Chapter 27

I thought I was protecting him.

I thought I was teaching him.

Zou is blind and has a poor sense of smell. He is also slow.

So, I thought I had to protect him.

But Zou got injured.

Blood was flowing from his mouth.

If it had been just him, Zou might have died.

Shirahime, looking dejected, rubbed her nose against Zou's body.

Zou, with his barely moving arm, patted her gently.

Shirahime turned around and brought a small, round shield.

She placed it next to where Zou was lying.

"Is this... to protect you?"

—growl

Shirahime knew the power of the monster she couldn't stop even when she bit it. She might have thought this could protect Zou.

Shirahime growled once, rubbed her face against Zou, and then curled up next to his pillow.

Akari said,

"After the monster was destroyed, a club and a shield were left behind. I've heard that sometimes happens, but this is the first time I've seen it."

The club was leaning against the wall a little away.

"The club and shield are fine. They are quite usable. I can't really judge their performance, though."

"You... made... me... wait..."

Akari shook her head frantically.

"No, no, I should be the one to apologize. I wasn't much help."

"That's... not... true. I... can't... use... holy... spirit... magic..."

"Everyone can use it to some extent. I'll teach you once you can move."

After hearing this, Zou closed his eyes. He couldn't resist the drowsiness.

I woke up to a fierce heat, like after a hot bath.

Sweat was pouring down my body.

It was pitch dark.

I couldn't see Akari, who was probably sitting across the hearth.

I didn't need to worry, so I took off my shirt, pants, and underwear, becoming completely naked.

My arm was almost painless, with only a slight discomfort.

This was the first time I had been seriously injured since coming to this world and received life essence magic treatment. I didn't expect it to be this intense.

This heat was probably the price I had to pay.

I slowly stood up.

Shirahime's ears twitched, and she opened her eyes slightly.

I headed to the bathroom.

Shirahime followed.

Because I had been sleeping, my night vision was excellent, and I didn't need any light.

When I reached the bathroom, I tried to use water essence magic, but I couldn't.

It seemed my magic power was almost depleted, perhaps on the verge of exhaustion.

"Troublesome, I didn't know there were such side effects. ...Can you get me some water?"

Shirahime, who had followed me, quickly filled the bathtub with water. Normally, I do everything, and even when I ask, she doesn't do much.

"Thank you," I said, then submerged myself in the bathtub.

Water splashed out.

Aaaaaah, a sound escaped my throat.

My body, which was hot beyond the point of burning, gradually cooled down.

Shirahime splashed into the water.

"Hey, hey, stop, gurgle gurgle gurgle."

More water splashed out.

Shirahime poked her head out of the water, turned away, and submerged herself in the cold bath.

It probably wasn't that cold. She runs through blizzards, so a cold bath is probably nothing to her. Yet, she also likes hot water, which is a bit confusing. I decided to accept it as a characteristic of the category of monsters that don't exist on Earth.

I stayed in the water for a while.

The bathroom was dark and quiet.

I looked at my hand, which was almost healed, with a slight sense of discomfort.

The moment the boomerang pierced the humanoid monster, spilling red blood.

The moment the wooden stake impaled the humanoid monster.

Nothing special happened.

That might be an exaggeration. I felt a surge of something and a sense of suppressing an unpleasant feeling.

It might be because I killed a humanoid monster after killing a monster, or it might not be.

But my regret and guilt were faint.

I killed to protect myself, Akari, and Shirahime.

There's no need for regret or guilt in that.

If it's a situation where there's no other choice, I'll make the decision.

Maybe I'm justifying the act of killing.

But I think it's okay.

If I can't protect without killing, I'll kill.

It might not be allowed in Japan, but there's no society here that doesn't allow it.

Well, there is a society as long as there are people, but I don't belong to it and don't intend to in the future.

In reality, I haven't killed a person, so it's hard to say.

Of course, I don't want to kill.

I've never felt good about killing in hunting.

The sensation of cutting a living being is probably something I won't like.

But in a world like this, I might have to kill.

The Zaur who grabbed the sword at my waist, the hunters who targeted me while I was carrying my belongings up the mountain.

If the circumstances were different, it might have escalated to a fight to the death.

I wish such a time never comes, but I also wish I won't hesitate like today if it does.

I stood up with a splash.

"---Janitor, where are you? You shouldn't be moving around if you're not fully recovered."

The entrance to the bathroom was wide open.

I stood up, and Akari, who was passing by with a floating fire spirit, faced me.

The two of us faced each other.

The world, once again, paused time.

---Screeeeeeeeeeaaaam

It wasn't Zou's scream.

Akari's scream echoed through the cave.

Akari's face was red, and she was still looking away.

"Why are you in the bath without any light, and you're... completely naked?"

"Well, people are usually naked in the bath, right?"

"Shut up! Besides, you're recovering too fast. I did speed up the healing, but I didn't expect you to be almost fully recovered in just one day."

Zou turned away, scratching his cheek.

"Maybe... I healed myself?"

"......But I used up almost all my magic power to heal you."

"After getting out of the cold bath and taking another nap, I felt recovered enough to use it."

"......"

"Anyway, I'm hungry."

Depending on the size of the wound, the side effects of life essence magic include near-exhaustion of magic power, healing heat, and hunger. As long as people need to eat to gain energy, there's no way around it.

"......The only thing I can offer is the meat and wild herbs stew, as I can't open that backpack."

The hearth was filled with small branches, crackling and burning, and a pot was boiling.

"Huh, so only I can open that backpack. I didn't know that."

While saying this, Zou took the backpack from Akari and took out salt, pepper, chili, a block of brown sugar, flour, and bread, handing them to Akari one by one.

Akari took off the lid of the pot, added salt, pepper, and torn bread, and put the lid back on.

"Ah, keep them stored. We'll go to the village again tomorrow, and you'll need them while I'm gone."

"Wh-What are you saying!"

Akari's head turned sharply. She was very serious.

"Someone who broke their jaw and both arms and then went down the mountain two days later, where do you find such a person?"

Shirahime, who was munching on raw meat behind Zou, put down the meat and growled at Zou.

Zou, stroking Shirahime's chin with one hand, said to Akari,

"I dealt with a monster, so I should at least report it. As a hunter, it would be bad if the village at the foot of the mountain was destroyed, and it would be inconvenient."

Akari hesitated, saying, "Mmm."

In Elips, when a village is attacked by a monster, everyone must cooperate, regardless of their beliefs. Even if they are ostracized, they must help in the event of a fire or a funeral.

Akari remembered this and fell silent.

Zou, scratching his fluffy throat, looked at Shirahime.

"I'll look for a job we can do together."

Shirahime's expression was busy, alternating between anger and pleasure as her throat was stroked.

No, that's not it, I'm worried, nya, it feels good... no, I'm worried...!

That's probably what she was thinking. Her changing expressions revealed her inner conflict.

After a few more exchanges, Akari and Shirahime finally gave in.

However,

"Then, only after you learn holy spirit magic. No one will believe you defeated a monster if you can't use holy spirit magic."

Akari, pouting, put some bread in the stew and served it in a bowl, handing it to Zou.

—growl

Shirahime seemed to agree.

Indeed, that's true.

Zou nodded as he took the bowl.

It was unrealistic to learn holy spirit magic in one night.

Holy spirit magic was once a secret magic used by the priests of the Sandora religion and the "attendants of the Moon Goddess," known as nuns. As the population grew and the living area expanded, monster attacks increased, and many people became victims.

The "attendants of the Moon Goddess" lamented this and made the magic public to the world, which spread rapidly.

The fact that the magic could be activated regardless of the deity one believed in was a great relief to those who feared monsters.

The invocation itself is simple.

Believe in an innocent existence and make a wish.

This creates a holy spirit for a brief moment.

What a holy spirit is, is not well understood magically.

Religious people say it is the power of the gods.

Religious people say it is disrespectful and unfaithful to call the gods innocent, but since those who don't believe in the gods can also activate holy spirit magic, "gods" is not accurate. However, it is too different in nature to be called a spirit.

The current stance is that it works, so it's fine, and this has continued for over 500 years.

While listening to Akari's lecture-like history, which made me feel exhausted, Zou activated holy spirit magic three days later.

During this time, he learned about the latest autonomous magic from Akari and, in return, taught her the technique of parallel activation of spirit magic.

On the morning of the third day, Zou was preparing to go down to the village.

"Ah, here."

"What is this?"

Zou handed Akari a magic textbook and some vegetable seeds.

"It should keep you busy."

Zou put on boots over his leather clothes, attached a boomerang and a kukri to his back, and carried a food backpack and a small bag. He tied a round shield to his arm.

He gave the club to Akari. Showing the round shield should be enough to prove the monster's defeat.

"Thank you. But more importantly, don't forget your armor. If you had armor, you might not have broken your arm and jaw."

This was something Akari had been telling him for the past three days.

"Got it, got it. Don't pout."

His arm was completely healed. It was still warm for a day or two, but it was fine now.

Zou left the mountain in perfect condition.

Next to him was Shirahime.

She was going to see him off to the edge of the territory of the large spiky ground spider.

Since then, Shirahime has been more gentle.

That's not true.

She is still angry, saying, "Hurry up, it's getting dark."

"I'm going now."