## Chapter 556 – The Little Match Girl
The devil’s mark.
Whatever it was, it seemed clear there was some kind of connection between these bastards.
Heretics and Sasquatch. And a devil… plus the ice giant that Saint Kadia mentioned? I didn’t know much about these punks, so detailed reasoning was impossible.
Anyway, the part with this mark on it needed to be taken as evidence.
In fact, just taking this would satisfy the Saint.
“Let’s call it a day and go back.”
“Yes!”
First, I needed to take some of the Sasquatch’s internal organs and its head.
“By the way, it’s really huge.”
“You can say that again.”
The Sasquatch was about 2.3 meters tall, with big forearms and broad shoulders, making it feel like a tank. And inside that massive body, there were strong muscles packed tight.
A ferocious monster with muscles to spare.
This was a really dangerous monster.
It was more than a troll.
I pulled out the dagger Karin had given me and cut open its abdomen. The heart was essential, and I thought I’d take the gallbladder too.
ㅡRip.
When I opened up the hide, dark black organs were revealed.
“Ugh. What the hell, why are its organs so black?”
The Sasquatch’s organs were generally darkish rather than pink or red.
“It seems the devils’ power has penetrated even into its organs.”
“Hmm… is that why it was especially strong?”
“It could be. Its vitality was incredible to begin with, right? Seeing how violently it could move even after being stabbed with a knife, it’s certain.”
It seemed it had been strengthened by the power of the devil. If so, I should assume that ordinary Sasquatch are weaker than this one.
I took off my gauntlet and reached into the thing’s belly, skillfully pulling out the organs.
ㅡSizzle.
When I put the organs I’d taken out on the snow, black steam soon rose and they began to melt limply. What the hell!
“What kind of sorcery is this!”
I hurriedly cut out the heart and took it out, but it was also black, and as soon as I took it out, it melted powerlessly like a dog’s balls on Dog Days.
“Hey Hilde! What’s going on!”
“W, well? Maybe because it lost its life… I don’t know the details either.”
“God damn it!”
Risha would be disappointed if I couldn’t bring her the heart!
“Damn devil bastards! How dare you touch my heart!”
Ugh, goddamn it. I was so pissed.
Anger burst out for no reason. Since all the organs had melted, there was nothing I could take. I’d roughly checked with the Adventurer’s Guild and found out that some parts were worth a decent amount, but they’d all become useless.
Is this real life…!
Anyway, I suppressed my shitty mood, chopped off the thing’s head, and then skinned it. I was used to it, and my strength and skill had increased, so it wasn’t particularly difficult.
I pushed the blade between the flesh and the skin to make a gap, and when I pulled, it peeled off with a rip.
After working hard at dismantling it for about 30 minutes, I cut out the part with the devil’s mark on it and set it aside.
“Hilde, bring me my backpack that I took off over there.”
“Yes!”
For now, I had the Sasquatch’s head and skin. And its palms and soles. It was really fucking big, so I’d have to put the limbs in my backpack, drape the skin over my back, and carry the head.
Well, I’d write a report when I got back.
It was pretty shitty, but I finally had some gains. I felt a little relieved. At least I’d found a trace after searching the snowy mountains.
“Let’s go now.”
“Yes!”
“I’m going to go a little faster.”
As soon as I finished the work, I sped up and went back the way I came.
The Sasquatch was truly a monster.
As Hildegard said, it didn’t seem like these guys had directly borrowed power from the devils.
What devils liked was the blood of intelligent beings.
It was more reasonable to think that the heretics had made some kind of deal with the devils and had the power given to the Sasquatch.
If so.
For what purpose? Was the Sasquatch useful for something? Well, it was a strong monster, so it seemed like it would be useful… Only the questions deepened.
Above all, there were no clues, so there was nothing more to think about.
What I’d organized now was just speculation. And it wasn’t like the heretic bastards had only started acting up today or yesterday.
Maybe it was just a simple hobby.
“Katt, aren’t you heavy? I’ll carry it for you.”
The Sasquatch’s head was a little too big, so it was uncomfortable to carry. But it wasn’t heavy, so I was just holding its horns and moving with it slung over my shoulder.
“It’s not heavy.”
“I’m just saying it because I want to help. Give me that head. I’ll carry it.”
“I appreciate the thought, but there’s no need. Hey, but I think we should start heading back soon.”
There was nothing more to do today.
“No! You call me out here and then suddenly tell me to go back!”
“I’m going home now, so what can I do? I’ll call you again next time.”
“Ugh… Well, then, let’s just go together until we get to the city. I just want to be next to you, Katt.”
This kid had been through a lot.
“Hehehe, hey, hey. Even so, you’re a devil and I’m a human.”
“I want to change that. No, why isn’t it possible in the first place?”
“Because I’m a married man.”
“You have five wives. Five or six is the same. Make me a wife too, okay? I’m really confident I can do well. In bed, and everything else.”
Devils are a bit much.
“It’s just that devils are a bit mentally taxing.”
“But you get excited when you see my body, don’t you? Doesn’t that mean you want to put it inside me? Isn’t that a signal that you want to cum inside me?”
“You little shit, that’s just a physiological phenomenon.”
“Heeing.”
I felt sorry for using the girl who kept coming on to me.
“Still, I’m really grateful for the help.”
“I’m happy you’re grateful. I’ll be satisfied with that for now.”
I walked hard, chatting with Hilde like that. As we got closer to the city, I felt more signs of people, so I transformed her into a human from time to time.
Before long, as the sun set, the walls of Isbant began to appear in the distance.
“Then, Katt. Have a good trip.”
“You too.”
“Yes. Call me anytime. I’ll always be waiting for Katt’s call. Woohoo, goodbye then!”
Hilde disappeared in a cloud of pink smoke.
“Ah.”
I forgot to get my cape back. No wonder she disappeared so quickly, she must have wanted to take that. Well, I could give her that much. I ran straight to the city walls.
“E, eek! What is that!”
The guard saw me and screamed in surprise.
“It’s a Sasquatch head. I caught it today.”
“S, Sasquatch… You must be very skilled. To catch such a monster alone…”
“Hehehe, you can say that again.”
This Sasquatch really looked ferocious.
Even after passing through the city gates, a lot of attention was focused on me.
“T, that’s…”
“A monster…!”
“To hunt that down!”
Everyone seemed surprised to see the head. From my own experience, this wasn’t something that even a group of decent guys could take down.
If even one person got caught in that headlong rush, the party would be over that day. Who would try to fight a muscle monster that could instantly turn a human into mincemeat?
At the very least, three or more experienced and seasoned C-rank adventurers would have to be fully prepared and ready to die to hunt down a Sasquatch.
I arrived home around the time it got dark.
“Blackie’s back… D, did you catch that?”
Winia was shocked as soon as she opened the door.
“Yeah! I caught it!”
I immediately unloaded my luggage and unequipped my gear. Karin and Risha had already arrived because it was already dark. I briefly explained to them what had happened today.
“It looks really ferocious. I’ve never seen this before.”
“Hmph… Is it similar to a troll?”
Karin and Cloudi grabbed the head I brought and looked at it as if they were appraising it. They both seemed satisfied.
“Hehehe, Katt. You caught this alone? How?”
“I stabbed it in the chest with a knife and pulled out a dagger to cut off its head. But it wouldn’t die easily. So I beat it up a few more times and it died.”
I gestured and imitated the situation at the time to tell Cloudi. She liked hearing these stories.
Risha helped me take off my equipment.
“Ah, but Risha. I took out the heart, but I couldn’t use it. All the organs melted because of the devil’s power. This is the devil’s mark.”
I took out the piece of leather with the devil’s mark from my pocket and said.
“Hmm… That’s a shame. But you suffered a lot in the cold. Since you thought of me like this, I don’t care about the heart.”
“Hehehe, I’m glad to hear that.”
If Risha was okay, then I was okay. Still, I wanted to catch a proper Sasquatch if possible… But I had a strong feeling that they were all contaminated by the devil.
“Is this the devil’s mark? It seems like there’s something to it, as the Saint said.”
Winia said, looking at the piece of leather.
“It really seems like there’s something to it.”
“Hmm… Then it’s a worthwhile job, but more than that, Hildegard, that kid.”
“Hildegard? Why?”
“She’s useful, isn’t she.”
She was actually more than useful, she was a demon radar.
“Right? She knows how to do a lot of things.”
“I don’t like her, but I’m grateful she helped. Anyway, you’re going to rest tomorrow, right?”
“Of course.”
Tomorrow was a day off. I summarized what had happened today to my wives, took out a piece of paper, and started writing a report. I’d scribble down what I could think of first, then wash up and organize it later.
“Katt, are you going to sell this skin?”
“Yeah. I’m going to find out the market price and sell it soon.”
It was quite large and rare, so I’d be able to get several tens of silver for it. After all, it was such a monster.
“Hmm… I wonder if it would be okay to make clothes out of it.”
“Hehehe, is there something you want to make?”
“I don’t know?”
If I made them, I could wear them well in the winter.
No, but if that was the case, I’d need more leather. If I was going to make them, I’d have to make them for all my wives and for myself. Anyway, I’d keep that in mind.
“These palms and soles also seem quite useful.”
“Oh, really?”
Risha showed interest in the Sasquatch’s limbs.
I immediately went down to the basement with her, carrying the by-products, and organized them. I should wash up soon.
* * *
After resting for a day, from the next day, I formed a dream party with Cloudi, Winia, and Hildegard, and began a full-scale search of the snowy mountains.
The goal was, of course, the Sasquatch and the heretics, but as if there was a limit to what the four of us could find, we couldn’t find anything at all, even after searching for several days.
It was actually really wide.
It was virtually impossible for us to cover this wide area on our own, even with Hilde’s radar.
In the first place, it didn’t seem like they’d be in the `vicinity` that we could travel in a day. To properly search for them, we needed to go far away from the city.
“Blackie, if you’re going far, you’ll have to camp in the snow. I don’t think I can do that, no matter what. I’ll freeze to death.”
Winia said that we should just finish here and rest at home.
Certainly, camping was indispensable to go further up. Even if it was usually okay, camping in this situation, where it was snowing little by little every two days, was practically torture.
No matter how much cold-weather gear you brought, it was difficult to spend the night in such a snowy mountain.
But this was a request from Saint Kadia. Even if I suffered a little, I wanted to investigate to the point where I could be satisfied. I wanted to go far away no matter what.
“I don’t know what to do if Blackie says he’s going alone.”
“No, is it that bad? Can’t I just go for about a week?”
“Don’t talk about a week. I’m telling you, Blackie will freeze to death.”
“Hehehe, is our Winia worried about me?”
“Then wouldn’t I be?”
I had no intention of forcing Winia to do an unreasonable schedule. I just wanted to let her rest at home and solve it on my own. Honestly, it was also very difficult for her to move outside in the winter.
I knew her worrying heart well.
“Katt. I really like seeing you work hard. It’s always exciting. Your attitude of trying to move forward without resting… Mama is very happy.”
Cloudi said, clinging to me.
“But it’s too cold… But if Katt wants to do it, I think it can’t be helped. Katt can do it well, so it’s okay to go for a while.”
“Hehehe, aren’t you going with me? Cloudi.”
“But it’s too cold. Dark elves are weak to the cold.”
Even though she was a half-elf, she shared many of the same traits. This was a racial difference, so it couldn’t be helped.
“Yeah, you’re going to be a paladin anyway, so why do you need to be more likable? I think it’s okay! A week is hard for me too!”
“But he wants to go out so much. It’s dangerous, but wouldn’t it be better to let him do what he wants to do?”
Karin and Risha’s opinions were also divided, so what should I do?
