NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5 - Metamorphosis 4
Chapter 5. Metamorphosis 4.
In the end, Terup didn’t come out of the fireplace.
Whenever I tried to take her out, she would crawl up the chimney and refuse to come down, leaving her covered in soot and looking like a mess.
If she got hurt like that, tetanus would be inevitable.
“Kyaaa──?!”
“──────?!”
Worried, I tried to pull her out by force, but she threatened me with her claws and scratched at me.
“…Should I just throw this away?”
“You probably should.”
The leather gloves I used were shredded, left dangling instead of my hand.
‘It may look human, but physically, it’s just a beast.’
Given that Terup’s body size was about the same as Stella’s and she could crawl up a chimney and hold on, her strength couldn’t be compared to a human’s.
Once I realized that, I became too scared to touch her.
As a result, I couldn’t light the fire, and dinner wasn’t prepared.
Fortunately, we had a piece of hard bread from the village, so we ended up having a modest meal.
Mother suggested cooking outside, but Father wouldn’t let her, saying the smell would spread.
Father, holding his weapon, looked sharper than usual, making it difficult to approach him.
I roughly cut up some rabbit meat for Terup and placed it in a bowl in front of the fireplace.
Would he eat it or not?
If he did, I wanted to see it at least once.
I lay under the blanket, pretending to sleep but keeping my eyes fixed on the fireplace, waiting for Terup to come out.
·
·
·
·
·
·
“…Today’s business is ruined…”
Father’s voice brought me back to my senses.
It seemed I had fallen asleep without realizing it.
‘…Terup?’
I glanced at the fireplace, but Terup was nowhere to be seen; it looked like she had run away.
My parents were quietly preparing for the day’s work.
It seemed they hadn’t noticed I was awake.
“Did she take all eight rabbits?”
“There’s nothing we can make for breakfast today. We’ve got nothing to sell, and he even ate all the salmon…”
My face burned with embarrassment.
I let my guard down because she looked like a girl Stella’s size, only to be betrayed like this?
It was my own fault, but I felt furious and resentful toward Terup.
Still, I couldn’t let a child no bigger than a six-year-old die.
“We need to come up with a plan. It’d be good to go down to the village together to buy some supplies. And maybe… have a meal outside for the first time in a while.”
‘The village? Going down to the village?’
I felt tempted.
Familiarity with the outside world was essential for my independence.
Though I felt guilty, I jumped up eagerly.
“Can I come too?”
My parents looked at me in surprise.
Then Father firmly shook his head.
“No.”
“I’d like to visit the village at least once—”
“Don’t make me say it twice, Lian.”
Father’s tone was harsh.
‘I spoke without thinking.’
Meat was precious here.
In a world trapped in the Malthus trap due to a lack of nitrogen fertilizer.
And we had lost our ‘meat.’
Since Father was a hunter, we had more access to meat, but only nobles and merchants could afford to have meat three times a day.
I was complacent, fooled by her human-like appearance.
‘I didn’t expect my conscience to be this lacking.’
She looked so cute, but he turned out to be a thief.
I should have chased her out, even if it meant beating her.
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, Lian. I promise we’ll take you next time.”
Mother hugged me.
“But if not you, then who will protect your siblings?”
It was my fault, but they comforted me, leaving me feeling awkward and unable to do anything.
My parents continued their preparations quickly as usual.
The only differences were that Father was dressed in light armor and Mother’s basket was lighter than usual.
“Take good care of the house.”
“We’ll bring back a snack you like on our way home.”
“Yes. Have a safe trip.”
I bid my parents farewell as they left the house, then crawled back under my blanket and closed my eyes.
It was still the crack of dawn.
* * * * * *
Sleeping with the leather blanket pulled over my head left me feeling stifled.
If I slept any longer, I might have suffocated.
Flap!
I threw off the blanket and got up.
The ground was damp, but the sunlight was already strong.
I hung the sweat-soaked leather blanket and my parents’ blankets on the clothesline, spreading them wide.
I tidied up the house and finished some simple chores.
By then, the sun was high in the sky.
Now began another period of free time.
For the next six hours, I had to stay here in a daze.
Feeling comfortable, my thoughts began to overflow.
Mostly about Earth and my family.
As a result, a sense of indebtedness to my parents began to grow.
I vaguely wanted to repay what I had received.
At the same time, I was restless.
I needed to become independent as quickly as possible.
To do that, I couldn’t afford to skip practice for even a day.
‘Let’s go hard.’
No matter how young I looked, inside I was a full-fledged adult.
Hunting?
It’s just like catching small rabbits.
Surely I could handle that at my age?
“…What are you doing, brother?”
“I’m going hunting.”
“You think hunting is easy? Just go back to sleep.”
Still, Damien trailed after me.
First, I strapped a dagger to my waist.
‘At least let me make up for one rabbit!’
Even just one would be fine!
I strapped the bow Father had made across my chest.
The quiver loop could be attached to Father’s belt, but it was too big for me.
I tried shooting the bow a few times to get a feel for it.
Thwip— Thwip—
The arrows landed far from where I aimed.
Even though I aimed straight, some arrows flew into the sky.
Ridiculously, some arrows just stuck in the ground.
“Pfft! You’ll end up shooting your own foot at this rate!”
“Damn it…!”
Practice, nothing but practice.
How many times had I retrieved and fired the arrows?
I was beginning to get a feel for shooting straight.
There was a tendency for the arrows to veer in all directions when fired, so I needed more practice.
Once I had a decent feel for it, I started preparing to head up the mountain.
“Should I come along?”
“No. Stay with Stella.”
“Figured you’d say that. Oh, take these gloves.”
Damien handed me the gloves.
Mother had already mended the gloves torn by Terup’s claws.
They were ripped quite badly, but she had somehow sewn them back together so quickly…
‘They really are diligent people.’
With no way to carry the arrows, I put them in a sack, donned gloves and boots that were a bit too big for me, and headed up the mountain.
Maybe, just maybe, if I managed to catch a deer, Father’s anger might lessen a bit.
Though, catching one was unlikely—even spotting one would be difficult…
At the sound of crunching leaves, a rabbit I hadn’t noticed darted off in a flash.
Its camouflage was incredible.
I couldn’t even think of chasing the fleeing rabbit, so I could only watch as it disappeared.
I envied Father’s cat-like footsteps.
…But what good was envy?
What I needed was experience.
Even if my steps had been quiet, it wouldn’t have changed the fact that I couldn’t catch it.
─Focus.
I told myself to focus, but even so, spotting a rabbit was far too difficult. And when I did manage to find one, my arrows missed.
‘Just one! Let just one hit!’
Thwack! Crack─!
The arrow aimed at the rabbit smashed against a rock and broke.
The arrow had flown off-course.
I ended up with a broken arrow for no good reason.
Movies always talk about overcoming the wind, but seeing this, it’s clear movies are just movies.
‘…Let’s at least look for some edible plants and mushrooms.’
Eventually, the sack filled only with edible plants and herbs.
I felt like a rabbit, picking only greens.
After losing five rabbits, I temporarily gave up on hunting.
The ground was wet, and the mushrooms and herbs were covered in dirt, so they needed to be cleaned.
Using the water jar wasted too much water.
And I wasn’t the one who fetched that water from dawn.
Even if it was a bit far, I decided to head to the river. I walked toward the riverbank where I had once gone with Father. What would I even say about the broken arrow…?
Rustle!
A strange sound tickled my ears.
Following the sound, I found a deer standing before me.
‘A stag!’
Deer antlers were used as medicinal ingredients here, and now was the season when the valuable velvet antlers were in.
Father loved those antlers.
The antlers were small and blunt, growing like branches.
They looked like gold.
My heart pounded.
It felt like finding a salmon swimming up into shallow waters.
‘Stay calm.’
Deer aren’t something you can catch with half-hearted recklessness.
I crouched low and quietly drew the bow from my chest.
I didn’t trust myself to hit it from a distance.
Just like Father said, I needed to shoot within 24 cubits.
Normally, approaching would have been impossible, but we were by the river.
The sound of the flowing water drowned out most noises.
I notched an arrow and crept closer as silently as possible.
How far had I gone?
Snap!
A crunch underfoot sent a shiver through me like stepping on a landmine.
A rotten branch hidden beneath the fallen leaves.
‘…It would break if I stepped off, and it would break if I left it alone.’
Might as well take the chance.
I silently lifted my foot, praying earnestly in my heart.
Crack─!
…It seemed the gods weren’t on my side.
The snapping twig alerted the deer, which turned its head and stared at me with clear eyes.
It was over.
I should have stayed home and slept…
Deer are highly cautious animals.
It was obvious without looking. That deer would run away now.
‘I should head home and take in the blankets.’
I had given up, but I still couldn’t tear my gaze away from the deer out of lingering regret.
The deer was staring at me, too, but strangely, it didn’t run. It must’ve felt I wasn’t a threat because I was so small.
In fact, the deer was much bigger than me.
Snort─
‘Huh?’
The stag snorted dismissively, as if mocking me.
It stirred a mischievous impulse within me.
‘You’re mocking me?’
It was like spitting at the cake you couldn’t eat.
I drew the bow horizontally and pulled back the string.
I aimed above the deer’s collarbone, at its lungs.
I aimed, but would it even hit?
Thwip!
The sound of the bowstring snapping was incredibly weak.
The arrow flew slower and with less force than Father’s, and its trajectory was erratic.
It didn’t hit the lungs; instead, it flew upward—thud!
The arrow lodged into the deer’s eye.
A small splash of fluid erupted.
The lens had burst.
“──────?!!”
Screeeeeech───!!!!
The deer let out a high-pitched scream, flailing wildly in pain.
It sounded like a rabbit wailing in an extremely high tone.
‘I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hit your eye!’
The deer’s eye was pierced, and somehow, even my own eyes hurt.
Bang!
Finally, the deer bolted, running away from me.
It stumbled, fell, flailed, and got back up again.
As if suffering a concussion.
‘This… could it be?’
The possibility made my heart race, my breath hitch, and I began laughing like a madman.
‘Did I just catch a deer?!’
Did I just catch a deer with this tiny, kid-sized bow?!
I dashed toward the fleeing deer.
But the deer quickly disappeared from my sight.
…There went two arrows.
It was never an animal a kid could catch in the first place.
But giving up now seemed too wasteful.
I couldn’t tell how deep the arrow had lodged, but behind the eye was a thin bone, and beyond that, the brain.
Considering how the deer had behaved, it had clearly suffered brain damage.
Who knows?
It might collapse and die while running around like that.
The excitement of the first hunt burned within me, like being thrown naked into the Arctic during buck fever, and I steadied my trembling body.
I knew the lay of the land here well, thanks to Lian’s memories.
I immediately began tracking the deer.
As I ran, the sound of hooves reached my ears nearby.
Trampled bushes and branches bore the traces of being smashed and crushed.
I had once learned tracking techniques from Father in passing, so although slow, I could track the deer with certainty.
Plus, its eye was ruptured.
It naturally ran in the direction of its good eye.
How long had I been tracking?
Screeeeech───!!!
Grrr─?! Grr! Grr! Aw! Awoo─!
The stag’s pained cries echoed from afar.
Mixed among the other animals were… growling sounds?
It sounded like a cow’s lowing, mixed with a monkey’s scream.
It even sounded like a person laughing.
As if enjoying themselves—like a hyena.
It also resembled the vocal cries of native people.
I walked quietly, ensuring my steps made no noise as I approached the source of the sound.
What on earth was causing such a noise?
As I neared the source, I cautiously notched an arrow and pulled the string, using the dense bushes as a cover.
There, I saw…
Crunch! Crack!
Screeeeech!! Screeeeech!!!!
─The deer was being dismembered alive.
‘Kobolds! It’s kobolds!’
Recognizing kobolds was easy.
They had a long mane that ran from their neck down their spine to their tail.
Their heads were large compared to their bodies.
The rest of their fur was short, with spots resembling those of a leopard.
These creatures were known to have the strongest bite among all humanoids.
Their thick, sharp teeth were even more menacing than a crocodile’s.
Their hyena-like faces, with those ugly, exposed teeth, gave them the appearance of cunning predators hiding their savagery, making them look even more ferocious.
Their jaws were thick.
Their necks, covered by bulging trapezius muscles, were barely visible.
The young kobolds were gnawing on the deer’s intestines, which were likely filled with feces, tearing at them like ravenous piranhas, completely unfazed.
Blood splattered, and the frantic sound of tearing intensified.
Despite the gruesome scene unfolding before me, it felt surreal, like watching a movie, with no sense of danger or reality.
Instead, a random thought crossed my mind.
Would carnivores not get sick from eating dung?
The deer’s screams became even more frantic.
Its testicles and genitalia had been torn off while it was still alive.
The kobold that appeared to be a parent ripped open its belly and tore out the liver, feeding the pieces evenly to its young.
Whack─!
The sound of tearing flesh echoed, sending shivers down my spine.
One of the young kobolds was kicked by the deer thrashing in agony and sent tumbling.
‘Is it dead?’
No, it wasn’t.
The kobold, kicked by the deer, brushed the dirt off its muddied rear and pounced back on the deer.
Meanwhile, the large kobold that seemed to be the parent didn’t like the deer’s struggling.
Whack! Whack! Crunch! Crack! Snap!!
It picked up a rock the size of my head and began smashing it down on the deer’s skull.
The immense force broke the still-soft antlers, burst the remaining eye, and caved in the skull.
Crack!
Finally, the kobold sank its massive jaws into the deer’s neck and snapped its spine.
Then it yanked the broken antlers out by the roots.
The kobold looked down at the now lifeless deer, chewing on the antlers and kicking the deer’s head.
When the deer convulsed and shivered, the kobold finally stopped kicking, seemingly satisfied.
Then the kobold’s gaze fixed on the arrow embedded in the deer’s eye.
The kobold seemed too lazy to use its hands, so it pulled the arrow out with its toes.
The arrow pulled out the deer’s eye along with it, spilling murky, ink-like fluid and the torn lens down the shaft.
Plop! Plop!
The kobold kicked the arrow up as if playing hacky sack, then caught it effortlessly with its free hand.
Based on their appearance and savage behavior, I thought of them purely as monsters, but the skillful way it moved just now was something only a sentient being could do. It had intelligence.
The kobold shook the arrow clean of the eye and lens fluid before inspecting the arrowhead closely, then glanced around.
─A chill ran down my spine.
I instinctively felt I was in trouble, a realization that shot up my spine.
My body froze, unable to move.
‘No, I mustn’t move!’
From the few times I’d been up the mountain, I knew that the moment I moved, I’d be caught by their keen vision.
I was the rabbit, and the kobolds were the hunters.
I could do nothing but stay still.
Staying still was likely the safest option.
Like an insect hidden among the grass. That’s what I had to be. That’s all I could do.
The kobold’s sense of smell was likely overwhelmed by the blood, so I thought as long as I stayed put, I’d be fine.
“──────?!”
Until the leader looked directly into my eyes.
‘Is it looking at me?’
Even roughly estimating, it was 30 to 40 meters away.
Maybe it didn’t actually see me. I wanted to believe it wasn’t looking at me, but its gaze seemed to be aimed at me.
─That’s how it felt.
The kobold alternated its gaze between the deer, its own pack, the arrow, and me. My mind, which had gone blank with fear, began to function again.
‘Should I run now?’
Or should I stay still, hoping it didn’t really see me? Many carnivorous animals have a chasing instinct, right? What if it came after me madly? How would I escape?
Thoughts pierced my mind like needles.
Was the kobold debating whether to eat me or the deer?
Crunch───!!!
The kobold began twisting and tearing off the deer’s leg.
Bare-handed!
The kobold gripped the deer’s leg with both hands and—threw it?!
Whoosh─!!!
The deer’s leg flew like a boomerang.
Thud!
The leg slammed into a tree, making a loud noise.
“──────?!”
It’s trying to kill me!
I’ve been spotted!
I need to run! Now!
I stumbled backward and fell to the ground.
Instinctively, I looked at the kobold.
The deer leg, after hitting the tree, rolled helplessly on the ground and landed right in front of me.
And then their gaze.
The pack of kobolds, who had been tearing into the deer, stopped eating and stared at me from around the thrown leg.
Nearly ten pairs of eyes bore down on me, and I was overwhelmed by the intensity.
My heart pounded as if it would burst.
Was this how kobolds taught hunting?
I was terrified.
What happens now?!
I would reincarnate if I died, so dying wouldn’t matter.
But even so, there were types of deaths I did not want to experience.
No! Not like this! I notched an arrow to my bow.
The kobold pack glanced between me and their leader.
But as if uninterested, they ignored me and resumed their meal.
‘They don’t care about me…? Why?’
Yet, the leader continued to watch me.
Observing my actions, as if waiting to decide what to do.
By this point, I was sure I’d been caught. My heart, which had been racing wildly, began to settle.
It was ironic.
‘Wouldn’t it usually throw rocks or chase after its prey?’
The severed deer leg looked horrific.
It wasn’t cut cleanly; the thigh, torn and butchered in agony, was still visibly twitching and convulsing, its muscle fibers spasming relentlessly.
It was that fresh.
…If I had understood correctly.
It seemed to be telling me to take this leg and leave.
To me, it was an incredibly generous offer.
I picked up the deer leg and backed away from the kobold pack.
The kobolds didn’t pursue me, but my legs still trembled from lingering fear.
They were thinking, reasoning ‘people.’
‘They’re really people. Humanoids!’
A mix of exhilaration and fear made my heart pound violently, almost painfully.
It wasn’t venison or antlers, but would Father be pleased with this?