40 – Extinct Lantern

It seemed to melt and disappear.

Like snowflakes that permeate the floor avoiding the scorching sunlight, like a candle that can’t overcome the heat that oppresses the head and sits on the floor unsightly.

Apis felt that the radiant light, which he could easily melt with just a wave of his hand, was even more dazzling today.

Yes, enough to make me want to close my eyes.

It made me think that it would be better to throw my consciousness into the pitch darkness.

”These ancient letters that Apis’s ministry dispatched! this! I found him! That’s right, read it! Yes!”

A small butterfly that looks like it was made by cutting and folding leaves. Its true identity is an emergency communication command sent to the hero who was sleeping soundly right after Apis found the priest.

The hero’s innocent behavior, jumping in place while holding the small lobe with both hands, was as bright as a child welcoming the visit of a wandering troupe.

Apis thought.

How long has it been since I’ve seen her smile so innocently? Called.

how much How long.

It really couldn’t have been an accident unlike an elf.

It was about a month at most.

For the Elves, who have a lifespan that is different from other races, the time is not even the moment when they close and open their eyes.

However, Apis, who had clearly seen how hard the hero went through during the month or so of chasing the priest who had disappeared, recalled that the time that was short of even that moment must have been equal to an eternity.

I never thought that the day would come when I would feel that the time that hadn’t even been reached in years would be enough.

It was Apis who felt that he could fully understand the meaning of the bizarre phrase that the man once said, that time is relative.

Although it was very embarrassing to think of his face now.

”therefore! apis! The bride! Where the hell is the priest now! Didn’t you come with me! Somehow! Aren’t you starving because of poor living? Aren’t you injured or suffering from minor illnesses!”

”Yo, warrior! Okay! I get it! Calm down and tell me about this!”

The figure of the warrior, who held Apis’ shoulder firmly and poured out a storm of questions, was as desperate as if he were hanging from a cliff.

Only his mouth was smiling, but his pale face was enough to evoke the struggles of survival of the fittest the moment an isolated castaway wanders in search of water in the middle of a vast desert.

”Hut! Sin, sorry! apis! I’ll stop again!”

”I really want… What’s that like…”

The hero’s attire was rather bizarre.

With a kitchen knife in her hand, an apron wrapped around her body, and even a plug plugged into her nose, the figure looked suspicious beyond bizarre.

”I was cooking!”

”What?”

Right after that, Apis’s bewildered gaze turned to the table in the living room behind the hero.

”Oh my gosh····.”

Apis was shocked.

The delicacies decorated on the table were also very surprising, to the point that I wondered if my upper leg might be broken.

The biggest reason Apis was surprised was not because of the amount and variety of food.

What drew Apis’ attention was the type of food.

Because the five senses were overly sensitive, the warrior, who was literally seven colors of food with a strong scent or strong odor, did not wrinkle his brow even though he was surrounded by food with a strong scent that would normally remove a crane.

In particular, the mountain of thick meat piled on the plate in the middle of the table and the identity of the red drink in the ice bucket filled with the finest ice from the snowy mountains.

Grilled minotaur and red wine from Baltinate.

These are foods that warriors are particularly reluctant to eat because of their unusual scent.

A food he especially liked.

”…Did you do it all by yourself?”

”Nope! I only did the procurement and grooming of ingredients, cooking and preparation of tableware! We wouldn’t have been able to prepare a dinner like this if Victim and Downa hadn’t cooperated in the tasting!”

That’s saying you did it all by yourself.

Apis, who couldn’t overcome the melancholy created by the hero’s bright eyes, had no choice but to hold back his words.

”Hey. Warrior····. You this…”

”Hold on to your worries! apis! All the ingredients here are prepared with my own money! Not a penny was touched on the party money!”

”no····. That’s not…”

”hahahaha! When I was preparing and cooking the ingredients, I was thoroughly scolded by the smell! It doesn’t matter if the fishy smell of the monster’s blood and internal organs is covered all over the body! Why does the scent of ingredients that don’t suit your taste feel so undesirable! Hut! Indeed! This is the mystery of the human body! How amazing!”

”ha····. done····. More than that, it’s natural. The smell that I couldn’t help but put on and the smell that I put in my mouth because I liked it couldn’t be the same… for a moment····. What’s that in your hand?”

”Hut!”

Unlike the majestic horse-born bird, Apis didn’t miss the hero’s unnatural behavior as he hurriedly hid his hands behind his back.

”Oh, nothing!”

”Nothing! Give me that hand! hurry!”

”Ah, Apis! sky! Take a look up in the sky! A shooting star is passing by!”

”This is indoors! You asshole! It’s such a silly trick! Show me your hand! Quickly!”

”yes····.”

A warrior who stutters his hand.

Clearly confirming that his stocky palms were messy with large and small sword scars and sloppy bandages, Apis suddenly swallowed a heavy breath.

”This fool…!”

”hahahaha! Every time you give strength to trim ingredients! carelessly! I have imbued the blade with magic power! Habit is such a terrible thing! A man with the name of a warrior by name cannot cut even a single piece of meat satisfactorily! What a shame!”

The hero’s housework skills were not enough, so he boasted a disastrous level.

As if he was born only to fight. It was as if he had cleared his mind of all accessories that had nothing to do with combat.

Because she was so bad at housework that she often broke even the simple task of lifting and moving a plate.

It was to the point that only the hero was subsidized for the housekeeping duties that the party members took turns taking care of.

Of course, for a hero to receive only giving from others and not give it back is an act that goes against morality as a member of the community before being a hero, and the process was not as smooth as it was because he was trying to force special training on housework.

Thanks to the priest who rolled his tongue three times and roasted and boiled the innocent warrior successfully, the unfortunate warrior stepped into the kitchen and was able to successfully stop it.

At least until now.

”Why didn’t anyone stop this until the kid got to this point!?”

At Apis’ nervous high-pitched voice, the hero who seemed to be full of porridge shook his shoulders.

Then, like a child confessing his faults to his parents, the warrior carefully raised one hand and spoke to Apis.

”I’m sorry. apis. Actually, Victim and Downa tried to stop me several times, but that, that’s…”

”What!”

The warrior pointed to the floor with a trembling finger as if he was truly disrespectful.

What Apis’ eyes followed the hero’s fingertips discovered.

”What! Downa!? Big team!? What are you guys doing on the floor!?”

”Turn it off…”

”Turn it off…”

”I’m sorry! sorry!”

Apis roared loudly at Dauna and Viktim, who were lying on the floor like corpses with meat stuffed in their mouths.

Right next to him, the warrior who was bowing down and repeatedly apologizing fiercely began to explain the series of events.

”That’s it! It seems that some of the types of meat I handed over for tasting must have been poisoned! When I tasted it, it was okay! Forgetting the fact that I am invincible! That, so!”

”Ah Okay! I know roughly how things turned out! shut your mouth! Stop lowering your head!”

”Yes, four!”

A warrior who responded to Apis’ determined tone with alertness.

It’s like watching an immature younger brother who gets into trouble with his strict older sister.

Sometimes, whenever Apis rebuked the hero’s immature behavior, the priest joked about it.

”ha····. Did you already feed the antidote?”

”Yeah! of course! Just in case you didn’t know, I put a lot of thick meat in my mouth to help with energy! I’m sure both of you will come to your senses in no time!”

”yes····. It’s great, it’s difficult…”

”hahahaha! thank you!”

It was around the time that Apis, who had managed to rescue a party member who was slowly dying from the double whammy of airway pressure caused by poison and meat, took a quick look at the food on the table before moving her gaze back to the hero.

”So that’s it! apis! When did the priest you were looking for come here! Are you coming soon! Or an hour later? two hours later? Hut! Are you planning to come tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? That’s a big deal! The long-awaited celebratory dish might get cold!”

”That, that’s…”

Even at a glance, the hero, who seemed to be very excited, was constantly teasing Apis, like a child waiting for a gift from Santa.

‘For the rest of my life from now on, I don’t want to see the face of the hero again.’

Could it be because her innocent and innocent face full of hope was blocked by the veil of that cold smile and cold voice?

”sorry····. my delusion… It was an illusion…”

”Uh…?”

In the end, Apis couldn’t muster up the courage to tell the harsh truth as it is.

That pitiful excuse and cowardly choice led to the eradication of the light from the jewel-like eyes of the hero.

”Mi, sorry… Warrior····.”

”····”

Paslock.

Lamps that had run out of oil tore and scattered the darkness.