“We made it...back...” I muttered.
I’d seriously panicked when we ran into a swarm of paralyze eyes, but I squeezed out the last of my mana, and we broke through their encirclement. The survivors had chased us, but we’d managed to dive into the escape circle for a narrow getaway. I was truly grateful the magic circle had remained intact.
“Shiro, Kuro, you both okay?”
I laid the two girls, still fast asleep, onto the bed and checked their conditions. After seeing that there were no signs that their wounds had reopened or they were suffering at all, I was finally able to breathe easy.
“Now, what’s our next move...?”
It’s highly likely the mercenary guild has learned of our existence. We can’t afford to take it easy anymore. Even if the bounty placed on the girls by the lord has been lifted, we might still be hunted as valuable merchandise. Honestly, I bet that’s exactly what Ares and Gailland are after.
Now that I think about it, Milène’s probably already informed the mercenaries of the bounty being lifted. She really cares about us, so I can’t imagine her taking it lightly. She must’ve made sure that word spread about it. So maybe they didn’t attack to get the bounty. Maybe their aim is to sell us into slavery, or maybe there’s some other reason. The obvious choice for us would be to leave this town. That would be the quickest solution for escaping Ares. But our bodies bear the marks—dungeon malice’s damn curse will claim our lives within a year.
To break the curse, we had no choice but to conquer the dungeon.
“We’ll have to go in a little over our heads and clear the dungeon.”
The whole way back, I was thinking about how we’ll have to keep dungeon diving until we reach the bottom layer and break the curse. Camping out inside the dungeon’s pretty risky, but if we press deeper, we should be able to shake off the mercs’ pursuit. Of course, we’ll need a lot of luck, but with the compass, it should be possible.
We have to conquer the dungeon soon, break the curse, and leave town. Easier said than done, but I can’t think of any other way for us to survive. Well, there’s also the option of waiting until things cool down. Maybe after a month, people won’t even gossip about us, and maybe Ares and Gailland will give up and move to another town.
But that was just wishful thinking. After all, Viscount Holm had pursued Shiro and Kuro relentlessly for a whole year without giving up. I couldn’t afford to believe in the fantasy that time alone would solve everything. If both paths were a gamble, I’d rather choose immediate action.
Well, after Shiro and Kuro wake up, anyway. For now, I should eat something to restore my strength.
Ever since we had returned, I’d been overwhelmed by a ravenous hunger—probably because I’d used the dragon’s power to its fullest. If I hadn’t already experienced starvation from the hell chimera battle, I might not have been able to endure the journey back without food. Well, I was secretly nibbling on a bit of hell chimera jerky...but the hunger didn’t subside at all. I probably need a bigger, more proper meal.
To stave off hunger, I munched on some skewered poison rat while preparing more food. I wanted to have plenty ready for when Shiro and Kuro woke up.
“We’ve still got snake meat left. I’ll stew it together with some herbs.”
We still had a bit of the illusion python that Kuro had taken down. It’s nourishing meat with stamina recovery effects, so I’ll use it to make a soup that’s easy to eat. It’s fairly fatty too, so the calorie count is nice and high.
I chopped the meat into small pieces, tossed it into a pot along with some root vegetables, plants, soy sauce, and seasonings, then started heating the water from cold. Once the water temperature began to rise, it was time for wind magic. By manipulating air pressure, I could re-create the effects of a pressure cooker. It was intermediate magic, so controlling it was tricky, but thanks to my growth in the deeper layers of the dungeon, I could maintain it for a long time.
“All right, it’s turning out nicely.”
After about twenty minutes of pressure cooking, the meat in the pot had become so tender it fell apart with just a touch from my chopsticks. Even the small bones had softened.
“Excellent. Another job well done.”
As I gave it a quick taste, I sensed movement behind me.
Slurp.
“Smells gooood.”
“You’re both awake!” I said.
They really were all about food. They’d slept soundly even while being shaken around during our escape from the dungeon, but the moment they caught a whiff of something tasty, they woke right up.
“Does anything hurt?” I asked.
“I’m hungry.”
“Hungryyy.”
Unbelievable. “All right, all right.”
Both of them were so overcome by hunger that food was all they could think about. I was sure they still had lingering damage, but instead of clutching at painful spots, they were holding their stomachs and staring at the pot. You’re drooling! On both my shoulders!
“J-Just wait over there. I’ll bring it over right away.”
“Okay.”
“Grrr.”
I poured generous servings of the freshly made snake soup into bowls and handed them over.
“Illusionary serpent soup, isekai style.” Magical effects: medium life recovery, medium stamina recovery, small mana recovery, slight life boost, slight stamina boost.
The soup definitely had some strong recovery effects. It’s not just nourishing; it’ll get rid of any wounds and fatigue too!
“Let’s eat!” the three of us said together.
The two girls sat cross-legged on the bed and began devouring the soup.
“So tasty!”
“Deeelish.”
“Nice and juicy—this is insanely good.”
Before it was cooked, the meat had been a bit tough, like boiled chicken breast, but now it was moist and juicy—almost like tender chicken ham. For the two beastfolk girls, it might not have had a lot of bite.
By the time we’d made our way through ten kilos of tasty, nutrient-packed snake meat, our stamina was fully recovered. My whole body was warm, and my throat even seemed a little hot.
“I’m so full,” said Shiro.
“So, so full,” said Kuro. “Belly’s all round and poofy.”
The two were sprawled out with bulging stomachs, looking completely content. But I still had something heavy to tell them. We no longer had to worry about being hunted by the lord, but there were still mercenaries after us. How am I gonna explain that to them...?
“What’s...going on...?” I said.
“I’m sleepy,” said Shiro.
“Nighty-night,” followed Kuro.
I’d been hit by a wave of unbearable drowsiness. My body swayed, and my eyelids felt heavy. Shiro and Kuro seemed to feel the same, diving straight into bed. Are our bodies demanding sleep? The overpowering drowsiness made it impossible to keep my eyes open. Strength drained from my knees, and I couldn’t even get up from the bed.