Re: Monster Vol: 5 (Day181 - Day 220

Day 181

Before sunrise, I equipped my flying exoskeleton【Jade Eagle King's Flight】and flew through the skies. I didn't bring Kanami with me, even though she was the only member of my group that could fly.

Since it's starting to get especially cold recently, I didn't think that high-speed flight would be a good idea. However, it looks like my exoskeleton's Cold Resistance is better than I thought, since I didn't feel it as I flew through the freezing cold and dense clouds.

Although the exoskeleton's surface would still get covered in a thin layer of ice, this wasn't a problem since it was easily removed with a little shake. As a result, I was able to continue flying at full speed without any worries.

I encountered several flying monsters while on the way, but since they were easily blown away by the violent winds that were produced when I passed them, they probably weren't high-level monsters. Since I'm in a hurry, I decided to pick them up and eat them on my way back. I think I'll enjoy seeing what kind of taste they have.

With that, I arrived at our base in the Kuuderun Great Forest. Naturally, the reason I returned was to bid farewell to Gobujii, who died yesterday. It's only been a few hours since his death. I went to sleep early yesterday so that I could wake up earlier than usual and return to the base. Since I was quite fast, I made it to the base by sunrise, which is when most of the members that are still there become fully active.

Since only the non-combatants are still at the base, its combat ability is low. These includes the Nail Cats and Kobolds working in places like the Hot Springs Facilities, the Dwarves, and the human women.

Since I didn't tell anyone that I was coming back, they were surprised when I showed up. However, they quickly grasped the situation with『Since it's Aporou, it's not strange for him to be in the Royal Capital and the base at the same time.』

Although there are many people among those who stayed behind that came from other places, it seems that the "Common Sense" they developed before coming here has gradually collapsed. It looks like their reactions have weakened as they've grown accustomed to the "Common Sense" here.

I expected that they would at least care about the other species that they have become familiar with, and the circumstances are good for them to fall in love. However, I thought it was somewhat lonesome that their initial response to how things are here was nowhere to be seen. Anyway, I exchanged simple greetings with the members I passed as I hurried to Gobujii's location.

It looks like they had placed Gobujii's corpse in the morgue to keep his body from rotting. Well, it would be quite inconvenient if the residential area had to be remodeled into a morgue, so we had set aside a place deep in the mines for this purpose to avoid this.

Since it was quite cold and most of the insects have been exterminated, keeping corpses there for a short time isn't be a problem. Although it's possible to use the space for food storage due to its size, that idea will be set aside for now.　

Upon arriving at my destination, Gobujii was lying on top of the flat stone that was covered with fur. He was wearing his usual loincloth and had his favorite walking stick by his side.

There weren't any visible injuries, so it looked like he was sleeping peacefully at first glance. However, upon taking a closer look, it's obvious that he was already dead. Although his cold body hasn't started giving off a putrid smell yet, it will never move again. It's unlikely that he would turn into an undead and start moving though.

Well, even if he did turn into one, he'd probably be still weak. After confirming his death, I clasped my hands together and offered a silent prayer. Namu. I pray that Gobujii's soul may rest in peace. I felt a little lonely as I thought of various things while looking at his body.