Chapter 149 149: Collateral Damage (2)

In the middle of the night, disaster struck. Disaster struck, but the situation could still be salvaged. All it required was a bit of improvisation. "Touya! TOUYA...!" My yells reverberating endlessly off every surface as I went, I ran deep into the Dragon Tribe's cave, where the Protagonist and his party slept. Or at least, those who remained. "Everyone, wake up right now!" Disturbing their slumber as chaotically as I could, they each jumped up, their widened, drowsy eyes wandering to find me. "Ah!" "Master, are you okay?!" "Y-yes, I'm fine, but... Enki...? W-what's going on, what's with all the noise-- no, what happened to you?! Are you alright?!" As they slowly realised the terrible state my body was in, I'm sure they also gradually began to imagine all kinds of things. "Wait, where's Katya?!" "There's no time! A monster attacked me while I was getting some fresh air outside, but Katya saved me. Someone needs to help her quickly!" "...?! Do you know what direction she's in?!" "I don't know where exactly, but it was down the mountain towards the city just a moment ago. She was trying to lead the monster away from here as far as possible." "I'll go I'll go! I smell Katty's blood!" The instant I replied, Cassie sniffed the air and charged off, bounding through the cave and out of sight. Gulping, I watched her back disappear with extreme tension. 'Please...' Leaving that part to fate, my role wasn't entirely finished. I still had to take care of one more obstacle. "Feanya, is there any chance you can fly up and scan the surrounding area from the sky?" The evidently nervous harpy girl glanced at me. "If she's anywhere in the forest it'll be difficult to see anything through the density of the trees... but I can definitely give it a shot." Watching her look briefly at the Protagonist, she continued, her voice subtly lowered. "Master, you stay here in the cave for safety. Us two'll go look together and help Cassie." Barely catching a final, furtive look sent my way, my breath momentarily caught in my throat. '...She knows.' However, the Protagonist, kind, careless, and unforgivably dense as he was, only seemed to see the surface level meaning behind her words. "What? But how can Enki go, look at him! No, he needs to stay and rest. Look, didn't we bring some health potions with us? Let him stay, I'll come and--" "Master. This man is stronger than he lets on. How do you think he survived travelling the wilderness by himself when we first met him? Master is weak, so please stay here where it is safe." Interrupting him with a firm voice, there was nothing the Protagonist said to refute the argument. And, honestly, neither could I. In reality, it's not like I possessed even a fraction of the skills necessary to survive by myself in the wilderness, nor could I claim to even be able to defend myself if it came to it, at least not without my arsenal of weapons. But, it's also not like I could suddenly say I came from another world and just happened to appear there―it would only serve to muddy the waters, and perhaps nobody besides the Protagonist would believe me in the first place. In the end, he relented, staying behind in the cave by himself as requested, while Feanya silently led me outside the cave. Before we even exited the cave, an atmosphere of tension had already been established, and just a short distance away from the entrance, the harpy girl halted in front of me, turning around to confront me directly. "Where is Katya?" "...What?" Playing up an act of ignorance, I widened my eyes and blinked as if doing a double take. It wasn't very effective, however. "Don't play games with me. What idiot monster would attack the cave of the Dragon Tribe?" Not flinching at her question, I immediately replied. "There are no dragons here right now. Why would it have anything to be afraid of?" "...Stop trying to get out of it. I know you're lying." "I'm not." Maybe that was as much as she could take, as she swiftly pointed a wing at me and snarled. "Shut it, you bastard. Those scratches all over your body are just the right size to match up with Katya's claws, and aren't those bite marks too small for a wild monster's? You can't tell me it's a coincidence." "..." There were many justifications I could think of to argue with her, but we weren't here for a debate. Rather, she had already made up her mind. No matter what I said, she would remain convinced, and even if that wasn't the case... '...I need to get rid of her.' Sighing, I moved my hand to scratch my head roughly, as if put in a bad position. "It's... She's down the mountain, by the left of the terra--" "Show me." "..." Pausing for a second at her command, I scratched my head again and began to walk towards her and the entrance of the cave. Keeping her distance well, she flapped her wings and followed me, keeping me leashed by her intense stare. By the time we met the fresh, cold air of the night once again, I could hear a slight gasp from behind me. "What... happened here...?" I could've easily answered her with 'a monster attack', but I knew that would only get me in further trouble, so I refrained. Instead, glancing at the ground of the stone terrace on which we stood, I briefly imagined what it might've looked like in her view. Some of the blood I had already done my best to clean up with whatever spare blankets I had in the Storage, but of course, it would have been impossible to erase all the evidence, leaving bloody traces of a battle occurring, and very recently. It didn't need to be stated that I also relocated the corpse to a hidden location, too. While the harpy was still evidently shocked by the evidence of struggle, I turned to face her, the Black Wisp already materialised sneakily in my grasp while my back was turned. Quietly pointing it up to her, she must've caught the action just out of the corner of her eye as she jumped instantly into the air, flapping her wings to soar in the blink of an eye. Taking aim anyway, I pulled the trigger at the same time she spread her wings wide. "Agghhk...! Master....!" Witnessing the utter distress in her voice and on her face as she called for her Master in desperation, the shot penetrated one of her wings clean through, I had no time to celebrate. At the same time, a hail of something like sharp feathers flew towards me―I tried to dodge but wasn't fast enough, letting my right calf get pierced alongside the tough stone beneath me. "Gh...!" Letting out a strained groan as I felt my leg get stabbed, I hurriedly ripped the feather that hit me out and grit my teeth to bear the pain, keeping my gaze forward just in time to see her to flap a singular wing, barely failing to keep afloat and crashing to the ground. I knew she would take time to recover from that hard impact, so I hastily took aim again, using the opportunity to fire a number of shots that connected without issue. "Gyaaaaaah...!! M-Master...!" Somehow, perhaps due to the bad leg affecting my aim, she still didn't die. "Cough, kuahk-!" Nevertheless, watching her do nothing more than cough and splutter blood, seemingly not even trying to rise again to her feet, I exhaled deeply in relief. Until I heard her muster just enough strength to gasp one word amidst her chopped breaths. "――R-run..." At that moment, I realised she wasn't addressing me. 'Shit...!' Spinning my head, I caught the Protagonist's paled, aghast face for just an instant before he began to sprint away, stumbling off the side of the stone terrace and sliding down the hill out of sight. "No, wait! Stop-- Mmph, damn it...!" Hurriedly firing off one last shot to finish off the harpy, I tried to chase after him, but the damage on my calf must have been worse than I thought, causing me to trip and fall to the ground. Like this, there was no possible way I'd be able to catch up...