Terrible Interests

It was daybreak so we went back to the camp and took a nap. It soon reached breakfast time. The morning wind blew piercingly, sending a chill of the snow directly to the spine. I was adding firewood to the campfire.

"Patipati" – The campfire burned quietly.

"Kotokoto" – The soup in the pot was boiling.

A delicious smell filled the air.

Violet-san's finger doodled on the snow.

I was in charge of overlooking the soup in the pot so it doesn't get overcooked. As I stretched out, Violet-san's finger tugged at my pants.

"What is it?"

Tug tug.

Violet-san pointed  to the graffiti on the snow.

"Hmm?"

I had thought it was a graffiti, but it turned out to be characters. Violet-san's finger wriggled beside the characters as if saying "read it, read it."

"Emm…"

I looked at all the characters and nodded knowingly. They seemed to be ancient characters.

"I see…"

I did not understand the characters, but still…

"I get it."

She must be talking about her other body parts. After all, Violet-san had done her best to communicate with me using body language last night, so I could understand what she meant.

She pointed to the direction of Oriana Kingdom's capital indicating that we just needed to go there. Violet-san gave it her best to write so much for me, and I did appreciate her kindness, so I nodded with a smile. Violet-san's finger bent indicating she was pleased with my understanding. Her finger then rolled over the snow to erase the characters she wrote down one by one. Actually, it won't matter if she didn't erase them since no one could read those characters.

Just then, the soup in the pot overflowed.

"Ah, no."

I quickly took the pot off the fire. After confirming that the food inside was not overcooked, I gave the soup a slow stir. There were only shaved vegetables and taros in the soup, and salt was the only seasoning. This was a bare minimum method of cooking that showed the original taste of the ingredients.

Well, honestly, it didn't matter how it tasted though.

"The protein is not enough…"

Violet-san, who stopped rolling over the snow, climbed onto my knee. Her finger was freezing cold. I held the finger and took it near the campfire. Violet-san seemed very comfortable as she got warmed.

"Precious protein…"

Violet-san stopped moving for a split second.

"If I eat your meat until only bones are left, can you regenerate?"

"Purupuru" – Violet-san trembled.

"If you can, don't we have unlimited meat to eat?"

"Batabata" – Violet-san struggled.

"I won't eat you. After all, I feel like I will have diarrhea if I eat you."

Actually I just thought about what a cooked finger would look like.

"Cold finger get warmed."

I let go of Violet-san.

Violet-san hit my hand violently and returned to lying on my knees.

"I've asked Epsilon to find meat. Don't worry."

Epsilon should take a rabbit back. At times like these, Delta would solve our problems easily. She would definitely bring the prey back in the shortest time. I tried to think about what Delta would do if she were here.

When I thought that she took a dragon back with a big smile on her face, I stopped my imagination forcefully.

"Well, forget it."

Just when I was muttering to myself.

"Sid-onii-sama, I hunted a rabbit."

Epsilon, dressed as a young soldier, came back. She held a white hare in her hand.

I heaved a sigh of relief.

"Epsilon, it's great that you come with me, really."

"Thank… thank you very much?"

Although Epsilon nearly cut her hand with the cleaver, she still processed the rabbit quickly and neatly. Then she put the meat into the pot. While we were waiting for the meat to boil, the three Ojisans came over.

"Yo, did you have a good sleep last night?"

"It looks like it will boil right away."

"Hey, what's that finger?"

One of the Ojisans noticed Violet-san leisurely lying on my knees.

The Ojisan's gaze on me became subtle.

"Eh, the finger of enemy soldiers?"

"It's disgusting."

"Remember to throw it away before it rots."

Ojisan patted me on the shoulder.

I could feel Violet-san's mana rising.