Chapter 14
‘Me, the Heroine?!’ said it took her a full two months just to join the survival camp. Affection points? Romance options? That was a dream she couldn’t even think about…
In that sense, my situation—settling into a decent hideout with an affection target as soon as I fell into this strange world—was really fortunate.
[Lia: I guess I’ve been pretty lucky…]
[Me, the Heroine?!: I’m so jealous you already found an affection target…]
[Lia: You haven’t found yours yet?]
[Me, the Heroine?!: I found someone, but…]
…?
Even after waiting for a long time, no message came. I absentmindedly stared at the chat window, and about five minutes later, a reply finally came:
[Me, the Heroine?!: Sorry, but my watch duty just ended now…]
[Lia: Ah, okay. Sleep well.]
I exited the chat, and when I checked the watch Teon had given me before leaving the hideout, my watch duty was already over.
I got up quietly and approached Isis.
‘Isis only slept for an hour and a half… I hope he’s not too tired.’
I felt really bad waking someone who sleeps so well.
Of course, I had absolutely no intention—even a tiny, minuscule bit—of taking over his watch. I know myself too well.
My physical strength was ridiculously low, and I needed proper rest to recover.
I carefully reached for Isis’s arm. I tapped lightly, feeling the firm texture beneath my fingers.
‘Oh, wow… he’s really solid.’
Maybe because it was all muscle. I murmured in admiration as I shook his arm slightly.
“Isis. Isis.”
“Mm…”
He squinted and slightly opened his eyes. I instinctively held my breath for a moment. That slightly irritable expression right after waking up somehow made me feel… odd.
Clearing my throat, I turned my head, and Isis, now slightly more awake, sat up.
“Good job. The area in front of the fireplace is the warmest.”
“…Yes. You too, Isis.”
As he got up and sat where I had been, I laid down on the floor, covering myself with the blanket I had brought.
‘It’s torn and ragged, but with the carpet underneath, it’s actually pretty comfortable.’
I had already been fighting off sleep, so shortly after lying down, my mind succumbed to slumber.
“Liariana, Liariana!”
Huh…?
Opening my eyes at the sound of someone calling, Luca’s face was right in front of me.
Already morning? It felt like I had only slept for about thirty minutes…
Rubbing my eyes, I got up. My whole body felt stiff. Maybe it was from using muscles I hadn’t touched yesterday?
Frowning, I twisted my shoulders and ankles, when something lightly tapped my arm. Jade was holding something out to me.
“This is breakfast.”
It was an old bowl filled with thin stew.
Now that I think about it, the whole room smelled savory. It seemed they had used the fireplace to make a simple soup.
There were no spoons, so I had no choice but to drink it, but I gladly accepted the warm bowl.
“I boiled it with dried corn, so it probably won’t taste great.”
I nodded, meaning it was fine. I hadn’t expected it to taste good anyway.
As I slurped the soup, it was even blander than I expected, making me chuckle quietly to myself.
If only I had a bit of salt…
‘Maybe next time I should get some from Marsha.’
Lost in unnecessary thoughts, I was almost done with the soup when Isis lightly tapped the floor like knocking, drawing everyone’s attention.
“All right, shall we go?”
Everyone nodded. Today’s schedule would be even tougher than yesterday’s.
Sighing, I stretched.
Bang!
Kweeeeek!
Thunk! Crash!
Uuurgh.
What’s that noise? It’s four skill users taking down a creature.
Luca restrains, I strike, Jade burns, and Isis finishes off with poison…
‘No wonder the creatures sound pitiful…’
Not at all. These are monsters that would’ve eaten us if we hadn’t killed them.
After killing the creatures, running around, and searching for a suitable place to rest at night, we were finally very close to our destination: the Drain Marquis’ estate.
I tossed a limp creature corpse aside. We had already stopped piling them up and burning them.
‘As Sansa said, the closer we got to the Drain estate, the more creatures there were.’
“The number of creatures is increasing.”
Jade wiped the creature blood from his hands in annoyance.
“If my guess is right… it’s only going to get worse.”
…Correct.
I bit my lower lip tightly, bracing my trembling legs. Otherwise, I felt I might collapse.
It wasn’t fear of the creatures this time.
Though I still flinch when we encounter them, seeing them so often has made me somewhat accustomed.
The real reason my body trembles… is exhaustion.
At first, I didn’t notice because I only used my skills briefly, but now, using them continuously, I can clearly feel my energy draining.
‘This must be what Isis meant about skill limits.’
Every skill has a cost.
The more you use it, the more your energy drains.
Simple logic.
The consequences, however, are far from simple.
In the worst case, I could collapse unconscious in a creature den.
In that scenario, my life would likely be over.
“We need to conserve as much energy as we can nearby.”
Luca sat down heavily on the ground. He, too, looked exhausted from using his skills.
“Agreed.”
With Isis’ words, Jade and I joined Luca. Isis stayed alert, fully armed, just in case.
‘If it gets harder than this in the future, it won’t be easy…’
I was seriously worried about what lay ahead.
“So using skills drains your energy?”
I asked, and Isis nodded.
“Yes. From my experience, the stronger the skill, the more energy it consumes.”
“That’s why we need stamina training!”
I chuckled at Luca’s remark. Yes, I’d pay the price for never exercising.
Relaxing my body, I sat for several minutes. Luca tapped my arm and handed me a piece of jerky.
“This is the last one…”
“Thank you.”
I chewed it carefully.
Gazing at the peaceful blue sky, unlike the chaos below from the creatures, we rested again, when distant thumps began.
‘Those footsteps…’
Maybe four creatures?
Having seen a few, I could roughly estimate.
Getting up and gathering our things, Isis said:
“This time, we’ll avoid them.”
Everyone agreed. There was still a long distance to travel, and fighting every creature would be impossible.
We moved in the opposite direction of the sounds.
Observing the surroundings, most buildings were collapsed beyond recognition. From the outside, it looked like a strong earthquake or typhoon had passed.
‘…And there’s a lot of blood.’
Red stains were visible throughout the rubble. Creature blood isn’t red, so it must be human.
As we moved diligently, Isis suddenly stopped and stood in front of me.
“Isis?”
“Don’t look ahead.”
What’s going on?
Curious, I subconsciously tried to look, but—
“Don’t look.”
Isis slightly moved to block my view.
Seeing only his broad back, I frowned, but Luca tapped my shoulder.
“Um… I agree too. Liariana, it’s better if you don’t see this.”
“What is it? You can tell me.”
“It’s a corpse.”
Jade said casually.
