Chapter 348: What Lies in the Mountain 4

『Ye~s (Ha~i), I’m done!』(Mile)

The children gathered in Mile’s voice.

Mile started cooking for a total of 20 people, 16 children and 4 of them. The leader boy was somewhat troubled for a while but in the end, he called on others.

And the children were rigid looking at the dishes that are being made with a delicious scent,

After that, because they surrounded and disturbed Mile and Pauline, who were in charge of cooking,

The boy dismissed the children because it’s intrusive and dangerous.

But it’s also hard to cook from a distance while the children stare at them.

It was very difficult, but Mile and Pauline managed to cook up the dish with some savage gaze.

Then…

『『『『『Delicious~sssss!! 』』』』』(Everyone)

『Um, that’s right, that’s right…』(Mile)

Mile’s cheeks are like melting.

As a result of using her wisdom hard, Mile can’t help but satisfy with her great result.

No matter how good the food the children might eat when they were in town, they couldn’t eat until they are full.

And here, there is no seasoning or good cookware,

They had no choice but to just eat raw, bake and dry, just as it was.

Yes, for these children, eating was not for fun, but a desperate task needed to live.

So Mile wants to give these kids the pleasure of eating,

She wanted to teach happiness other than “satisfying hunger”.

Although Rena had the same thought when Rena joined the cook, Mile rejected her because she wanted the children to have a “happy” feeling, not “unhappy”.

Pauline will do with help.

So Rena, while Mile and Pauline were cooking, examined the children’s bodies,

She took the role of applying healing magic to the injuries.

Maevis wanted to keep the kids from getting in the way, she taught how to fight with bamboo spears and clubs that children have as well as how to train their body and was very popular.

Maevis pondered “Why am I only loved by children, the elderly and women, and not much by the gentlemen…”

And the dishes that Mile and Pauline made during that time.

Roasted meat.

(T.N: Help, I don’t know the different between Roast, Bake, Grill. I don’t even know which is the more proper way to cook. When I check the Japanese words, I get similar suggested meanings of words)

No, the kids would have eaten the roasted meat,

“Roasted meat” and “Grilled meat” are different. Completely different.

“Grilled meat” would have been eaten by primitive people, but “Roasted Meat” is the food of civilized people.

It is divided into parts, the size that can be eaten at once, the exquisite thickness that can be eaten most deliciously, the grilling that isn’t overcooked and not too raw, and the life and flavor of yakiniku! (T.N: wiki)

Lightly sprinkle with salt and a little pepper.

Lightly immerse in a special sauce made of Mile then grilled and slightly put a little sauce before eating again.

Even expensive spices, sauces mixed with fruits, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, starch syrup, salt, honey, vegetable oil, onions, etc.,

It’s a product of another world that is unrelated to children.

Perhaps they might taste such things when they are fed by the nobles around, so this in an overkill.

When Children devour food, it’s unlikely that they would reply even if the girls ask.

So, Rena and Maevis are smiling and waiting for the meal to settle. Mile and Pauline are watching the situation to prepare the “second”…

(T.N: I don’t know if English uses “More please/Second please” like in Japanese uses “Okawari”)

『…Then, the suspicious men started to appear…』(Mile)

『Um』(Child)

As always, it’s up to Mile to listen to the children.

Rena quickly loses her temper.

The children immediately become aware of Paulin’s nature and ảe alert.

So, Mile with a close mental age and an unprecedented mind is best suited for this.

And this time, she is the one who grabbed the children’s stomach, so there is no better-qualified person.

And, the story that Mile heard from the children …

Persecuted, or be kidnaped by criminal organizations, hunted to sell off as illegal slaves.

The children thought of escaping from the city to escape the atrocious hobby of nobles and rich people like predators hunt prey in hunting games,

However, there is no way that small villages can afford a large number of wanderers.

And when the children were at a loss, one of the wanderer children said,

A fairy tale that he heard from his deceased parents.

It was the existence of a “monster that allows you to live on its territory if you make a tribute”

It’s somewhat unbelievable information, but the children would still die if they stayed in town, no village would accept them in.

Even if they tried to settle in a suitable forest, they will either be attacked by monsters and beasts or be killed and hunted by bandits.

If they have to die anyway, they’d rather bet on an unbelievable miracle!

『…I see, and that place is here…』(Mile)

『Um』(Child)

『And the “monsters that allow coexistence” is …』(Mile)

『Um』(Child)

And as the children wandering in the mountains, the little food they had by scraped was almost exhausted.

Then, it appeared before the children who had found a water source and managed to breathe a little.

A Bloody bear.

It wasn’t a normal bear but a kind of a monster.

It wasn’t something the children could run away with their small feet.

When the children gave up, prepared to die, “that” appeared.

It doesn’t bark, it’s silent.

No expression, no panic.

Just calmly facing the Bloody Bear… and kill it instantly.

When “that” faced the children, everyone hurriedly took out the tribute from their luggage and gently presented it.

…metal.

From scrap iron, copper coins picked up at garbage dumps, unhinged doors of private houses, and various other metals collected as much as possible.

“That” was stationary, staring at it for a while.

A few minutes later, “that” appeared.

Six legs, four arms. A mysterious creature that is about the size of a large dog, walks fast.

…Yes, it’s a scavenger.

“That” or rather a scavenger appeared at a time seemed to have been called by the rock golem.

The scavenger gazed at the children, grabbed the “tribute” and disappeared with the rock golem.

… We were allowed to live here.

The children understood it somehow…

And somehow, the golems get rid of big and ferocious monsters, leaving only small and harmless monsters, normal animals.

The children can hunt small monsters and ordinary animals like horned rabbits,

collecting wild plants and fruits.

And now, they plant wild vegetable seeds and roots to make things in the field,

The children have managed to live somehow.

『Why would they attack big and ferocious monsters? Even though they don’t eat.

Also, even they attack big and ferocious monsters, they don’t attack small monsters and ordinary animals,

I don’t understand well…』(Pauline)

Paulin curiously says so,

It is well known that where the golem inhabited, there shouldn’t be any dangerous monster inhabited nearby.

Usually, the only people who go to such places are hunters, but they never try to approach the golem,

Those hunters are rarely attacked if they avoid the golems.

Hunters sometimes try to fight against golems, but if you run away, the golems never chase you.

However, it’s true that hunters get some benefit from the golem (to avoid other monsters) but they don’t coexist with it.

The same goes for the children here.

However, the golems have allowed the children to live here as “unhostile”.

That’s how it is.

But that action by itself is thankful enough for the children.

The massive golem giant, it seems like a guardian god who could protect the children from vicious monsters.

『…Then one day, they came…』 (Child)

Finally, it’s the main subject.