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The knights quickly sat around the bonfire, as I took out the wooden plates and began to serve everybody some stew. I made sure to at least put some meat and a potato in each person’s plate, and then gave it with herbal tea and a large piece of bread. The knights were so happy eating that some continued to cry. It seems that they owe me a lot. Perhaps I could use these people to get more connections with important people, or at least people of the high society. Knights tend to be from noble families, commoners often become soldiers, but the title of a knight has more prestige and the nobles won’t let just anybody have it.
“Ah, this stew is so good… T-The spices… It has been a long time since I ate something so comforting…”
“Sigh… I wish the general could be here… Sniff…”
“Eating this really comforts the heart…”
“Hahh… The tea really clears up my mind a bit.”
“It is painful to know we are the only survivors… But it is also… it fills me with joy to still be alive after what we went through.”
The knights began to talk about their experiences and thoughts, while Eleanora sat down at my side, almost sticking her body to mine. She said it was “because it was cold” but spirits usually are not affected by temperatures of the environment, so she was being clingy. Not like I mind.
“Hm…?! T-This stew is very nice…” Said Eleanora.
“What? You too? I just put basic ingredients in there.” I sighed. “Maybe the bones I added are special, they’re from the wild boar we got the other day. The jerky is gray wolf and Imp.”
“I-Imp?!” Asked one of the knights.
“Yes, demon meat can be eaten after being purified. Salt is capable of easily purifying demon meat so after that I dried it into jerky and eat it very so often, it is tasty.” I said. “Aren’t you happy? You’re eating the meat of these monsters that took down your friends, call it a revenge or something.”
“A-Ah… that’s right…”
“Damn demons…”
“We never thought they would be so strong and intelligent, the first week we spent it hunting them down so swiftly…”
“Oh yeah? Tell me more about your situation.” I said. The knights quickly began to open up a bit more. The comforting food, drinks, and the bread really opened their hearts to me, making it easy to know what they were thinking, and also what they just went through.
One of the knights named Lucas explained me most of what happened. They had been hunting demons since they arrived in the village, but recently they had gotten smarter and even used traps against them. Their general died in a pitfall trap, and after that, the Oni leading the Imps chased them down into the depths of the forest. They ran for hours and ultimately ended being cornered by over twenty imps. What surprised me the most was that they are already taming monsters.
Perhaps the monsters disappeared not just because they ate them, but they’re probably also taming them and trying to use them as mounts. An Imp and a Gray Wolf separately are not the big deal, but when they worked together like now, not even the knights could easily take them down. Especially because the Imps covered their weapons with their blood, which is poisonous to humans in most cases.
Demon meat carries their blood, if it’s not purified, the demon meat cannot be eaten or… well, it’s going to intoxicate the person that digest it and may kill them.
Anyways, that’s not really the topic now. The knights explained to me that they were chased down and weakened, forced to use every bit of their mana, and had their spirits slain one by one, even if they’re nobles and have great talents and spirits, they’re still Rank 1 anyways… their general was supposedly peak Rank 1, but still not Rank 2 yet.
Are those at Rank 2 and above really that rare? Hm, well, whatever’s the case, the knights were all nobles just as I imagined, and all those that died were also nobles. Their families are going to get quite sad after learning about the death of their young knights.
“We owe you our lives…” Said Lucas. He was a man on his 15 or 16, quite young for being a knight in active duty I would say, he needed a lot of experience and practice to become truly strong. He looked rather plain-looking to be a noble, unlike the beautiful Erika that immediately shows her ties to nobility. Her father had crafted her body identical to her original body. Lucas had short brown hair, almost red, and brown eyes. He said he was part of a merchant family that owned a series of small to mid-sized stores in the duchy where they sold all sorts of varied products.
“I should had never been a knight.” He sighed. “I should had listened to my father… I really don’t have the knack for being in the frontlines… I thought it was easy but this was… it was… so horrendous…”
“Hm, it is natural to feel that way. But you were doing alright killing normal Imps and other monsters, right? It is not that you’re weak, you simply lack experience, you’re young. If you survive and keep getting stronger, you’ll be able to become better at what you do.” I said. “But certainly, keeping yourself inside a store is safer… But I would say you’re quite admirable, walking outside of your family tradition and deciding to serve your nation with your strength… That’s not something others in your position would do.”
I obviously praised him to cheer him up and get on his good side. Eleanora was making weird faces as she saw me praising this young knight, but where there are chances, I don’t shy away from acting according to the situation.
“T-Thank you, you’re very modest… you’re the amazing one here, for having done everything here… You’re truly an incredible hunter, and so young as well…! I owe you my life… If you ever need anything, I’ll help you out!” Said Lucas, the other knights agreed.
It seems things went well. After eating the stew, we quickly moved back to the village, picking the corpses that Fenrir detected using his sharp sense of smell.
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