“If a person used it, this wouldn’t happen, but… Since this guy is a beastman, there’s a possibility that different side effects occurred. There might have been mana retention that wouldn’t normally exist.”
It was a possibility, but that was all we could speculate right now.
“Then what should we do…”
That’s when it happened. Sharp bloodlust cut between me and Rose. It was a fierce momentum as if a beast had opened its maw and charged.
“Belly…?”
The source of the bloodlust was Belly, who couldn’t get a grip on himself. He was looking at me and Rose with his eyes barely open in thin slits. More precisely, he was glaring at Rose as if to kill her.
“Get… out!”
Rose snorted with a “pfft” as if dumbfounded. She seemed to want to examine Belly a bit more, but soon said to me.
“I’d like to see more, but at this rate, he’ll only get worse. I’ll go back and look for a method too, so contact me if his condition gets worse.”
“Y-yes…”
Rose quickly left the room as if pushed out by the bloodlust. Though I had asked for help and the person who came was being treated coldly, I felt sorry, but the patient came first right now.
As soon as Belly and I were left alone, he erased his bloodlust as if asking when that had happened. Sending me a tear-filled gaze, I couldn’t not approach him.
“Master… nim…”
On Belly’s body, calling me with a dying voice, there were thin cracks. So startled I couldn’t even scream, when I touched his body, I felt an alien sensation.
“Wh-what is… this…?”
Belly’s skin was separating and peeling off like a thin membrane. As if shedding skin. Surprised, when I looked at Belly’s face, he said to me in a frail voice.
“Help… me… please…”
“Wh-what should I help you with?”
There was no way I could refuse such a pitiful request for help. Because the one asking me was Belly. If it had been someone else, I might have had the leisure to help while observing. But as long as the other party was Belly, my nerves couldn’t help but be pulled taut.
“The shed… alone…”
Belly couldn’t properly connect his words. However, through the strange phenomenon he was showing and the incomplete words, I could infer what the next words would be.
Molting. I had heard that people who raise reptiles help those who can’t shed their skin alone. Because due to their species characteristics, not being able to shed skin can be fatal to their health.
However, Belly wasn’t a small and cute lizard raised at home but had the appearance of a robust man. He was a guy two heads taller than me, so how could I help him?
“Master-nim…”
But seeing Belly flushed with fever, gasping and looking at me, the words “I can’t” didn’t come out. Even if I collapsed tomorrow, I had to accomplish it now. It would work out somehow.
Fortunately, I knew how to help reptiles like lizards or snakes with molting. Because books contained all kinds of stories. Though I had only read about it in writing, it would be better than not knowing at all.
Knowing cases of animals who failed molting losing parts of their body or losing their sight, my nerves naturally sharpened.
First, what was needed was warm water. The shell had to be soaked in water to make it easier to peel off. Fortunately, since Belly had brought a bathtub into my room, I didn’t have to support him all the way to the communal bathroom. What he had insisted on unavoidably to attend to my bathing turned out to be fortunate now.
“Come on, Belly. Put your arm over my shoulder.”
It would be cool if I could lift him up by myself in one go, but sadly, I didn’t have that strength.
Belly slowly hung his heavy arm over my shoulder. It felt like a rock had been placed on me.
Moving was more difficult than expected. His tail was so heavy that standing up was all I could manage, and I couldn’t move even one step. Only after struggling for a long time could I barely move. My face heated up bright red.
“I-I’m sorry…”
“No, why are you apologizing? Being sick isn’t a fault.”
Despite hearing my words, Belly bowed his head to me repeatedly. He tried to hide his animal characteristics several times, but unfortunately, it seemed impossible.
I used all my strength to barely push him into the bathtub. Just that alone had already exhausted my stamina. I had exerted so much effort that my face reflected in the mirror had turned red as an apple.
“Wait a moment. I’ll bring water.”
Sadly, moving him to the bathtub wasn’t the end of it all. To make shedding the skin easier, work to soak it in water was necessary. Unfortunately, my room didn’t have running water connected.
Since Belly could use magic, he could easily fill water, but I couldn’t. I had no choice but to fetch water by hand. Though my arms were already trembling from using a lot of strength moving Belly, it couldn’t be helped.
“…”
Belly had already lost his energy and was just closing his eyes weakly. I felt the urgency again and quickly went to fetch water. Though I had already suffered terribly and was very tired, there was no time to delay.
I didn’t want to attract other people’s attention if possible, but since I filled a large bucket with water to the brim and moved it, attracting attention was unavoidable. At times like this, my teeth chatter at my own incompetence. It would have been nice if I at least had some strength or could use magic.
“…Jack.”
In front of me, who had been moving busily, Carl appeared looking somehow anxious. With beads of sweat even forming on his forehead, it seemed like he had some urgent business. Still, seeing him standing fine, I guess what he said earlier about being sick wasn’t a big deal.
I lightly greeted him and tried to pass by.
“W-wait.”
But Carl grabbed my arm firmly, and because of that, I almost spilled the bucket of water I had worked hard to fetch. In a situation where every moment counted, I was flustered and even angry at Carl acting like this, so I snapped at him with narrowed brows.
“What is it? I’m right now—”
“I’ll help you.”
Carl, who spoke quickly as if blocking my sharp words, snatched the water bucket before I could even answer. Despite it being a hasty action, his movement of not spilling a single drop of water was even graceful. Indeed, he was a different breed from me.
“Uh…”
Carl strode toward my room carrying the bucket. Absurdly, I urgently chased after him and said.
“No, you don’t have to help me. I can do it alone.”
“What are you saying when your whole body is trembling like that?”
Certainly true. My body was shaking like a piece of paper swaying in a storm right now. I was trembling so much that even just holding it, the water in the bucket was rippling. However, while I would normally be grateful for his help, right now in the room was Belly, who couldn’t control his traits.
Even if Carl had been obedient listening to Rose’s words until now, there was no law saying he would continue to do so. If he took advantage of the weakened Belly to do anything, I lacked the power to stop him. Though I could find out everything about him with Glutton, if he started something before I could read it, I’d be helpless.
Right. Even if I collapse after finishing everything, I have to do it alone. Carl shouldn’t be involved. After a quick judgment, I blocked his way.
“I’m really okay, Carl. You don’t have to help.”
“Is it because of that guy?”
Carl asked me while standing firmly in place. “That guy” must be referring to Belly. However, his eyes were somehow different from usual. The negative emotions that had always been hostile toward Belly had disappeared like melting snow. His docile eyes were nothing but unfamiliar.
“I won’t do any harm.”
“…”
“Trust me.”
Carl’s appearance, transformed like a gentle sheep, approached me so unfamiliarly. The hypocritical and duplicitous appearance he always showed me wasn’t there. I couldn’t understand Carl’s sudden change of heart.
Could it be related to what he said earlier about being sick? Even so, his anger wasn’t something that would easily subside…
When I didn’t answer, Carl’s eyes were colored with disappointment.
Why on earth? I don’t understand why he’s hurt by my words. Wasn’t I an object of hatred to him? Not understanding the current situation, when I just stared blankly, Carl strode ahead first. Even if I said I didn’t trust him, his intention to help was evident. No matter how many times I thought about it, it was strange.
“Don’t enter the room.”
“…Okay.”
Disappointment oozed from his low voice again. Even so, I couldn’t let him into the room. Even if he was acting altruistically now, I didn’t know how he might change upon seeing the weakened Belly.
I knew Carl was competent, but his abilities also shone in simple labor. When I struggled to carry water once, he went back and forth three times and quickly fetched water that overflowed.
Since it was a dormitory where many people lived, I was fortunate there were many miscellaneous items. If not for that, I would have had to fetch water with something other than a bucket later.
Though I was still wary of him, I was truly grateful.
“Thank you.”
When I spoke honestly to Carl, who stood alone in front of the door, his face reddened slightly. It was a raw, pure appearance unlike him, who always had thorough expression management.
“Yeah.”
Unlike the hesitant Carl, I had no time to converse further and no topic to discuss.
“Then I’m busy. Take care.”
“…Yeah. See you next time.”
Carl greeted me and left. His retreating figure somehow looked satisfied. That appearance, now disappointed, now happy, capricious, felt unfamiliar as it was different from the Carl I had known until now.
No, this isn’t the time for this. I didn’t have the leisure to fall into contemplation now. I quickly opened the door and moved the bucket inside. Though my strength was completely drained and I almost spilled the water on the floor once, fortunately I could move it well. Only after firmly locking the door did my tension relax slightly.
