Chapter 163 – Hunting

000

How long had it been since I had a normal morning without any promises or anything happening?

It was after lunch the next day when Cleon, who returned to his mansion last night and quietly returned to his room her and went to bed fainting, opened his eyes.

Could it be because both Galatea and Caliburn were asleep next to Cleon, holding his hand his?

After knowing something as shocking as last night, I was able to get out of the routine that would make that night a nightmare.

But apart from that, there was a voice that lingered in my head and wouldn’t go away.

‘You just have to break the stone statue.’

The throne and stone statue seen in the vision Flarous showed us.

Lesia. The golden hero was subordinate to the throne as the defender of the world and the antagonist.

“Shit.”

Involuntarily, curses flowed from her mouth her.

For the sake of Lesia, I want to destroy the statue- the world. It was an insult to himself for thinking about her, even for a moment.

If you do that, what makes her different from Rails is herself.

“There must be another way…”

Floraus was the one who told her how to know in her lines that she knew.

It was hard to think that a mere human knew everything about the world.

As she herself said, she and herself are mere insignificance in the world. He was a human with a value that was no different from that of an ant.

-When I rationalized myself and got up like that, I felt like my body became a little lighter thanks to a good night’s sleep after a long time.

I clung to my work as if I was overtaxing my body, but in the end, when I realized that humans need a break, I would leave the room and go down to the first floor.

“Ah, Mr. Cleon! Did you sleep well?”

Sasha greets him warmly.

Why is it that her heart her naturally becomes calm when she sees her unchangingly bright voice and her smiling face her?

Her orange hair swayed her, and the pointy puppy ears on top of her head her twitched.

As soon as she met her eyes her with Cleon, the furry tail bobbing from side to side behind her waist her, she involuntarily tangled her hair and felt the urge to hug her.

`No. That’s how you deal with pets.’

He said, restraining himself and stopping at the level of raising her hand to greet her.

“? Why is that?”

When Cleon rolls her gaze, Sasha tilts her head and asks Cleon.

“No, nothing. More-“

Claire gave an appropriate answer, while she suddenly turned her gaze to the dress she was wearing.

Sasha’s outfit as an adventurer that has not been seen very often lately.

In blue-colored light armor, a ribbon in her hair. A dagger was strapped to her leather belt, and a bow slung across her back.

I almost forgot about her because she wore a uniform at the academy and normal clothes at the royal capital, but she is also a wonderful adventurer.

In Elesia, she formed a party and acted, but if she had skills like hers, she would be able to carry out her simple requests her by herself.

“Are you going out for a request?”

“Yes. In the morning, there was a request that a monster that threatens humans appeared in the forest near the capital. It seemed that there was a shortage of people, so the adventurer’s guild came all the way here.”

Sasha says so and adds her description of her as a gentle man with a cool plain head.

‘Is it Lampert?’

He had conveyed to some extent what had happened to Eustes.

For now, Kamala’s store is destroyed, so the number of victims can be prevented from increasing, but it will take time for the adventurers to return to normal.

In order for the adventurer’s guild to regain its function, Ishtal’s magic must be devoured.

Watching Cleon ponder that way, Sasha cautiously opened her mouth.

“Hey… If it’s okay, would you like to go with me?”

“To the forest?”

When Cleon asked back, Sasha nodded her head in her perky way.

“The request won’t take long… Lately, Mr. Cleon seems to be busy with various things, so I couldn’t speak very well… When my head is complicated, I think running around in the forest or the plains will relieve my stress a little.”

When Sasha talks like that, Cleon quietly agrees with her words her.

“…Haha. Just like you said. Lately, most of my work has been dealing with conspiracies or people… Rather than that, it’s much easier to deal with monsters and monsters.”

Dealing with people is tiring. Especially if it’s people with evil intentions.

The people who came in contact with me with good intentions were definitely people I was grateful for.

After falling out with Alvein in Ellesia, I came into contact with their malice in person after person without properly carrying out the adventure request.

Or the devil, the incarnation of such malice.

“Then. Shameless, but let’s accompany you. It’s been a while since I’ve been hunting with Sasha.”

“Hey, I’m not shameless! Rather, if you come, I’d say it’s incredibly reassuring for me…”

Sasha waved her hand in embarrassment at Cleon’s words her, but she could n’t hide her tail her moving in excitement.

In order to live up to such a cute girl’s expectations, Cleon asked her permission to her and went upstairs to pack her equipment himself.

001

The surroundings of the royal capital are plains now, but in the past, it is said that there were quite dense forests all over the area.

In the past, during the heyday of the empire, those who started pioneering the area to escape from their oppression made the current kingdom.

Since that was hundreds of years ago, few traces of the forest remained.

But even back then, the concept of ‘environmental protection’ itself existed.

Thanks to the trend that it was a virtue not to develop more than necessary, forests still in their natural state remained scattered in places a little far from the royal capital.

“Among them, this place. The Forest of Virtue is a forest with many high-quality timbers and animals because the environment for the circulation of its own magic power is excellent. In this place, fires, unauthorized logging, and humans who hunt are strictly governed by the kingdom’s laws. You get punished.”

“Heh~ I see!”

Cleon said that and followed Sasha, who was leading the way.

At first, Sasha had Cleon follow her, but after she entered the forest, Cleon spoke to Sasha and gave her place her so that she could lead her her.

‘Should I follow Sasha Dae-sensei in the forest?’

It was Cleon who said so. When Sasha heard that, she recalled her mouth twitching with an expression of disgust on her face.

It wasn’t that Cleon was putting Sasha in danger, it was only because she trusted her skills.

Cleon was a magic swordsman and knew the rules of searching in the forest, but when it came to chasing prey, Sasha was an excellent hunter.

The original hunter’s imprint she has is much better than Cleon’s, so it not only enhances her eyesight her, but also provides a kind of synesthesia ability that allows her to see other senses, such as smell and hearing, through her eyes her.

And, in addition to that, she more developed five senses. Ears of the head. When the tail on its waist detects a presence or sound, it reacts quickly and informs its owner, Sasha, of the target’s location.

Even in forests where visibility is easily blocked by trees, bushes, and rocks, hunters can find their prey around them by functioning like a radar with their whole body.

When Cleon and Sasha looked toward the bush at the same time at the rustling sound, they saw wild beasts losing their fighting spirit and running away.

Could that silhouette just now be a wolf?

“I’m sorry~”

Suddenly, when such a voice came out of Sasha’s mouth, both Cleon and Sasha flinched in surprise.

Of course, it was not Sasha’s story her, but the hunting god ‘Ruben’within her borrowed her body her to speak.

“Lu, Ruben-sama. Please give me a signal when I use my body to talk…!”

“Isn’t it okay? This much. But good job Sasha. Let Cleon-nim go hunting!”

Sasha, who was talking to herself, shut her mouth before Ruben could say anything more.

Another personality that exists inside her body her. No, deity.

Ruben, the god of hunting, tries to control Sasha’s body her whenever she sees her chance her, but considering that thanks to her her, Sasha can stop turning into a beast.

Should we say that her existence is a necessary evil? Should she be called a blessing as well as a kind of curse?

All the wild animals ran away as if they noticed Ruben’s presence inside her.

Not particularly aggressive carnivores, but herbivores such as deer and squirrels, too, so Sasha seemed a little disappointed, but it wasn’t too bad that she was able to avoid unnecessary fights.

“Ruben. Do you have any guesses about the monster in this forest?”

“Kufufu. I can feel the presence, but I don’t know what it really is. However, I don’t feel it as something to be wary of.”

When Sasha removes her hand from Cleon’s mouth, she replies with a meaningful smile as always.

“In the first place, witch beasts can occur naturally at any time. Marang in the forest of Marang, where I reigned, has been a witch beast since birth. The bear beasts we saw in Elesia are normal beasts that have lived for a long time and have evolved to adapt to magical powers. Easy.”

“I know that. Witchbeasts are a term given by humans, and in fact, beings close to spirits.”

In response to Cleon’s answer, Ruben said, “Huh,” And lengthened his words.

“But even though humans know that. When demon beasts appear, they try to subdue them first. The strong ones that appear in the natural world pose a threat to human life.”

Speaking of demonic beasts, enduring numerous adversities in order to survive within the laws of the natural world, and evolving with magical energy dwelling in a trained body.

After evolving to survive, they are considered dangerous by humans because of the strength they gained, and are subjugated by them.

It’s a cruel and selfish story, but it could be said that it was unfortunate for them that humans became so strong in the struggle for survival.

“Kufufu. It’s the same with humans. When a human gains too much power, they treat it as a monster and persecute it. It’s not something that only beasts experience. It’s an instinct.”

Cleon thinks Ruben has a point. It was because it had happened many times in history that humans hunted humans.

They thought that it was unavoidable to keep in check those who possessed more power than necessary, but they had no intention of understanding that they justified their actions by adding nicknames such as demons, witches, and monsters to it.

“Isn’t that the way magic swordsmen like you get?”

“Well. It seems a little different from that, but.”

The reason why the magic swordsman gets a bad look is first of all, the existence of the bastard of the world called the ‘magic sword emperor’ is the biggest.

Next, the fact that they are the opposites of the hero of the holy sword.

And, due to the nature of the magic sword, the fact that there are many dark and gloomy humans made the gaze towards them negative.

“But… Mr. Cleon and Mr. Lubera too. If you talk to them in person, you can tell they are kind people.”

When Sasha said that, Cleon was silent for a moment. Is it really so?

To some extent, Sasha is close to the two of them. As for Cleon, it’s because it’s a relationship that even mixed her body with her.

“… I’m not such a good person, Sasha.”

“That’s not true! Mr. Cleon-“

The second after Sasha said that, a rustling sound came from above her head.

When the two hold their bows at the same time and raise their heads, there is-

“…Spider?”

“Arachne…!”

A creature with the lower body of a giant spider and the upper body of a human woman with a beautiful appearance growing from where the head should be.

The purple bridge between the brown hairs was like a spider’s protective color.

Her upper body her was naked, but her wavy hair her came down and barely covered important parts.

At first glance, it can be misunderstood as a half-human, half-beast monster like a centaur or a minotaur, but Arachne is a bit of a special case.

This is because she is classified as a ‘monster’ that spiders have grown and evolved over a long period of time.

Researchers are also making many guesses as to why spiders took on human form as they evolved.

The most weighty theory was that the god worshiped by humans and spiders was involved in their evolution.

Utu, a spider-shaped goddess who unravels the threads of fate. Now, thanks to the strength of the Order of the Holy Spirit’s Protection, the number of people with faith has decreased a lot.

On the continent, traces of an important god at one time remained throughout the ruins.

Like Ruben, whom he worshiped in the closed tribes of the frontier, he was a declining god who had fallen away from his former glory.

“Ah~ Utu’s family. As expected.”

Sasha- No, Ruben says so.

She looked at Arachne as if she was a little disappointed, no, not having fun.

“Human. This is Uto-sama’s territory. Go back to your house.”

Arachne, who speaks quietly with a beautiful voice, looks down at Cleon and Sasha with purple jewel-like eyes.

In particular, it seemed that he was very wary of Sasha, who was inhabited by Ruben.

In mythology, Utu and Ruben must have been influenced by that because there are many tales of a fight between Utu, who protects the house, and Ruben, who tends to be an aggressor.

“…I’m sorry, but we’re here to hunt you. You, did you attack the humans who entered this forest?”

“…Humans. Ignored my warning. Unearthed Utu’s holy relic. Punishment. Only.”

Cleon and Sasha widen their eyes at her words.

“Is there Utu’s holy relic in this forest?”

“Chew, this is the first time I’ve heard of it. Even the person who came to visit me didn’t say that…”

“… It’s something the clients have been hiding from the beginning.

In this case, things get complicated.

Of course, communicating with the Witchbeast and fulfilling her justification her would not be what the adventurer’s guild wanted.

But the fault lies on the human side as well.

Judging by her attitude her, the people who suffered damage must have thought of ending it with a warning at first.

Just by not attacking first even after going through the same thing already, it was clear that this Arachne is an individual that avoids unnecessary conflicts with humans.

“What should I do…? Mr. Cleon.”

As I said before, the Forest of Virtue was also a place that was considered quite important in the kingdom.

If it became known that Arachne was making her nest her in such a place, it would not be difficult to expect that she would lead an army to subdue it.

“I warned you. …More than this. Come inside and disturb the territory. You too. You will be punished.”

After Arachne said that, she turned and disappeared into the depths of the forest.

Cleon and Sasha also looked behind her for a moment without saying a word.

Soon, it was Sasha who opened her mouth.

“…Wouldn’t it be better to go back and report?”

“No. Arachne, of course, but if the existence of the sacred object is known to humans, a large-scale subjugation force will be dispatched.”

“Then…”

Cleon pondered for a moment before opening his mouth again.

“…Let’s go after it. Even if we don’t fight, there’s definitely a way to solve it.”

“It’s not a law to conclude that communication and understanding will come from having a conversation, Cleon-sama.”

Ruben borrows Sasha’s body and speaks again.

“But I don’t intend to give up from the start. You were the one who said that witches are part of nature. She’s not a threat to humans yet, right? Sasha.”

“…That’s right. What we were trying to hunt was a beast that threatened humans, not a beast that tried to protect her body and territory her.”

Sasha also agrees with Cleon by nodding her head.

Then, Ruben let out a big sigh.

“The master and the subordinate.”

Soon, her consciousness dived deep inside Sasha, and she did not open her mouth any longer.

“Let’s go, Sasha.”

“Yes…!”

For some reason, Sasha looked at Cleon with a slightly happy face.

Earlier, what she was trying to tell him was that she didn’t think it was wrong.