The NPC sets out to defeat the demon king-Chapter 13

We finally reached the cliff.

It had taken us over three whole hours of travel just to get here.

"Let's rest here for a moment," I told them.

I then pulled out my map.

Since we were at the cliff now, heading east would make sense since there was a village in that direction. But judging by the distance, it'd probably take us around seven days to reach it.

A whole week of trekking just to get to the village.

And since the capital was even farther, I estimated it would take us a solid two or three months to get there.

If we descended from this cliff and cut straight across, we'd save ourselves those seven extra days. But if we chose the eastern detour through the village, it'd add a week to the total journey.

A week wasn't the worst thing to lose.

"We might be able to find some sleeping bags there for you, Cecilia," I said, still glancing at the map.

"Yay!" Cecilia's voice rang out, pure and energetic as ever. She gave a small hop in excitement with her chest bouncing visibly along with her.

I instinctively turned my eyes away before I saw more than I should.

When I mentioned sleeping bags, I remembered what happened between the goddess and me last night.

I still couldn't believe I actually did that with her.

But then again, she gave me permission, so I didn't need to feel guilty about it.

Still, it wasn't something we could just pretend never happened.

I looked at the goddess.

She was already looking at me with flushed cheeks, but the moment our eyes met, she turned away.

That, in turn, made me glance away too.

"Still, I can't believe I'm finally going on an adventure!" Cecilia said, completely oblivious to the awkwardness between the goddess and me. "It's like I'm finally spreading my wings!"

We just let Cecilia do her thing while the goddess and I stood there awkwardly avoiding each other's gaze.

***

We went east, toward the next village.

The path was overgrown and wild. I wiped sweat from my brow as we pushed forward, using the sword from the sheath on my waist to cut through the brush.

The ground was muddy and unstable. It was a thick sludge that almost pulled me off my feet more than once.

The goddess clearly wasn't enjoying this terrain. She kept grumbling under her breath, but whenever I looked her way, she blushed.

Stop that. Seriously. If you keep blushing like that, you're going to make me start blushing too.

Cecilia, innocent and clueless as ever, kept marveling at everything like it was the most amazing thing she'd ever seen.

She'd dart off to look at random things—leaves, mushrooms, bugs—and crane her neck up to see just how tall the trees were.

But with how uneven the ground was, she ended up falling a lot.

Saying she "fell flat on her face" wasn't even accurate, honestly—her breasts usually hit the ground first.

As we kept trekking through the forest, something felt... off.

Weirdly enough, we hadn't seen any monsters at all.

That was strange, considering the forest was usually crawling with gray-furred wolves and other magic beasts.

But so far, during the entire journey, we hadn't run into even one.

It would've been a blessing if things really were as calm as they seemed, but... I couldn't shake the strange feeling crawling under my skin.

Something was off.

Sure, I told myself I shouldn't worry—that we should just be thankful we hadn't run into any danger so far—but deep down, it didn't sit right.

There was no way we wouldn't encounter at least one magic beast out here.

Which made the whole journey feel a little unnerving, to say the least.

I glanced up at the sky.

The sun had already climbed to its peak, casting golden beams through the gaps in the canopy above.

It was midday now, and the heat was starting to press down on us.

"Let's wait here for a bit," I said, slowing to a stop. "We can eat lunch here too. You two, what do you want to eat?"

Cecilia hesitated. Her lips parted, eyes flicking toward me like she was debating something.

"What is it, Cecilia?" I asked, watching her closely.

"If you don't mind... could I try cooking?"

I blinked. "You want to cook?"

"W-Well, I know it might sound rude but... your cooking..."

"I know. It's not that great, right?" I cut her off with a tired half-smile.

I wasn't blind to it.

When it came to food, my talent ended at not poisoning us.

What I cooked was barely passable.

Bland when I was lucky, and just this side of inedible when I wasn't.

"I-I'm sorry," she muttered, flinching a little.

I let out a dry chuckle. "I'm not mad. Honestly, I'd be relieved if someone took over."

Food that didn't taste like regret would do wonders for morale. And our stomachs.

Cecilia admitted she'd never cooked a single meal in her life. Her grandfather had always handled it.

But hey—first time for everything, right? No one's good until they try.

"Here." I handed her the cooking mantle with a nod.

That moment, right there, was the exact second my fate was sealed.

Because only a few moments later, the air was pierced with the sharp, acrid stench of burning meat.

"Cecilia..."

My voice came out flat, barely containing my horror.

I turned toward the fire.

What was once decent meat had now transformed into blackened, smoking hunks of carbon.

Not even "burnt" was the right word.

It was charred to the point it could've passed for a lump of coal.

This wasn't just bad.

This was catastrophic.

"I'm sorryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!" she shrieked, dropping the skewers and bolting away like a startled rabbit, waving her arms in panic.

I stared after her, sighing heavily.

There was no point in running after her, not when all we had left was the culinary aftermath of a battlefield.

Resigned, I crouched down beside the fire and picked at the charred meat. We had no other choice.

We ate in silence.

***

Since the morning, not a single word had passed between the goddess and me.

We'd woken up side by side, our bodies just inches apart.

And yet, it was like a wall had been erected between us overnight.

There was no eye contact as well as a single conversation.

Just awkward, stifling silence as we marched onward.

Every step was heavier than the last, not from fatigue, but from the weight of everything unsaid.

It felt like we were stuck in some sort of awkward stalemate.

When the sun began to dip again, painting the sky in strokes of orange and gold, I stopped and took a deep breath.

"Alright. We'll set up camp here," I said, more to break the silence than anything else.

The area was a wide clearing.

It was open, flat, and bathed in fading sunlight. It was the best option we had.

Sleeping out in the open, with room to move and breathe, was far better than squeezing ourselves into the forest. At least here, we could see the stars.

After the disaster of a meal earlier, I ended up deciding to handle the cooking myself.

Cecilia sat silently a short distance away, her posture slouched and her eyes cast downward in quiet shame.

She looked like a child who had broken something she couldn't fix.

She felt guilty and embarrassed all at once.

Her earlier criticism of my cooking clearly weighed on her now, especially after her own attempt had turned out to be a catastrophe in comparison.

It wasn't just bad, to be honest. It had been nearly inedible.

There was only a small stash of food left in my bag, and it was enough for maybe three days if we stretched it thin.

If we didn't find something—anything—edible along the way, starvation was going to become a very real threat.

That was also why I'd been hoping to run into a magic beast or two.

I'd been scanning our surroundings not just for safety, but for prey.

I had hoped to hunt one for meat and stretch our rations longer. But with how eerily quiet the area had been lately, there wasn't a single beast in sight. Not even a rabbit.

And now, our food stock was slowly but surely bleeding away.

Then, breaking the silence, Cecilia suddenly spoke.

"Say... did something happen between the two of you?"

Both I and the goddess jerked slightly at the same time, like puppets tugged by the same string.

"W-What makes you say that? Of course, nothing happened between me and him! Absolutely not! Hahaha—" The goddess laughed, but the sound came out brittle, artificial, like glass clinking awkwardly against stone.

"No... It's just," Cecilia continued, "I feel like there's been some weird tension between the two of you. For some reason."

"Nah! There's no way!" The goddess replied quickly, her words tumbling over each other. "I mean, why would there be any kind of tension between me and that man, huh? Don't be silly!"

She was flustered—clearly.

Her voice went up an octave, and her hands were gesturing too much, trying to brush it all off.

Cecilia tilted her head, her long hair swaying gently with the motion. "Come to think of it... did you wake up really early this morning, Lady Goddess? When I woke up, you weren't by my side."

The goddess stiffened, her eyes darting sideways. "Ah—Y-Yes! I woke up just a bit before you. I, um, slipped out of the sleeping bag very, very quietly so I wouldn't wake you up!"

"Is that so?"

She was sharper than I gave her credit for. I honestly thought she wouldn't notice a thing.

Then, with a giggle, she added, "Hehehehe... For a second, I thought you'd slipped out of our sleeping bag and snuck into Sirius's instead."

I nearly choked on my own spit at that.

The goddess looked completely dumbfounded, her face frozen mid-expression.

It sounded like a lighthearted joke on Cecilia's part, but the way she said it... It was just a little too close to the truth.

After that strange, awkward dinner and the awkwardness that followed, we finally set up our sleeping bags.

The night air had cooled, carrying the subtle sounds of distant insects and the rustling of leaves stirred by wind.

Despite lying down and closing my eyes, sleep refused to come.

The stars stretched endlessly above us, twinkling in the sky like a million silent watchers.

I lay motionless in my sleeping bag, eyes open, thoughts racing. Something about tonight felt heavier than usual.

I was pretty sure the goddess wasn't asleep either. She was lying in the same sleeping bag with Cecilia, who was already softly breathing beside her.

And then, after some time passed...

"Hey..."

I turned my head and found her standing just beside me, bathed in the faint silver glow of the moonlight.

She was standing just beside my sleeping bag now, blushing faintly, her gaze flicking away from mine. One hand gripped her opposite arm tightly, her whole body a bundle of hesitation.

She looked toward me with only the corner of her eyes, avoiding direct eye contact.

"Can I... go inside yours again tonight?"

I swallowed hard, my throat dry. I didn't know what I was feeling. I didn't know what to say. Or maybe I didn't want to know why she was asking.

But I gave her a small nod anyway.

And without another word, she slipped under the cover next to me.