Welcome to the Demon’s Cabin - Chapter 20

At that sound, the little squirrel let out a squeak and scrambled away. Watching the cute tail receding into the distance, Irene reached out her hand in regret.

“Ah, it was so cute! It ran away……”

“I am sorry. It seems to be a wild animal, so it must be sensitive to sound.”

“It is fine. It is not as if you did it on purpose.”

Irene shrugged her shoulders and hurried her pace once more.

It was not long before they reached the storage sheds nearby. Irene pointed to the smaller wooden shed, which was made of darker materials than the other.

“Let us look in this small shed first. The large one is a place where various knick-knacks are kept, so there likely won’t be any food ingredients there.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Irene smiled and gripped the handle of the small shed. Naturally, there was no such thing as a lock attached.

The large wooden door opened with a creak. The cool interior of the shed was cluttered with all sorts of junk, crates, and sacks. Unlike the clean and organized cabin, it was a mess, even with dust piling up in the corners.

It did not look like a place where food ingredients would be. This was natural, as Irene did not eat human food and had no need to store it with care. To be honest, she did not even remember clearly what was in there. She felt a slight pang of regret, thinking she should have organized it beforehand if she had known she would be bringing Idris here.

She immediately crouched on the floor and began untying a brown sack right in front of her. Idris did the same.

‘With this much stuff, surely there must be something to eat?’

* * *

“Haaa.”

Another deep exhale escaped from Idris’s lips as he opened another dark brown sack. This bag was filled with shiny, colorful glass beads. Once again, it was just pretty trash she had tossed aside.

To think there was this little food. It was a complete disaster.

From behind him, he heard Idris’s hollow voice.

“……Ms. Irene. Are you certain that the place where the food was kept is this shed and not the large one?”

“Yes……. I am certain.”

There was nothing to say.

“How are the food supplies that have come out so far?”

“One sack of sprouted potatoes, one sack of wheat, two sacks of corn, and a few handfuls of beans.”

“…….”

Idris rattled off the pathetic harvest as if he had been waiting. Irene pressed a hand to her forehead. She could not believe that only one chest remained.

Most of the items that had come out of this shed were ambiguous valuables or items belonging to ancient mages. To think she had roughly neglected these things alongside sprouted potatoes and old books. Even she thought her organization was a mess.

Seeing Idris’s visibly darkened expression, Irene stole a glance at him, checking his mood. Rising with a weary body, he trudged over to a luxurious black chest and sat before it, opening the crude locking mechanism.

Idris lifted the heavy lid with ease. The moment he opened it, a cloud of dust billowed out, causing him to close his eyes and cough. At that sound, Irene slowly approached his side. After coughing for a while, he opened his eyes, which were still stinging.

“……!!!”

Letting out a silent scream, Idris lost his balance and fell backward. Having landed on his rear, he gasped for breath. His blue eyes were thrown wide with terror. The sound of his heart beating crazily fast was audible even to Irene.

“Mr. Idris? Why are she you doing that?”

Irene, not understanding the reason, left the terrified Idris behind and leaned forward to inspect the inside of the chest.

What was contained within the black chest were someone’s bones.

Irene tilted her head.

“Goat bones? Why are these here?”

“……Goat…… bones?”

“Yes. I remember throwing these away a long time ago, but I guess I didn’t.”

At that, Idris leaned his body forward again to cautiously inspect the inside of the chest. The skull sitting in the center had a long snout and eye sockets positioned on the sides. It seemed the horns had been broken off and tossed in together carelessly.

“……Haaa.”

Failing to manage his expression, he let out a soul-weary exhale that was unlike his usual self and slammed the chest shut. Then, he turned to her with a troubled face.

“Ms. Irene, are you absolutely certain there is no food in the large storage shed?”

“I think the only thing remotely edible in there would be the wooden planks.”

Idris lowered his head, his face having turned deathly pale. He repeatedly wiped his face with his large hands. It was the darkest expression Irene had seen from him so far.

“But we have some ingredients in the cabin, so won’t it be alright?”

“That will not be nearly enough. No, if I add a lot of water, I might be able to stretch it for a few more days……”

“Then, what about picking berries or hunting……”

“From what I saw earlier, I did not see any trees that were particularly bearing fruit.”

“…….”

No rebuttal came back. A devastated Idris squeezed his eyes shut. A hollow laugh escaped him. The thought that he had to act as a well-behaved, obedient parrot instantly fell away. Right now, Irene was not the problem.

He called out today as well to the God who offered no help.

‘O Mater, is this truly right? I am about to slowly starve to death before I am even killed by that wicked thing!’