Butcher Demon - Chapter 302

Having some concerns, I decided to drop by the hospital, and I found all the girls completely cleaned up.

Seeing the girls showered, their hair dried, and dressed in clean clothes, their appearance struck me deeply in the bright room. I could vividly imagine everyone’s relieved expressions.

Haruka was in the room. Yakumo was there too.

“Gevaudan…”

She quickly approached me and whispered.

“Yakumo-kun woke up, so I thought it might be a good idea to have him checked by a doctor…”

“Did you already have him checked?”

“No… I changed my mind, I thought it’s better to talk to you first.”

“Do you know that doctor?”

“Yes. He’s kind and good with children, so I thought he might offer good advice…”

While having such a conversation, I let my gaze wander as I searched for the person I was looking for——and found her.

――That hat… really stands out…

It was the droopy-eyed girl who had been bound in the smaller room within the cave.

The girl sat alone in a corner of the room. With a large hat covering her face, she kept her head down and nervously darted her eye around. Looking at her like this, her hat really looks like a giant mushroom. It was quite a quirky hat.

After we got surrounded by a sense of unity with the rescued girls, I couldn’t help but smile and just keep moving. I also didn’t want to scare the girls, so I kept quiet. And then, before I knew it, I missed the right timing and she ended up coming all the way here.

My eyes met the droopy eyes that were busily moving under that mushroom hat.

Uwaa――…The girl’s expression changed as if she had seen something horrifying. As expected, she knows what a Butcher is.

As I exchanged glances with the girl for a while, suddenly Yakumo walked towards her.

“Ah, that…”

The droopy-eyed girl noticed the horn flute hanging around Yakumo’s neck and made a sound of recognition. Confirmation achieved.

“Next, please? Oh, that lady over there. You still need an examination, right? Please come this way.”

A nurse who had been looking for someone to call to the examination room called the droopy-eyed girl.

The nurse took the girl’s hand, trying to help her stand up.

“…!”

The droopy-eyed girl resisted silently.

“Is something wrong? Can’t you stand? Are you hurt? Just wait a moment… can someone help?”

When the nurse spoke, other nurses swooped in. They began pulling and tugging, trying to take her away.

“Wait, stop! Please, no! Ah—”

During this exchange, the mushroom hat accidentally slipped off and fell to the floor.

Everyone gasps.

Aaah. I was going to deal with it quietly. Guess I was a bit too late.

“…Alien!” someone shouted.

No doubt about it. She unmistakably speaks fluent alien language.

And she had horns on her head. A single horn protruded from her forehead, a bit shorter than a finger but noticeable.

She had glossy black hair, but if you looked closer, her eyes had a hint of purple in them, a color that couldn’t belong to an Earthling unless it was colored contacts.

The people around took a step back simultaneously.

A nearby police officer began to panic, and I caught a glimpse of them reaching for their holstered gun.

“Hold on,” I interjected, cutting in.

“Let me talk. Lower your gun.”

“But!”

“Just do it. If a fight breaks out here, a lot of people will die.”

I’m not lying. She might look gentle, but I couldn’t be fooled. If she was an alien skilled in combat, she could turn the room into a charred mess, and everyone except me might die.

I kept making a gesture with my hand, pushing down, and reluctantly, the officer lowered their gun.

“Your name?” I asked.

I addressed her in broken Mifosis language.

She looked at me, her slightly droopy eyes glowing with suspicion.

“….Kyo.”

She introduced herself as Kyo.

“Kyo. I’m Gevaudan. friendly, butcher. I’m here, safe.”

“Gevaudan…-san? Safe… really? I find it hard to trust, though.”

“Explain. Why, you, here?”

“Well, that’s—”

Summarizing Kyo’s story, it seemed she had been trapped there due to the following circumstances.

While on an expedition for work, she stumbles upon a strange iron road like nothing she had ever seen before. Thinking it might be an undiscovered ancient ruin, she followed it with excitement, only to get completely lost in the process. As she wanders the woods alone, she runs into a strange man.

“So, after talking for a while, that person said that he’d seen a treasure chest. As an adventurer, I couldn’t just leave it be you know? So I went to the location I was told, and indeed, it was there. But when I opened the box it was a teleportation trap!”

“Hmm.”

According to Kyo, a teleportation trap was a nasty trap found in dungeons. When triggered, it teleported the victim to an entirely different location.

When she came to her senses, she found herself surrounded by a group of small, green-skinned beings.

Initially, she managed to fight back, but eventually, a horse-headed monster emerged from the back. It was unusually strong, overwhelmed by its strength, she was left unconscious. When she woke up again, she was in a cave. At first, she struggled to escape, but she was subdued by the horse-headed man, finding herself in that situation.

“That weird guy. Feather, hat, scarf?”

“Yeah, yeah… That’s right! he got me into this mess!”

Definitely Baghwan.

“Acquaintance?”

“No way! I don’t even know that guy! This is exactly why they tell adventurers shouldn’t trust random travelers!”

Kyo pouted. After adjusting her mushroom hat, she threw a straight punch at the empty air, seemingly targeting an imagined Baghwan.

So, that means the woman the corpse scavenger Gofrat mentioned was her.

“Iron, road, what’s it like?”

“Um, let’s see. It’s a strange road with two thin iron bars stretching on top of a row of wooden planks.”

A railway track. Kyo must have stumbled upon Earth’s railway tracks and followed it out of curiosity, leading her here.

“More importantly, Gevaudan-san, where is this?”

“Australia, near, Melbourne.”

“?”

Kyo raised an eyebrow and tilted her head.

“War. Enemy planet. Earth. This, not, Mifosis.”

“Not Mifosis… Eh? No way, right? Why would something like this happen… It’s just one stroke of bad luck after another…”

She seemed to understand what I meant, and she sighed in frustration.

“War, know?”

“Not too much… I’m not a soldier. I’m just a small-time adventurer who’s as disposable as a wood chip.”

“Adventurer?”

“It refers to registered travelers in Elysium. You need an adventurer’s certificate to venture to various places and do what you like. Also, you can get a lot of benefits if you join a mutual aid society system called the Adventurers Insurance Association. It’s practically mandatory to join.”

“Where are you from?”

“A small town I’m using as my base … I’ve received a lot of help from the people there, so I take on jobs like this occasionally, even though they’re not very profitable. But seriously, my luck is just… Haaaah~~…”

Kyo exhaled deeply, a self-deprecating groan.

“Eat, Subhuman?”

“Huh? Eat a subhuman? No way!”

She responded to my question with a look that seemed to say, ‘Ew, seriously?’ and shaking her head. It doesn’t seem like she’s lying. That’s unusual.

“I, help, you, close obedient, save.”

“Oh, yes. I understand. I’ll behave. I’ve been wondering how I can have a normal conversation with a Butcher, but… well, I’m relieved to have met someone who can understand me. This must be the will of the gods.”

Kyo let out a sigh of relief, seemingly genuine. She didn’t seem like a bad person.

“This girl is good. She has nothing to do with goblins, and I’ve made her promise not to cause any trouble. I’ll take care of her.”

As I declared that there was no danger, I could feel the unsettling atmosphere that had been lingering fading away.

Haruka approached me.

“What were you two talking about?”

“This girl, her name is Kyo. She followed the railway tracks and ended up getting lost near that cave.”

“Railway tracks?”

“If it’s the railway, it’s out of Melbourne.”

Ed said.

“From here, there’s a route heading north along the East Coast to Queensland, and there’s also a route heading west all the way to Perth. Along the way, you can transfer to Adelaide and traverse the heart of the Australian continent. There’s also a route that goes north to Darwin, which is popular as it passes near places like Ayers Rock. Tourists often use it.”

“Wow.”

It’s kind of exciting. Traveling across vast land by train is something I’ve always dreamed of. A sleeper train. I’d like to take a train at least once. There’s always a murder mystery on those, right?

“Um, Gevaudan-san…”

Kyo chimed in timidly from behind.

“I really want to go back soon… I think the people in town are worried about me, and besides, we can’t stay in the heart of enemy territory like this. If I follow the iron road, I should be able to go back. Would you mind helping me get there?”

“Alone, go. Please.”

“So cold…”

She seemed shocked by my choice of words.

“Uh, —I mean just earlier, you said something like ‘Stay near me, baby, and I’ll help you,’ right?”

“I, said that…?”

Did I really talk like dandyism from a bygone era? I can’t quite control nuances with my limited language skills.

“When I get back, I’ll definitely repay you. Please help me. Leaving me alone in the enemy’s world is like just like telling me to die, right?”

“I have. Things to do.”

“And what things?”

I’d better not mention Oberon’s stuff.

“Find. Separated, friends.”

“In that case, you really need to help me get there. It’s a bit far from my base, but if I go to a bigger city, I might be able to find your acquaintances using the global information network. I’ll put in a good word for you at the Adventurer Insurance Association.”

“Umm…”

The Mifosis information network. It’s intriguing. I want to know what’s happening over there. Maybe I can find information about the region where Titania’s bugs are causing a commotion.

As I pondered whether to help her, Kyo suddenly changed her expression. She gave me a sharp glare, her mouth pursing into a pout.

“――… I can tell everyone about it, you know? Are you sure you want this?”

“What?”

“I saw it all… Y-you are, taking advantage of me…!”

She hesitated for a moment, then pointed a trembling finger at me, her face beet red.

“To forced! Um, well… t-to take advantage of me like that! Using me when I couldn’t resist and handcuffed so shamelessly… going all out until I was so full… enjoying yourself so much until my stomach swelled! The moment I realized my hat had come off and I was violated by the butcher, I thought, Ah, it’s over. I’m dead. Farewell, everyone in town. Please take care of my pets. I was saying my farewell words in my mind! Even though you saved me in the end, I still think that was terrible!”

“Seriously? You saw?”

Then she suddenly stepped forward, as if she had caught the devil by the tail.

“You were being praised just now, weren’t you? You even accepted flowers. It must be because of your accomplishments, rescuing women from that cave. Even though I didn’t understand their words, I could tell from the vibe. But I know. Gevaudan-san… you were doing the same thing to the other girls in the room!”

“!”

“I could clearly hear the sounds and screams! You… you r​​​​​​​​​​​mitochondriaа​​​​​​​​​​​is the powerhousepist! Men are all like a combination of hyena and cockroach, a beast! Just like what neighbor lady says!”

——This girl must have night vision…

“Fufu. Now imagine what would happen if I spread this! Now that you understand, send me back to Mifosis. Then I’ll forget about that brutal act.

Mmm, quite an effective threat. The extent of the social damage I would suffer is immeasurable.

But——

“How, you, tell?”

“Wha—!?”

Her energy visibly waned as she caught onto my implication. She slumped into a chair, clearly disheartened.

“Fine, do as you please… I’ll stay quiet near you until I can leave this place…”

This girl is quite funny.

Hmmm…

Now, what should I do?

Should I seek refuge in a large human city or go to an alien city?

That’s a pretty hard question.