The next morning they'd arrived back at the bridge, and the smell turned foul. Flies gathered over the corpses. Other animals assembled at the scene. Raptors crowded around the bodies, but they were not the ones Emily had seen before. No, these were much smaller, and they scattered the moment the two women descended.
Cattleya frowned at the bodies. "Miss Vander, We'll need to move all of them to a place that's easily accessible from the road. That way, if a patrol comes, they will see them."
Emily bent down next to a corpse with a smashed head. The skull was caved in, and bits of bone fragment pierced into his brain. Chunks were missing from parts of his arms and legs where the scavengers started feasting. Holes riddled one arm in particular, remnants of flesh clinging desperately to the humerus and ulna.
"I will need to form a sled, so we can pull them."
While Emily didn't doubt that she was stronger in this world, she would rather not pull bodies of men that weighed much more than her. Even if she wanted to use her nanobots, it would still be better to put them on a sled. After all, it costed more mana to create something out of nothing. If it was one bullet, then the cost wasn't significant, but a whole sled?
"How will we get a sled, Miss Vander? And you're not bothered by the corpses?"
Emily shrugged while looking down at the body, her nose wrinkling slightly. "I've seen worse, and it's not like I am unbothered. A combination of lack of sleep and experience makes me fine. As for the sled, I can cover that with the tree over there." The kitsune pointed towards the fallen log, looking to the Edmontosaurus culprit for a brief moment.
"Oh," Cattleya said, "I apologize, Miss Vander. I'd forgotten about the sleep situation. Please, sit still for one moment."
"What are you..."
The nekonian placed her hands near Emily's twitching ears and channeled her white magic. It flowed into the kitsune's head, creating an immediate effect.
Emily felt more energy return to her body, and the dark spots around her eyes faded. Now I understand why she was able to stay up so long.
With the refreshment from Cattleya's spell, Emily started to work fast. She didn't want to spend a second longer than she needed on bandit corpses.
Her lantern staff formed into a blade, and she used it to start cutting into the wood. The process of making a large wooden implement was painstaking with only what amounted to a makeshift sword. Instead of simply relying on its sharp edge, she made nanobots hover over the blade.
These nanobots moved like a chainsaw would, creating the needed friction and torque to cut through. She sawed through the wood much easier as Cattleya observed with her green eyes.
"You really are incredible, Miss Vander. This talent of yours is unlike anything I've observed, and you use it in so many different ways."
Emily nodded. That was the best part of her ability in her summation. The fact that she could use it to become a jack of all trades made it more worthwhile. Not only that, but it still had lots of firepower when she used it like a rifle. If only I'd learned about all of these things sooner...
She looked down at her prosthetic that assisted in her efforts to cut the log. The more she used it, the more it became like a true arm. At the same time those cybernetic fingers moved, a chime resounded in her head.
[System Announcement!]
[Your proficiency with [Cybermagic] has increased!]
Emily glanced down at the finished cut. It was a long slab of wood which was slightly curved. This will have to do for the sled. It's not perfect, but I can't expected much else.
She looked towards the Edmontosaurus, wondering how she could tie the sled to the creature. If she could make a few more of these, she'd be able to drag a few bodies at once, but for that to work she'd have to make multiple ropes. She scrapped the idea, thinking it might take longer.
"We'll have to tie this to Big Greenie. I'd say we should place the bodies next to the rock faces across the bridge. Though, I have no idea how we'd prevent a wild animal from dragging the corpses. If a patrol doesn't come soon, the corpses will be dragged back down the hill."
Cattleya tilted her head. "You think the animals will drag them down here, Miss Vander?"
The kitsune nodded. "Wild animals commonly drag bodies down hills and not up them. It's easier for them that way. Does the ward we have prevent those scavenger raptors from coming close?"
Cattleya shook her head. "It is only designed with the velociraptors in mind, Miss Vander. I might be able to do something about the stench, but it won't last forever. We will need to inform the guardsmen at the city."
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"Alright, do you have rope?" Emily asked, looking towards Cattleya's bag.
"No, Miss Vander."
Emily didn't mind. She moved over to the saddlebags instead, pulling the rope away from her wrapped tent. She tied the sled to the end of Big Greenie's tail. "We can stack three bodies on each trip."
Both of them grabbed the corpse, Cattleya holding onto his legs. Emily took the more disturbing part of his body, and they rolled him onto the sled. The thing was barely wide enough to fit two corpses with one being able to rest on top of those.
When they moved to the next body, Emily observed Cattleya's expression. She watched the cat girl's eyes roam around the corpse solemnly. The woman swallowed with apprehension.
"Is this the one you knew?" Emily asked.
"Yes, let's move his body quickly."
The kitsune didn't probe further. She rolled his body onto the sled next to the other one.
For the third corpse, they hoisted it on top of the other two bodies, forming a sort of corpse pyramid.
Afterwards, each of the two women climbed the rungs of the saddle. "We'll need Big Greenie to move as slow as possible."
It was two trips to get the corpses from inside of the woods towards the rock faces. They placed them on the left side of the entrance into the trench where they got ambushed.
Emily's eyes glanced upwards towards the top of the rocks, studying them, and trying to find an easy way up.
Cattleya pointed towards the far left side of the rocks. "That is where they came down from, Miss Vander. I watched the surroundings while the others were shooting at you."
Emily nodded, reaching towards her previously bandaged shoulder. The pain had vanished, and there was no sign of the injury anywhere. I wish I'd had her healing magic sooner...
The kitsune focused on the present moment, choosing not to linger on the past. It didn't take her long to find the outcropping the bandits used to climb down. There were steps in the rock formation, forming what amounted to a natural staircase. The two of them climbed up the black rocks.
Emily observed the damage on this side of the cliffs with awe. Soot remained on the ground and bits of limbs lay interspersed among disfigured corpses. The grenade had done its job without a shadow of a doubt. The men never knew what hit them.
The fox girl's olfactory senses were much more pleased with this outcome. It smelled less like rot and more like the aftermath of an explosion. Charred limbs carried with them the evidence of her spell.
Cattleya turned her head away slightly. "Your magic is really something, Miss Vander."
"Not as great as your magic unfortunately. We can roll the bodies into the trench. The drop off is not that steep, so it will be fine. I am just happy that scavengers and bugs didn't invade this area yet."
Wait, that's a perfect idea. If we create a fire, the smoke will ward off bugs, and it will make the sight even more obvious to patrols.
Emily started pushing bodies and parts of bodies into the valley below. That was when she noticed her explosion had also caused a large boulder to drop in the middle of the path, making her click her tongue in annoyance. It's always one thing after another, isn't it?
Regardless, she continued the mind numbing task, creating a small bridge to connect both sides afterwards with her nanobots. The other side didn't smell as pleasant, so she worked as fast as possible.
When they were done, the two of them climbed back down the way they came, dragging the corpses inside the trench towards the same spot.
Emily and Cattleya fetched as much dried wood as they could find, building a large pile among the rocks near the bodies. The kitsune knew there was a chance that the wind could catch the corpses on fire, but she placed it close enough to the wall to hopefully block most of it.
By the time they were done, so many hours had passed that the sun was at its zenith. In spite of all the viscera, her stomach rumbled. Emily chewed on her last bits of jerky, savoring the overly salted flavor on her tongue.
"Miss Vander, what are we going to do about that large rock?"
"It will cost a huge portion of my remaining mana, but I can have my nanobots eat them. We will need to rest in case we are attacked again..."
"That's alright, Miss Vander. I have mana restoration potions on me for this purpose."
Emily breathed a sigh of relief. "I am so lucky I have you traveling with me..."
"About that, Miss Vander. I have decided." Cattleya climbed onto Big Greenie and smiled down at Emily. "I want to accompany you on your journey, if you'll have me."
Emily's eyes widened, her tail waving behind her. "Why did you decide that? I mean...I would be okay with that. I trust you after all that's happened, but why now?"
Cattleya chuckled her own feline ears twitching. "Why indeed, Miss Vander? Rather than that, let's hurry with the rock. I don't want to wait for more scavengers."
Emily nodded and turned away from the cat girl. Was it because of something I did?
She pressed her hands against the rock, and thousands of nanobots erupted out of her fingertips, surrounding it on all sides. Electrical signals charged between each of them, melting the rock down with the surrounding heat. Emily felt the tug on her magic power, growing dizzy as the rock evaporated. Blood poured from her nose by the time the process finished.
A small chuckle escaped her lips. Never thought evaporating rock would be so taxing.
[System Announcement!]
[Your proficiency with [Cybermagic] has increased!]
Of course it has...
Emily wiped her bloody nose with a torn piece of fabric, returning to the Edmontosaurus with a fresh state of nausea.
Cattleya sighed. "Hopefully this will answer your previous question, Miss Vander." The cat girl pressed her hands against either of Emily's cheeks and channeled her magic into Emily's bloodstream. The white magic helped heal the nausea, and at the same time, the woman lifted a blue vial to Emily's lips. "You might be a strong person, but you need a lot of help, Miss Vander."
Emily swallowed the blue liquid and finished it with a small laugh. "You're right about that. I'd be dead already if not for the help of someone else. Thank you, by the way. For everything."
"You need not mention it, Miss Vander." Cattleya grabbed onto Big Greenie's reins and snapped them. The sound made the creature start moving, bringing their journey back in motion.
Emily stared at the back of the gentle cat girl. If you're staying with me, I won't let you die. Not again.
She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist with a new resolve. They crossed through the trench and exited the other side, entering a steep slope.
Further away in the mountains, Emily could see the distant structures.