Simel cries. I have to pry him away from the lizard’s empty-eyed head. Getting him into the empty cavity I made of the lizard’s abdomen is even harder. By the time I climb in as well—the only bit of Simel’s possessions I was able to bring along being his satchel—Simel’s curled up into a little ball, sobbing.

But we survive the sootfall. That’s good, isn’t it? I think so.

It took a bit of effort to dig us out of the caked soot, but it all worked out. Simel didn’t want to leave the lizards body, but I was able to drag him away. He didn’t want to walk, either, but I was able to pull him along. All he did was stumble, hiccuping between heaving breaths. Telling him to get himself together didn’t help. I guess, if he wants to mourn some stupid overgrown lizard, that’s his choice.

We continue walking.

Since Simel has to walk with his own legs now, we have to take more breaks. More rest time. But that’s okay.

Towards the end of the day, I have to carry him on my back. He feels hot and cold both at once, and while I’m carrying him, I can feel him sob into my back, leaving wet stains on my pelt and my neck. Eventually, we reach a small cave. The only inhabitants were a small family of tarantulas, but I take care of them. Halfway through the battle, Simel stumbles right into it, right in front of them, but I act quickly enough to throw myself between him and the tarantula’s fangs. Then I kill the rest of him.

“That was dangerous, Simel! You could’ve died!” I scold him, but of course, he doesn’t listen in the least. All he does is stare into the lifeless eyes of the tarantula I just killed. And then, while I’m still dissecting the thing, he turns around and vomits in a corner of the cave, which is just very unhygienic. He’s had a long day as it is, though, so even if I want to tell him not to do that again, I restrain myself.

Since we had to leave most of the packed stuff behind, Simel’s forced to sleep on my bear skin, which shouldn’t be too bad, but he seems really uncomfortable. For some reason, he shivers all night as though cold, even after I gave him two additional hides.

Even more worrying, he woke up several times during the night, usually after whimpering and groaning. Probably nightmares.

Each time he woke up, his eyes would flare open, and his face would slowly move over to look at me, and even though I took care not to look at him, I could feel just how intense his gaze was, burning with some emotion I couldn’t discern. But then he’d turn over and go back to sleep again. And just like that, the night passed rather uneventfully.

In the morning, I noticed a little patch of what seemed like black mould, growing around the area where the tarantula had bitten me. The bite itself had already healed, but the black stuff was growing strong regardless.

Lichen Tolerance Lv.1>

…Lichen? That’s new. Lichen is some sort of cross between fungus and algae and plant, right? Or is it just plant and algae? No, hang on, isn’t algae already a cross between fungus and plant?... Okay, I honestly have no idea. Still, it’s a new type of tolerance, so I think I’d best let it grow a bit to really milk the levels I can get from it.

With the dawn arriving, we head out again.

About halfway through the day, I feed Simel the last bit of cactus I had in my inventory. I try to find more, but I can’t smell any nearby, or even in the direction we’re heading. With Simel upset enough as he is, I don’t really want to force him to do anything, but soon enough I might not have any choice myself.

As we take a small break in a cave, I sit him down to have the talk.

I take a deep breath. “Simel, I really don’t like saying this, but from here on out, you might need to eat, like, meat and stuff.” Until now, Simel had been sitting hunched over, gripping his stomach, staring blankly at a patch of sand. But at my words, his eyes blink and his head snaps up to face me, his head already shaking back and forth. I frown at him. “Look, I know you’re a vegetarian or a vegan or whatever, but… If you don’t eat meat, I don’t think you’ll be able to make it going forward. Don’t you want to survive to get to that city place?”

I can see the muscles in his jaw working.

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“It’s not like I’ll force you to… Well, if you refuse to eat anything I’ll probably make you eat, but it shouldn’t get to that point. We’re friends, remember? Friends don’t let their friends kill themselves.” I almost reach out to pat him calmingly, but he jerks back before I can get close. I pull my hand back. “R—right. Yeah. So, uh…” I wave my hand in the air, trying to bring the conversation elsewhere. “You know, I’ve been thinking, but… Goblins do need water, right? That should be—” He glares at me. “—Yeah. Yeah, I was just… Um. So, I’ve been thinking of a way to get water. So far, I haven’t seen a single oasis in this entire damn desert, and even if there was one I’m pretty sure it’d be covered in soot, so that’s busted from the get-go. But I’ve been thinking… See, if we…”

Going just by the look on his face, I don’t think Simel’s entirely reeled from the whole ‘you’ll probably need to eat flesh’ situation. In that sense, I don’t know if this is the perfect or the worst possible moment to mention this.

“See, my body’s kind of weird, so if we just did a bit of blood-letting, and then distilled the blood to get water, I think that…”

I don’t have time to say any more before Simel’s hands shoot up and clasp over his big pointy ears, pressing them to the side of his head.

I stare at him where he sits hunched over like a stubborn toddler. Okay, that is actually very rude. He can’t seriously believe that that’s any way to act in a civilised conversation? Why, if I was any less patient, I might just… —But I wouldn’t, and I won’t. Instead, I just mutter, “Well, okay, if that’s how you want to be…” and cross my arms. You know. Like a sensible almost-adult.

And to make matters worse, later on when we set out again, he still expects me to carry him. Isn’t that just the height of entitlement? Of course, I do still carry him, but certainly not because he asked so nicely, because—I really shouldn’t need to mention this, but remember how he doesn’t talk? Yeah.

We continue walking. As we go, I rack my brains over what kind of meat would be best for Simel.

The stuff kept in my inventory is almost all spoiled, so that’s a no-go. I’d need to get fresh stuff. I almost feel tempted to give him my own meat if I didn’t know it was all diseased and gross. If Simel’s going to eat anything, it has to be high-class, right? I mean, from what I’ve seen, this man is basically a commander-type guy. Leadership position and all that. So, he needs good food. Furthermore, since he hasn’t eaten actual meat in a good while, it might do best to start out small, like tarantula meat or bird flesh. Hmm. Now that I think about it, tarantula would probably be best. It isn’t poisonous, it tastes pretty good, and it only gave me a few levels in ulcer resistance.

For Simel’s sake, I should probably try to cook it somehow. It’s basically just land lobster, so I feel like it ought to be boiled. However, water is not something that we currently have access to, and I really don’t think Simel would like to be fed something boiled in blood. Now that I think about it, would that even be tasty? I know blood soup is a thing, but this would be something different. Also, blood soup contains more than just blood, so I don’t think I could make it right here and now.

Yeah, all things considered, it’d be best to stick to the basics. Seared meat would be best, no doubt.

Keeping my eyes open, I eventually find some tarantulas, which I kill with ease, disassembling them on the spot to put in my inventory. When I go to pick Simel back up, he practically collapses onto my back. That’s probably not good.

Now that I think about it, if I had been in favour with the gods, couldn’t I have used my points to buy water and food right here? I could, couldn’t I?

…Life is so unfair. But that doesn’t mean I can just stop going.

So, we continue. Before the sun has even set, I find us a little cave to take up residence in. There were a few animals in there, but I take care of them. Before I kill them, though, I pull out a few of the empty vodka bottles I kept and drain the blood into them, though it was only enough to fill a few. I’m actually surprised to find more bottles in my inventory than previously expected. I mean, there’s enough in here to contain enough blood for three whole Ho-Jae’s! That’s a bit too much, if you ask me.

At this moment, it’ll be more than enough for my goals.

Before I start doing any of that, though, I pull out the tarantula meat and put it on top of one of my many hides. Then, I spy towards the entrance of the cave. See, I chose this one for a reason. Out here, right beside the mouth of the cave, is one of those little cow-towing goblins covered in soot. Strolling outside, I casually clean the top of it, removing the flaky ash covering its hunched back. You should remember this, but I’ll repeat it regardless—these goblins are alive. And you know what that means?

Once the back is uncovered, I touch my hand to it.

<[Touch of Reversed Dehydration Resistance (Lv.2)]>

<[Touch of Reversed Heat Resistance (Lv.2)]>

<[Touch of Reversed Burn Resistance (Lv.2)]>

And, just like that, the goblin bursts into flame. But not like a wild, all-eating fire, no, this is a more subdued one, contained within the ribs of the goblin, eating at its still-beating heart, carefully swallowing it from the inside. It’s a slow process, and one that is perfect for my intentions.

Because, like this, in just a few minutes, we’ll have the perfect barbecue grilling embers.

I take a deep whiff. Ahhh, now there’s a nostalgic smell… “Hey, Simel, are you excited for some barbe—” My words die on my tongue as I turn around and find Simel curled up in the depths of the cave, both hands squeezing his nose and mouth shut, eyes wide and glistening. I blink at him. When—why did this happen? What the heck did I do now? “Simel?” I call out, turning to walk towards him. “Is everything… are you alright?”

He points his left hand at me.