The Hunter’s Story, and… (2)
The Hunter’s Story, and… (2)
#
Yuri sprinted ahead of us. Apparently aiming for high ground, she bounded up a nearby boulder in only a few steps. Her movements were admirably smooth. She might’ve retired, but it seemed her claim to being a ranger was no bluff.
"It's coming!"
Following Yuri’s sharp shout, I saw a black dot barreling toward us as though nothing could stop it. The dot gradually took the shape of a wild boar.
The distance between the boar and the wagon was roughly five hundred... four hundred meters. It was closing in fast. It felt like watching a dump truck bearing down on you. Tearing up the earth as it charged, the massive beast had every hair on its body bristling straight up like a porcupine's.
-Ping!
I heard Yuri loose an arrow from atop the boulder. But... it missed. Three hundred meters. Yuri drew the string again with a fluid motion... then released it.
-Kuh-heong!
With roughly two hundred meters remaining, the boar staggered and collapsed. An arrow protruded from its back. The beast was so large that the arrow looked like a tiny thorn. But...
"That's strange. At this point it should have fled... It's coming this way! It's still coming!"
Only then could I see it clearly. This was no ordinary boar. A small horn protruded from its forehead. A powerful sense of déjà vu swept over me. Figuring out its identity could wait. This wasn’t the time.
"Reni. Enhance Strength, Haste—right now. And Protection on my signal. Got it?"
"Yes!"
Reni had learned several kinds of Holy Magic from Kate the last time. Unlike my own buffs, hers only lasted about five minutes, but that would be more than enough.
In the meantime, another arrow sprouted from the boar's back. This time, though, it neither stopped nor fell.
"Yuri! Get back!" "But!" "Quickly!"
I left the two of them behind and shot forward. My senses accelerated, and I covered thirty meters in an instant. Then I activated Holy Fire.
-Whoosh!
The moment the boar saw a blade spewing flames, it charged toward me even more fiercely.
It charged despite seeing the flames. Definitely not a normal animal. Perfect. I kept Holy Fire active and drew its attention.
-Kuooooong!!!
The giant boar charged at me, bellowing in pain from the arrows embedded in its back. Distance remaining... fifty meters.
"Reni!"
A bluish barrier instantly materialized five meters ahead of me. Protection had manifested.
Protection was a simple defensive barrier, but its very simplicity meant its strength scaled directly with Divine Power output. With Reni’s Saintess-level Divine Power, it should have been able to stop that much mass.
-Kuoooooo....!!!!
The beast noticed the obstruction before its eyes, but it was already too late to alter its trajectory.
-Boom!
-Kuh-heooooong!!!!
"Ngh!"
Reni groaned. The indirect feedback from stopping such enormous mass had reached her, but I had no time to worry about it.
"Dismiss it!"
The barrier vanished at once. The boar, unable to collect itself from the shock, was staggering.
I activated the Ultrasonic Cutter, then drove the Holy Sword deep between the boar's eyes. A spine-chilling sensation reached my fingertips. Scattering sparks, the Holy Sword pierced clean through its skull!
-Kuoooooooong!!!!!
Even with a sword run through its cranium, the thing was still alive and tried to rise.
-Ke-reuk...!
An instant later, an arrow sprouted from the beast’s flank. Yuri had circled around and provided supporting fire.
-Keu-reuk... keu-reu-reu-reuk....
But the thing was still moving.
Still not enough?! In that case...
I released the Holy Sword, quickly backed away, and sent it a Message.
[Burn!]
[The Holy Sword unleashes Holy Fire at maximum output.]
-Whoosh!
-Kuoooooooooooh!!!!!
Flames poured from every opening in the boar’s body. Its eyes... nose... and mouth spewed fire. It was the very image of an incarnation of rage.
-Keu-eo... keu-eo-eolk....
Still spewing flames, the beast staggered toward me as though it had rage left to vent... before finally collapsing into a heap of ash.
#
[Hey. Turn it off already.]
The boar's corpse was still ablaze. The boar itself had been dead for a while now, but the Holy Sword was still gushing Holy Fire.
[The Holy Sword says it must prevent danger preemptively.]
...This thing was having the time of its life. The moment I let it spend Divine Power as it pleased, it went wild. Who had it taken after to become so self-willed?
-Fsssh. Pfft.
The Holy Sword kept spewing fire until it had burned away every last inch of hide. Only then did it stop. Now I could finally retrieve it.
In truth, I could have retrieved it while it was still burning. Perhaps because Holy Fire had the Holy attribute, it was not hot even when I touched it.
Even so, the mental resistance to grabbing a sword engulfed in flames was hard to shake. At a glance, it just looked blisteringly hot.
[Holy Sword 「Esplender」]
[Divine Power: 40 / 300]
T-this little... It had burned through this much Divine Power on its own...
[The Holy Sword requests Divine Power replenishment.]
[The Holy Sword requests maintenance.]
"..."
What a shameless thing. It must’ve inherited this personality from the Goddess, right?
"Yoo-jin—!"
"It's safe to come now!"
When I beckoned to assure them it was safe, Reni came pattering over first. A steady bounce. Excellent.
Reni ran right up and then threw herself into my arms in a hug—
"Yoo-jin? What on earth was that just now...."
—or rather, instead of hugging me, she was staring intently at the Holy Sword in my hand. That was a little disappointing. Was she self-conscious because Yuri was behind us?
"Yoo-jin?"
"Ah. I did tell you I can communicate with the Holy Sword, right? This little thing got all worked up on its own and went berserk."
"Wow... it really is alive. The Holy Sword... person? Should I just call it ‘Holy Sword’?"
If she ever saw what this thing really looked like, would she still call it that...
"Could you recharge it for me?"
"Ah, yes!"
At those words, Reni took the Holy Sword tightly in her hands and channeled her Divine Power into it, then...
"Holy Sword, can you hear me? Could I try using Holy Fire too?"
She was talking to it?
"..."
"A holy sword... What was that just now..."
Yuri, who had approached my side before I'd even noticed, let out a voice tinged with awe.
"You really are a veteran adventurer... aren’t you? Or are you... a Holy Knight of the Church? A paladin?"
...Just how far was this woman's misunderstanding going to go?
I turned and found her looking too awed to dare speak. Only moments before, she'd regarded me as an unemployed freeloader from a rich family, yet now her expression had flipped completely. Even I found it uncomfortable.
"Well... it’s a long story. I’m a little tired. It’s getting late, so let’s get going."
"Ah... sure..."
...
Once that brief commotion had ended, we put out the fire and climbed back onto the wagon, but...
Reni kept sneaking glances at Yuri. As if she had something she wanted to say.
"Um... Yuri..."
"Yes?"
"Uh, by any chance... aren't you tired? If you are, it's fine to sleep for a while..."
"Ah. I’m all right. I may not look it, but I’m confident in my stamina. Perhaps because I moved around a little, I actually feel refreshed. Reni, you should sleep if you’re tired. I’ll wake you if anything happens."
"..."
...Reni. Looking at me like that wouldn’t help. I didn’t have any ability that could put people to sleep.
"..."
She needed to stop squirming like that. It was killing me too...
# # #
By the time we reached the village, dusk was already falling. They'd said there was no inn, and it was indeed a small village. Still, children playing nearby gave it a peaceful, carefree atmosphere. The place seemed fine... so why had her family died?
"It's late, so let's hurry a little."
Yuri said that and tried to guide us along a path on the outskirts of the village, but the village kids caught sight of us and started shouting.
"Ah! It's Yuri!"
"Yuri! They said you left for the city, but you came back!"
"My mom kept looking for you!"
The little brats jabbered on however they pleased, then upon spotting me they completely lost it. Why were they acting like that?
"It's a man!" "She brought a man back!"
"Hey! You little—stop right there!"
With those words as their cue, the little rascals bolted. Had she been trying to slip away along the outer path just to avoid these kids? When I looked back at Yuri, her face was on the verge of exploding.
"Ugh... Ah. I'm so sorry. I've known those kids for a long time..."
The model-walking beauty with an impression like a young wolf... where had she gone...
"Right. This way. It's late, so please hurry."
Yuri's face was full of nerves as she started walking fast. This wasn't walking—it was practically running.
...
Yuri led us to a house situated toward the mountain. It looked reasonably large and decent, but...
-Creak. Crack.
As though there were no time to look around, Yuri quickly tore away the boards nailed over the door, then lit a fire.
"I'm sorry. Please go inside and rest. I have a brief errand to run in the village... Just wait a moment. And don't go anywhere."
Having said that, Yuri went dashing back toward the village as if she were flying.
"..."
"...Shall we go inside for now?"
"...Yes."
It was ridiculous. She might be a temporary companion, but we were still strangers, weren’t we? Was it really safe to leave her house this defenseless? She hadn’t even offered us tea.
...
The house was considerably large for a woman living alone. No, it was big enough that even a large extended family could live here without trouble. Lots of rooms, too.
I wanted to look around here and there, but rummaging through someone else's house would be bad manners, so I sat still and observed the living room.
Pelts covered the floor, while mounted wolf and deer heads hung on the walls. All the fur made the room cozy, but her taste was rather unusual for a woman. Was it because she was a hunter? Even so, meeting those eyes in the dark would probably be frightening.
"Wow..."
Reni hovered around the deer head. It seemed this was her first time seeing anything like it. But if she kept fiddling with it, she would get fur everywhere...
-Thud!
"Eek?!"
The door flew open without any warning whatsoever.
"Yuri! You're back!"
And standing before it was a heavyset middle-aged woman with black hair. Her face, which had been full of delight, shifted in an instant as if she'd spotted something suspicious.
"Who're you people? What d'you think you're doing in here?"
...I wondered too. Just what the hell we were doing here.