Barbecue Party (1)

『Lilith has reached Level 23!』

『Lilith has reached Level 24!』

『Lilith has reached Level 25!』

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The battle fought by Ethan, Karaham, and me somehow concluded with the three of us victorious.

To an outsider, it might have seemed like an easy fight, but it was truly a life-or-death struggle. Dodging the attacks of that swift bear while stacking overlapping spells and timing the counterattack with an electrical strike wasn’t as simple as it looked.

If I had swung even a fraction of a second too early or too late, it would have been me getting electrocuted and paralyzed instead of the Crescent Moon Bear. And if that had happened, Ethan and Karaham would have had to fight an already tough opponent while also carrying dead weight.

‘That’s why I wanted to play it as safe as possible…’

But since that safe method was no longer an option, what choice did I have? At least I could take comfort in the fact that my level was decently high and my Luck stat wasn’t too low.

Of course, as someone who prefers certainty, I would have liked to avoid such battles whenever possible. Unlike in games with save/load functions or respawns in nearby towns, in this world, you only get one life.

After the fierce battle in the western forest of the altar, we dragged the Crescent Moon Bear’s carcass back to the witch’s village. The first to greet us upon our return were Agnes and two others (Antonio and Sir Colt), who had been guarding the eastern lake.

Truth be told, Agnes and the other two had been excluded from the Hero’s plan from the start. In the witch’s forest, Agnes’s fire magic was far too unpredictable and risky.

Antonio was too weak to be included. Sir Colt was a variable that shouldn’t have appeared in the original story, and in the worst-case scenario, he was excluded to protect Antonio.

In other words, to prevent the powerless imperial prince Antonio from getting hurt, Agnes and Colt had effectively been exiled to the eastern lake. Yet, ironically, the most injured among the three upon their return was Prince Antonio.

“Ah, Prince Antonio?!”

“…A-Are you alright?”

“Ah, you’ve returned as well… Judging by the size of your prey, it seems you had quite the battle…”

In terms of injuries alone, Antonio was the most hurt among us. And the fact that he got injured in what was supposed to be the safest area, the lake, left me baffled.

After hearing the details, it turned out Agnes’s group had also fought a battle around the same time as ours-against a three-headed hydra that emerged from the lake.

“I apologize. Due to my incompetence, His Highness was injured…! I-I will atone for this with my life…”

“S-Sir Colt! You shouldn’t jump to conclusions like that!”

“…I-It’s fine… It’s not that serious… Besides, it was my own carelessness that caused the mistake…”

“……”

Sir Colt, burdened with guilt as a knight of the imperial palace, and Agnes, who for some reason wore a troubled expression and remained silent.

I didn’t ask for further details, as it felt impolite. Instead, I used my Saintess’s authority to stabilize Antonio’s condition so his injuries wouldn’t worsen.

At least we were fortunate that the real Saintess, Celista, was also in this forest. As soon as we returned, she poured her divine power into healing Antonio’s wounds.

“T-That should do it, Prince Antonio…”

“…Yes, thank you.”

“You should rest well for about three days… I-I managed to close the wound with divine power, but it’ll take time to fully heal…”

“Understood.”

“…Thank you, Saintess Celista. And I’m sorry for troubling you with my foolish younger brother. You must be exhausted after the battle.”

“N-No, not at all…! M-My meager divine power can be replenished with just one desperate prayer…! Y-Your Highness, you were just fighting alongside the Hero in the most dangerous place, s-so my skills are nothing compared to yours…”

“Who contributed how much to the battle isn’t what’s important right now. Seraphine must feel bad for making Celista work hard after the fight. Anyway, good work, Celista.”

“T-Thank you… Hero…”

Even Seraphine, the highest-ranking person here, casually called the Hero by his name.

After leading them on like that, he still claims he won’t take responsibility for anything in this world? Unbelievable.

Seeing Seraphine flinch slightly when the Hero called her name, it seemed highly unlikely that the future he envisioned would come to pass.

With Silena on one side and Celista in front-all the main heroines showering him with sweet gazes-I couldn’t help but think that the real problem would arise after the Demon King was defeated.

‘I’ll have to warn him someday. If he plans to return to his original world, he should at least give these three a heads-up before leaving.’

If he just vanished without a word, a small-scale war would likely break out between the Empire, the Holy Kingdom, and the elves-each suspecting the others of hiding the Hero.

“P-Please keep the splint on for three days… The broken bone needs time to set properly…”

“…In this condition?”

“Y-Yes… It must be uncomfortable, but…”

“Hmm…”

Antonio, with a splint on his right arm, frowned slightly as he pondered.

Going three days without the use of one arm didn’t seem pleasant. And the fact that it was his dominant right arm made it even more inconvenient.

In this state, even eating or using the bathroom would be difficult to manage alone. And to make matters worse, the knight accompanying him wasn’t a man but a female knight.

“…Well, it’s still a small price to pay for what we gained. At least we successfully defeated the monster, so it’s not all bad.

Sir Colt, there’s no need to worry too much. Since it was my reckless actions that led to this, I should bear the consequences.”

“I am ashamed, Prince Antonio. I will take responsibility for attending to you while your arm is injured.”

“Hmm, you’d do that? I was actually concerned about that part, but if Sir Colt is willing, then I’m grateful…”

Even without a male knight, Sir Colt was the only one here who could attend to Antonio, and he seemed ready to accept her offer out of necessity.

“…I’ll do it.”

But Antonio’s words were interrupted by an unexpected declaration from Agnes.

“…Lady Agnes?”

“…For the next three days, I’ll take care of you.”

The sudden bombshell from the red-haired mage silenced the room.

No one had anticipated such words from such an unlikely person, so naturally, all eyes turned to Agnes. The first to break the silence was Antonio himself.

“…There’s no need for you to feel responsible for my injuries, Lady Agnes. I was hurt because of my own lack of ability…”

“Shut up. I said I’d do it. …Or do you have a problem with me?”

“N-No, of course not…”

“…Then don’t push it onto someone else. You got hurt because of me, so I’ll take responsibility. It’s only three days anyway.”

“Ah, yes… T-Then I’ll leave it to you, Lady Agnes…”

“……”

Agnes, with a conflicted expression, insisted on taking care of Antonio, and he eventually nodded in reluctant agreement.

It wasn’t hard to deduce that something had happened between the two.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

After the brief commotion following Agnes’s declaration, we moved on to a meal to restore everyone’s stamina after the battle.

Meals in the witch’s forest typically fell into two categories: traditional vegetarian dishes made with wild vegetables and spices, and occasional meat dishes using monsters from the forest as ingredients.

With Moonlight Wolves and a Crescent Moon Bear hunted that day, meat was in abundance, so naturally, our meal turned into a meat feast.

‘This feels like a samgyeopsal (pork belly) barbecue party.’

Of course, the meat we’re grilling now probably tastes more like hind leg or sirloin than pork belly. Wild monster meat tends to be leaner.

Still, the grilling atmosphere was enjoyable. After all, meat is always good.

‘Some grilled kimchi or ssamjang would make this perfect…’

Once the thought crossed my mind, a sudden craving for Korean food welled up. Come to think of it, how many years had it been since I last had proper Korean food?

My past-life memories had returned about seven years ago, so subjectively, it had been that long since I’d eaten Korean cuisine.

…I knew it couldn’t be helped. In a world like this, even having the luxury to think about Korean food was extravagant.

As I resigned myself to dipping the salt-grilled meat into an imaginary sauce, a familiar-looking seasoned dish was suddenly placed on the table in front of Ethan and me.

“Doesn’t this feel like a samgyeopsal barbecue party, grilling all this meat outdoors?”

“……”

Guess great minds think alike. Must be a Korean thing.