(DISCONTINUED) The Chiming Of Bells [Sinbad X OC X Kouen]

Chapter 27

"You know, when you said you had a plan, I didn't know it was gonna be like this."

I said flatly, my expression mirroring my tone as I held meat of various sizes in my arms when I would rather not considering they were a mix of some slimy fluid, dirt, gems, and a smell I was only able to keep at bay by breathing through my mouth.

They weren't rotten, but it was the smell of the meat that was bothering me. It was probably cured using a mix of soy sauce, vinegar, some dried laurel leaves, and garlic.

...I hated vinegar.

"It's fine." Sinbad waved me off as he just continued gathering all that he could with the basket he was carrying. "It's a great plan-Hey! This doesn't look rotten, at all!" I nearly face-palmed.

Mystoras, though, was still as miffed as ever; stuck collecting meat with all of us when he's the one who's most eager to escape. Just goes to show that Sinbad has that much authority on him. "It doesn't even look like you have a plan!"

"Well, he may be like that but he actually does." Ja'far commented as he knelt down beside me so I could put what I gathered in the basket he was carrying. "Just trust him," was his famous words of advice that night.

"I can't wait to eat all of this!"

We all went silent as Sinbad proved him wrong.

"...are you sure?"

"It's just your imagination, you hear?" Ja'far denied. "Your imagination."

All of a sudden, there was a loud THUMP! that sounded behind us and we all whipped around to see...

"A giant piece of meat!" Sinbad exclaimed.

COUGH!

He looked like he was about to have a heart attack as he continued gushing, "I've never seen something so big!"

COUGH! COUGH!

He looked at me worriedly. "Are you okay? Why'd you suddenly started coughing?"

I refused meeting his eyes and instead focused my guilty attention on a lovely green Python that looked like it was watching us curiously.

"I had an itch on my throat."

He didn't look convinced. "...okay?"

"Well, let's cut it up." Mystoras knelt in a somewhat defeat next to the giant meat, readying a sharpened rock to do just what he said. "It's too big to bring back, after all." He was about to stab it when the future High King hurriedly stopped him.

"Wait! I've been waiting for this to appear!" The Knight Prince and former Assassin looked at him inquiringly as he explained, gesturing to it, "This is going to be our escape plan."

I only watched from the side as he laughed haughtily, as if what he just thought was the smartest idea in the world. It wasn't. But it was clever.

When I was reading this scene from the manga, the only thing that caught my attention were the gems that Sinbad showed he had found in the meat when he ate them. I knew the gems were sticking to the meat and they were being brought back by the birds to be collected by the gem-collectors before.

But it never crossed my mind that a giant meat would be used as a mode of transportation. Like, I can still get them ambushing a bird and using it to hitch a ride out of the valley but a meat?

I sighed as Sinbad made himself comfortable, holding onto the cured meat as if his life depended on it with the others doing to same.

Oh dear.