Chapter Twenty Six: I deserve a rest

Dragging back all those dropped items had been quite the ordeal.
When I finally came to, I felt… weightless. My body sparkled with the same vitality it always did after I passed out, as though my exhaustion had been stripped away in sleep.
The eagle territory had returned to normal. The golden trees swayed gently, their light shimmering in the air, and beyond them I could see the distant expanse of the kangaroo territory.
Before leaving, I busied myself. I peeled bark from several trees, laying them flat on the ground and binding them with rope until I’d fashioned two wide sheets. Then began the slow process of gathering loot.
Stone after stone. Wing after wing. Ninety-nine blue stones. Ninety-nine pairs of golden wings. The first of each I absorbed into myself, but the rest I stacked carefully onto the bark-sheets. Once the piles were secured, I folded the sheets, tied them tightly with rope, and dragged them across the soil. The leaves I had layered beneath gave them a square, two-meter spread.
I repeated this at each territory. The eagle’s loot, then the kangaroo’s, then the scorpion’s and gazelle’s. Compared to the eagle’s bounty, the others barely filled space, so I managed with just the second sheet. With a rope in each hand, I dragged both weights through the forest. When trees blocked the path, I swerved and found another way.
Bit by bit, I hauled everything back.
Inside the barrier. Into my cave. Through the small mouth of my room, load by load, until patience rewarded me: my chamber brimmed with treasures. Only the bed and the narrow entrance were spared from the mountain of items.
“Hey! Wake up! What are all these!? Where did you get them!?”
I stirred in bed, still half-dreaming. Someone was shaking me roughly.
“Hmm~…? No~ I’m sleepy~~” I muttered, not even opening my eyes.
The rocking didn’t stop. “I said get up!! You had me worried sick, and here you are sleeping soundly!”
Who’s… yelling?
I raised my hand weakly, patting the air to test if the voice was real.
Pat. Pat. My hand touched something flat.
“Hmm… what’s this? So flat…”
Then—SLAP! A clean hit across my cheek.
“Oww!!” My eyes snapped open. Standing over me, glaring with a fire that could melt stone, was Leila.
“L-Leila… oh, sorry. I didn’t see you yesterday. I thought it would be better to head into the forest early—”
Her eyes twitched at my words, her hands planting firmly on her hips. “Y-Yesterday? Stop playing dumb! You’ve been gone for eight days! And now you give me this idiotic excuse!?”
Eight days? What’s she talking about?
I sat up, pulling the blanket over myself. The curtain had been lifted, daylight spilling into the room. “What are you saying? I left yesterday morning. I came out of the forest at dusk, thought I’d rest a little, and slept here. I was planning to head back to town once I had some energy. For some reason, I’m still so sleepy~~ yaaawn…”
I expected her to relax, but instead she only looked more bewildered.
“You’re not making any sense. What day is it today?” She sat on the bed beside me.
“Hmm… yesterday was Jiya (Friday), right? That makes today Gobe (Saturday). I didn’t forget the names you taught me.”
She pressed her finger to her forehead, sighing. “There are a lot of mysteries about you… but you couldn’t have been asleep for a whole week, right?”
“How rude… you think I’m that lazy? Look at all the items I got in just one day.”
When I gestured toward the piles of loot, her lips curled into a smile of disbelief. “Yeah, right.”
But then her eyes landed on the golden wings, and she froze. “Are those… golden wings!? How did you get them!?”
“I told you, from the forest. What else did you think they were?”
“I… I didn’t want to believe it.”
So I recounted everything since leaving town—though I carefully avoided mentioning the black sword.
When I finished, she stared at me in silence, her eyes wide. “Just who are you? No one—no one—could acquire this much in one month, let alone eight days.”
There it was again. Eight days.
She explained. The morning after I left, she hadn’t searched because I’d said I’d be in the forest. By the second night, with no word from me, she checked my town lodgings—empty. After two more days, worry drove her to the mountains, only to find my cave untouched. Fear gnawed at her that something had happened. Yet when she tried to cross the barrier into the forest, it denied her. Her barrier magic wasn’t strong enough.
Since then, she had come every morning, waiting, hoping.
Her words stunned me into silence.
“…If what you’re saying is true, then… I’ve been fighting monsters for eight days straight?”
She nodded gravely. “That seems to be the case.”
What… the hell happened to me?
To me, it had felt like only a single day. The sun had shone normally in the eagle territory. Had time moved differently? Or had it warped when I fell and blacked out?
I didn’t know. But I was alive. And I had my loot.
Leila’s eyes swept the cavern, wide with disbelief. “This is insane. Even the heroes couldn’t fight for eight days straight without exhausting their magic…”
Even the heroes…? My heart swelled. Did that mean… I had surpassed them?
“Huhuhu~~” I smirked arrogantly. “Well, it wasn’t easy. But since I’m strong, the monsters must have been too weak…”
Her eyes narrowed, mocking me. “Are you sure you didn’t just… pick these up somewhere? I can’t believe a man with no level could do this.”
“Sorry, my dear, but I’m not the man I once was. I could beat a low-level girl like you in my sleep.”
The room shuddered. A surge of blue aura flooded from Leila, shaking the cave.
“You say you can… beat me?” Her voice dropped, dangerous.
Uh oh. I forgot how fast she gets angry.
I scrambled out of the blanket, standing on the bed with a grin. “Just kidding!! Look, this is how we stretch in my world—”
“W-W-What are you doing!?” SLAP! Her hand met my cheek again. Then she turned away, face flushed red.
Confused, I looked down.
Oh.
I wasn’t wearing anything.
Most of my clothes had been shredded in battle. My last shorts had torn mid-fight. I’d finished naked and, afterward, only wrapped bark around my waist. From her angle… she had seen everything.
Mortified, I dove back under the blanket. She saw me…!!
Later, she returned with clothes made of pale wood, tossing them on the bed. “You need proper gear if you’re going to keep fighting…”
They were woven with the same magic she’d used for curtains and sheets.
“Wait… if you can make clothes, why did we buy from that shop before? Those weren’t protective.”
“Huh? You think people can just use magic whenever they want? You can’t create anything without permission.”
“What!?”
She explained—the empire strictly controlled magic. Only certified specialists could create, taxed by the government.
“Sigh… I thought magic meant freedom. But it’s just another cage… Then people like you, who can use every type, must be highly valuable.”
Her voice lowered. “…That’s why he plans to keep me forever.”
I knew who she meant: that bloated noble.
I dressed quickly. “Don’t worry about that. Once we sell all this, we’ll have enough to pay off your debt—and more. Look: ninety-nine wings, ninety-nine eagle stones, plus everything else. We’ll be rich.”
But instead of cheering, tears welled in her eyes.
“Why… why would you go this far just to free me…?” Her voice broke as sobs wracked her.
I lifted the curtain. She was on all fours, tears pooling on the floor.
My chest tightened. I knelt, placing a hand gently on her head. “What are you saying? We’re friends, right? And besides… you’re the only strength I have in this world.”
She collapsed against me, crying harder, hugging me tight.
It was the first time a girl had ever hugged me like that. My heart raced, though I tried to stifle it.
We stayed like that for ten minutes before she drifted into sleep. I carried her to the bed, then left quietly. She was far too dangerous to my self-control when she looked that cute with her silver ears and fluffy tail.I left the cave early that morning. The air was crisp, the forest alive with quiet rustles. Outside, tied to a tree near the first rock, was a red ground dragon.
“Vroo!!” it rumbled as if to greet me.
I approached and placed my palm gently on its scaled head. Its hide was smooth, like warm leather beneath my fingers.
So this is what it feels like, I thought. Without that suffocating evil aura pressing down on me, I could actually enjoy touching the creatures of this world.
“You didn’t eat anything yet, right?” I asked softly, walking a short distance into the woods. I gathered various leaves and returned with them in hand.
“Hmm… can dragons even eat leaves?” I wondered aloud.
The beast answered for me by snatching them from my hand, chewing noisily. It devoured everything except the green ones, turning its nose away from those.
I chuckled, lingering by its side, brushing against its scales, tracing the ridges of its muscular frame. Memories flickered: the time I had ridden with Milta. That time was short, but the help she had given me had been immense.
Nearly forty minutes later, Leila’s voice shattered the calm.
“I’m going to be late for work!!” she shouted from inside the cave.
She yanked up the curtain and scolded me from above. “Why did you let me fall asleep!?”
Was I supposed to shake her awake…?
She scrambled down the ladder, ears twitching in panic. “I’m gonna be late! I’m gonna be late!”
Panting, she joined me by the dragon. She took one long breath, then exhaled sharply. “Let’s go back to town.”
“…Right now? What about the items in the cave?”
“Oh! Right!!”
She hurried back, producing a piece of cloth from her pocket. “You didn’t let the mask get damaged, right?”
The mask… I had almost forgotten.
“It’s perfectly fine,” I assured her. I’d hidden it carefully under a bush after the scorpion fights, retrieving it later with the stones.
Back in the cave, she spread the cloth on the bed. It was no larger than half a meter wide, yet the moment an item touched it—vanished.
A storage cloth.
We loaded everything inside: eagle wings and stones, kangaroo gloves and stones, gazelle horns and stones, scorpion stones—every stack counted, with one sample of each left behind. The numbers were staggering:
143 pairs of kangaroo gloves
143 kangaroo stones
205 gazelle horns
205 gazelle stones
400 scorpion stones

And of course, the eagle drops.
Only then did I begin to understand. Eight days hadn’t simply slipped away. I had fought and fought without pause, killing more monsters than I could possibly have managed in just one day. That forest… it must have toyed with time itself.
When we finished, Leila pressed the cloth into my hands. “Keep this with you. My owner has a spell on me—I can’t lie to him if he gets suspicious.”
I folded it nervously, half-expecting my hand to vanish into the magic. It didn’t.
Closing my eyes, I whispered from the depths of my heart: I hope no one ever finds this cave again.
Leila gasped. “Huh!? Are you crazy!? You’re just going to hope no one finds it, and that’s all!?”
“Sure, it sounds stupid. But I know no one will ever find it. Not after what I went through to earn these items. Trust me—I won’t let a thief take them away.”
“…Well, if you say so.”
We left together and climbed onto the dragon. Or rather, she climbed first. I followed, but the dragon’s frame was clearly built for one. From an outsider’s view, it looked as though I was pressed right against her back, about to wrap my arms around her waist.
My lower body pressed uncomfortably close. Heat rose to my face.
No. I couldn’t do this.
The dragon began walking when I suddenly blurted, “Wait! I… I have to get down. I’ll meet you in town later!” I jumped before she could question me.
She turned, disappointment in her eyes. “Are you sure you don’t want to ride together?”
“No, it’s not that. I just need to do something before going to town. I’ll be right behind you.”
“…Okay. See you later.”
She urged the dragon forward, racing down the path.
I sighed, rubbing my neck. Truthfully, I had nothing to do. But how could I explain? I was already having bad thoughts before she even got on the dragon. Then when I climbed up too… my lower half pressed against her back. If she felt anything… that would have been the end of me.
So, I walked.
By the time I reached the town, the streets were lively with movement. Humans, beastkin, elves, and dwarves bustled together. It was strange—so much unity, considering that they had once been forced to live side by side.
The dwarves especially caught my eye. Short yet broad, with massive heads and thick beards that swung as they walked. The sight made me smirk despite myself.
“Pfft…” I muffled a laugh as one dwarf glared, gripping his axe. I quickly looked away, pretending my amusement wasn’t aimed at him.
Leila, already late, darted through the streets. I asked for directions to her diner and soon found the place. I barely had time to peek through the window before she burst out.
“You’re wearing your mask, right?” she hissed.
I nodded.
She explained hurriedly: she had been scolded for arriving late, but the chef had dismissed it with a sigh. “The boss likes you,” the chef had said, “so even if he hears about this, you won’t get in trouble.”
Still, Leila wouldn’t be free until 3 p.m. We parted ways, agreeing that I would wait at my inn.
Inside my rented room, I collapsed on the bed, staring at the ceiling. The room had remained untouched during my absence—good thing I’d paid upfront. Still, what a waste of money, letting it sit empty for eight whole days.
By 1 p.m., I headed to the rock by the hill, leaving word with the inn staff in case Leila came.
The sun was merciless, no shade near the rock. I leaned back against it, dozing. Hunger didn’t gnaw at me—perhaps thanks to my resistance, forged during the endless fights in the forest.
Was I truly trapped? Or had time itself played tricks on me?
My thoughts blurred. Then, a voice—smooth, teasing—pulled me from slumber.
“Huhuhu~! It seems you have awakened. Feast your eyes upon this ultimate being…”
I blinked.
A demi-human girl stood before me. Taller than Leila, with fur the color of chestnut—ears twitching, tail swishing, hair flowing down her back. Her blue shirt clung to her, long enough to just barely cover her hips, its neckline scandalously low.
Her chest—ample, alive—moved with each breath, bouncing with the rhythm of her voice. Her thighs were perfect, neither too slender nor too thick, and from where I sat, her lower half was a torment of illusion. Was she wearing anything at all? My head hurt from the uncertainty.
“…the heroic me…” she continued, oblivious to my inner chaos.
“Hey,” I cut her off, “can you get to the main point?”
“Uhum! Uhum!” She puffed her chest proudly. “So here’s my point. Who are you to Leila!? I won’t let someone like you get close to my archenemy!!”
“…!!??”