Chapter 40

Having let go of any lingering attachment to ingredients, I immediately approached the Fruit Tree Antlered Reindeer.

Even as I came within arm’s reach, the creature simply stood in place, quietly watching me as it had been doing all along.

Until now, Serena and I had thought its Awakening ability was to grow and monsterify surrounding plants, sharing their senses.

But that was a mistaken judgment.

Well, not entirely wrong, since it did create the same phenomenon.

There’s a theory called Occam’s Razor.

When explaining a phenomenon, if all other factors are equal, the simplest explanation is most likely correct.

So, what are the odds that this Fruit Tree Antlered Reindeer, an Awakening Species, awakened multiple complex abilities simultaneously?

Given how rare it is for an Awakening Species to awaken multiple abilities, it’s more plausible that it awakened a single ability that merely appears to be multiple.

And its behavior of not moving from the same spot since the battle began.

At first glance, it might seem like the calmness of an Awakening Species, but that’s not the case.

If it were simply growing plants, that would be one thing, but to monsterify and control them, it would need to stay rooted in one place.

Yes, like a plant putting down roots.

Its true ability was to turn the plants connected to it into extensions of its antlers.

Just as it rapidly grew the antlers on its head to block Serena’s attacks, it grew and controlled the surrounding plants as if they were its own antlers.

Since they became part of its body, sharing their senses was only natural.

It’s like grafting other plants onto a tree.

Except the grafting target is itself.

Given that it’s a named entity, perhaps we could call it “The Grafting One.”

Serena, having exhausted all her mana, lost her will to fight and gave up on fleeing, but in truth, even if she had run at that point, the Awakening Species rooted here wouldn’t have pursued us.

Though by the time I resolved to defeat it, that no longer mattered.

Even after closing the distance to its immediate vicinity in an instant, the creature showed no reaction.

No matter how fast I approached, it could have acted if it wanted to…

And when I finally got close enough to look into its eyes, I understood.

Its deep blue eyes, calm and unwavering.

The creature had realized the moment I began to show my true strength.

That any resistance was now meaningless.

A disaster too vast to resist with individual will.

Its unresisting, deep eyes seemed to accept its own death.

*Gulp*

Facing those eyes, I tightened my grip on the hunting knife once more.

An Awakening Species’ monster is a target for extermination by its very nature.

Its actions, the damage it caused to civilians—none of that is considered.

An Awakening Species is a being that, regardless of good or evil, can disrupt the natural ecosystem by its mere existence.

Look at the mess the Fruit Tree Antlered Reindeer has made with the plant-type monsters it created.

While it’s currently rooted and controlling them, what if it stopped controlling them and left? Would those plant-type monsters remain calm?

Uncontrolled plant-type monsters would devour surrounding flora and fauna, expanding their territory and reproducing.

In a few years, this land would become a demonic realm, overrun by rampaging plant-type monsters, inaccessible to ordinary creatures.

Whether this Awakening Species’ monster had malicious intent or not is irrelevant.

Its mere existence harms other human species, so it must be hunted.

This is survival of the fittest.

If I don’t hunt it now, who knows what calamity the seeds it sows might bring.

To eliminate those seeds.

Ironically, while I felt conflicted about cutting down the unresisting Awakening Species, its face showed no distress.

It calmly accepted its death, like a monk who had transcended all.

In the beginning, nature had no concept of good or evil.

But one day, humans appeared and classified them as such.

Creatures beneficial to humans were deemed good and protected, while harmful ones were labeled monsters and exterminated.

Thus, nature, which once had no good or evil, was labeled and reorganized according to those labels.

And the resulting “perfected” nature looked just fine to humans.

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The journey back to the Adventurer Guild after defeating the Awakening Species was straightforward.

On the way back, Kurt carried the Awakening Species’ corpse, with Serena perched on top like she was riding a carousel.

With no need to search for monsters or slow down for Serena’s pace, Kurt swiftly returned to the guild.

Serena might have been angry that Kurt had hidden his true strength, but surprisingly, she didn’t get mad and quietly accepted his escort. This was because Serena’s mind was preoccupied with the last words Kurt had spoken before defeating the Awakening Species.

“Don’t worry. What you’re worried about won’t happen.”

“I’ll protect you.”

The last part was slightly different from reality, but what did that matter?

In any case, he had saved her like a prince riding a unicorn.

“Hehe… Hehehe…”

At least, thanks to that, Kurt wasn’t interrogated about hiding his strength, so that was a blessing in disguise.

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After showing the Awakening Species’ corpse to the Adventurer Guild and receiving mission success approval, I looked at Serena sitting quietly in a corner.

Having nearly faced death, she seemed quite shaken. The lively demeanor she had shown when we set out was gone, replaced by the quiet demeanor of a noble lady.

Seeing her like that made me feel guilty, as if it were my fault.

No, it wasn’t just a feeling—it really was my fault.

My laziness had pushed us to the brink, even though it hadn’t been necessary.

I was the one who wanted to take on the mission, and Serena had only joined the party out of goodwill, yet I ended up hurting her.

It was my fault.

I wanted to apologize somehow…

Ah, right. Cooking.

It might be a bit simple, but eating something delicious when you’re feeling down always helps.

And I had some meat from the Awakening Species’ monster, so I could make something really good with that.

Thinking that, I spoke to Serena.

“Are you okay?”

“Uh, uh-huh! I… I’m fine!”

“Why the sudden formal speech? Relax. We’re comrades.”

“Comrades… Comrades. Ehehe… Right! Got it, Kurt!”

Poor thing.

Serena kept switching between formal speech and sudden, awkward laughter.

Clearly, the terror had left some part of her mind wounded.

Seeing her smile, I felt a pang of guilt.

“Are you hungry?”

“Hungry? Oh, no! Not at all!”

*Growl*

Despite her cheerful words, her stomach immediately protested, betraying her.

*Rumble*

Hearing that, her face turned bright red, and she hugged her stomach with both hands, but the sound had already been heard.

“Y-you heard that?”

“Yeah.”

“Ugh…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make something delicious right away.”

“C-cooking? Now that I think about it, the reason I suggested we form a party in the first place was…”

“Just sit tight and wait.”

With that, I turned and headed to the Adventurer Guild’s kitchen to cook.

From behind, Serena muttered something like, “Thinking about it, there’s no rule that says women have to cook in this day and age… Hehehe…” but hearing that only made me feel more guilty, realizing the mental shock she’d suffered was greater than I thought.

I need to heal her mental state quickly with some good food, or things might get dangerous.

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