Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 39 (Part 1):

‘How was this giant cleanly cut like this?’

The cut surface was unbelievably smooth.

‘Is this the work of a Vis?’

The monkey beast, with its incredibly sturdy body, was split in two, much like meat cleaved in a slaughterhouse.

“Still, given its size, the fur and hide could be useful if salvaged properly… Huh? What’s this?”

Finn inadvertently kicked a lump that had sprung out white.

And the next moment, a chilling scream erupted from his mouth.

“Aaaaagh!”

“What, what’s that?”

“What happened?”

Finn, his face gone pale, staggered back and vomited on the ground. He was retching terribly.

Uter, who approached, shook his head with a tsk and muttered.

“It’s undigested.”

The people from the Butan Company that the creature had swallowed before fighting Helmut. Their corpses were halved yet somehow retained their shape. What Finn had kicked was a human hand, half-dissolved in the stomach.

“If we had arrived a bit earlier, or if they had held on a little longer, they could have lived.”

Uter murmured regretfully.

Finn, disgusted, stayed far away from that spot, not daring to come any closer.

He had somewhat adapted to the sight of demon beast corpses, but he couldn’t bear to look at mutilated human bodies with his own eyes. They were like the bodies one might see in the aftermath of a war.

After roughly gathering usable parts from the demon beast corpse, the mercenaries began to collect the corpses of the Tariq Mercenary Corps.

They collected the Tariq Mercenary Corps badges pinned on the chests and personal belongings like swords, and piled up the bodies as they were, clothed.

Helmut, who had been silently watching, asked.

“What are you doing?”

“We can’t just leave them to become beast feed; we have to bury them. Since the forest is so dense, we can’t just burn them. We plan to send the personal belongings through the Butan Company to the Tariq Mercenary Corps.”

“Even though they betrayed us, they were mercenaries all the same. We should take care of their final journey.”

Helmut tilted his head, perhaps puzzled by the human concept of honoring the dead.

Soon, a large hole was dug beside the piled-up corpses. The mercenaries pushed the bodies into it and covered the hole, then held a moment of silence.

A lot of sacrifices had been made to pass through this forest. They hoped the rest of the journey would be smooth.

*

Miles regained consciousness only in the evening. After the carriage was salvaged, and a campsite was found, he sat up with a blurry vision and mumbled to himself.

“Where is this? Is this the afterlife?”

“Sir Miles.”

“Oh, it’s you, Phien. To meet like this. I really owe you an apology. I fell for Paul’s threats. It wasn’t right to abandon you and the Pace Mercenary Corps after working together for so long.”

“Sir Miles.”

Phien grimaced uncomfortably. It seemed Miles thought he had died and was meeting Phien on his way to the afterlife.

He mumbled with a weak face, drained of all life’s venom and cunning.

“I’m glad there’s a way to apologize even in death. The gods have given me this chance.”

“Sir Miles!!!”

Tanya shouted loudly, startling Miles with her cry. It was a scream that seemed to tear through the eardrums. Tanya, with a displeased face, said.

“You’re not dead, so snap out of it.”

Considering he was speaking fluently, his mind seemed to be intact.

Miles, dazed, soon came to his senses. He looked at his hands and mumbled with a shocked face.

“How am I… alive? And you all?”

“It’s strange that you’re alive after we left you for death?”

Miles coughed dryly. Yet, he felt guilty. Tanya crossed her arms and said.

“One of your companions is also alive. He’s critically injured and unconscious, but still alive.”

She nodded towards a familiar face from the company lying down.

There were four of them, but only two remained. Was it fortunate that they survived? Miles wiped his face upon recognizing the presence of his company.

“How…”

“How? Isn’t it obvious? We survived, and when we followed up quickly, the company was nearly annihilated. Be thankful for the life that saved you.”

Tanya omitted many details, letting him fill in the gaps himself.

Helmut wished for everyone to remain silent about his abilities. As a result, everyone was cautious, and even the 4th-rank mercenary of the Tariq Mercenary Corps who survived knew nothing about what Helmut had done.

They could say we saved Miles, but since they arrived late and only managed to collect the bodies, it was hard to claim that.

“Did you all take down that giant?”

“It’s dead. So, you can rest easy.”

This was not a lie either.

“Oh, my God. Thank you.”

Miles clasped his hands in prayer, receiving no warm looks. Phien leaned in front of Miles, who had only raised his upper body.

“Now that you’re awake, let’s talk about our deal.”

Otaku_Tensei

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