Chapter 57: Freshly roasted bird

“They seem like a group that broke off to hunt for food,” Rita said, pointing to another mountain visible beyond the rocky terrain.  

“What’s the plan?” Valery asked, his eyes sharp.  

Sercia interjected, her gaze fierce. “Obviously, we charge in and kill them all, don’t we?”  

“There don’t seem to be any other presences nearby,” Eileen added, solidifying the decision.  

Rita looked down at the beasts, thinking.  

There were at least thirty of them, including the threatening adults. The numbers were significant, but overall, Rita’s group held the advantage.  

They were positioned above, looking down on the beasts—a perfect spot for the mages to strike first.  

Of course, using large-scale attack magic like before was an option, but with two days of travel left, there was no need to overexert themselves.  

With a final nod of agreement, Rita turned to the mages.  

Blena was already buzzing with excitement, eager to unleash her magic.  

“With the blessing of Rihanes…” Mikael quietly prayed.  

As the blessed warriors silently drew their weapons, the mages shouted in unison:  

“Judging Blizzard!”  

The blizzard conjured by the four mages, including Rita, turned the barren rocky terrain into a snowy wasteland in an instant.  

Weaker lizard beasts froze and shattered, while the larger juveniles and adults hardened into ice.  

Confirming the beasts’ movements had ceased, Sercia raised her hand to signal.  

Valery and Bailey led the charge, the warriors rushing down the slope with ferocity.  

“Floria, take the left,” Eileen instructed.  

While Floria prepared three rapid-fire arrows, Eileen crafted a single large arrow, aiming at an adult beast on the right.  

“Left side, in order: neck, belly. Right side, from the end: left leg, head, eye,” Rita directed.  

Following her guidance, Eileen and Floria moved their arms deliberately.  

Meanwhile, Sercia’s group systematically cut down the surviving juveniles.  

Yan, descending as instructed, attacked anything in sight.  

He merely punched or kicked the frozen beasts, reducing their numbers significantly.  

As the juveniles dwindled to just two, the mages fired ice arrows at the remaining adults.  

As the juveniles were swiftly dealt with, the ice encasing the adults began to crack.  

Eileen, who had been targeting an adult, frowned.  

“They’re tough. Floria, you holding up?”  

Even Eileen’s supreme-rank strength couldn’t pierce the vital points of these defense-enhanced beasts.  

Floria, too, grimaced as her arrows failed to penetrate their scales.  

Finally, Rita stepped in.  

“Surging Stream, Relentless Arrow!”  

A sharp jet of water shot toward the beast Eileen was targeting, while a massive ice arrow flew at Floria’s target.  

Blena’s jaw dropped at the flawless simultaneous attack from both directions.  

Casting different spells in rapid succession was Rita’s specialty, but hitting two distant targets with such precision was astonishing.  

The beasts’ tough defenses shattered.  

Eileen’s arrow pierced the gray lizard’s neck, and Floria’s arrow shredded the blue lizard’s eye.  

At the same time, Sercia’s group silenced the juveniles they’d been attacking.  

Following Sercia’s signal, the warriors charged from their positions, and the mages tensed, ready to assist.  

“Twisting Tendrils!”  

Mindful of friendly fire, the three mages—Blena, Seth, and Alois—targeted the beasts’ left legs with precision water jets, tearing through their skin.  

Sercia’s group rushed in, slashing relentlessly until flesh was exposed.  

Meanwhile, Rita helped Eileen and Floria deal with another beast.  

‘We need to hurry.’  

This one’s vital point was its head, but its formidable defense slowed them down.  

Rita had to cast three spells in succession to break through.  

Just as Eileen’s final arrow burst the beast’s head, Rita scanned for the last adult.  

There was only one left, but she didn’t need to act.  

The final beast, whose vital point was its belly, was long dead. Yan stood blankly over its blood-soaked corpse, staring at the group.  

“Kid! We got them all…”  

Even Valery, calling out to Yan, fell silent at the gruesome sight.  

The adult Yan had faced was unrecognizable, its body and head smashed against the rocks.  

“I glanced earlier, and he just stood there, grabbing and slamming anything that came at him,” Felix said cautiously, recounting Yan’s actions.  

Rita, learning of this, could only sigh.  

Oblivious to her complex emotions, Yan ran over with a bright smile.  

“Did it. Me.”  

‘I shouldn’t praise him… right?’  

Rita hesitated, unsure how to respond to his innocent expression.  

Just then, Alois shouted in alarm, “Mikael!”  

As heads turned, a child-sized lizard was crawling down a tree behind Mikael.  

Rita remained calm, knowing Mikael wasn’t one to fall to such a threat.  

Alois, having seen Mikael’s combat prowess, knew he wasn’t just a praying Saint, but the close distance startled him.  

In that instant, Yan shot forward like lightning, landing behind Mikael in a single leap.  

Grabbing the lizard’s tail with one hand, he flung it downward.  

Sercia’s group, still below finishing off stragglers, was caught off guard but quickly dispatched the beast.  

“…Yan?”  

Mikael, equally startled, couldn’t hide his joy at Yan’s sudden protective act, despite the beastly growls directed at him earlier.  

Yan, however, seemed the most confused.  

He looked between Mikael, Rita, and himself, tilting his head as if unsure why he’d acted.  

Rita swallowed a heavy sigh.  

‘In my past life, he was Mikael’s shadow. Could there be some special bond I don’t know about? Maybe his body reacted instinctively…’  

The thought made Rita uneasy, wondering if she’d disrupted a deep connection between Mikael and Yan.  

“That was incredible!”  

Sercia’s group, having finished below, climbed back up.  

Sercia, who had witnessed Yan’s feats from below, smiled broadly.  

“How do you move so fast? Thanks to you, Mikael’s unharmed! We’re stronger with you around.”  

Unlike the jubilant Sercia, Yan turned away with a sullen expression, as if telling her not to talk to him.  

His blunt dismissal set Valery off, ranting about Yan’s lack of manners, while Eugene fanned the flames.  

The hill erupted into a noisy commotion, and the group continued searching the area until evening.  

***

“The sun’s setting. We should prepare to camp,” Loen suggested, looking at the reddening sky.  

Having climbed multiple mountains to hunt stragglers, the group eagerly stopped to rest.  

“We’ve confirmed nothing’s nearby. Let’s camp here and fill our stomachs,” Valery decided after surveying the area.  

Eugene, exhausted and slouched, suddenly groaned.  

“Ugh, more tough jerky, cheese, and fruit? I want meat. Real meat.”  

Though muttering to himself, his half-open eye shot pleading looks at the group.  

Despite Valery’s glare for disregarding the Children of the Forest, Eugene kept chanting, “Meat, meat.”  

“Here’s your meat,” Valery said, clicking his tongue and tossing Eugene a piece of jerky.  

Eugene recoiled at the hard lump.  

“No! Not this! I mean juicy, tender, hot meat!”  

In frustration, Eugene flailed, looking skyward.  

A flock of birds caught his eye.  

“Birds! There are still birds? Hey, great mage, those aren’t beasts, right?”  

Eugene, grinning like a madman, turned to Rita.  

She glanced at the sky. The distance made it hard to tell, but no information appeared above the birds.  

Rita nodded, and Eugene’s purple eye gleamed.  

“Sis! Lend me your bow!”  

Eileen’s eyes narrowed at being called “sis.”  

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let my bow be used to take lives,” she replied.  

Eugene turned to Floria, but her response was icy.  

Desperate, he looked to the mages.  

“What about a magic arrow? Come on, brothers!”  

Rita, now demoted to “brother,” remained unimpressed.  

Meat was tempting, but they had enough dried rations. She saw no need to hunt.  

When even Rita refused, Eugene turned to Seth in despair.  

Seth glared back with contempt.  

“Aren’t you ashamed at your age? Especially with people here who don’t eat meat…”  

He gestured toward the Children of the Forest.  

Floria looked at Seth, surprised by his consideration, though deep down, she craved meat too.  

“We’re fine,” Eileen said generously. “We’ll step away for a scout and walk, so don’t mind us. But we can’t lend our bows, so figure it out.”  

Despite Eugene’s tactlessness, Eileen remained magnanimous.  

Sercia, too, reluctantly allowed the hunt.  

“Since Eileen and the princess approve, just this once. Don’t act childish next time,” Valery said sternly.  

Eugene scratched his cheek, grinning sheepishly, but as soon as Valery turned away, he rushed to the mages with a playful smirk.  

Seth, annoyed by Eugene’s clinginess, avoided him, watching the departing Children of the Forest uneasily.  

“…Is this really okay?”  

“It’s fine, brother!” Eugene shrugged.  

“The higher-ups might not know, but in camps with lots of grunts, they sneakily roast meat. You think beasts alone wiped out the local wildlife? Bet the soldiers had a hand in it.”  

“I’ve heard mercenaries eat beast meat,” Seth sneered.  

Eugene’s face twisted.  

“That stuff’ll kill you! Some idiot ate a lizard tail recently and went nuts. Tasted awful, they say. Idiots like that drag down the rest of us!”  

After ranting, Eugene suddenly grinned.  

“Anyway, brother, time to show your hunting skills. Let’s go!”  

Thus began an impromptu hunt.  

The unwilling mage trio fired arrows skyward for a while, managing to bring down six migratory birds.  

While Eileen and Floria scouted, Eugene happily prepared and cooked the birds.  

Thirty minutes later, each member held a piece of freshly roasted bird.  

The smell of meat made Rita swallow reflexively, but she wrapped her portion in clean cloth to save for Floria.  

“Rita? Not eating?”  

“No, I’m not in the mood.”  

“Great mage, if you’re not eating, give it to—”  

Seth kicked Eugene’s leg, cutting him off.  

Amid the chaotic scene, Rita noticed Yan devouring his portion as greedily as Eugene.