A Supporter Wanted

What the hell was I thinking yesterday.

Why do people always struggle so much with making a plan before they do something?

Because they get this idea that if they just try, they can pull it off fine without one.

Human arrogance.

And more often than not, anything started without a plan ends up wandering off into some weird place.

Funny thing is, I trusted myself.

Come on. I hunt this well—there's no way I can't pick up one person, right?

Easier than eating cake. Watch this.

Full of that kind of reckless confidence, I strode right out of the inn…

And in the end, I couldn't pick anyone up.

Looking back, the problem with communication might not have been this body. It might have been me.

Today I wasn't heading to the Association counter for a request, and I didn't have Noah with me either. I went out alone, under the noble pretext of finding someone to help me—someone who was absolutely not a slave.

But the moment I actually tried to spot a hunter who stood out, I turned passive.

I was scared.

Not of myself as a hunter—of myself as a person, walking up to someone. Unlike usual, I became painfully aware of people's eyes.

The people of Antico recognized me. I felt myself left alone under all those stares.

In that instant I shrank into something tiny and fled.

It was a kind of attention I had never received before, and that made me shrink even more. The lingering sense of wrongness about this body played its part too.

Right now I was a white-haired girl with peach-pink eyes. I knew that. But I was also the guy who used to sit in his room and game nonstop. At my core, I was a shut-in.

Unless someone approached me first, starting a new relationship was extremely hard for me.

I knew the looks aimed at me were friendly. I knew I had become famous among hunters as a new light. Yeah, I even knew I was pretty enough to turn heads. It sounded like self-praise, but sometimes even I was startled when I caught my own reflection.

I knew all that, and yet the feeling was deeply strange. I was not someone who enjoyed this kind of attention.

Was this just what came with being an honored hunter?

But I didn't really understand hunter honor either. I just wanted to raise my rank fast. I was an alien who had crash-landed in Antico, wanting to insert myself into the story that was already flowing past.

My head got complicated.

I just wanted to kill monsters. When I was hunting, feelings like this vanished completely.

I needed to find one person, and then I would kill monsters.

Yeah. This was no time to stand around.

A good idea flashed through my mind.

If I was a hunter, I should do it the hunter way.

I never needed to go looking for someone myself.

There were many kinds of requests.

A request was, by nature, something you asked someone else to do, so the range was extremely wide. Most hunting requests came down as subjugation orders from the Association or through hunters' sighting reports. The moment a monster dangerous to people was found, a report went in and a subjugation request was created.

Civilian requests, though, were different. Ordinary people who weren't hunters rarely ran into those monsters, so they didn't ask for them to be killed. Instead, the contents of their requests were all over the place.

Investigate why the edible monsters they were raising had vanished. Gather furs for materials. Catch one cute little creature…

Plenty of them were trivial, but a hunter was supposed to take everyone's requests. In return you received pay and recognition, so there was nothing to lose.

And sometimes, hunters put in requests for other hunters. Work they couldn't handle themselves. Confirming some monster they had glimpsed in passing. Rookie hunters asking for someone to accompany them so they could learn. Or the reverse—hunters looking for companions of their own. Help hauling supplies because they couldn't manage alone. Someone good at skinning, because they weren't confident with it themselves.

There were so many kinds that they barely fit into categories. In the end, as long as the pay was enough, anyone could request almost anything. The only ones who got busy were the receptionists who processed them.

At the counter in Antico's Association district, the receptionist Selene looked up from her papers at the presence she felt.

A familiar face. A celebrity she had been seeing often lately—she couldn't help but know her.

No matter how many times I see her, she's still so captivating, Selene thought.

She was the new light that had risen in Antico. Pure white hair swayed gently with the breeze that blew through the great tree. Beneath it, soft pink eyes full of fatigue looked back at her.

Calling her a new light wasn't only about her skill. Outstanding ability was one thing, but her unwanted outstanding looks had done their share of the work too.

"…Hey."

"Hello, Hunter."

Selene answered with a bright smile.

Hunter Alice always spoke casually. She was an unusual person. But it wasn't a bad thing. Her informal speech didn't feel rude so much as simply awkward with people. It left a strangely cute ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠impression.

After resting a few days since the Kometras subjugation, was she thinking of taking another request?

But Alice had appeared in lighter clothes than usual. The leather armor she always wore was gone; she was in ordinary clothes. The greatsword that usually rode her back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was missing too.

She wore a tight black sleeveless top that suited Antico's heat. The slender line of her exposed shoulders stretched with elegant grace. Below that, her pants barely covered her knees. Those long, well-shaped legs drew the eye whether you wanted them to or not.

You never would have known when she wore the leather armor. She had been hiding all of that underneath.

Quite a few hunters couldn't look away.

"…Hey."

Even Selene, facing her, had been naturally admiring the figure until Alice's voice snapped her back. She hurriedly lifted her gaze.

"D-do you need a request recommendation?"

"No… I want to put one in."

"You want to post a request, Hunter?"

"Yeah."

Selene's eyes went round. She had never imagined Alice would be the one making a request instead of taking one. She had been looking forward to what Alice would do after the Kometras, but maybe she meant to rest a little first.

"What kind of request would you like to make?"

"…I need one person to help me."

"Someone to help you? Could you be more specific?"

Alice needed help? Selene couldn't picture it. Had some troublesome matter come up?

"Someone who can carry my weapons… a servant?"

"A-a servant…?"

"……A supporter."

For a second Selene's mind conjured Alice as a noble employer. …It suited her a little too well.

"I'm going to use a lot of different weapons. So I need someone to haul them. Um…"

"Any other conditions?"

"…Pay is negotiable. Non-combat hunters are fine… experience doesn't matter, so rookies welcome… just be healthy… passion is enough. And… ah, someone who plans to stick around long-term and has a sense of responsibility… would be good."

Alice spoke slowly, thinking it over one piece at a time. Selene scribbled it all down as she listened.

Gathered into one place, Alice's words somehow made for a rather intimidating request. Selene looked at the paper and nodded.

"With your name on it, Alice, it should fill quickly. Where should they go?"

"…Tell them to come to the front of Porona Restaurant in the commercial district."

"Understood."

Selene smiled as she answered. Alice heard her, turned without hesitation, and hurried out of the Association district.

Watching Alice leave as if she were fleeing, Selene soon stepped away from the counter. She went ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠over to the request board, pinned Alice's notice among the others with a small tack, then returned to her post and stretched.

"Selene~."

"Hm?"

A fellow receptionist called out. Selene lowered her arms, gave a little shiver, and tilted her head at her colleague.

"That person just now—that was the newcomer, right?"

"Ah, yeah. That's her."

"She always comes to you for registration."

"Probably because she's used to me? Well, I am pretty good at my job~."

"Yeah, right."

Selene ignored her colleague's disgusted look and touched the corner of her mouth.

From Alice's very first day until now, every registration had gone through Selene. She remembered Alice's first appearance. Those eyes, back when she wasn't even a hunter yet, had been striking. It had been a long time since Selene had seen the true eyes of a hunter. That fierce light had made her look forward to what would come.

And that presence had not been a lie.

In a little over a month, Alice had walked a path no other hunter could approach.

"But seriously, she works way harder than she looks. Most hunters couldn't keep that up. She's been around more than anyone lately."

"Right? At first I honestly thought she was just some delicate little lady."

Selene laughed softly.

Alice really was an unprecedented hunter. Monsters were not so easy that someone barely past a month could take down ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a mid-grade like a Kometras.

What kind of person would end up helping her?

What kind of story would the new light write next?

Selene found herself envying the one person who would get to watch that story from the closest seat of all.