Chapter 221

221 – The Den

I rush over to the manticore’s den . The child with blood pouring out of their abdomen is there .

“Gaah!”

With my partner’s cry, her injuries are healed . The girl’s complexion is still pale, but it looks like she’ll live . We made it in time .

【Title Skill [Brave Hero] has risen from level 1 to 2】

Ah, it rose . This skill… It’s ok to raise it, right? That hero had it, so I haven’t exactly got the best impression of it . Either way, the kid’s the priority just now .

Seeing as the skill’s level has increased, I think we must be out of the danger zone .

She looks around ten years old . She has pale white skin and there’s something that looks like a line beneath her eyes . She’s got long hair and is wearing an odd-looking black dress . It kinda looks like a folk dress .

For the time being, I should check for any status conditions .

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[Aluru Taaba]

Species: Lithovar

Condition: Unconscious (minor)

Lv: 12/60

HP: 43/43

MP: 30/30

Attack: 39

Defense: 35+5

Magic: 33

Speed: 32

Rank: —

Equipment:

Body: [Lithovar dress: F]

Characteristic Skills:

[Grisha Language: Lv 2] [Soft Steps: Lv 2]

Resistance Skills:

[Physical Resistance: Lv 1]

Normal Skills:

[Gale: Lv 1]

Title Skills:

[Archer: Lv 1] [Hunter: Lv 1]

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She’s just unconscious, so she should be fine . It’s only minor as well, so she’ll wake up soon . That’s a relief .

With this difference in stats, it’s a miracle she didn’t die the moment she was bit . It might be because the manticore wanted to torment her though . The manticore had a twisted expression and ominous title skills, so that’s probably the case . Though it’s not nice to think about, it’s thanks to that I was able to save the kid in time, so all’s well that ends well .

Hmm? This species name… I recognise it from somewhere…

『There are hardly any people, it’s just that…… a dangerous race known as the Lithovar Tribe, classified as a demon tribe, is said to live there . I don’t know the full details, I hear they are few in number, so it isn’t likely that you will encounter them in that great forest . 』

…This is the race Adofu told me about, isn’t it? He said I was unlikely to run into them, but I encountered them straight away . This is ok, right? When she wakes up she’s not going to open a giant mouth and eat me whole, right? Her status isn’t all that high, so I think it’ll be alright… Or rather, I believe it’ll be alright .

Judging by her sleeping face, I can’t see her as anything but a normal, sweet girl . She doesn’t have a rank; her status completely looks like a normal human’s . How’s she supposed to be a demon? If I can help it, I don’t want to fight her . I’m still recovering from my trauma in Haranae and in the village . Why do you think I came to this crazy dangerous forest in the first place .

I sense a presence behind me . That reminds me, there were two human presences earlier .

A girl is staring at me from the stone building . She looks rather similar to the first girl, but is wearing a scarf around her head which drapes down to her arms . She has a round mask with a horn sticking out of it covering her face . Rather than a scarf, it looks more like a headgear that’s been stitched onto the mask .

In her hand she’s holding another mask with cloth sewn around it . Perhaps it belongs to the girl who’s collapsed here . She probably finds it difficult to approach me, so I’ll take a step back .

The girl rushes over and covers the collapsed girl’s head with the cloth . Then she nervously looks up at me .

“Th-thank you very much, dragon-god-sama”

She quickly bows her head . Then she picks up the collapsed girl and runs off somewhere .

Being thanked like that makes me feel oddly happy . Perhaps I fell and hit my head on a rock earlier .

But what’s with that ‘dragon-god-sama’? Perhaps I look like some legendary dragon she knows . I don’t think two-headed dragons should be all that common though .

While thinking that, I turn to face the stone building and notice the two-headed dragon statues by the entrance . Oh yeah, there totally are other two headed dragons .

Eh? Could it be that this is a shrine to the dragon-god? Based on that encounter I just had, was it constructed by the Lithovar tribe? Hmm, could my era have finally arrived? Is my popular period here at last? Will the Lithovar tribe celebrate me with a cheer? What bastard’s calling them a tribe of demons .

The manticore was chased away, or rather the shrine was reclaimed . The returning dragon-god chased away the monster which was unjustly occupying the shrine, is what it looks like . I couldn’t have asked for a better first impression .

However I do have the [Dragon Scale Powder] skill… Well, there’s that saying about not counting your chickens too early or something, so I need to calmly think this through . Calm down, me .

I shake my head, clearing away my delusions .

“Gaa…?”

My partner looks at me like I’m some strange creature . Argh, my bad, ok?

For the time being, let’s check out the shrine, since I’ll be using it as my home from now on . I enter the shrine head first .

There’s monster bones and traces of blood scattered around . It’s a bit dirty, but it can’t be helped… At least it’s not like there’s manticore droppings everywhere . That’s all I can think about as I enter .

I just wish I had something to eat… Raising my head, I spot a strange creature . It looks like a furry dumpling, one size larger than a human . It has a single leg which it waves up and down . Geh, that’s a spider, isn’t it .

It’s been turned upside down and most of its legs have been torn off . This manticore sure has horrid tastes . I don’t have the best relationship with spiders after being chased around the forest by one, but this is just too cruel .

At first I thought there were three dumplings, but it’s actually a pair of cocoons attached to the spider . Are they eggs? I guess the spider wanted to leave some eggs behind .

It must have protected the egg sacks by attaching them to its body . As always, this world is full of strange creatures . It would be much easier on it if it were a mammal . Is there any benefit to there no benefit to laying eggs at all?

I get the feeling that the spider glanced at me . At the same time, it stops waving its leg . I thought it mustn’t have noticed me after all, but then the spider started gently waving its leg . Unlike before, its movements don’t look painful .

I crush the spider beneath my claw . I’d feel bad if I left it like that . Letting it die properly is for the best .

【40 experience points have been acquired . 】

【Due to the title skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 40 experience points have been acquired . 】

The amount of experience points was really low, probably because it was on the verge of death . Even so, what should I do with this? Are spiders edible? The only bug that I’ve eaten so far has been the dark worm . Thanks to that, I’m ok with eating worms, but spiders are still unacceptable . Ah, I suppose I did eat centipede once . Ugh, that’s an unpleasant memory . I never want to eat that again .

Well, everything’s an experience . If I’m not going to eat it, then I suppose I’ll bury it somewhere . The default is to leave monster corpses where they are, but seeing as it looked so pitiable, I can’t help but feel sympathy for it .

I pry the egg sacks off the body . These would be a bit too much of a challenge to eat, seeing as there’s the thread wrapping to get through . Spider thread is really not something I want to eat . It comes out of their butts after all . In terms of feelings, it’s just impossible .

I feel bad for the mother, but it would be troublesome if they were to hatch . I’ll roast them then throw them away…Huh? Where’d they go?

“Gaah!, Gaah!”

My partner has stuck the egg sacks to her forehead and is happily shaking her head back and forth . You… What are you doing?