Ch.409Chapter 409 – Morning of the Bestia (2)

After coming down the stairs and discovering Sia, Jusha, and Beatrice together, a little while later.

I was sitting with Sia in the dining room.

“Are the others sleeping in?”

“They must be tired. I checked on everyone.”

I confidently replied, having checked not only the three people sleeping in my room but also Noah and Sonya’s rooms.

Sia stared at me blankly for a moment, then nodded and continued.

“They weren’t doing any intense exercise in the middle of the night, were they?”

“No.”

As I lied with a straight face, Sia looked at me somewhat indifferently.

Before being interrogated further, I quickly spoke first.

“By the way, I was surprised by Beatrice’s reaction earlier.”

“Indeed. It’s the first time I’ve heard Beatrice make such a sound.”

I’ve heard her shout many times, but this was the first time I’d heard her scream in surprise.

She calmed down quickly and immediately took Jusha to the kitchen, but for some reason, she seemed to avoid looking at my face.

I asked about it at the time, but Sia just stared at me with half-open eyes.

I tried to ease the tension by bringing up Beatrice, but it didn’t seem to work.

I needed to change the subject somehow.

“Why is Jusha here?”

“She came with groceries, saying she wanted to make sure we wouldn’t have any difficulties during our stay. Alone, mind you.”

“Alone?”

“Yes. Can you guess why?”

I paused at Sia’s words and fell into thought.

It wasn’t hard to figure out why Jusha had come.

“She wants to maintain a good relationship with us?”

“Something like that. She doesn’t seem interested in putting us in unnecessary debt, so I think it’s best to just accept with a smile rather than refusing. What do you think?”

“That would be better.”

They say nothing is more expensive than something free, but since Jusha’s original purpose was to gain our favor, it would be enough if we treated her kindly.

Above all, I thought that since she’s still young, if we declined too much, she might misunderstand it as rejection or feel burdened.

‘I shouldn’t unnecessarily burden a young child’s heart.’

There was a possibility she might be plotting something behind our backs, but it didn’t seem likely that Jusha, who had wanted to start on good terms with us from the beginning, would now be scheming.

She simply wanted to gain our favor by helping us honestly, making a good impression to receive help from us in the future.

There probably wasn’t anything more to it than that.

“She’s going to such lengths for the future of her tribe.”

“Isn’t it cute?”

“It is.”

I smiled as I answered Sia, who was speaking with a smile.

“Is this what it feels like to have a daughter?”

“…That’s something you’ve been saying quite a bit lately.”

Sia said with a small laugh.

Then, as if she’d just remembered something, she looked at me and spoke.

“Come to think of it, do you have any thoughts about it?”

“About what?”

“Children, I mean.”

Sia looked at me with an intrigued expression.

“You have many admirers. Haven’t you ever dreamed of settling down with someone, living an ordinary life with children?”

I almost laughed at Sia’s somewhat elderly-sounding words.

It wasn’t something I needed to hide, so I decided to answer honestly.

“I can’t say I haven’t.”

“Oh?”

“But there’s one prerequisite for that, isn’t there?”

“What’s that?”

“Whether I can take responsibility until the end.”

Looking at Sia, I gently pointed to my left chest with my thumb.

Sia’s expression darkened slightly.

“Considering the time I have left, isn’t it a thought that should remain just a dream, for the sake of those who would be left behind?”

“…I apologize. That was thoughtless of me.”

“It’s fine.”

I smiled as I responded to Sia’s apology.

“It’ll be resolved if I get better.”

“You mean the Philosopher’s Stone.”

I nodded at Sia’s words.

If I could find the Philosopher’s Stone and recover my lifespan through the hero’s awakening, it would be something I could reconsider.

Since it was an obvious answer, I replied lightly, and Sia smiled slightly as she spoke.

“I’m sure you’ll find it.”

Sia smiled and said nothing more.

As a slightly awkward silence was about to fall, I quietly asked.

“What about you, Sia?”

“As it happens, I’ve spent most of my life so far surviving and adventuring.”

Sia said with a slightly bitter expression.

“Before I knew it, I was sitting on the throne as king, and before I knew it, I had many people to protect. I was busy. So I never even dreamed of marriage.”

“I doubt you’ve even had a chance to date.”

“Remember that a casual truth you throw out can transform into violence for others.”

Sia reacted somewhat sensitively, as if it was an unexpectedly sensitive topic.

Finding it amusing, I smiled and said.

“Come to think of it, Sia’s age is…”

“Ahem.”

A hint of killing intent flashed in Sia’s eyes.

Frightened, I quickly decided to stop.

“Sorry.”

“…Kay. Remember this. A woman’s age is not something to be dug up and revealed carelessly.”

Sia muttered with genuine bitterness.

Judging by her appearance, she looked similar to Sera, but her actual age must be quite substantial even by demon standards.

Well, it wasn’t strange for her to react that way, given that she was apparently in a different order of magnitude in terms of age.

“Anyway, Noah and Sonya are late. Were they usually the type to sleep in?”

“I don’t think they were.”

While the three people sleeping in my room were one thing, Noah and Sonya should have been coming down by now.

Just as I was thinking that, I sensed someone coming down from upstairs.

Noah was coming down with a smiling face, waving his hand.

“Good morning.”

“You’re a bit later than usual?”

“We didn’t need to guard the perimeter. I must have been more tired than I realized, feeling safe enough to sleep in.”

After saying that, Noah narrowed his eyes slightly as if sensing something from the kitchen.

Then he smiled and said.

“Hmm. Is Jusha here as a guest? And is Beatrice making breakfast?”

“How did you know that?”

“I heard the sounds.”

Noah smiled again as he spoke.

“I may not be as good as you, but I’m still a beastman. My ears and nose work well.”

Noah looked at me with a slight smile.

While I was on guard, sensing he had a lot he wanted to say, Noah turned to Sia and spoke.

“Sonya will probably wake up late today too. She looked tired.”

“Hmm, since many people will be eating breakfast late, we should probably have something that can be easily reheated. Should I go tell them now?”

“It seems Jusha already suggested cooking in that direction. I heard her explaining how to make broth.”

Noah smiled as he said breakfast would be a warm soup dish.

It seemed like that was just what he wanted to eat, but since I didn’t dislike it or have any reason not to eat it, I remained silent.

And as if having heard Noah’s wish, a bubbling sound and an appetizing aroma began to spread gently.

“That smells good. I see they’re grilling meat too. It seems the Bear Tribe eats a hearty breakfast. Perfect for nutrition.”

“We should eat well while resting, shouldn’t we?”

Sia smiled as she spoke to Noah.

Noah wasn’t complaining either, so he grinned and replied.

“I agree. But we’re stuck waiting until breakfast is ready.”

Noah looked at me with slightly widened eyes and said.

“Is there anything you’d like to ask me? I’m still half-asleep and might be a bit loose-lipped because of the food smell.”

Noah was blatantly encouraging me to question him.

After thinking for a moment, I asked him.

“How dangerous is the path to the Warrior’s Sanctuary?”

I asked about the place we were planning to visit before Evgenia’s seal.

While the Bear Tribe would handle the preparations, it wasn’t a bad idea to gather information during our rest. Perhaps Sera could prepare useful tools after hearing about it.

Noah replied with a slightly disappointed look.

“You could have asked about me, you know.”

“Not interested.”

“I see. You prefer women over men. Fine. Let me tell you about my younger sibling whom I parted with about 15 years ago…”

“Not interested.”

I firmly responded to Noah, who kept trying to talk nonsense.

I felt I needed to give him a warning.

“If you don’t answer my question properly, I’ll tell Sera.”

“From the point of being deep in the snowy fields, the path to the Warrior’s Sanctuary is definitely not smooth.”

Noah straightened his back and immediately answered.

“First, the snow limits visibility, and the paths are often covered, making them hard to recognize. Fortunately, exploring beastmen have continuously created and updated markers, so if you can recognize these signs, you can find your way… but things don’t always go well.”

Noah looked at me as he spoke.

“Sometimes, monsters damage the markers. Or the markers disappear due to weather. In those cases, you either have to rely on memory to reach your destination or give up and turn back.”

“Will you be alright?”

“Of course. I’m here to guide the way.”

Noah grinned, then continued.

“But you should bring medicine and frostbite treatments. There are quite a few beastmen who get frostbite on their toes due to poor management.”

“Sera would have prepared that separately.”

Sia answered, showing her trust in Sera.

I also thought that Sera would have prepared such things in advance without needing to be told.

“But the real problem is the monsters. As Sonya said, they attack day and night, and they’re stronger and tougher than normal monsters because they’re in constant survival competition, eating each other. And they’re clever.”

“How clever?”

“When easy prey appears, they form alliances. Specifically to eat.”

Noah said quietly.

“Usually they fight among themselves, but when weaker prey like humans or beastmen appear, their leaders immediately put their heads together. White wolves and ice birds, common in the snow fields, coordinate attacks from sky and ground, while larger monsters like wyverns wait for the prey to weaken before swooping in from above.”

“Are you saying monsters coordinate to that extent?”

Sia asked incredulously.

Noah nodded.

“Surprisingly, yes. Afterward, they even share the prey.”

“I don’t understand. Don’t the larger ones just take everything?”

“They don’t.”

Noah said quietly.

“For example… say an adventurer enters and dies while resisting. Let’s say white wolves and ice birds surround and attack to drain their strength, and a wyvern delivers the final blow.”

Noah used gestures to describe the situation, as if trying to frighten us.

“Since the adventurer would have fought back, some monsters would be injured or weakened. After the hunt, the wyvern attacks these weakened monsters and finishes them off.”

“Didn’t you say they share the prey?”

“I mentioned they eat each other, right? Yes, that’s what I meant by sharing the prey.”

Noah said with a slightly disgusted look.

“The distribution works like this: the wyvern takes the adventurer’s body, the ice birds take the white wolves’ bodies, and the white wolves take the ice birds’ bodies.”

“What if a white wolf delivers the final blow instead of a wyvern?”

“Then the white wolves take the adventurer’s body and give their own fallen comrades’ bodies to the ice birds. The ice birds give their fallen comrades’ bodies to the wyvern, and any leftovers go to the wolves. Surprisingly, they always respect the rule that whoever delivers the final blow gets the main prey. And in their own way, it’s a win-win for all of them.”

“…So they control their numbers while obtaining corpses?”

When I quietly asked, Noah nodded.

“In other places, it’s not uncommon to see infighting among monsters. But the snow fields are different. While they actively eat each other normally, when prey from outside the snow fields arrives, they coordinate as if they’d never been enemies. The most astonishing case was when a troll with high regeneration acted as a shield, taking attacks to protect other monsters while they attacked, in a perfect role distribution that cost the lives of beastman adventurers.”

Noah frowned slightly as he told this rather disturbing story.

He added that this had been reported only twice, to which Sia responded incredulously.

“I don’t understand how monsters learn such behavior.”

“The wisdom of survival has made them realize they need to join forces. It’s surprising that there hasn’t been a large-scale invasion yet.”

Honestly, it was surprising.

With such wisdom, the monsters could potentially unite to attack Bestia.

Sensing our curiosity, Noah nodded with satisfaction and said.

“According to long-lived beastmen’s predictions, since monsters fundamentally see each other as prey, they can join forces for hunting but can’t conceive of invading somewhere together.”

“So because they can somehow find food within their territory, the monsters haven’t thought of attacking outside?”

“Something like that. But given that there haven’t been any mass migrations either, there might be other reasons. Nothing is known for certain.”

Noah added that there might be other reasons they simply weren’t aware of.

‘This place is more dangerous than I thought.’

It didn’t sound so bad initially, but it seemed to be quite the monster den.

It was understandable why beastmen who returned alive from there were respected.

“Still, giving their own kind’s corpses to other species is rather eerie.”

“Perhaps they’re actively reducing the number of their weaker members. In the cold, food-scarce snow fields, they can’t afford to care for weak members. Still, they don’t cannibalize directly; instead, they feed their fallen to others and in return eat those others’ corpses.”

Noah added that afterward, they would fight to eat each other again as if nothing had happened.

“Don’t underestimate the snow field monsters. And the Warrior’s Sanctuary is a place you can only reach by breaking through such creatures.”

“I see.”

It was more dangerous than I’d thought.

More than anything, if they had the intelligence to coordinate attacks, the situation we disliked most—our rear being attacked—could occur quite frequently.

We’ll need contingency plans.

“Do you know their weaknesses?”

“I do. In fact, it’s widely known in Bestia.”

Noah raised a finger as he spoke.

“Monsters living in the snow fields are fundamentally afraid of something. That’s why the beastmen here teach that when in crisis in the snow fields, with no way to resist, use this as a last resort.”

“What is it?”

“It’s…”

Just as Noah was about to tell me, we were interrupted.

“Meal’s ready!”

“Please come eat!”

Beatrice, with her hair neatly tied and wearing an apron, was bringing over a large pot.

Seeing this, Noah shrugged and said.

“…I’ll tell you later.”

They say what makes people most annoyed is when someone stops mid-sentence.

Looking at Noah’s bright smile, I seriously considered reporting him to Sera.