The Moomoocar Hunt (2)

A short while later, once the headcount was finished, the village chief stepped forward.

"You've all heard the story by now! This damned monster only comes up to the surface on rainy days, so we have to find it today! Miss it this time and who knows when it'll rain again — we absolutely cannot let it get away!"

"And once we find it, then what? It's not like we can fight a monster."

At someone's question, Rian answered in a carrying voice, the rain hammering down on him.

"The Moomoocar isn't aggressive — it's a docile creature! The moment it sees us, it'll panic and try to burrow back underground! Before it can escape, shout for everyone and gather at the spot where it's found! We'll take it down together!"

"Well now. Looks like we'll finally get to put our backs into something."

The hunt began. Dozens of villagers fanned out in every direction, driving through the sheets of rain.

Before long, night fell completely, and the children and women who had volunteered to help had no choice but to return home, just in case of an accident.

Some four hours passed after that. The rain only grew heavier. You could scarcely see an inch ahead. Even the men who had started the search with such gusto were beginning to flag.

"I don't know as we ought to be standing out in rain like this. We'll all be laid up with colds tomorrow, groaning in our beds."

"Hold tight to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠branches. A gust like this and you'll get blown clean away."

"What kind of wind is this? Gives a man the shivers."

Meanwhile, Rian searched for the Moomoocar on his own. Neither the howling wind nor the lashing rain could slow a man of his stamina. While everyone else was exhausted, he bounded from place to place with a spear clenched in one fist, for all the world like some fearless Amazon tribesman.

"Where the hell are you, you bastard..."

As the hours wore on with no word, impatience began to gnaw at him. If he failed to catch the thing, every plan he'd laid would come apart.

His plan to leave the village in exactly three months.

"It couldn't just... not be here, right?"

Please don't let that be the case. Rian wiped the rain from his face and picked up his pace.

"Over here! I found it!"

Suddenly, good news burst from far off in the dark.

They found it?

Rian sprinted in that direction. The others who'd heard the shout cheered and came running too.

"Where? Where? Let me get a look at that thing's face!"

"Over there! Right there!"

When they arrived, the situation was already desperate. Startled by the crowd, the Moomoocar was digging into the earth, wriggling its way underground.

It looked like an enormous white earthworm. The difference from an ordinary worm was that its body was a full meter thick — and from head to tail, it stretched at least ten meters.

The creature was contracting and stretching its body in pulses, undulating as it slithered into the ground.

"It's going to get away! What do we do, what do we do?!"

Cowed by the grotesque enormity of the thing, the villagers could only mill about nearby, too frightened to act.

"C-can we even hit it? What if it bites?"

That was when Rian arrived.

"Don't be afraid!"

He dashed forward and threw his arms around the Moomoocar's tail. And just as he heaved, trying to yank it out—

It's slippery!

The Moomoocar's hide was coated in sticky mucus. The moment he tried to pull, his hands went sliding right off. Caught off guard, Rian froze for a split second — then his mind kicked into overdrive.

Lagreanir! Non-slip gloves!

He'd shouted it on a hunch, without even knowing if such a thing was possible. And yet, astonishingly, Lagreanir transformed in an instant, slipping onto both of Rian's hands as a pair of gloves.

"Incredible!"

Once the gloves were on, whatever material they were made of, they didn't slip at all. Rian whooped in triumph, poured all his strength into both arms, and hauled on the Moomoocar's tail with everything he had.

Crrrk!

"Uryaaaaah—heave-hooo!"

Tendons stood out taut along both of his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠arms. The Moomoocar thrashed and resisted for a moment, but in the end it couldn't match Rian's monstrous strength, and inch by inch it began to be dragged out into the open.

"Whoa!"

Before long, more than half its body had been hauled into the open, and the villagers who'd been watching in a daze let out a collective gasp of awe.

"What in the world has Rian been eating to grow up like that?"

"He's strong as a giant!"

Dean came running up beside him and shouted.

"Rian! That was seriously amazing!"

Rian, squeezing out every last ounce of strength until his face was so red it looked ready to burst, barely managed to force out his voice.

"H-hit it!"

"Huh? I didn't catch that!"

"Hit it, I said! Beat the shit out of it!"

"Beat the shit?!"

Dean cocked his head, then shouted to the people crowding around.

"Don't just stand there watching — he says beat the shit out of it!"

"What's 'beat the shit' supposed to mean?"

Someone answered with a laugh.

"Must mean whale on it with everything you've got! Come on, Rian's putting his back into this — this is no time for us to just stand around! Get in there and help him!"

"All right! Let's go!"

Dozens of people let out a roar.

"Waaaaaah!"

Each of them gripped a sharp farm tool and charged the Moomoocar with newfound courage.

At last, the Moomoocar was dead. Only after checking again and again that the thing had stopped moving did Rian let go of its body.

Thud.

He collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

"Hah... hah... haaah...!"

He was completely spent. The others, who'd been driving farm tools into the Moomoocar's body until moments ago, were just as exhausted, and they sank down where they stood. And yet they never stopped smiling.

"We did it! We took down the Moomoocar!"

Someone shouted it, and everyone roared in unison. Even the rain seemed to join the celebration, thinning out to a lighter fall.

"Whew... I thought I was gonna die..."

Rian slowly caught his breath and looked toward the Moomoocar's corpse. There, a soul-flame floated in the air — invisible to everyone else's eyes.

That's two now.

Though exhausted, he rummaged through his pants pocket with a glad heart and pulled out the Soul Vessel. He popped the lid with his thumb. The moment he held it out toward the soul-flame, the flame was sucked inside in an instant. He snapped the lid shut at once.

Rian rested his head against the ground and lay there comfortably. Sometime without his noticing, the fierce wind had died down. A smile ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠formed on his lips as he gazed up at the night sky, where a light drizzle still fell.

"This kind of life's pretty fun, too."

Audria drifted into his thoughts.

"I wonder what the princess is up to right now."

Night had fallen, but the village's main street bustled with people. It was a festival.

The moment the Moomoocar died, the land had swiftly recovered its vitality. There was no need to wait and watch. Two days after the creature's death, earthworms, ladybugs, mites, and other soil-dwellers that had been all but invisible until then had multiplied before everyone's eyes. Overjoyed, the village chief dipped into the village funds and threw a festival in grand style.

"You've all suffered enough! Drink till your bellies burst and enjoy yourselves to the fullest!"

Thanks to the chief's generous spending, acrobats, bards, and dancing girls had come to the village and were putting on a splendid show. The chief had seated Rian right beside him and was busy showing him off to visitors from the neighboring village, with no sign of stopping.

"If it weren't for this fellow here, our village would have gone on! And ooon! Living with a monster sucking the blood from our land! But then this fellow dropped out of the sky one day, and thanks to that...!"

Whether it was from a lifetime of farm work, the chief and his companions were all legendary drinkers. They'd empty one great jar of liquor and immediately fetch another, scooping it out into bowls.

"Come on, drink, drink! You're a hero! Our village's hero!"

Rian had a fairly decent tolerance himself, so knocking back the drinks people kept pressing on him wasn't much of a problem. The only real burden was the thoroughly drunk village chief, who wouldn't stop pumping up his ego.

"Just settle down in our village while you're at it! We'll build you a house on that hill over there and find you a pretty bride, so don't go anywhere else — stay put right here! Herooo~ our herooo~ Aigoo, I'm drunk~! Feels good! Hahaha!"

Rian played along for a while, then, figuring he'd had enough, stood up on the pretext of a quick trip to the privy.

"Just piss in your pants and let it dry — what's a privy for?"

"I'll be right back."

The chief was so thoroughly drunk he'd become a different person. Rian had to pry himself free of the man's attempts to stop him from going, and only then managed to slip away.

"Whew. Nicely buzzed."

Rian walked with a slight stagger. Having accepted every drink offered from every direction, his head was spinning. The village had no public privy, so he'd gone to a corner of a building to relieve himself, and it was on his way back that it happened.

He happened to spot Dean. A girl was pressed right up against him, arm in arm, and from the look on her face as she gazed at Dean, she was head over heels in love.

"That must be the Jesse he was talking about..."

Dean, looking a little drunk himself, was gazing at the girl with a goofy grin — the kind of atmosphere that said those two were going to get into trouble before the night ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was over.

"Lucky bastard, Dean."

With a fond look, he watched for a moment to see where the two of them were headed. Sure enough, Dean and the girl slipped away from the noisy crowd and vanished quietly into the darkness.

"A historic night. Truly a historic night."

Muttering to himself, he leaned against a nearby wooden post. In the center of the street, dancing girls in daring costumes were performing a seductive dance to beautiful music. The way they rolled their hips was truly something else. He'd only meant to glance, but Rian found his gaze stolen away. The dancers' performance had a pull that made you lose yourself. After staring in a daze for quite some time, Rian swallowed without even realizing it.

"Augh, now I want a drink. I'm thirsty for more."

Just then, the lead dancer in the center, who'd been performing with passionate intensity, suddenly looked straight at him. Rian, who'd been about to yawn without thinking, flinched and clamped his mouth shut.

The dancer spun and spun, drawing closer. There were spectators sitting between them, and they weren't particularly close — but the bonfire light made her face perfectly visible. She winked at him adorably, then smiled a smile he couldn't quite read. Then she spun away again, receding into the dance.

What was that? Is she coming on to me?

Rian's heart skipped for a moment, but it didn't last. He decided it was just part of the show — a little something for the audience. Don't get worked up over nothing, he told himself, and let it go...

But the lead dancer's advances toward him continued after that. She kept glancing at Rian as she danced. It wasn't even subtle — she kept sending looks his way as if to say, quite openly, that she was interested.

"This is dangerous..."

Rian was afraid. A woman he'd never met before falling for him? Unlikely. Rather than genuine interest, wasn't she just looking for someone to earn a little extra coin from tonight?

But his current situation was enough to make him weep tears of blood. Bank balance: zero. He couldn't give that woman what she wanted. Which meant the dancer had the wrong guy. She'd picked the wrong mark.

As if to quietly let her know she should find someone else, Rian slipped away from the spot. Of course, even if he'd had money, he wouldn't have gone with her. In his current situation, he had no desire to fool around with a woman.

"If I go around messing around instead of thinking about getting back soon, the princess would be disappointed."