Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: Contention
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"Are you seriously bringing me a few man-eating fish and shoving them in my face, asking me to grade them?"
The student's face drained of all color as he laid out the monsters he'd caught in the boat, in response to Hatan's icy remark.
Man-eating fish were among the top-tier monsters you could haul up from the nearby waters right now.
And yet, this was the reaction.
"It's Hunter's Night. Hunter's Night. The time when monsters swarm from every direction. Back in my day, I could've smashed these barehanded. Got it?"
"..."
What a crazy old boomer.
That expression floated across every student's face, but unfortunately, Hatan had the skills to back up his boomer antics.
He wasn't the only hunter in history to solo a large monster for nothing.
'...All of them fall short.'
Hatan swept back his hair, starting to sag from the rain, and clicked his tongue once.
He'd figured at least a few would bring results worth noticing during Hunter's Night. But this?
'...No one even worth banking on.'
He wasn't expecting them to hunt large monsters like he had.
Still, they should at least scrape by at a bare-minimum level.
"Ch-Chief. Chief Hatan!"
And now even this guy shows up.
Hatan barely suppressed the vein throbbing on his forehead and turned toward the voice calling him.
Krun Gerdo.
The son of Bellua Gerdo, who'd always grated on Hatan's nerves with his arrogant attitude at tribal council meetings.
"...Here, I'm the dean, remember?"
It wouldn't be fair to say his intimidating aura had no effect just because it didn't feel like he was treating the guy like a student.
After all, Krun, who'd been storming over fuming, froze for a moment at the sight.
'Pathetic.'
Hatan swallowed those words and spoke in an irritated tone.
"What is it, Krun? If it's nothing, scram."
"There were guys who used violence against me, the next chieftain."
Hatan swept back his hair again.
A migraine he couldn't ignore was pounding away.
"So? What do you want me to do about it?"
"...What did you say?"
Krun flinched and took a step back at the response.
Killing intent was pouring from Hatan's eyes.
"Hey, next chieftain of the Blue Boar Tribe."
He growled on.
"If you got hit, get your own revenge. Use that drug cartel or crime syndicate your tribe brags about and handle it yourself. Don't come begging like a loser."
"..."
Hatan sneered and waved him off as Krun's face turned from pale to ashen.
Given the guy's usual behavior, it was obvious what happened.
He must've picked a fight with the Garda clan, old habits die hard.
Hatan hadn't expected him to get thoroughly thrashed and chased off by them—they didn't even have a proper base—but anyway, he had no interest in getting involved.
His job was to encourage the students to slug it out in their dirty little squabbles. Growth came from fights like that sometimes.
'...That guy's with them, huh.'
He frowned slightly, dredging up the memory.
Dawood Campbell. One of the imperial types he mostly dismissed, but this one stood out.
'Tough road ahead for him.'
Krun was as filthy as they come.
If he'd tangled with him like that, Dawood was in for a rough Hunter's Night from all the petty tricks.
But whatever.
He didn't seem like the type who couldn't handle it.
"The last boat's coming back!"
"Last one? Who's on it?"
"Liru Garda, Talion Armand, and Dawood Campbell!"
Speak of the devil.
Hatan cracked a wry smile and turned that way.
Though his expression soured a bit.
'What's with that vibe?'
Dawood sweating bullets with a slightly freaked-out look. Liru Garda scowling hard, and Talion Armand gripping the helm with a blank, dazed expression like he'd been through something bizarre.
"...Go tell the high priestess."
He sighed to the assistant beside him.
As Hatan suspected, Liru Garda was surely gunning for an audience with the grand chieftain via the 'right of appeal.'
"No one's getting a direct shot to the grand chieftain this time."
They'd probably be thrilled.
They always went out of their way to keep the grand chieftain from mingling.
From Hatan's perspective—pretty sure Tatiana had done something to Grand Chieftain Allan's head—it was laughable scheming.
'...The more they run into others, the more they'll realize he's not right.'
So naturally, unless someone pulled off something massive in this Hunter's Night event, they'd squash the traditional chance to meet him.
Especially with these guys coming back in that mood—their catch wouldn't be anything special.
"Hey. What do you think?"
"Pardon?"
"The monsters. Think they'll let 'em through if they caught something decent?"
"...Probably not unless it's a mid-sized one solo, like you did, Chief."
Hatan snorted at the assistant's reply.
Sure, it was his record from student days. Never broken.
"Who knows. Given their attitude, even a large one might just get a polite ear at best."
"...No way. No student's succeeded at a mid-sized since you, Dean."
It'd been decades.
So those guys probably didn't have a snowball's chance.
That's what Hatan thought too, until he heard the report from the gloomy-faced Dawood Campbell.
"...What did you say you caught?"
Hatan blankly echoed, not even bothering to wipe the water dripping into his eyes.
The assistant next to him had his jaw dropped, unable to close it.
That thing the kid had hunted.
"A sea dragon."
"..."
Why the hell report it with such a depressed look?
It didn't even seem like a problem to him.
Hatan alternated stares between the massive monster chunk tilting the whole boat and Dawood's gloomy face.
"Sea dragon?"
"Yes."
"The dragonkin kind?"
"Strictly speaking, no. You know that, Chief."
He did.
But dragonkin or not, no student could take one down.
Not a student—even Hatan himself would have to risk his life.
"...You killed it."
"Didn't kill it."
"What?"
"It ran away. So I just cut off an arm."
"..."
That's even weirder.
Monsters feel anger way more than fear. It's in their wiring.
To make one run means you dumped 'overwhelming power' on it instantly, enough to snuff that rage.
Against a mighty sea dragon even Hatan couldn't injure.
"..."
"..."
As everyone around gaped in disbelief, Hatan hesitated before approaching the tent-covered monster chunk.
He yanked it off, and there it was plain as day.
A massive 'forelimb' clearly from something you could call a sea dragon.
How the hell?
And the scales brimming with mana, dragonkin trademark.
"..."
Hatan silently ran a hand over the scales.
Real deal.
Dragon scales, no doubt.
"...Hey."
He turned to his gaping assistant with a stiff voice.
"Go tell the high priestess."
But a smile crept onto his lips, laced with a torrent of emotion even a hunter like him couldn't hide.
Euphoria.
"...First time since the Crucible of Struggle was founded."
Pure respect for those who'd achieved the impossible.
"First students to succeed at 'dragon hunting.'"
Stunned silence rippled out.
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[System Message]
[ You've achieved outstanding results in Hunter's Night Phase 1! ]
[ As reward, a 'Hall of Flames' 1-time use ticket is granted! ]
[ 'Grand Duel' event establishment conditions met by 35%! ]
"...Hmm."
I roll the card Hatan handed me between my fingers, glaring at the floating system window.
They gave it right after seeing the sea dragon forelimb.
Separate from the right of appeal to the grand chieftain—his personal reward.
He'd roared with laughter, saying he hadn't seen resources this prime in ages. Looked genuinely thrilled.
"..."
Honestly, I'm not that impressed compared to their reaction.
Yuria chased me to kill me, tore it up, I just picked up the scraps for free.
Hall of Flames means the workshop inside the Crucible of Struggle.
I was aiming for it anyway. Special gear only makeable here.
'Finally, time to use it.'
Got tons of materials.
Leftover ectoplasm from the soul linker, star iron scraps from Yuria's circlet, adaptive monster hides and mid-grade relics stripped during break.
To smash Allan and Tatiana, raw spec boosts won't cut it.
Tatiana commands sea monsters, and their hidden card Grand Chieftain Allan is trouble.
He's a martial artist who could trade blows with Kendrid Margrave at peak. Unless we drag out peak Casa, no one's guaranteeing a win.
And they won't send him bare.
High chance they'll kit him with relics pumping combat power. We need counters too, or it's impossible.
Unless I craft something that's endgame for barehand fighting.
"...Hey, Liru."
That's where she comes in clutch.
That gear? Splitting it with her.
So please.
"I'm heading to the Hall of Flames now. Wanna come?"
Don't cause trouble while I'm gone...!
I say that, and Liru dodges my eyes, mumbling evasively.
"...Nah."
Doesn't suit her usual bold, straightforward style at all.
Like looking at me embarrasses her or something.
"Go on ahead. Got stuff to do."
"..."
So what stuff?
She never shows or tells when I'm around.
But.
[Gift-Related Character Alert]
▼ Liru Garda
[ Interest Stage 3 ]
[ Time until related event: 1.5H ]
This won't go away.
"W-What're you waiting for? Go already!"
She's even pushier now about shooing me off.
Like she absolutely has to do it without me.
"...Alright then."
Fine, I got ways.
Her face brightens as I say it, and I mutter to myself.
"Kaliban."
Confirm she's far enough from Soul Linker, then speak.
[Yeah?]
"Gotta tail her, right?"
[...]
"Most logical, yeah?"
[...This guy's brain rotting more every day?]
"..."
I'd appreciate "adapting to survive."
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"-So now things are pretty smooth between Dawood and me. Thanks to your advice, I suppose."
"...That's good to hear."
Veil replied, sweating bullets.
Natural, with Elnor casually kneading a steel ingot that had to weigh at least 5kg with a few fingers right in front of him.
Lately, regular workouts don't even faze her, so she's building grip strength with this insanity.
Her periodic 'check-ins' always featured escalating superhuman feats, but this was overkill.
"If he did something that intense with me... wandering with another girl a bit is forgivable, I guess."
She knew Dawood and Liru Garda were hanging together.
But he'd done... 'that' with her recently. No decent guy turns into a bottomless playboy trash after that and seriously hunts others while parading around.
Elnor flushed faintly, nibbling her lip, and Veil swallowed dryly before speaking.
"And the Wanderer's... 'takeover' you requested is nearly done."
"Nice."
Elnor balled the ingot perfectly round like a ball and replied.
"Perfect wedding gift for Dawood."
"...You're serious? Using an org like this just for that?"
"Why not."
Elnor smirked and turned to him.
She squeezed lightly—crunch—and the steel tore like paper.
"Got a problem?"
"..."
As if.
Veil shut up, and Elnor suddenly frowned, standing.
Footsteps outside her private room.
"...Visitor. Talk later."
Elnor ended the video call.
She opened the door to the hall, and there stood someone unexpected.
"...Liru Garda?"
Elnor tilted her head at the surprise guest.
No reason for her to show up popped to mind.
"Hey."
Liru sighed.
"I been thinking."
"...About what?"
"Granny said people grow strongest fastest when fighting to survive or scrambling for their dreams."
"...?"
What the hell was this woman on about?
Elnor blinked in confusion, and Liru cracked her knuckles, continuing.
"And I figure. Through you, there's one way to hit both."
"What are you even—"
"So."
Liru cracked her neck.
"Let's throw down once."
"...What?"
Totally matter-of-fact.
Like no other option existed.
"Kill each other once. Over that Dawood guy."
Killing intent flooded Elnor's face.
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