NOVEL NEXT Chapter 66 - Chapter 66: Horn
Chapter 66: Horn
(Back to Bonus’ Perspective)
Three days have passed since Marie left the hideout. Since there was no rush, everyone decided to fully enjoy their vacation until Marie returned. They wanted to take this opportunity to rest their tired bodies and minds from the battle with the Black Wolf.
The ones having the most fun were undoubtedly Gisella and Mil. It was their first time visiting the hideout. They had been wandering around the hideout since Marie’s departure, collecting various items. Sometimes they were chased by Kidanakemo, barely managing to escape, but they seemed to be having a lot of fun.
“Mil, can we eat these mushrooms?”
“Oh! Yeah! These are super tasty! Gisella, is there still space in your basket?”
“There’s not much left. Ah, this place is no good. It’s full of treasures, and my head is spinning.”
“Oh, those mushrooms over there look like they could be used for bread!”
And before they knew it, Mil and Gisella were calling each other by their nicknames, as if they were childhood friends.
“Hey, Gisella!”
“Huh? What is it?”
“…Nevermind.”
It seems I’m not good at this. I even questioned myself a bit. During dinner, they were excitedly discussing what to cook and eagerly helping each other. Even after dinner, they struggled with spinning Elizabeth’s wool, with Kuro joining them. By the way, Shiro hasn’t changed much since that night. Sometimes when I’m working, she sneaks up from behind and hugs me. It’s a bit embarrassing but also pleasant. Zamza, who happened to see it yesterday, had a surprisingly shocked expression, as if he had stumbled upon a murder scene. I’ve been thinking for a while now, what exactly does Shiro mean to you…
By the way, during the day, Shiro rides on Kuro and Elizabeth, running around the hideout. It seems like she’s challenging Kidanakemo, and when she comes back, she’s usually quite beaten up. Perhaps she had some thoughts after the battle with the Black Wolf. And today, on the third day, they finally succeeded in subduing Kidanakemo. They brought back something like a huge black oryx. It was a size bigger than Elizabeth, and with the help of all the onis, they managed to bring it back to the hideout. Zamza seemed a bit intimidated by its size and presence, but Mil and Gisella cheered. With a knife in hand and eyes gleaming, they eagerly began to dismantle it.
“This is amazing! This is incredible! With this much skin, we can renew everyone’s armor! What should we make first? We have to tan it first. Oh, I’m busy. So busy!”
“Hey, look at this horn! The magic is solidified properly! Hey, Bonus, what should we make? Hey hey! Ahahaha!”
Mil and Gisella were ecstatic about what they could use it for, to the point of even collecting Kidanakemo’s dung with joy. Therefore, they were especially excited about this hunt’s harvest. At first, I helped them, but as they joyfully swung their dismantling knives and laughed while poking around various parts, they started to scare me, so I decided to leave all the dismantling to them.
Since Kidanakemo was mainly hunted for its pink parts so far, naturally, they only obtained parts that made up less than half of its body. However, if they could hunt like this in the future, the number of usable parts would increase dramatically, which would be very useful.
“But it’s still difficult to defeat it without Elizabeth.”
“Shiro, please don’t take unnecessary risks.”
“It’s okay, Bonus. Touch my horn.”
Shiro took my hand and let me touch her horn. The smooth and slick texture of the horn felt slightly larger than before.
“Huh? Did it get bigger again?”
“Yeah. Ehehe.”
Please try not to blush with such a embarrassed face. It’s starting to feel like I’m doing something wrong.
“Woah!”
“!!”
For some reason, Gisella is blushing and looking at me. Zamza is covering his face with both hands, peeking at us through his fingers.
What’s with those reactions…
“Hey, Gisella, is there something good about horns growing?”
“Huh? You don’t know, Bonus? Our healing ability is thanks to our horns. The larger they are, the higher our healing ability. As a result, we can exert our strength to the fullest, so the size of our horns is somewhat of an indicator of strength.”
“Oh, I see. Do they keep growing?”
“That’s impossible. It’s just Shiro being abnormal. I’m jealous. Normally, they stop growing around Zamza’s age. Wait, huh? …Zamza, are your horns not growing? Oh! Me too? What? No way?”
Gisella and Zamza are grabbing their own horns with surprised expressions. It’s quite a funny sight.
“Gyahhahahaha!”
“Huh? That can’t be true. Why is this happening?”
“My horns…”
“Good for you.”
Shiro is happily watching the two of them. Kuro seems to find it amusing that the onis are grabbing their own horns in surprise, laughing uncontrollably.
“Hey, Kuro, what about your horns?”
“Gyaguuu? Gyagaaah!! Gyahhahaha”
Kuro brushes aside her hair to grab her black horns, looking equally surprised as the other two.
Oh, you too…
“I wonder when that happened.”
“I have no idea.”
“Hey, Gisella! Can you help me pull out this spine?”
“Ah, sorry.”
While Mil was absentmindedly dissecting Kidanakemo, it seems she ran out of hands. Gisella rushes back to help.
Zamza is stroking his slightly larger horns with a grin. It seems quite pleasing to him, as an oni.
It’s still a joy to see everyone getting stronger. But not knowing the cause makes me feel a bit uneasy. It seems related to life in the hideout. However, there’s no sign of awakening from me, despite being the one who’s been staying here the longest.