Dungeon? This Tree? Why Don't You Join Me for Lunch? (Dungeon Core)
Chapter 112: Foraging

Chapter 112: Chapter 112: Foraging

"Good people," I couldn’t just jump into an ice-cold river in early spring without any preparation!

Now... the thing was, if someone was heavy enough, then they were going to sink.

I had no illusion that I could get that effect with food.

Or at least, not 100% of the time.

The Trial by Water was a simple thing. A barbaric thing.

If one floated, they were pulled out. Killed on the spot. Because, apparently, since there was no fish in extremely pure mountain water, then said pure water rejected everything.

But the Trial by Water was not always conducted in extremely pure mountain springs.

Not that the bloodthirsty mobs cared.

What one could hope for as the best-case scenario for one of those trails was to sink.

That meant that one had to stay under the water, drowning, until some bigot decided that the water accepted them and wanted to send them off to Heaven.

Even if I wasn’t going to be going in for a dip, I would have still cooked up this plan.

A plan I needed Nick for. Nick, who was yet to wash the bloodstains from the hems of his robes.

His eyes a place so dark, I felt a chill in my bones.

Titan was there, by my side. I knew that he was not willing to let me go through with it all, but I didn’t care!

Because Hugo was right. Even if his words had been meant only to get me into trouble.

"Even if we are guilty," allying yourself to the common enemy was never a good thing, but I needed to show these demons I wasn’t going to be throwing them under the wagon. "We still have the right to a final meal!"

The crone spat on the ground. The crowd booed, taking sticks and stones from the ground.

"I fed you!" I roared.

Yes, roared! My blood was boiling in my veins.

Humans! Why were they like this? I gave them everything, protected them, and they...!

"Give us a final meal, yes," Hugo hissed. The man was not even bothering to cover up his red eyes anymore. "If you don’t, then you have no mercy in your hearts. You will be judged, same as us!"

"All I ask for," I had to appease the refugees somehow! "Is that you let me forage for food. Gruel and nettle. That is all I ask for."

It was food so light that there was no chance of someone stuffing themselves. It was probably a fare which the refugees had been eating at the start.

"We haven’t eaten gruel in days!" The crone yelled.

Titan stepped before me.

"It is a final meal. They will eat gruel and nettle, and you will eat roasted pigs with chicken in their mouths," it was quite the morbid picture, but I was certain that Titan could cook such a thing, should he want to.

"Roasted pigs?" A woman asked, who was clutching at a man old enough to be her father. They even looked similar.

"Yes, roasted pigs," Titan told her. I glanced at him. His eyes were softer.

Huh, I guess that he finally got a chance to do some good. Something that didn’t involve killing.

He snapped his fingers. I felt as my mana was used to purchase chicken and pigs.

Living ones.

I sighed, taking hold of Aron’s hand, and then heading towards the forest. Titan was going to make me pay for the con I was playing on these people.

As I heard the first pain-filled squeals of a pig which had not done me anything, I knew what my boss mob was doing. He wanted me to find out the hard way that what I was doing was stupid.

And like all stupid things, it had a price.

But, hey, who cared?

Nettle and gruel...

Gruel was watery oatmeal, with less grain. Nettle... I would need to get my gloves out.

Boil it later.

If I used any other seasonings apart from salt and pepper, I was certain that the refugees were going to crucify me.

But, on the bright side, I got to see it:

The Forest of Forget-Me-Nots, behind its barrier.

It was right there. Vibrant and lively. The birdsong soothed my ears.

"Sylvan," Aron was staring at the forest as well. I knew that he wanted to run. That he wanted to go there and never go out. "It’s not worth it."

Was it really meaningless? Was I really risking it all for nothing?

"Life is always worth it," I countered, looking around. Huh, my mother wanted to live off nettle, once.

And now, I was going to use the plant for a final meal. Oh, how the world...

I felt Aron’s finger wipe a tear off my cheek.

"Aron," I whispered. I felt like it really was going to be my last meal. That I was going to drown in a river so muddy, my corpse wouldn’t even be gotten out.

"Aron," I didn’t know what I wanted to ask him. My brain was already seeing dark shadows in the distance.

Already feeling the cold touch of death.

"You are going to cook it by yourself," he wasn’t calling it a last meal, thank the divines.

But I was. The phrase repeated in my mind like a mantra.

Was that how Methuselah felt when the woodcutter came for him? How had he stood so brave?

How did he just send me away?

When I was a weapon who could have saved him? Someone he could have just taken over and used to kill the poor, rag-wearing man, who had just feared for his family?

"Aron!" I cried out, falling into his arms.

I was shaking. The forest was just as peaceful around me.

My mind was swimming with thoughts about mobs and rage. About Titan covered in guts.

"Sylvan. I won’t let you bloody your hands," Aron whispered. Promising me the same thing he had promised me, once, back there in Solas’ war camp.

As my world fell apart for the second time.

I whimpered.

If I didn’t bloody my hands, then he was going to bloody his.

Kill people I fed.

I slapped myself on the cheek. I still shook. The tears still fell.

It would be an hour before I began to pick the nettle.

No gloves on my hands.