Blank Bracelet (2)
My heart felt light. Anyone would feel the same. How could I not, when I’d just secured the intact corpse of a Grade 7 magic beast? I could even hum a little tune. Maybe that’s why Ar looked even prettier than usual. She was already beautiful, but today she seemed especially radiant. Why is she so pretty?
Then another thought crossed my mind. If a delicate-looking girl like Ar could fight this well, just how strong were the other beastpeople?
“Ar.”
I called her name after storing the last piece of the Truka’s corpse. She turned to look at me.
Hmm. How should I phrase this?
“How strong are you, exactly? Are you considered powerful among beastpeople? I mean, in terms of combat ability.”
Ar tilted her head, then slowly shook it side to side.
“Weak?”
She shook her head again.
“You don’t know?”
This time she nodded.
Ah. So that’s how it is. She really doesn’t know? Maybe she’s never had her strength properly measured.
“Don’t beastpeople always rank each other by strength? Don’t you establish a clear hierarchy? And doesn’t the strongest one lead the pack?”
At those words, Ar’s expression darkened sharply. Wait, why is she reacting like that? Did I touch on something I shouldn’t have? It certainly looked that way.
“Ar. If it’s okay, can you tell me why you suddenly look so down?”
She stared at the ground and kicked at the weeds with her foot. After waiting a little longer, she let out a small sigh and murmured in a tiny voice.
“Dad….”
Just one short word. I connected it with what I’d said earlier and made a guess.
“Ah! Did your father lead the pack?”
Ar looked at me and nodded.
So that’s it. Thinking about her father must have triggered this reaction. If her dad had been the leader of their group, but she ended up captured and sold into slavery, it was obvious what must have happened in between. It couldn’t have been anything good. No wonder she didn’t want to remember. It made perfect sense that she’d become depressed. She probably would have made the same face even if she’d been eating dessert.
“Ar. Come here.”
She walked over, and I gently wrapped one arm around her. Her slender body trembled faintly. Just remembering that event was enough to make her shake like this. The trauma must have been immense. Maybe even worse than I’d imagined.
“The humans who did terrible things to you were definitely evil. But I hope you won’t think every human is bad. I’m human too, you know.”
I wasn’t sure if those words would actually comfort her. They might even have the opposite effect. But fortunately, Ar didn’t seem to take it that way. She showed no particular reaction.
“Do you want revenge?”
She looked up at me. Those bright red eyes burned like flames. I didn’t need an answer. Her gaze and expression said everything.
“The emperor has banned beastperson hunts, so the slavers have probably returned to the capital. Or they might be looking for other work. I’ll look into it. Once we know who they are, revenge will be easy.”
At my words, Ar’s eyes filled with deep sorrow. She buried her face against my stomach and hugged me tightly.
“So don’t be too sad right now. I’ll make sure you get to release all that resentment someday.”
I patted her back as I spoke, and she nodded. Then she lifted a hand to wipe away her tears and gave a small sniffle.
The empire still officially maintained slavery, so slave trading itself wasn’t illegal. But that didn’t mean the traders were innocent. They knew exactly what they were doing. So even if a beastperson took revenge, there wouldn’t be any real problem. It would simply be the natural course of events. Of course, the slavers would have taken extreme precautions to prevent such things, and the empire would try to protect them too.
“Let’s get moving.”
We continued on together. A Grade 7 magic beast’s territory was vast. It would take quite a while before we encountered another one. Ar took the lead, and we walked endlessly through the mountains. There wasn’t a single path. It was probably because this had been the Truka’s domain. If it had been a larger beast, their movement might have created trails, but since the Truka was a snake, there were none. Not that it mattered anymore—the creature was dead and tucked away in my bag.
After walking for a long time, we finally found another Grade 7 magic beast.
But… it was a dud. We couldn’t hunt this one.
“Let’s head back. Carefully. Be ready to run at any moment.”
It was a Grade 7 beast called Galdup. An amorphous creature that used deadly poison. Prepared magic beast hunters would have been thrilled to face it. With proper detoxification, its threat level dropped to that of a Grade 2 or 3. But that required either an exceptionally skilled priest or some serious anti-poison measures. Unfortunately, we had neither. We did have a few antidote potions, but they wouldn’t be enough. Thankfully, we managed to retreat a good distance without being noticed.
Now what? Should we circle around the Galdup’s territory and head somewhere else? Or go back the way we came and check the opposite side?
After a moment of thought, I decided to turn back. Since the Truka was dead, its territory was now empty. An empty domain would be safer. Circling around risked running into some other dangerous creature and complicating things.
We backtracked for a while and soon discovered another beast.
It was a Grade 7 magic beast called Obsivilerian. Not an animal type, but a mineral type. Its entire body was smooth and glossy like black obsidian. I’d never heard that mineral types appeared in this area.
“Ar. Have you seen one of these before?”
She shook her head. That made sense. Even I was seeing one in person for the first time. Mineral types were extremely rare. And because they were so rare, they were incredibly valuable. I definitely wanted to take this one down. We might even get more for it than we did for the Truka.
“The Obsivilerian probably won’t take much damage from slashing attacks. You’ll need to stab it—focus all your power on a single point. Understand?”
Ar nodded again. I was going to use Berserker anyway, but even in that state she moved according to instinct. Giving her this information might help her act on it subconsciously.
“Then let’s go.”
She nodded once more and kicked off the ground. She bounded off three trees in rapid succession, and I immediately cast Berserker on her. Only then did the Obsivilerian notice our approach. It let out a high-pitched screech and swung part of its body with a heavy whoosh. It was hard to call it an arm. It looked more like a stone hammer attached directly to its torso. The attack was threatening, but not enough to hit Ar—especially not with Berserker active. I could simply watch in comfort.
Twisting mid-air, Ar ignored the incoming stone hammer and raised all five claws before smashing them into its body with a loud crack! But the Obsivilerian’s glossy black surface only received the faintest scratch. As expected of a mineral type. Its defense was monstrous.
Ar dodged the next hammer swing and kicked off a tree again, striking the exact same spot. Five identical claw marks. This time the surface cracked ever so slightly. Wait, how is she doing that? Is that even possible?
But my surprise was premature. Ar attacked the same way a third time, then a fourth. With every strike, the Obsivilerian’s body cracked a little more. I clenched my fist tightly. It felt like I was watching something impossible.
The Obsivilerian let out a sound like grinding stone—geeegeeegeee—and swung its hammer even faster. But I didn’t feel even the slightest worry that it would hit Ar. Instead, I tried to guess how many more strikes it would take to shatter the creature. Four? Five? No more than five, surely. The combination of Grade 13 Strength and Berserker was that overwhelming.
My prediction was wrong.
On the third strike, Ar’s claws sank deep into the Obsivilerian’s body. With a sharp crack!, its form split cleanly in two. The cut was so clean it looked like a sword-aura knight had sliced it in a single blow. Maybe because it resembled obsidian, even the way it broke was similar.
The bisected Obsivilerian crashed to the ground with a heavy thud and stopped moving. It seemed to have died the moment its body split apart.
I immediately canceled Berserker. Ar froze in place, breathing hard. She rubbed her left shoulder. Was it from the earlier hit? Even after drinking a potion, it hadn’t healed completely? I should have brought better ones. Once we get back to town, I’ll have to buy some high-grade potions.
“You okay?”
I approached and asked, but Ar only nodded. She’d probably say she was fine even if she was in agonizing pain. That’s just how she was.
“Keep watch while you rest a bit.”
She nodded. I cast Strength on myself. The faster regeneration was nice. If it got any quicker, I might be able to cast multiple spells on Ar at once. Or even fight alongside her.
The Obsivilerian’s corpse was incredibly heavy. That was to be expected for a mineral type. But my Strength magic wasn’t ordinary either. Grunting with effort, I managed to stuff the entire thing into my bag. The bag was now completely full.
Wow. Incredible. A bag containing the corpses of two Grade 7 magic beasts. No one would believe me if I told them. They’d probably look at me like I was crazy, thinking I was full of hot air.
“Let’s head back. Looks like we won’t have to worry about running out of dessert anytime soon.”
Ar’s eyes sparkled. Was that the hint of a smile? Yeah. Sweet things really are the best. It seemed she’d managed to swallow down that earlier sadness.
“Come here.”
At my words, she stepped into my arms on her own. I cast Haste and dashed down the mountain.
I wondered how much we’d get. I was curious what expression the appraiser from the Nertin Trading Company would make. What kind of reaction would he have when he saw this?
With that thought, I ran. We left the Grade 7 zone and crossed through the Grade 6 area. Then I heard shouting up ahead. Someone was screaming too. Magic beast hunters? It didn’t sound good.
“I’m going to check on the situation real quick. Is that okay?”
Ar nodded. Of course she wouldn’t object. I sprinted toward the source of the noise at full speed. The people screaming might be in serious danger.