Celia lowered the girl carefully against the wall, then sat beside her.
The campfire was already burning. Dry cloth was stacked neatly.
Even the cave floor was cleaned.
Celia stared at it, then looked at Zack's back.
'Did someone camp here before?'
That was the only explanation that made sense to her.
Zack was already walking back to the entrance.
"Where are you going?" Celia asked.
"I'm going to carve the wolves for our meal."
"We're eating wolves?"
Zack looked back.
"Well of course, Princess.
Do you have any other preference? I could go look it up for you."
Celia snorted. "I'm not a princess!"
"And yet you didn't deny it when the automaton called you Princess Celia."
Celia's face stiffened. "That's because I…"
Zack smiled wider. "So, Princess Celia, do you have any preference for your dinner?"
"YOU! I'm not that spoiled!"
Zack laughed. "So you admit you're Princess Celia and not Elly."
Celia started cursing, but Zack was already outside, still laughing as he left the cave.
Outside, he pulled up his system panel.
[You have saved the princess.]
[Realization Points +5]
[You have saved the automaton.]
[Realization Points +5]
Zack grinned.
In total, he now had sixty-eight points.
"Thank God for this achievement system. I can farm points like this."
If he needed to wait for finishing questions, then he would run out of points quickly.
He didn't know what standard the system used, but sometimes it would reward him with points from random achievements.
He walked to the dead wolves and crouched beside the biggest one.
He started carving, cutting through fur and muscle.
Halfway through, he stopped and let out a quiet chuckle.
'I'm alone now. It's fine.'
He put the knife down and pressed his palm against the corpse.
"Realize."
[Realization Points -1]
The wolf corpse gave off a faint glow.
In the next breath, it was separated cleanly into piles.
The bones were fully cleaned, to the point they could be exhibited in a museum.
The fur was processed and laid flat on the ground.
Fresh meat was diced and stacked on top of it.
The useless parts were pushed aside in a neat heap.
Zack stared for a second, then nodded to himself.
He usually avoided using his ability for things like this, as he rarely did it alone.
Usually Rose, Roland, or someone else was always stuck with him.
The only time he used it in front of people was when he had no choice, like creating a parachute from the air.
"Realize. Realize."
[Realization Points -2]
With his ability, the job that should have taken him hours was now easily done in minutes.
"Realize."
[Realization Points -5]
He reshaped two pieces of fur into a rough carry bag, sturdy enough to haul the meat.
Then he looked at the pile and shook his head.
"So much meat. This could last weeks."
He burned what he didn't want to carry, making sure the smell wouldn't linger too long.
Then he dragged the bag back into the cave.
Celia's eyes widened when she saw it.
She looked at the meat, then at Zack, then back at the meat.
"…You did that in five minutes."
Zack shrugged. "I'm talented."
Celia narrowed her eyes. "Sure you are."
Zack gave her a bright smile. "My Princess, you're imagining things."
"I'm not your princess."
Zack opened his mouth.
"Don't," Celia said.
Zack laughed and sat down near the fire.
The black-haired girl stirred.
Her eyes opened, unfocused for a moment, then locked onto Celia.
"Princess Celia."
Celia flinched. "Stop calling me that. Just call me Celia."
The girl blinked once.
[Database Updated.]
"Okay, Celia." The automaton girl said in a flat tone, but somehow it felt like she was happy.
Zack paused. "So you really are an automaton."
The girl nodded.
"Yes. My code name is C.C."
Celia watched her carefully. Zack did too.
C.C. looked at the roasted meat. "Food."
"Can you eat it?" Zack asked.
C.C. stared at him for a second.
"I don't require it to replenish my energy, but yes, I can consume it."
Zack scratched his cheek.
"It seems you're not really here to take Celia back. What were you doing on the airship?"
Celia was curious too. It was unheard of for an automaton to move by herself, without any specific mission.
"Order from my master. Gain experience. Learn more about being human."
Zack blinked. "Your master sent you to… learn to be human?"
C.C. nodded. "Learn. Observe. Copy. Improve."
Zack let out a short laugh. "Can automatons even learn emotions?"
Celia snapped, "That's rude, Zack. Of course she can learn."
Zack paused, then lifted both hands.
"Alright. Fair. That was uncalled for."
C.C. tilted her head. "Rude is bad?"
Celia's expression softened.
"Not always. That will depend on the situation, but if it's from him, then yes, he's bad.
We just met, but I'm sure he always talks before thinking."
Zack pointed at Celia. "Hey."
Celia ignored him and looked at C.C. "How's your condition now?"
C.C. looked at her arm. "20% damaged. Recovering."
Zack tapped the meat bag. "Good news. We have some food here, it could help."
Celia stared at him. "That helps nothing."
C.C. spoke again. "I found clean water, close by."
"Now that's useful. By the way, do you know where we are, C.C.?" Zack asked while taking a bite of the roasted meat.
"We should be in the Forbidden Forest."
Celia's chewing stopped. "What?"
"Forbidden Forest is categorized as a tier B danger zone. Every year the empire loses thousands of people here."
Celia's face turned pale.
Zack leaned back with a smile. "Great. So we're famous now. We're alive in a place nobody comes back from."
Celia glared at him. "That's not funny."
Zack waved his hand, then looked back at C.C. "Where's the nearest town from here?"
C.C. lifted a branch and drew on the dirt.
A rough map with trees, a river, and a mark for the wreckage.
Then a small town symbol on the far edge.
"This is Mistbarrow Town."
Celia stared at the map. "But we are near the center. So we have to cross the forest."
"Yes."
Zack then let out a chuckle.
"Good. We have food. We have water, and now we know where to go.
We also have a strong automaton."
He looked at Celia and smiled.
"And we have a beautiful princess."
Celia's face turned red. "Stop."
Zack leaned closer, still smiling. "And we have me. The one and only Zack."
Celia's lips twitched, trying hard not to smack Zack.
"So don't worry. I'll keep you all alive. Even if you keep trying to die by falling off roofs."
Celia let out a short laugh before she could stop herself.
C.C. watched them both, then made a small smile.
Zack stood up. "I'll take first watch. Both of you should rest."
Celia frowned. "You should sleep too."
"We'll take turns. I'll wake you up later."
C.C. got up and walked toward him.
"I will guard with you."
Zack shook his head. "No. You need to recover."
C.C. stared at him.
"I'm an automaton. I can recover while staying on guard."
"Just rest. That's a request from a friend."
C.C. blinked. "Request… from friend?"
Zack paused, then nodded. "Yeah. From a friend."
C.C. processed that, then lay down without arguing.
Zack stood at the cave entrance, looking out into the trees.
The sky was darker than it should have been.
A red moon hung above the branches.
It had been years since he came to this world, but he still never got used to the view.
The red moon gave him a bad feeling.
Then he smelled something sweet.
Zack frowned. "What is that…?"
The air changed.
Gray fog spread through the woods, blocking Zack's view.
Zack's eyes suddenly became heavy.
He blinked hard.
Beyond the fog, something moved.
A black silhouette, just standing there.
Zack's hand tightened on his dagger.
"What's that…?"
But before he could do anything, a strong sense of drowsiness washed over him.
The last thing he saw was the black silhouette, moving closer.
Then the world turned dark.