Chapter 33: The Rock Apes’ Watering Place

We preserved the Armored Bear meat a little at a time.

We couldn’t deal with all of it at once, so we cut up what we could, smoked some, and salted some. The rest was kept as cool as possible and handled in order.

Even so, I didn’t eat as much as everyone had expected.

My body had grown much larger after becoming an Adult Dragon. Lina and Dario had assumed the amount I ate would increase just as dramatically.

I had thought so too.

But when I breathed, something faint flowed into my body from the forest, the earth, and the air around me.

Magic.

It was the same power I used when I flew. Now that I was an Adult Dragon, I could take in a little of the magic drifting through the world with every breath.

It didn’t fill my stomach.

Still, it replenished the magic inside me, and with that came a strange easing of my hunger.

I hadn’t stopped needing food. If I fought or was injured, I would need meat to restore my strength. But on an ordinary day, I no longer needed to eat as much as my body size suggested.

Lina brought me another piece of the bear meat.

“Are you sure this is enough?”

“…Fine.”

“You’re much bigger now, though.”

“…A little different.”

That was the best explanation I could give with the words I had.

There was meat left over because I wasn’t eating as much as expected. That wasn’t a problem. The village had many mouths to feed, and preserved meat would be useful later.

Once the work was underway, Dario and I went to inspect the spring on the mountainside.

The Rock Apes had fled from the Armored Bear. If they had returned to the spring, we needed to know what they intended to do.

I flew ahead.

The forest below looked different from the air now that my body and wings were larger. I couldn’t land wherever I pleased, so I circled once before choosing an open place some distance from the water.

Several Rock Apes were gathered around the spring.

There were adults, and smaller ones among them.

Young.

They drank from the water and crouched near the edge of the spring. When they noticed me, their bodies stiffened.

I landed without approaching.

The emotions reaching me through Racial Trait (Magical Beast Empathy) were clearer than before.

Wariness.

A desire not to leave the water.

The urge to protect the young.

But there was no desire to attack me.

I lowered my body and stayed where I was.

I didn’t want to take the spring from them.

I tried to put that intention into my posture and the low sound in my throat.

The Rock Apes watched me.

They didn’t flee, but they didn’t come closer either.

After a while, Dario arrived on foot.

The instant they saw a human, their caution sharpened. Several adults reached toward stones lying nearby.

“Wait.”

Dario stopped.

“They’re going to throw?”

“…Maybe. Protect young. Want water.”

He looked from me to the apes.

“They’re not trying to come down toward the village?”

“…No.”

The Rock Apes remained at the spring.

We waited.

One of the young ones moved too close to the edge, slipped, and nearly fell into the water. An adult caught it by the arm and pulled it back.

Dario let out a quiet breath.

“They’re like human children.”

The young ape clung to the adult for a while.

Eventually, the group finished drinking. The adults kept themselves between us and the young as they withdrew uphill, away from the village.

We didn’t follow them.

After they had gone, Dario and I approached the spring.

Leaves and soil had collected in the narrow channel that carried water down the slope. It didn’t look badly damaged. If we cleared it little by little, water should flow toward the village again.

The problem wasn’t the spring itself.

It was how humans and Rock Apes would use it.

“We can’t have someone wander up here alone and startle them,” Dario said.

“…Rules.”

“Right. If the apes are here, the villagers turn back. No one throws stones or tries to drive them away.”

“…Both use.”

Dario nodded.

“There’s enough water for that.”

We returned to the village and reported what we had seen.

“There were Rock Apes at the spring?” the chief asked.

“Yes,” Dario said. “They had young with them. They picked up stones when they saw me, but they didn’t throw them.”

“…Want water,” I added. “No hostility. Now.”

The chief considered that.

“If they aren’t coming down to attack us, we have no reason to attack them.”

He decided that anyone going to the spring would travel in pairs. If Rock Apes were present, the villagers would turn back and try again later.

I wouldn’t have to accompany them every time.

We cleared the channel gradually, taking care not to do too much at once. Before long, a thin stream of water was flowing downhill again.

Lina watched it run between the stones.

“We have to make sure we don’t take so much that there’s none left for the Rock Apes.”

“…Yes.”

She came to me later with another piece of the meat we had preserved.

I looked at it, then at her.

“Didn’t you say you don’t need as much now?”

“…Eat.”

Lina laughed.

Needing less food didn’t mean I had stopped liking it.