The Partner's Fifth
The carriage rolled onward toward the outskirts until it finally turned toward the small mountain village below.
The client who had requested hunters was the village elder.
The white-haired, bearded old man they found there already wore an expression of total resignation as he spoke.
“These days there are fewer prey. The last time I heard they were heading deep into the mountains, that was it.”
Simple rabbits or foxes had dried up completely, and even the thought of catching a wolf or wild dog was a distant dream.
They would need to take down something large to make up for the loss, so it was an inevitable choice, and the elder nodded in understanding.
“No one’s thinking they’ll survive, but still… you should at least return a keepsake to the family.”
In the end, however, the village elder’s face, now empty of hope after losing a neighbor, lingered in their minds.
Requests for missing persons were almost always like this.
Success or failure, most clients left with grim faces.
Since the travelers could sense the pain in those eyes, they had simply climbed the mountain without offering any empty words of comfort.
The wilderness untouched by human hands drained strength just from walking.
Branches that scraped the eyebrows and mysterious weeds that sometimes snagged the ankles.
While pushing through all of them as they wandered the mountain for a long while, they encountered others.
*Grrrr.*
*Kyuuk!*
“Goblins really do pop out everywhere.”
“Places no human hand can reach are where they live.”
Er, who had spotted two goblins properly armed, flicked the dirt from her wrist.
There were no strong monsters around capable of wiping them all out, so this seemed like a place where the population could be managed.
Monsters that formed large groups often harmed nearby settlements, so killing troublesome monsters like goblins or kobolds had become adventurers’ unwritten rule.
“Only two, so we can finish quick—”
“Is it time for me to show off my real skill?”
Blocking Er as she tried to step forward with her shield on her back, Jina grinned at Ahin and said, “Ahin, watch closely from there, okay? I’ll show you!”
“Wait! If you just rush in like that…!”
The moment Er cried out in alarm as Jina, who had never held a proper weapon, lunged ahead.
*Crack!*
A sound like shattering pottery rang out, and the goblin’s head rolled across the ground.
It had been a clean, precise kick.
Jina, the one who had simply kicked the monster’s head away like kicking a ball, clenched her fist and declared, “[Smash]!”
*Boom!*
With a short explosion, the goblin’s chest burst open.
Its body, now torn as though a giant cannonball had passed through, collapsed in a spray of blood, leaving two blood-soaked corpses in its place.
In the end, the goblins had died without leaving any clear traces, reduced to nothing more than bloody meat scraps.
“…Not bad at all.”
Er admitted she had underestimated Jina for being a priestess.
During light sparring at the guild, it had been a bit uncertain, but the recent movements had made it clear.
This person was at least one rank above her in both speed and attack power.
“How do I look, Ahin?”
“…Still just ridiculously strong, huh.”
While Ahin shook his head at Jina’s smug grin, her gaze suddenly dropped to her own hand, and she quickly hid it behind her back.
“Hey, let me see your hand.”
“E-eh?”
“Put it out.”
Ahin reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled it forward to reveal it.
The hand he held was a bit rough for a woman of her age, with occasional calluses.
While Ahin stared at the rough skin, he noticed a scratch on the back of her hand.
“Hey, aren’t you taking proper care of your body?”
“A-ahaha… I completely forgot to put on the gauntlets!”
“You really do… Hah, never mind.”
In the end, Ahin gave up trying to scold her and instead let a soft light flow from his hand.
The wound, which had clearly come from goblin bone fragments, slowly closed, disappearing without a trace.
“You idiot! Don’t get hurt over something like this!”
“Ehehe, sorry!”
Ain glared once at Jina, who scratched her cheek while apologizing, then brushed her hand away and walked forward.
Just as he was about to pull out a detection charm, wondering if any goblin stones remained, to poke at the goblins’ corpses—
*Uhhh…*
Jina, watching Ahin’s back with a wicked smile, stroked the still-unhealed scratch on his hand.
The sight of her gazing at his back was one Ahin himself could never see.
“…That person, no way?”
Er, watching from a distance, narrowed her eyes.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Someone who can blow a goblin’s chest apart with a single kick only got scratched by a bone fragment? Say something believable!”
“Tch, that’s why I can’t stand perceptive women.”
“Huh?!”
The instant Er snapped, ready to shout back, Jina laughed cheerfully.
“Ahin, you know, when someone gets hurt he can’t move on easily, especially if it’s someone he knows. He’ll get angry and treat them right away… Hehe, isn’t that adorable?”
“What are you talking about…”
Er closed her mouth, the image of Ahin’s worried expression from earlier flashing back.
Unlike the irritated look on his face, if the worry in his eyes had been for her…
“You’re the same as me?”
At that moment, Er’s clear blue eyes, shining as she looked at her, made her recoil.
“N-no, that’s not it!”
“Don’t lie!”
Watching Er’s panicked reaction, Jina’s face twisted into a grin as she started to speak.
“Er, come look at this.”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“I think I found one.”
“Found it?”
Er hurried to Ahin’s side and knelt.
Because its head had been blown off and its chest pierced, it was no longer even recognizable as a goblin.
Staring at the meat-like thing, Er realized what Ahin had been about to say.
“…The weapons look a lot better than I expected.”
The weapons in their hands were actually quite decent.
Well-maintained gauntlets that still gleamed with use.
Er pulled one from a goblin’s hand and examined it.
“Not new… but well-maintained equipment. And recently at that.”
“If the missing hunters dropped these and these goblins picked them up…”
“Well, there must be something around here.”
Ahin nodded in agreement.
Unlike the other two, who were chatting, Jina tilted her head curiously.
“You found a clue?”
“Yeah, goblins mostly stick to their own territory, so we can search here.”
Finding any clue was enough.
“Everyone, keep moving. If you notice anything strange, tell me immediately.”
“Roger.”
●
Deep in a cave midway up the mountain.
*Ugh…*
The man groaned in pain that felt like his skull was splitting as he woke.
The entire world was red, as if his blood vessels had burst.
The rough floor against his face told him he had been thrown carelessly onto the ground.
Just as he was about to push himself up, his legs wouldn’t move.
Looking down, he saw only his left foot.
*Eh…?*
He blurted out the dumbest thing possible, then remembered his last conscious thought before blacking out.
Blood spraying from his severed neck.
The scream, stained with pain, from behind him.
And the red eyes watching him from the bushes—
Only now could he recall.
Those red eyes had cut off his ankle and dragged him here.
He had become the monster’s prey.
“Ah, aaaaah…!”
The moment awareness returned, terror filled him along with the pain in his ankle.
*Grrrr…*
It was the sound a dog makes when it bares its teeth.
He could see eyes in the darkness.
Two red eyes, smeared with blood.
Even in the dark cave, those bright eyes were visible. The man forgot to scream and just held his breath.
It was an unnervingly cold stare.
The creature looked as though it was deciding how to deal with the annoying man before it.
Sensing the monster’s intent, the man immediately lay back down on the floor.
He desperately wanted the monster to lose interest, to lose its hunger.
Was it too pitiful that he was even trying to hold his breath for even a moment?
*Grr…*
The eyes that had been flickering in the dark closed again.
The next sound was the monster’s breathing.
The man swallowed his cry of pain and fear and trembled.
The wet, foul smell spreading across the cave wasn’t just urine.
The entire cave was stained with thick, red blood.
Scattered everywhere were the remains of mountain beasts, various wild monsters, and even what looked like human flesh.
Peeking in from the cave entrance was faint sunlight.
*Gyu, gwaaaaah…!*
To keep from screaming, the man clamped his mouth shut and slowly began crawling toward the exit.
It was a desperate, hopeless struggle.
Dirt and blood smeared his whole body as he reached out desperately, digging at the ground.
The sound of his body sliding across the floor was loud enough that he lost count of how many times he had stopped.
Just in case the monster woke up. Even stretching a hand out in fear was terrifying.
After a long time, he could feel the sunlight on his fingertips.
The warm warmth that only sunlight could bring, completely different from the damp, eerie cave.
The problem was he was too distracted by that warmth.
*Grrrue…*
At some point, the monster that had woken up didn’t notice the man looking down at it.
It was a werewolf.
A massive werewolf on all fours, front paws raised, tail wagging.
It looked tall enough to touch the ceiling, yet it was walking on two legs like a human, front paws dangling.
Its dirty gray fur was matted with blood where it had fed, and its muzzle was stuck with unknown flesh.
A werewolf.
An unnatural monster that should never have existed in this mountain range bared its fangs at the man.
“U-uuuaaaaah! Aaaah!!”
There was no more holding back.
He couldn’t stop the scream even if he tried, and noise was no longer a concern.
He simply flailed and reached out to drag himself toward the exit.
The cruel smile on the monster’s face as it looked at the human dragging himself on the ground by his arms and legs.
The middle-aged man had been the prey the werewolf had taken.
It had already filled its belly with one dead deer and two humans it had hunted itself, and it had carried this living prey for later.
The beast, sated after its nap, reached for its prey again to satisfy its sudden hunger.
It had already cut off his legs so he couldn’t escape, but somehow he had made it this far.
It didn’t care much. It was just a little irritated.
As long as it didn’t bite dirt, there was no problem.
So the werewolf swung its sharp claws.
It believed the human hit by those claws would die without even finishing its death cry, and it was right.
The predator’s smile lingered at the corner of its mouth.
“Lower your head!!”
A human voice.
And a sharp smell of metal.
A bright light shone into the dark cave, accompanied by a desperate voice.
A man holding a spear glowing with brilliant blue light fired it at the werewolf.
**[Pierce]!!**
*Kyuheeeeeeee!*
The werewolf leaped backward to dodge, howling.
A new, more delicious prey.
---