A Hunter Has Vanished
A hunter had vanished.
The man had always suffered from insomnia, people said, and the sleeplessness had left him with a somewhat prickly temperament. According to the hunter who shared his room, he had been up wandering around the night before just as he always did, unable to sleep.
Everything was the same as usual—except the hunter himself had simply disappeared.
The sudden vanishing threw the outpost into chaos. Where had he gone? Was it the work of someone with a grudge? A monster? Or was there really a ghost after all? Who would be next?
Quelling that kind of panic was a prince's job.
"From today onward, hunters are to refrain from acting alone. Move in pairs of two or more, and if you need to leave your post, make sure someone nearby knows. The military will search for the missing person, so go about your business as usual. Anyone who stirs up needless chaos within our ranks will be severely punished."
The prince brought the situation under control with unmistakable charisma.
The cause was simple enough. The Schiagua they had been neglecting had simply snagged itself a meal. It was a tenacious creature—this was bound to happen eventually. But pulling a stunt like that right under my nose was unforgivable.
The somewhat hectic morning muddled its way past without further incident.
Pina seemed a little frightened by the whole affair.
"Could it really be a ghost?"
"A ghost?"
"A hunter who turned into a ghost—"
That was no ghost. And if ghosts existed in this world, they would torment monsters, not people. That was what I would do, anyway.
"A hunter ghost would kill monsters."
"That makes sense. Kind of like you, Alice-nim. Killing monsters even after death."
"What?"
"Ah—nothing!"
Pina agreed with me in the end.
There had been a brief disturbance, but our job had not changed. Catch the Schiagua before there were more victims. Had Capello managed to gather people properly?
It might have been greedy of me, but I wanted the thing dead as soon as possible. Nothing was more dangerous than a beast that had tasted human flesh. Give it time, and it would realize how weak humans were and start appearing out in the open. If we could not find it the ordinary way, I would have no choice but to serve as bait myself—risky as that was.
Pina and I met Capello at the mess hall. He had kept his promise. Just as he had said the day before, he had brought people together, and I listened carefully to their stories while I ate. Of course, my role amounted to nothing more than nodding along. I had not gathered them to talk—I had gathered them to listen.
That was the plan, at least…
"So, Alice, right? I heard you ride around on monsters. Is that true…?"
In all my life, I had never heard anything quite like that. At some point these people had started investigating my identity, and listening to them was quite a spectacle. Apparently, when I appeared, crying children stopped weeping and monsters ceased their roaring, and Pina was some non-human thing that spat my weapons out of her mouth.
Thinking about it now, the rumors about Pina were even more vicious than the ones about me. I mean, pulling a greatsword out of her mouth and declaring Weep, Blood-Horned Blade!—right? Refuting each claim one by one was too much trouble, so I just let them slide. They were all joking around anyway. For the record, Pina desperately denied every last rumor.
Still, thanks to them I picked up various bits of information. What was certain was that the Schiagua was already prowling around this outpost. People who went far out on scouting missions were fine, but that eerie feeling cropped up constantly near the base itself. There was no need to go far to catch it. The thing would still be hungry. Would a single human be enough to satisfy it? It would come back for sure.
I roughly sketched out a plan. If this were a game, I would have charged in headfirst and killed it in one go—but this was reality. Even a mid-tier monster had the power to crush my windpipe in an instant. Complacency was the enemy. Giving your all no matter what monster you faced—that was a hunter's virtue.
I first asked the soldiers where Melchior was. According to them, he was at the cornfield—the last place the missing person had been seen. I could feel that the prince was taking responsibility and acting on it.
I found Melchior in the cornfield.
"Melchior, hey."
"Hello, Your Highness."
"…I was wondering who had the gall to call me by name so rudely. So it was you. Well, good to see you."
Melchior shot me a sharp look, then greeted Pina warmly. Was this discrimination against the common folk?
Melchior, who had been examining the ground, shrugged.
"So, what is it?"
"Getting ready to catch it."
"…That monster, you mean?"
"Yeah."
Melchior touched the corner of his mouth.
"Hmm. How do you plan to catch it?"
"…Burning the cornfield is out, right?"
"If your goal is to starve us all to death, that would be the fastest way."
"Then another method."
Obviously. I looked at Melchior.
"So, what's the other method?"
"If a hunter disappeared here, it'll show up again."
"…You're volunteering as bait, is that it?"
"Bait?"
I shook my head at Melchior's words.
"I'm just going to kill it."
"Ah. Right. Understood."
Melchior knew I had taken down the broken-horn Cespiratos and the Ancient Alberoelva. So he would know my words were not empty bravado.
"Is there anything the military can do?"
"Surround it from a distance so the monster doesn't notice."
"A perimeter, then."
"So it can't escape."
Melchior looked into my eyes.
"You don't need our help?"
"You don't trust me?"
"An army does not allow unnecessary expenditure of force."
"Then just watch."
When you butcher a chicken, you use a chicken knife. When you butcher a cow, you use a cow knife. The army was a blade for protecting people. We hunters were blades for killing monsters. I added briefly:
"What a hunter is."
Melchior blinked slowly. Watching me in silence, he snorted.
"I see—so this is the kind of confidence you have. No wonder my sister is so taken with you."
He nodded.
"If the situation turns dangerous, we will move immediately."
"…Do as you like."
That much I could allow. I could not exactly tell them not to lift a finger at all.
Just as I was about to end the conversation, I opened my mouth for something I had forgotten to say.
"Oh, right."
"Hmm?"
"And protect Pina."
"…Eh, me?"
Pina pointed at herself in shock.
"C-can't I just go inside and sleep? G-ghosts are scary…"
"It's not a ghost. It's a monster."
"M-monsters are scary too… A-are you planning to use a different weapon?"
"Yeah."
Pina looked at Melchior with rather sparkling eyes.
"C-can the army… be trusted, Your Highness?"
The prince barked at her question.
"Are you questioning the Royal Army right now?"
"Ugh—no, sir!"
"Well, if you've lived as a hunter, I suppose suspicion is natural. I understand."
"Uh, ehh, right…"
"But questioning the Royal Army is something I cannot forgive."
"Eh—hyet—right…!"
Which beat was I supposed to follow here?
"Trust the army the way you trust hunters. We will not let a monster touch so much as a single hair on your head, so don't worry."
"Y-yes, sir…"
Pina nodded, cold sweat running down her face.
With the army's cooperation secured, all that remained was for time to pass.
Nights in Angolo were desolate. As the sun set, the light faded and darkness steadily gained ground. The only light in this wasteland was the torches fixed around the outpost. Soldiers patrolled in groups of two or three, keeping watch. When I crossed paths with them, I gave a slight nod. The soldiers returned the greeting with nods of their own.
Pina clung to my coattail from behind, carefully placing each step. And she deliberately spoke in a loud voice.
"W-wow, it's so dark—!"
"Stay close."
I returned to the cornfield on this dim night. The weapon in my hand was a bow. What Pina had packed for me instead was the greatsword.
In the cornfield where Melchior had been earlier, the dead hunter's footprints remained.
"Look."
"…Oh—they were dragged—! So horribly—!"
I crouched down and shone the torch in my hand on the footprints. The hunter who had been out for a stroll here had been seized and dragged away in an instant. There were marks where he had thrashed his legs with all his might. But no matter how hard he had struggled, he could not break free—he had been dragged helplessly across the cornfield. Looking at the flattened corn stalks, the creature had crossed through here to ambush him.
Pina swallowed hard as she stared at the footprints.
"A-Alice-nim! I-I'm so scared! I-is this really the right thing to do—!?"
Her voice trembled slightly.
"Talking this loudly! Is that really okay!?"
I had told her to speak as loudly as possible to deliberately draw the Schiagua's attention. Pina had vehemently refused at first, but once she started talking, she was putting her all into it.
"…You're not actually enjoying this, are you?"
Pina shook her head hard, looking like she was about to cry.
"Actually—! I'm so scared—! I feel like I'm going to lose my mind—!"
"Hmm…"
Hang in there a little longer. Still, after this much, it should start showing up soon. Was it still testing the waters?
I could not think of any suitable conversation to have with Pina, so I gave her something else to do instead.
"Want to try whistling?"
"Whistling—!? Well—! I'm actually pretty good at whistling—! Listen carefully—!"
Pina pursed her lips and blew. A high-pitched whistle unsuited to this wasteland rang out—the same whistling tune she always played when she was in a good mood. I used it as background music as I studied the footprints.
What had the hunter dragged off by the Schiagua been feeling? If it had been me, I think I would have been pretty incredulous. Terrified of being dragged off and killed by the thing, while also hating myself for dying over something so careless. If only I had had a weapon. If only I had not been ambushed, at least. If that had been the case, that hunter might have driven the Schiagua off. No—if he had not been a hunter in the first place, he would not have died so pointlessly here.
If you were going to kill something, you had to be prepared to die yourself. In short, dealing with monsters always required caution. Because we stood in the middle of death itself.
Rustle—.
Then, amid the whistling, I heard something moving. It sounded like a stone rolling. We were not moving. That left only one answer.
Pina's grip on me tightened. Her face went pale, and the whistling gradually lost its strength. Without moving, I said quietly, in a very small voice:
"Pina. Don't stop whistling, and slowly back away."
Pina did as I said, whistling as she retreated. The further she backed away, the more clearly I heard those alien footsteps. I set the torch down on the ground. Then I drew an arrow from the quiver on my back. Holding my breath, I nocked it on the bowstring.
Creeeak—.
The sound of the bow flexing spread with stark clarity. I trusted my instincts. In the same motion as rising, I aimed and released.
Twang—!
The string snapped free, and the arrow flew into the darkness. It vanished between the corn stalks that still stood upright. I let out the breath I had been holding. My instincts told me the thing was hiding right there.
And then—.
Thwack—!
————KIEEEee!!!!
The arrow struck true.
The sinister hunter revealed itself.