“Kukuku! So our magnificent heroes have gathered here!”
The figure who showed up after the situation had settled down approached with a wide grin. Ugh, that human was hiding this whole time? I thought he passed out but turns out he was just waiting for us to finish fighting.
“Hm? A dwarf?”
[Who are you?]
“Hohoho! My apologies, I haven’t introduced myself in front of these lovely ladies.”
Adel suddenly switched to honorifics and put on a sleazy tone while stroking his beard a few times before bowing deeply with his belly folds. It was like something a butler would do for a young miss.
“Pleased to meet you all, I am the Sixth Dwarf, Adel. I was trapped here but thanks to you all, I managed to escape. My gratitude goes out to you.”
“Uncle, cut the sleazy talk already.”
“Hahaha! Forgive me, ladies.”
Ladies. Hmm. I glanced back and forth between Elise and Ariel.
[Sixth Dwarf Adel? Anyway, glad to meet you. Since we helped you escape, be thankful.]
After everything concluded, Ariel woke up but for some reason proudly shrugged while speaking.
“Haha, what an honor. You ladies are as beautiful as our princess.”
“Princess?”
The word ‘princess’ made me flinch. Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, Adel is a dwarf. And he mentioned being the sixth dwarf too. Also, he gave off vibes of serving a princess. Dwarf and princess. There’s only one famous fairy tale that fits those conditions.
“I serve Princess Snow White. I was returning from a mission given by her when I got trapped here and couldn’t leave.”
Wow, it’s really true? Snow White? One of the most famous fairy tales came up. In my memory, she fled to the dwarfs’ house due to stepmother’s assassination threat, eventually ate a poison apple, and was revived by the prince’s kiss for a happy ending.
Thinking about how this story might twist makes me feel dizzy. Still, I’ll make sure this ends with a definite happy ending this time.
“Hmm~ That’s none of my business, but did you happen to see a white rabbit?”
As Elise glared intensely and approached, Adel instinctively felt the danger to his life, broke out in cold sweat, and stepped back.
“A, a white rabbit?”
“Yeah, a cocky-looking white rabbit wearing a hat who always checks his watch while holding it.”
Adel swallowed hard, realizing that answering incorrectly could get him into big trouble, and frantically searched his mind by rolling his eyes around. Then his eyes focused.
“Oh! T-the hunter! The hunter said he saw it!”
“Huh? A hunter?”
“Yes! Among those who serve Princess Snow White, there’s a hunter! He once mentioned seeing strange black and white rabbits.”
Black rabbit too? I jumped in surprise and asked.
“Was it a black rabbit wearing a hat and cloak?”
“Oh, yeah! That’s the rabbit. Hmm…when was it again? It happened before I was assigned to my mission. Quite a while ago now, probably a month?”
Elise smiled broadly then stroked Adel’s beard while saying,
“So?”
“W-well, the hunter said that the black rabbit said things were going to get interesting and left, and the white rabbit said he was busy and chased after the black rabbit.”
Wait. Something’s off. I met the black rabbit during the Rapunzel incident. Meeting Rapunzel wasn’t long ago. According to Adel, the hunter met the rabbits about a month ago, which means the black rabbit visited Snow White’s area first.
Why go through all that trouble? If he was going to tell me to end all these stories, why visit that area? Plus, unlike previous sightings, there’s a white rabbit this time.
“Hmm, is that all?”
Elise gave a menacing look, tilted her head slightly, and applied silent pressure for more information. Adel nodded nervously while shaking his legs.
“Ah, unfortunately, that’s all I know.”
“Hmph, even so, it’s quite a gain. Finally found a lead on that damned rabbit.”
Elise’s sharp gaze flashed. Meanwhile, Ariel brought back our lost belongings. Well, calling them belongings, it was just Elise’s staff.
[Stop making creepy faces and take this already.]
Elise grinned and secured the staff to her back. At the sight of her massive staff, Adel’s legs started trembling uncontrollably.
“Then let’s head to where Snow White is first. I think there’s a reason why the two rabbits stopped by there.”
Yeah, it feels like they’re showing us the way to go. When one story ends, another appears. Following the stories marked by the black rabbit, we should be able to meet him again.
“Then I’ll guide you!”
Adel confidently pounded his chest while speaking. It pisses me off that he talks down to me.
“Well, we’d be delighted.”
“Haha! Excellent! This mission is a success!”
“Eh? Mission?”
Whether it slipped out unintentionally or not, Adel panicked and startled at his own words. He whistled to cover it up.
“M-mission? Did I say that? My bad, it slipped out. Hahaha! Anyway, this way! Follow me! The way back is still clear to me.”
“Ah, yes.”
[Weird uncle.]
While Ariel and I were skeptical, we followed behind him, and Elise urged him to hurry up beside Adel.
That way, Adel briefly became part of our group.
…
The sun set. We gathered around a campfire chatting warmly. Freed from Gretel’s magic, finding food wasn’t a big issue. Elise was an excellent hunter. She disappeared somewhere after spotting wild boar tracks and soon returned with a boar big enough to eat a person whole.
Now, she skillfully drained the bl**d, skinned it, and is currently roasting it thoroughly on skewers. Besides the boar meat, there were also candies I grabbed from the House of Candy. Of course, they’re emergency rations meant to be used only when there’s absolutely nothing to eat.
“Hem hem~”
“Kyeh, Miss Elise excels not only in hunting but also in cooking meat!”
Adel spoke while looking at the dripping juices from the well-cooked meat skewers.
[Kyaa, I can cook well too! And if I wanted, I could bring back prey bigger than that boar!]
Erielle pouted and moved her meat skewer back and forth above the fire while speaking. However, because she held it too close to the fire, the outside was burned quite badly.
“Kyaarlek, are you planning to use your meat as firewood? Here.”
Elise took out a well-cooked skewer to give it away. Thinking it was for him, Adel salivated and reached out to take it, but the skewer zoomed past him and reached me.
“Thanks.”
Adel glared at me jealously. Uncle, why are you doing that? You’ve been given the first chance to eat meat. It’s safe food that won’t cause you to pass out.
I softly smiled and bit into the meat skewer that stimulated my salivary glands. The meat tore apart like tofu and as soon as I chewed it, the meat juice exploded in my mouth.
Wild boar meat is this delicious?! Elise may not be good at cooking, but her meat-roasting skills are truly top-notch!
“Mmm! This is really good!”
“Oh~ thank you, dear.”
As I hastily devoured the skewer, Adel couldn’t stand it anymore, grabbed the skewer in front of him, and bit into it. Closing his eyes, he savored the taste and smiled happily.
“Really! This is the best meat I’ve ever tasted!”
Elise watched us eat with satisfaction then frowned and handed a skewer to Erielle, who was trying to roast her burnt meat.
“Princess, eat this instead. You’ll get sick eating that.”
[Shut up! Just eat yourself!]
Erielle stuck out her tongue defiantly then quickly shoved an entire skewer into her mouth and offered her charcoal skewer to me.
[My turn is done! Prince, please have this!]
At first glance, it was rock-hard, completely charred meat. It felt like it could be used as a hammer substitute.
“Kyaarlek! Are you really giving me this meat? Boiling it in hot water would be better, little one.”
“C-cough. Princess Erielle. As Miss Elise said, your meat seems to be overly burnt. How about having this skewer I roasted…”
[Shut up! I didn’t ask for your opinion! I’m talking to the prince!]
Erielle shouted like a child who got teased. Elise smirked while watching, and Adel, who was about to hand over a freshly roasted skewer, hung his head dejectedly.
Erielle peeked at me with wavering eyes then hesitated before saying,
[If you don’t want to eat it, you don’t have to. I’ll eat it, so it’s fine!]
As Erielle was about to lower the skewer she was offering, I quickly opened my mouth and bit into the meat.
With a ‘crack’ sound, my teeth screamed in pain. Along with it came an intense bitter taste. But I forced myself to smile cheerfully and swallowed the meat.
“Very well done, Erielle.”
I shouldn’t have said that. Afterward, Erielle believed she was good at cooking and happily kept bringing me endless charcoal skewers while I silently cried inside and finished all of them.
