episode_0234

About 20 minutes after Hermel left, the screams coming from inside the forest decreased and soon became quiet.

As I looked towards the forest, wondering if it was over, I saw Hermel, covered in blood, walking towards me with a look on his face as if he were going to bite someone to death at any moment.

“Are you done?”

In response to my question, Hermel immediately relaxed his frown and nodded with a calm expression.

“Yes. I left no one behind and only hit the head on the ground.”

Burying it in the ground is not a metaphor; it means actually putting one’s head into the ground. It probably looks like the work of a very eccentric performance artist.

The title of the work is probably about a person growing up backwards. Or a person turned upside down. It’s probably good, though.

“Did you clean up after it properly?”

“Huh? Ah.”

In response to my question, Hermel, who was shaking off the blood from his hands, made an angry noise and blinked, and I smiled bitterly at him.

“You didn’t do it.”

“I was so angry when I saw him doing stupid things targeting Charles that I stopped… .”

“It’s okay. That could be true.”

When I tried to stroke his head with a grin, Hermel looked at my hand and stepped back in shock.

I checked my hands to see if there was anything on them, but there wasn’t anything in particular.

“Why are you running away like that?”

When I looked at Hermel again and asked, Hermel’s eyes widened and he waved his hands and shouted.

“If you stroke it now, there will be blood!”

“It’s okay. Just wash it off with magic. Oh, while I’m at it, I’ll also wash Hermel.”

As I said that and stretched out my hand, Hermel, who was muttering, slowly lowered his waist and lowered his head.

I patted Hermel’s head and laughed.

“First of all, I need to wash it off before the blood hardens.”

After saying that, I created a ball of water in the air and poured it out like a shower.

“Huh… . Cool… .”

“Do you feel good?”

“Yes… . It was already hot and I was covered in blood, so it was extremely sticky… .”

“You didn’t even show it. I must have felt bad.”

Hermel smiled bitterly at those words and shook his head.

“Being covered in blood happened often during my life as an adventurer. Especially on days when you catch large monsters like gryphons or manticores… . Ugh.”

“No matter how much you train your sword, there are some things you can’t help.”

“Well, I haven’t been covered in blood since about 3 years ago as an adventurer. I cut it quickly so that no blood splattered.”

I couldn’t help but tilt my head as I watched Hermel speaking calmly while washing away the blood.

“What does cutting quickly have to do with not bleeding?”

“Hmm, it would be quicker to show this in person.”

After saying that, Hermel picked up a tree branch of an appropriate size that had fallen on the ground and swung it towards the tree.

No, can I say that I wielded this? I thought my arm was a little blurry, but then it came back to life. And the tree branch that Hermel was holding in his hand had disappeared as if it had never existed from the beginning, except for the part that Hermel was holding.

And even the remaining part turned into powder and scattered as soon as Hermel opened his hand.

“… ? What did you do?”

Hermel giggled at my words and walked up to the tree where he had swung the branch and pushed it with his hand.

It’s not that hard to push. I just literally poked him with my finger, as if he was joking. But the consequences of that light action were enormous.

The tree fell sideways with a crackling sound. No, it passed as if I had been cut by something sharp.

“This is how you do it.”

“… … .”

I can’t even tell how much stronger I’ve really become.

With such overwhelming force that I couldn’t help but laugh, I looked at the tree that Hermel had cut down with a branch and said blankly.

“Amazing.”

“What… ? Why is the response so lukewarm?”

“No, should I say that it is so overwhelming that it doesn’t make any sense… . I don’t know how to react.”

“I felt the same way when I first saw Charles’ sincerity.”

Hermel giggled and said that, and I smiled bitterly and shook my head.

“Now that we’ve washed away some of the blood, let’s go into the sea!”

“Go in first. I’ll go and clean up after a while.”

“Oh, then I’ll help you!”

The way he reacted right away made me laugh like a puppy. But I shook my head because I didn’t really need any help.

It’s admirable that you want to help, but it’s not the scene you want to show Hermel.

“It’s okay. Go and play.”

“It’s not fun to play alone… . Can’t we just play around for a bit and clean up afterward later?”

“The scouts may bring a second party, and since the smell of blood spreads faster in the middle of summer, nearby monsters may smell it and come.”

“It’s okay because I’m here! I will protect Charles!”

Hermel puffed out his chest and spoke confidently. I was trustworthy because I knew that that confidence came from Hermel’s skills and not from bravado.

But I shook my head because I didn’t think there was any need to show a bad side of me.

“It’s okay. I’ll finish it soon and come back.”

“… okay. If that’s the case with Charles, there’s nothing we can do.”

That’s what he said, but as if he didn’t feel like it, he pouted his mouth and answered in a rough voice.

I hugged Hermel tightly and went into the forest where Hermel came from.

“… … .”

Originally, I had no intention of going forward. But that doesn’t mean we can leave everything to Hermel.

With that in mind, I was walking through the dark forest, following the creeping smell of blood. I looked down when I felt a wet feeling in my toes.

It was blood.

” seems to be nearby――… . There it is.”

As I looked around, I laughed when I saw about 20 corpses literally hanging out with their heads stuck to the ground.

Some of the corpses had their heads smashed on the rocks, cracked like watermelons, and most of the corpses were lying limp with their heads stuck to the ground, creating a more grotesque scene than expected.

If a stranger had seen this scene, they would have been shocked and thought it was the work of the devil. It was such a terrible sight.

“… In most cases, I should step forward and not Hermel.”

It would be best if something like that didn’t happen, but if I had to do something, it would be better for me to step up.

Catching and killing monsters. Even so, killing people is more suited to a villain than a hero.

Above all, I hope that Hermel does not commit murder unless it is a very serious situation. It’s not a story about whether you’re heartbroken or shocked… .

-it hurts… . It’s painful… .

This is because when you kill someone, resentment, hatred, and other secondary things come with it.

I wiped my face as I looked down at the pure malice slowly creeping up. I never thought I’d see this again.

“Let’s start by organizing the surroundings.”

I took my eyes off my procrastination and used magic to gather the corpses together. There was no uniformity in the clothes they were wearing, and they were old and shabby, but their weapons were neatly maintained.

The poison that appears to have been used on the arrowhead was not an extreme poison, but an ordinary paralyzing poison. Probably a band of bandits who specialize in human trafficking.

After checking everything I needed, I set fire to the pile of sheets. You could bury it in the ground or pour it into the sea, but burning it with fire was chosen because it was the fastest way.

It was a little annoying to have to be careful to keep the fire from spreading to the forest, but it was much simpler than finding an area with only dirt, digging it up, burying the body, and taking it to the beach, so I just watched the fire without thinking about it.

―It’s hot… . My head hurts… .

-I don’t want to die… . scared… .

As if it was trying to scare me, the shackles of the corpse disappeared and the evil spirit that was freed came over and came to me, circling around me and crying continuously.

To be honest, it’s not scary, it’s just annoying. They could have been destroyed or swallowed right away, but the reason they didn’t bother was because there was information to be gained from them.

I let out a long sigh and slowly got up from my seat. The sticky heat created by burning blood and corpses enveloped my entire body.

“After that day, I tried not to touch it for the most part… . If such a good day is interrupted… . No matter how much I put everything down, I still feel bad.”

Very, very unpleasant.

As I said that, I looked straight at the thing that was slowly moving.

They made eye contact with me and immediately merged their bodies into one and inflated their bodies as if threatening me.

“… … .”

I looked at him without saying a word, and when I didn’t see any reaction, the visible lump started to tremble and immediately tried to back away.

“Where are you going?”

When I stepped on a part of it with my toe, it jerked and stopped moving.

-ah. iced coffee… . Ahhh… !! Kyaaa!!!

“Noisy.”

After making them shut their mouths that were making loud noises, I spoke while looking at them.

“Scouting or late troops. Or nod your head if you have a main unit. Because it makes my head pound and I don’t want to hear it.”

Fortunately, the guy shook his head. He said, slightly tearing the soul of the guy he was holding down with his toe just in case.

“There really isn’t one?”

―… … !?

The guy shook his head desperately.

“Okay. That’s it then.”

I’m glad I don’t have anyone else to deal with.

I nodded with satisfaction and tore his soul into pieces.

“This is the price for dirtying Hermel’s hands. Live here as a wandering ghost for the rest of your life. Without true death or reincarnation, he lost all his memories and became a wandering ghost.”

I turned my back on the thing that couldn’t even make a sound anymore.

“Ha… . You’re covered in sweat.”

Should I have just buried it in the ground?

I shook my head and headed to the beach where Hermel was.

And what I saw when I arrived at the beach was――

“Ah! Charles!! I caught a fish!!”

“Oh my god… .”

It was Hermel running with a bright face holding a great white shark.

Yeah well… . That’s like Hermel.

I chuckled and shook my head.