I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 198

Before Lucky could wake up, I finished clearing everything and setting the scene. I wasn’t some crime scene investigator, but it wasn’t like he was going to analyze the scene either. I just needed to make the story I came up with match properly with what I was going to tell him. I also made sure to hunt down all the flesh howlers, too. If they decided to go chase after the main group, it would defeat the purpose of us staying behind.

I had feared that I’d have to go hunting a bit and that Lucky would wake up before I returned, but it turned out most of the flesh howlers remained in a perimeter around the fight. They didn’t seem to know the outcome of the battle, perhaps afraid to get closer to the howl demon and end up as food, but unwilling to leave without at least enjoying its leftover scraps. As a result, it only took me a short time to clean up the mess. Naturally, a few dozen more flesh howlers, even after their entire energy reserve was depleted, were insufficient to provide me another level.

“Mmm… huh?” Lucky’s eyes finally flickered open.

I gave him a moment, watching as he slowly oriented himself. The clearing around us was a mess of scorched earth and broken trees. The signs of battle still lingered in the air—burnt ozone, cracked wood, blood. However, this was expected in a battle against a champion sage beast. My actions, however, were now completely obscured. Lucky finally sat up, his eyes falling on the dead Felix.

“A howl demon attacked,” I explained. “He managed to repel it. It took his life.”

Lucky reached up and touched his head. “It appears like I missed the good part.”

“You were lucky. You got knocked out by a flesh howler while you were climbing the tree.”

“Damn…” Lucky let out a small, shaky breath. “A howl demon? For real?”

“It’s hard to believe, but Felix fought valiantly.” I shook my head; glad I was good at lying. “It was mortally wounded. It ran off. The flesh howlers followed it, likely wanting to eat it and take its energy. That means if we leave now, we can get out of here alive.”

I reached out with my hand. He stared at me for a long moment, and I kept my expression grim and formal. He finally nodded and grabbed my hand. I helped him up.

“I want to bury Felix first. We also need to return his armor and weapon to his family. It’s what he’d want.” Lucky explained, dusting off his pants, a serious expression on his face.

I didn’t argue with him. We didn’t have a shovel, but I conveniently found some discarded wood that fit the desired shapes closely enough, which is to say I shaped them myself while Felix wasn’t looking. Lucky worked beside me, and the pair of us managed to dig a shallow hole in the dry earth within an hour or so. We laid Felix in the shallow grave, arms crossed, his face smoothed of pain. Lucky removed his pendant, armor, bow, and a small crest from his pocket.

We covered the grave in silence. Once the earth was flat, Lucky stacked stones over it, one at a time. When we were finished, it looked like nothing more than a mound among dozens of other forest humps, but at least the animals wouldn’t be able to eat him nor another other people passing by rob and defile his corpse.

I offered one last glance at the grave. “Let’s go.”

We left the clearing behind shortly after. The path the expedition took was clear, as there was only one path. I walked with measured steps, slow enough to let Lucky keep pace while still keeping a pace similar to the one Fortune likely set. He kept glancing behind as if worried flesh howlers would start chasing us again, but I was fairly confident that there were no more sage beasts in the area. The trees started to thin and the trail started to become more defuse by the time the sun began dipping below the trees.

Lucky and I made camp beneath a rock outcropping to the side of the road where we could build a small fire without it being easily seen. He fell asleep fast, curled in a bed of pine needles, the tension of the day having finally caught up with him. I sat with my back to the fire, sharpening a stick with a slow, idle rhythm. My senses were stretched out as far as they could reach as I replayed the events earlier. I hadn’t lied to Felix in the slightest. I wouldn’t put his failed assassination attempt on the lives of the Lou family. Even if he hadn’t wasted his life protecting me, I would have made that decision.

A few hours after midnight, I heard the sounds of a large group approaching. This wasn’t the sage beasts, but men on horseback. I immediately kicked dirt over the fire, snuffing the embers out in seconds. Some of the dirt landed on Lucky’s face, causing him to stir.

“What…?” As soon as his eyes opened, I put a hand on his mouth.

“Be quiet, someone’s coming,” I whispered into his ear.

He grew sober quickly, blinking a few times before nodding. I pulled my hand away slowly and gestured for him to follow me. He got up without complaint.

“Who is it?” He asked.

“Not sure.”

“It could be the rescue party sent to find us.” Lucky looked at me hopefully.

“It could be something else,” I responded.

He looked like he wanted to argue, but for some reason, he merely nodded and followed me as I led him over to a thicket just beyond the outcrop and crouched under cover. To his credit, Lucky joined me without further complaint. The pair of us waited as the footsteps grew closer. I could see the lights of torches as a group of about fifteen armored men went straight to our camp. One of them immediately checked the campfire.

“Still warm. Someone was here.” He spoke in a gruff voice.

“Is it our target?” The one who appeared in the lead spoke.

“Could be.” He spat into the fire, causing it to sizzle.

The leader turned his head and yelled. “Lou family! We’re here to rescue you! Anyone out there, you can come out!”

I looked over at Lou, expecting him to jump out and announce our presence, but he was stiff and silent. When he saw me, he lightly shook his head. It appeared like we agreed. The men yelled a few more times, but we remained hidden. Thankfully, they didn’t linger. After a few curses, the men took off, heading down the path we had already walked.

“Can’t we assume their dead?” One of the men asked. “I don’t want to go into flesh howler territory if I don’t have to.”

“My lord wants proof.” The leader responded.

The men left, and once they were far out of sight, Lucky let out a sigh. I gave him a side look.

“That group is too large and too well armed for a rescue team.” He explained. “Plus, they don’t look like city guards, but someone belonging to a rival house.

I nodded. While I couldn’t come up with any particular reason, I wanted to avoid them; they felt off to me, too. Rather than coming back out, we remained in our hiding spot until morning and then continued on our way.

Although we were behind the expedition, that was only by about half a day. The plan was to meet up at the rendezvous point, and it was only about noon when we got close. I could smell the smoke before we crested the ridge.

“No…” Lucky began to run, but I didn’t stop him.

I followed him as the camp came into view, or where the camp was supposed to be. Instead, the site was in ruins. Tents were ripped and scattered. The packs were torn open, and the contents were strewn in the dirt. Anything of value was missing. Although there was some blood, there were no bodies.

I leaned down and examined a torn piece of fabric caught on the branch of a nearby tree. “This wasn’t the work of bandits.”

Lucky paled slightly. “You think the howlers-?”

I shook my head. “Do you think they’d be so clean? I meant that one of the rival families did this.”

“Another family…” Lucky looked around, his hand tensing into a fist. “Why would they do this?”

“To find out what we know, to lower the competition… at least there is good news.”

“What’s that?”

“They didn’t appear to kill anyone. They just captured the Lou family. They’re only willing to offend the Lou family to a certain extent. They have a bottom line.”

“This… what are we going to do?” He asked.

I put my hand on Lucky’s shoulder. “We’re going to show them are bottom line.”