The faint scent of pinecones and leaves invaded Arisu's nostrils as she stirred from her slumber. It was a very nostalgic scent. The scent tended to muddle the tempting sweet scent of rabbits, the gamey whiff of foxes, and the threatening redolence of blood from the infected and the bunch of hybrids that seemed to selfishly reserve the territory as their hunting grounds or makeshift abode.
But that was the only thing that Arisu felt when she regained her consciousness, she felt a strong desire to bite someone, and that desire pushed her mind to the brink of temptation, giving her the whispers of the devil as her eyes turned a nice shade of blood. When she finally got a clear view of the situation, she realized that Kazuichi was actually carrying her on his back, and they were walking deeper into the forest.
A steady huff and puff could be heard coming from Kazuichi's mouth. It was a clear sign of exhaustion and yet he didn't bother resting. To him, the only thing at the forefront of his mind right now is to get to the bottom of the clogged water system.
"Oh, you're awake?" Kazuichi calmly iterated as a soft smile appeared on his face. Despite the dire situation they were in right now, Kazuichi wore a pretty comfortable expression much to Arisu's bewilderment. How could someone who was about to go crazy a couple of minutes ago be so calm and collected the next moment?
Kazuichi's somewhat gentle and muscular voice brought a change to Arisu's desire. Even though her throat felt a bit runny due to the salivation that occurred in her mouth, she was able to hold off the urge to bite Kazuichi. The desire was still there— to sink her teeth on Kazuichi's juicy sweet nape, but she had enough mental willpower to control the urge to bite. Right now, Kazuichi was oblivious to the internal struggle that was transpiring in the depths of Arisu's mind. To bite or not to bite, that is the question.
To Arisu, the situation playing out right now was akin to a parent holding out a spoonful of ice cream in front of a kid's mouth. Just one lurch and a huge bite, and the ice cream would be gone, the kid appeased. But Arisu was well aware that she couldn't afford to do that. There was an attempt in Kazuichi's life twice now, and she was involved in two of them. If she were to sink her teeth into him right then and there, then what would follow is a sense of distrust, and Arisu didn't want that.
Besides, Kazuichi went through all the trouble of getting past his fear of the hybrid, defeating it, and even nursing her back to health. There were plenty of opportunities for Kazuichi to just ditch everything including her, Arisu, but he didn't do that. Despite the hazards he'd have to endure while including Arisu in his life, Kazuichi still opted to save her— a gesture she would never barter for anything. Arisu found a rightful and trustworthy ally, breaking his trust is the last thing she'd ever want to do.
Swallowing her saliva, Arisu turned her head away from Kazuichi's nape so the urge wouldn't be screaming at her ears all the time. Her simple movement drove some of the urges away but it was still there.
"How's your arm feeling?" Kazuichi asked out of nowhere.
Arisu's attention then shifted to her arm which was cut clean by the hybrid a few moments ago. Thanks to Kazuichi's first aid, it was once again attached and Arisu didn't have to worry about a lost arm. This was the second occurrence of her arm being cut and being linked again but even then, she was still surprised at how fast her regenerative powers could get. If she wasn't a hybrid, it would've been bad news for her to get an arm severed. But right now, a severed arm is but a scratch.
"That hybrid man... he called you a hound. Do you know what that means?" Kazuichi continued, adjusting his arm so he wouldn't touch Arisu's rear side directly. Currently, their closeness was doing too much to his heart. If Arisu was listening, she'd have heard Kazuichi's heart rate rising as it pounded in his chest. He was flustered, but he tried hard not to show it on his face.
"I don't know either... maybe we can learn about it when we meet another hybrid... one that's not actively hunting us, of course," Arisu said to herself. Just the thought of encountering another hybrid sent chills up and down her spine. She was powerless against one of them, and she had no idea if she'd be able to stand her ground if another encounter occurs.
Now that her mind wondered about it though, she still had no inkling of how Kazuichi managed to defeat the hybrid man. He was more powerful than her, and it was obvious that Kazuichi shouldn't have had any chance against him. And yet, when the momentous opportunity appeared, Kazuichi emerged victorious. 'How did he...' Arisu's rumination of the scenario when her consciousness was fleeting made her stop thinking. The images in her mind revealed a gory hybrid man, lying down on the ground with his head a revolting mess of flesh, water, and blood, whipped together like a half-beaten egg yolk. Arisu felt her throat tighten, almost gagging as vomit almost came up to her esophagus.
"Honestly, it would be nice if we don't meet another hybri—" Kazuichi suddenly stopped short, gritting his teeth as he silently backed away. They finally reached the water system that supplied water directly to the mansion, but what they found was not something they'd been expecting at all.
The water system is actually a huge pipe that led directly to the filtering system which is then carried to the tank/water storage of the mansion. As long as the lake by the other end of the river didn't dry up, they'd have water for years on end. And furthermore, the filtering system of the mansion is actually self-maintained, so excess or dirty water would be filtered at regular intervals and then used as water tank replenishment.
But the huge pipe which was supposed to feed water to the filtering system was blocked by something— a bear. As ridiculous as it may sound, the corpse of a bear blocked the pipe and judging from its flesh, one could deduce that the bear was only recently slaughtered.
That wasn't the sole reason why Kazuichi backed down though. Aside from the bear, there was another entity on top of it— a man, half-naked, eating the bear's raw flesh like a scavenging beast.