as if it were very hard.

If it's hard even by the standards of this world, there's no way I could eat it!

I got angry and steamed the portable rations with a small barrier. They became warm and steamy, and the hardness was just right to eat!

It was like a hard, well-stuffed bread with a bit of salt.

As I was eating, the three of them stared at me and silently offered me their portable rations.

So, they found it hard too!

I took them and destroyed the hateful portable rations!

Everyone happily ate the warm, easier-to-eat bread.

After drinking water, we finished our meal.

Well, let's keep going without letting our guard down in the afternoon.

We spread out the map, confirmed the direction, and headed back into the forest.

There were still a lot of insect-type monsters, but Yegrum was burning enough insect-repelling incense to keep them away.

Occasionally, rabbit and fox monsters appeared, and we quickly hunted them.

The next big catch was a giant boar monster.

Digray called it a "Boar."

The Boar, which was greedily eating something, hadn't noticed our presence.

The three of us approached silently, and Yegrum stopped at a slightly distant spot and cast a spell on the Boar. It seemed to be a sleep spell, as the Boar fell over on the spot. Alshain quickly approached and slashed at its neck, while Digray cut the tendons in its legs.

When the blood stopped spurting, the black mist disappeared, and we confirmed the boar monster's death.

The three of us were quite pleased to have taken down a big catch without much of a fight.

Let's go to the next one.

For the three of us, who grew up in the city, walking through the forest was a difficult task, and our progress was slow.

Since I was flying, it didn't matter to me, so I hunted the insect-type monsters I found and stored them.

Shell told me that insect-type monsters could be sold as materials, so I was catching them to pass the time.

Don't worry! Yegrum, who only looks at the front and the ground, hasn't noticed! Probably.

Even though it wasn't that deep a forest, we didn't encounter any other groups and made steady progress, albeit slowly.

In the dim forest, it was hard to spot monsters with black mist, but I had been seeing a flicker of light at the edge of my vision. I headed towards it to check, but Alshain stopped me.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"That place, it's shining, I'm just going to take a look (That place, it's shining, I'm just going to take a look)."

"Shining? Where?"

"Over there!"

When they looked in the direction I pointed, Alshain just tilted his head in confusion.

"What's up?"

"Did you find something?"

"Kaita seems to have found something that's shining. Do you see it?"

Yegrum and Digray also looked in the direction I pointed, but they just looked puzzled.

Can't they see it?

"What should we do?"

"If Kaita can see it, let's just go and check it out."

"Right!"

They're willing to go even though they can't see it.

With me in the lead, we headed towards the light.

At first, it was a faint light, but as we got closer, the light particles gathered and became stronger.

The destination wasn't that far away, and we were about 3 or 4 meters from the center of the light.

By this point, Alshain and the others could also see the light, and they were both cautious and surprised.

Unlike the mist of the monsters, it didn't feel dangerous or unpleasant, so we approached without hesitation.

In the center of the light was a pure white bird of light.

It was a cute, round bird like a chick, but its outline was dissolved in the light, and it was unclear if it had a physical form.

"Is this...!"

Yegrum seemed to recognize it and was very surprised.

"What is it?"

"......I believe this is a spirit."

"Does a spirit have a young form?"

"Yes, I only have book knowledge, but spirits do have children, apparently."

The bird didn't show any signs of fleeing, so we approached it.

It was about twice my current size.

When I landed in front of it, our eyes met.

"Are you a holy beast? Can you help me?"

"What's wrong?"

"I don't have enough magic power, I can't return to my original form or fly."

"Can I give you some magic power?"

"Can you share it?"

"Sure."

I stood in front of the bird and held out both hands. The bird slid its head towards me.

I was surprised by the soft, fluffy texture, and I could feel the magic power flowing from the point of contact.

When I consciously sent more power, the bird blinked and leaned in even more, looking very content. It was so fluffy and soft!

After a while, the bird pulled away from my hands, puffed out its chest, and spread its wings, shining brightly. When the light faded, it had transformed into a pure white peacock-like form.

"Thank you, your magic power felt very good."

It handed me one of its tail feathers and flew away.

As I waved goodbye,

"Hey, Kaita? What was that? It looked like you were talking to a spirit?"

"Yeah, I talked to it. It was short on magic power, so I shared some with it! (Yeah, I talked to it. It was short on magic power, so I shared some with it!)"

"Is that so? That was a good deed. So, you got the feather as a thank you?"

"Sure."

Yegrum and Digray were whispering a bit away from us.

Alshain was smiling wryly.

I put the feather in my magic bag.

We gathered ourselves and set off again.

When I asked about the difference between spirits and holy beasts, Yegrum explained that spirits were conscious masses of magic power without physical form, while holy beasts were divine creatures.

After parting ways with the spirit, the number of monsters increased for some reason.

According to Yegrum, it might be because the spirit had a purifying aura that kept the monsters away. Wait, wasn't I a holy beast? What's a purifying aura?

Well, it doesn't matter since it's not causing any trouble.

We cut and instantly killed the increased monsters, stored them, and Yegrum used magic to eliminate the insect-type monsters. Occasionally, we fought bear and boar monsters.

After a while, the three of them started to show visible signs of fatigue, and we encountered another group for the first time.

To our surprise, it was Cavendish! In the morning, he looked like he was wearing stage costumes, but now he was in tatters, his face covered in mud, and his once long, red cloak was barely half its original size.

Although I didn't like him, I almost asked if he was okay.

"What are you doing here, you scoundrels! Did you come to steal my prey? You foolish ones! To challenge me is a grave mistake!"

He suddenly shouted and drew his sword, but the overly decorated blade was already severely chipped and looked like it would break with one more hit.

In contrast, we were all unharmed, with only minor scratches from brushing against the grass.

Anyone could tell who was stronger, and the two people behind Cavendish, presumably from his group, were completely cowering.

Still, they were desperately dragging what looked like a bag of prey.

It seemed pointless to say anything, so the three of us nodded and quickly left the scene.

"Ha ha ha ha! That's a wise decision! To run away in fear of me! Ha ha ha ha!"

We ignored the loud, delusional laughter from behind. It was a waste of time!

Thank you for always reading!

While rereading and correcting typos, I've been making adjustments to points that caught my attention.

The white bird that appears as the first "fluffy" creature on this page was originally written as a holy beast, but since holy beasts are treated as legendary creatures in this world, I thought it wouldn't make sense for them to recognize it so quickly, so I changed it to a spirit.

It will appear as a holy beast in a later scene, so please bear with me.