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My partner looks around the cave . The girls who are being sacrificed are split into two groups: those who are staring at her with looks of incomprehension, and those who are sitting in languid uninterest… It doesn’t look like they’re happy to see us . Far from it, in fact .

“Keho keho”

While I’m wondering what to do, the girl in front starts coughing . Based on how she was speaking with my partner earlier, she seems fairly mature . The girls around her look at her in concern, but none of them call out . They might not have the energy to .

It seems there’s at least some food for them in the cave . Dried meats and shrivelled vegetables wrapped in dirty cloth are piled in the back, flies gathering around them .

There are five barrels of water lined up, but no cups in sight . They must all be scooping the water out with their hands . Their hygiene condition isn’t good at all .

To wash their bodies, all they can do is scoop the water over themselves . There’s no way that’s something they can do readily . Plus, they’re all living together in such a cramped space . It wouldn’t be strange if some disease were to spread .

…Is there nothing we can do,? They’re a small tribe after all, so it would have to be like this . Rather, it seems like this would be strengthening their disease resistance . I just wish I could summon the ball rabbit and have it use [Clean] until it would run out of MP .

It’s unfortunate, but I don’t have the time to be worrying about their living conditions . I need to be thinking about how to get away .

If we undo the humanisation here, the guard outside would hear the panic for sure . If we want to make sure we aren’t seen when we undo it, we need to leave soon while we still have MP .

“…I’ll go tonight . My body won’t last much longer . ”

A voice interrupts my thinking, and my partner looks towards the speaker . It’s the girl who was coughing earlier . She’s speaking soothingly to the girls around her, a bitter smile on her face .

From what she said, it seems that at night, a single person is taken to the manticore… Night, huh . I haven’t got nearly enough MP .

Should we fall back for now, then try and locate the manticore before humanising to get it to lower its guard?

However, I’m worried about our lack of information . We won’t be able to pretend to be a sacrifice again, and if we try to drive it into a corner, it’ll just get away again . I’m still not very familiar with the area, so I’d probably fall behind it in a chase, and there’s still too much that I don’t know about this village . However, I should be able to get the manticore to pull away from this village for now .

…Hey partner, I’d like for us to do some light information gathering before leaving and searching for the manticore . Is that okay?

『What should I ask?』

What’s most important is…the manticore’s whereabouts, as well as the relation between this village and the other . If we can learn that, we should be able to limit the damage .

There are other things I’m curious about, but there’s no need to ask about them now . I can always ask the dragon-god’s miko, Hibi, later .

『Got it~, leave it to me』

Seeing how nervous you were talking to Yarg earlier, that’s reassuring to hear . If you start struggling, then just the manticore’s approximate location is fine, okay?

『I-I was just a little bit off-beat, that’s all . 』

I-I see . That’s fine then .

Still tied up, she skilfully rises to her feet and approaches the children .

She looks at each of the children in turn, then fixes her gaze on the girl in front who was talking earlier . Certainly, this girl looks like the best to hear from . She seems sensible, and she seems like the eldest here .

“Hey, I heard earlier, but what is this place? Are you humans locked in here as food for a monster?”

My partner speaks surprisingly smoothly . You can talk easily with children then…

The girl raises her head .

“Th, this, this is… Keho keho!”

“Ah? This is?”

“Keho keho! I-it hurts… W-water…water…let me drink…”

Holding her throat, she reaches for a barrel . Another girl staggers to her feet and scoops water between her hands, bringing it the first girl .

“Cheh, how annoying . [High Rest] . ”

My partner chants, and the girl is enveloped in light .

“Keho… Hmm? I-it doesn’t hurt as much?”

The underlying illness might not have been cured, but the return of her strength will have alleviated her symptoms .

Confused, the other children surround her, touching her body in amazement . She blinks, then fixes her gaze at my partner .

『With this, she should be able to talk easier . 』

My partner proudly transmits her thoughts… Our MP situation has become a little dire . No, compared to Humanisation Technique, High Rest’s cost should be tiny . One shot should be fine… Though our dwindling MP has been reduced even more

“A-amazing”

“Onee-san, are you a white mage?”

“Th-this girl’s eyelid swelling, can you also cure it!?”

The children shuffle over towards us .

This really isn’t a nice environment . It’s hard for them to see their feet, and there are pointy rocks all over the place . Germs will get in since it’s unclean, and there’s no chance for them to dress the wounds .

…That’s why, there’s no way we have enough MP spare to heal them all . We’re already running low from humanising as it is .

I feel bad for them, but here we should…

“Th-there’s no helping it then . You lot, line up for me . ”

My partner says that, and one of the girls takes the hand of another, pulling her forwards . That girl’s eyes are shut closed, her gait unsteady . She must be the girl with swollen eyelids that was mentioned earlier .

P-partner-san, did you hear what I said just now!? You’re just enjoying being fawned over by the kids, oi! Time is running out!

If we undo the humanisation this close to the village, there’s no telling what would happen . If we’re unlucky, the relationship between the villages could get even worse…

“[High Rest] . ”

She chants, and the swelling in the girl’s eyelid dies down . Various other swellings and scratches on her heal too .

The surrounding children cry out in joy . The girl feels at her eyelids with her hand, then opens her eyes .

“A-amazing… My eye – I can see . And I was really cold before, but now I’m warm…”

…That’s great and all, but partner-san?

“Hey, hurry up, next in line . It’s only until I change my mind, okay?”

The children descend on her . She treats each of them in turn .

“Th-thank you very much, onee-san!”

“This much is no biggie . ”

“Umm, umm, what might your name be!?”

“I have no name worth giving . ”

Within a few minutes, she’s assembled a harem . The dark atmosphere inside the cave is dispelled, becoming lively .

…That’s fine, but I’m not happy about this! Time! We’re out of time! What are you doing, acting all cool for?! You’ve got a massive smile on your face! I can tell, you know!

『As long as we leave soon, it’ll be fine, right? Even if we listen to what they have to say now, we should have plenty of time left over . 』

…I want to get away from this village so they can’t see, though .

『We’ll be fine . I just need to jump out, knock down the guard, and run away, right? We’ve got plenty of time . 』

Th-this dragon-brain… There’s no guarantee they won’t come chasing after us; we have no idea what the common sense of this area is . If you drain our MP without thinking like that, then if something unexpected comes up, we won’t…

『If I quickly get the questioning over with and quickly run away, you won’t have any complaints, right? I’ve gotten their trust . 』

…I-I have to wonder if giving up on the questioning and running away would be better now .

『I’ll get it over with quickly, so don’t worry . 』

…W-well, it’s true that with this, the questioning should go smoothly .

“Umm, the rope, I’ll untie it!”

One of the girls moves around to behind us and touches the rope . Following her, some of the other kids also circle behind .

“…S-stiff . ”

“This rope’s for tying down big monsters…”

“H-horrible! This is horrible!”

“I can take it off myself, so there’s no need . Grrr…raah!!

Twisting her body, she bites at the rope with sharp teeth . Straining with all her might, she then weakens the rope to the point that she can shave at it with a nail . Once enough has been shaved away, she stretches her arms out mightily . The rope tears apart and falls to the ground .

“Yeah, with this body, I can’t put that much power into it . ”

Stepping on the remains of the rope, she cracks her neck .

“…A-amazing . ”

“That rope can even hold down a grafant, onee-san, who exactly…”

The girls chatter happily .

…It seems like things go better for you . Whenever I’ve interacted with people, there’s always been some sort of complication . No, I suppose it went well with those Lithovars earlier, too .

“Th-that’s nothing worth clamouring over, you know . So noisy . ”

…Oi, you’re panting a bit .