The Otherworld Was Way Too Brutal – After I Healed the Mutilated Girl, She Turned Into a Completely Obsessed Yandere Guard Dog - Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The day after we killed the Mad Bear, the boss of the northern forest.

Me and Cattleya headed to the city’s trading post to sell off the materials we carved up.

“Th-this is… Mad Bear fur… and the gallbladder…!?”

On the other side of the counter, the middle-aged appraiser’s eyes went wide and his hands were shaking.

Can’t really blame him.

This stuff came from a monster that even this town’s veteran hunters would get wrecked by if they all ganged up on it.

And here it was, brought in by some young punk and a woman.

“Where did you get these…? No, wait—who even…”

“I took it down. Got a problem with that?”

Before I could say anything, Cattleya flashed her ID plate while she talked.

It had the Guardian House crest on it.

The second the appraiser saw that, his whole face changed.

“Th-this is Lady Cattleya! My apologies! Of course—if it’s the knight captain herself, that makes perfect sense!”

He bowed super deep and stopped asking any more questions.

If I’d come in alone, he probably would’ve thought it was stolen or something.

Man, Cattleya’s reputation really carries.

“Settle up. Pay this guy.”

“Y-yes! Right away!”

The amount they showed was more money than I’d ever seen in my whole life.

A few gold coins.

Enough for a regular family in this town to kick back and live easy for half a year.

“You sure about this? You basically played bait the whole time.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m not hurting for cash, and you landed the killing blow anyway. Plus…”

Cattleya started walking toward the exit and threw the words over her shoulder.

“Use that money to treat that girl to something good to eat.”

It sounded gruff, but it was actually kinda sweet.

I gratefully took the gold coins and followed after her.

After leaving the trading post, we headed to the market.

We needed to stock up on consumables for the next hunt.

But my feet kinda stopped on their own in front of a general goods store.

“…What’re you looking at?”

“Nah, just this for a sec.”

What I picked up was a fancy hand mirror with some decoration.

Silver frame, kinda pricey.

Old me probably wouldn’t have even glanced at it, but with my wallet right now, I could swing it.

“For Tsugumi?”

“Yeah. Now that she can see again, I wanna let her actually look at her own face properly.”

Plus, she’s always had really pretty features.

I was hoping seeing herself might help her get a little confidence back.

“…Not a bad pick. Girls are weird like that—sometimes just looking in a mirror can totally change their mood.”

“You do that too?”

“I’m the exception. If I’ve got time to stare in a mirror, I’m sharpening my sword instead.”

Cattleya snorted through her nose.

I gave a wry smile, paid up, and tucked the mirror away.

I was already looking forward to seeing Tsugumi’s face when she got it.

After we finished shopping, we headed to the square where we were supposed to meet up with Ray.

Ray was already there, staring up at the sky with this really grim look.

“Yo, Ray. What’s with the face?”

“Oh, Jin. And Lady Cattleya.”

Ray noticed us and looked a tiny bit relieved, but then the crease between his eyebrows got even deeper.

“Actually, I heard something kinda weird.”

“Weird?”

“The northern forest. You guys said you took down the Mad Bear yesterday, right?”

“Yeah, we did. Just sold the materials.”

When I answered, Ray sighed like “yep, figured.”

“Looks like the ecosystem in the forest is starting to fall apart.”

“Ecosystem?”

“Yeah. The Mad Bear was the absolute top dog in that area. Now that the big weight’s gone, all the other magic beasts that were keeping low are starting to go nuts trying to claim the empty boss spot.”

Power balance collapse.

Yeah, when you think about it, that makes total sense.

Take out a top predator, and everything below it gets hyper active.

“Especially the ones that move in packs—they’re the real problem. Without proper control, they’re just attacking anything they see. They’re probably coming down to shallower areas… meaning, close to the city.”

Ray’s words made me and Cattleya look at each other.

“…Guess we gotta take responsibility.”

“Yeah. We’re the ones who stirred this up.”

Even if it was for leveling, we can’t let the city get hurt because of us.

Plus, more rampaging magic beasts just means more EXP farming opportunities.

“Let’s go. Today’s northern forest cleanup.”

“Right!”

We geared up and headed back into the northern forest.

The second we stepped in, it felt way different from yesterday’s creepy quiet—there was this weird, feverish energy.

The smell of blood was thick.

Proof that territory fights were breaking out everywhere.

“Kishaaaaah!!”

Three Hungry Wolves burst out from the bushes.

They looked skinny as hell, but their eyes had this crazed glint.

“Small fry.”

Cattleya swung once.

The lead one got sliced clean in half.

But the other two didn’t even flinch—they jumped right over the corpse and came at me.

No fear at all.

Nah, their hunger and fight instinct were just overpowering any fear.

“Fuh!”

I met them with my knife.

Stabbed one in the throat, then blocked the other’s attack with my arm.

Fangs sank into flesh—sharp pain.

But it didn’t reach bone.

—Burn, cells!

I shouted it in my head and triggered healing magic.

The wound closed in an instant.

Pain hit hard, but I gritted my teeth and took it.

The wolf still clamped on my arm freaked out from the sudden swelling meat and tried to let go.

Too slow.

I drove the knife straight into its skull.

“Haa… haa…”

Took a few minutes just for three.

The magic beasts were moving faster and sticking to the fight way more than usual.

“Jin, don’t let your guard down. More coming.”

Just like Cattleya warned, beasts started pouring in from deeper in.

Almirage, Forest Ape, Wild Dog.

Magic beasts that shouldn’t even share the same territory were all mixed up and charging.

Total chaos.

“There’s… so many!”

“Back to back! Don’t get surrounded!”

Me and Cattleya pressed our backs together and handled attacks from every side.

Every time Cattleya’s sword danced, blood sprayed.

I swung my knife like crazy too—got hurt, healed instantly, then hit back.

Zombie fighting style.

It was pretty much my thing now.

It hurts.

Stamina drops fast.

But I don’t go down.

I absolutely won’t die.

We probably fought for a whole hour.

Finally the presence of magic beasts around us started thinning out.

Dozens of their corpses littered the ground.

“…Phew. That was one hell of a cleanup.”

“Yeah… my arms are pumped.”

I plopped down right there.

Mana was still okay, but mentally I was wrecked.

Still—we took out that many.

They weren’t on Mad Bear level, but numbers are power too.

I opened my status screen, full of hope.

――――――――

・Healing Magic <Repair Evolve>

Lv1. Stops bleeding.

Lv2. Treats wounds and fractures.

Lv3. Regenerate lost organs (small) and remove disease.

Lv4. ＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

――――――――

…Nothing.

Still stuck at level 3.

Well, there was a tiny change.

The garbled part—the outline looked a little clearer than before.

But compared to the jump from 2 to 3, the progress was super slow.

“Damn… guess it really needs way stronger enemies.”

“The higher the level, the more EXP it takes to jump. That’s just how it works.”

Cattleya said while wiping blood off her sword.

“I told you not to rush. And fights like today’s aren’t a waste. Your movements got a little sharper again.”

“…You just saying that to make me feel better?”

“It’s the truth. The old you would’ve been eaten alive by the fifth one.”

Cattleya held out her hand.

I took it and pulled myself up.

“Yeah. Guess we just gotta keep grinding.”

There’s no magic spell that makes you instantly strong.

Just slow, dirty, steady work.

But we’re definitely moving forward.

Tsugumi’s eyes got fixed.

Next is her arms and legs.

No matter how long it takes, I’m gonna get there.

We collected only the magic stones and valuable parts, then left the blood-soaked forest behind.

Evening.

When we got home, Tsugumi crawled all the way to the entrance to greet us.

“Welcome back, Jin.”

Just seeing her face blew all my tiredness away in a second.

Both eyes open, looking right at me.

That alone made me feel alive.

“I’m home, Tsugumi. Were you a good girl?”

“Yeah… I got water by myself.”

Tsugumi pointed proudly toward the corner of the room.

There was a cup filled to the brim with water.

Sure, there were some spill marks around it, but compared to yesterday, it was huge progress.

“That’s awesome! Good job, Tsugumi!”

“Ehehe…”

I patted her head and her eyes narrowed happily.

I caught Cattleya giving a small nod from behind her too.

“Oh yeah, Tsugumi. Here.”

I pulled the hand mirror out of my pocket and handed it over.

“…What’s this?”

“Just look.”

Tsugumi took it curiously and peeked in.

Her reflection stared back—two matching eyes.

Amethyst-colored pupils on both sides.

A perfectly symmetrical, pretty face.

“…This is… me?”

“Yeah. Cute, right?”

When I said that, Tsugumi’s face turned bright red and she lowered the mirror.

“I-I’m not… cute or anything…”

“No way. You’re the cutest in the world.”

“Ugh… Jin…”

Tsugumi hugged the mirror to her chest, eyes getting all teary.

She looked really happy.

I did a mental fist pump.

“Alright, we splurged and got meat today. Cattleya, help out?”

“Got it. I’ll handle the fire.”

That night.

We had ourselves a proper fancy dinner for the first time in a while.

Tsugumi kept the mirror right by her pillow, glancing at it every now and then and smiling all happy.

Peaceful night.

But in the back of my mind, Ray’s words kept nagging.

—The ecosystem collapsing.

—Magic beasts coming close to the city.

Today’s mess might’ve just been the opening act.

With the Mad Bear gone, the northern forest was turning into a total chaos pit.

Whatever spills out from there might threaten this town someday.

When that happens… can I protect them?

Tsugumi.

This little bit of happiness.

I pictured the status screen in my head again.

The road to level 4 is still long.

But there’s no time to sit still.

Tomorrow we’re going deeper.

Gonna take down stronger enemies.

With fresh resolve, I squeezed the hand of sleeping Tsugumi.