Published at 7th of November 2020 03:06:06 PM

229 Breakfast

I open my eyes to the suns glare and crawl out of the shrine. Its already morning. I went to sleep at the back of the shrine where light wouldnt reach, but it seems I rolled towards the entrance.

GuoooOOOO

Raising my head to the sky, I let out a yawn. It wakes my partner up, who opens her eyes.

As usual, the egg sacs are stuck to her forehead. To be honest, Id prefer it if they were to remain unhatched. Hey partner, you know spiders are nothing like ball rabbits? They wont fulfil your nostalgia.

Guua

Even though she shouldve gotten plenty of sleep, shes still drowsy.

Gaah! Gaah! Gaah!

Without hesitation, she stretches out towards the tribute. She ate a ton last night, but its still not enough for her. There should have been enough food to cover a fair few meals if rationed, but she destroyed half of it last night. The remaining half will disappear with this breakfast. She does her work properly, so I cant complain, but I wish she would pull her weight a bit more.

I would be grateful if the Lithovars were to bring some more tributes, but I dont see them around, and dont feel their presence. I wonder if its because my behaviour yesterday scared them and they figured out Im not their dragon-god. Theres the possibility that they have a set day on which they come, so theres still a chance! I hope

While Im thinking, my partner has stuffed her face into a basket, scrounging around for remaining food. The poultry and pork have become nothing but bones. Is she finished eating, then? The food she eats fills my stomach, so to humour her, its better to let her do the eating, but My mouth feels rather empty.

Hyufuuh!

Next to my partner snorting in satisfaction, I gnaw on a boar bone she spat out. This is fine though Yeah

After enjoying it halfheartedly, I spit out the bone fragments. My partner looks at me pityingly.

If youd said something, Id have given you some

Ah, her voice is in my head. I feel like were becoming more and more able to understand each other.

Next to the wreckage of my partners feasting, I spot a large pot. It doesnt look like shes tried it yet.

I try sniffing it, but it doesnt smell of food. If it smelled of meat, theres no way she wouldve left it alone after all. I lightly poke it with my forefoot and hear a sloshing sound.

Is it a drink? I try removing the lid with my mouth to see a colorless, clear liquid. But, this odour Im smelling Is it alcohol? Its sake, actually.

If I remember correctly, Yamata no Orochi was killed after getting drunk on sake. It was a snake, but it feels ominous all the same.

As Im looking down into the pot, my partner softly edges closer before clasping the pot between her lips and raising it to the sky. Its contents flows down her throat in one gulp.

She twists her head, smashing the pot against the ground, shattering it. Then she sticks out her tongue, licking up the sake from around her mouth.

Gaaah!

She cries out joyfully, letting saliva fly.

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Oi, this girl! Right after she said shed share as well!

Or rather, dont go destroying the pot. What a waste! Be more careful next time. If a Lithovar were to see, they might mistake it as anger.

Thats right, restoring the jar using [Soul AppendmentFake Life] would not work, Id expect. Yeah, that would be the case. Its much more likely that the fragments will just start moaning.

Gaaaah

My partner gleefully starts licking the fragments of the jar. She seems to have taken a liking to sake.

Youre also me, so dont do such crude things, please. Didnt some of the shards enter her mouth just there? Hey, spit them out already. Wont they break your stomach?

Come to think of it, I swallowed that holy sword a while back. Theres no way this is worse than that, so its fine. Whatever happened to that sword anyway? Is it still there, or has I digested it? Itll be sticky and unusable either way though.

Seeing as the tributes all gone, from today onward Ill have to be self-sufficient. I need to go hunting for prey. Ill let the wight earn experience points by providing covering fire For that matter, where is the wight?

Its no longer in the shrine. Searching around with [Presence Detection], I feel a faint reaction from the opposite side of the shrine. This presence has to be the wight.

I circle around the shrine, following the wights presence. As Id sensed, the wight was there. Its elbow deep in earth, digging through the soil. It pulls out a clump of dirt No, thats too structured to be just dirt. Its a dirt-covered cloth.

The wight brushes the cloth with its hand, revealing a black color with ivy embroidery. Its Lithovar clothing. I wonder if its what the wight wore when it was alive.

After clearing away most of the dirt, it rings out with its lower jawbone in satisfaction. It bends down to put on the clothes, but suddenly jumps with a start, turning to look at me. Our eyes meet. The wight looks away and hides its face in embarrassment.

Feeling like Id seen something I shouldnt have, I quickly avert my eyes. Its essentially been naked all this time. After so long without clothes, isnt it a bit late to worry about being seen changing? No, its feelings arent ones I can understand.

After the sound of getting dressed has stopped, I look up to see the wight fully clothed. Its dirty and torn, but the top and bottom combine to make it a black dress. It looks just like what the Lithovar girl I saved from the manticore was wearing. The men who came to deliver the tribute were wearing trousers, so it seems the wight is a girl after all. Although there is the possibility that shes just wearing clothes she found.

Letting out a rattling sound, the wight turns around on the spot while looking up at me. I get the impression that it wants me to say something. Seeing me stay silent, she tilts her head.

Perhaps shes asking for my impression of her clothes. N-no, to put it bluntly shes just bone, so Theres no feelings of cuteness there, yeah. Ah, theres that. It might be a good idea to wash away the dirt in the river. Beyond that No comment