“Now then, just who are you?”
The shining, savage blade remained pressed up against the tip of my nose. It sure did look sharp. The length looked to be about 80 centimeters, while it was approximately 10 centimeters wide. The whole thing was rather thick like a machete, but even so, the edge of the blade was certainly plenty sharp. Something like that could hack through the flesh and bones of any prey.
Hey, wait, this isn’t the time to be getting all impressed by something like that!
“W-What the...? What’s with the violent greeting?! I already apologized for the pitfall!”
“Cease your chattering. Just hurry up and answer the question.”
The girl seemed to have calmed down... but that actually just felt all the more frightening.
I looked back and forth between the face of the girl and the tip of the blade, then gave a sigh.
“Before that, just where exactly am I? It doesn’t quite have the feel of the afterlife, somehow, but...”
“This is the forest at the foot of Mount Morga.”
“Mount Morga?”
“In the territory of the Western Kingdom of Selva, ruled over by Duke Genos... Just where the hell did you come from?”
I seriously had no idea what was going on. But still, considering the circumstances, I saw no option but to answer truthfully.
“I was born in a country called Japan. The Chiba Prefecture, to be specific. Do you know of it?”
“Japan... Chiba...?”
Yeah, she hadn’t heard of it. Of course she hadn’t.
In all likelihood, this was a world completely removed from the country known as Japan in every sense imaginable. I mean, in the world where I was born, there weren’t any boars with horns, nor were there any girls who walked around with such huge blades.
And besides, this girl looked different than anyone I had ever seen before. Her skin was dark, like a sort of creamy chocolate color. And yet, her hair was a dull blond. And on top of that, her eyes were a deep blue. Her golden-brown hair seemed to be quite long, but she had it done up in an unusual manner using a leather strap. Her blue eyes shone with a strong, sharp shine about them, even in this dim light.
As far as her facial features went, well, she was definitely good-looking. Her slightly arched eyes were reminiscent of a wildcat, and she had a thin, perfectly formed nose and petite lips the color of cherry blossoms. She had nice, soft cheek lines, giving her face just a bit of a childish look, but she must have been around the same age as me.
Yeah, she was a pretty high-level beauty. Actually, maybe it would be better to call her an unparalleled one, at that. At least on a personal level, I couldn’t help but find that combination of dark skin and pink lips incredibly sexy.
Still, what was with that outfit...? She had a thick, blackish-brown fur cloak draped over her shoulders. Underneath that, she had some cloth of a stunning hue wrapped around her chest and waist... and nothing else on. There were complex, beautiful patterns on the fabric, and it didn’t look shabby in the least. But still, that getup was just a bit too stimulating.
As for the rest of her outfit, she wore a necklace made of numerous white horns or tusks and a bracelet made of nuts strung together, and she had a small knife in a leather sheath dangling from her waist. And so, her smooth, dark skin was quite generously exposed. Ah, and she had what looked like leather belts wrapped around to up past her ankles, which must have been some sort of footwear.
Faced with such a stunning, excessively exposed beauty, though, the only thought that ran through my mind was, Wow...
Her facial features may have been adorable, but the expression on her face was ferocious. Her eyes burned with the intensity of a real wildcat, and her lovely lips were firmly pursed. She was rather tall for a girl, and had a slender frame. However, there wasn’t even a hint of weakness about her. Her bare arms, legs, shoulders, and stomach were all taut like a leather whip, without even a bit of excess fat. On top of that, she also had white scars scattered here and there, telling of how rough a life she lived.
She was a girl who seemed to be full of some sort of primal energy and strength, the sort that modern man had lost in relying so greatly on science.
Still...
Just what is this smell? I’d been wondering that ever since I stood face to face with this strange girl. It was an incredibly complex scent. It was sweet, like overly-ripe fruit. A gentle fragrance like flowers about to bloom. Refreshing, like dried herbs. Just a bit powerful, like strong spices. And that overwhelmingly delicious aroma of animal flesh and fat...
All those scents were melding together in a complex manner to positively tantalize my nostrils.
Not to brag, but as someone who had trained to be a chef since childhood, my sense of smell is definitely above average.
At any rate, it was a scent that strongly aroused my hunger... And acting in concert with that thought, my belly let out a growl.
The girl’s blade wavered, as if showing a bit of hesitation.
“Just what are you intending?”
“Hey, it’s got nothing to do with my intentions... I’m just hungry.”
My stomach added a gurrrgle.
Yeah, I wasn’t exactly looking cool here...
The girl’s well-shaped eyebrows rose in a rather dangerous-looking manner.
“Hey, stop messing around! Are you trying to make fun of me?”
“I’m seriously not messing around. I mean, I can’t exactly control my physiology, can I? My stomach just naturally reacted to that delicious smell all over you.”
“What are you talking about? I don’t have any food on me, and I didn’t catch anything today, thanks to you.”
“Right, like I said, I’m sorry for wrecking your pitfall, but still...”
The end of my sentence was accompanied by a grrgrooowl!
My stomach really was being way too noisy.
Ah, that’s bad. The look on the girl’s face was growing more and more dangerous, and her shoulders had even started shaking.
Was I seriously about to die for a second time for such a stupid reason?
“At any rate, I didn’t have even the slightest intention of messing with your turf. I mean, it’s a real issue for me too, being thrown out into a place like this with no idea as to what’s going on. But if it’s a problem, I’ll leave as soon as I—”
Groooowowowowl!
...I’m done for.