Chapter 13
——Ah, no. This is bad. It's all over.
It was the moment the fangs in that open mouth were about to touch her nose.
"Raaaaah!!"
A figure that burst out like a black gust of wind slapped the venomous snake from the side and sent it flying.
"Mimino! What are you spacing out for?! That's a Gitsnake!"
"Huh? Wh-what?!"
"Hnn!"
The large man who had been sitting rose onto his knees and threw the dagger in his hand. The blade cleanly severed the venomous snake's raised neck. Thank goodness...
"And you there! Who are you?"
"Eek."
He was a man with thick gray hair standing on end and flowing backward like a mane. His deeply sun-darkened face around the eyes was slanted upward, and a canine peeked out from his mouth. He stood well over 180 centimeters tall. The muscles in both legs bulged beneath his black leather pants, and his entire body seemed like a coiled spring.
"Ah, I-I'm..."
The man approached, hostility flashing in his eyes. I was startled by how little noise his feet made. With a body like that, he should have made a sound stepping on the fallen leaves—but that only showed how incredibly skilled and well-trained he was. There had been no one like him among the slaves.
"Stop, Raikira. He's still a child."
"A child? Take a good look at the brat's clothes. This guy's probably—"
"Probably our lifesaver!"
The large man who had been sitting tried to shield me, but before he could, the hooded woman stepped between the gray-haired man and me.
"This child warned me because I hadn't noticed the Gitsnake! What else could it be?!"
"Come on, Mimino... You noticed it too, didn't you? He's a slave."
"!"
"And a runaway slave at that."
I hastily hid my tattooed arm, but it was already too late.
They had seen through me so easily. Acting so recklessly to save someone's life really had been foolish...
"Even so, what's wrong with that?"
The woman who had remained silent until then finally spoke. She had green hair tied back and wore a nun's habit. She seemed to be about my age—or rather, the age of my previous self—around sixteen. But she had sleepy-looking eyes.
"Slaves' actions are restricted by contract magic. But if he's this deep in the forest, that magic has already worn off. So either the boy was freed, or his master died, wouldn't you say?"
"He might've escaped in the confusion after his master died. In that case, the slave-trading contract is still in effect. The slave has to stay put. You know that, don't you?"
"I don't know about that."
"...What did you just say, Mimino?"
"I don't know about any of that, I don't know anything about it, and I don't want to know it."
"Listen! I'm not being sarcastic or joking! I'm telling you not to drag us into trouble—"
"This child!"
The hooded woman called Mimino was about as tall as I was. Despite her small stature, she spoke like a grown-up—maybe she wasn't of the Human Race, just as the gray-haired man was a beastman.
"He knew it might put him in a bad position, and he still tried to help me! Isn't that enough?!"
"Ugh..."
The beastman faltered at her forceful words.
"S-sorry for scaring you. What's your name?"
She turned to me and smiled brightly. Her face was incredibly adorable.
She wore a loose, deep-green hooded robe, whose edges were embroidered with thread dyed in various colors, including red, white, and yellow.
The several woven bracelets she wore on her arms suggested that she was some kind of magic user.
"Reiji."
"Reiji-kun, that's a good name! I'm Mimino, and I'm a Druid in this party. That ill-mannered one over there is Raikira."
"Who're you calling ill-mannered?!"
The beastman Raikira had already sat down beside the campfire, looking sulky as he rested his chin in his hand, his elbow propped on his knee.
Half of his exposed skin was covered in fur. Since I had grown up in a village populated entirely by humans and worked in a mine where everyone was human, I had rarely had the chance to see a beastman. This world really was a fantasy world after all...
"...I'm Dantes. This is my daughter, Non."
The large man who had thrown the dagger at the snake returned, dragging one leg behind him, and said this. His daughter... daughter!? At first glance, he looked only about thirty. Was he actually much older than he appeared?
Dantes wore armor with metal reinforcements at key points such as his shoulders, chest, and elbows. The rest was scale mail woven from brownish scales—real scales about three centimeters across. If I remembered correctly, the scale mail in Earth's history had been made by weaving metal plates like scales, but these were genuine scales.
Even through his armor, it was obvious that his body was extraordinarily muscular. The steel plate lying beside him made me wonder, "Why is there a bench seat here?" But since it had a handle, Dantes must have swung it around... B●serk, maybe?
His face was intimidating, but his eyes were gentle. His short-cropped green hair and green eyes were the same as his "daughter" Non's.
I happened to notice that part of his neck had turned gray. It was apparently "petrification"—【World Ruler】-sensei told me without my even asking.
"My body is gradually turning to stone because of Medusa's curse. My daughter is accompanying me so I can receive treatment."
"We're heading for the royal capital of the Kingdom of the Knights of Heavenly Light to treat my father. There's a Saint-sama there who is exceptionally skilled in healing magic."
"I see..."
That was all I could say. So this world really did have things like curses that turned people to stone... When I tried using 【World Ruler】 to check how to cure it, the images of the required materials that came to mind were all things I had never seen before. What were they? A leaf like a maple leaf, but with its tip split into five parts. A silver-colored metal... except it was a particularly deep, lustrous silver. And some wriggling creature? An earthworm? I had no idea.
I hadn't realized 【World Ruler】 could be used this way. Could these really be materials capable of curing petrification? Should I tell them...? But even if they asked how I had obtained that knowledge, I couldn't answer them. Besides, I didn't even know what these materials were...
For now, Non-san was thinking about treating him with magic, so I decided not to say anything strange.
"Come on, Reiji-kun, come over here! The meat should be done by now!"
Mimino took me by the hand and led me over to the campfire. Her hand was very small.
It's warm...
As I sat on the ground, I felt a wave of exhaustion wash over me.
"Here, want some?"
Mimino held out a skewer of meat to me. I didn't know what kind of meat it was, but its surface was covered in a great deal of spices.
The meat was lean, but that didn't matter. Enticed by the billowing steam and its aroma, I seized the hand holding the skewer and bit into the meat.
"————"
Sparks burst before my eyes. The spices flared across my tongue, followed by the rich fat of the meat. I thought the heat might burn my tongue, but I refused to open my mouth because I didn't want to lose even a single drop of meat juice.
My gums hurt as I chewed. One of my back teeth was loose. Perhaps startled by the sudden arrival of animal protein, my heart began pounding, and heat seemed to spread through my entire body.
The moment I swallowed was sheer bliss. My stomach, which had received the piece of meat with trepidation, began dousing it with gastric juices like firefighters battling a blaze.
...Reiji-kun."
Her concerned voice brought me back to myself. I was still holding Mimino's hand.
"Ah, s-sorry... I'm being so pathetic..."
"No, no. It's okay, it's okay. Kids should eat their fill."
Mimino placed a skewer of meat in my hand, then gently reached out with both hands and cradled my head.
"Huh...?"
"Forget the painful things for now and eat, okay?"
That was when I realized it.
I had been crying, tears streaming down my face.