Chapter: 74
“Jess, you can’t just pick up and eat anything. Spit it out, eww.”
“Baaee..”
I made Jess spit out the little bird she was holding. The bird shook itself and flew away. Jess smacked her lips, looking a bit disappointed.
“Are you hungry?”
I pulled out a piece of jerky from my bag and gave it to Jess.
On the third day since leaving the Arena of Madness, we were walking along a forest path. There were a few villages along the way, but we didn’t stop. Given all the risks we couldn’t predict and the fact that we had stocked up on most items already, there really was no reason to stop.
At first, I was just focused on getting as far away from Jiso’s territory as possible, so I walked without direction. But now, it was about time to actually settle on a destination. I spread out the map and checked the route we had taken.
The village we had just circled around was marked on the map, so it was easy to figure out our current location.
“You said you got separated from Noah somewhere and don’t know where she is, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
Jess nodded as she chewed on the jerky. Based on the odd forest information she provided, I tried to guess where Jess and Noah had parted ways.
“So you separated in the Forest of Death, huh? Hmm, I’m not sure exactly where she went, but since this is the closest city, how about we head that way?”
As I pointed out the ‘Cardishian’ on the map, Jess nodded her head vigorously and flapped her ears like an excited puppy. Iris simply replied, “Sure,” going along with whatever I said.
Seeing the two innocent kids made me feel a surge of responsibility.
‘Alright, let’s find the safest route and go!’
And so, our little journey with Jess, Iris, and me continued.
*
“Haa… we finally made it.”
I sighed deeply as I spotted the city walls of Cardishian in the distance.
‘Who knew it would take over a month just to get here?’
Since Jess claimed she had been running tirelessly, I figured it couldn’t be more than a week’s walk no matter how you looked at it. Of course, the map showed quite the stretch, but there were plenty of villages that had their distances marked way off, so I didn’t trust it fully.
‘Still, glad we made it. First, let’s get some well-deserved rest at the inn and then search for Noah starting tomorrow.’
I felt pretty sure that Noah was probably doing fine without me, but if I could, I wanted us to stay together.
‘If possible, let’s all stick together with the kids. We only need to hang tight here until the knight arrives to rescue Iris!’
Cardishian was the very place where I first woke up in Odil’s lab. So, it was only natural that the knight meant to save Iris later would come here too.
As I thought about that, memories flooded back of meeting the god of this dark fantasy world, that creepy white hollow-eyed dude.
‘…But since this world isn’t some novel anymore, nothing’s guaranteed. That also means… the knight might not even show up here.’
If that were the case, we’d have no choice but to escape the Demon Lord’s land together with the kids. It’s not like I had no means to defend myself; after all, I possessed the strongest weapon, the demonic sword Gargandoa.
It might be challenging for all of us to escape, but hey, it isn’t entirely impossible.
‘That said, it’d be nice to escape with the knight if we could. Life would be much easier then!’
Just because we leave the Demon Lord’s land doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods. True to this dark fantasy vibe, even if you weren’t a resident of the Demon Lord’s territory, there were plenty of unhinged characters roaming about, and reality was brutal.
At least until we reached Iris’s clan, we’d be stuck in a constant state of danger.
“Hey, we’ve got good stuff that just came in, come check it out!”
“Get down slowly over there!”
While I was lost in thought, we were already pretty close to the city. Habitually, I took out silver from my bag and handed it to the soldier guarding the city wall. It was about 30 copper per person, a way to pass through without any questions asked.
“Pass!”
As I left the smirking guard behind, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
‘Guess because there are so many people, they aren’t bothering us. Thank goodness!’
When offering money freely like this, some merchants would drag out the conversation or pick fights to squeeze out more coins. Some lowlifes would even dream up nonsense about stripping Iris or Jess of their hoods and making them slaves.
Every time that happened, I couldn’t help but summon my demonic sword, squashing anyone who dared approach. Normally, such incidents would land you in prison, but this was the land of the Demon Lord.
In a place where the strong made the laws, the guards would simply bow and scrape, bringing money as tribute. Even so, it wasn’t much compared to the coins I had, and it was just annoying how they wouldn’t leave me alone.
Fortunately, it didn’t look like that was going to be an issue here.
“First, let’s hit the inn and book a room.”
Wanting to shake off all the fatigue, I found an inn that looked decent and stepped inside.
“Can we reserve a room with three beds for a long stay?”
“Yep, that’s fine.”
We might have looked like a mess after all the dust storms, but since we were wearing some decent clothes, the innkeeper smiled sycophantically and nodded enthusiastically.
‘I would prefer to get separate rooms if I could… but there are just too many criminals for that.’
If we had booked separate rooms, there would have been a 100% chance of someone breaking into Iris and Jess’s room tonight. Of course, both Jess and Iris were powerful and capable, so it wouldn’t really be a problem, but hey, you never know.
Best to prepare for potential risks when you can.
After taking the key, we went to our assigned room. It was larger and pricier than the other inns and definitely had a much nicer interior. If the inns we’d stayed at before were like motels, this one felt more like a hotel.
“I wanted a good rest, so this is perfect. You two wash up first, I’ll just sort out our luggage over here.”
“Bath! Master! Let’s wash together!”
Since I had scolded Jess for trying to strip whenever I told her to wash, now she just cheered and bounced around. Watching her cling to my clothes, I shook my head.
“As I said before, no.”
“Kiiiing..”
“Bleh… what can’t happen, just can’t happen.”
“Got it..”
Jess’s ears drooped as she headed to the bathroom. Iris, who usually begged me to wash with her along with Jess, had already entered the bathroom first, which was a bit out of character for her.
‘Wow, kids really grow up fast.’
Seeing Iris mature made me feel both happy and sad at the same time. Ah, the father’s love!
With that thought, I nudged Jess into the bathroom. Not long after, some neatly folded clothes and some crumpled ones ended up outside the door. The neat ones were Iris’s, and the messy ones belonged to Jess.
At first, Jess would just throw her clothes everywhere, but after seeing Iris and I fold them nicely, she started to clumsily mimic us. Each time I praised her for doing a good job, she would come over and stick her head out with a wide grin.
Fondly recalling Jess’s cute antics, I began tidying up my stuff. Once I was done and placed some clothes for the kids to change into in front of the door, Iris and Jess emerged from the bathroom smelling like flowers.
The sight of them, rosy-cheeked in their fluffy clothes, was incredibly adorable.
“Master!”
Jess ran over, water dripping from her head. I quickly dried her hair with a towel, and she rubbed her face against my stomach, purring like a kitten.
“Jess, hang on a sec, I’m still dirty since I haven’t washed yet.”
“Master’s smell is so nice!”
“Hey, hey, sniff. Besides, your hair needs to dry too, so step back a bit.”
After coaxing her a few times, Jess reluctantly backed off. With no hair dryers in sight, I simply rubbed her hair enough to keep the water from dripping down. Anything more would take too long.
“Brother, me too!”
“Alright, alright.”
When I dried Iris’s hair, which she had been patiently waiting with, her floral scent tickled my nose. Once I removed the excess moisture, I put the towel aside.
“I’ll go wash up now, so just relax for a bit.”
“Okay! Can I… tidy up your clothes, brother?”
“I’d appreciate that!”
I smiled broadly at Iris’s eagerness to help. I quickly went into the bathroom, stripped down, and opened the door just slightly to place my dirty clothes outside.
Thump.
I closed the bathroom door behind me, and summoned my demonic sword. It transformed into a thin needle, waiting eagerly. Just like that, I jabbed it into my thigh and started washing.
Swoosh -.
“Ahhh…”
The warm water washed away my fatigue.
*
After Lian entered the bathroom, Iris was left alone with Jess. She quickly wiped the soft smile away from her lips and crept closer to the bathroom door.
“Sniff sniff…”
Jess followed closely behind Iris, getting low to the ground. Iris seemed unbothered by Jess’s behavior.
With Jess acting more animal-like, Iris kinda considered her a pet that Lian had. Thanks to that, her guard was quite down.
Confirming the sounds of water running inside the bathroom, Iris picked up Lian’s clothes that were lying outside the door. She tossed the robe to Jess.
Immediately, Jess wrinkled her nose and repeatedly narrowed and widened her pupils.
“Sniff sniff sniff sniff!”
Jess put Lian’s clothes down, buried her face in them, rubbed her face all over, then picked up the robe and scuttled away like a puppy hiding a toy.
Iris held Lian’s shirt close to her chest.
“Ahhh, brother…”
To an outsider, it might look kinda creepy, but there was a reason behind it. Whenever Lian was absent, Iris would gather his clothes to make a nest, feeling secure in his absence, thus she had to smell his scent to calm down when he was away.
Iris was aware this behavior wasn’t exactly normal, so she would only secretly hug his things whenever he was gone.
Passing some clothes to Jess was also to keep her from interrupting; if it were just Iris holding Lian’s clothes, Jess would constantly sniff around and interfere.
But anyway, she happily wrapped herself in Lian’s clothes, filled with his scent.
Thud thud!
That was when a noise broke her peaceful moment. Someone was knocking roughly at the door.
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