Chapter 11. Awakening from Life (11)
There was a cave in my memory.
However, before going there, I needed to do something. I had to deal with the two dead bodies.
Swoosh...
I threw them into the grave I had just come out of. The two bodies rolled over and ended up piled carelessly inside the coffin.
Boom! Bang!
I placed another coffin on top of them.
Thud!
It seemed more convenient than bothering to cover them up with dirt. Someone might find the two bodies and suspiciously wonder why they were unnaturally covered. I hoped they wouldn't suspect Rubia, though they probably wouldn't. The two men were too sturdy for her to have killed them alone.
"Let's go now."
I headed toward the cave I remembered.
Thump, thump.
We walked for about twenty minutes.
There it is.
I spotted a small entrance, hiding in the shade of bushes. I had lived in the cave for three years, so it was clearly visible to me.
I turned around and went down the path that led to the cave.
"I'll go in first."
"Be careful."
The woman’s worried about me. She talks as if I'm a human.
I reached the entrance of the cave. It was more like a small gap than an entrance. Its width was less than a meter wide.
Clatter!
I grabbed the entrance with my fingers, and I squeezed inside with my skeleton body.
Easy.
"Give me the load."
"Yes!"
I took the bag from Rubia. It contained the loot I had gathered from the hunters. The collection included supplies, weapons, leather, and other similar items.
Thump.
I placed the bag on the ground. I untied the outer garment that had wrapped the bag and wrapped it around my hand for Rubia's sake. She might be startled if my cold finger bones touched her.
"Enter with your legs first."
Rubia hesitated for a moment. I didn't rush her, because she was trying to put her legs into an unknown hole. It was natural for her to hesitate.
"Ugh!"
I reached out and grabbed her pale, outstretched leg, supporting her.
"Thank you."
"Let's go."
I repacked the items and picked them up. Even bats did not live in this cave.
No bugs or spiders either.
It was strangely barren. Although I had lived there for three years, no one had ever entered besides me. Animals that played near the entrance never came inside either. It wasn't because they were conscious of me though. Animals didn't fear me that much.
It is a rather strange place.
Clatter.
A small pile of bones—that was all there was to the cave. I didn't even know whose bones they were. Now, there was another moving set of bones in this cave and one living, breathing woman
I led the way.
Step, step.
I slowly moved deeper inside. The space gradually widened. How long had I walked?
Rubia's lips quivered.
"Haa..."
Her breaths were sharp.
Swoosh.
She tilted to one side. I quickly supported her. If she hit a sharp rock, she could get hurt.
Is it because she's not tense anymore?
I had walked for a long time without much thought. She was a woman with a frail body. Even though I was helping her, it was still hard for her to adapt. If I was planning to use this woman in any way, I needed to take better care of her.
I unpacked the bag and covered her with the hammer wielder's outer garment. Her neck might hurt if she lay directly on the ground.
Tap.
I supported the head of the lying woman with my thigh bone.
Would it be too hard?
However, she looked very comfortable while lying down. Her abundant brown hair curled around the white bones. There was no light shining into the cave.
I took a moment to think calmly. For now, we had overcome the crisis.
Should I organize my thoughts?
These were based on the events that had happened so far.
First, if I die, I return to the moment of awakening in the original grave. Second, my level will reset to one, but my stats and skills will accumulate, including any unallocated bonus points.
Upon reflection, it was quite advantageous. Leveling up was remarkably easy, and it was much easier to level up from one. Stats could be accumulated more easily than anything else.
Suddenly, a ridiculous thought popped up in my mind.
Should I commit suicide?
If I died, I would return to the grave again. I would climb five levels by killing the crossbow and the hammer hunters. Then, if I died again, I would return to the grave.
If I killed myself here…
I might be able to repeat that endlessly. I could keep raising my stats indefinitely.
Clatter.
I shook my head.
It was a reckless idea. First, there was no way to know how many times I could return to the grave. This might be the last time. There was no way to confirm how many times I could revive. It was foolish to assume that this bizarre phenomenon would continue forever. I needed to find out what conditions would allow me to return after I died.
Is it only when I die near the grave that I return?
Clatter.
I shook my head again. I thought about where I had died with my master. That place was far from here.
For now, let's keep living.
In the distant future, I might meet my master again. The woman who awakened me, now sleeping with her hair wrapped around my thigh bone, seemed to want to do something. I would stay with her for now.
Is it warm?
Being near this woman, I could feel a little warmth. That warmth was not unwelcome. Perhaps it wouldn't be bad to spend some time together.
I carefully leaned against the wall. I planned to wait until she woke up. I had no eyes to close, but I tried not to see anything. Though not completely cut off, my consciousness began to fade slightly.
***
Light beamed into my empty eye sockets. As the concentration of light appeared sharper, the back of my skull tingled, and my thoughts slowly began to coalesce. The light was coming in through the narrow cave entrance.
I lowered my head and looked down at Rubia. She was still breathing softly in her sleep with a peaceful expression.
It seems she's not having a nightmare.
Rubia had to leave behind the book she liked so much and run all the way here. The only place she could rest comfortably might be in her dreams.
I hesitated to wake her up. I decided to wait until she opened her eyes on her own.
That was when it happened.
Ding!
[Tutorial cleared!]
[Survive the First Night completed.]
[Reward: Additional scenario slot 1]
[Current slot: 1/2]
[Assimilation rate has decreased.]
[94.25% -> 93.71%]
Tutorial? Assimilation rate?
Those were unfamiliar terms. I had heard the word "quest" yesterday, but I had never heard the words "tutorial" and "scenario" before.
Am I truly mad, or—?
Some unknown magic was at work.
Clatter.
I leaned my skull back. If I were mad, where would it have begun? If it were magic, where should I go to ask about it?
Tap, tap.
I tapped my skull a few times with my fingers. The first night had passed chaotically. It had been so hectic that I had just let it pass. But still, I wanted to solve the mystery. I felt a bit of impatience creeping in.
While I was pondering idly, Rubia groaned softly as she woke up. "Uh, ugh..."
She sat up and gently massaged her eyes. Then she tidied her disheveled hair and regulated her breathing.
"Huff, haaa..."
"You could sleep more, you know?"
"Hic!"
Rubia was startled.
After the hiccup, she took a deep breath.
Was I too careless?
I didn't mean to scare her. I still wasn't used to dealing with a human woman.
Rubia, frozen for a moment, slowly lowered her hand. "I-It wasn't it a dream?"
I nodded.
"Oh... it wasn't a dream… it wasn't a dream..." Rubia muttered in a daze and suddenly coughed. "Cough! Ah-choo!"
She seemed unwell. I passed her the water canteen.
Gulp, gulp.
"Ah… thank you. Did I suddenly collapse?"
"Yes."
Rubia took out some jerky from her bag. She tore it thin and hesitantly offered some to me.
I shrugged, pointing to the empty space under my jawbone and my ribs.
"Just eat it by yourself."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
Rubia chewed the jerky cautiously, watching my reaction. She took a sip of water and then chewed the dried meat again. A bit of color returned to her face.
"Hmmm..."
I gazed at Rubia quietly. Our eyes kept meeting, and I felt rather awkward. I decided to continue with our conversation from yesterday.
I abruptly asked a question without any context. "Will you seek revenge?"
Rubia's father had been murdered, and her uncle had taken his place.
Rubia put down the canteen and quietly clasped her hands. Unexpectedly, her tone was calm.
"Revenge… I don't know. At first, I was so scared. I couldn't think about anything. My father passed away, and people at the castle cried, saying I shouldn't be here."
"If you had stayed, you'd have died."
"Would I?"
"Of course," I replied.
If she had stayed, death would have been inevitable. I didn't know about Rubia now, but when I first failed to protect her, the crossbowman who chased her kept saying, "My lord." The lord in question was likely Rubia's uncle. He had sent two vile mercenaries to kill his niece to eliminate any potential threats.
Rubia sighed and said, "The people in the castle were all so good to me. I wonder if they're alright."
After taking a breath, Rubia continued, "Should I avenge my father? If I go now, many people will die fighting for me again. That scares me too much."
Did she run away and then bring me back to life?
It was natural that she had not been able to think clearly under such shocking circumstances. I remembered how delighted Rubia had been to have an ally, but she was brutally murdered soon after.
Suddenly, I felt sorry for her.
If it's about revenge, maybe I should seek it too for my master. But the idea of getting revenge against a hero seemed like a mere dream. Aside from the absurd difference in power, heroes only appeared after the Demon King's descent. Wait, ten years? What kind of heroes would appear then?
Moreover, in that timeline, I hadn't even met Lady Succubus yet. It was more important for me to protect her than to seek revenge, but just the thought of trying to find her seemed daunting.
I suddenly became despondent.
"What's with the gloominess?" Rubia asked.
I had no intention of talking about Lady Succubus and kept that in my heart. I didn't bring it up, and I decided to change the subject.
"I just have a lot of questions."
"About what?"
"…About myself."
Of course, it wasn't a lie. I was trapped in time. The recurring loop was my greatest mystery.
"Oh!"
Rubia flinched slightly upon hearing me.
I tilted my chin and asked, "What?"
"Sorry. It felt a little weird hearing a Skeleton Soldier say 'I' and 'myself'… Why do I think that way? The first-person singular pronouns aren't exclusive to humans."
"You should answer that yourself."
"Maybe it's because of books. I've read too many stories of humans."
"What kind of stories?"
"I got used to the authors' using first-person singular pronouns. All the authors are human, after all."
I felt like I understood a bit.
Rubia continued, "They all narrate in first person. Some books try to mix in satire and objectivity by writing in the third person, but in the end, it's all first person. The person writing is always in the first person anyway. Actually, I feel awkward saying 'I' out loud sometimes, too. When I read books, most of the narrators are men. Oh, Mr. Skeleton, are you a man?"
Clatter.
I flinched.
What should I say? An animal's sex is determined by its reproductive organs. Reproductive organs are made of flesh and blood. All that's left of me are my clattering bones. Even if someone could determine my sex just from my skeletal structure, I'm nothing more than bare bones. What's the point of distinguishing my sex?
After a moment's thought, I answered her.
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