The Deer Antler Collection Request
A full day had already slipped by since Ren's party crossed paths with Frederica.
"Man, the weather's nice."
Basking in the bright afternoon sun, Huey sat perched on a rock in a clearing somewhere in the forest near Swinford.
"On days like this, I just want to soak up the sun and sleep the whole day away."
He leaned back against the rock, gazing up at the sky.
"...Not a bad idea, I suppose."
Luciella squatted in the shade cast by the rock, looking thoroughly unimpressed as she addressed him.
—Piiyaaaaaaaak―!!
At the familiar scream echoing from far off in the distance, Luciella clicked her tongue and spoke again.
"So, how long do you plan on ignoring that? It's getting rather noisy."
At her words, Huey remained sprawled on the rock, turning his back on the direction of the screams as if trying to shut out reality.
"...I'd rather ignore it for the rest of my life."
"Ppyaaaaaak―!!"
The moment Huey turned away, the scream rang out again — this time from somewhere clearly much closer.
"Looks like that won't be possible."
Listening to that peculiar scream that sounded almost like a baby bird crying, Luciella rose from her seat and tightened the iron chains on the coffin she'd leaned against the rock.
—Chwaruk.
"You should get ready. It seems the bait has gathered rather a lot of targets."
"Ugh."
—Dudududu....
Right after, the sound of hooves thundering across the ground from far away made Huey sigh as he stood up and rested a hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
"You bastards, you said they were docile―!!"
And from the direction of the sound, a red speck appeared amid rising clouds of dust. The red speck gradually grew larger, taking on the shape of a person — Ren, running desperately as if being chased by something.
"You said those bastards were tame!!"
Even while sprinting at full speed, she stretched one wing out behind her back, pointing at the herd of over a dozen giant deer chasing after her. The deer, impressive even without their antlers at nearly two meters tall, were shaking their elaborately grown antlers this way and that, eyes bloodshot with excitement, drooling as they pursued Ren.
"Ah, well..."
"That stuff we sprayed on you earlier? It's an aphrodisiac that only works on beasts."
As Huey looked slightly troubled, wondering how to explain, Luciella spoke up as if it were nothing at all. At those words, Ren came to a dead stop with an utterly dumbfounded expression, as if she'd even forgotten she was being chased.
"What? Earlier you clearly said it was a scent that drives dangerous beasts away..."
"If they were docile to begin with, why would there even be a request like this?"
And toward that Ren, Luciella smiled wickedly and pointed behind her.
"At this rate, you might really end up becoming a female?"
"Luciella, you dog of a bitch!!"
"Ah, for reference, Master was the one who suggested it."
Ren, her face flushed bright red with rage, veins bulging on her forehead as she screamed — at Luciella's words, she shifted the target of her fury. Toward Huey, who had been looking away and pretending not to notice for a while now.
"Hey, Ren. You should probably start running."
"Huey, you're the worst bastard of all!!"
Receiving that gaze full of rage, Huey did his best to ignore it and changed the subject. At his words, Ren glanced back at the deer herd that had closed the distance to nearly upon her, then started running for her life once more.
"Pfft. This is amusing."
"Lucy, when you say that, what does that make me?"
It was true he'd suggested it, but he'd said to spray it in an appropriate place to lure them — he hadn't said to spray it on Ren, Huey grumbled.
"Don't kill them. Just cut off the antlers."
"Yes, yes."
A short while later.
"Hwek...! Hiek...!"
Ren lay with her back against the rock Huey had been sitting on moments before, gasping for breath.
"Let's see, how many?"
"One pair per deer. Fourteen total. Twice the quantity needed for the request."
"We can sell the extras."
Having driven off all the deer and packed away the cut antlers, Huey and Luciella surveyed their haul. Satisfied with having twice the amount of deer antlers they'd been commissioned for, Huey gathered his things, stood up, and approached Ren.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Huff... Does this look... huff, okay to you...?"
At those words, Ren glared at Huey with eyes that looked ready to tear him apart, catching her breath. Toward that Ren, Luciella — who had put all the deer antlers into a backpack and hung it on the coffin she was carrying — opened her mouth.
"Still, I'm surprised."
"Huh?"
"I thought you'd fly away and escape long before this."
She'd never imagined Ren would so diligently fulfill her role as bait.
"...Ah."
At Luciella's words, Ren made a blank expression, as if she'd completely forgotten that fact. Luciella likewise made a dumbfounded expression, as if she couldn't believe it either.
"...The aphrodisiac. You somehow didn't fall for it."
"Grr. Just you wait."
"Now, now. No fighting."
Huey stepped between the two, calming them down.
"Still, thanks to Ren running so well, we made a decent profit, so let's eat something good for dinner tonight."
Since they were leaving the city tomorrow anyway, they should eat heartily. And since it was a special occasion, he'd put some real effort into cooking for once.
"...Really?"
"Yeah. We've got eggs today, so I can even make that pudding Lucy likes."
"Oh."
And so the three of them returned to the Swinford Adventurers' Guild building.
"Here are today's collected request items."
"Ah, thank you for your hard work, Huey. Wow, forest deer this time of year are so aggressive, cutting their antlers must have been difficult, and yet you got so many..."
"We had good bait. Ah, sell the rest after setting aside the quantity needed for the request."
"Understood. Could you wait just a moment?"
"Sure. Take your time."
While Huey handed the backpack full of cut deer antlers along with the accepted request form to the receptionist—
"Phew, I'm worn out for the first time in a while."
"It's rare to hear the word 'worn out' come from Ren's mouth."
"...You try getting chased by deer bastards running like mad with their lower halves bouncing around in heat. My mind went completely blank."
She'd run without even breathing, driven solely by the determination not to be violated by the likes of deer, so of course she was exhausted, Ren grumbled.
"What good is raw power if you've got no efficiency? Zero efficiency."
"Efficiency?"
"Running is a technique, is what I'm saying."
Crossing her two wings like folding her arms, Ren shrugged her shoulders.
"Before my body became like this, you know. I used to be able to run on water and everything."
"Pfft. Jokes."
"Oh really?"
"How does a person run on water? You should keep the bluffing to a moderate level."
"Wow, she doesn't believe me. Hey, even if I look like this, if you say Ren of Esras..."
"Ah, ah. Quiet. Trying to spout more nonsense that won't fly."
While Ren and Luciella were bickering like that—
"What, fighting again?"
Huey approached carrying a now-heavier coin purse, asking the two of them with a fed-up look on his face.
"Come now, fighting? Ren was just spouting nonsense as usual."
"Ah."
"'Ah'? Hey, you don't believe me either?"
"Uh. Yeah. No. I'll believe you. Yeah. I should believe you."
"Wow, look at the way this guy talks."
"Enough. Let's go prepare dinner. All that moving around made me hungry."
Chuckling at the two of them, Huey tucked the coin purse into his clothes and took the lead. Toward that Huey, Ren started grumbling as she followed after him with an incredulous expression.
"Honestly, this is ridiculous. Hey, the one who ran until her feathers fell out was me, you know?"
"Oh, is that so? I wonder if you remember the fact that I was the one who cut the antlers."
"I was the one who knocked them out without a scratch so the antlers could be cut. I was also the one who sprayed the drug on Ren so she could gather the deer. Why do you two talk as if only you suffered?"
As they argued over who had worked the hardest while leaving the guild building—
—Clap!
"Ah, right."
"What is it?"
"Master?"
Huey clapped his hands, saying he'd forgotten something.
"Lucy. There's some stuff I need for dinner ingredients, so could you stop by the market?"
"What a pain..."
"Double pudding."
"If there's anything Master needs, please tell me anything."
Luciella, who had been openly contorting her face at Huey's words, lit up at the word "pudding," then after hearing the list of things to buy at the market, quickly started running toward the direction of the market.
"...She really goes crazy for sweet food."
Watching Lucy vanish like the wind, Ren muttered in disbelief.
"Haha. Yeah. Other food she just eats like she's filling her stomach, but sweet things like cocoa or pudding she absolutely loves."
Even that part was just like his little sister. Looking at the spot where Luciella had disappeared, Huey smiled bitterly.
"So, how amazing is this dinner going to be that you're even renting the kitchen?"
"You can look forward to it. It'll be a dinner you'll never forget for the rest of your life."
"Oh... When you put it like that, I can't help but look forward to it."
Ren smacked her lips at Huey's bold claim.
"By the way, you do eat chicken, right?"
"Huh? Of course I do."
"That's a relief."
At Huey's question, Ren tilted her head as if wondering why he was asking something so obvious, then soon started glaring at Huey with a look full of suspicion.
"You're not thinking something like... maybe I consider chickens my own kind or something... right?"
"Come on, no way."
At Ren's question, Huey let out a hollow laugh and gave a negative answer. But Ren could see it.
"Then why can't you look me in the eye?"
Huey breaking out in a cold sweat and avoiding her gaze.
"..."
"Hey."
"...Sorry!"
Leaving only that apology, Huey sprinted at full speed toward the inn. Standing there blankly watching him, Ren belatedly bulged a vein on her forehead and started running after Huey.
"You damn bastard―!! Stop right there―!!"