” Noa, can you see exactly where it’s located?”
“Uh… um… this, this way.”
I poked my finger at the small stone visible to the left of the woman’s belly button.
Then—
Fwoosh—
Without hesitation, Rubia plunged a knife in.
“Ugh, aah…”
Hephaestus, who was beside me, screamed in shock.
“Ugh, ugh! Rubia…? A-are you okay?”
I felt the same way…
Oh… I mean, seriously, how could she be so… nonchalant about it?
But Rubia, undeterred by our reactions, began to stab wildly with the knife.
“Yeah, it happens often. Some monsters lay eggs inside human bodies. So, I’m used to it. I know how to cut and heal…”
Her calm voice contrasted sharply with the merciless slashing of the knife inside the woman’s belly.
“The method is a bit rough, but it can be healed perfectly without any aftereffects. If she were conscious, she might have phantom pain or trauma, but since she’s passed out…”
Fwoosh—squish—scrape—
“I’m worried about the blood loss, but I’ll do my best to heal her. Isn’t that better than being caught by those freaks again?”
Each time, the woman’s body jerked, twitching and convulsing—thump-thump.
Unable to take it any longer, Hephaestus ran to a corner and started to retch, while I could only let out small whimpers, hands off the hilt of my sword.
Then, in the midst of it all—
“Ah, I found it.”
With a pop, the knife was pulled out, and Rubia’s voice sounded a bit brighter.
Thinking it might be over, I gingerly touched the hilt of my sword and cautiously asked,
“Is it, is it over…?”
“Nope. Not yet. I just opened her up; I haven’t closed it yet.”
Gack…
I clenched a different hand tightly instead of the hilt.
Opening and closing…?
Is the human body that easy…?
After what felt like an eternity of horror—
“Hu… it’s done now. Fortunately, it’s not active yet.”
We heard the sound of Rubia’s footsteps as her clothes fluttered—swish-swish.
I immediately grasped the great sword’s hilt and checked on the woman’s condition.
“She’s, she’s fine…?”
Aside from her heartbeat being a bit weaker, she looked fairly intact.
Healing seemed to have sped up significantly too…
“Of course, I’ve healed worse injuries than this recently…”
“Is it, is it finished… Ugh—”
Hephaestus, stumbling back from behind a rock, glanced between Rubia and the woman before starting to retch again.
“I think we should move our campsite. It seems we still haven’t figured out the location, but just in case… and those corpses.”
“Agreed… Absolutely agreed!”
Hephaestus vigorously agreed to Rubia’s suggestion.
Then they immediately packed their things and started preparing to leave.
“Um… Can I do a little skinning before we go…? Because, you know, Minotaur skin is really, really valuable… And those horns…”
I pointed at the corpses behind us.
“The skin of Hon Wolfs… it’s super warm in winter… Oh, and the horns! They say boiling them makes a great nutrient!”
I just couldn’t leave without them…
Whereas the mundane orcs and the games I was tired of could be found everywhere…
But a Hon Wolf and a Minotaur?
The value of that skin, teeth, and horns!
Even if it takes a bit of time… still!
“Well… can I just do it until you’re done packing?”
“Huh? Can’t we pack together?”
“I’m fine!”
“Of course.”
“Really?”
Rubia and Hephaestus nodded eagerly.
“Th-thank you…!”
I quickly grabbed my skinning tools from Hephaestus’s pack and ran over to the spot where the Minotaur lies.
Hehehe—
*
“This looks good.”
The place we chose for our new campsite while looking at the map was somewhat cave-like.
Not deep enough to be called a cave, yet definitely cave-like… such a peculiar spot.
“So, I should just set up the tent right away?”
Hephaestus gently lowered the woman he was carrying as he spoke.
“Yeah. And Noa, just keep watch like before.”
Rubia let out a faint sigh while setting down her large backpack.
I, on the other hand, was carrying nothing.
I was too short to carry the woman, and carrying a pack would distract me from watching for monsters, so I was just sent off empty-handed…
Plus, all the materials from the skinning were stored in the bag Rubia was carrying…
I felt so obvious that I wished even a monster would pop up, but not even an ant came out…
But! Here I am, doing nothing but keeping watch again!
So embarrassing!!
“I’m not a lazy bum!”
“Hmm… I could keep watch while working, too…”
“It’s okay. Hephaestus and I can manage, so you can rest.”
But Rubia firmly disagreed.
“…All right…”
Feeling dejected, I sat beside the unconscious woman.
I dressed her in spare clothes we had brought along and wrapped her with a blanket.
From what I heard from Rubia on the way here, it seems she was kidnapped.
The name of that organization was Red Scorpion.
A name that sounded incredibly cheesy, yet it was said to be a notorious crime organization in Ursphere.
As far as I could tell, it looked super dodgy, but many adventurers and knights had attempted to uproot it and failed.
The feature was that the members bore a red scorpion tattoo somewhere on their body, but apparently, this woman didn’t have one.
It was uncertain whether it was hidden beneath scars or something, but it didn’t seem likely…
She must have gone through various horrific experiences…
She said she felt she lived worse than a slave…
But… she didn’t explain what those experiences were.
She refused to tell me and Hephaestus, saying it was too early and that she’d tell us when she became an adult.
Hephaestus may be unaware, but why isn’t she telling me anything?
I’m an adult here too, being a proper twenty years old! Back on Earth, how old was I again…?
Anyway,
I’m an adult too… I know everything…
Sigh…
While I was hunched over dejectedly, kicking the ground—thud-thud—
“Ugh…”
The sound came from the woman’s neck, cracking and popping.
Her eyes slowly opened.
She woke up!
“Um, excuse me… ar-are you okay…?”
To let her know I was here, I held my face in front of her line of sight.
“Wh-who are you…?”
It seems her vision is still blurry.
But how should I describe who I am if she asks?
Telling her my name won’t do her any good—I mean, she doesn’t know who I am.
Hmm…
“Ah…! I’m a Gold-rated adventurer…!”
Hehe… I’m now a Gold-rated adventurer!
Isn’t that cool?!!
But… doesn’t that sound a bit odd?
I should have said something more like, “I’m the one who saved you. You can rest easy now.”
“Mo-monster…?”
While I fumbled, trying to think of a different line, the woman grabbed my collar.
“Th-thank you…”
And with a trembling voice, she looked me dead in the eye—
“Heh, ha! Ah, a demon… drinking, drinking blood…”
She stared at me straight… muttering strange things and suddenly began to seize.
“Uh, uh? Rubia…!!”
“Noa? Why… ah, she woke up… what’s wrong with her?”
Rubia rushed over and examined the trembling woman.
Still not calmed down, she carefully let out her divine power while taking off her robe.
“Huu, gasp… please… help… Ugh, a-a shaman…?”
“Yes. Are you okay?”
She seemed a bit calmer now, firmly gripping Rubia’s hand.
“Noa, big sister… what’s going on?”
“Um… sh-she reacted like this when she saw me…”
Clearly… she called me a demon… a blood-drinking demon…
Did she mention my nickname?
“That’s… it’s probably because of the rumors about me.”
“Rumors… but would that be enough to scare her that much? Unless she saw it in person.”
“Um… well, I don’t kill people…”
That’s true.
No matter how scary rumors are, I don’t slaughter people left and right.
I just kill monsters a little…
For a moment, Hephaestus, who was giving me an odd look, suddenly flared up and raked her hair back.
“Huh, but this is kind of ridiculous. You saved her, and she reacts like that? It just annoys me.”
Her face scrunched up, and her voice dripped with irritation.
“This won’t do; I’ll go explain to her—”
“Ugh! Don’t, Hephaestus… just calm down for now.”
“Why not? No, she should know who saved her.”
“That’s true, but… let’s wait until she calms down…”
While struggling to calm down the extremely agitated Hephaestus, Rubia’s voice came through.
After they engaged in a heated conversation, did they finish?
“Noa. Can you come over for a moment?”
She gestured for me to come while calling me over.
Is it okay to go…?
What if she freaks out and reacts like that again…?
After a long moment of hesitating, clutching the hilt tightly, Rubia walked over with the woman, supporting her.
“I’m, I’m so sorry… I was too anxious, and I said such things to the person who rescued me…”
I ducked behind Hephaestus, fearing she might be surprised again, when suddenly, she offered an apology.
“Um…”
“I really apologize. The sight I saw back in Loholan… I couldn’t forget it…”
Loholan?
Ah… so she was someone who saw me in Loholan.
“Ah… um, it’s okay…”
As I nodded, accepting the apology, Hephaestus mumbled behind me.
“Well… I can see why that scene could have such an effect…”
Why?
Wasn’t I cool back then…?
“When you killed that interfering wizard… to be honest, I was a bit shocked too.”
“Uh, eh…? Wizard…?”
“Yeah, the one who was shooting arrows from behind—”
“Oh, that one?”
“Uh? That one…?”
The expressions of the three staring at me grew peculiar.
I didn’t know why they looked at me like that.
Still, I continued my explanation.
“That wasn’t a person, but a monster.”
How dare a monster lay hands on Rubia.
“So… I killed it particularly cruelly.”
I realized that a regular person would be shocked just seeing a monster get killed…
Hmm… I guess that’s understandable.
I must remember that.
