Chapter 140: Points the direction, not the Path

After traveling for two full days, Josuna still hadn’t caught up. Just as Peleti had expected—after chasing with so many people, only to discover they’d been pursuing nothing but a tumbleweed… she was probably furious enough to explode.

Along the way, oases became more and more frequent. What had once been small pools of water had gradually turned into vast stretches of lakes—clear proof that they were getting closer and closer to the plains where the Church of Gluttony was located.

The camel’s gait was slow and bumpy. Sitting in front, Elisa suddenly lifted her head. The listlessness from the past two days was gone; her bright eyes sparkled as she looked at Peleti.

The hardships of the journey had blown away the gloom in her heart. The little girl had finally regained a bit of her childlike nature, no longer curling up silently in her cloak like when they had first set out.

“Sister Peleti, when will we reach that… um… Church of Gluttony?”

Over these two days, Elisa’s mood had improved a lot compared to when they first departed. She was no longer sullen and withdrawn, unwilling to say a word.

Or rather—this was what Elisa should have been like all along.

“Very soon. At most, one more day. Oh, and it’s noon now—have something to eat.”

Peleti once again took out chocolate from inside her cloak.

She didn’t have much left. Although Peleti could eat chocolate, even with her Gluttony ability allowing her to consume human food, the energy it provided was too little—she would need to eat a lot to sustain herself.

If she ate it too, Elisa would’ve gone hungry by now.

After weighing her options, Peleti chose to drink the blood Ino had left her.

“Hey, what good stuff have you been feeding the little girl every day?” Bruce called from the side.

He wasn’t riding a camel at all—his long legs carried him across the sand faster than the camel itself. For a beastman like him, camels were merely transportation, not something that could rival his speed or strength. Even at full sprint, they couldn’t match him. After covering this distance, he hadn’t even broken a sweat.

“Nope. If you eat it, Xiao Sha won’t have any left.”

“Then forget it.” Bruce turned his head away, humming to himself.

Watching Elisa quietly nibble on chocolate, Peleti discreetly pulled open the stopper of a glass vial. Using her cloak as cover, she tilted it back and drank the liquid in one go.

The taste of Ino’s blood wasn’t as good as she had imagined. It lacked the rich smoothness of Feiye’s blood—she couldn’t quite describe it, neither fishy nor bitter. It carried only a faint scent of grass and wood, with a hint of floral fragrance.

The feeling of fullness it provided was also far inferior.

Still… better than nothing. At least it could keep her going for a while longer.

“What are you drinking?”

The sudden question made Peleti’s heart skip a beat.

She lowered her head abruptly—meeting Elisa’s clear, innocent eyes. The girl still held half a piece of chocolate, but her gaze was fixed firmly on the glass vial in Peleti’s hand.

To hide her identity as a witch, Peleti had never told Elisa that she drank blood.

As for Bruce—being a beastman, he clearly knew Peleti was a witch. He just hadn’t recognized her at first. Only now had he confirmed that she was the very target the royal princess had ordered to be hunted down.

But for Bruce, the most important thing right now was keeping Elisa safe.

So even when Peleti secretly fed herself, he pretended not to notice.

“—Just some alchemical potion to stave off hunger.”

Peleti forced herself to stay calm and handed the bottle to Elisa.

“Really?”

Though unconvinced, Elisa snatched the vial and brought it to her nose, sniffing it carefully.

Her sense of smell wasn’t as sharp as Bruce’s—but even so, the scent of blood was unmistakable.

“…It’s blood? You’re drinking blood?”

Panic instantly spread across Elisa’s face as she stared at Peleti in disbelief.

She remembered Peleti mentioning that her condition was somewhat special—but she had never imagined it would be this special. She had never thought someone could live on blood.

Seeing that she’d been exposed, Peleti decided not to hide it anymore.

“That’s right. It’s blood.”

“…Sister, are you really human?”

In Elisa’s understanding, humans needed to eat normal food. Someone like Peleti, who only needed blood… this was the first time she had ever seen such a thing.

“Strictly speaking, I am human. But my lineage has long since been rejected by humanity. We were labeled as evil and driven out.”

“Now… we’re called witches.”

“So witches were once part of humanity?”

Peleti nodded. “Yes. But what happened afterward is complicated—too complicated for you to understand right now. I’ll tell you when you grow up.”

“Again with the ‘when you grow up’…”

Elisa turned her head away, a little dissatisfied.

All along the journey, whenever she asked something, Peleti would always leave her hanging like this—saying she’d explain when Elisa grew up.

How could she not understand the hidden meaning?

Peleti just wanted her to live well.

What a worrywart big sister.

“Wait… did we take the wrong path?”

Up ahead, Bruce suddenly stopped the camel.

Peleti glanced at the compass—the needle pointed straight ahead.

“No, this is right. Why do you say that?”

“Why don’t you come take a look yourself?”

Peleti and Elisa exchanged a glance, then climbed down from the camel and walked over to Bruce.

The road ahead… suddenly ended.

As they approached with confusion, what came into view was a bottomless cliff.

Not far beyond the cliff—there was a stretch of lush green land.

Peleti recognized it instantly.

That was exactly where the Church of Gluttony was located.

“The green land ahead—that’s our destination.”

“But this compass is seriously useless… it only points direction. Why is it pointing straight at a cliff?”

“Hah! Not very practical, huh? What if one day it points you into a dead end while you’re being chased? Wouldn’t that be the end of you?”

Bruce laughed and teased.

But Elisa, instead, became curious.

She crouched by the edge of the cliff, letting the strong wind lift her hair. The cool breeze slipped into her collar, making her squint slightly.

Looking down into the bottomless abyss, she suddenly turned her head and asked in a clear voice:

“Sister… if you jump from here… will you die?”

Peleti walked over slowly and gently held her arm.

“Judging by it, this cliff is at least a thousand meters deep. Yes—you would.”

“So we’ll have to take a detour. Don’t get too close, okay? It’s dangerous.”

Elisa let out an understanding “Oh~” and followed Peleti back to the camel, slowly heading toward a path that led downward.

Suddenly—

Bruce stopped.

His beastman instincts told him something was wrong ahead.

“…Is something there?”

Seeing his alert expression, Peleti’s heart tightened. She quickly jumped down from the camel, leaving Elisa on its back.

Bruce clenched his teeth, forcing the words out through the gaps between them. His voice was filled with disgust:

“…Damn it.”

“A bunch of persistent monkeys.”