The Hunter in the Treetops
As the sun dipped below the horizon and the merchant caravan’s carriages came to a halt, campfires bloomed across the clearing like scattered stars. I had climbed high into a tall tree under the pretense of gathering herbs and berries, and now I looked down at the scene below.
“Quite the spectacle,” I muttered.
The long line of carriages stood sentinel beside the flickering flames. It looked less like a caravan and more like a train stretching through the wilderness. If I had a camera, I would have snapped a picture without hesitation.
“I agree.”
A woman’s voice drifted down from the branches above me. I tensed.
“Who’s there?”
“I’m also someone hired by Lady Isabella.”
Apparently I wasn’t the only one who wanted to admire the sight of the parked carriages. Someone else had already claimed this prime vantage point.
“I see.”
That was the extent of our connection. We were simply two strangers sharing the same tree, watching the same view. Because she was above me and night had already fallen, I couldn’t make out her face or figure clearly.
“I saw you gathering berries and herbs earlier.”
“I was collecting ingredients for my companions’ meals.”
“Then aren’t they waiting for you?”
“They probably are.”
She must have been observing my movements the entire time. I didn’t particularly enjoy being watched, but she didn’t seem like a bad person. After all, observing others was only natural.
“About the goblin attack earlier today,” I said, deciding to test her observational skills. “Didn’t something feel off to you?”
“Off? Yeah, it was definitely off.”
Her answer was vague, but I could tell she knew something. If I offered information first, perhaps she would reciprocate.
“Goblins charging a merchant caravan without fear, goblins carrying torches and rushing straight at the carriages… it’s strange, isn’t it?”
“So you noticed it too.”
Her tone rose slightly, carrying a hint of delight. ‘Oh, you actually know something!’ It sounded like she was happy to have found common ground.
“Something similar happened at Carriage Ten. The others brushed it off, but hunters are sensitive to every little movement a monster makes.”
The woman above me was an adventurer with the hunter class. The fact that she already knew what I was describing meant the goblins that attacked us weren’t ordinary.
“So it wasn’t a coincidence.”
“If the same behavior appeared in other carriages, then it’s certain.”
“Does anything come to mind?”
“Monsters aren’t driven by hunger alone. They also feel lust, greed, curiosity… in some ways, they have even more desires than humans.”
Her words carried the weight of long experience watching monsters. She offered specialized knowledge and slowly guided the conversation toward the answer.
“The way those torch-bearing goblins acted is exactly how they behave when approaching a cave.”
“A cave?”
It was odd. There were clearly people and carriages right in front of them, yet she said cave.
“That is strange.”
“Right? After the attack, I checked the area for any caves just in case, but there weren’t any.”
“Then they really did perceive the carriages as a cave.”
“Exactly. But the real problem isn’t that the carriages were mistaken for a cave.”
“…It’s the someone who made them perceive it that way.”
“Hehe, not bad at all, are you?”
She was right. Whether the carriages looked like caves or restaurants didn’t matter. The important thing was that someone was deliberately interfering with the caravan’s progress.
“If the carriages start moving again, another monster attack will probably come. The monsters will keep trying to claim the ‘cave’ as their new den.”
“And since the attacks would seem natural, no one would suspect anything.”
“Whoever it is, they’re quite impressive. To mess with Isabella of all people… hehehe.”
The hunter laughed as if the situation genuinely amused her.
“Can you find them?”
“Not yet. It looks like they’ve blended in among the adventurers guarding the carriages…”
“So that’s why you were watching me.”
“Well, two birds with one stone.”
“Then are you also directly employed by Lady Isabella, like me?”
“Huh? You too?”
“Yes. She asked me to help again this time.”
“Again, you say… Oh? Are you the black-haired guy who’s supposedly good at night work?”
“…”
“Wow~ Paula told me that if it weren’t for you, both the mansion and Isabella would have burned to death.”
“Is that what she said…”
“That woman really has the best luck, doesn’t she~”
The hunter clapped her hands, clearly enjoying the conversation. She seemed to be someone Isabella hired frequently.
“Then I suppose we can call each other allies?”
“The more people we can cooperate with, the better. I’m Kang Seo-ja.”
“I’m Steiny.”
After a light exchange of names with Steiny, we continued talking.
“The enemy must be someone who knows how to make monsters perceive things as caves and can actually use that method.”
“Right. If I had to guess who snuck in… it’s probably a hunter like me, or an adventurer who knows a lot about monsters.”
“A hunter…”
“Or they could be getting information from a hunter and acting on it, so stay alert. The important thing is how they’re luring the monsters. If you find anyone carrying cave mushrooms, come find me immediately.”
“Cave mushrooms… Understood.”
I didn’t know what they looked like, but they were clearly some kind of hallucinogenic material that made goblins perceive carriages as caves. Or perhaps, as Eos had suggested, a demon was directly controlling the monsters.
“I’ll be going now.”
“Take care.”
I climbed down with the fruits and herbs tucked inside my robe and headed toward Carriage Sixteen.
“Wow! Master is the best~”
Syucali exclaimed the moment she saw the ingredients I’d gathered, but her reaction was obviously fake. It felt less like praise and more like why are you only coming back now?
“Take out the cooking tools. I’ll have food ready soon.”
“Yes~”
Since I hadn’t told them I was meeting Steiny in secret, everyone was starving. Then again, I hadn’t expected the meeting either, so I couldn’t really blame myself for being late.
-Sizzle…
I placed a pan over the campfire and began stir-frying meat. Tonight’s dinner was a simple herb salad, stir-fried meat, and the bread I’d kept safely in my backpack, toasted in the leftover oil. For dessert, fresh wild fruit I had picked myself. A delicious aroma soon spread from the campfire beside Carriage Sixteen.
“Since we’re outdoors, let’s keep it simple.”
“You call this simple?”
“You prepare food as if you’re casting magic,” Eos added, staring at the mountain of dishes piled around the fire with quiet fascination. Even she, who rarely showed emotion, looked impressed.
As I looked at the prepared food, I could faintly see mana flowing through it. I hadn’t been able to see that before. It was a strange new phenomenon.
“Mmm~ Haa~”
Syucali hummed happily as she chewed her food with relish.
“Master, when you put the meat inside the bread like this, the juices are incredible!”
“I was thinking of something like a hamburger, and you’re eating it exactly that way.”
“H-hamburger? So this is how you eat a hamburger… Even plain bread tastes this good when toasted. Mmm~ It’s so fragrant!”
Whenever I saw Syucali’s reactions, it made cooking worth it. Her responses were easily twice as enthusiastic as anyone else’s.
“Eat as much as you want.”
“I can eat it all!”
Syucali attacked the food with the ferocity of battle. Meanwhile Eos…
“Munch… chew… nom nom…”
She ate quietly and neatly. Her reactions weren’t dramatic, but she steadily emptied her plate. I thought she only ate meat. Yet she had already eaten nearly half the salad dressed with vinaigrette. The same thing had happened with the seasoned scallions last time. It seemed Eos was simply a demon with very particular tastes.
“You must have been waiting without eating anything.”
“I’m under a curse that prevents me from eating anything unless Master cooks it.”
“That can’t be true.”
“It is! Everything else tastes awful and I can’t eat it!”
It looked like I had completely spoiled Syucali’s palate. Eos had always been a picky eater anyway.
“Alright… Eat plenty, both of you.”
The ingredients I had just brought were gone in no time.
“Haa~ I’m so full~”
“Thank you for the meal, Master.”
Eos quietly gathered the dishes and summoned water from both hands to wash them. Since there was no water source nearby, she used magic directly. Although her body was still sealed with mana restraints, I had restored her broken mana circles. Not all of them had reactivated, but she could use basic spells again.
“Hmm?”
I felt one or two gazes near the campfire before they quickly vanished.
“What was that?”
“It seems people from other carriages smelled Master’s cooking and came to look, then left,” Eos explained.
“It’s strange that they’d come just because of the smell.”
“It’s not impossible. A scent this delicious is spreading everywhere~”
Both Eos and Syucali were happily flattering me, but no matter how good the food smelled, drawing attention with cooking alone seemed unlikely. All the other adventurers were higher ranked than me, and surely some of their parties had members who could cook.
“Enough nonsense. One at a time, come into the tent.”
“Yes~”
“Understood.”
I entered the tent beside the campfire with Syucali first. What we did inside was simple.
“Haaang… Ahn… Master is the best♡”
I relieved Syucali’s combat fatigue and raised her stats. The small tent quickly filled with heat and unmistakable lewdness.
“Get up and switch with Eos.”
“Haa… haa… Yes, Master…”
Syucali gazed at me with heated eyes before slipping out of the tent. Next, Eos entered, removing her robe and revealing the broken horn atop her head.
“I will serve you.”
Seeing my soiled body, she naturally began to undress.
“Hngh… haa… haaa…”
Even on the second night, she approached me as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She bared her healed body and displayed the unique passion of the demon race. The tent was cramped, but it posed no problem for what we were doing.
Holding Eos was becoming more and more familiar. I had learned where she was sensitive and what she liked. Her horns were extremely sensitive, and when we faced each other, she produced far more love juices. Eos was adapting as well. The woman who used to flinch at sudden touches now gently turned her head to look at me.
“You’re beautiful.”
“Thank you, Master…”
And so our first night beside the merchant caravan slowly passed.