Chapter 176: Shelter
Now that we were inside the shelter created by Soom, the outside noise was significantly suppressed, turning it into nothing but faint noise as if it were merely a simple rainstorm; dropping the reins, I removed the gravity belt and stopped infusing my mana into the carriage as I stood up and stretched my back a little, causing me to softly sigh in relief.
"Heh, relax Yuki, I'm fine." Said Alexander lightly as he glanced at Yuki, who was staring at him with concern while cracking his back, causing her to faintly nod before eyeing Lazuli.
Finding Yuki's concern for me to be utterly adorable, I was about to help her down from the carriage even though she didn't really need it as it was nothing but a large step for her given her size, but I wanted to do it, yet before I could spoil my little monster, she hopped down, causing my face to twitch as I glanced at her.
'Haa, welp, I'll spoil her later; unfortunately, we'll probably have to skip making love tonight.' Thought Alexander lightly as he looked at Yuki before gently slapping her butt while she walked past him, prompting her to tilt her head in slight confusion.
"Why are you always slapping my butt, Alex?" Asked Yuki in cofusion as she turned around and looked at her butt, her words causing Soom to quietly chuckle in the distance.
"Because your butt is incredibly attractive, and I can't help it, alright; don't judge me, but I have an unnaturally strong liking for butts. Specifically yours and Michelle's." Said Alexander quietly as he whispered to Yuki, who nodded before gazing at her butt once more.
Slapping Yuki's butt once more, I approached Lazuli, intending to help her down as I stood before with a faint smile and an outstretched hand, yet she merely gave me a blank expression, and this persisted for nearly a whole minute, causing me to awkwardly cough.
"Um, d-do you need any assistance, Lazuli?" Asked Alexander with a faint smile as he looked at Lazuli, who tilted her head to the side.
"Why would I need assistance?" Asked Lazuli in confusion, her words causing Alexander to subtly frown with a thoughtful expression.
"Well, you might not need any, but sometimes things are easier with someone else's assistance, just like mine. Try grabbing my hand." Replied Alexander with furrowed brows as he gazed at Lazuli, who faintly nodded before doing as told and grabbing his hand.
Firmly grasping Lazuli's hand, I noticed that despite her hand feeling incredibly soft and dainty, there was a faint coldness to it, yet for some reason, that only seemed to somehow add to her charm. After I was finished evaluating her hand, I helped her down from the carriage as she stood right before, causing me to smile slightly as I opened my mouth to respond, but she beat me to it.
"Pointless. Your assistance was of no use whatsoever. With marginally more effort, I could have done the exact same without needing an extra person to assist me. Your presence wasn't needed." Stated Lazuli bluntly as she glanced at the carriage before looking at Alexander, whose face constantly twitched at her words.
"However, through several analyses, I've learned that one's assistance could prove to be significant, if not crucial and necessary to completing one's goal." Added Lazuli calmly as she eyed Alexander, who wryly smiled while finally letting go of her hand.
"T-That's good to hear. Y-Your, welcome, Lazuli." Said Alexander with an awkward smile as he glanced at Lazuli, who nodded before ignoring him and walking towards Soom, who had been silently watching their interaction.
Although I knew I shouldn't have done so, I couldn't help but look back at Lazuli as I took a few peeks at her backside, eyeing her small butt that resembled Master's, causing a specific part of my body to awaken as I thought of her.
'Haa, even when you're not with me, you're still capable of arousing me; Lily could learn from you, Master.' Thought Alexander with a faint smile as he glanced through the earth's ceiling, thick icicles falling through the sky and the dark clouds further above, eyeing the three moons that illuminated Azarath.
Dispelling such thoughts, lest I start to feel worse than usual, I glanced at Michelle and Chloe, who had just exited from the inside of the carriage, prompting me to help them both down, causing the latter to thank me with a cute smile while the former blushed before proactively kissing me cheek.
"T-Thanks Alexander." Said Michelle with a faint smile and a soft blush as she looked at Alexander, who smirked before kissing her again, furthering her blush.
"You're welcome, and you're lucky we're not on the opposite side of the carriage." Stated Alexander with a smirk as he retracted his lips from Michelle's mouth before lightly smacking her plump butt, causing her to softy squeal.
Chuckling at Michelle's cute reactions, like any man, I gazed at her butt as she walked towards Yuki, Soom, Lazuli, and Chloe while I followed behind her.
"Soom, can you let me out? I need to get some food, and I can't do it while cooped up in here." Asked Alexander with a faint smile as he sparked a flame within his hand, further illuminating the dimly lit shelter.
"Eh, I can go, Alex; I know you don't really like killing." Said Yuki as she stood up and approached Alexander, only for him to grab her shoulder and force her back down, well, he at least tried to do so.
"I dislike it, but that doesn't mean I won't; besides, I've hunted plenty of animals before. I don't have a problem with hunting; just get ready to be served every edible part of the animal 'cause I'm not about to waste any part of them." Declared Alexander with a slight shake of his head before smirking as he forcefully turned Yuki around before kicking the back of her knee, finally forcing her onto the ground.
"Now, you stay sitting here and looking pretty for me." Added Alexander as he leaned down and kissed Yuki's cheek while she deeply blushed from his words, causing Soom to chuckle before sighing.
"Haha, young love." Muttered Soom with a bittersweet smile as he gazed between Yuki and Alexander before tapping his cane on the ground, causing a human-sized doorway to appear that led to the outside.
"I'll be quick, I promise." Stated Alexander with a smirk as he exited the shelter, walking out into the terrible, stormy weather, his figure nearly vanishing instantly from the heavy raining icicles.
Stepping out of the shelter, I used [Heroes Gaze] since without it, I couldn't see more than five meters around me, though now, I could see as far as I wanted, which immensely helped me as I tracked a wild animal. Given the weather, it was slightly more difficult to find any beast since they were all most likely hiding somewhere, but eventually, I found an animal sleeping in a small cave. It was a creature that reminded me of a capybara, but it had slightly longer legs and thicker fur.
Intending to make the kill as swift and painless as possible, I summoned Trina from my body and used [Teleport] as I appeared directly beside the sleeping animal; with one swift motion, I decapitated the animal, and almost instantly, its life force vanished from its body, as it died not even half a second afterward.
Burning the animal's neck shut to stop it from bleeding everywhere, I grabbed both the body and the decapitated head as I hoisted the body over my back and placed the head into a sack I had removed from my space pouch.
'Even to this day, this still feels weird.' Mused Alexander as he tied the sack to his waist while holding his greatsword over the animal carcass, only for its size to suddenly double as he used [Expand].
With Trina protecting the body, I swiftly dashed back toward the shelter, which took significantly less time than searching for an animal as I arrived within two minutes.
Since I doubted they'd be able to hear me knocking, I headbutted the earth wall, breaking right through it as I struck my head through the small hole.
"I'm back, also, sorry about the weird entrance." Said Alexander with a smile as he glanced at everyone while Michelle held her chest, sighing in relief.
"Anyways, could you make like a small shed or something, Soom? I'd prefer if someone here didn't see me butcher the animal." Added Alexander with a small smile while sneakily gesturing to Chloe, causing Soom to nod as he once again tapped his cane on the ground, causing a small room to emerge right beside him.
"Thanks." Said Alexander with a faint smile as he removed his neck from the hole and entered the room while setting the carcass on the ground.
'Hehe, you know this day would eventually come, Zartha.' Said Alexander with a smirk as he summoned Zartha from his body and shrunk her until she was the size of a large dagger.
'Do not ask me anything for the next month, Master.' Said Zartha coldly as she eyed Alexander, this time though her cold demeanor was genuine.
While her words made me reconsider, I, knew if something life-threatening happened, she'd still help me, but besides that, I doubted she'd respond, I still couldn't pass up this opportunity, so for the next forty-five minutes, I used Zartha to butcher the animal. Once I finished butchering the animal, I grabbed all the edible parts, which were pretty much everything except the teeth, hair, and skin.
I had poured most of its blood into a bucket after asking Soom to make one for me, and while back in my old world, drinking the blood of an animal was dangerous, in this world, it was the complete opposite.
'Now then, it's time to make a delicious dinner out of all of this.' Mused Alexander as he eyed all the pre-cooked food.