The Otherworld Was Way Too Brutal – After I Healed the Mutilated Girl, She Turned Into a Completely Obsessed Yandere Guard Dog - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The afternoon was hands-on training time.

We headed outside the town.

Today we went even deeper than before—into the northern forest, where the danger level jumps way up.

“They’re coming. A pack of forest apes—Forest Apes.”

Cattleya gave the warning.

Right after, several shadows burst out from between the trees.

Long-limbed, ape-type magic beasts.

They move fast and they’re smart enough to hunt together as a team.

There were five of them.

“I’ll take two. You handle the other three, Jin.”

“Three at once?”

“You can do it. Not with how you move now.”

She barely finished saying it before she shot forward like a gust of wind.

A dull gray flash streaked through the air, and in an instant the heads of two apes were tumbling through the sky.

Way too fast.

And the sword work was just… too beautiful.

But I didn’t have time to stare.

The remaining three apes came charging at me, furious that their buddies got killed.

“KI-SHAAAAA!”

Sharp claws came flying.

I dodged using the footwork Ray drilled into me.

Then I stepped in hard—just like Cattleya taught—and counterattacked.

Zash!

My knife sank in.

Straight through the first one’s heart in a single thrust.

Solid hit.

But right away the other two closed in from both sides, trying to pincer me.

Nowhere to run.

—Old me would’ve just blocked with my arm here.

Cattleya’s words flashed through my head.

Win without taking a scratch.

I threw myself flat to the ground on instinct.

I slid right under their legs like a baseball slide.

Claws crossed over my head.

The two apes almost clawed each other and lost their balance.

Big opening.

I popped back up and slashed one across the back of the neck from behind.

Before the last one could even turn around, I jammed the knife straight into its eye socket.

“Haa… haa…”

Three corpses lay there.

I caught my breath and checked myself over.

No cuts.

Covered in mud, sure, but no blood.

“Not bad.”

Cattleya walked over.

There wasn’t a single drop of blood on her armor.

“You still got a lot of wasted movement, but your judgment was good. Passing grade.”

“…Thanks. I wouldn’t have made it without you.”

I cut out the magic stones and materials from the ape bodies.

Then, like always, I pulled up my status screen.

――――――――
・Healing Magic <Repair Evolve>

Lv1. Stops bleeding.
Lv2. Treats wounds and fractures.
Lv3. ＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊
――――――――

Still nothing.

Still not level 3.

But the garbled part was definitely getting lighter.

It felt like the letters were about to become clear any second now.

“Don’t rush it.”

Cattleya must’ve read my face, because she spoke up.

“You’re steadily getting stronger. Once the container grows big enough, the contents fill up on their own.”

“The container, huh…”

“Yeah. Your body and mind have to grow strong enough to handle level 3 power. Otherwise the skill might not evolve.”

Makes sense.

Powerful skills usually come with heavy backlash.

Even level 2 bone-healing hurts like hell and drains me bad.

Level 3 was probably gonna be way worse.

“Let’s head back. Good hunt today.”

We grabbed our loot and started the walk home.

When we got to the house, there was this loud crash—gashan—coming from inside the room.

“…!?”

Cattleya and I locked eyes, then rushed to throw the door open.

“Tsugumi!”

Inside, a water jug had shattered. The floor was soaked.

And right in the middle of it, Tsugumi was crouched there, drenched head to toe.

“Ah… Jin…”

When Tsugumi saw my face, her expression crumpled like she was about to cry.

A cup was lying on its side next to her.

“What happened here?”

“I was… trying to get some water…”

“You tried doing it by yourself?”

“…Yeah.”

Tsugumi looked down at the floor.

“You come back tired, Jin… so I wanted to at least get water ready for you myself… but…”

With only one arm, tilting a heavy water jug and pouring must’ve been way harder than she expected.

She lost her balance and knocked the whole thing over.

Her clothes were soaked through, the floor was a puddle.

You could feel how crushed she was by her own helplessness. It hurt to see.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I can’t do anything…”

“You don’t have to apologize. You did it for me, right?”

I dropped to my knees on the wet floor and pulled Tsugumi into a hug.

“Just the thought makes me happy. Thank you.”

“Uuu… Jin…”

Tsugumi started crying into my chest.

While I comforted her, I glanced toward the doorway.

Cattleya was standing there.

She quietly watched the fallen jug and the crying Tsugumi.

Her face didn’t show pity.

It was more like… she’d found some answer that satisfied her inside.

Without a word, Cattleya walked over, righted the fallen jug, and started wiping the wet floor with a rag.

“Ah, Cattleya-san, I can—”

“It’s fine. You stay with her. That’s your job.”

Cattleya kept working steadily.

She wiped the floor efficiently and picked up the scattered cup.

Here I was making the Knight Captain of the Guardian House do chores.

I felt bad, but also really grateful.

Tsugumi watched Cattleya’s back with tear-filled eyes.

The look in them wasn’t hatred anymore. It was something more complicated.

The day she really felt how powerless she was.

And the day she learned how strong—and kind—Cattleya could be.

Our weird little shared life was starting to change, little by little, but for real.