Delicious Sacrifice - Chapter 11

Delicious Sacrifice - Chapter 11

Of course, it was a light force by the monster’s standards, but it wasn’t for humans. Jack, whose whole body moved as his neck twisted, got up only after bumping into the stove. 

“Ugh!” 

As soon as he opened his eyes, Jack looked around and trembled hysterically. 

“What the heck is this! Where am I! Uh, heuk! What the hell are you!” 

The monster became confused again. First he was called a monster, then my lord, and now directly called ‘you.’ The clothes were the same, but the location changed, so did it change again? Humans were really complicated. 

“Cook.” 

The monster, who had given up on understanding, gave a short order. 

“Yes…? Right now?” 

Jack looked around absentmindedly and asked blankly. 

“Excuse me, can you explain what is going on here…?” 

He had shouted loudly after waking up unconscious twice, but when he came to his senses, he became polite again. An unfamiliar situation, an unfamiliar man whose identity was unknown. The man gave off an unapproachable and strong aura. It was a type Jack had never encountered before. 

Jack moved at the his aura that did not allow for disobedience. The kitchen was surprisingly well-stocked with ingredients and tools. 

“But what kind of food do you want me to cook?” 

“Anything.” 

“Any, anything…… How much?” 

After thinking for a moment, the monster unexpectedly reached a universal human conclusion. 

“As much as possible.” 

“As much as possible…… using all the ingredients here?” 

The monster, not knowing what kind of result that would bring, simply nodded. More was always better, than less. 

* * * (read on pink-grapes.blogspot.com) 

“Wow ….” 

Miela opened her mouth wide at the huge table filled with food before her. 

“Did a chef suddenly appear from somewhere?” 

Miela couldn’t help but be delighted by the meal that smelled like civilization, unlike the wild meals she had had until now, which were just raw food or grilled meat. 

The presentation was different, too. It was served on proper plates and neatly placed on a long table covered with a tablecloth. The fork and knife were also properly placed, as if they had been found somewhere. They were utensils that were unnecessary when eating grilled meat, herbs, or fruit. 

In fact, she had never eaten like this when she lived in the village, but now she was in the castle and wearing a dress like a lady to match. Miela’s mood soared. 

She couldn’t keep her hands still when she saw the food she had been thinking about. She quickly put a few pieces of bread and minced meat in her mouth. 

“Wow, it tastes exactly like the ones I used to eat in the village…….” 

Miela’s mouth, which had been munching in rapture, slowly stopped. Instead of water, there was juice poured in her cup. She could made this, but she didn’t usually do it, so she didn’t even think of doing it. 

Duke Village was abundant with wild fruits and animals all year round. That’s why juice was easily made and drunk in any house. It was easy to remember the taste that she felt with her tongue which lingered in her head. 

“…… A villager came here?” 

The startled monster shut its mouth tightly. He reflexively averted his eyes, but it was as good as answering. 

“Who? Did they really come here? No, or maybe…….” 

Miela’s eyes, wide open and letting her imagination run wild, narrowed. Her heart sank at her own thoughts. The monster also flinched and waited for Miela to speak next. 

“Did they offer another sacrifice?” 

“…… No.” 

“Ah……, that’s not it.” 

The monster was once again lost in thought at Miela’s visibly relieved appearance. If another sacrifice were offered, there would be more food as well. Why would she not like that? 

“Then who came up here? On their own?” 

“…… Yes.” 

The monster answered again, hesitantly. He didn’t want Miela to be interested in a person from the village. He just wanted to feed her what she wanted to eat. He didn’t bring him here to for her to be interested in the person who made the food. 

However, Miela’s attention was already focused on the person who made the food. 

“This isn’t a place that you come to by mistake. Who are they? Did they tell you their name?” 

The monster thought of Jack, who had introduced himself without him even asking. 

“He said he was Jack.” 

“Jack?” 

Miela seemed to know him. The monster frowned. 

“Do you know him?” 

“Of course I do…… . Because we’re from the same village.” 

Although she had grouped them together as villagers, Jack was different from other villagers. 

After her mother died, Jack had been particularly kind to Miela, who had been begging for errands from house to house. That’s why he advised her to run away before she was sacrificed. However, the extent of his kindness sometimes went too far and was problematic. 

The way he comforted Miela, who was being bullied and was crying, was to hug her tightly and pat her whole body, and even when he fed her, he would always put food in her mouth. Every time he saw her, he would often rub her head, shoulders, and hands to check if she was hurt or had any sores, which was definitely excessive. 

It was burdensome, but it wasn’t unkind. That’s why her feelings toward Jack always went back and forth subtly like a pendulum. 

The kindness was good and she was grateful, but at the same time, it was burdensome and uncomfortable. 

“What happened? He didn’t come to see me, did he?” 

Since Jack was kind, he might have done that. Since he was sincere when he told her to run away, he would have had the courage to search the forest of monsters to save her. 

But now was not the right time. Miela had no intention of running away from the castle of monsters. He had done something useless. 

“I told him to cook because he was wandering around in the forest.”

“Oh……. No. Jack is the son of the village elder, so if he disappears without a trace, there will be chaos. People might search the forest.”

The monster, who had been worried that Miela might leave him because she was close to Jack, realized that that wasn’t the problem. It was good to see that Miela had no intention of leaving, but people flocking to the forest was not something to welcome. To the monster, humans were a noisy and aggressive race. 

“I’ll kick him out.” 

“Oh, no! If we just let him go like this, he might tell people about the forest. Then, people might come to this castle out of greed. And since I’m alive after being sacrificed, they might think that Serian won’t harm people so easily, and they might even act worse…….” 

There was such a huge castle in the forest, and the monster living there took the form of a human. There was no way people wouldn’t covet this place where everything was abundant. Furthermore, if they learned about the monster’s true nature, their fears would disappear. In conclusion, both she and the monster could be in danger. 

Looking at Miela’s pale face, the monster also became serious. 

Contrary to Miela’s worries, no matter how many humans came, he could easily stop them. He could even kill them all. However, if those humans talked to people in other places and continued to come in, it could become very annoying. 

There could be someone among them who was after Miela. That was the worst thing. 

The things in the castle were useless, so he could just give them away. Miela was not. He couldn’t give Miela away. She was already his. 

“Then should I just kill him?” 

If this didn’t work and that didn’t work, the best solution was to get rid of him. It was the best option for a monster. 

“Huh?!” 

Miela was startled by the word “kill” and asked back. 

“But- but to kill him……. Whether we kill him or keep him here, it’s the same thing. If Jack disappears, the village will be in chaos, right?”

“Just tell the beasts to bite him and throw him at the edge of the forest. He was bitten to death by a beast, so why would they come to me and ask me?” 

“That’s true, but…….” 

Miela bit her lip. 

If she did that, that would definitely be the least amount of trouble. They could shut Jack’s mouth, and this peaceful life could continue. 

But would that really be okay? 

Jack was not more precious than Serian, but he was someone who had been kind to her. She couldn’t say that she could kill him so easily. 

She couldn’t do this or that. 

If they saved Jack, the monster and herself would be in danger, and if they killed Jack, her heart would ache. In the end, her own safety was the most important thing, so in fact, the choice was almost certain. Even so, she couldn’t make a choice readily. 

“You don’t like it?” 

Miela suddenly raised her head at the monster’s continued question. 

It wasn’t ‘No?’ but ‘You don’t like it?’ He wasn’t asking about the logic of the situation, but how Miela felt. In this situation where her safety was at stake. 

How could she say no? Even so, the words that could not come out of her mouth were lingering in her lips, and the monster asked again. 

“Is he important to you?” 

Her head went cold. 

She may have a debt of gratitude, but he was not important to her. Miela’s eyes hardened. 

“No.” 

The monster’s eyes instantly became gentle after hearing her answer. She liked that and tried to muster up a little more courage. 

“Even if we kill him……” 

“Miela?!” 

Just before the last words came out, Miela was startled when she heard her name and raised her head. She saw a familiar face through the slightly open crack in the door. 

It was Jack. 

Just as she was about to say that they could kill him, his face appeared. Her heart wavered. She couldn’t kill him now that she had seen his face. 

She said they could kill him, but in reality, she couldn’t sleep for a week because of guilt even after killing a chicken. Miela wasn’t so vicious that she could kill the kind person who had shown her favor.

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