Chapter 7 - The Trade
Monster Slayer.
White-Furred Thousand-Year Fox.
Each of those epithets belonged to Adina, and each was an expression of the reverence she commanded.
Of course, Luke Richter, who had read the original novel, knew better than anyone that those titles were not the least bit exaggerated.
She seduced men into ruin, devoured aberrations, and carried an aura so dreadful that she was, in herself, a disaster no one could ever forget.
Even so, she had once had a past of her own.
Unfortunately, it was the sort of humiliating black history she would rather have buried forever.
I-I got found out...!
She had never intended to threaten anyone from the start.
All she had wanted was to avoid wandering this accursed wilderness alone, so she had planned to use the sign as an excuse and ask to travel with them.
But everything had gone wrong.
It was all because of one careless line from that man.
— You're not just scared, are you?
Why would he say something like that...?
Adina was afraid of many things.
She knew that much about herself.
How could she not?
She had been born so different from her tribe that it was almost laughable.
Leave. You are unworthy of standing with the tribe.
That was why she had been cast aside.
Her parents had turned their backs on her too, all because she lacked bravery.
She had wanted to die.
No, she had actually come here intending to die.
Hadn't that been the sole reason she came to Blackmore in the first place?
She had meant to jump without hesitation.
And so she had stood on the edge of the cliff.
“…”
In the end, she had not been able to leap.
The instant she looked down over the edge, her whole body had begun to shake.
She could not move even a single step.
The desire to live inside her had been far greater than she had ever imagined.
Damn it...!
Her lips trembled with fear.
Crushed beneath a flood of self-loathing, she could barely breathe, as though a hand were tightening around her throat.
She was trash.
Trash who could not do a single thing right.
Like everyone said, she was a disgrace to her tribe.
Maybe that was why, when she looked at the sign, a thought rose in her mind.
Yes, this is all because of that damn sign.
She knew it was a ridiculous excuse.
But she had no other option.
If she did not blame something—anything—she was sure she would not be able to endure this.
So she had intended to use it as a pretext and force responsibility onto them.
They had gotten in her way, so she was going to demand that they accompany her as compensation.
And then—
Th-that monster...!
Overwhelmed by the killing intent radiating from Rudine, Adina lost the ability to speak.
Now that Rudine had shown her true colors, the sheer force of her murderous intent was beyond anything Adina could have measured.
Pure, primal malice—unnerving in its vividness.
Her twisted smile, paired with that cold, sticky aura, was enough to make one stare in terror and disbelief at once.
Adina’s mouth went dry under that inorganic gaze, as though it were peering straight through her and deep into the hollowest part of her soul.
She did not merely lose her fighting spirit; every ounce of her will bent before it.
Trickle.
Cold sweat bead after bead slid down her back.
Her eye even twitched uncontrollably.
...What on earth is she?
She was bewildered.
Just how strong was the man who could handle a monster like that as if she were a subordinate?
Honestly, it was enough to inspire a sliver of awe.
But that was not what mattered right now.
This was Blackmore.
She had entered intending to die, but now that she had failed at even that, she had to find some way to survive.
And yet—
H-how...?
She had nowhere to go.
No food, no map, no home.
Her eyes began to sting.
The silver tail hanging behind her twitched in little anxious jerks.
She needed someone she could depend on.
And then another man entered her vision.
Luke Richter.
If it’s that man...
The thought came to her all at once.
If it was a man who could command a monster like that as his subordinate, then perhaps she would at least be safe with him.
And so the words burst out of her.
“I-I don’t want to be alone...”
“…”
Hearing that, Luke Richter thought, What is this now?
He was dumbfounded.
She had been stalking him, so he had asked why, and now she was saying she was afraid of being alone.
In his disbelief, he asked back, “You’re a beastman.”
“…”
“And you’re scared?”
“…”
Twitch! Twitch!
Instead of answering, she flicked her triangular ears at high speed.
That was her way of saying yes.
But Luke only went on.
“And?”
“…Huh?”
“What does being scared have to do with me?”
“…”
Adina’s mouth, which had opened to protest, snapped shut like a trap.
She blinked in shock.
“B-but...!”
“But?”
“I-I’m sure I could still help you somehow...!”
“Help me how?”
“What?”
“What kind of help can you give me?”
He watched moisture gather in Adina’s violet eyes.
Anyone looking would have seen only a pitiful little girl.
But that was all it was.
I’m not her guardian.
I’ve got enough on my plate already.
Besides, even if I weren’t here, Adina would survive just fine on her own.
More than merely surviving, her growth rate was sharp enough that she would eventually claim one of the seats among the Beast Kings.
Still, because the sight of her on the verge of tears was a little too pathetic to ignore, he added one more thing.
“Sorry. I’m busy enough just keeping myself alive.”
That should have been clear enough, shouldn’t it?
With that, he turned to leave again.
“...Then make a deal with me.”
What?
“Let’s make a deal.”
“A deal?”
“Yes!”
She fumbled in her pocket and began to pull something out.
It was an utterly ordinary-looking stone.
But what caught his attention was the surface.
This is... could it be...?
A faint light rippled over it, and beneath that glow, a large golden inscription had been carved into the stone.
Its identity was—
Rune.
“Hee.”
Watching it, Rudine curled the corner of her mouth with interest.
She had realized instinctively that the stone was no ordinary object.
And she was right.
Runes were miraculous relics that granted immediate abilities the moment they were acquired.
Of course, most of them were inefficient garbage, but a few among them were absurdly overpowered.
And that engraving...
If my memory is right...
Time Rune.
Gulp.
He swallowed hard, the motion deep in his throat.
Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, he asked her, “Where did you get that?”
The instant she heard the question, her face brightened at once.
Apparently believing the balance of power had shifted to her side, even her tail began to sway with confidence.
And her answer was—
“I stole it.”
Huh?
“What did you just say?”
“I said I stole it.”
“...From where?”
Twitch! Twitch!
Her fluffy ears flicked back and forth again and again.
Adina placed both hands on her hips and answered proudly, “The White Hair Tribe.”
The White Hair Tribe.
The fox beastman clan that formed Adina’s identity and her very belonging.
The White Hair Tribe, whose ancestors were said to trace back to a divine beast, was famous for being a line so ancient it had gone past old and straight into rotten.
Wait.
Don’t tell me...
“I raided the White Hair Tribe’s treasury.”
“!!!”
No.
Was she serious?
“Do you even know what that thing is?”
“Nope!”
“Then what exactly is this ‘deal’ supposed to be?”
“Ahem!”
Sway, sway.
Her plump silver tail flicked back and forth.
“Take me with you!”
“…”
“And in exchange, I’ll give you this.”
Wow.
What a gift falling into his lap.
Meanwhile—
The masked man walking along the road glanced around.
The bleak scenery of Blackmore twisted his expression into a frown.
He let out a quiet breath and kept moving.
He reminded himself why he had come here in the first place.
It was because of an order that had come down in secret from above: observe Luke Richter, the newly appointed administrator of Blackmore, and report back.
Luke Richter...
He did not know the full reason.
What he did know was that, for whatever reason, higher-ups had begun taking an interest in him.
That’s an oddly excessive amount of attention for a low-level civil servant.
He thought to himself that far too much attention was being lavished on the bastard son of a count’s house.
This must be it.
He had arrived at Luke Richter’s office before he knew it.
Suppressing his presence, the man slowly surveyed the surroundings.
He seems to be fairly meticulous.
The office was spotless.
Everything was neatly arranged, and not a trace of dust could be found anywhere.
I don’t see anything particularly unusual.
He stepped outside the office and looked around the building.
He had not expected much.
What could a mere low-ranking civil servant possibly have that was worth noting?
That was when he noticed it.
What’s this...?
Red streaks clung messily to the dirt floor.
They were clearly bloodstains.
What was more, the stains continued in a line to one side, almost as if they were guiding him somewhere.
…
The man’s eyes sharpened as he looked at them.
The blood was so vivid he could not even estimate how much had soaked into the ground.
He followed the trail.
The farther he went, the thicker the scent of blood struck his head.
The stench was so strong it nearly numbed his nose.
And at the end of it, he found—
“!!!”
The corpses of the magical beasts Rudine had dealt with.
Stacked into a mountain, they were worthy of being called a corpse hill.
“…Hah.”
How many were there?
And every single one of them was no ordinary magical beast.
Even more impressive was the cut surface of the bodies—so clean it looked as though a single strike had cleaved enormous monsters clean in half.
This was a feat no low-ranking civil servant could possibly display.
No, to be honest, even he would not find such a flawless sword stroke easy.
Once he understood that, the next conclusion was obvious.
...No need to look any further.
He needed to report this at once.
That was the only thought left in his mind.