I messed up big time, she figured it out anyway.
Damn, she's a smart girl.
Oh no! My secret! I have broken once more one of the stupid tropes… never reveal you are a reincarnated person!
But now… boohoo… she knows! Everyone would hate me so much now if this were a stupid web novel!
Anyways, enough insane mental ramblings that lead nowhere, now that I have someone to talk to, I better stop talking to myself so much, I might literally go insane.
"I guess you figured it out… I am really from Earth. Now that you also kind of revealed it, I guess it is fair for both of us to know," I said, as I sat down over the floor.
Benladann smiled back at me once more.
"I see… This is… quite the unique encounter…" she said, sitting at my side, and resting her head over my chest. She was warm.
"I suppose so…" I said.
"But why…? If you are from Earth… I bet you have your own interest, like going back home or something… right? Why did you help me? When you could have… simply gone past me…" said Benladann.
Ah, she really hit me with the big question.
Option A: "I just thought it was the right thing to do."
Option B: "Because you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen!"
Option C: "I was actually going to eat you, but I discovered that you were not really a monster and stopped midway through…"
Option D: "I don't know, I just did it."
Option E: "Tsk! I didn't want to help you or anything, I just didn't want to eat such an ugly girl… Now go away, my life needs no company… I walk alone on this land… The path of the strong is filled with loneliness…"
"I don't know, I just did it," I said.
"Eh? You… just did it?" she asked.
"Yeah… I was fighting and eating the molded zombies. And then I found you as the big boss, I defeated the mold entrapping you with my blood, ate it, and then… I decided to help you," I said.
"No… particular purpose?" she asked.
"Well… there are always purposes. I kind of wanted someone to talk to… And… maybe to introduce me to this world?" I asked.
Benladann glances at me as she feels somewhat relieved… What did you think I would want?
"So that's it…! Mister Dragon… You're a good person, you know? It's rare… to find good people," she said, giving me back another of her killer smiles.
I suddenly get a flashback of all the times I mercilessly slaughtered the local wildlife.
"Me? A good… person? No… I don't… think so…" I said.
"But you helped me out of goodwill… And you're nice to me even now… you even feed me when you didn't need to, and took care of me…" she said.
"It was just a day and a night, nothing much. Don't overthink it, I don't want to trouble you by making you think you need to repay the favor," I said.
Benladann glanced at me once more, her golden eyes shining brightly as little tears began to flow out of them.
"Sniff… R-Really? Why are you so nice? Sniff… Sniff…" she said, as she began to cry, hugging me tightly.
"Don't hug me… my scales are hard as steel, you might get hurt… And I am not nice, I am just being a normal person… I used to be your average Joe back then, you know?" I said.
"Average… Joe? Was your name Joe?" she asked.
"Ah… No, it is just a saying that I used to be an average person, so I just act like an average person would do, nothing much than that. Now, stop crying, you look prettier when you smile…" I said.
Ah… What did I just say?
I cleansed Benladann's tears with the tip of my claws, as she glanced at me.
"Y-You think I am pretty?" she asked while blushing.
"…Please forget what I said…" I muttered while averting my gaze.
Benladann glanced at me as her eyebrows raised.
"Hehe…" she began to chuckle.
Ugh, how embarrassing, she's even laughing at it.
Well, it is better to make her laugh than to see her cry again.
"You're… you're funny…" she said.
"I… I am? I am a dragon, you know? Not a clown!" I said.
"Ah…! S-Sorry… I didn't mean to sound rude…" she said.
"Anyways… What did you use to be back then?" I asked. I was curious about how she had these powers back then… What the heck was she?
Benladann's eyes suddenly become devoid of light once more, as she stares at the floor.
"What… I used to be… I…" she muttered, as her fists began to grip tightly.
It's better to not ask her.
"Don't worry, you don't have to tell me. Save it for another time… When you feel better," I said, patting her.
Benladann glances back at me as she nods.
"Hm… I will one day tell you… Mister Dragon… Sorry for… not wanting now.." she sighed.
"It's fine, it's fine. No rush here. Anyways, why don't we eat something else? I feel like I want some meat…" I said.
"Meat? Is there… meat?" asked Benladann while drooling once more.
"Yeah, I just caught another pair of Ice Crows, the birds there…" I said, as I walk over the pile, and eat one of the ones I caught yesterday with a single bite.
However, Benladann glares at me with a strange expression, as if she were a bit… disgusted.
Ah, is it because I am eating it raw with feathers and everything?
I guess she wouldn't eat this that way…
"You're not eating?" I asked.
"A-Ah… Sorry but I… Well… I like it a bit… less raw," she said.
"Oh… Well, I don't know what to do over it, I can't cook, look at my claws. I am made to kill, not to do the complicated stuff I used to do as a human, sadly," I sighed.
"M-Made to kill? That's quite the way of putting it… But I think… Maybe I could do something!" she said.
"Eh? Really? Can you… cook? Are you feeling well enough to do that?" I asked.
"…I don't really know, but making some fire and… roasting them shouldn't be hard. Papa taught me that when I was 6 years old," said Benladann.
No way… cooked food? Really?!
"Really? Can you really make cooked food?" I asked.
"I see that you want to eat some… And yeah I can! I think… But you never know until you don't try, right?" she asked while gently smiling…
Benladann then asked me for wood, which I brought by slicing off an entire pine tree and cutting it into pieces with winds, quite easy.
"Uwah… Y-You're really amazing… with magic…" she said.
"Hm? Really? It's nothing much," I said.
"Haha… You're so humble for being a dragon…" she said.
Ah! Right, dragons are prideful!
I guess I already killed the act, huh…
After this, Benladann gathered the wood inside the cave and began to use the branches, rubbing them against each other to generate friction.
It took her almost an hour, but she managed to make a tiny flame, which slowly began to blaze more, consuming the other wood…
In the end, she stuck some stick into the ice crows after taking out their feathers, guts, and head, and we began to roast them.
There was no salt but… hmm… this tasted a bit like chicken, real chicken I ate back then, cooked chicken.