Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit
Chapter 221: Nice Weather

Chapter 221: Chapter 221: Nice Weather

"It’s, uh...nice weather today, huh?" Muttered Aster awkwardly.

"Y-Yes, seems so," Nodded Jules, the two of them unable to look the other in the eye.

It was the next day, early in the morning. After giving into their passion and desires, the pair had passed out in exhaustion after a couple of hours, before waking up not too long ago.

And, it was awkward. They were making their way back in a tense, awkward silence. Both of them were desperate to ease the tension, but neither could think of anything to talk about.

Every time they tried to think of a topic, their minds flashed back to what they’d done the previous night.

"Wh-What...what the hell did I do?! I-I let my emotions completely sweep me away, I’ve never felt so mortified before! I-I mean, I don’t exactly regret it, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t e-enjoy it, but...but...," Jules thought to herself, her head spinning a bit as her face turned red.

"Did last night really happen? I remember it all way too clearly for it to have been a dream, but...I still can’t believe it. The Commander and I really h-had...sex...I-I’ve never done it before, I didn’t think it’d feel that good," Aster thought to himself, glancing at Jules before they both averted their gazes as they made eye contact.

The tension and silence were beginning to seriously weigh on both of them, the awkwardness steadily growing more and more unbearable.

"I-I wonder what he thinks of me, after the way I acted last night? I hope he doesn’t think I’m a promiscuous vixen or something. I-I can’t believe how vulgar I was," Frowned Jules, shaking her head as she recalled the previous night.

"Hey, uh..."

"H-Huh? What is it?" She responded, a bit startled.

"I...I think we need to talk about it," Muttered Aster awkwardly, his gaze darting about a bit.

"Wh-...talk about what?" She replied, cringing at herself.

"Y-You know, about last night. I can’t take this tension anymore...we’re both adults, let’s just talk about it and get it out in the open!" He declared, steeling his nerves.

"I-...y-yeah, okay. I...I suppose we should," Nodded Jules quietly, her chest starting to pound as she felt a sense of anxiety welling up inside her.

Meanwhile...

"Y-Yes...yes, yes, YES!!! WE FINALLY MADE IT OUT!!!" Exclaimed Akila triumphantly, pumping his fists into the air.

"F-Finally, some light...I thought we’d never see the sun ever again," Kia sighed in relief, as she flopped onto the grass and stared up at the sky.

"Huh, looks like we were inside a mountain. Hm? Hey, over there, I see a stream!"

"What?!" Exclaimed Kia, springing back onto her feet, her eyes widening at the sight of the running body of water.

She found herself sprinting towards it before she even realized it, desperate to quench her thirst. Akila was close behind her, as she came to a stop by the edge of the stream and got down on her knees.

She plunged her face into the water, deep gulps echoing out as she opened her mouth and chugged the water, before pulling her head out and coughing as she choked a bit.

"Hey, take it easy, the water isn’t going to go anywhere," Smiled Akila, patting her back as he took a couple of gulps, the dryness in his throat fading.

"I-I know, I just couldn’t help myself. I’ll never take water for granted again," She vowed, before dunking her face back into the stream and taking another drink of the clear water.

"It’s so nice and cool, and it’s crystal clear. I really needed this," Said Akila with a sigh of relief.

"Y-Yeah, me too. I’ve never felt that thirsty before in my life," Nodded Kia, her eyes gleaming as she pulled her head back with a smile.

"But now I’m hungry...I didn’t notice my hunger much since my thirst felt a lot more prevalent, but now that it’s quenched, I’m absolutely starving. Let’s try to hunt something to eat, or at least find some fruits or nuts. I don’t care what it is, I just need to get something in my stomach ASAP," Sighed Akila, as his stomach rumbled, right on cue.

"Doesn’t look like there are any fish in this stream. Let’s fill up on water some more, that should keep us going for a bit until we find something to eat," She suggested, before Akila’s gaze suddenly shifted across, as he spotted some movement.

"H-Hey, that’s...that’s a Horn Boar, right?" He gulped, as his mouth began watering.

The Monster was rooting around the base of a bush, its back turned to them.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, it is...it hasn’t noticed us yet."

"I’ll sneak up on it and take it down," Remarked Akila, getting back onto his feet and turning himself intangible as he crossed the stream, his legs phasing through the water quietly.

As he stepped onto the other side, he swiftly and silently made his way forward, being as quiet as possible.

He crept closer and closer to the Monster, slowly taking one of his blades out of his dimensional storage space, gulping slightly as he salivated in anticipation, before rushing forward as he closed in.

The Monster tensed before spinning around, starting to scramble away as Akila charged towards it, leaping forward and plunging his blade into the side of its neck before it could get away, killing it as he pulled the blade back out with a sharp twist.

"N-Nice work. It’s pretty fat, it should have enough meat to fill us," Gulped Kia as she came jogging over, wiping the corner of her mouth.

"I’ll go gather some firewood, could you skin it in the meantime?"

"S-Sure, leave it to me," She nodded, drawing out of her blades out and kneeling beside the Monster’s corpse as Akila wandered off, picking up some dried branches off the ground.

"Huh, looks like it must have rained last night, most of these are damp. Fortunately, the ones scattered under the trees in this area are relatively dry, at least dry enough that they should burn," He muttered to himself, before tossing a branch away in disgust as he spotted several worms on it as he picked it up.

It took a while to gather enough wood, since there weren’t many dry branches around. By the time he got back, Kia had finished skinning the Monster, and had also sliced the meat up into several large chunks.

"L-Let’s hurry up, my stomach is killing me," She greeted him, looking a bit impatient.

"Hey, nice work. Go wash the blood off your hands in the stream, I’ll get started here," Replied Akila, setting most of the branches he’d gathered down in a pile, before stacking rocks in a circle around the pile of wood.

He picked up a couple of the branches he’d set asidr and sliced them into small, narrow strips with one of his blades, before tossing the strips onto the pile.

He then used the side of his blade to reflect a ray of sunlight onto the branches, a few seconds passing by, before he smiled to himself as a wisp of smoke began rising up.

Kia began stabbing the meat chunks with the branches Akila had set aside, before jamming them into the ground around the pile of wood.

It wasn’t long before the pile was set ablaze, burning steadily as Kia skewered the meat and placed them around the fire.

"D-Damn, that smells so good...it’ll probably be a bit bland since we don’t have any spices, but I really don’t care," Remarked Akila, eagerly waiting for the meat to cook.

"I-I should’ve cut the pieces thinner so that they’d cook faster, this’ll take a while," Frowned Kia impatiently, as she turned the meat skewers around as the sides facing the flames got cooked.

"Well, we waited this long, we can manage a little while longer," Replied Akila, struggling to contain himself as his stomach rumbled.

Back in Elephas City...

"I see. Alright, thanks. Please let us know if anyone else returns," Remarked Raven, before setting the phone down.

"Did someone get back?" Tacitus asked him, as he sat up.

The two of them were in the hotel, waiting by the phone in a room. The APF had assured them that they’d let them know right away once those who were teleported away returned, and they’d been waiting pretty impatiently since last night, neither of them having slept.

"Yeah, all the Adventurers are back, no one from Persona yet, though," Replied Raven with a sigh.

"I see. That’s too bad. But I’m sure they’re fine, you should get some sleep, you look exhausted."

"Right back at you. You barely got any sleep the night before too," Pointed out Raven, before he abruptly turned around as the phone rang again, exclaiming as he picked it up and held it up to his ear, "Hello?! Okay...yes, okay. Alright, thanks."

"Well?"

"It’s Nero, he’s back too. I think that’s everyone besides Aster, the Commander, Akila and Kia."

"Hm...they’re all strong, so they should be fine. They must have just gotten teleported further away than the others did," Reasoned Tacitus objectively.

"Yeah...I hope that’s all it is."