The Wilderness Hunter (4)
The next morning.
“Haaam… Whew. Is it because the bed’s too soft? I just can’t get used to it.”
Brita opened her eyes.
The fluffy bedding clearly didn’t suit her. She was used to far rougher living.
“Huh?”
As always, she glanced toward where Krimhild should have been.
Something was off.
Two distinct shapes under the covers.
Someone else was there.
Soft, rhythmic breathing.
“?? What’s this? Soleil isn’t here. She went back to her own room.”
Brita let out a dry laugh as realization dawned.
“Ha, no way…”
Whoosh—
She yanked the blanket back.
“…”
“…”
“…What exactly are you doing?”
“Good morning, Lady Brita.”
Mist, nestled beneath the covers, greeted her in a calm, quiet voice. She lay there with her arms wrapped gently around the still-sleeping Krimhild, holding her close to her chest.
Soft, rhythmic breathing.
“Hehe… She’s adorable. Just like a little kitten…”
Stroke— stroke—
Mist continued to tenderly caress Krimhild’s hair.
“…You’re going to be in serious trouble if she wakes up from that.”
“It’s perfectly fine. If I’m gentle enough, she won’t—”
“Yeah. Serious trouble.”
“Hiiiik!”
Krimhild stared at her with half-lidded eyes.
What… is this situation?
Why is she hugging me and stroking my head…?
“Yo! Good morning.”
“G-good morning to you too!”
“Doesn’t feel like a good morning at all.”
Streeeeetch—
“Ueeeh?”
Krimhild grabbed both of Mist’s cheeks and pulled.
“Ueeeh… That hurtsh…”
“…”
“Why do you two do the exact same thing…”
“What are you talking about?”
“Yesterday, right after we got back from the plains. You don’t remember blasting wind in my face like this, do you?”
Right after they returned from the plains yesterday, Brita had suffered the exact same treatment.
“…”
Krimhild released her.
“Uuu…”
Mist’s eyes grew watery.
“But that was your fault. Sneaking into someone’s bed while they’re sleeping and doing that…”
“That’s a crime, Mist.”
“Ehh…”
Mist looked flustered for a moment, then continued.
“But… we’ve slept together like this before. Hehe…”
“?”
“?”
?
Future me. Seriously… what the hell were you doing?
Dressing her in that skimpy outfit, sleeping in the same bed with her…
If I ever meet you, I’m punching first and asking questions later.
“So… Krimhild. You have that kind of taste…”
Brita’s face went pale.
“I don’t.”
I don’t.
“Oh, um… We’ve all slept together in a big pile before, too!”
“??”
“??”
??
“Um… Brita.”
“Yeah…?”
“…Let’s beat her up first and think about it later.”
“I completely agree.”
“Ehhhhhh?? Uwaaa… I’m escaping!”
Flash—
Mist vanished into Gram.
Thud! Thud!
Krimhild punched the sword a few times.
Vwoong!
A sound resonated from the blade.
It probably meant something like…
“Don’t hit me!”
“Haaaa…”
Brita let out a long sigh and continued.
“I feel like I’ve learned something I was never meant to know…”
“Same here…”
They said that carelessly peeking into the future came at a terrible price.
Now she understood exactly what that meant.
Well… time to get ready.
Weisenthal, West Gate.
“Even on second look, this really is an unpleasant place.”
Just like yesterday, the plains were in full bloom with Void energy.
The only real difference was the fence and the stationed guards.
“Halt right there!”
“The plains are currently closed off. Please turn back!”
“We have Lord Luftberg’s permission. May we pass?”
“The professor’s…? In that case, could you show us proof?”
It seemed Albrecht wasn’t just the head librarian—he was also an educator.
“Ugh… Why do we need proof for this?”
Brita grumbled.
“It can’t be helped. With casualties already reported, we have no choice but to enforce strict control.”
“Wait a moment!”
At the shout, they turned to see Soleil running toward them.
“Hey! You made it.”
“You’re a little late. Did something happen?”
The appointed time had already passed, so they had started heading for the boundary line when the guards stopped them.
“Huff, huff. Here! This!”
Breathing hard, Soleil handed a letter to the guard.
“Soleil? What are you doing here?”
Flip— rustle—
“…”
The guard carefully read the letter’s contents.
“…Understood. Since the professor has given permission, I won’t stop you any further. However…”
He looked at Soleil.
“Be careful out there, Soleil. The professor seemed very worried about you.”
“Oh come on! I’m not a child anymore!”
“?”
“?”
Anyone could see it. You are still a child.
Vwoong?
A faint vibration came from Gram.
You think so too?
Vwoong—
…Yeah.
“Whew. We’re back. Krimhild, which way?”
Click—
Krimhild opened the compass Albrecht had given her.
“Northeast from here. Two o’clock direction.”
“That’s the complete opposite of where we went yesterday.”
“Yes. If we had tried searching blindly yesterday… ugh.”
Soleil made a face of pure disgust.
Just as she said, wandering without a plan would have exhausted them and left them vulnerable to danger.
“Let’s see… Mist.”
Flash—
“Yes~?”
Grab—
Mist appeared in the air behind her and wrapped Krimhild in a hug.
“You called, Lady Krimhild?”
She rested her head on Krimhild’s shoulder.
“…Why do you always come out like that?”
“Uh…”
A flustered Brita quickly turned her head away.
“Wow! I’ve never seen her appear like that before! It’s amazing!”
Soleil’s eyes sparkled as she watched them.
Krimhild was surprised too. Couldn’t she just appear normally?
And moreover…
“Get off. You’re heavy…”
“Ehh!?”
Mist jumped back in shock.
There was easily a head’s difference in height between them. If Mist tried to rest her head on Krimhild’s shoulder, she would inevitably end up pressing down from above.
“H-heavy…? Uuu… But in the past you used to let me do this all the time…”
Mist pouted, her voice full of complaint.
Future me…
Sigh… Never mind.
“Everyone used to let me…”
“What? Even me?”
Brita pointed at herself in astonishment.
“Yes. You often carried me on your back! Hehe~”
Tap— tap—
Mist ran over to Brita.
“W-wait. Let’s take care of the urgent business first. How long are we going to keep doing this?”
“Ah, yes. Of course.”
Mist stopped in her tracks.
She gave Brita a small nod.
Good call, Brita.
Brita nodded back in agreement.
“Mist, can you clear away the Void?”
“Of course. Yap!”
Snap!
When Mist flicked her finger, currents of air swirled around them.
Is that wind magic?
While Krimhild was thinking that, Soleil spoke up.
“This… is darkness attribute. Where did you learn it?”
Darkness attribute? It was the first time she had seen it in person.
“I could use it from the beginning. At least ever since I met all of you.”
Hmm… Interesting.
“I’ll protect you all with dark wind. It’ll be safe inside this area.”
The radius looked to be about fifteen—no, around twenty meters.
It was definitely wider than the area Krimhild could push back on her own.
“Mist. How long can you keep it up?”
“It’s not that difficult. I could maintain it all day!”
They wouldn’t need it all day, but… the efficiency was certainly impressive.
“Um… Lady Krimhild. Is something wrong?”
That settled it.
While she was manifested, this girl couldn’t read her mind.
“???”
Mist tilted her head and looked at her.
“It’s nothing. If everyone’s ready, let’s get moving.”
“Okay.”
“Yes, let’s go!”
“Ah… Yes!”
“Doesn’t something feel off about this?”
“I agree. Why is it so quiet? Where did all those bastards go?”
They had come fully prepared for a fierce battle against the Wild Hunt wraiths, but there wasn’t a single attack.
The plains were still covered in Void, yet they couldn’t sense any presence of the enemy.
“Lady Brita. Do you sense anything far away?”
Soleil asked her.
“No. I’m not picking up anything either.”
The fact that even Brita’s senses detected nothing meant it was safe to assume there really was nothing nearby.
The only thing she could feel here was Mist’s storm of magical power.
“Everyone. Please be careful. I have a bad feeling about this.”
Mist, who had been walking ahead, turned to look at them.
The unpleasant air hanging over the plains and the gloomy atmosphere.
Like a venomous snake eyeing its prey, only a chilling silence slowly tightened around them.
“We’re here. I can see the tower up ahead.”
While advancing, Mist pointed at the upper section of the structure in front of them.
“So those bastards were hiding here?”
Brita gripped her axe, openly showing hostility.
A follower wearing a black cloak stood guard at the tower’s entrance.
Using the place with the seal as a base… It was an obvious tactic, but something about it felt wrong.
“The seal is on the tower’s lowest floor.”
Mist had located the seal’s position. She had probably read Lerrir’s memories stored within Gram.
“Mist, Soleil. What’s the range on the spells you two use?”
The distance to the tower was roughly… a hundred meters.
Attacking from here with her wind would lack precision.
“An ambush? My offensive magic doesn’t reach that far. It’s probably similar to yours, Lady Krimhild.”
“With a large-scale spell, I can reach it from here! But it takes time to gather the mana.”
If she tried to cast a large spell, the enemy would definitely notice.
The moment she began, they would likely launch an attack.
“Let’s try it anyway. We just have to cut down any enemies that come at us.”
“Is that really an ambush?”
Brita gave her a strange look.
“As long as we take them out, it doesn’t matter, right?”
“Well… that’s true. But what about the ones that come out after? There won’t just be these guys.”
In that case…
I have a good idea.
“Let’s blow up the tower.”
“What?”
“Huh?? That thing? Me?”
A flustered Soleil pointed back and forth between herself and the tower.
Pat—
Krimhild placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Have confidence. You can do it.”
“What??? No matter how you look at it, that tower is at least twenty meters tall!”
“Don’t you just need to destroy the bottom? Hey… that would still be one hell of a sight if it collapses.”
Brita looked secretly excited.
“Eh? Ehhhhhhh???”
Squeeze—
Mist hugged Soleil tightly.
“Hueee?”
“I’ll hold you nice and tight~ You can do it!”
“Huuu… O-okay! I’ll try!”
Buried against Mist’s chest, Soleil put on a confident expression.
“Then… I’ll do it.”
“Mist, I’m leaving Soleil to you.”
She would be defenseless while preparing the spell, so she needed a guard.
“Yes, understood!”
Rooooar—!!
A massive flow of mana swirled violently around Soleil.
At the same time—
“Enemy attack!”
“Who goes there!”
Shouts rang out from the tower.
Just as expected.
Swoosh—!
A volley of arrows flew toward them.
“Hah!”
Whiiir—! Clang!
Rotating wind blades blocked them all.
“Tch! What a nuisance!”
Brita gripped her axe handle tightly.
“Huh? What are those guys?”
She had sensed something.
“Graaaah!”
Wraiths were pouring out from the tower.
“It’s the Wild Hunt… They’re swarming from the tower. I’m counting on you, Brita.”
“Ha! Leave it to me! Haaap!”
Whoosh—!
Brita’s axe swept through the heads of several wraiths.
The ones whose heads were severed without resistance scattered into the air.
“Tsk. Still no satisfaction when I hit them.”
Flash— Bang!
Magical attacks flew from the tower.
Seeing that they were fire-attribute spells, it seemed the lower-ranking followers couldn’t handle Void.
“Yap!”
Thud—!
The magical attack struck the barrier Mist had deployed.
It was absorbed with a dull sound.
“I’m ready! Here it goes!”
Soleil, who had been gathering mana, aimed her wand at the tower.
“…Fire!!”
Whooooosh— Rooooar—!!
An enormous torrent of water shot forward from the tip of the wand.
The water cannon, wide enough for two people to stand in, slammed into the base of the tower.
BOOOOM— Whooooosh—
A massive explosion rang out as dust blanketed the sky.
The result of the spell was probably… exactly what it looked like.
The wraiths had vanished as if they had never been there.
Perhaps something had happened to whoever was controlling them from inside.
Well, with a tower that huge collapsing on them.
Whooooosh—
When the cloud of sand settled, the tower had been reduced to nothing but powder.
“Whoa~ That thing flew away nice and clean!”
Looking at the wreckage, the shape of the water cannon had been carved perfectly into what remained.
“Haaah…”
Thump—
Soleil collapsed to the ground.
“My head’s spinning…”
Probably from using such a huge amount of mana.
Still, they had successfully wiped out the enemies.
Now only the executive-level one remained.
Since the Void hadn’t disappeared yet, that meant he was still alive.
“Everyone, get back!”
Brita shouted at them.
Swoosh— BOOM!
A beam-like attack shot out from the pile of debris.
“Tch!”
“Lady Soleil! Snap out of it!”
“Uwaa… Thank you, Miss Mist.”
Fortunately, they all managed to dodge.
Rustle— rustle—
“Ha… You foolish lot…”
Someone walked out from the collapsed wreckage.
A man in a black cloak. It was him.
“What kind of idiot decides to blow up the entire tower?”
Step— step—
The man clutched his bleeding head as he emerged.
“Well, whatever. Are you… the owner of that sword?”
The man pointed a finger at Krimhild.
“…”
Swish—!
Instead of answering, she swung Gram and sent out a slash.
Bang!
“Aren’t you being a bit hasty? I was just curious what kind of person killed Nagrim.”
The man easily dodged.
So the muttering that cultist named Nagrim had done on the mountain was indeed communication with his comrades.
That meant they had already received information about her appearance and Gram.
She had to be careful. He probably knew a lot about her.
Whooooosh—
“What is this?”
The Void mana scattered across the area began to be sucked toward the man.
A spine-chilling aura slowly rose.
“Hya!” “Hah!”
Swoosh—! Boom! Boom!
Soleil and Mist’s spells flew toward the cultist.
An explosion followed, covering everything in dust.
Right after that—
“Ugh! Watch out!”
Brita shouted after seeing something.
Tap— KABOOM!!
Something fell at Krimhild’s feet from within the dust cloud.
She barely managed to avoid the mysterious attack.
“You okay, Krimhild?”
“…I’m fine.”
Whooooosh—
“Be careful! There’s something there!”
Soleil sensed it and gave a warning.
“Hmph…”
A spine-tingling low voice.
There was someone else.
“So this wench… is the sword’s owner?”
An ominous aura of Void.
Black armor forged from cold metal.
What had appeared after shattering the seal
was a single knight.