15 Leave This For Later

Most of the monsters in the forest were as strong as a level 2 adventurer, taking their non-existent techniques plus human weapons into account, a mildly experienced level 1 had a very good chance of winning a gruesome one on one.

If they were not ambushed, of course.

The fact that most monsters were mildly strong, plus that the forest was quite expansive with sparse trees and many small mounds, however, meant that Verhund had to walk here and there for quite a while to avoid easy fights and meet up with an actual threat to his being.

In regards to the actual hunt, though, every single fight was short and unbelievably dangerous, as a single hit from the offending monsters could easily cripple or directly kill him while his attacks would barely nick the prey's hide.

It didn't help that all the movements he could use were really basic with little to nothing of supernatural in them, the acrobatics he used could at most give him the higher ground and three-dimensional space maneuvering, but hardly resulted in increased damage.

To have so much knowledge yet being almost unable to put them to practice would have annoyed anyone else.

Not one to care about his misfortunes and shortcomings, Verhund was quick to realize that, despite not disappearing upon death, the wild monsters' carcasses were all free for the taking.

It was a pity that there was no core inside of them, though.

Shrugging everything unfortunate out of his mind, Verhund swiftly skinned and processed the body parts according to the steps he remembered, leaving the result of his work basking in the sunlight on a makeshift clothesline he arbitrarily made at a random spot in the forest.

This way, all of his work would - at worse - either be stolen or eaten.

It was just some hide and fur anyways, the world wouldn't end with just a few resources going to waste.

If it did, though, it would be really funny.

Finished with most of the morning activities and storing quite a few kilograms of edible meat, Verhund decided to make his way back to the city.

Perhaps because it's already afternoon, but the previous calm and quiet in the road was no longer present, exchanged by the hustle and bustle of bored strangers from different lands meeting each other or the convoy of wares carried by huffing horses bumping on the ground as they passed.

The city he came to live in was densely populated and received heavy traffic, most probably because of the presence of gods in the region.

Though the reason why law-abiding and slow-life centered people chose to come to a land ruled by deranged narcissists with a penchant for the illegal and quirky loners with unhealthy obsessions was beyond him.

Back on the tracks, while convoys and carriages suffered from inspections that created a long line, those on foot were allowed to freely pass under the careful scrutiny of the many guards there, who would make sure that any suspicious person was stopped and properly searched before being allowed to proceed.

Since Verhund carried only a small bag and some meat, looking nothing like a street criminal, he was allowed free pass with no intimidation.

It was actually quite surprising that these guys could deal with level 2 adventurers with seemingly no blessing. Could the reason that they do not work inside the city be that they're too precious to be lost because of petty squabbles of bad-mannered powerhobos?

Whatever it is, these guards seemed quite observant, being especially wary of the occasional adventurer or expert passing through. It was quite a blessing that their eyes were not placed inside the city, or Verhund would have been spotted eventually.

His abilities were indeed too advanced for him to get caught by people at this level, but there's no way he'd avoid a fight against them, sentient species are on another realm of techniques.

Laughing his excitement off, Verhund went towards the Maiden's once again. Eating while chatting with your best bud is truly too satisfying, as for anything else, just leave it for later.

What lunchbox?

-----------

Cinthia's P.O.V.

"Couldn't you have called a bit later, grandma? There's some new charcoal coming right up, wouldn't want to waste it!"

The inside of the kitchen was pretty normal for today's standards, it was big enough to allow three people to pass comfortably as long as they're cautious - though it was currently empty save the two people present - and contained every tool necessary to make the best possible food, given that the cook has experience.

The ingredients were orderly positioned according to their quantity and popularity, all waiting in line to be used by the masterful hands Maiden's Grandma, although she currently refrained to work in order to take a deep look at Cinthia.

"What, did I become more beautiful? Ah, I must be sparkling!"

The mood of the place turned completely chaotic once Cinthia's momentum spiked, not only did the temperature literally raise, some of the more flammable ingredients instantly started to get cooked inside of their container.

"To tell the truth, there are sparks coming from you, now calm down."

*PAN*

The ladle appeared once again, sparing no mercy for its unsuspecting victim. The sound of the impact was extremely comical, not to mention the yelp Cinthia released as her world suddenly became filled with stars.

"This should do it... Better now?"

"Perhaps? Ugh... For the moment? I don't know!"

This scene, from beginning to end, seemed to be an extremely laid back moment between a guardian and their clumsy daughter in a slow-life story, this guardian's seriously furrowed brows, however, seemed to indicate that not all was well as it should.

"Sigh... This is getting worse and worse, Cinthia. I already said to not get involved with these kinds of people."

"How can I 'not' get along with my kind?"

"You do not get along with them, you hurt each other!"

"...Isn't that just how it's supposed to be?"

"What?"

Indeed, things could never be simple enough, good enough.

"It's because of grandpa that you came to live here and it's because of him that you will not return to your home. Hurting each other mentally or physically; what's the difference, really? You seem pretty happy with your own wounds; can't I have mine?"

"Will you be hurting yourself only?"

"..."

The only thing that really mattered was how much your individual actions would affect society, the bigger group. Though individuals rarely put others above their needs, once a personal problem finally involved strangers, many uncharacteristic factors would come into play, guilt and duty being only the most flashy.

"Every time you catch fire, someone either dies or ends up as good as dead. If I let you be with that kind of man, will you get any better?"

To keep unwanted happenings from affecting the individual, it is best that every bad thing is kept from the light and stays strictly controlled or suppressed.

Alas, certain things cannot be hidden forever.

"...Does it even matter? It was getting harder to contain myself even before he came along, with Verhund here, I just got too lazy to care. I love you, grandma, that is why this pub is still standing with me living in it, but now it's just so hard to keep going, I CAN'T keep going."

"And I don't know what to do! ...Sigh, let's leave this for later. I'm starting to get goosebumps again... that friend of yours must be back."

Decisiveness is another important ability to have in order to avoid a catastrophe. A pity again, however, that being decisive is not equal to being ruthless, and not everyone can cull the evil for the sake of stability.

"Not all monsters are wild beasts, grandma... I'm sorry..."

With these final whispers, Cinthia leaves the orderly kitchen to meet with her new best friend, a man with funny and dark thoughts. Like always, their chat will sound uplifting while actually containing some pretty depressing lyrics, covering any cynical comments in sarcastic humor so that only they can understand.

All the while, Cinthia was actually sorry for her 'grandma', who could not bear to take the life of another close, loved one to save that of many. If the problem could only be left for later, the flame could only spread further, that was already said.

The flames burned bright in the depths of her eyes, their glare slowly taking all of her vision, eating at all of her sanity. She loved the flames, and they loved her back, she felt admiration, and they felt longing.

It was getting harder to control her excitement. Years before, she could get by with just some cooking, now she had to enter the Daedalus every week and set an underground criminal or two on fire lest she killed one of her own customers.

Grandma was not stupid, she knew what was happening; Cinthia was even less so, she knew what would happen.

She could not end herself, however, the flames would not allow it, she was also too optimist to gain such courage.

Ah, the world was so beautiful, there are only some sparks missing from perfection. But let's leave this for later, yes? It's not the time for fireworks yet.