Mountains and Buffalo.

Chapter 5.

The meeting commenced. I was standing behind Linda. Victoria was to my left. We were on top of the rock, and before us was a gigantic group of people.

I would be lying if I didn't say I was nervous. I wasn't the center of attention, sure, but there were still so many people. I gulped and tried my hardest not to move. Linda began talking.

"I've called all of you today for the sake of the safety of the Green Zone. Since last week, a monster from the forest has been periodically appearing and ravaging my crops. As of right now, I believe that one of us may be responsible for this incident. If one of you is, then I'd like to offer a proposal."

Linda paused. Chattering came from the crowd. About a minute later, Linda resumed.

"I implore the perpetrator, should they be here, to confess right here and now. I understand very well that it might've been an accident, so if it was, please stand before me and confess. If done, no charges will be held, we will call it bridge under the water, and this boy here will handle the beast without fail."

She was pointing at me. Gah, why'd you do that? Now all their eyes were meeting mine!

I tried calming myself down, remembering not to move rashly. Time passed by painfully and slowly. I felt sweat drip down my back and chest. I never knew I even had this much stage fright.

"...Very well. Then, I apologize for wasting all of your time."

Linda suddenly announced the ending of the gathering and bowed. I was thankful. I put a hand on my chest and exhaled. The residents were returning to the barracks. I looked over to my left. Victoria had her head down.

"It looks like plan A failed," said Linda, who was now facing us. "Let's get off this dumb boulder and discuss."

We did just that. Flinty ran to us once the crowd cleared. Before anything else, she told us that nobody in the crowd looked suspicious.

"I see," started Victoria, "then the person responsible is likely an outsider."

"That isn't necessarily true," I said.

"But it's likely. We don't have much to work with here, Kenny, so why don't you give me a break?"

I shut my mouth and nodded. Victoria quietly apologized to me.

"Well, it isn't all bad," Flinty said, "we can wait for the lady from earlier to get help and keep going from there."

Linda nodded. "For the time being though, let's take care of the monster."

"How are we going to do that?" Flinty asked. I butted in.

"We can lure it in, and then I can quickly kill it."

"That's a sound plan, but with how big our crop field is, it would be difficult to spot him. And y'know, the beast only appears during the night."

"That's not much of an issue. I happen to possess something that could catch his attention."

Linda raised an eyebrow but didn't ask me anything.

"Very well. Then we will wait until the sun sets. Flinty, Kenny, how about you join us for dinner? I'll write a letter to your mother in the meantime, Flinty."

"O-Okay," Flinty responded. I nodded. The four of us returned to the farmhouse.

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It was about six o'clock. In three hours, it would become dark enough for the monster to come out.

"What's the matter?"

"Just thinking, Flinty. Just thinking."

Flinty and I were seated at a rectangular table. We were in a different room from before, likely the kitchen since Victoria and Linda were preparing food a few feet away from us. I was staring into nothingness. Flinty looked bashful. Seeing her in that state reminded me of a concern I had since the first phase of the plan failed.

"Hey, Flinty, can I speak with you?"

"Of course."

"Flinty, if the situation ever gets so dangerous that I cannot protect you people, then run and forget about me."

Her face froze. Crap. I probably should've worded that better.

"N-Not to say that it will get that bad, but, as a safety measure. You don't have much combat power, and I don't think the other two do either."

"B-But, you're asking me to just leave you!"

"No. I'm asking you to save yourself if I can't save you."

Heh, a bit of a cheeky sentence from me. Flinty didn't see it that way, though.

"I can't do that, Kenny. I just... I just can't–"

She started tearing up. I felt a pang of guilt, realizing how terrible I was at these things. I put my hands on her shoulders and stared into her eyes.

"Flinty, it's just as a last resort, okay? It probably won't get so bad anyway."

"...Probably?"

"Sorry, definitely."

She meekly nodded. I returned to staring into space. I think of asking the Tea Mage to teach me how to articulate myself better.

"Food's ready!"

Linda and Victoria, each carrying two plates worth of food, served the whole table dinner. It was scrambled egg. Linda later brought a whole plate worth of corn, and another with bread.

I stared in awe at the meal. It wasn't anything spectacular, but I'd never seen this much food on top of a table before. I grabbed a fork and took a nibble out of the egg, just to test the waters.

It was incredible. Looking at Flinty, her face expressed similar remarks. Victoria had a satisfied smile on her face.

"I cooked this, y'know. Don't you think I'd make a pretty good wife?"

I kept eating my food, then noticed that Victoria's eyes were on me.

"Are you asking me?"

She sighed, "Nevermind. You wouldn't know anything anyway."

I shrugged. I wasn't in the mood to talk over food anyway.

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