Chương 21: Lying is Bad

I exhaled. That is why I hate speedy melee types, the human brain complained. [You almost depleted our HP.] Isn't that your fault for attaching that creature to the skill?! I pointed at the otter while the human brain was still in command of our body. The otter, which was still present and sitting at the base of the tree below me, looked up. [You are the one who used the skill.] Why you… and why lock the fire skills?! [You are not granted permission to use them.] I thought you granted me permission?

the human brain asked. Body yes, fire no. I took over and closed the subject. Earlier, which was approximately four minutes ago, the otter had hit Jett's foot with its rock. This had been the otter's own initiative. The skill had been used, we won the fight, and the otter had apparently surveyed the remaining situation and made an independent assessment. The assessment had concluded that Jett's foot was a reasonable secondary target.

"Why is this creature attacking me?!" Jett shouted but had not hit the otter back. He had glared at me instead. This was a deliberate choice. The otter was present. The otter was accessible. The otter had clearly been the origin of the rock that had connected with his foot. And yet Jett had looked at the otter, then looked at me, and made the conclusion that I was the appropriate target for his response. He had kicked off the ground.

He crossed the distance between us in less than a second, which was enough time for me to register that the distance was being crossed and not enough time to do anything useful about it. He landed on the same branch with me — and stopped.

"Jett, we're leaving you behind and taking your share." Someone had called him. Jett clicked his tongue and jumped off. He was that fast even while limping… I watched him go. He immediately straightened his stance the moment he reached his companions. Then he started shouting about something. Kardan didn't say much back. The two of them kept moving forward, with Flare at the front. She didn't look back. She kept on walking, while adjusting her hat.

I jumped off the branch. The landing was clean. My Climbing Mastery skill had improved both my relationship with trees and my ability to get off them. I straightened, adjusted my rock, and looked around. The otter was still looking at me. Then I remembered the frogs. Will the otter become annoying like the frogs? I put my hand on the rock. [No. Otter Rock Smash was not made with annoyance in mind.] I see… I lowered my hand and kept looking around. I had a feeling I was missing something.

I didn't know what it was, but I kept looking, hoping that the flatness of the place would help. I even used Hawk Eye while I was at it. Then I saw him. Norman. He was looking at me. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my rainbow-generating beetle. I held it out. Not the rock. The rock was too precious to be offered. What mattered was the thought. Norman looked at it for a long moment. Then he took it. He didn't eat it. He just held it in his palm.

"It's just green now, but when the sun is up, it will turn into a rainbow." I taught him how to use it. I hoped it would cheer him up. The fields stood still around us in the flat evening light, patient and unhurried.

The sun had already risen when Norman and I came back to the village, but the villagers were waiting for us on the plain. All of them. Lunak approached us.

"How did it go?" This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"It's done." Norman's voice was even.

"The bandits won't be disturbing you anymore." Lunak looked at his face for a moment. Then he reached out and patted Norman's shoulder.

"You're a kind man." He held out his hand.

"Give me the quest paper. I'll sign it as completed." Norman handed it over. Lunak signed it and returned it.

"What do you say about joining us for a feast?" Norman looked at the assembled villagers. He looked at the fields, flat and patient in the morning light. He opened his mouth. My stomach answered. It was a comprehensive answer. It left no room for interpretation or follow-up questions.

"Then it's settled." Lunak turned and started walking, and the villagers parted around him and then closed in behind Norman and me. I fell into step beside Norman. I considered him. The downward quality of his expression. The way he was looking at the road rather than at the people around him. I thought about what to say. The human brain offered several options. They were all too long. Some entered novel territory. [Just say what comes to mind.] I nodded internally. The meeting was adjourned.

"You'll feel better once you've eaten. I'm sure of it." Norman looked at me. He made a small smile, then looked back at the road.

"Yeah. Probably." The village received us, and the smell of something cooking arrived before we were through the gate. My stomach, which had already made its position clear this morning, made it clear again. Long tables had been dragged out into the open, mismatched and slightly uneven on the packed earth, but covered end to end with whatever the village had managed to put together. Bread. Roasted vegetables. A large pot of something that steamed in the cool morning air.

They weren't bugs, but I didn't mind eating them at all. Lunak raised one hand, and the crowd settled. His other hand found Riri's head. She had been tugging at his sleeve, saying, "Hurry, hurry." He laughed.

"Just wait a bit, Riri." He cleared his throat with a small cough into his fist.

"Sorry if the meal isn't as grand as we'd like. But since we don't have to offer up our crops to anyone this season, there's enough for everyone." The village cheered, loud and a little ragged. Then he added, "Also, I'd like you all to thank our heroes. Please, give them a round of applause." They clapped, heads turning this way and that, looking for the heroes in question. I didn't know who they were looking for, so I sat down and started filling my plate.

"We're here," Norman said beside me. The villagers turned toward his voice, and then, all at once, started laughing.

"I didn't even notice you'd moved over there." One of them clapped Norman on the back, still chuckling.

"You look like a squirrel, big sis." Riri poked my cheek. I looked at her and gulped.

"Squirrels are mammals. I'm an amphibian. That's an even more inaccurate comparison than lizards." Riri laughed.

"What are you even talking about?" The other villagers had started filling their own plates around us.

"Riri, the food's going to disappear if you don't start filling yours," Lunak said.

"Leave some for me!" Riri shot upright and threw herself into her own battle.

"Later, big sis!" I nodded, even though she was no longer facing me. I decided this counted as good practice, and put an orange-colored vegetable in my mouth. It was slightly sweet. Definitely delicious. Norman started filling his own plate as well.

"Ruina, don't tell Eris about what happened."

"About what?" I also took from the plate he was taking from since it looked delicious. It was green and long. I put it in my mouth. Still delicious but I liked the orange one more.

"About the bandits."

"What if she asked?"

"Just tell her we picked potatoes." I flicked Norman's forehead.

"Lying is bad." Norman rubbed his forehead.

"Sorry." I nodded. Then I noticed the sun was climbing higher, which meant I was slowly becoming undamp again. I looked at the well. I remembered being restrained the last time I'd gone near it. I sighed as I hung my head. Then a hand landed on my shoulder.

"Want to take a dip?" I straightened and turned to face him — both of them, actually — the same two men from before, spears in hand, both grinning.

"Can I?"

"Go ahead. I think the others will agree." One of them looked at Lunak.

"Right, old man?" Lunak nodded in our direction with a smile.

"Of course. Feel free to use the well." I stood up, ran toward the well — and jumped.

"What are you doing?!" they shouted behind me. But it was too late. They'd given me permission to dive, and I had no intention of letting them take it back now. My descent took a little longer than I expected, but that hardly mattered as long as I hit water. The water caught me. Cool water. I stayed under until my human lungs started filing their usual complaints, and only then rose to the surface. I took a slow breath.

"Haa… finally damp again." I looked up. Far above, the bucket was being lowered slowly toward me. Someone was riding it down. I squinted and used Hawk Eye. It was Norman. When he got close enough, he let go and dropped beside me.

"What are you doing?" he asked, already tying a rope around my waist without waiting for an answer, or my permission. He looked up, cupped his free hand around his mouth, and shouted, "Pull!" Then he wrapped both arms around me. It was warm, but Eris had told me I was only allowed to hold hands with her now. I made sure to keep my hands away from him, arms pinned stiffly at my sides, even as he held on. I felt myself being lifted, the water dropping away below me, until we broke the surface together. I pouted.

"They told me I could dive."

"Not in a literal sense!" The villagers laughed again around us. Then the beetle emerged from Norman's pocket, presumably unhappy about being dunked underwater. It took off, shell catching the sun as it went, colors shifting across its back in a slow rainbow. Norman smiled, watching it go. We made our way back to the table and kept eating. Then Norman set down his bowl.

"Do you mind if I ramble a bit?" I nodded.

"I don't mind, as long as I can still eat."

"Sure. It's mostly just me thinking out loud, anyway."