CH 4

Vol 1: Chapter 4

…Oh, no! It’s too late!

「UOOOOOH!!!」

Right when the snake’s fangs were about to come into contact with the petite adventurer’s nose, someone jumped in from the side, like a black gust, and sent the snake flying.

「Mimino! Why were you just staring at it?! That was a Git Snake!」

「Wh-Whaaaaat?!」

The large man knelt and threw the dagger in his hand. The blade splendidly cut off the snake’s neck.

Thank goodness…

「And you there! Who are you?」the man who knocked away the snake, asked.

The man had dark gray hair standing on end and something which looked like a mane fluttering on his back. He had slanted sunburned eyes and sharp canines. Height was well over 180cm. The muscles of both legs were so well developed that his black leather pants was stretched tight.

「Ah, um… I am…」

The man approached while glaring with hostility. I was surprised by the fact that he made almost no sound as he walked. With that kind of developed body, he should be making sound when stepping on fallen leaves. It speaks to the level of training he had gone through to achieve that technique. There was no such person among the slaves.

「Stop, Raikira. He is still a child.」

「Child? Look carefully. This kid’s clothes… He is probably–」

「Probably my lifesaver!」

The large man, who was sitting, tried to cover me, but before that, the woman in the hood cut in between me and the gray-haired man.

「I was not aware of the Git Snake, so this kid tried to warn me! What else is there to consider?!」

「Oi, Mimino… I know you’ve noticed too… that this kid is a slave.」

「!」

「Not to mention a fugitive slave.」

I was taken aback and tried to hide the tattoo on my wrist, but it was too late. It was very easy to tell with a glance.

…I guess it was foolish to try to save someone’s life recklessly, after all.

「… Even still, it doesn’t matter, does it?」

The woman who had been silent up until now spoke. Her green hair was bundled behind and she was wearing a nun attire. Her eyes were half closed, like sleepy eyes. Her age was about the same as me, 16 – I mean, in the sense of my previous life.

「Slaves are regulated by contract magic, but being in the depths of this forest means that the magic has already been cut. So either the boy was released from his slave status or the boy’s master died, right?」

「…He might’ve fled from the confusion of his master’s death. In that case, the contract for the sale of slaves remains. So the slave must be left there. You get it, right?」

「No, I don’t get it.」

「……Oi, what’d you just say, Mimino?」

「I don’t get it! I don’t care! And I don’t want to care!」

「You listen here! I’m not saying this for fun! I’m just trying to keep us out of trouble…」

「But this child!」

The woman in the hood, who was called Mimino, was as tall as I was. Despite being small, the way she spoke was like an adult — she might not be of the human race. Just as the gray-haired man was a beastmen.

「He tried to save my life even though appearing before us put him in danger! That’s enough, isn’t it?!」

「Uhh…」the gray-haired beastmen fumbled.

「Hey, I’m sorry to scare you. What’s your name?」she looked back at me, and asked, with a kind smile.

She wore a loose dark green hooded robe, the edges of which were embroidered with colours such as red, white, and yellow. She might be some sort of a mage, as she was wearing a number of misanga bracelets on her arm.

「I am Reiji.」

「Reiji-kun, huh. That’s a good name! I am Mimino. The mage of this party. That boorish man is Raikira.」

「Who are you calling boorish?!」

The beastmen, Raikira, had already sat down by the bonfire, sulkingly, and rested his chin on his palm with the elbow on his knee.

Half of his exposed skin was covered with fur. Born in a village of humans and worked in a mine where only humans worked, I rarely had the chance to see a beastmen.

…This is a fantasy world, after all.

「…I am Dante. And this is my daughter, Non.」the large man who threw a dagger at the poisonous snake, said.

Daughter… Daughter?! At first glance, he seems to be around 30 years old, but I wonder if he’s actually older…

Dante was equipped with metal armor on important parts such as shoulders, chest, and elbows. And he wore a scalemail with 3cm brownish scales which covered the rest of his body. The scalemail that existed on Earth were pieces of metals woven together like scales, but these were real scales.

Even while wearing armor, you can see that his body was tremendously muscular. The steel plate lying beside him was almost as big as a bench. Since it comes with a grip, I think Dante swings it around in battle. I wonder if he’s a Berserker?

He had a stern face, but his eyes were gentle. His green eyes and trimmed green hair were the same as his daughter, Non.

I suddenly noticed that his neck was partially gray. It seems to be “petrified”.【World Ruler】 told me without me consciously asking.

「…My body has been petrified by Medusa’s curse, you see. And my daughter is following me for treatment.」

「We are heading to the royal capital of Saint Knight Kingdom for my father’s treatment. There is a saint who is very good at healing magic there.」

「Oh, I see…」

That was all I could say. There seemed to be petrification curses in this world. When I tried to confirm the treatment method with 【World Ruler】, images of raw material that I had zero idea of flooded into my mind.

…Hmm, I wonder what these are?

One of them looked like autumn leaves, but the tip was divided into five. Another was a silver metal, but… it was a very deep silver. And lastly, some squirming earthworm-like creatures… I think?

I didn’t think that 【World Ruler】 could provide me with such information. Can these ingredients really cure petrification? I wonder if I should tell them about this… But, what if they ask me where I got this knowledge from? And I don’t really know what these ingredients are in the first place.

For the time being, Non-san was thinking about treatment with magic, so I decided not to say anything strange.

「Come here, Reiji-kun! The meat was just cooked!」

Mimino took my hand and brought me to the bonfire. Her hands were very small. And so warm…

I sat on the ground, and exhaled, feeling tired.

「Here you go.」

Mimino offered me skewered meat. I don’t know what kind of meat it was, but the surface was sprinkled with a lot of spices.

There wasn’t much fat on it, but that didn’t matter. As the steam and smell of the meat filled my nostrils, I grabbed her hand and sunk my teeth into the meat.

「————」

Sparks scattered in front of me. The stimulus of the spices quickly spread throughout my mouth, and then my tongue perceived the fat on the meat. It felt like the heat would scald my tongue, but I absolutely didn’t want to miss even a drop of the gravy, so I didn’t open my mouth at all.

When I chewed the meat, my gums hurt. One tooth in the back was loose. My heart thumped like crazy and my body felt like it was on fire. Perhaps my body was taken by surprise by the animal protein that came in.

The moment I swallowed was pure bliss. My stomach, which received a surprise piece of meat, was doing it’s best to break it down, like a firefighter who was engaged in fire fighting.

「…Reiji-kun.」

I returned to my senses by the caring voice. I had been holding Mimino’s hand.

「S-Sorry… I am so sorry…」

「No, it’s all good. Children should eat properly.」

Mimino placed the skewered meat in my hand, gently stretched out both hands, and hugged my head.

「Eh…?」

「Forget the painful things and just eat!」

And that’s when I noticed that tears had been rolling down my cheeks non-stop.