Karahan (3)

"Can you see exactly where it is, Noah?"

"Uh... Oh... Um... I-it's right here," I pressed a finger against the woman's left side, just near her belly button, where I could faintly sense the small, strange object.

As soon as I pointed it out—

Schlck!

Rubia plunged her knife into the woman's abdomen without hesitation.

"Ahhh!"

Beside me, Hephaestus let out a horrified scream, her face turning pale.

"L-Lubia?! A-are you okay?!"

I stammered, my voice trembling just like my hands.

How could she do that so... so casually?!

But Rubia remained unfazed by our reactions, methodically twisting and cutting with the blade.

"Yes, I'm fine. I've done this many times before. There are beasts that lay eggs inside human bodies, so I've gotten used to performing this kind of procedure. I know exactly how to cut, extract, and heal without causing long term damage," Rubia explained in a calm tone that felt completely out of place for the situation.

Her knife moved mercilessly, stirring the woman's insides.

"It's a bit rough, sure, but this method prevents any lingering side effects. If she were conscious, she might suffer phantom pain or trauma. But since she's unconscious, that shouldn't be an issue."

Blood spilled out as the woman's body jerked and convulsed violently with every movement of Rubia's knife.

Unable to watch any longer, Hephaestus ran to a corner and began retching. I, on the other hand, was too frozen in place to even let go of the hilt of my greatsword, my breath shaky.

And then—

"Ah, found it."

Rubia pulled the knife out with a wet squelch.

Thinking it was over, I hesitantly asked, "I-Is it done?"

"No. I've just extracted it. I still need to close the wound."

"Wh-what?!"

I clenched my free hand into a fist, unable to wrap my head around how casually she talked about 'opening' and 'closing' a human body.

After what felt like an eternity of watching Rubia's gory work, the procedure finally came to an end.

"Phew... It's done. Fortunately, it wasn't activated yet."

I heard the sound of her wiping her hands and approaching.

Quickly, I grasped my greatsword and checked the woman's condition.

"She... she's fine?!"

Aside from her pulse being a bit weaker, she looked remarkably intact. Her healing process even seemed faster than I had expected.

"Of course. I've treated wounds far worse than this recently,"

"Ugh... Done... I—"

Hephaestus, who had been staggering back from behind a rock, glanced at Rubia and the woman, then immediately turned away to retch again.

Rubia sighed lightly. "We'll need to move our camp. They haven't pinpointed her location yet, but we can't take any chances. Plus, those bodies will only attract more trouble."

"I agree! Absolutely!"

Hephaestus nodded furiously and immediately began packing up the camp.

I hesitated for a moment before pointing at the carcasses behind us.

"Um... before we leave, can I at least skin a bit of the beasts? You know, Minotaur hides are really expensive... and their horns..."

I trailed off, gesturing at the fallen beasts.

"And horned wolf pelts... They're super warm in winter! Oh, and the horns—they make great nutritional tonics if boiled down..."

I couldn't just leave them!

Sure, goblins and orcs were everywhere, so it wasn't worth bothering with their materials... But horned wolves and Minotaurs? Those were rare!

The hides, the teeth, the horns—just thinking about their value was enough to make my heart ache.

Rubia sighed but eventually relented. "Fine, but only until we're ready to leave. No longer."

"Wh-what about packing up? Don't you need my help?"

"It's fine,"

"Yeah, we've got it covered," Hephaestus added, waving her hand.

"R-really?!"

Both of them nodded.

"Th-thank you so much!"

With their permission, I quickly grabbed some skinning tools from Hephaestus's bag and rushed toward the Minotaur corpses.

"Heheheh~!"

* * * *

"This spot should work," Rubia was examining the map as we arrived at our new campsite.

The place was more like a shallow cave than a proper one—deep enough to provide some shelter but not so deep as to risk anything lurking within.

"Alright, I'll get the tent set up," Hephaestus gently lowered the unconscious woman she was carrying onto the ground.

"Thanks. Noah, keep watch like before, okay?" Rubia sat down the large bag she had been carrying with a soft sigh.

I, meanwhile...

I wasn't carrying anything.

The others had insisted I go unburdened, saying I was too short to carry the injured woman and that I needed to stay ready to fight in case anything attacked.

Even the materials I had skinned were packed into Rubia's bag.

I felt so useless that I almost hoped a beast would jump out and attack us on the way, just so I could do something.

But not even a single ant showed up.

And now, once again, I was being told to sit and keep watch.

It stung my pride.

I wasn't some freeloading slacker!

"Ugh... I can keep watch while helping out..."

"It's fine. Hephaestus and I can handle it, so just rest"

"...Okay..."

Feeling dejected, I plopped down beside the unconscious woman.

She was now wearing spare clothes we had brought along, wrapped snugly in a blanket for extra warmth.

From what Rubia had told me on the way here, the woman had likely been kidnapped by a group called Red Scorpion.

Apparently, Red Scorpion is a notorious crime group in Ursphere, despite having such a cheesy name.

They look like a bunch of amateurs, but countless adventurers and knights have taken up quests to root them out, only to fail every single time.

Their defining trait is the red scorpion tattoo that all their members supposedly have somewhere on their bodies. However, Rubia mentioned that the injured woman didn't appear to have one.

With all the scars covering her body, it's possible the tattoo was erased—or perhaps she was never a member in the first place.

She's been through unspeakable things, and from what Rubia explained, it sounds like her time in captivity was worse than that of a slave.

Still, Rubia didn't go into much detail about exactly what happened to her.

She said it was too early for someone like me or Hephaestus to know. Instead, she promised to explain once we were 'adults'.

…But wait, I am an adult!

Sure, maybe Hephaestus is still too young, but what about me?!

I'm twenty years old in this world, and on Earth, I was… uh… How old was I again?

Anyway, I'm definitely old enough! I know plenty of things!

"Ugh..."

I sighed, kicking at the dirt out of frustration. As I sat crouched near the injured woman, she began to stir.

"Ugh... hng..."

A dry, raspy sound escaped her throat as her eyes fluttered open.

She's awake!

"H-hey! A-are you okay?"

To let her know I was here, I leaned down so she could see my face.

"Wh-who...?"

Her voice was hoarse, and her gaze unfocused.

She must not be able to see properly yet.

But… how should I introduce myself?

Just saying my name wouldn't help; she wouldn't know who I am.

Hmm...

"Aha! I'm a gold ranked adventurer!" I declared proudly, puffing out my chest.

Heh heh... Gold rank! Pretty impressive, right?!

...Or was that weird? Should I have said something more reassuring, like, 'I'm the one who saved you. You're safe now'?

"M-m-madventurer... sir..."

While I was busy second-guessing myself, the woman's trembling hand reached out to grab my shirt.

"T-thank... you..."

She locked her shaking gaze onto mine, her expression full of fear.

And then—

"Ha... haah! A-a demon... A blood-drinking demon...!"

Her trembling voice gave way to hysterical whispers as she suddenly started convulsing.

"Ah! Wh-what?! R-Rubia!"

"Noah? What's going on? Oh, she's awake, but—why is she—?!"

Rubia rushed over and immediately began examining the woman, who was still trembling uncontrollably.

Rubia carefully let her divine energy flow into the woman while removing her robe.

"Hah... hah... S-save me... Ah... W-wait, are you a priestess...?"

"Yes. You're safe now," Rubia gently gripped the woman's hand.

The woman seemed to calm down slightly, holding onto Rubia's hand as if it were her lifeline.

"Noah, what happened?" Hephaestus asked.

"Uh... She looked at me and started acting like that..."

I hesitated before continuing.

She definitely called me a demon... A blood-drinking demon...

That's definitely my nickname, isn't it?

"Maybe it's because of my... reputation..."

"Huh? Your reputation? But why would that make her react like this? Unless she saw something firsthand, it doesn't make sense," Hephaestus furrowed her brow.

"I mean... I don't kill people or anything..."

"Exactly. No matter how scary the rumors are, there's no way she'd react like this unless she'd seen something herself."

While Hephaestus gave me a strange look, her face suddenly twisted with irritation.

"Ugh, this is so frustrating! You saved her, and she's acting like this? That's so unfair! I'm mad on your behalf!"

Her expression contorted in frustration.

"I'm going over there to explain everything—"

"Ah, no! Hephaestus, don't! Calm down!"

"Why not? She needs to know who saved her! Don't you agree?"

"I mean, you're not wrong, but still... Let's wait until she calms down first, okay?"

I had to work hard to hold Hephaestus back, and just as I was making progress, Rubia called out to me.

"Noah. Can you come here for a moment?"

She gestured for me to approach.

Should I go? What if she starts panicking again when she sees me?

As I hesitated, gripping the hilt of my greatsword tightly, Rubia supported the woman and started walking toward me instead.

"I-I'm sorry... I wasn't in my right mind... It was terrible of me to say such things to the person who saved my life..."

The woman bowed her head in apology, surprising me so much I quickly hid behind Hephaestus.

"Uh... Oh..."

"I truly apologize. It's just that... what I saw in Roholan has haunted me ever since..."

Roholan?

Oh, so she saw me back in Roholan...

"A-ah... It's okay..."

As I accepted her apology and nodded awkwardly, Hephaestus muttered something under her breath.

"Hmm... If it's about what happened in Roholan, I guess I can understand..."

Huh?

I thought I was cool back in Roholan...

"When you killed that interfering mage... Honestly, even I was a little shaken."

"H-huh? Mage?"

"Yeah, you know, the one shooting arrows from the back—"

"Ohhh, that person?"

"Wait, that person?!"

Everyone's expressions turned strange as they looked at me.

I wasn't sure why they were staring at me like that, but I continued.

"That wasn't a person—it was a beast."

It had dared to attack Rubia.

"So I made sure to kill it in a special, memorable way."

I guess regular people are still sensitive to watching beasts get killed...

Hmm... good to know.