345 – Exploration of the Furthest Ends

Feeling the warmth of sunlight, I wake up.
Light is pouring in from the nest’s entrance.

Aah, it’s morning already.
I stretch my neck with a cracking sound.
As I stir, Aro, who was snuggled next to me, opens her eyes.

Oh, did I wake you up? Perplexed, she shakes her head.

“I don’t really get sleepy.”

I-Is that so…? I thought for sure whenever you shut your eyes and stayed motionless, you were asleep, but… That was just you just resting your body and you were awake the whole time?

Certainly, round eyes are wide open even though it’s morning.
There’s no impression of her having just woken up.
With a backward glance at treant-san, who is snoring with shut eyes despite being a tree, I exit the nest.

『…There’s nothing that needs to be done, so don’t get up so quickly.』

My partner sluggishly squints at me in annoyance… This body doesn’t feel particularly tired, but maybe it’s different for her? No, that shouldn’t be possible.

Even if I just close my eyes and stay still, that’s enough for me to recover health and stamina, and when I was living in the desert, that was what I did since otherwise the ball rabbit could have been eaten by a monster.
But it seems my partner needs proper sleep to be satisfied.
Though rather than a difference in constitution, it might be more a matter of personality…

As I leave the nest I look up to see the nightmare’s web stretched out from an overhead branch.
Noticing us, it descends, then after a single glance at me, delightedly races towards my partner… We’re two parts of the same being, and yet what is this difference in treatment? My partner lets out a yawn and looks down at the base of the tree, but upon noticing the approaching nightmare, she opens her mouth into a slight smile.

After all’s said and done, these two really do get along well.
Even though at the start she hated being clung to.
Is she actually quite an easy dragon? She got on well with the Lithovar children as well.

She greets the nightmare as it playfully clings to her with a wide open mouth, then closes her mouth around it.
The nightmare’s leg pokes out, feebly trembling as though asking for help.
Unable to understand what is happening, my mouth gapes open.
Aro, who’s walking at my side, also stares at her, pale-faced.

『Big bird meat!』

Reading her thoughts, I’m finally able to understand.
She’s still half-asleep.
She probably couldn’t forget about the taste of yesterday’s masked bird roast and is dreaming of eating roast chicken.
I quickly headbutt her from below.

“Oboh”

The nightmare falls from her mouth, covered in saliva.
Its back hits the branch.
Th-that was dangerous… If she bit down it could have been a one-hit KO.
I’m glad it’s uninjured.

The nightmare spits a thread to the overhead branch and regains its posture, then scowls at me.
Wh-what is it? Do you have a complaint? If I hadn’t saved you, you’d have been eaten.

After lowering its head towards me slightly, it cautiously approaches my partner again.
H-huh, it’s surprisingly obedient.
For that matter, it almost got eaten and yet still isn’t discouraged.

『The meat’s come back!』

My partner suddenly snaps at nightmare then raises her head to the sky.
I headbutt the underside of her chin again, stronger than last time.

I take Aro, the nightmare and the treant down and walk around the forest that surrounds the giant tree.
At my request, Aro made a large bucket from [Clay], and the handle is hanging from the treant’s branch right now.
I’m using [Status Inspection] to distinguish edible herbs and fruits and putting them in the bucket.

【[Reol Fruit: Value E+]】
【[Beezberry Fruit: Value D-]】
【[Harber Grass: Value D]】
【[Red Hot Grass: Value E-]】

Those that seemed like they could be good seasonings, those that catch my eye somehow, and those that are a little high in value; I gather them for any reason.

The [Reol Fruit] is yellow and round, with orange flecks.
It seems to be a citrus, as the status explanation makes it sound similar to a lemon.

The [Beezberry Fruit] is elastic and apparently packed with nutrition.
They’re attached in bunches and look like grapes.

The [Harber Grass] is a herb with a weak soporific effect.
The [Red Hot Grass] apparently turns red just before spreading its seeds, and the red part is absurdly spicy.
It might be to prevent animals from eating it.
In moderate amounts, it should be a good seasoning.

Great great, this is going well.
Next let’s go to the seaside and gather some salt.
The quality of life here is taking a huge leap forward.

I’m worried that the treant’s branch is creaking from the weight, but… The person in question, or rather the tree in question is acting as though it’s nothing.
D-don’t go acting tough and trying the impossible, okay?

『Bird! I want to eat bird! Bird!』

My partner swings her head either side as she whines… But there aren’t many birds big enough for us to eat.
Even if I look at the sky, I don’t see any birds.
There’s the occasional weird giant fly, but that’s all.
Towards the sea there is a flock of the human-birds, the sirens, but I don’t really want to eat them, or get involved with them at all.
The sirens, adams and eve are the only monsters I wouldn’t want to eat even if I was starving.
I might be even more averse to eating them than humans.

By the way, in my rankings of things I least want to eat, siren is third place, adam is second, and first is eve.
I didn’t think I’d ever see a monster even grosser than an adam, but the eve easily surpassed it.
Though I hate the idea of eating any of them, of course.

I feel sorry for my partner, but it seems that prey like the masked bird aren’t very commonplace.
I’m confident that I can resolve myself to eat monsters that are a little bit gross.
Compromise is important.
After all, the first thing I ate in this world was a caterpillar bigger than myself.
I’ve got to decline to eat something that looks like a messed up human, but I don’t plan on being extremely picky about my food.

Looking around, I spot a stone statue of a bipedal, muscular cow inserted between two trees.
A cloth is wrapped around its waist, and a long club is grasped in its brawny arm.
It’s about three metres high in total.
It’s quite impressive.
I almost want to take it to decorate the nest.
It doesn’t seem very old… Did an adam make it?

『Hey partner! Look at the ground, down!』

…Down? Urged, I brush against the ground with my forefoot.
Hidden amongst the grass is the giant footprint of a bird.

I-it looks like it must still be nearby.
Deciding to pursue this unknown bird monster, I desperately look for more tracks.
As I walk, I come across more odd stone statues.

The statue of the giant wolf is fine… But there’s also a caterpillar with a human face, and a creepily-smiling giant tortoise with three heads.
I can’t help but think the creator’s sense of aesthetics is broken.
As I thought, is the one who made these an adam? It wouldn’t surprise me if their sense was this much of a failure.
If I keep chasing after this bird, I’m likely to make contact with the adam soon, but… Is it okay to keep going on like this?

Hey partner, what do you think…?

『Bird meat! Bird meat!』

…It’s useless, she’s not thinking about anything except food.
I really can’t expect anything from asking her for advice.