We kept on traveling, and it had been a grueling past few days, having to fight monsters constantly, and all the walking. But that was fine, I was in a better mood than previously. That being because of our newly acquired equipment. And the food, I didn't have to hunt food and stress over it! I did grab, or rather loot, a lot of them that would last me several days.

I had no idea what monsters these meats came from, but those cave guys had been eating these things, so it should be completely alright. And when I tried them, they really were. I used the frying pan and cooked the meat first, of course. I was so proud that I could finally cook something properly. True that I had no seasonings or anything, but this was significantly better than before. Having a pan made all the difference. Gotta love the simple things, you know.

Anyway, the food was okay. Not too bad. Pretty edible.

And my sleep was way better too! Finally, I didn't have to suffer the sheer freezing temperature of sleeping in the open. I had sheets to cover myself, and a makeshift tent as shelter during the night. It was so comfortable sleeping now. This made looting those guys all the more worth it.

I also offered some sheets to Nira, but she rejected them. She was on guard duty anyway, and the cold never bothered her anyway. Hehe. Well, because of the perpetual pain, you would tend to ignore all other sensations.

With better rest, I finally felt a bit better! Nothing much, but it was an improvement and good progress.

There were still monsters that we frequently encountered, but I let Nira take care of them if they weren't too much. I avoided using magic as much as possible. And so far, we haven't been driven to a pretty bad situation just yet.

We were getting close to the edge of this mountainous and deadly region. And as we were closing in, I could notice the lessening strength of the monsters. Thank goodness. I couldn't wait to get out of this place. However, not like I could move out faster than I was. I still had to move gently, I still easily got tired. If I wasn't so slow, we might have left this place a couple of days ago, but alas.

And now, it was in the afternoon when we finally reached the end of the mountain range. I was certain, from the map in my mind, and the distance we traversed, and the direction, that we were definitely out.

I took a deep breath. "... We're finally out, Nira."

"Really?" She let out a long, relieved sigh. I mean, even she would get tired of always facing powerful monsters. Even an immortal struggle. Still, she had to bear in mind that we were still in a monster infested land. Our difficulty just got lower.

We continued on some more, descending into a flatter land. And just before sunset, we started setting up camp. I was just going to sleep like a baby, finally relieved that we were out of that misbegotten region. The monsters that we would face here should be ones that Nira could handle. Unless we get unlucky, of course, but let's hope not. I tend to be lucky, you know — okay, maybe not, but not bad to be optimistic sometimes.

I set up my tent using the nearby wooden sticks. Thankfully, there was some wood. There were a couple of occasions that I didn't get to set up the tents because there was nothing that can be used as supports. Good thing there were still the sheets that made things comfortable for me.

As I set up my tent, Nira went and collected some wood for us to burn for cooking. Once I was done with the tent, I sat down for a while to rest.

"So, Nira, what do you think of our adventure so far?"

"Eh? What do I think?" She was quite caught off guard by my question.

Well, I just wanted to start a casual conversation, and she seemed to always be surprised whenever I did. Not like she had never had a casual conversation with the crew. But then again, now it was just the two of us. So it may be a bit awkward or she was more shy. She should be more open with me, you know. It won't do to be so rigid all the time.

"Yes."

"Um, well, it was interesting. But…"

"But…?"

"But the monsters are annoying."

I chuckled with an amused smile. "I feel the same. They are quite annoying."

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"... And I do miss the others."

Oh wow, kinda surprised she admitted that. "Is that so?" It would seem she had grown quite fond of the crew.

"It would have been more fun if they were with us."

Fun, huh? I guess so.

"Still, it was nice to finally travel with someone," she said as she lowered her head with a small smile.

I supposed she had been alone ever since she ran away from her home. Being alone, being lonely, would not be easy for a kid.

"Well, I'm also glad to have you with me, Nira."

She nodded, blushing ever so slightly.

I lit up the firewood with fire magic and placed the pan on top between some stones. We waited for the pan to heat up before Nira handed me some meat. I put the meat on the pan, and the meat sizzled, steam and its odor spread in the air. We started eating once the meat was cooked. Nira didn't need to eat, but still, she enjoyed eating. I wondered if Nira even tasted or ate something really good. Like palace level goodness. Hm, thinking about it, she might not have.

After eating, night came. I shut off the fire and laid down on my tent. While Nira went on to guard.

I fell asleep for some time when the fully covered Nira suddenly woke me up.

"Goddess."

I slowly rose from my bed. "What?"

"I saw lights from afar."

"Lights?"

"Yes, must be torches. And they're not exactly heading this way, but they might come nearby."

"Huh. People then." If there were people, then it could mean trouble. How annoying, for them to interrupt my sleep. But I had to check it out, just in case. I left the tent. Considering that there was no time, I decided to let things be and return to them later.

"Let's investigate and see if we can leave them be."

Amidst the cloak of darkness, we ran in the direction of the lights, with Nira leading the way. It was still a fair distance away, and it was a bit hard to see right now, given that the clouds had covered the moon. Still, I could manage. And the coat of darkness was always better for me.

Eventually, the lights were finally on sight, and we kept our distance, crouching down low as we observed. There were people running. There were two people ahead, one had a sword on fire that lit up their way. From what I could see, they were female humans.

In addition, behind them, there seemed to be people chasing after them. And they looked to be a dangerous bunch.

"Just give up already, little princess!"

I heard one of the pursuers shout, his voice echoing faintly from the distance.

"You aren't escaping anymore!"

Little princess…?

Wow, if that was factual, then one of those two women must be very important. And those seven pursuers wanted to kill them. Poor women, getting chased and about to get killed. Now I was a bit curious about what was happening.

Still, not really our place to intervene. But then again, their direction shifted, and now they were heading towards my camp. Fuck, we left our things there. That aside, considering that one of those girls was someone important, perhaps I could curry some favor. Besides, it would be interesting to meet with a fellow princess. However, I had to be careful about this.

At any rate, I wouldn't want them stumbling on my camp.

But the most important question here was… Who were the bad guys? Judging from the looks of it, the bad ones were the pursuers. I mean, since when was it ever the good guys that chased two girls in the middle of the night? Okay, there may be times for that, but those pursuers didn't give the impression of good people, you know. Yes, we judge a book by its cover.

"What should we do, goddess?"

I glanced at Nira for a moment before deciding to give her a little test. "... Hm. Who do you think the bad guys are, Nira?"

"... Um… The ones chasing those two?"

"Indeed, they do give that impression."

"... Do we hunt bad guys?"

I slightly tilted my head. "Eh, not really. It's more like what's more beneficial for us, and who is more reasonable. But yeah, try not to go along with crazy people. It's much more troublesome. And bad guys are sometimes bad news."

"So…? Will it be more beneficial if we help either?"

"Good people are normally more reasonable. And from the looks of it, those two girls are important."

There were times that taking the side of the bad guys would be more beneficial. Like if the bad guy had a lot of connection and quite professional, where they don't fuck with you. That's the kind of bad guy we can get along with. But those with no integrity, they'd only be good for one time transaction. Afterward, they might become a pain in the ass. Try talking to a drug addict in a transaction, you'd never know when they go wild for some trivial reason.

"So we help those two?"

"What do you think? Will it be beneficial?"

"I guess…? We don't really know."

"Yes, we don't really know. They could be beneficial for us more than the other. But, if they turn out to be trouble, we can just kill them, don't you agree?"

Nira vigorously nodded. Aaaaw, look at my adorable, murderous sociopathic kid. Just kidding! She's not that. She was just a good student. So she was no sociopath or anything. Just a normal kid. But, it's true though, we could just kill them if they turned out to be annoying or problematic.

"Besides," I continued. "They turned in the direction of our camp. Wouldn't want them ruining our things."

"Yes."

"Let me handle the enemy."

"Huh? Are you sure? You're not in a good condition, goddess." She looked at me with intense worry.

"With this environment against humans, I believe I can do fine."

"R-Really?"

"If things go right, I'll show you how I fight. So, observe Nira. But if things go wrong, I'll call for aid."

"Yes, goddess."

"Alright then." I rose up and stretched my joints. "Let's see how I'll hold up."

This was a good chance to test my current prowess. I was severely weakened, and I was uncertain of how much danger I could handle, especially in defeating humans. This was the time to figure it out. If I do well, good for me, I could still have the confidence. But if I fail, now that would just be miserable, and would only make things more dangerous for me if I couldn't handle a bunch of nobodies.

I took a deep breath.

Time to lock in.

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