Why level up in isekai, when you can hack your way through

Chapter 11 - Our First Night

Belle! How many apples have you eaten by now?

Munch... munch...

"40" She answered.

And you're still hungry?

"What do you mean by that? I haven't had a bite of anything yummy in 21,000 years," she said while munching with a playful pout.

Well... to be fair, I'm pretty hungry myself, but I need to finish weaving this first. And I need to know more about Rogrendria.

"So, tell me what you know about Rogrendria," I asked, to keep the conversation on track.

She gave a small sigh before answering, "There's not much more to say, Rogrendria is one of the eight mythic beasts, along with his siblings, said to be tied with the natural forces of this world. My father met him once, in his youth, but never shared much about the encounter."

"I see, and what about the mythic beasts?" I asked.

"Before demons and mortals came into being, the gods created nine mythic beasts to shape the world. These beasts spread life and energy across the land. But soon came demons and mortals and with them came conflict. One of the beasts, Oscavalca, admired the cunning nature of demons and sided with them, eventually becoming their god."

"Oscavalca hated mortal races and tried to sway the other beasts to join him in his schemes, causing chaos and imbalance. Rogrendria, who was the youngest of them all, saw through Oscavalca's manipulation and chose to side with mortals. This led to war between the siblings, dividing the mythic beasts. Some followed Oscavalca, others Rogrendria. When the gods discovered the conflict, they unleashed their wrath and imprisoned Oscavalca for eternity and the remaining eight beasts vowed never to interfere with mortals again and entered a deep slumber."

Hmm... so Rogrendria was one of the good guys who tried to help humans then? I asked.

She replies, "Exactly, even after he was sealed Oscavalca's followers never stopped finding a way to release him. When my father climbed in the ranks, became a king, and tried to create a peace pact with my mother who was the princess of her kingdom, he banished most of the cultists. But there were too many of them and Oscavalca's followers were also one of the main reasons why demons plotted against my father and killed my mother."

I was shocked to hear that one of the mythic beasts was the cause of Belle's suffering.

"I'm sorry to hear that and things you lost," I said to her.

"You don't have to be sorry, you saved me and gave me these delicious apples. Although I can't forget nor want to let go of these memories, even so, I wanna see what my new future holds now."

Hey, I have something I want to give you I found it in your room while climbing.

"My room?" She was confused by what I meant.

So I showed and gave her the hair ornament I found in the dungeon under the pillow in her room.

"This..." she was in awe...

"It was my mother, she gave it to me when I was just a child... I deeply cherished that ornament."

"Kazuma... thank you so much for giving it to me."

Then I saw that beautiful big smile of joy with tearful eyes that stole my heart as she blushed away.

(It was truly radiant and out of world... I might never forget it.)

( ( Alert, I've found an Infernopaca nearby to harvest wool for the mattress. In addition, its meat is one of the rare delicacies that can be found in this world. ) )