“Mi, you’re insane! What in the world are you?!”
Adel was freaking out loud until he realized how loud he got and quickly clamped his mouth shut. I grinned and replied casually.
“I’m someone who loves happy endings.”
“…Did you hit your head or something?”
Adel stared at me with an expression that said ‘What kind of weirdo are you?’ which made me feel oddly awkward.
“Hmph, anyway, I plan to escape from this house.”
“You can’t be serious about taking on those crazy cannibal couple! They’re way more dangerous than you imagine!”
“But if they’re a couple, aren’t they siblings?”
At the word ‘siblings’, Adel let out an exasperated laugh.
“Tch! There’s no way those two could ever be considered siblings! How could siblings possibly bite and s*ck each other in such lewd ways?! Do you know how disgusting their tastes are? Ugh, they deliberately do it in front of their hostages who’ll become their food…”
“Gah, that’s enough already.”
I didn’t want to hear anymore – my ears might rot if I did. Could Hansel and Gretel really do such things? They’re siblings for crying out loud. Urgh, now my mind is filled with disturbing images I didn’t ask for.
“Anyway, I’ll subdue them and escape. If I can take down the witch Gretel, we should be able to get out.”
“Hmm, alright. Let me help too! My bulging muscles possess unimaginable power!”
Adel flexed his arm, but all that moved were his flabby jiggly fats – there was no muscle to be seen.
“…Eh? That’s strange. B, but I clearly had amazing muscles just a few days ago!”
“Yep.”
The situation isn’t good. Though I’ve woken up, Ariel and Elise, who are much stronger than me, are still asleep.
If only one of them were awake, it’d be a great help. But now, the only person who can assist is the fluffy-fatted dwarf Adel.
Hmm, I wonder how useful he’ll be in battle. I might have to protect him while fighting since I can barely handle myself right now. And it’s not just Gretel – if Hansel joins in, making it 2 vs 1, the situation will turn catastrophic.
All we can do is hope Hansel stays put quietly.
“Let’s move silently.”
Adel nodded glumly. We pressed ourselves against the candy wall and headed up the staircase. It seems there’s no way down, so this must be the basement.
The sweet smell of candy is so strong it’s numbing our senses. And thanks to the magic in the candy, saliva keeps flowing as we’re overwhelmed by the urge to lick it. But we resisted the temptation and climbed the stairs made entirely of candy. Which means… they’re stickier than expected.
“Huff, huff!”
I turned around upon hearing heavy breathing from behind.
“So delicious! Sooo tasty! Oh my, how could it be this sweet!”
Adel was gazing lustfully at the candy wall, licking it greedily with his thick tongue. I facepalmed at the sight.
“Are you serious? Now’s not the time to eat!”
“It’s too tasty! The sweetness is irresistible!”
“Ugh! That’s why you’re getting fat!”
I struggled to pull him off the candy wall, but despite his small frame, he was surprisingly strong – like his feet were glued in place. Wait… glued?
Upon inspection, the candy stair under his foot was melting into the shape of his sole and slowly sinking.
Could this be a trap designed to prevent captives from escaping? If we get distracted by the candy, our legs will gradually sink into the candy stairs until we can’t escape.
cr*p, this applies to me too!
I quickly checked my own footing. Sure enough, my feet were slowly being sucked in as well.
Though not as bad as Adel’s, the stickiness was beyond imagination, making it difficult to move like a cockroach caught in a trap. Still, I managed to break free after breaking a sweat.
As for Adel…
His ankles were already submerged.
“Heehee, so sweet! It’s exhilarating! Best flavor ever!”
Urgh, he’s completely lost it. This is hopeless. I positioned the scythe blade at his ankle. This got his attention – his eyes widened in panic.
“W, what are you doing?! H, hold on! I’m fine! I’m totally fine!”
“Fine? You can’t even move!”
“No! Hold on! I can do it! I can move without cutting!”
“Your face is pale. You’re stuck, period.”
“Aaah! This psycho! Stop! Don’t do it!”
“No choice. Just bear with it for a moment.”
I shrugged and swung the scythe.
“Aaaaahhh!!”
Adel screamed, turning away and curling up as if unable to watch. He could feel the sensation of being cut.
“Huh?”
Instead of severing his ankle, the result was a pair of square candy shoes. Confused by the unexpected outcome, Adel blinked several times.
“Erm… so you weren’t going to cut off my foot?”
“Would I randomly chop off an adult’s ankle?”
“Haha! R, right? Whew, that gave me ten years of fright. My lower back hurts from your threat!”
“So what did you think I was?”
“Haha, sorry sorry!”
He patted my back heartily. I quickly covered his mouth to silence his laughter.
“Shh! Quiet down. We’ll get caught. We’re already at a disadvantage, so we need to ambush them to have any chance.”
“Mm!”
Adel nodded understandingly – or tried to. His wildly darting pupils signaled otherwise. Following his gaze…
At the staircase entrance stood Hansel, scratching his mountainous belly and yawning lazily with his golden hair.
d*mn it! We’ve been spotted! Stay calm. At least Gretel doesn’t know yet. We can still ambush him quietly.
Looking at the giant shadow covering us all from the outside lighting…
Can we really take him down quietly? The staircase is too narrow for a proper fight. With Hansel’s massive build, there’s bound to be noise.
We watched silently to see what Hansel would do.
“Hmmnya… sleepy…”
Something seemed off. His unfocused eyes were staring blankly ahead, not at us, likely still groggy from waking up.
Realizing this, I signaled Adel to stay still. He stiffened, blinking rapidly to confirm he understood.
“Hmmnya… tsk.”
A stream of drool dripped from Hansel’s mouth. For a moment, I feared he was hungry for us, but thankfully he didn’t charge or call for Gretel. He just stood there blankly.
My heart was pounding like when playing hide-and-seek with Elise.
“Hmm, sleepy…”
Hansel moved, lifting his hippo-like legs and stepping aside. The thunderous thuds made my heart race in sync. As the sounds faded and his figure disappeared from the entrance…
“Phew!”
We sighed in relief. That was close. Adel looked relieved too. We carefully continued climbing, worried he might succumb to the candy temptation again, but fortunately, after the near amputation incident, he kept his focus and we passed safely.
Thinking we dodged a b*llet…
“Huff, huff.”
Heavy breathing came from beside us. Unable to contain it any longer, hot breath hit our faces.
Adel and I exchanged a glance and swallowed hard. Slowly turning our heads…
“Hehehe! There you are! My delicious lunch!”
Hansel came charging, drooling like a waterfall!
