The Master Hunter of Primavera
First piece of good news.
The sky was thick with clouds today, perfect weather for walking around. Of course I still dusted myself with Cooling Powder before heading out, but the real relief was that my skin didn’t sting. Cooling Powder was broken in heat like this—just a sprinkle and it kept a chill on your body for a good while. That was why, even in this stifling weather, no one was keeling over from heatstroke.
Second piece of good news.
Thankfully, Fiore liked the food at the restaurant.
The place we visited first thing in the morning was, naturally, Porona’s. The breakfast menu was simple: bread soaked in egg wash and fried in butter, plus a generous heap of finely chopped, packed meat. And as a freebie for regulars, a cool bottle of Antico’s specialty—pineberry juice—so the day wouldn’t feel too heavy.
Was this the power of being a regular?
I should come more often. Definitely not because cooking and cleaning up at the lodging was a pain from start to finish.
Third piece of good news.
We had nothing left to do.
…That wasn’t good news at all.
I watched Fiore sipping her pineberry juice. It felt like I was dining with a different person every time—Noah, then Pina, and now Fiore.
“Good?”
“…Yes. I never imagined a place like this existed.”
I looked at her fondly, a smear of red pineberry juice still at the corner of her mouth.
Normally, when I had free time, I’d already be thinking about what quest to take next. Today was different. I planned to rest from commissions for a while.
Something had clicked after the Ekriki.
My fretting over my own existence was finished.
I was the protagonist.
More precisely, this body was the protagonist’s body.
A Master Hunter flung back from the future. A tragic hero who slaughtered monsters for humanity until a monster that was time itself descended and cast her into the past.
I had appeared because I was needed… yet in the end I was here with my free will castrated. Thinking that way stirred a little rebellion in me.
Coming to this world and enjoying a hunter’s life was fine. The dizzying gap when something I’d only known as a game became real was terrifying and addictively beautiful. But people don’t like being forced. A childish, spiteful streak of defiance bloomed.
In short, it was ridiculous that the fate of the future had been dumped on a game-obsessed shut-in like me. I’d only ever been a light user.
“Fiore.”
“Yes?”
“…Want to look around a bit?”
So enjoying life a little was allowed, right?
This wasn’t a game. This was reality.
Morning in Antico was packed with hunters heading out on commissions and families preparing for the day. We melted into the middle of it. We had no quest, no shop to run. We were simply savoring the bustling morning atmosphere of Antico.
Fiore had pulled a roomy hood over her head and kept pressing it down whenever eyes drifted our way. Even with only her lower face visible, it was obvious she was no ordinary person. Did she really hate showing her face that much? She seemed shyer than I’d expected.
The stares aimed at us made me a little uncomfortable too, but I wasn’t so thin-skinned that I fretted over every glance. It was about time I got used to it.
“So where are we going?”
Fiore asked in a small voice.
“Dunno.”
“…You didn’t have a plan at all?”
“I just… wanted to get closer.”
I said it like I was giving up. I hadn’t decided on any particular destination. Simply wandering the streets and looking around was enough for me. In this crowded avenue I was tasting a freedom that belonged only to me.
If Fiore was a hunter, she probably needed this kind of change of pace once in a while instead of always grappling with monsters. Or maybe that was just my own wishful thinking.
“…You’re a hard person to read.”
“Hm?”
“Nothing. Let’s walk a little more.”
Fiore nodded.
We drifted endlessly through the commercial district, browsing this and that, conversation never quite dying between us.
“Alice, are you from Antico?”
“…Yeah.”
She asked something a little sharp—something that forced a lie from my mouth.
“Then you must know Antico’s geography well. It’s been a long time since I was last here. I never expected a breakfast place that delicious. I stayed cooped up in the lodging for three whole days. I’m from Primavera, so weather like this is unfamiliar. I don’t even use Cooling Powder that often. Alice, have you ever been to Primavera?”
“No. I know the rough idea, but not the details.”
“Primavera is a beautiful place. They call it the flower-garden city. Cherry trees line the streets, and there’s a lovely garden square in the center of town. Looking at your eyes, I’m reminded of Primavera’s cherry blossoms. Though since it’s summer now, it would be water lilies.”
“Thanks. Uh… you’re pretty too, Fiore. Your eyes look like Waterburst Fruit.”
It was a compliment. Waterburst Fruit were neat, blue fruits that fit easily in one hand. Of course, the only things I’d ever done with them were crush them, throw them, or smash them… but that didn’t mean I wanted to do the same to Fiore’s eyes.
“…Pardon? Ah, Waterburst Fruit… ahem. Thank you. What I meant was, if you ever come to Primavera, I’ll treat you. I can’t be the only one receiving hospitality.”
“Sounds fine. But I don’t plan on leaving Antico yet.”
“You won’t stay in Antico forever, will you? If you only ever stay in one place, you know nothing beyond that well. A hunter needs broader insight and experience. Ah—of course, for a mid-rank hunter like me to say something like that might be a bit—”
“You’re talking faster.”
At my remark Fiore touched her stiff lips and gave a small nod.
“…Ahem. My apologies. But if I may ask, why do you intend to remain in Antico?”
“I want to take down the Forest-Bearing Beast.”
“You mean Alberoelva? At rank twenty… that’s impossible. From the moment hunters start tackling mid-grade monsters, they usually travel around gathering experience. I’m sorry to say it, Alice, but that is still a long way off for you.”
…Hearing that almost made me laugh.
Hey, I still hit rank 999, you know. And I killed Alberoelva dozens of times in the game…
Though in reality, even hitting a hundred would be hard.
“You know a lot, Fiore. Like a teacher.”
“…Did that make you uncomfortable?”
Fiore fidgeted with her hands and chewed her words. The contrast with her usual stiff, disciplined manner felt fresh.
“No. Thanks. I used to know someone like that.”
“Someone like that… perhaps…?”
“My roommate before you. She’s out on a commission right now.”
“Ah—I thought for a moment she might have died…”
“Hm?”
“N-nothing.”
The chatter was trivial, but as we talked the awkward air between us gradually thinned.
Then Fiore started firing off questions that were hard to answer.
“…Then, what did you do before becoming a hunter?”
“Before becoming a hunter?”
“Yes. A family trade, or… anything of that sort?”
“Nothing like that. I don’t have a family.”
Both I and the original owner of this body would have given the same answer. I had no family in this world, and the hunter from the future had lost everything.
The pitiful one wasn’t me—it was the future. That was why I could speak so calmly.
“…I misspoke.”
“It’s fine. I don’t really care.”
“Because of monsters?”
“Yeah.”
If you had to pin it on something, that was it. All because of that bastard of a monster called Miteraos. If it hadn’t existed, I never would have come here. I wriggled my fingers.
“I see. So… now I finally understand everything.”
“…Understand what?”
“I had slightly suspected that you might once have been a poacher without a hunter’s license. Because of the scars on your body, and hunting methods that didn’t match your rank. It’s not unheard of.”
What?
Hold on, what was she saying?
But if she called me a poacher, I didn’t have much of a comeback. I had, in fact, survived seven days in the floodwaters by hunting small animals and herbivorous monsters. It had been a matter of life and death… but still. Better keep that secret.
“I was mistaken. You were simply an innocent victim.”
“Uh…”
“If you don’t mind, may I introduce myself properly?”
I was so startled by Fiore’s sudden words that I didn’t know what to do.
She raised a hand and pushed her hood back. Her golden hair and those deep blue-green eyes were revealed to the world once more.
The street around us erupted in murmurs.
People recognized someone, pointed, and chattered.
“…That person…”
“……”
“Why is she in Antico…?”
It wasn’t just because of the two of us. Even with the rumors calling me a new light, I had never drawn this much attention. The noise now carried a heat far hotter than anything I usually felt.
The reason she had kept that hood on even in this heat wasn’t shyness. It was to hide herself.
Fiore was no ordinary mid-rank hunter.
There was only one conclusion.
“Alice, you may not have recognized me, but…”
She stood at the very peak of hunters.
“I am Fiore, Master Hunter of Primavera.”
Her words and my thoughts landed on the same truth.