20 Chapter 18: Sleepless Night

*Crackle*

The bright orange flame flickers under the moonlit sky..

*Woosh*

The cold night breeze is blowing through the grasslands..

It lowers the overall temperature of the surroundings..

Thereby symbolizing that the day has come to an end..

Giving a kind of drowsy atmosphere..

I might be drifting off to dreamland right about now..

Except, for the fact that I'm not alone..

Two eyes colored like amethyst are staring at my every move..

Ah, I knew it..

This kind of atmosphere is very awkward..

I am now finished setting up the tent and sleeping bags and blankets for later..

Before that, I made a campfire with charcoal using a fire crystal and cleared out the area of beasts and the like..

Now, I'm preparing my cookware to make supper..

What should I make tonight? Hmm..

*Stare*

...

As expected, I can't get rid of her cautiousness..

I can't think clearly because of that..

And I know, talking will only make it worse..

I mean, she's now fully on-guard against me just because I tried to comfort her..

Isn't that too mean?(Hidosugirune?)

So I decided to keep my mouth shut and let her escape..

And I walked even further north to show her that I mean no ill will..

But it seems that she kept following me while keeping wary 100% of the time..

I'm not gonna hurt you, you know?

Is this the fate of someone like me?

Who has had no other contact with other people from the big city and appeared as if I came from the countryside?

Is it that obvious?

This is too cruel..

My worst fear has came to be..

I'm..

A country bumpkin..

Ah, even though I tried to be cool and hide that part of me..

What frightening detection skills must the inhabitants of this world have..

I wrestle with my emotions drifting between sadness and regret while lighting the portable stove until..

The eyes that were glaring at me like I was her father's killer has stopped..

I slightly turn my eyesight onto the girl without her noticing..

She seems to have a curious expression on her face..

And her line of sight is going..

Ah, she's staring at the portable stove in my hands..

"What, what is that thing? What are you planning to do to me with it?!?"

Ah, she finally spoke to me..

Except, her voice is tinged in wariness and fear..

Am I really that hard to talk to?

But she wants to know what my portable stove is, huh?

Does she really not know what it is?

Doesn't the big city have these kinds of contraptions?

I mean, I made it by myself you know..

Couldn't anyone have made it easily?

Oh wait, now's not the time for that..

It seems she thinks I'm going to use it for something evil..

No, I'm not a fan of using toys, what? it's true..

And even if that wasn't true, I would still not lay a finger on her without consent..

I'm a feminist at heart, I wouldn't hurt girls without good reason..

No even if there was a good reason, I still wouldn't..

(sigh) Now I'm starting to contradict myself..

For now, let's answer her question with all the courtesy I can muster..

"Ah, yes. I'm going to use it to make supper.."

I tried adding ~desu at the end to show respectful behavior..

I just hope she doesn't take it the wrong way..

"*Hiiii* Are you going to cook me?"

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

She took it the wrong way!!!!!!!

Why does it have to be like this..

Am I cursed?

Was it because of the first skill I received in this world?

Is it permanent?

Iyada, go away [Curse Aura]!

It was then, I noticed..

Huh?

I unconsciously used [Curse Aura] all the way here..

Was it because I was cursing the sun and it's blasted heat?

But how can it be this powerful even to the point where she is treating me, her supposed savior, as a demonic entity?

As I was taking a closer look at the skill, a blue window popped out..

Curse Aura (Master) - Proficiency 99.99%

Enables you to make the target of your choice,

feel immense fear through the use of your aura magic.

How much fear caused depends on the number of Aura Points (AP)

MP Cost: 500/minute

It really does come out at the worst times..

Is it intentional?

Nah, I'm just thinking too much about it..

And what's up with that proficiency level?

Isn't that already nearing a counter-stop?

Have I been using it unconsciously most of the time?

Since it made it to Master level nearing max proficiency..

Well, I was cursing everything I could during the early days of hell training..

According to Master, there are 5 levels of proficiency in the world of Quadra..

Beginner Level, Novice Level, Intermediate Level, Advanced Level, and Master Level..

Although Master said that there was a hidden level after Master level but he doesn't know how to reach it either..

He said he heard it when he was travelling the continents, but he couldn't remember how he heard it..

Well, not that it bothers me that much..

Yosh, let's ignore it and start cooking, I'm hungry..

When I turned around not minding what she asked..

She got really teary-eyed all of a sudden..

Does she really think I'm going to eat her?

There has to be a limit to misunderstandings..

Even for the country bumpkin introvert me..

Ah, now that I say it again, it is depressing..

Anyway, let's try cancelling the skill now..

I notice that even though it's consuming mana at a rapid pace when invoked, there is no dent in my mana pool..

Do I regenerate magic power that fast?

Anyway, I put it out of my thoughts for now and stop using [Curse Aura]..

The tense atmosphere from before vanished and what replaced it was a sigh of relief..

"(sigh)"

From the bunny girl..

Was she really that scared?

No matter how you look at it, it's excessive and comes off rude..

Wouldn't it have been fine if I just ignored her plight and moved on?

No, this is bad, now I'm starting to doubt my own sense of justice..

That's right, never forget, that cute is justice..

I calm myself down and start cooking the dishes..

Today, I'm having viper-meat grilled barbeque and spiced vegetable soup..

It sounds disgusting you say?

Well, I'll have you know that snake meat is delicious once you find the right flavors and take out the poison..

Who am I even arguing about this to?

I finish setting up the stove and the grill and start cooking..

The steam is rising up from the boiling pot and the smell of spices spread its aroma with it..

The refreshing sound of meat hitting the metallic grill and the dripping of meat juices fill the void of a cold silent night..

I just hope no beasts come and get enticed by it..

Hmm? Now, the bunny girl seems to have lowered her guard..

Her eyes are swimming from looking here and the ground..

While I'm happy that she isn't that hostile anymore..

I hope she can talk to me about what she was doing here in the middle of the grasslands..

I was about to try and talk to her about it when..

*Gururu*

"Ah.."

"*Blush*"

She looked away with a red face..

She seemed to be embarrassed..

Well, I for one think it's kind of cute..

Well, let's not keep her waiting then..

After a few minutes, the first batch of meat was done so I put it on a ceramic plate I brought with me and..

"Eat up(Douzo)"

I walked up to her and placed it on her delicate hands..

She turns and looks at me with a surprised expression but I detect something in her eyes that seems a little different..

It seems she's speechless so I smile a bit and stand up turning back to the temporary cooking station..

But suddenly, I heard a voice behind me..

"Tha-thank you.."

Well, what do you know..

She does know how to thank people, I knew there is no way a cute girl such as her would be totally ignorant...

As I was celebrating in my head, I sat down in front of the grill and resume cooking..

But I don't forget to watch the bunny girl in the corner of my eye take her first bite of the barbequed meat..

*Nibble*

"Delicious.."

Ah, even though I knew she would like it, it still is nerve-racking to hear opinions about your food from others..

Since only Master so far have tasted my dishes..

"I'm so relieved(Yokatta)"

"..."

"Ah.."

I let my thoughts out of my mouth..

Okay, let's try a follow-up quick..

"Was it to your liking? The food I mean.."

"Ah, mm, It was good.."

Woohoo(Yatta) Nice one, me..

I'm starting to see the light at the end of the cave here..

I got to take this home before the conversation dies..

You can do it, myself!

"Um, the soup is also done, would you like some?"

I nervously await her answer..

Like a boy in middle school confessing to the girl he likes while waiting for the inevitable rejection to come crashing..

"Y-yes, please.."

"Ah, got it..coming right up.."

"?"

*Facepalm*

I suddenly got too excited that I talked like a cook from an old ramen shop..

"Haha.."

Just laugh it off, pay it no mind, act like it never happened..

"Here you go, be careful since it's hot.."

"Yes.."

I hold a bowl of soup over her hands and she receives it timidly..

She takes a spoonful and..

"This one too..so good.."

She's honest isn't she, what a good girl..

Okay, I think the mood is right, let's have a proper talk with the bunny girl..

"Um(Ano).. I really would like to apologize for anything I may have done to offend you"

I slightly bow, no I bow apologetically to the bunny girl..

Because even if I know that I saved her, I still made her experience mind-numbing fear..

So I will apologize first, this is what a true man is..

"Ah, no it wasn't really your fault, I suddenly got really paranoid when I saw you so close to me before, sorry about that"

"I-I see.."

"Ah, but don't worry, I'm all right now, it must have been the fear of being chased around for hours.."

Eh, hours?..

"Ah, It must have been hard for you, My name is Orion Fullbringer by the way.."

I casually start introducing myself..

"Yes? Ah, I mean, thank you so much for saving me before and for this meal now, Orion-san, I'm Roseanne Leary, as you can see I'm a beast-man of the rabbit tribe.."

Wow, her name sounds so sophisticated like a noble's..

But never mind that, there is a whole tribe of bunny-eared nekomimi?

I want to go there, paradise..

This is bad(Ikan2x), I'm delving into my delusions again..

I steer the conversation into the right path before it gets derailed by my own words..

"So, Rose-san, would you share your story with me over supper on what you were doing out here?"

"Sure, but I want to know more about you too, oh, and seconds!"

Well, I'm glad she isn't hostile anymore but..

Now that she's relieved of her problems, she is starting to wolf down everything in the blink of an eye..

It seems I found myself a gluttonous woman..

After she eats all the meat while talking with me, she asks for another helping..

I couldn't refuse the killer combo in the end..

Those sad round eyes looking up at me and those weapons of mass destruction..

Have mercy on my food supply, I beg of you..

It seems at this rate, my month's worth of food will only last a week with this girl around..

Well, it seems she did talk about her situation though, and I also casually asked about some of the common knowledge..

I'm afraid of my own casual talking talent..

When it became late, I produced an [Aura Barrier] around the camp without her noticing and slept outside the tent..

Rose-san said she didn't mind sleeping outside but I wouldn't budge..

Due to that, we argued for a bit..

I didn't lose you know?

But in the end, it was decided that we both had to sleep in the tent..

*Sounds of soft breathing*

As expected, with her and her melons right next to me, I couldn't even sleep a wink..