150 – Taming the Madman (10)
Bibi removes the hair that hangs down like seaweed and covers her back with one hand, revealing her bare body. And, a pure white back and a strange black stain are visible.
Looking closely, it’s not a stain. It had a strange pattern tattooed on it, which was slowly moving on its own. A moving picture is engraved on the back of a person.
“… What is it?”
“It is a trace of a failed work. Proof that God abandoned me and cursed me. Since ancient times, it has been called Kunderanos, or the magic circle that causes destruction. In the past, a child born with this magic circle was killed on the day of his birth, and the whole village where he was born was burned together.”
“Is there a reason you were born with that?”
“If there was such a thing, it would be less unfair. The blood of the goddess flows through me, but my body can’t contain it properly. The blood of the goddess is like a curse or plague to those who cannot handle it.”
What does it mean to say that the blood of the goddess flows? Is she saying that she is an unfinished saint?
“What if I can’t accept her blood?”
“When I turn 30, I reach my goal. He dies painfully, spitting out black blood from holes in his body. That is my destiny in ten years. Maybe it will spread the wrath of the gods to the world like a legend.”
Judging by the half-mad knights muttering ‘Goddess’ blood’, it was clearly related to the phantom beast trying to sacrifice Bibi. I don’t know what power that blood has.
“Why did you show it to me?”
“…… The gods have abandoned me Even your blessed life may be caught up in this curse. No, I don’t know if that’s already happened. Did you still want to be with me?”
It is meaningful to describe me as a blessed life. It’s really unattractive to boast about misfortune, so I just left it to my imagination.
I’m sorry for Vivi, but the curse itself doesn’t inspire much. You don’t have to have a strange pattern on your back to be cursed. Life itself is a series of suffering. Is it a curse or what? It’s just that everyone suffers in a different way.
“It doesn’t matter to me whether God curses you or you go to hell.”
“….”
“I just do what I can. I can’t do anything else, but I can protect you from the threats of this land.”
Bibi quietly trembles with her back to me as if she has had a change of heart. She then lifted her clothes and threw them back over her shoulders, and in a determined tone she said:
“I will remember that oath until the day I die… …. And since you risked your life for me, I will also entrust everything to you.”
***
All we have left is two bodies. There is no drinking water, no food, no extra clothes. At least I had some of my combat equipment and potions left.
I can’t even figure out how much I’ve been pushed. The rain had subsided for a while, but the sky was covered with dark gray clouds, so it was impossible to tell the direction of the sun or stars.
“Where are you heading?”
“Wherever you move, you will end up in the same place.”
“… ?”
That’s literally it. If this place was really in the circulatory system, there was no need to put so much effort into locating it. This is because wherever it goes, it will lead to the throat of the phantom beast.
The only way to the heart of Barbisia is to acclimate to the land.
We continued to move to higher ground before the rain started to fall.
All around are black trees, swamps, and fog.
The baboon, which was following me like a wet mouse, suddenly expressed a question.
“But you… Why are you fine?”
I wondered if I should explain the story of Sotherton’s circulatory system, but I just gave up.
“I got some medicine when I stopped by a slash-and-burn village. It’s probably the same as the one the princess drank.”
“Ah, that’s right… We’re the only ones left here thanks to some unknown herb.”
“How about moving on your own two feet?”
“…Still worth holding on.”
Scary to say, one of Vivi’s legs sank into the swamp and was submerged up to her thigh.
“Kyaaah!”
She struggled and struggled, but she couldn’t get out on her own, probably because she had lived her whole life without needing to exert herself.
“The damn thing!”
She slammed her fist on the bottom of her swamp without her wheezing, with an angry face. Her failure to hang her at the bottom of the swamp made her even more resentful.
I sighed and grabbed Bibi’s armpit and lifted her up. As she emerged from the swamp, her eyes shook subtly.
“Looking at you, you can easily and easily put your hands on a woman’s body.”
“… ?”
“It just means so.”
“Princess is someone who needs a lot of her hands, so she should get used to it quickly.”
“I will surrender myself, but I will refrain from treating her as a child.”
Bibi has many things to adapt to. Wet beds and dirty clothes, marches that blistered their feet, and even the meat of non-livestock.
We set up camp in a narrow crevice at the bottom of a large rock.
Bibi walked out on her arm as if she had no intention of being treated quietly.
“I… I will bring you firewood.”
“It is dangerous. You must stick with me.”
I couldn’t leave Bibi alone.
We peeled off the bark from the wet tree, got some dry firewood, and returned to camp with two snakes and a fish.
“Do you know how to use fire magic?”
She squatted quietly and waited for warmth, then suddenly shook her head.
The air was so humid that it seemed a little too much for my little spirit, but there was no other way.
I summoned a spirit on the palm of my hand. As soon as he was called, the little one flew up, not over the firewood as I wished, but over Bibi’s head.
He flapped his wings wildly and began to peck at the top of the baboon’s head.
“A cute spirit… Wow!”
The baboon curled up and began waving her hands over her head in fright.
“Beep!”
“…… ?”
I’ve never seen my spirit attack someone so angry.
“Why is he asking me…. Come on, put this away!”
I hurriedly contained her elemental by wrapping it in her hand. The guy was still angry, and he was smacking in the palm of his hand.
“Because he was originally a violent person… sorry.”
“… Wasn’t that what you did? If you don’t like me, just be honest. Because my heart is ready.”
“This guy doesn’t listen to me very well.”
Seeing her fluttering in my hand, Vivi nodded moderately.
“…… You have the same temperament and hair as the owner.”
Tears welled up a little, probably because she was too sad to be treated badly by the spirits.
Her suffering did not end there.
“Can I eat this…?”
When it was meal time, the baboon held up a skewer of her snake meat to express her disapproval.
“There are no other options. If you don’t like that, you have to catch and eat caterpillars or ants.”
The baboon closes her eyes and bites at her snake meat. She eats beef, high-quality cheese, and wine as her main staples. Her expression contorts, perhaps because she is filled with remorse at having to eat such mixed meat.
The round eyes are still not dry.
“You…… How are you familiar with these things?”
“There was a time when you had to eat anything to live.”
Bibi looks at me with a confused expression.
“Silverine Didn’t she say that she reaped you? She raised her pupil ruthlessly.”
“Because Master took me away, she can enjoy a life where she doesn’t have to eat these things.”
“…… I see, what did the woman ask for in return for taking you?”
“You didn’t ask for anything.”
Bibi shakes her head in disbelief. She said as if she was looking inside me.
“Wizards are quick-tempered. Never do anything to lose. What does she think is the reason she took you away from other orphans? She must have thought that when you grow up you will have a good harvest.”
“I hope that day comes soon. As of now, I have received so much that I have no way to repay it.”
She had no reason to exaggerate her relationship with Silverine. Suffice it to say as it is.
“… It’s a pretty close relationship.”
What are you thinking? For a moment, Vivi’s face had a feeling of loneliness.
“If I had someone like that….”
She stops talking and finishes eating snake meat. She didn’t open her mouth even after eating so much. Vivi’s emotions suddenly subsided, and our conversation was cut off there.
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That night, she settled down deep in a cleft in the rocks and went to sleep with her back turned to me.
As she stood vigil, she could occasionally hear her breathless sniffles. The conversation with me had stimulated a sore spot in her heart.
That was not an area where I could help.
***
“Kyaaa!”
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of a baboon screaming. This is darker and more intense than anything she had heard before.
As soon as I came to my senses wondering if a demonic beast had appeared, I reflexively grabbed a wooden sword and prepared myself for battle.
However, I couldn’t feel the signs of the beast.
The baboon covered her mouth with one of her hands and pointed at one, gasping for breath.
There was a stump I had cut down while chopping firewood.
And on top of that, a human head is placed.
Looking closely, it was the head of an old woman who cursed Bibi and cut her throat.
It was watching the camp with a mad grin, as if it were mocking us.
Is it welcome? Apparently Vivi and I are watching the same thing, so it’s not in vain.
I took a wooden sword and bought it in front of her and stabbed her in the head. Along with the stench, the flesh that had been blown into the water slightly peeled off. It’s definitely a dead person’s head.
There are black feathers scattered around it. It seems to be the work of crows, not people.
Interesting. The owner of this land is closely watching our movements. I calmed the baboon by adorning his head with the bones of the snake he had eaten the day before.
She had a face that looked like it would burst into foam if you patted her at any moment.
“More things will happen in the future, but you shouldn’t pass out already.”
Bibi says with a tired expression.
“Couldn’t you speak nicer?”
And as soon as she said that, a presence came from behind her.
Turning her head, she confirmed this.
A blue deer, more precisely something in the shape of a deer that glows blue, was standing on the surface of the water and looking at us.
“Why is that? What appeared?”
“Can’t you see?”
“…Did you want to make fun of me in this situation? Yesterday’s spirit, and if you have your work in the escort in mind, speak up proudly. I will take care of your anger myself.”
It seems that the spirit creature, which looks strange to anyone, is not rubbing.
So that means I’m hallucinating, maybe because I ate an animal out of this land, I’m more in touch with my circulatory system.
By the way, this hallucination seems to be a little different from what Bibi’s guards saw.
The brilliant color of that deer was definitely the same as the one from the Blue Soul Herb.