Paley stirred, then pushed himself up, the monster's feathers a strange, soft cushion beneath him. Bacha scrambled down from where she'd been patiently perched on its head, her small face etched with worry. The adrenaline had completely faded, leaving behind the grim, heavy reality of what he had done. He didn't feel guilt, not exactly, but he understood it - the knowledge that to the creature below, he was an evil monster who had murdered its child.

  "Are you okay?" Bacha asked, her voice trembling. She scrambled to his side, fumbling with a magical poultice from her pack, trying her best to focus on the gash across his stomach. The bleeding had slowed thanks to the paste he’d eaten, but it had already begun to seep anew. She knew she couldn't heal him fully on her own.

  "I... I only wanted to help," Paley said, his voice raspy. "These injuries... they'll cost a lot of money to heal. I'll find a way. Please, don't tell Mother."

  "But Paley-"

  "Bacha, please. After all the kindness you've shown me, especially to Mother... allow me to repay you all."

  "You've done enough!" she pleaded, tears welling in her eyes. "You gave me your bed. You do most of the cleaning, and you're even cooking now. You don't need to repay anything! Just... let's go." But he didn't listen.

  "I don't have enough mana to heal myself. Is there any way to recover it? Isn't there... like, coffee for mana?"

  "I... I don't know."

  "Food. For now, I need food." He stumbled off the monster's carcass, Bacha helping him to his feet. "Let's carve some meat from this. See if that helps me. It's a magical monster, so it should have magical meat, right?"

  "Food doesn't bring back mana, Paley!"

  "I'm not so sure about that." There was a fundamental difference in their experiences. From what Bacha had seen of Rauba, eating had never restored her mana. But Paley felt different. Plants and vegetables replenished some, yes, but flesh replenished the most. Something as magical as this creature might replenish even more.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  "Bacha. Pick that up for me." He gestured to the earth blade he had created during the fight. She hesitated, then rushed to fetch it. With the blade and her help, he carved out a substantial chunk of the monster's meat. He had no mana left to create fire, so he summoned all his courage, bit into the raw, bitter, slimy meat, and swallowed, fighting the urge to vomit.

  Mana surged through him. Monster meat was, as he'd suspected, incredibly nourishing. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he immediately used Healing Magic on himself, carefully closing the gash. His flesh bubbled and knitted itself back together but it was a patchwork job. He fell to his knees, finally reprieved from the burning pain.

  Catching his breath, he leaned back against the monster's corpse, a wave of relief washing over him. Bacha hugged him tightly, sobbing on his shoulder. "Don't put me through that again!" she demanded, the tension and fear finally breaking.

  "Sorry," Paley managed, a small smile touching his lips. "But I'm... I'm kinda glad you were worried about me." His mind shifted to the monster. "Come on, Bacha. We should butcher this thing. I wonder how much it'll go for."

  She slowly let him go, her gaze falling on the bloodstained grass. "...Maybe I can use the blood for something," she said, standing and helping him up. He produced a long knife of earth and handed it to her. Together, they did their best to carve up the creature. Neither had any experience butchering, so they started by cutting cubes of flesh. Blood spilled everywhere, staining the grass and them crimson. When they encountered bone, they tried using it as a guide, but the meat still fell apart.

  After twenty minutes of messy work, they took a break. "I stink," Bacha groaned. Paley pointed his finger upward and slowly, gently, released a thin stream of water from his fingertips. "Here. It's not much, but try and clean yourself as much as you can." After she wiped herself down, he used the water to wash the blood from her skin. Then, they sat by a small campfire he managed to light with a spark of fire magic. He didn't have enough mana left to clean himself.

  They roasted a piece of meat over the flames. Without salt, it was a meal for sustenance only, though Bacha’s herbs added a hint of flavor that made it palatable. Forcing the food down, they returned to their work, Paley using Strength Magic to speed his efforts. He offered for Bacha to rest, but she insisted on helping. When they reached the heart, Paley touched it first, sensing the greatest concentration of magic residue. "This might sell for the most," he mused. "Let's see how much the meat fetches, so if they try to scam us, we'll know the rough value of the heart." Bacha nodded, impressed by his foresight.

  After another hour of grueling work, Paley produced a crude sled of earth and stone to haul the meat and bones. Bacha offered to carry the feathers and the heart, carefully placing the items she had collected earlier into a nearby hole in the ground. The physical strain of dragging the sled was immense, exacerbating his fatigue and his minor injuries, but he pushed onward, the weight of his new responsibility a constant, heavy presence.