39th Chapter
13. Hunter #038 – The Hunter #2
Yan-Mite dashed away like a bolt of lightning.
All that was left where he had been was a long, thick tail squirming like a tentacle.
“Didn’t they say the wyverns fight to the d*ath?”
“Never seen a dragonkin run away before. Guess he’s smarter than I thought. Knows how to avoid unfavorable fights.”
The Two-Handed Sword Man spoke with a resigned tone.
“Shouldn’t we chase after him?”
The Woman with a Bow suggested, her voice laced with concern.
The Two-Handed Sword Man shook his head gently.
“No. The evening in the forest comes early. He could only be so bold during the day when visibility isn’t great. Once night falls, it’ll be us on the menu.”
Seemingly the leader of the group, he strapped his sword to his back and approached the wriggling tail.
“Staying in the forest any longer is dangerous. With all the commotion, the other creatures have surely noticed that humans like us are around.”
“What about the request, then?”
“It’s okay. It would have been best to k*ll the Forest Guardian, but injuring him is enough for now. Just that will significantly alter the forest’s ecosystem.”
“Alright, then let’s hurry back, boss. I want to get out of this bug-infested place! Just want to go home and shower with some nice clean water.”
“And what about that tail?”
The Woman with a Bow interjected, and the man referred to as ‘boss’ answered shortly and succinctly.
“We take it with us. We can present it to the count as proof for the request.”
“They say the dragonkin’s tail is worth its weight in gold. The scales and bones are all valuable too, right?”
The Dual Dagger-wielding man, presumably named Erik, rubbed his hands together with a grin.
He lifted the tail, thick as his own torso, and tossed it onto the Woman’s shoulder.
“What, what are you doing? Why are you giving this to me?”
“You carried all the supplies on the way here. It’s your turn now.”
“No, Erik, you should be playing rock-paper-scissors for this…”
“Shh.”
The man called ‘boss’ silenced their chatter.
He placed a hand on the hilt of his sword and crouched down.
“Something’s nearby.”
“The creature is back?”
“No, it’s something smaller.”
The lazy demeanor of the group suddenly snapped tight like a bowstring.
They quickly formed a protective circle, backs to each other, akin to a shield wall.
‘Did they notice I’m here?’
I swallowed anxiously, not daring to blink.
If I got caught and bound by them, it would be a foolish end to my curiosity.
‘I can’t d*e when I warned Leaf to be careful.’
I squeezed my body against the branches, trying to hide as best as I could.
“Is that it?”
Erik, with his dual daggers, launched a sharp throwing kn*fe.
It zipped through the air like a shuriken, brushing past my fur at incredible speed.
I thought it was aimed at me, but the scream that followed startled me.
━Kieeek!
With a crunching sound, a fairly sizable something fell behind me.
“It’s a spider! Ugh, there went a dagger! I hate bugs.”
“Don’t complain about a mere bug, Erik.”
The spider that landed on the ground must have been at least a meter long.
Was it about my size?
Thinking that such a creature was near sent shivers down my spine.
“That wasn’t even a big deal.”
The boss twisted the dagger stuck in the spider’s abdomen to ensure it was dead.
The wriggling spider let out a quiet gasp and expired.
“We’re taking this too. Erik, you carry it.”
“Wait, for real? You want to take that?”
Erik grumbled, and the boss pointed at the spider’s body.
“Look at that yellow and black mix. That’s a hornet spider. We can sell the shell for at least a gold coin. Nothing about it is worthless.”
“Wow. That’s impressive, but it’s still a bug… Hey, Ayle, I’ll carry the tail, so you take this spider.”
“No thanks.”
“Erik, I told you to take it.”
“Ugh, fine. I’ll carry it, boss.”
Erik reluctantly rolled his eyes and strapped the spider to his back.
“Ugh, gross. It better not start moving suddenly.”
“Hunters shouldn’t whine over a spider. We’re leaving the forest now.”
At the boss’s reprimand, Erik fell silent.
‘Leaving the forest, huh?’
I perked my ears up, listening intently.
Leaving the forest.
That sounded incredibly sweet and exciting to me.
They were clearly trying to escape this earthy hellhole and head to the city of humans.
‘So there is a way out of the forest. Maybe I should remember this for later use.’
I waited until they were far enough away from sight before I finally came down from the branches.
‘Will my skill, Silent Movement, allow me to follow without being detected?’
I pondered while quietly lifting my toes.
They had senses sharp enough to k*ll the spider right behind me without noticing my presence.
It was like they had radar, or maybe they were using some magic, skill, or talent to sense movements.
‘But still, they didn’t know I was here!’
Even though they had noticed the spider, they didn’t detect my presence, which was a tad closer.
Perhaps that meant their detection abilities had their limits.
‘As long as I keep my distance, I should be fine.’
I thought of escaping this wretched forest one day and began to follow the footsteps of the hunters.
‘That tail they have is really tempting. Looks delicious.’
I recalled the Yan-Mite’s tail they were carrying.
It looked so meaty and tempting that it was hard to resist salivating.
Lizards store nutrients in their tails, right?
It was the tail of a dinosaur that had lived long enough to earn the title Forest Guardian.
It certainly promised to be immensely tasty and offered a ton of experience points as well.
‘But I wonder if just the severed tail gives experience.’
I felt my mouth water.
My desire to chase after the Yan-Mite’s tail grew stronger than my reason for wanting to see the way out.
I lowered myself further, moving as close to the ground as possible.
As I closed the distance, the figures of the hunters shrank down to where they looked like tiny dolls.
“Reward━.”
“━Top tier.”
“━Feels somewhat disappointing━.”
Even though I was a bit far away, I could hear their voices floating through the air.
I couldn’t understand exactly what they were saying, but it didn’t seem like they were being cautious or anything.
‘I want to snatch that tail from them. How do I do it?’
I busily racked my brain.
They were experienced humans who had hunted creatures so powerful they could even give Yan-Mite a run for its money.
Given their discussions and demeanor, they seemed quite skilled at hunting animals.
The traps they had set were likely prepared thoroughly to target the Forest Guardian, Yan-Mite.
‘If it’s one-on-one, I might not be able to k*ll them, but I could at least snatch the tail.’
How could I separate them?
As I followed them, my mind was churning with ideas.
Unlike the previous day when I had been fleeing from them, this time I felt a brilliant idea was brewing.
*
The Woman with the Bow, Ayle, hugged the squirming tail tightly.
Sure, she’d seen freshly butchered meat and muscles wriggling about, but seeing a lizard’s tail moving like that, more than ten minutes after being severed, felt particularly bizarre and unsettling.
‘It’s almost like it’s alive on its own.’
The energy of the wild, powerful, or perhaps a magical energy could be felt radiating from the tail.
Honestly, part of her wanted to throw it away immediately, but considering its value, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
This tail was evidence for a request that could net them two platinum coins.
‘And it beats carrying the spider.’
Ayle’s gaze wandered.
Next to her, she saw Erik, her fellow Hunter, walking along grumbling with the spider strapped to his back.
He looked quite unhappy, judging by the way his lips were curled in a pout.
“Is this really the Ancient Nest? What a wretched place. Everything’s so freakish. It’s almost comparable to the northern snow mountains. Honestly, I never want to come back. Ugh.”
Erik spat onto the ground.
“Don’t leave a trace. There could be beasts that will sniff your saliva and follow you.”
“C’mon, isn’t that a bit over the top?”
“It’s no joke.”
The leader of the Ancient Nest Exploration Team, Batus, warned Erik sternly.
As the top hunter, the platinum-ranked Batus always maintained that stern and serious demeanor.
His decades of experience hunting beasts had made him as solid as a rock.
Batus rubbed his steel greaves against Erik’s spit to wipe it away.
“Thanks to the protection of the World Tree, Wiggdrasil, the creatures here adapt and transform into unimaginable forms. They say there are humanoid creatures that resemble humans, though I haven’t seen them myself.”
“Creatures that look like humans?”
Ayle shivered at the thought.
“Yes. Apparently, the older a creature gets, the more it adapts and evolves into a human-like appearance and intelligence.”
“What creatures do that? Are you saying that spiders can turn into humans if they live long enough?”
In answer to Erik’s question, Batus continued to walk, speaking in a low and solemn voice.
“The Arachne from the myths are exactly those. In fact, the previous exploration team reported seeing humanoid spiders in the north. They failed to capture them, though.”
“Wow, I thought Arachne was just a joke.”
“This Ancient Nest is a place where jokes come to life. So don’t toss around jokes carelessly. You never know when a trap might snare your feet.”
“Got it.”
As Ayle listened to Erik and Batus’ conversation, she recalled the creatures they had encountered while camping in the forest.
Indeed, just as the boss said, this place was filled with bizarre and terrifying animals.
The night before, she’d almost fainted upon seeing the red-eyed monkeys while setting traps.
Remembering their sly, tenacious gazes sent another chill down her spine.
The creatures here were more suited names like magical beasts than mere animals.
Even the owner of the tail she was carrying emanated the very aura of a dragonkin.
According to the boss, even that was less fierce during the daytime.
‘I’ve never seen the boss fail at a hunt before.’
Ayle recalled the horrifying battle with the dinosaur.
Honestly, if Batus, the platinum-ranked hunter, hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t have dared to fight such a creature.
The sight of Batus, completely unscathed after battling the colossal dinosaur, filled her with admiration.
Sometimes, it was hard to believe he was human, flowing with the same red bl**d as hers.
‘Oh right, did any beast injure the boss?’
She thought about the strange white creature they had met just the day before.
It had stood on two legs and was as high as Ayle’s waist.
Probably about the size of a young child.
Its face was round, as if it had merged the traits of a dog and a cat, making it incredibly cute.
Of course, its temperament was fierce enough to scratch the boss and draw bl**d.
‘He said it was an animal he’d never seen before. It must have been an undiscovered species. Ugh, if only I had captured it and sold it, I’d have made a fortune!’
It might’ve been her ticket to riches.
Undiscovered species were apparently highly sought after by the noble houses of the kingdom.
The creature’s pure, soft white fur danced before her eyes.
The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became.
She didn’t know for sure, but the creature had seemed calm when Ayle had rubbed its belly with her hands.
Maybe it could have been domesticated.
Ayle had always had a knack for befriending beasts since she was a child.
That’s why she became a hunter, yet she found herself in a slump, hitting the wall between her reality and ideals.
It turned out that what one liked and what one was good at were starkly different.
As someone interested in capturing, training, and studying beasts, Ayle was growing increasingly tired of her monotonous routine.
It was precisely for this reason she had volunteered for the grueling Ancient Nest exploration expedition.
If this opportunity handed her a big payoff, she was planning to quit her job and return to her hometown.
“So, Ayle, what do you think?”
“Hmm?”
Erik’s question pulled Ayle from her thoughts.
“What did you say?”
“I was suggesting, for the reward, how about you take 2, I take 3 and the boss takes 5?”
“Wha—? I understand the boss gets 5 for preparing the traps and leading the combat. But why do you get 3 and I only 2?”
“I struck the dragon’s eye with my dagger. You didn’t do anything.”
“Tracking the beast and identifying its trail was my tracking skill!”
“But it doesn’t compare to the bl**d I shed in battle.”
“Let’s talk about money later.”
At the boss’s mediation, Erik and Ayle silently glared at each other, hissing like cats.
This was always how it went with him.
‘That guy must’ve scared the white creature away when he tried to touch it. He’s not fond of animals, I bet.’
Erik had become a hunter because he wanted to k*ll animals.
In contrast, Ayle had pursued the path because she loved them.
Even if Erik might have exceptional skills, there was something fundamentally off about him.
As old coots in their rooms would say, it was as though their soul vibrations clashed or their mana flows were different—he was at odds with her very being.
Rustle.
━Caw-caw!
“Hmm?”
Everyone instantly froze, halting their footsteps.
The bushes rustled as a strange beast’s sound echoed through the forest.
