Partner looks around the cave.
The girls have divided themselves: those who look at me with suspicious eyes and those who are just uninterested at me.
…… They’re either not the welcoming type, or somewhere along those lines .

(*cough*) (*cough*)

While I was thinking on what I was going to do for them, the girl in front began coughing.
It was the slightly older girl who talked to Partner.
The other girls look at her with worried faces, but they do nothing to help her.
Maybe they’re also just as tired as her and they don’t want to waste their energy talking.

There seemed to be some food inside this cave.
Dried meat and rotting vegetables are stashed in an even deeper part of the cave, and they’re covered in a dirty rag.
There’s even flies hovering above it.

There are also five barrels of water lined up, but there are no cups anywhere.
They were probably only drinking this with their hands. Hygiene management is not well mangaed here.

The only way to wash their bodies is to spill the water all over them.
They probably can’t do that considering how heavy it is.
Plus, they’re compromising a shared life in a narrow space.
It won’t be surprising if they’ve already caught a disease.

…… Is there anything I can do for them though?
Well, they are a small village, but is this all of them?
Shouldn’t they develop a few resistances while experiencing through all this?
If Ball Rabbit were here, I’d be asking him to use〖Clean〗on all of them until his MP ran out.

I feel sorry for your situation here, but I don’t have time to grieve of others’ misfortune.
I need to be thinking about how to escape first.

If we undo our humanization here, we’ll cause a panic, and someone outside will alert the other men.
That’s why, if we want to escape without being seen, we have to do it while we still have MP.

“…… Tonight, it will be my turn. My body can’t hold it in anymore”

While I was thinking to myself, we heard a voice and Partner turned around.
It was the girl who coughed.
She spoke to the other girls to not make them worry and forced a smile on her face.

So then, this girl will be sacrificed next tonight?
…… Tonight, huh.
My MP is nowhere near enough to last that long.

Should I make a run for it and look for the Manticore myself, then use my humanization and lure it away so I can attack it?

But, lacking vital information is making me have doubts.
And, I can’t just casually approach it if I’m pretending to be a sacrifice, but if I chase after it, it’s fast enough to completely escape my〖Presence Sense〗.
I’m not familiar with the area around these parts compared to the Manticore, so I lose in terms of topography, and since we were dragged around by a sack, I didn’t get to see the routes on the way here.
However, the Manticore should be away from the village at this time.

…… Say Partner, I’d like you to make a last minute light investigation then we go look for the Manticore, what do you say?

【“What should I ask?”】

For starters…… I’d like to know about the Manticore’s regular whereabouts and also about the relationship between this village and the other one.
If we gain these information, we won’t be held back anymore.

I have other things I’d like to ask them about, but for now, we should focus on those questions first.
It’d be nice if we could find out more from Hibi though.

【“A’ight, leave it to me.”】

Back then, I was relieved when Partner first talked to Yarg, considering her rough speech. It was barely passable.
If you’re having trouble conversing with them, at least just get the information relating to the Manticore’s whereabouts, got it?

【“I-I was just gettin carried away back then, ya hear!”】

Is that so.
That’s fine. That’s fine. [T.N: These parts were written in a sarcastic way in JP]

While bound, Partner tries to gets up in a really weird manner by wiggling her body, and approaches the other girls.

Partner looks around the other girls first then faces the girl who coughed in front.
Well, this girl does seem like the type to have lots of information.
She also looks somewhat smart and is the senpai of the group.

“Hey, little girl, about what you said, what is this place? Is this where humans are locked up and treated as food by a monster?”

Oh wow, Partner surprisingly talked normal for once.
So, you can talk normally to kids then, huh……

“T-This place… is (*cough*) (*cough*)!”

“Huh? This place is…?”

”(*cough*) (*cough*)! Guh~… it’s…… hard to…… speak…… water…… please”

The girl held her throat and reached for the barrel of water.
The other girls wobble while standing up and each of them scoops a handful of water on their palms, then they turn towards the girl who coughed.

”*staaare*, this is so annoying. Here ya go.〖High Rest〗.”

In response to Partner’s words, the girl started glowing.

”(*cough*)…… h-huh? That’s strange… the pain is slowly going away”

It’s not like her illness was completely cured, but with her vitality revived, her condition is a little bit better than before.

Then, the other girls rush towards her and touch her body in wonder.
When they blink their eyes, they turn their gaze towards Partner.

【“With this, they’ll be more open to talk to me”】

Partner’s ego is flying all over the place.
…… I can only hope our MP lasts long enough.
Although, the MP consumption for〖High Rest〗is slightly lower than that of〖Human Transformation Art〗, and using it just this once is probably fine, but…… with our MP constantly decreasing every second, the amount of time left for our humanization is tight enough as it is.

“A-Amazing”
“Onee-san, are you a white mage?”
“Here, c-can you heal this child’s eyes, please?!”

The children are all fussing around Partner.

This cave is really an unhealthy environment to stay in.
We can’t clearly see our feet, and some of these girls are subconsciously stepping on sharp stones.
Plus, since this place is unclean, it’s also easy for bacteria to enter their bodies, and it’ll be difficult to wash it, let alone treat it.

…… Even so, if we heal all of them, our MP will run out in no time.
And, when that happens, our humanization will wear off and we’ll be found out.

I feel sorry for you kids, but we’re gonna have to refus-……

“I-It can’t be helped then. Everyone, line up”

When Partner said that, one girl pulled another girl’s hair down and stood in front of Partner.
The girl who was pulled down closed her eyes the entire time, and the way she walked was really disoriented. It’s also the same girl who had a swollen eye.

So, uhh, Partner? Did you even listen to what I said?!
You’re happy just cause a few kids are looking up to you?
Think of the time left! The time!

I don’t want to know what’ll happen if our humanization gets undone within the anti-Ryujin village’s territory.
The relationship of the two villages will probably worsen, I assume……

“〖High Rest〗”

From Partner’s words, the girl with the swollen eye started glowing.
Her other bruises are also getting healed.

The other children around us cheer on Partner.
The girl who was healed touched her eyes and slowly opened them.

“W-waa~…… I can see… I can see! And, up until now, everything was cold, but my body is so warm……”

…… Well, good for her, good for her. But, Partner! Our MP!

“Next. Come on, hurry up. Before I change my mind.”

The rest of the children push each other towards Partner.
And then, Partner began treating them one by one.

“T-Thank you very much, onee-san!”

“This is nothing! Hu hu~”

“Anone, anone, what should we call you, onee-san?”
[T.N: sorry, can’t bring myself to not mention such fine lines~… here’s the translated one]
“Umm… so… what should we call you, onee-san?”

“I don’t have a name.”

In just mere minutes, Partner has formed a harem of little girls.
The dark atmosphere around the cave has subsided and became lively.

…… While this is all well and good, aren’t you pushing your luck too far, Partner?!
The time! We don’t have much time left!
What are you doing acting all cool like that? Your smile is breaking your face apart! Our humanization is about to be undone with how little MP we have left!

【“We’ll just run away immediately, right? I’ll ask them about some stuff real quick, hold on a minute.”】

…… Alright then, but make sure you do escape here and don’t let any villagers see you.

【“I can manage. I’ll just blow up the ceiling, beat up the guard outside, and run as far away as I can, right? Easy enough.”】

T-This absurd dragon brain……
We’re not sure if there won’t be any pursuers at all, and there’s no certainty everything will go that smoothly.
We get drowsy when we’re too low on MP, remember? And, who knows if the remaining MP will be enough during emergency situations……

【“I’ll just finish this up first then run away, okay? They even trust me a little now.”】

…… Fine, just hurry up and ask them, then we’re leaving.

【“This’ll be over quick, no need to worry.”】

…… Well, I also don’t want to waste all that effort healing them to gain their trust.

“Say, can you untie this rope, please?”

One of the girls nodded and went around the group to untie Partner’s hand.
After the other girls saw what she was doing, they also help Partner untie her hand.

“…… It’s… too tight”
“T-This rope can even bind a large monster too, after all……”
“Horrible. Just horrible!”

“Thanks, I’ll handle the rest here. Gaah!!”

Partner opened her mouth wide and chewed on the ropes binding her.
While doing that, she also twisted her wrists and sharpened her nails to further cut down the rope.
Once free, she stretched her arms to the left and right.
The rope is now broken and fell on the ground.

“Guess this body can’t let me showcase my true strength.”

Stepping on the rope that tied her, with a crack, Partner bends her neck left and right.

“…… W-Wow.”
“Even a Grafant can’t move freely when bound by that rope, onee-san, just what……”

The girls start fawning over Partner.

…… I get the feeling that everything just goes well with you, doesn’t it?
As for me, every time I try to get involved with other humans, it only starts going downhill from there.
No, it’s probably just that they see Partner as a fellow Lithuvar Tribe, that’s all.

“D-Don’t get impressed from something like that now. Ya’ll are too loud.”

…… Hey, your rough accent is showing again.