Chapter 4 Part 18

"Haa, haa, haa ......... did I manage to get separated?"

Nozomu escaped by pushing the black demon beast against the goblins and finally took a breather after confirming that there was no sign of chasing from behind.

"It should be fine for now... but should I be prepared just in case?"

Since there were so many uncertain parts including the opponent's fighting strength, it was better to prepare all the means he could use.

Thinking so, Nozomu decided to take a detour before going to Shino's hut.

The sun had completely set and the darkness of the night covered the surroundings, but Nozomu started walking relying on the slight moonlight and starlight.

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Shna and her friends who had been walking in the forest, finally arrived at Shino's hut, and after Mimuru laid Tom on the bed, she immediately took out the medicine and treatment tools from the shelves and started the treatment.

Wash the wound, sew it with a thread, sprinkle a potion, and bandage it.

Tom was still breathing roughly, with cold sweat appearing on his forehead.

On the other hand, Shna cast healing magic on Tom, but maybe she was worried about Nozomu cleaning up her blunder a while ago. She's still dazed. She couldn't concentrate on the magic yet and the healing light that came out of her hands was unstable.

"... Shna, concentrate properly ..."

"! I'm sorry ..."

Shna was rushed to concentrate on her magic after being scolded by Mimuru. Mimuru's hands were also full from treating her lover's wounds, and her voice was a bit harsh and cold. Obviously, she was having a hard time too.

Eventually, Tom's facial expression, which was breathing roughly and in pain, eased.

"... I think it's alright for the time being ..."

"I see"

Even though Tom had finished his treatment, he was badly injured and lost a lot of blood, so he fell asleep as soon as the pain subsided.

Tom's treatment was over, the two sat down and rested, but they remained silent without speaking to each other.

Shna stared at the floor, probably worried about the mistake she made, she dropped her shoulders and clenched her fists tightly on her lap.

Mimuru couldn't calm herself down either. Perhaps out of uneasiness, her gaze fell on Tom who was sleeping.

There was an awkward atmosphere in the room, but as nothing could dispel that atmosphere, only silence continued.

"... Hey Shna. Why didn't you try to escape at that time?"

"Eh?"

Eventually, Mimuru broke the silence and asked Shna about her actions earlier.

"By all means, that demon beast isn't normal. I understand that we didn't immediately realize that the demon beast was too much for us. But, why are you trying to do something so reckless?"

"Well, that was ..."

Mimuru questioned Shna, but her tone was harsh and instead of asking, she blamed Shna.

Mimuru's gaze was filled with anger, and Shna was stuck in her words.

"If you didn't do something so reckless at that time and just escaped, Nozomu didn't have to be a decoy, and Tom didn't have to get hurt!"

Shna couldn't say anything at Mimuru's words, and she looked down.

Given the current situation, it made sense for Mimuru to question Shna and blame her one-sidedly.

They fled from the black demon beast, but they are now still in the forest, and this safeness is only temporary. The black demon beast wasn't the only demon beast in the forest.

Apart from simply asking why Shna didn't try to escape, one-sided blame could lead to the complete destruction of the party.

However, because Mimuru was mentally driven against a wall and her lover, Tom, was also seriously injured. As a result, she hit Shna with a fit of anger, which eventually created this situation.

Escaping to a safe place made her tense feelings broke down, and Shna just looked down without saying anything to such a question. This fueled her anger further.

Mimuru's voice blaming Shna gradually became louder.

"Please ... say something !!"

Mimuru grabbed Shna, but Shna closed her eyes tightly, clenched her lips and she didn't say anything.

However, Mimuru's patience reached its limit as Shna didn't say anything.

She raised her hand and tried to hit Shna. However, at that moment, a rattling sound was heard from the door of the hut.

Tension ran between the two.

Shna held the bow beside her, and Mimuru took out the dagger at her waist.

It was the black demon beast that flashed through their heads.

Tom couldn't move and there was no Nozomu, it was clear that if Nozomu was attacked by the demon beast, he would be killed in no time.

Mimuru held the dagger and slowly headed for the door, and Shna drew her bow to the limit so she could shoot arrows any time.

When the door rattled and opened, there was something with a humanoid body covered in mud.

"! Mimuru !!"

"Eh?"

Shna called out to Mimuru and shot her nocked arrow at the humanoid's forehead. It seemed that the humanoid was saying something, but it was blocked by Shna's voice and they couldn't hear it.

"Uaaaaaa !!"

With such a scream and dexterity that did not seem to be a humanoid monster made of mud, the humanoid monster dodged the approaching arrow.

Mimuru stepped forward and swung her dagger.

"Haaaaa !!"

"Wa, wait ..."

The humanoid monster tried to say something, but neither of them noticed it, and the humanoid monster hit the belly of the dagger that Mimuru swung with something like a stick and parried it.

Mimuru was surprised that her attack had been blocked, but immediately turned her sword around and tried to launch another slash.

However, just before that, they heard a familiar voice in their ears.

"Wait! Both of you !!"

The voice stopped the two of them from moving.

On closer inspection, the humanoid monster was actually a human with mud all over his body.

They both recognize him.

"" Nozomu-kun? ""

"That's right. It's me! Why did I have to be suddenly attacked by my allies!!"

Nozomu became a decoy of the black demon beast to let the three escape. It would have been unavoidable for him to scream in a loud voice as he ran around the forest and desperately escaped with his life.

"So, sorry Nozomu-kun."

"Umm ... I'm sorry ..."

"... No, it's okay ..."

Mimuru and Shna dropped their shoulders and apologized. Instead of thanking someone who could be said to be a savior, they had their weapons pointed at him instead, so there was no choice but to feel depressed.

Nozomu was angry at first, but he thought it was unavoidable given his current appearance.

Nozomu had washed away all the mud over his body, and the clothes he was wearing had been dried by fire.

Mimuru asked Nozomu again.

"... So, Nozomu-kun? Why were you so full of mud?"

"Oh, that was to prevent the demon beast from chasing me by the smell."

Among the demon beasts that were chasing Nozomu in the forest, there were also demon beasts that rely on their sense of smell. Wild Dogs are the example.

In order to avoid being chased by such demon beasts, he entered the river to remove his body odor and smeared mud all over his body to prevent his body odor from leaking out.

"... More importantly, what about Tom's injuries?"

"...We're done with the treatment and he's sleeping right now. But I think it's better to take him to the city as soon as possible..."

..

"??"

Nozomu looked towards Shna, but she remained looking down while Mimuru answered Nozomu's question. Mimuru doesn't even look at Shna and deliberately ignored her.

"Hey, did something happen?"

"... Is there something wrong?"

"That is..."

"I'm going outside to keep watch. Call me if anything happens ..."

"O, oi ..."

Nozomu tried to ask the two who were in a strange atmosphere, but Shna didn't answer Nozomu who was trying to stop her, and she left.

"What's going on?"

"...I don't care. Just ask Shna..."

Mimuru turned around as if she was messing around with him.

Nozomu sighed, took out a large pot from the kitchen, boiled some water on the fire, and started to make a simple soup.

"? What are you doing?"

"You know, I'm making food. We can't maintain our bodies if we don't eat when we have the chance. That's our situation..."

Thus, Nozomu neatly prepared the meal, sliced the dried meat with a knife, took out the soup stock, and put the potatoes he had stored in the hut. Boil and check the taste. Take cooking salt and pour it into the pot to preserve the taste.

"... I can't guarantee the taste, but it'll warm our body for the time being. I've prepared for Tom's part, so if he can get up, let him eat."

Mimuru accepted the bowl presented by Nozomu, but she looked at the bowl in her hand with a complex expression.

"Are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine! Don't worry ... Thank you."

Mimuru, who had a sunken expression, immediately smiled, but Nozomu could see from the side that she was trying to hide it.

Nozomu tried to say something when he saw her spirit, but at that moment, he heard a groan from Tom who was sleeping.

"Looks like Tom is awake. I'm going to bring food for Tom, so Nozomu will bring food for Shna.... If I bring it to her, I can't stand her and we will fight again. I think it's going to happen ..."

Such a girl had a self-deprecating smile. She had a frustrated expression that seemed to be regretting something.

When Nozomu saw it, he couldn't say anything.

" I understand"

In the end, Nozomu had no choice but to go to Shna with her soup.

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Shnas POV

I was sitting on the roof of the hut while holding my knees.

I said I was going to keep watch, but I couldn't concentrate on doing that after all.

My head was full of regret and frustration.

In the