"Uwaah!!!"
"There there~"
"UWAAAH!!"
Oh lord, give me patience coz if you gave me strength I might just kill them all.
Right now the beastfolk lady is crying rivers while resting her head on Elf lady's thighs and our dumb elf is patting her head.
The more she pats her head the more the beastfolk cries.
I looked in another direction, only to find a man gobbling down the fish one after another.
Man, that doesn't even taste that good. Guess, this is what starvation does to one. Well, he is gonna suffer for suddenly feasting on food like this.
Fortunately, the man wasn't the one who was telling us to give up back in the cage but the other one if not for that I would have been forced to plan on some accidental death situation.
Not to brag but I am pretty good at coming up with accidental deaths.
I materialized a potion of 'Low Epic Healing Potion'.
Rather than materialize, it would be more accurate to say that I simply pulled out a potion directly from my inventory with a simple thought, and of course, with a simple thought I could put it back in my inventory which might look like dematerialization.
In a sense, it was like all my things inside the inventory were semi-soul-bound.
Why semi? Well, unlike my ring which even if I lose somewhere will materialize back to me and no one except me can use it (unless I permit them to) on the other hand if my other items get lost then they are lost and they can be used by others.
Back on point, I hadn't looked into the information related to this potion. I know it's something that will help with even re-growing limbs, but that couldn't be all.
I mean, there exists an even higher-ranked potion than this, which means there exist types of injuries/illnesses that I don't have any idea of. So, I wanted to at least get some idea of what sort of absurd injury could it be that would need the help of such a high-ranked potion.
I still didn't know why that blue hair gave me such a high-ranked potion. Was it because of a simple whim or was it because she acted on someone's orders?
I shook my head.
"System Status"
================================================
Healing Potion -Low Epic Grade
Restores the body to its peak condition.
Removes low-level curses.
Deals with low-level damage on magical circuits.
=================================================
Yeah.. as I thought it doesn't simply re-grow limbs there are other things it could do as well but..
Low-level curses? No one got cursed in the novel. That concept didn't even exist in the novel ...not in the first half, I didn't read the second half, so...
Magical circuits? I know mana circuits but I doubt they are the same...
As I thought reading it I learned about new types of injuries. illness? that might exist.
So there do exist dangers that I have no idea about.
Goodness, someone help me sign out of this shit.
I put the potion back inside the inventory.
As long as I am touching something I can put it in my inventory. Of course, I tried to put my liver inside inventory but it didn't work.
Dimensional storage stuff works like that. You can't put anything inside it that resists.
For instance, you can put a dead body but not a living person because they will resist, and of course, it doesn't simply mean being mentally resisting as long as the body resists it wouldn't work.
One might be ready to commit suicide but once they start to drown in the water their body resists with all its might.
Yeah, that's how this stuff works
My body also resisted when I tried to put my liver in inventory.
And now I can't help but wonder what the hell was I even thinking.
"Are we done? When will we move again? "
It's been quite some time since we have decided to take a rest.
"It's night already, we are going to wait until the sun rises up. It would be dangerous otherwise. " The elf answered in a whisper.
"I heard that beast folks have good eyesight and hearing, night shouldn't be a problem."
"The lady here is tired and so is that man, they need proper rest, let them sleep." The elf pointed out at both of them with her finger.
"Wait, when did they.."
What the hell? They are sleeping!?
When did this happen!?
"Hey, she is sleeping on your thighs, wouldn't you get tired this way?"
"I will be fine" The gentle whisper of an elf entered my ears signifying her exhaustion.
"Whatever.."
That was all I could mutter.
I decided to pass my time with stargazing, not like I have ever done it and I knew shit about astrology.
"...I hope you can change the way you think, even if only a little" The voice was gentle yet held a bit of power, the kinda of one belonging to a kind scolding mother.
"Not that I am against it, people are free to hope for whatever but.. you should hope for something better, like 'I hope my brother gets freed' or 'I hope the war ends', something like that" I replied without looking at the Elf.
"You are not wrong ..." Those words felt like a soft whisper.
You can be a bit louder.
She didn't say anything else.
...Weirdo. For some reason, I can't help but feel like she is for whatever reason going along with what I am doing.
Not the forced situation of going along where you have no other choice but the going along of one's own accord.
And I have no idea why.
Gosh, another question that I have no answer to.
Soon after, the elf also fell asleep.
These bastards...
They clearly don't know the significance of rotating sleep.
How dumb are they?
Whatever, it's not like I plan on sleeping.
Why? I hate wasting time I would rather do some brain-tempering practice till morning.
...Wait, I can't because of these chains.
Well, fuck.
Then...
I remembered my max G+ rank, well, guess, I will go kill some beasts to absorb their EXP and have my level up.
I had killed some in the forest back then before coming to this hidden dungeon but my rank-up option didn't pop up.
I had killed low-level beasts, well I was checking the validity of the blue-haired pipsqueak so there's that.
Well, I guess I will hunt some high-level beasts this time.
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"Mm...Hmm?" The Elf woke to the gentle sensation of the morning sunlight upon her face "It's ..morning?" She said rubbing her eyes.
Woah, someone woke up!
She looked around and then towards me.
"...Have you been on watch the entire night?" The Elf questioned.
No, I mean, what dangers might there be sleeping in the forest? There's no need to discuss how we are gonna rotate sleep, right?
Of course, no beasts would attack you.
Bitch! Of course, I have been on the watch the entire night!
I now even have the option to level up!
What? What option? Well, remember I told you guys when you level up your whole body goes to reconstruction and all. Imagine if you leveled up somewhere outta nowhere, that would be trouble.
That's why when you reach the next level, you are given the option to level up, unless you agree on 'yes' you can't level up.
Now, this begs the question, would my EXP stop accumulating until I level up myself or will I level up all at once?
I will test it out in the future, for now, I gotta reply to her.
"Nope, I slept like everyone else, just woke up a few minutes ago. Guess, someone's luck here is pretty thick."
It's not like she will know whether I actually slept or not.
What? Why not tell the truth? Well, because I might not have slept but I wasn't looking out for them either.
"..I see, let's wake everyone up."
Elf said as she stood up and I instantly threw the boiled water I had prepared on the two sleepy heads, actually, I was going to do the same for Elf but she woke before I could.
""Agh!""
"What!?"
You see, waking up is a long process, you wake up, you feel drowsy, you slowly come to your senses, and blah blah.
The point is, that it takes a lot of time on the other hand if you wake up because of pain you will instantly start working because of the strong stimulation your brain has received.
And I just gave them the stimulation they needed to save themselves from wasting time.
It might leave a small burn mark, but that will fade away in a few days all by itself and hey, we live in a world where healing potions exist, not a big deal.
"Why did you do that!" The elf fuming with anger shouted while the lady and the man were touching their hands where the hot water had hit them, yes, I didn't hit their face.
I am generous and kind.
"To prepare ourselves to leave? We aren't on a picnic. You need to understand we have to leave as quickly as possible to not get caught and you are forgetting this area has lots of beasts, beasts that can be controlled by demons. Where the fuck do you all find the nerves to sleep without a care in the world? Did your brain get damaged when you got captured?"
No, I am not joking if they tried to capture us then it would be an easy thing to do.
Actually, the only reason we aren't captured yet is probably because her brother is pulling whatever strings he might be pulling back there for her sister. Such a loving brother.
If I had escaped alone, he would have sent forces to find me right away. Asshole.
Well, anyway, he could only provide us with a limited time, wasting that time is stupid. Escaping isn't about finding a route, it's about timing. You miss the timing and you are dead.
That's why amateurs could never escape without their exceptional luck.
But still... it's fucking morning, even her brother shouldn't have been able to hold back for so long. I was ready the whole night to go and get some EXP from people instead of beasts. Well, anyways, I need to be careful.
"...It was a needed rest for all of us"
The elf said in a strained voice and I knew what she meant, these other 2 guys were in bad condition giving them the rest was necessary for them to work more efficiently, of course, I could just make them drink my healing potion, and that would restore them to their previous peak condition but...I don't wanna.
I don't wanna give my things away. Sharing is caring? Well, fortunately, I don't care.
And also, what do you mean by 'us'!? I didn't need the rest, I was ready to go and am ready to go.
"..I am sorry for being a burden and thank you for protecting us the whole night," The man said bowing his head.
"Likewise!" The beast lady also chimed.
You guys are already over that boiled water I threw on you... Man, must be quite a high pain tolerance.
Hm? I get the thing about being a burden but what's this about protecting them??
"You can lie all you want but you have got blood on your body, you might not have noticed it during the night but it's morning now, and it's easily visible. Thanks for protecting us." The elf said in a gentle tone.
...Now then, how do I explain that I wanted to level up the option to appear in my system so I decided to go kill some beasts roaming around to gather EXP ..leaving them completely unguarded.
I hadn't saved them from any beasts approaching us, that was a wrong conclusion they had come to.
Well, shit.
I can easily see how my denying it will just make them think of me as a tsundere.
Ew, cringe.
"Get your asses moving."
"Yes yes" the elf sighed
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We finally started moving through the forest to look for the base the Elf was taking us towards.
"I think, we should introduce ourselves"
Seriously dude? Now you realize the need for an introduction?
Back then when they showed up, the elf first decided to give them food and then they started gobbling down the food and then they started crying and then they slept.
So, yeah. Introductions didn't happen.
"My name is Elina. I come from the southern tri-"
"Only names, that's all we need." I interrupted the elf before she started telling us about her whole life again.
"Why!"
"Because no one gives a shit about your southern tribe"
"Y-you! Whatever! hmph!" The elf pouted looking away.
No cute.
I should have said, extinct southern tribe.
And for fuck's sake just because you look like a hot one-san in her 20s doesn't mean you should act like one.
Elves aging works differently. What I am trying to say is that I can bet she is 50-60+ in terms of age, I don't know her exact age but that's the least she gotta be.
Basically, she is an old hag.
"I go by Albert, nice to meet you all"
"My name is Aria! Thanks for yesterday's food!"
Human and the beastfolk said respectively.
"Noah"
Well, with this introduction all done.