Chapter 416 Bonding Time
Seeing that Kuromi had returned with the corpse of the snake, Shiro couldn't help but raise her eyebrow.
"I'm guessing that's our dinner then." She said with a smile.
"Yeah, with its size, it should be enough for the both of us." Kuromi nodded.
"Mn, by the way, what kind of melee weapon do you want for now?" Shiro asked while setting a few prototypes out on the floor.
Since the resources she could use were rather limited, she could only make stone daggers or spears. If she tried to use any larger pieces of stone, it would just break apart easily.
"Hmm… Are you able to make a bow? Or is that too difficult? If it is, I'll take the dagger then." Kuromi asked.
"The thing about making bows is that I'll need some good string so that it can actually fire the arrows. Right now, I'm still in the process of making some stronger strings out of plants for the daggers and spears. I'm not sure if I can make one that's good enough for the bow yet." Shiro shook her head.
"Not only that, the plants are kind of weird in this place. Trying to get some fibre from them is harder than usual." She sighed.
"In that case then let's just eat the snake and start scouting around to see if we can find the city then." Kuromi nodded.
Setting down the corpse, she looked around for a few dry pieces of wood and leaves so that they could make a fire.
While she did this, Shiro started to make some daggers using only one hand.
Looking at the final product, she twirled it around on her finger before throwing it against the tree.
While it did pierce into the tree slightly, it wasn't able to go further and only fell onto the floor.
'Seems like I can only use the daggers as melee weapons for now.' Shiro mused to herself before picking the dagger back up.
"Shiro! Dinners ready." Kuromi called out to Shiro.
Turning towards Kuromi, Shiro saw that she had used some of the fibres to tie her hair into a ponytail so that cooking would be easier.
"It's a little bland since I don't have any spices but it should do for now."
Sitting down across from Kuromi, Shiro received her own portion of food.
"Say, why do you think you came with me?" Shiro asked.
"I'm not too sure. My best guess is that since both our souls are fragmented and reside in one body, we technically count as one person despite being two people. Hence why despite entering this trial alone, I followed along." Kuromi replied while eating the snake.
"Maybe…" Shiro nodded.
After talking about a few more theories that could be the reason as to why Kuromi followed along, Shiro walked over to the lake and took off her makeshift bandages.
Feeling a tiny sting, she realised that the cloth must have gotten stuck to her hand due to the dried blood.
Shaking her head, she cleaned both the cloth and her wounds in the water before having the cloth dry above the fire.
"Since our next step is to find a city, which direction do you think we should go?" Kuromi asked while trying to extract some poison from the snake head.
"Hmm… I'd say we should scout the perimeter around the lake for a while. If we can find some human tracks, we should be able to find a settlement." Shiro suggested.
"Sure, but what if that settlement is less than friendly? We're basically normal humans right now so we need to be careful about meeting anyone. In a world where it might be the same as ours, there's a good chance that we can get kidnapped for our beauty you know?" Kuromi reminded.
"That's also true… tch, why is beauty such an annoying thing to have when you've got no power." Shiro clicked her tongue.
"A gift for the shitty situation?" Kuromi joked.
"Yeah right, it's more like a curse at that point." Shiro rolled her eyes with a smile.
"Haha perhaps." Kuromi giggled softly.
"Say Kuromi, aren't you sad that you can't interact with your family anymore? During the time that I've stayed with Keiko and Keomi, you've been watching haven't you? Your sister is trying to re-forge the bond while Keiko is doing the same. They both love you dearly." Shiro said while a sigh.
"A little but I suppose that's how life goes." Kuromi shrugged.
"However, it is now your life so I shouldn't interfere. I'll be honest, at first, I did want to take back my body." Kuromi admitted as Shiro raised an eyebrow.
"So what changed your mind?"
"Well… let's just keep it a secret for now. It's something I realised after spending more time watching you. Ah also, once we get out, feel free to kill more people with the soul sword since it's like food for me. Much like what mana is to you, I eat souls to sustain myself." Kuromi smiled.
"You're not going to pull a trick like that god slayer and try to take over me when I'm not on guard are you?" Shiro asked while acting as if she's afraid.
"Oh please, spare me your acting. We both know that you'll probably kill me yourself should I try something like that." Kuromi shrugged.
"I won't deny the accusation, oh Miss Balls Crusher." Shiro grinned.
"As if your title's any better A** Destroying Princess." Kuromi rolled her eyes.
"Say, where did you even get your balls crushing habits?" Shiro asked curiously.
"When most of my enemies were men because they thought they could court me due to my low level. Kicking the balls does wonders for disabling men in a fight you know?" Kuromi smiled.
"Where did you get your ass fetish huh?"
"Hmm… it was a tranquil moment. I was relaxing on the top of the mountain when I had an eureka moment. No one clenches their ass in a fight do they? Since I can make spears with my nanobots, I can invade their internal systems through this one opening that they never guard. After all, clenching your ass cheeks in a fight restricts your movement so that weakness will never be solved." Shiro grinned.
"Two questions, first, why the hell were you even thinking about asses on top of a mountain? Second, you make a very fair point."
"Well can't I wonder about asses every now and again?" Shiro chuckled.
"Fair enough I suppose." Kuromi smiled.
After tidying everything up, Shiro looked into the sky and saw that they were still a while away from nightfall.
"Since there is still some time, want to walk around for a bit and look for tracks?" Shiro asked while looking back at Kuromi.
"Sure." Kuromi nodded.
Using some hand made string to tie up the snake skin pouch filled with venom that she had extracted, she tied the pouch to her waist so that they could use it at a moment's notice.
Walking through the forest, they made sure that they were stealthy enough as to not attract some beasts.
During this, they had also seen a few flying creatures soar through the sky as Shiro recognised some to be wyverns.
"Goodness, a single sneeze from that thing would kill us instantly." Shiro muttered.
"Not exactly the most positive thought but a true one." Kuromi shrugged while climbing on one of the taller trees in the area. Looking around, she tried to search for any traces of what could be a fire or a clearing.
Unfortunately, there were only trees as far as the eye could see.
"Nothing?" Shiro called out.
"Nothing."
"Damn, well let's keep going I suppose. If we can find a river, we should be able to follow along the stream and find a town."
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After walking for around an hour or two, the duo eventually gave up and decided to set up camp.
They agreed to take watching shifts so that they could notify the other should a beast come close. Kuromi took the first watch and Shiro would take the second.
Sitting on a rather sturdy tree branch, Shiro looked towards Kuromi and gave her a small nod before going to sleep.
Looking at the sleeping Shiro, Kuromi had a soft smile on her face. After thinking to herself for a moment, she shook her head and focused on keeping watch.