It was rather bright for a night so late…
The sky was filled with a large moon and numerous planets floating so close it felt like you could almost touch them.
According to what Lily had told me, Dreamland wasn’t the round planet I was familiar with.
Dreamland had a vast flat surface, and it was said that if you sailed across the sea, you’d eventually reach the end.
And going beyond the end of the sea, you could supposedly reach the planets floating in the sky…
It was a hard tale to believe, but then again, it was equally absurd that this cute cat yawning in my arms was actually an outsider.
The students who had seen Luke’s fire had all gathered in one place and settled into a camp according to my suggestion. Among them…
“Arthur!!”
“Hey, Reeti. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fine. How about you… can you stop worrying now?”
“Yeah, Lily kept me safe.”
“Cat, thank you~ for keeping our Arthur safe.”
– …Our Arthur..?
-Lily? I can see your eyes shining!
-Urgh… calling Arthur that, how dare you?!
I barely managed to stop Lily from shooting a beam at Reeti.
To accommodate all the students, we did some logging and gathering, but with dozens of mages working together, the task was completed in no time.
On the cleared field, wooden temporary structures were erected, and as night fell, most of the students went inside to sleep.
And a few students volunteered for watch duty, patrolling the area.
-It’s not necessarily needed though.
-They’re probably uneasy. I haven’t fully explained my plan to them yet.
-Tch. Humans are overly suspicious. If someone else said it, you’d just listen peacefully.
There was no denying the truth in those words.
“Arthur!”
At this point, I could recognize who it was just by the booming voice.
Turning around, I saw red hair glowing bright under the moonlight.
“What’s up, Luke?”
“The students are uneasy. Especially the group that had casualties. Is your plan still far off?”
“Not too long now.”
“Hmm… Even though you’re smart enough to handle it on your own… Honestly, I’m uneasy too. To make a deal with creatures of the rift? Is that even possible?”
The safest way to protect this camp was through a deal with the indigenous people of Dreamland.
“Don’t worry. I don’t have any suicidal tendencies.”
“I know that, but…”
-They’re here!
At Lily’s cry, I gave Luke a gesture to quiet down.
“Go back to the camp, Luke. I’ll take care of this.”
“…Be careful, Arthur.”
“Got it.”
As Luke moved away, I took a few steps further, turning away from the camp. Leaning on the faint light spilling out from the camp, I stopped exactly at the boundary between light and darkness.
-Are you sure they’re there?
-Yep. They’re watching me from the dark.
-Erect the barrier, please.
Behind me unfurled Lily’s shield. This barrier wasn’t for physical protection but a veil to conceal our current form.
Straightening my neck, I slowly opened my mouth.
“Are you listening?”
“…….”
“I have a proposal.”
…
“Deal…?”
…
“Yeah. A deal.”
“….Wh…a…t…?”
“For my side to give you corpses of ghouls, in exchange for your side’s protection of this camp.”
At that moment, it got noisy in the dark.
“Cor…pse…?”
“G…h…ou…l..?”
“Pre…y… qu…an…ti…ty..?”
“Meat!”
The noise settled, and another voice emerged.
“C..orp..se …of… g..ho..ul… e..xist..s?”
“Yeah. An entirely preserved ghoul corpse, dead not too long ago.”
A rustling sound came from the dark.
Show…us…”
Lily, give the signal.
In mid-air, the ghoul’s corpse dropped.
“…Con..di…ti…on… sa…tis…fa…c…tor…y?”
“It died from being burned.”
“Fi..re!”
The darkness beyond became restless again.
They hated the brightness, like the ghouls. Naturally, they also considered fire dangerous.
“Fi…re…can…h…arm…”
“Don’t you always eat raw meat?”
“…U…h?”
“Meat, well, tastes much better when roasted with fire. Would you like to try?”
I approached the ghoul’s corpse. Lily used magic to sever a small chunk, which I threw into the darkness.
A sound of crunching followed.
“De…li…c…ious…?”
“Fi…e..r…meat…ba..d…taste..?”
“…De..li..c…iu..s!”
“…M…o..re!”
I could not suppress a satisfied smile.
‘Hm, as expected. Roasted meat would be a revelation to these people who avoid fire and always eat raw meat.’
“Mor..e…mea…t…!”
“If you want more, accept the deal. Then I’ll give it all to you.”
It caused another uproar.
A long while of grumbling about whether or not to accept my deal went on, then…
“….Human.”
A voice clearer than the others sounded.
“…Why sh..ou..ld we ac…cep…t thi…s deal..? K..i…ll al..l hu…man…s and ta…ke the…mea…t, that’s all…”
“Try, if you can.”
“Gr..roo..ooarrr…”
My provocation quickly elicited an aggressive growl.
“But if you fight us, your side won’t come out unscathed either?”
“….H…u..man…weak…”
“Is that so? Didn’t you see us hunt the ghouls?”
“….”
“We’re not ordinary humans. We’re wizards who can use magic. No matter how strong you are, can you withstand a fireball that burns down forests and still survive?”
“…Ma.g.ic…dan.ge.ro.us…”
“Yeah. Magic is dangerous. If you all attack, it’ll just be losses for everyone. Wouldn’t it be more advantageous to accept the deal and obtain the ghoul meat?”
A brief silence followed.
…Will these people accept the deal?
-Don’t worry. Ghouls may be dumb, but they also know how to weigh the benefits.
As if confirming Lily’s words, a response came from the darkness.
“Deal…a…ccep.t…meat…giv…e…”
When some movement was detected from within the dark but was halted by the barrier.
“…W…h…at…?”
“Words aren’t enough. Swear in the name of the god you worship. Then I’ll trust you.”
“…..How…do…you…know a..bo…ut…our god…?”
“I know plenty of things, that’s why. Are you doing it or not?”
“….You…swear too…in the name…of your…god…”
“Fine.”
Then we both cried out simultaneously.
“….In the name of…the great Nurgle…we shall not…break this deal with humans…”
“In the name of…Queen of the Night, Lilys…this deal with ghouls…shall hold true…”
The deal was done.
The barrier disappeared, and then under the moonlight, a black figure stepped forward.
Ghoul. Also known as Kithain, these beings live underground in Dreamland. As the name Kithain suggests, they have monstrous dog heads on human bodies. Surprisingly, they’re intelligent beings despite their grotesque appearance.
They build nations and fortresses among themselves, highly intelligent, but the most impressive thing is the startling combat strength from their hunched bodies. With physical abilities far surpassing humans, even with our magic defenses, we’d have suffered heavy losses against them.
-Good that we didn’t have to fight. Surely ghouls won’t break their promise, right?
-Don’t worry. Ghouls always keep their word when sworn in the name of Nurgle.
The ghouls had bound the ghoul corpse with ropes made from leaves. It seemed they intended to drag it to the underground tunnels where they lived.
At that moment, one ghoul approached me.
“Human…”
Listening to the voice, it was the smart ghoul who had negotiated with me.
“…Lil..ys..? Chaos…chil…d… Lil..ys..?”
Hmm? You know Lily?
“Yeah. That Lily.”
“…We…re.spect…Lil…ys…keep the…deal…protect…humans…”
“That’s great.”
“But..Lil…ys…heard she…dead…”
“…Who told you that?”
“Ni…ght Wa…tch…”
At this, Lily stirred in my chest.
-What’s the Night Watch?
-…A servant of Nodens. Ghouls are in alliance with them.
Oh… I let slip something by accident.
Just trying to think of any god and blurted out something random, leading to this situation. This could reach Lily’s ex-boyfriend somehow.
The old ghoul was eyeing me suspiciously.
In situations like this…
“Did I hear my goddess is dead? How rude! Would you feel if I said your god Nurgle was dead? Lady Lily will maintain her beautiful appearance forever until the day the universe perishes!”
“…E..e…rr…I..ap..olo..gi…ze…”
“Lady Lily is the most beautiful being in the universe! Any objections?”
“I…spoke…improperly…Lady…Lil..ys…is beautiful…”
“Yes! Mind your tongue moving forward.”
“…Understood…”
The elderly ghoul shuffled back to the ghoul corpse.
-What are you doing?
Lily was looking up at me seriously from inside my bosom.
-It’s best to press on when things get dubious. In the ghoul’s perspective, I appear as a devout follower of Lily, right?
-…
-And anyway… Isn’t it the truth that Lady Lily is the most beautiful in the universe?
-Sh-shut up!
Am I not stating a subjective fact?
“Human…we will return after leaving the ghoul’s meat at home…”
As the ghouls towed the ghoul’s corpse toward their underground tunnels, I gazed back at the camp.
With the ghouls guarding us, we’re assured some degree of safety from dangerous creatures.
Before we leave, though… I’ll exclude Luke because he’s too stupid, and just teach the other students what edible fruits they can find. That should help them survive fairly well. In other words…
The time to head towards the unknown city of Cadath has come.
“…Shall we go?”
“Meow~!”
