Chapter 85

Once again I and Mea were hunting in the forest .

We have things we want to buy and make in the city, but we need money for everything we do .

Besides, at this pace, Ill be able to pay off my debt to Mea in no time .

Its best to get these things done as soon as possible .

You cant just get away with it and drag it along on the sly .

Haaa Haaa

A-Abel, arent you pushing yourself too much? Lets take a break, break . Meas starting to feel a little thirsty too

N-, no, I have to push myself to get stronger

I push away my giggling knees with energy and move forward .

Im also very much aware of my weaknesses, and sometimes when Im in the mood for something like this, Im trying to train my body properly by torturing it . About three days a month .

Today was the day I got in the mood for it .

I feel like Im gaining muscle with every step I take .

A-Abel? please take it easy, okay? If you think you cant anymore, please tell Mea, okay?

Just this much

An intense pain run through, as if something had snapped in my calf, sent me crashing to the ground .

Ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch!

The pain is unbelievably intense .

Liquid gushes out of me as the back of my eyes gets squeezed .

No! Abel!! Wha-wha-, whats going on!!

Mea shouts as she sees me suddenly collapse .

Ouch! Hurts! It hurts! A magic beast! Its a magical beasts attack! No, this peculiar attack, maybe its a demon!

I knew it was strange .

Following the unicorns magic beast disaster monster panic, the mutant species, Head-Eating Black-Fiend appeared .

No matter how hard it is to read the living organism of a magical beast, this is not the kind of abnormal situation that continues .

We thought that there might be some factor that was driving the magic field crazy, but a demon had taken up residence and this It makes sense if you consider that theyre trying to turn part of the forest into a dungeon .

Youre a pretty high ranking demon if I didnt feel uncomfortable even when were approached! Leave me and run! Hes going to take your legs!

N-No! I can never do that!

Idiot! Theyll kill you!

Mea would rather die than abandon Abel!

Mea broke down crying and bent over on the spot .

Then she held my head in her arms and cried out .

After the two of us ranting and screaming down, about five minutes later, it wasnt a magical beast, a demon, or anything else . It was discovered that it was just a cramp in the leg .

Maybe whats really scary isnt disasters or demons, but something deep inside us humans .

I saw myself to the brink of death, but I managed to get out of it by having Mea bend my toes .

The leg cramps would go away if I bent my toes with my feet stretched tensely .

Thank God I had memories of my previous life . It saved my life .

Is Abel more afraid of hanging his feet than a demon?

I think I might be rather serious about that .

I said in a rough voice .

If it was a demon, it would die if I shot magic into it .

Since a physical failure occurs suddenly without a magical sign, depending on the object, there are many cases where the failure is delayed as in this case .

You can probably use magic to alleviate it, but if the physical condition breaks down, its possible that it wont work .

Mea too is really scared to death, you know . Lets take it easy from here on out . Why was Abel so excited about today? Say it, say it .

Mea says as she wiggles around my toes .

Its a place thats rarely touched by people, and its ticklish so I want you to leg it go sometime now .

Hey, please dont touch the soles of my feet, Mea-san .

No somehow, arent my muscles now amazing? Its like Ive finally grown up fast, or maybe all my hard work has paid off

I lifted my head and indicated with my fingers around my own bulging shins .

What? D-, does this mean, um, that its okay to touch it? Can I touch it?

are you having some kind of impure thoughts?

Mea touched my leg with her hand .

Then she nodded his head as if she was convinced .

Um its hard to say, but this, I think its just swollen

After a brief rest, we decided to start again .

Originally I had left food and other things with Mea and my luggage was quite small, but that too Mea carried without me asking . Im honestly grateful .

Are you sure you dont want to turn back? Weve got more money to spare, and theres no need to be in such a hurry

Theres a lot of things I want to do and stuff and I want to pay off my debt early

Meas mothers precious metal items tentative price, one million gold .

Thats the amount that the owner of Chimeras Tail had appraised me for when she agreed to barter for it, but Its doubtful that it was really a million gold .

Its also possible that she was blown up in a big way to get an advantage in negotiations, and now that I think about it, I dont even think that owner itself was that discerning .

She contributed to the Ortem by giving out all of her sources of livelihood funding, even though she was in a difficult situation herself . It couldnt be without interest, could it?

To be honest, I have no idea how much I should be paying back .

I want to hit myself rather hard at that time .

Without that, I couldnt have been able to neutralize Ebelheids hypnotic magic, the black fog, so It might have been a good result

If it wasnt for the World Tree Ortem, I would have had to respond with just force .

I would have blown away the black fog with his wide-range wind magic full force . If I had done so, the passage would probably have collapsed and someone would have been seriously injured .

Ebelheid would not have survived first .

Why does Abel want to clear the debts in such a hurry? Mea always says its fine

As expected, Im not so shameless to be calm while having debts

By-, by any chance, because Mea is useless so you want to leave her immediately? Is that how it is? Me-, Mea will do her best to master both the demolition and the bow! So, therefore, please dont throw her away

She squeezes my sleeve and looks into my face uneasily .

Her lips are quivering in a rut .

C-, calm down . No one said that, okay?

Apparently there is a trauma switch .

I only know a brief history of the Doom tribe in the past, but I wonder if Meas homeland is that terrible of a place .

Im hesitant to ask her about it from her own mouth .

Would James, who had actually visited the Doom village and brought Mea out, know about it?