Thinking about it, what she'd said, it did make a lot of sense. Though they fought so flashily, it seemed these three preferred to travel incognito if they could.
After pondering it for a bit, I turned back to her and nodded. "Yeah, I understand."
We then paced inside to see Sato's and Takahashi's bodies. I was genuinely shocked since it looked like they'd been given as comfy a spread as possible.
Not only had they been set up with makeshift beds made from interwoven grass and sliced-off bear fur. There was also the small firepit we'd seen from outside. It was perfectly placed to be well-ventilated and near the two to keep them warm. Something that was especially important because of the, now chilling, winds outside.
I wasn't sure how much warmth they'd been getting, though. Considering the fire had barely been past the state of embers. Probably a good thing since we didn't want to burn down this hovel of ours.
Takagi definitely wasn't the culprit of such nice treatment, so I subtly stole a glance at the only person who could've been responsible.
'Is it possible?' I was flabbergasted. I didn't know what to think about this monstrous, hammer-swinging, seemingly apathetic guy being considerate toward others.
After us, Mizuno and the sisters entered our makeshift shelter, placed down the brown leather rucksacks they'd gathered, and sat down. The sisters opted to sit near the corner with Takahashi and Sato.
If I had to guess, the two avoided the spot where Nakamura had died, considering they sat as far away as possible.
Looking toward where he died myself, I noticed a thick but dried red stain on the tree's base. Tied to that stain were constant reminders of our time together. Our meeting in the dungeons of that mansion, our escape...his death.
Honestly, they were reminders I hadn't wanted. But, at the same time, I wouldn't want to forget what he'd done for us.
"What happened to..." I paused, feeling the words choke within my throat. I took a deep breath and regained my composure. "What happened to Nakamura's body?" I finally asked, casting my gaze on Kamida, who'd been resting near the fire.
"We buried him outside," he said with a weary voice. "A man of his stature deserved that much, at least."
'I guess that explains his muddied hands.' I thought to myself.
Kamida's expression was as tired as his voice as he leaned backward and mumbled to himself. "I...I can't believe he's..." he stopped himself from going any further, resolving to just shaking his head in disbelief.
"We?" I took a glance at Takagi, who'd still been practically non-existent. Now that I'd caught a better glimpse of him, I could see numerous bloodstained bandages snaking across his injuries.
Though they must've been painful, he hadn't reacted at all. Rather his state was almost vegetative. Seeing him so...broken...and now that I had a chance, I knew the right call would be to check on him.
I strode over to Takagi and knelt down next to him.
I reached out, trying to grasp his hand with mine, fully expecting him to pull away as you'd expect from a rebellious punk. But he hadn't, instead he only sat there, completely unresponsive to me.
"Takagi?" I crouched low to the floor, trying to meet his gaze. "Are you okay?"
Even when our eyes met, I could tell he hadn't seen me, not really. He'd been so stuck in his thoughts that my presence must've eluded him. Given how reckless and obnoxious he'd been throughout the time we'd known each other, seeing him so quiet and docile was unnerving.
"Did he really help you?" I hopefully asked Kamida. Knowing that Takagi had moved, even just to help bury the one he'd been mourning, would've put my mind at ease. It would've meant he'd still retained a semblance of a grip on reality.
To my sadness, Kamida nodded his head "no" and gestured toward Shrug. He'd been sitting near our den's doorway, acting as a natural door, barricading us from the outside.
pαпdα-ňᴏνê|·сóМ I took a last look at Takagi and grimaced. My heart seized up as I'd realized there wasn't much I could do to comfort him. Knowing that, I backed away and returned near the doorway of our den.
Once I'd made it to my standing spot, I caught a closer glimpse of Shrug's body.
His stature, even while sitting, was huge and imposing. It was thanks to how his posture was that I'd gotten a closer look at his physical features.
Surprisingly, his muscles underneath his apron were even more tempered than I'd thought. They were honed to the point of having a steel like durability, and his fists appeared capable to grind a stone to dust.
Of course, the guy could go toe to toe with a huge grizzly, so I guess he'd naturally be a monster too.
Speaking of monsters...I'll admit, after today's events, I couldn't keep my eyes off the outdoors.
Though I still kept glancing back at Suda and the other two, just in case they'd try anything, I couldn't help but feel paranoid about being ambushed from outside intruders. Somehow, I felt there were "dungeon guards" or quillbeasts lurking behind every corner and every door now.
In my mind, aside from the people I escaped with, everyone was an enemy. Everyone else was out to kill us.
I reflexively inched my hand toward the knife I'd hidden underneath my shirt. Its steel had become warm as it rested against my thigh and bare belly for the day. I was lucky I hadn't tripped while hunting with Suda, otherwise the open blade would've sliced my leg open for sure.
A far cry from charging me with a sword, like I expected to happen any minute now, Mizuno retrieved a small slice of golden, but stale, bread from her pack and found her seat near the firepit.
Following her lead, Suda walked to the tree's base, stashing her bow and quiver, then paced toward Mizuno, sitting cross-legged opposite her.
Suda then pulled out her hunting knife and began expertly butchering the game we'd killed for dinner.
"Anythin' bad?" Suda asked, leaning in toward Mizuno.
"No..." Mizuno replied staring at the fire's orange-yellow ashes, "but we're leaving before dawn." She pulled down the hood of her cloak, exposing more of her face's features.
Despite Mizuno's high combat prowess, her skin was a fair, milky white. Complimenting that was her deep purple hair that fell just below her neck. Like her hair, her full pink lips glistened with the bit of light we'd had from the embers of the fireplace. Though her hair was a tad bit unkempt, probably from the hood, this girl had still been a knockout beauty.
"What'd ya see?" Suda asked while nonchalantly removing a squirrel's heart.
I was torn between being amazed at how casual she was about the gore and smell or being plain disgusted by it. For me, the sight of red and pink entrails was all too soon, so I felt the intense urge to avert my gaze.
I couldn't, though. I couldn't look away, not even for a second. If I did, who knows what this woman could do to the food.
But, when the squelching of organs started, I had to avert my eyes. Seeing her fingers squirming inside of what used to be a living animal's chest cavity was still too much for me. My visual retreat had almost been instinctual.
Somehow, Mizuno hadn't been at all affected by the grotesque display as I had. She just crunched and swallowed a chunk of bread. After clearing her throat, she responded, "a wrecked rune-coach on the side of an open road. We can't stay here for long."
"You guys stole a rune-coach?!" Suda exclaimed, looking wide-eyed at me.
"Are you talking about the carriage?" I asked. "If so, then yes."
On my back and neck, I could feel the burning admiration of a country girl archer. I turned to see her frozen in place, a squirrel's heart in her hand and staring at me wide-eyed with excitement.
"Man! I had all 'o' ya pegged for incompetence, but to steal something like that is no easy task!" she loudly giggled while skewering a squirrel on a sharpened stick to roast.
Setting aside her blatant insult, I was a bit surprised at her assertion about it not "being easy." Considering how we'd acquired it, beating up a few drunks, I couldn't think of it being easier than that.
"So, these 'rune-coaches'..." I questioned, "are they typically heavily guarded?"
Suda boisterously laughed. The excitement in her body had been so much she had to pull away her knife for fear of cutting herself. "Whaaat?! You stole one! Obviously, you should know they are!"
"But...it wasn't guarded?" I replied with a puzzled look. "I mean, it was practically given to us."
The deceivingly warm atmosphere turned cold after what I'd said.
It wasn't just Suda who'd frozen and stared at me, but Mizuno had also shot me a look of disbelief, while Shrug latched a hand to his hammer.
'Did I say something wrong?' I wondered. Given their immediate looks of hostility and surprise, I must've.
"Hey..." Suda spoke in a low tone and tightened her grip on her knife. "Could you tell us how exactly you escaped, again?" Though she'd been smiling, I could feel the animosity and intent to kill brewing underneath.
'Huh?' was the only word within my thoughts at that moment.
I knew I couldn't trust these people, but were they really going to reveal their true colors this soon?
Mizuno glared at me with chilling eyes, "I think it's time you answered our questions."
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