episode_0024

Kartun’s Detached Unit

“Sigh… It’s a bit disappointing. I wanted to see Kartun’s culture.”

“Hehehe… I think it’s truly fortunate that another stray cat hasn’t appeared for Zeke-nim…!!”

“Ah… Aria, honestly speaking… there’s probably no other woman who likes me besides you. I’m not very popular. Really. No one confessed to me even in my hometown.”

“Puhuhu… Zeke-nim truly doesn’t understand a woman’s heart!”

…Yeah, I don’t. What am I supposed to do when I genuinely don’t understand… For someone like me, who was constantly thinking about exploring back in my hometown, romance was completely out of the question. Aria, who was the first to confess to me, is impossible to read… This is really making me wonder how to deal with the opposite sex.

“But Zeke-nim… the most important thing right now is… that we are finally alone…! Isn’t that right…!!”

“Th-that’s… Oh…!!!”

Ah… I almost forgot. Thinking only of Karina’s and Tess’s smiles, it finally dawned on me that I was alone with Aria. Because Aria was looking at me with that ecstatic expression again… Was the reason she hardly ever made that face before because Karina was around?!

“Hahahahaha…. I’m so happy, Zeke-nim… Finally, just the two of us…!! My heart is pounding, and I’m so happy I could fly somewhere…!!”

This is truly awkward. It’s good if Aria is happy, but… Aria is so happy that I’m scared, not knowing what she might do to me in the middle of our exploration. My rough guess is she might suddenly pounce on me…!!

“Finally, I can serve my cooking only to Zeke-nim, and we can sleep together, just the two of us… I’m truly happy… But…”

“Huh?!”

“What’s this?”

Suddenly, Aria swung her staff, and something got stuck in the circular part of her staff. That’s a spear, isn’t it…? A spear suddenly flew in from somewhere, and Aria noticed it even while talking to me and deflected it with her staff… What terrifying senses…!!

“Hmm… It looks similar to Tess-nim’s spear.”

“What? You don’t mean Tess-ssi again…?”

“No. Tess-nim isn’t around here. I’ll go catch them, Zeke-nim. If anything happens, just shout loudly.”

“Uh… Alright.”

“Hehe… I’ll definitely catch them!”

Aria, with her staff… started breaking trees as she searched for the one who threw the spear…! What… how is she breaking trees so casually?! They’re thick trees!! No, more importantly, why is she breaking trees as she goes?! The moment I was utterly shocked by Aria advancing while breaking trees.

“Uwaaaaaah!!”

“…!! That’s a man’s voice…! Could it be…”

Could it be a slave hunter?! No… then they wouldn’t use a spear similar to Tess’s. The cloth tied at the joint of the spearhead and shaft is also the same blue cloth as Tess’s spear… Wait. Then, could it be…

“A… a beastkin?!”

It’s definitely a beastkin belonging to the detached unit! Given Kartun’s current situation, if Aria were to kill the beastkin who threw the spear at me… I… I have to stop that no matter what!!! Even just killing a life is something I’d refuse, but killing that beastkin in this situation is even more unacceptable!!

“Damn it…!!”

I hurried to stop Aria. It was clear that nothing would stop Aria, who had become even more formidable after the Rubdon incident!! I began to search for Aria by following the broken trees she left behind. Finally arriving at a place where dull thudding sounds echoed, I saw Aria confronting a beastkin with short blue hair.

“Damn it…!! A human can’t be this strong…!!”

“You’re just weak. But more importantly, how dare you try to harm Zeke-nim? I absolutely cannot forgive you.”

“What are you talking about…!! Take this!!”

The beastkin threw the slingshot stone in their hand at Aria. Aria then swung her staff, batting away all the incoming stones, and continued to rush towards the beastkin. The beastkin then leaped high onto a tree and shouted at Aria.

“Ha… hahaha!! You won’t be able to reach me like this, right…!!”

“There’s no reason for me to come.”

“What? What do you mean… H-huh…!!!”

Aria swung her golden staff and broke the tree the beastkin was on in one go… Isn’t that the biggest and thickest tree you’ve broken so far?! The beastkin, apparently not expecting it at all, couldn’t escape from the collapsing tree due to the immense shock.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!! This damn…”

“Got you.”

“W-what… W-what… *gasp*!!!”

As the beastkin fell from the collapsing tree, Aria leaped high and swung her staff, striking the beastkin’s abdomen while they were still in the air. The beastkin screamed and flew towards a tree on the right. After colliding with the tree, the beastkin fell to the ground, clutching their abdomen, which Aria had struck, and crying out in pain.

“*Cough*…. *Groan*….”

“Oh my… You’re still alive, perhaps because you weren’t hit very hard?”

“*Gasp*…. D-don’t come any closer…!!”

“Didn’t I say? I can’t forgive you. Don’t worry~ if you close your eyes, you’ll open them somewhere else.”

“Ugh…. Uwaaaaaaaah!!”

“Alright, then!…?”

Stop. The moment Aria was about to strike the beastkin’s head, I hastily grabbed Aria’s golden staff to stop her. Aria then stared blankly at me, lowered the staff she had raised high, and spoke to me.

“Zeke-nim. This beastkin tried to harm Zeke-nim.”

“I know.”

“…I sometimes wish Zeke-nim would be a little more cruel…”

“This is enough, Aria. You did well.”

“…Hehe.”

Aria, who had a cold expression, suddenly started giggling and then threw herself into my arms. Well, alright… I’ll allow this much. As I stroked Aria’s hair, who was in my embrace, she started giggling, seemingly satisfied. Now then…

“Hmm… Now what should I do with that beastkin…”

“Shall I kill them?”

“Stop that… Hmm… Can you bring them over for now?”

“Yes~ They’re unconscious, so it’ll be easy!”

“Alright… What? Unconscious?”

Hearing Aria’s words, I quickly looked at the beastkin. Just as Aria said, the beastkin was lying unconscious on the ground. They must have fainted from fear of Aria… My first thought was that it was understandable, and for some reason, I felt a sense of camaraderie with that beastkin. At least I didn’t faint… While I was thinking, looking at the beastkin, Aria effortlessly lifted the unconscious beastkin with one hand and spoke to me.

“Where shall we go, Zeke-niiim~?”

“Let’s go back to the place where the spear flew from. We should release them near Kartun or something…”

“Neeh? If we make them like Melian…”

“That’s more terrifying than killing them, you know? Let’s go quickly.”

“Neeh~”

Another Melian… I definitely don’t want that. No, I refuse beyond mere refusal for Aria to turn someone else into a state like Melian. I sighed and began to return with Aria. By the way, this beastkin… looks young. Around 19, perhaps? Having returned to the original spot, we tied the beastkin with a rope, just in case they might do something strange again.

“This should be fine… By the way, Tess-ssi… they’re coming…”

“Indeed. Beastkin seem to have excellent senses of smell, so they probably found us using their scent.”

“It’s a relief there aren’t other beastkin around. Ugh, I’m hungry…”

“Oh my~ Then I’ll prepare a meal right away!”

“Alright…. Don’t even think about cooking that beastkin!!”

“Oh… Was I caught?”

“What….?”

“Hahahaha… It’s a joke!… It’s really a joke, so don’t worry~”

…She said it like that, so it must be a joke, right…? I’m a little suspicious, but… it must be a joke, come on… While I was shocked by Aria’s recent comment, Aria began to walk lightly into the forest. Such light footsteps for hunting…!!

“Oink, oink, oink!!!”

“…!! Th-that sound… it’s a boar…!!”

It was definitely the sound of a boar. But… it sounded rougher, somehow… It was different from the boar sounds I knew. Ah… the book! The book Tess-ssi gave me…!! I hastily pulled out the book Tess had given me, along with the monster encyclopedia. Let’s see… In the Nergal River… C-Crimson Boars live there?! Damn it… Asra Salamanders and now Crimson Boars… The Magrion region is a terrifying place indeed!!

“Damn it… Aria can catch even boars bare-handed, but Crimson Boars are several times fiercer than regular boars…!! They’re stronger than Asra Salamanders… huh?!”

“Zeke-niiiiiim~! I couldn’t get a Garuda, but how about this…!!”

“…”

Unnecessary worry… No. There was no need to worry. How in the world did she do it…? Aria dragged a Crimson Boar, four times larger than a regular pig, with one hand. But the state of the Crimson Boar was far from normal. Its neck… the neck of this pig-like animal, the boar… was completely twisted around…?

“Ah… Is this not enough…? I’m sorry…”

“N-no. That’s plenty… It looks… delicious.”

“Oh, really?! Hehehe… I’ll make it with all my love!”

…Couldn’t you say that after wiping the blood off your face…? That reminds me of when you were looking for me in Bossdom… Aria, clearly thrilled to serve me a delicious meal, started humming a tune… and began butchering the meat….

“Hmm~ Hmhmm~”

“…”

Seeing that, it’s clear Aria is indeed terrifying. She’s butchering the meat more frighteningly than anyone else… While Aria was preparing the meat, I started a campfire using a firestone, a stone that emits fire.

“Oh my~ Such trouble…”

“It’s fine since I have a firestone. Now, where are the cooking utensils…”

“No~ They’re not needed, Zeke-nim!”

“What?”

Aria rinsed a thin stone with water and placed it over the campfire. Then she put the prepared Crimson Boar meat on top of it. Grilling meat on a stone… But the smell was so intoxicating that my mouth started watering. Damn, this looks too delicious… My mouth didn’t water this much even when I first saw Garuda steak…

“Oh my… You seem really excited!”

“Ugh… This is hard to resist. Shall I help?”

“It’s alright~ Don’t worry, I’ll be eating too!”

Perhaps because I always told Aria to leave some for herself, she had prepared her own portion too. It’s a relief that Aria is taking care of herself now. But… hmm…

“Aria, please prepare a portion for that beastkin too.”

“Neeh?! That beastkin tried to harm Zeke-nim…”

“It’s fine. I think it’s understandable, given Kartun’s current atmosphere of distrust towards humans.”

“Ah… How kind you are… I guess I just can’t win against Zeke-nim~ Hmmph~”

“Alright… then I’ll ask you to… Huh?”

As Aria couldn’t refuse my request, I unconsciously chuckled. Then I looked at the beastkin… Oh? When did they wake up? They even had drool dripping because of the smell of the grilling Crimson Boar meat… As I continued to stare, the beastkin finally met my gaze.

“Uh….”

“You… you vile humans…! Are you trying to torture me with food?!”

“What…?”

“To think that humans use such torture methods…!! I had no idea…!! But I will never surrender…!!”

“No, wait…”

“Even if I’m hungry, I’ll never give in to that food…!! You vile humans!! Die!! Go to hell… You despicable wretches, not even death would be enough for you…!!”

The moment the beastkin showered me and Aria with curses, a sound came from the beastkin’s stomach. They must truly be hungry. Well, it is lunchtime, so they would be hungry. But who are they saying that in front of…? The moment I thought that, I saw Aria approaching the beastkin with her golden staff, and the beastkin saw it too.

“*Cough*… You dark human…!! Even though I’m tied up like this… I will kill you someday…!! I will definitely kill you…!!”

“Hey… I’m telling you this for your own good, why don’t you look behind you?”

“What?! What’s behind me…. Huh?”

The tied beastkin wriggled and turned their body to see something behind them. The beastkin was greatly shocked. Behind them was the enormous Crimson Boar that Aria had butchered, with parts remaining.

“That was caught by Aria… no, the Black Saintess. Can you kill it?”

“…A Crimson Boar…? That’s impossible… Crimson Boars are something even the beastkin in our village can hardly kill…”

“But it’s right in front of your eyes, isn’t it? What are you going to do? I’m going to give you food for free, so I hope you’ll drop your guard a bit…”

“…Really?”

“Yeah.”

At my words, the beastkin stared at me dumbfounded. They said they wouldn’t give in to food… Well, we’re not torturing them, so maybe it doesn’t matter. I picked up the beastkin and sat them in front of the campfire. But I can’t untie the rope… I’m nervous…

“Um… the rope…”

“I’ll keep you tied for now, just in case you do something else. You almost got into big trouble. If I hadn’t stopped Aria… you might have ended up like that boar…”

“…Y-yes, indeed… That terrifying Saintess would probably do that… But… why did a human help me? I heard humans all look down on beastkin.”

“Sigh… That’s why Tess-ssi is troubled. I helped Tess-ssi and Raskal-ssi escape prison.”

“What?! How do you know Tess-ssi?!”

“We know each other. You’re a beastkin belonging to the detached unit that deals with slave hunters, right?”

“Th-that’s right. How did you know that…? No… that… that can’t be! A human who’s kind to beastkin…!! That Saintess also tried to kill me…!!!”

“This is a token of friendship Tess-ssi gave me. Can you trust me with this?”

I took out the history book of Kartun that Tess had given me from my backpack. The beastkin was dumbfounded. Is it that shocking? A human being kind to a beastkin… As I too became dumbfounded by the beastkin’s reaction, Aria served me grilled meat on a plate.

“Here you go~ Zeke-nim! I grilled it with all my love!”

“Uh… yeah… I’ll eat well…!!!”

*Gasp*…. Th-this taste…!! It’s so delicious. It’s chewier and softer than Garuda steak…! What kind of texture is this…!! Crimson Boar… It’s not that it tastes good because it’s strong… No. This taste might be thanks to Aria seasoning it well… Huh…? The moment I marveled at the Crimson Boar meat, the beastkin started drooling as they watched me eat so deliciously.

“Uh… Here, eat.”

“…!! N-no, I…”

“You’re going to swallow your drool.”

“I… I don’t need it…!!!”

Why are they so prideful? I put a piece of Crimson Boar meat into the beastkin’s mouth. The beastkin then slowly began to chew the meat in their mouth. As the taste registered, they closed their eyes and started to make an ecstatic expression.

“*Cough*… It’s… it’s delicious… Crimson Boar meat was so rare even in Kartun that I couldn’t eat it…”

“That’s fortunate. Aria, it’s really delicious. Thank you.”

“Hehe… I’m glad Zeke-nim is satisfied. Please wait a moment! I’ll grill more for…”

“Alright, open your mouth.”

“…Huh? Oh… I… Eh?”

I fed meat to Aria, who couldn’t eat while grilling. Aria then made an ecstatic expression. It’s more delicious because you made it… No, it’s definitely not an ecstatic expression made because the meat was delicious. Because it was Aria’s usual ecstatic expression…

“Z-Zeke-nim fed me meat… Ahhh… I have no regrets even if I die…”

“…Human, why is that woman like that…?”

“She likes me very much. That’s why she was angry when you threw the spear at me earlier.”

“…I won’t make her angry again.”

“Haha… But who are you?”

“My name is Fertea. I’m curious about your names too.”

“I am Zeke Luprian. And this Black Saintess is Aria Ritt. Is your abdomen, which Aria struck earlier, okay?”

“It’s fine. Can you untie the rope, perhaps? I truly won’t do anything.”

“Alright.”

Now I can trust them, right? I untied the rope that was binding Fertea. Fertea then sat by the campfire and began to eat the meat that had been specially prepared for them. They looked truly happy, as if it was delicious… They seem young, yet doing such dangerous work…

“How old are you?”

“I’m 20 this year.”

“Young… We’re all 25. I heard everything about Kartun from Tess. I wanted to experience Kartun’s culture… *Sigh*…”

“…Why do you want to experience Kartun’s culture, Zeke?”

“My dream is to explore the entire world. I want to explore every place marked on the map of Crentid World. The same goes for Kartun. But… the atmosphere in Kartun isn’t good right now, so it can’t be helped.”

“…I see. I’m sorry, Zeke.”

“You don’t need to apologize. Aria, what are you going to do with that meat?”

“Huh? Oh… this leftover meat? There’s still a lot, but we’ll have to leave it behind.”

“Hmm… Fertea, take this meat to Kartun.”

“What?!”

“It’s fine. Right, Aria?”

I looked at Aria, telling Fertea it was alright to take it. Aria then smiled as she looked at my face. It’s a relief Aria allowed it. Fertea then spoke to me, looking dumbfounded.

“…Zeke… no, Zeke Hyung. You’re too kind. I clearly attacked you first… yet you forgave me… and even gave me a gift…”

“Because I understand Kartun’s situation.”

“Thank you, Hyung…. I’ll definitely repay this kindness, Hyung…! Ah, take this.”

“Hmm?”

Fertea gave me some kind of beast’s fang. As I carefully examined the thumb-sized fang, Fertea spoke.

“It’s my charm, Hyung. My parents gave it to me to celebrate becoming an adult. Please accept it as a token of my gratitude, don’t refuse.”

“Alright, thank you… Huh? But your way of speaking…”

Fertea’s way of speaking, which had been stiff just moments ago, had softened. Fertea then smiled shyly, scratching their head, and explained to me.

“…I use this way of speaking with beastkin I’m close with. You’re an exception, Hyung, even though you’re human. Please do come back to Kartun. I’ll be waiting.”

“Alright. Here, take this spear!”

“Uh… thank you. See you next time! If the other beastkin of the detached unit find out I was gone for so long, you and… the Black Saintess will be in trouble!”

“Alright, take care!”

As I threw the spear to them, Fertea caught it and bowed to me and Aria, expressing gratitude. Then they climbed onto a tree and disappeared somewhere. *Sigh*… I made another promise to reunite… Alright, shall we head to our next destination now?

“Alright… let’s pack our bags, Aria. I want to get to Pharen Forest quickly.”

“Yes, Zeke-nim!”

We extinguished the campfire, packed our bags, and headed towards Pharen Forest.