I'll Use a Tachi

The next morning.

Fiore and I washed up the moment we opened our eyes.

By morning the heat in Suhae turned stifling almost at once, so we started each day by bathing early and dusting ourselves with Cooling Powder. The powder, pale with a chill of its own, melted the instant it touched skin and vanished.

Breakfast came from the ingredients we'd bought while browsing the commercial district the day before.

Eggs were beaten onto bread, toasted, and dusted with sugar, then finished with the vegetables we'd picked up — a simple sandwich toast. Of course I hadn't made it. Fiore had done all the work.

"I've been thinking it over overnight, and I believe we should face a mid-grade monster. Anything less, and we wouldn't have a proper foundation no matter where we go."

"Fine."

"We should check the requests for the details."

Fiore spoke in her quiet, measured way as she ate her toast slowly and sipped her coffee.

There was no need to rush. Besides, we still had to pick up Pina.

"Hey, Fiore."

"Yes?"

"What weapon do you use?"

"I can manage two or three, but… I primarily use a tachi."

"…A tachi?"

Fiore nodded and pointed toward the corner of the room.

A long, slender tachi lay among the luggage.

It was tucked away. No wonder I never noticed it.

"Then I'll use a tachi too."

"…Are you serious?"

"Yeah."

I'd been wanting to try one in a real fight at least once.

A tachi.

Unlike a greatsword — big and heavy — it was thin and long, closer to a katana. Easy to wear at the hip, with a slight curve to the blade itself.

The tachi was a weapon built for nearly unbroken chain attacks, soft evasions you could slip in between, and a cutting edge unique to the style — the kind of blade that took monsters apart with pure slicing power.

And it was an overwhelmingly stylish weapon.

It carried that distinct Japanese-sword aesthetic, and every so often it produced genuinely cool moves.

Which meant watching someone else use one was unbearable — but using one yourself was the coolest thing in the world.

In short: cool when I do it, cringe when anyone else does.

"Doesn't Alice use a greatsword and dual shields? Honestly, the dual shields alone are unusual enough."

"As long as it's a weapon, there's nothing I can't handle. I've put in that much work."

"…Indeed. That sounds rather like something Oflo would say. Alice, I look forward to seeing that confidence of yours."

Oflo. I'd heard the name before, in a conversation between Matillo and Noah.

A Master Hunter who can supposedly wield every weapon there is.

"…Yeah."

I might even be better than Oflo.

Of course I had no absolute certainty of that.

Still, I trusted my experience, my skill, and the memories this body carried.

Yes — I believed that the me of now was exactly the strongest hunter the girl of the future had hoped for.

Fiore pulled her hood low again and stepped out of the lodging.

Before packing our gear, we planned to check the requests at the Association counter first.

The Association windows were fairly quiet in the early morning. With the heat wave continuing in Antico, hunters weren't working themselves particularly hard these days.

On days like this, resting the moment you felt worn out was the right call. Exhaust yourself for nothing and the heat alone might kill you.

Fiore and I checked the request board.

There were plenty of postings, but most were gathering jobs or material procurement. A number of subjugation requests were mixed in among them.

Still, low-grade monsters like Galori and Kuchiorak showed up often enough.

What we wanted wasn't a low-grade — it was a mid-grade monster.

When requests like that weren't posted, the proper move was to go straight to an attendant. Sometimes they held jobs that never made it onto the board.

I walked up to the counter and spoke to the attendant.

"Hey — any mid-grade monsters?"

"Mid-grade monster requests, you mean?"

"Yeah."

"There are a few. Hmm… would a request from the Research Director work for you?"

"Research Director?"

If it was from the Research Director, I figured it would be a capture request.

And I was right.

The Giant Pincer Bug, Metakentos.

True to its epithet, it carried enormous pincers — not on its tail, but as its front legs. Thinking of a blue crab made it easy to picture.

Of course, calling it a crab undersold how vicious and massive the thing actually was.

"Metakentos, huh…"

Ordinary steel won't cut it.

I was going to have to stop by Matillo's.

If I wanted to use a tachi, I'd need to reinforce the edge with materials I already had and get Essence sockets worked in as well.

Honestly, a hammer or mace would just smash through the carapace and make the whole thing easy.

Even so, I chose the hard road over the easy one. It was more fun that way — and using a tachi didn't mean I couldn't take the thing down.

I simply wanted a proper evaluation in Fiore's own weapon specialty.

The request started tomorrow.

We weren't ready to leave immediately. It was a capture job, and the gear had to be prepared specifically for Metakentos.

Capturing meant sedating that enormous body and hauling it back to Antico.

The Association didn't leave that part to regular hunters. The survey hunters under the Research Director existed for exactly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠those moments — they brought carts, collected the captured monster, and brought it home.

Even they couldn't set out on the spot, though.

We had one day.

In that time, we would finish every preparation Metakentos required.

I went to Matillo in the workshop district first.

The second I saw his face, I realized I'd completely forgotten to leave my greatsword and shield for maintenance after the Ekriki hunt.

"Oh. It's the kid. …And a distinguished guest beside you."

"…That man."

I'd also briefly forgotten that Matillo had been a Master Hunter before he became a blacksmith.

I hadn't expected two Master Hunters to run into each other like this. I glanced back and forth between Fiore and Matillo. Fiore's eyes shifted under the edge of her hood as she looked at him.

"…Good day to you."

"Right."

Both Matillo and Fiore looked distinctly awkward.

I said nothing and waited for the moment to pass.

They held each other's gaze briefly, then looked away. Fiore turned aside from Matillo; Matillo simply nodded and shifted his attention to me.

"…So, kid. What are you here for?"

"Make me a tachi. Sockets too."

"That damn 'make me one' again? What are you hunting this time?"

"Metakentos."

"Giant Pincer Bug, is it. Yeah, that'll be worth reinforcing. Walking carapace — ordinary iron won't even bite. Need it right now?"

"No. By tomorrow."

"That's more like it. If you'd said you needed it immediately, I was about to throw you out on your head. Come back tomorrow morning."

We were practically thrown out the door.

I figured it was because of Fiore.

Matillo wanted to keep his identity quiet here. The fact that people still didn't recognize him as a Master Hunter suggested he never cared much about renown — though time had probably helped with that too.

Fiore, on the other hand, was famous enough that plenty of people knew her face: something like Primavera's mascot hunter.

She and Matillo were clearly different types.

Neither was better or worse.

Just different temperaments.

"I never expected him to be working as a blacksmith."

"What?"

"It's nothing. Just… a face I recognized."

"I see."

I didn't press the point either.

Matillo wanted to keep being a Master Hunter under wraps, so playing dumb was the right call.

For now, we were still just blacksmith and hunter.

Deepening that relationship would mean taking on Matillo's requests one by one and working through them.

Next I headed for the inn where Pina was staying.

"This place is… rather deep in, isn't it? What business do we have here?"

"Someone I need to see."

Pina's inn sat in an alley deeper inside the commercial district — old, shabby, and worn. The alley itself was dim and shadowed. People sat around smoking; a few rough-looking vagrants were visible too.

This was reality. Anywhere people lived, places like this existed. It couldn't be helped.

Pina was boarding here cheaply.

Fiore clearly disliked the area; she pulled her hood even lower than before, as if she wanted no part of her face showing at all.

I didn't think much of the place either.

We hurried into the inn where Pina was staying.

The first thing that hit us when we opened the door was the smell of tobacco.

"What on earth is this place…"

Fiore sounded as if she couldn't make sense of it.

"Four of a kind."

"…Your turn to flip a card, then."

At the inn's tables, several people had cards spread out and cigarettes going. It wasn't just one table — most of them had the same atmosphere.

None of our business.

Still, opening the door drew every eye in the room. Even I could tell we didn't belong in a place like this. One look at Fiore beside me was enough.

"Want to wait outside for a bit?"

"…No. I couldn't leave Alice alone somewhere like this."

…That was a little touching.

I nodded at her words.

So this is where Pina's been staying.

Even if money was tight, she seemed to think far too little about herself.

I cut straight through the crowd toward the counter. The innkeeper — a heavyset man — widened his eyes when he saw me.

"Oh… judging by that look, you're the new light everyone's talking about? What brings you here?"

"I'm looking for someone. A guest here."

"Alright. Got a name?"

"Pina."

"…Ah, the little miss? She'll be lying down in her room resting. She reminds me of my own daughter. Seeing her come back covered in dust every time just breaks my heart. That's why I just took her a nice cold drink — figured she'd be hot. Heh heh heh. No alcohol, mind you, so don't worry. Sweet pineberry juice."

What… is this guy actually decent?

I stared at the innkeeper ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as he delivered his suspiciously wholesome story with a sly grin.

Without warning, Fiore set a hand on the counter.

"…What is that game they're playing?"

"Hm?"

"Those cards. Surely it isn't gambling?"

Being a Master Hunter apparently meant she involved herself in public-order matters like this as well.

The innkeeper gave another sly laugh.

"Heh heh heh. Perfectly legal. Card game that's been popular in Antico lately. Rules are simple. Everyone flips cards one by one, and when six matching fruit pictures come up, you snatch the coin in the middle as fast as you can. Heh heh heh. Game coins only, so no pressure. Care to try a round?"

…Is Pina actually at a decent inn?

The facilities still looked worse than the hunter lodgings, though.

More than that — why play a card game while smoking?

Fiore seemed slightly dazed by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the innkeeper's explanation. She took her hand off the counter and stammered.

"…It does sound rather fun, now that I've heard it. I do have an interest in competitive pursuits."

"Heh heh heh. Right? We've got at least ten sets in this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠inn alone. Come by later. Even if you're not a guest, you can play as long as you pay."

"Alice, shall we—"

"Fiore…?"

"Ah — never mind."

…We'll do that game next time.

Fiore. Let's not forget why we came here in the first place.