Knocking out the dark mage before he could further open his mouth, I grabbed him by the neck, yanking him out from the pile of debris before tossing him behind us. "You're going to kill him, big bro." Ignoring Lucy as I truly didn't care whether that dark mage lived or not, I continued to sift through the debris, searching for the tome of curse energy he had used to awaken that dragon skeleton.
While I did that, Cana and Lucy were sprawled on the ground, taking this chance to rest their weary and injured bodies; unfortunately for them, with my senses, it wasn't long until I found the cursed tome. Tossing a boulder into the distance, I reached down, yanking the tome out from between two pieces of stone. However, the instant I grabbed it, its curse energy started to permeate into my body, prompting me to resist it with my own magic, which thankfully wasn't difficult.
'That dark mage may not be related to Tartaros, but this tome definitely is.' Giving the tome a quick inspection, I placed it between my pants before approaching Lucy and Cana. "Alright, we're done here; let's return to the village and report our completed mission." "Urgh, can't we just stay here?" "Yeah, fighting that horde of skeletons really drained me."
Wryly smiling, I shook my head and squatted beside the two before grabbing Lucy, placing her atop my shoulders while lifting Cana with my one usable arm. Approaching the unconscious dark mage, I picked him up with my other arm, causing me to internally wince before releasing a deep breath. 'Ugh, just barely doable.'
Walking alongside the riverbank, I headed downstream; at the rate I was walking, it would take us about two hours to return to the village, and by then it would be around dinner time, which would be perfect. 'Once we return, we can eat and then sleep.' "This isn't too much for you, is it, big bro?" "Hmph, it probably is, but this dummy wouldn't ever admit it; he could be a touch away from dying, but he'd still pretend everything is fine in front of us." "Tsk, that's because I am fine." "See!"
As if to further prove her point, Cana kicked my broken arm, causing me to briefly stop before continuing to walk. "Tsk, dummy, fool, idiot…" While Cana continued to mock me under her breath, I tuned her voice out and focused on the forest, trying to find anything out of the ordinary. 'Tsk, it's pointless, I can't sense a single beast.' Figuring every beast had been absorbed into the dark mage's undead army, I let my mind wander for the remainder of the journey.
Finally spotting the village after a nearly two-hour walk, I glanced at my siblings, only to faintly smirk when I saw both of them were sleeping. Entering the village, I approached the village chief's house, though while doing so, I came across a couple of the villagers, prompting me to toss the dark mage at their feet. "That man is a dark mage and the one who had been polluting the river; he's also the one who killed the hunters a few weeks ago… I don't care what you do with him, just leave him alive."
"Huh!?" "F-Fucking bastard!" "D-Dead? B-But my husband was one of those hunters?" "Quickly, notify the others! We'll give him lashes!" Listening to the villagers' outbursts of rage and sorrow, I watched them drag the still unconscious dark mage to somewhere else before continuing to the village chief's house. Coming to a halt just outside, I was about to knock, only to turn around when I heard approaching footsteps.
"Ah, esteemed mages-oh, your appearances, i-is everything okay?" "Yes, we've completed the mission, and the other villagers are dealing with the culprit as we speak." Widening his eyes, the chief glanced in the direction from which the yelling came before heaving a sigh of relief while grasping my hand. "Thank you, truly." "I'm just doing my job. Anyway, I'm going to use your house." "Ah, o-okay."
Nodding at the chief, he walked off in the direction of the yells while I entered his home, finding the guest room, I laid the two beside each other before reaching into Lucy's pouch and grabbing her first aid kit. 'Ah, since their injuries aren't serious, I should probably clean them first.' Picking up Cana, I carried her to the bathroom and filled the basin with warm water; removing her clothes, I placed her into the basin and used a cloth to wipe her down. There was no soap, but this was better than nothing.
"Ahh, w-what am I doing in water?" "Oh, you're awake? I thought you would've stayed asleep." Lifting Cana out of the basin slightly, I washed her torso while her drowsiness quickly vanished. "Are we at the village?" With a nod, I continued to wash Cana's body, ensuring I was careful around her wounds, only for her to suddenly yank the cloth out of my hands. "I appreciate it, big bro, but I'm not a baby." "You sure seemed that way last time I washed you."
With a scoff, Cana averted her gaze before standing up and washing her lower body while I just watched. "Pervert." "Hmph, please, I'm not seeing anything I haven't before." Rolling my eyes, I left the bathroom, only to return shortly later with Lucy in my arms while Cana was drying herself. "The first aid kit is in the guest room." Wordlessly nodding, Cana kissed my cheek before exiting the bathroom with nothing but a towel around her body.
Doing to Lucy what I had done to Cana, I placed her in the basin, of course, after replacing the water, though surprisingly, she didn't wake up throughout the whole time. Once I finished, I dried her body and carried her back to the guest room, where Cana was bandaging herself. "You can wash yourself now, big bro. I'll handle Lucy, after all, you don't know how to perform first aid." Flashing me a faint smirk, I groaned and left as I couldn't refute her claim.
Heading to the bathroom, I quickly washed myself before returning to the guest room, where I was forced to receive first aid from Cana, causing me to grumble under my breath. "What are you, a child, big bro? I'm performing first aid because SOMEBODY is too immature to learn it themselves. Now stop moving." Once Cana finally finished bandaging me, she and I left the chief's house to get some food from the villagers, though all they had was porridge.
Returning to the chief's house, we woke up Lucy, and after the three of us had our dinner, we quickly fell asleep in the guest room; I would've slept on the ground, but Lucy and Cana didn't let me, so now I was lying on a bed, squished between the two. 'Their breasts feel comfortable, but that's about where it ends.' After an hour of being uncomfortable, I finally fell asleep.
__
___
"Haa, all that for a lousy two million jewels." "That amount of money is quite a lot." "I nearly lost my life on that mission, and my life is worth a hell-of-a-lot more than two million jewels." "That is true. Still, you liked their relieved and happy expressions when we left." "Mu, I can't deny that. I like helping people." "Anyway, let's talk about how we'll be splitting the reward. Since I'm a veteran, I should get 80%, since big bro is rich, he can get 18%, and the rookie gets 2%."
Immediately after Cana's nonsensical words, she was put into a rear-naked choke by Lucy, causing me to smirk as I had no intention of letting that drunkard take the majority of the reward. 'Especially since I knew it'll all go to buying beer.' "B-Big bro, h-help!" Pretending not to hear Cana's plea, we continued down the dirt trail through the forest, heading towards the destroyed village the chief had spoken about.
After another hour of walking, I furrowed my brows when I smelled a faint scent of blood, prompting me to increase my speed, causing the dark mage I was dragging with a rope to constantly grunt in pain, though I paid him no heed while Lucy and Cana were left behind. A few minutes later, I arrived at a ruined village, causing me to deeply frown as I quickly noticed a plethora of prints on the ground.
Entering the ruined village, I glanced at the demolished houses, giving them little attention while I instead focused on the skeletons lying on the ground, causing me to grit my teeth as I could smell the scent of beasts wafting off the human skeletons. Clenching my fists, I continued through the village, tracing the path of the prints until I arrived at where the beast horde first made their appearance.
However, when I arrived, I suddenly stopped and fell to the ground, staring at the faint prints of a shoe. 'They're shallow, meaning they weren't running away; there also aren't any skeletons nearby.' I felt my mind move at the speed of light as I quickly came to a conclusion that left me furious. "It… It wasn't natural… It was man-made!"