"What's happening? What's going on?"
Liliz's eyes were sparkling. I sipped the delicious tea Citry had brewed and nonchalantly escaped reality.
About ten minutes had passed, but the duet of thunder and alarms showed no sign of ending.
The redness had faded from Tinno's cheeks, which had been flushed until moments ago. Her cheeks were slightly stiff, but rather than blaming me, she cast an uneasy gaze out the window.
A flash of lightning flickered, and I gulped down my tea.
Zebuldia was known for having better public safety than other countries. In towns of a decent size, knight orders organized by the nation or local lords were stationed, protecting the towns from Monsters, Phantoms, and human criminals.
Zebuldia's knight orders were excellent. Of course, the quality varied somewhat depending on the location, but many of them included former Hunters, and they could handle most ordinary trouble. When things got out of hand, rescue requests from the Explorer's Guild would sometimes be posted, but that was rare.
So what was this alarm about?
This house was in a residential area far removed from the main streets. Normally, an alarm sounding in a town as sizable as Elan—let alone a small village—was hard to believe, but if the alarm was reaching all the way out here, it likely meant an incident had occurred that could put citizens in danger.
I let out a deep sigh and crossed my legs.
"Citry, don't you have any snacks or something?"
"Oh—yes! There's some chocolate that Klye would probably like."
Freed from Liliz's grip, Citry brought a small bowl filled with chocolates wrapped in colorful, shiny packaging. Probably imported from some industrial nation.
I desperately tried to chase the blaring alarm out of my head and unwrapped the chocolate. Tinno timidly asked: "Mastaa... is this okay?"
The alarm? It had nothing to do with me.
No request had come in, and even if one did, it was my decision whether to accept it.
Besides, a Hunter's main job was exploring Treasure Halls—maintaining urban security was the knight order's domain. That's what taxes were for. Just because I was Level 8 didn't mean I had to take on everything that came my way.
Well, as a top-tier Hunter, it would be proper to volunteer upon hearing an alarm, but I simply didn't have the strength for that.
As a fellow Hunter, I had my own thoughts about the situation, so I beckoned to the fidgety Tinno.
She approached hesitantly, and I offered her the freshly unwrapped chocolate, smiling reassuringly.
"It's fine. This level of thing is well within my expectations. Besides, I promised there'd be no fighting this time, didn't I?"
I was used to getting caught up in accidents. This wasn't the first time I'd heard an alarm.
And I knew something: in situations like these, staying put was the best approach. As long as I kept still, someone would usually sort things out.
Liliz leaned forward with a sugary voice: "Huh!? We're not going to go check it out?"
"No, we're not. Liliz, haven't you forgotten our purpose?"
"Our purpose?"
Liliz's eyes went wide as she tilted her head in genuine confusion. Despite all my explanations, it had apparently slipped right out of her head. Her festival obsession was beyond absurd.
"A vacation! Va-ca-tion!"
I couldn't afford to stumble at this very first step. And if we went poking around, my presence here would be discovered.
If someone directly asked me for help, I'd have to come up with something as the Beginning Footprint's Clan Master. That had to be avoided.
"Citry, nobody knows we're here, right?"
"Of course. I haven't shown my face at the Explorer's Guild branch either. We did go through town entry screening, so if someone investigated, they'd know we're in town, but this hideout should be perfectly safe."
Wonderful. As expected, Citry was clearly smarter than a fool like me. This time, there really was no risk of dragging Tinno into anything.
All I had to do now was wait for the storm to pass. If I went outside and ran into someone who recognized me, it would be trouble.
Getting caught while trying to flee town in a hurry would be just as bad. Staying hidden indoors was the only option.
And when it came to staying cooped up, I wouldn't lose to anyone in the Beginning Footprint. I made my decision immediately.
"Let's agree not to leave this house until the commotion dies down. Do we have supplies?"
"In terms of food, we should be fine for about a month. As for other resources—"
A month. That should be plenty.
Actually, that was way more than enough. What on earth had Citry been preparing for... Was she planning a siege?
"Listen, Tinno. In times like this—staying calm is what matters. I already told you, I'm not joining the fight. It'll be fine. The alarm will stop soon. See? Sit down."
"I-I see... So this is all within Mastaa's... palm of his hand... is that it?"
Tinno didn't particularly want to rush headlong into trouble either.
Hearing my words, Tinno sat down on the sofa, displaying her pointless trust in me.
But the real problem wasn't the fundamentally obedient Tinno.
"Yeah, that's right. Liliz, you sit down too. Absolutely no going outside, okay?"
Liliz. The problem was Liliz, who wanted to rush headlong into trouble no matter what. Liliz, who would immediately forget what I said.
I had to keep a constant hold on her, or she'd vanish toward whatever trouble she could find, like a broken spring toy.
"Aw... Klye-chan, that's so mean."
Liliz reluctantly did as I said and sat down beside me. I grabbed her wrist.
As she nuzzled closer with a happy voice, I stroked her hair to soothe her, and resolved to use every trick at my disposal to get through this vacation without incident.
And when we got back, I'd brag to the clan members about what a wonderful vacation it had been.
By then, Tinno might trust my words a little more.
§ The night, crushed under the weight of anxiety and unease, finally gave way to a cloudless azure sky that made yesterday's storm seem like a lie.
I sat up in bed and looked outside with a refreshed feeling. Peace had returned to the residential neighborhood. The alarm had stopped, and no screams could be heard.
See? Everything worked out without me doing a thing.
There was no one in the next bed.
Citry's hideout had two bedrooms, each furnished with two beds, but in the end we'd separated by gender.
I didn't particularly mind, but no matter who I shared a room with, it would cause friction. If I tried sleeping on the sofa, that wouldn't be accepted either.
Liliz had a bad habit of sneaking into bed with me, but with Citry around, I was safe.
I stretched broadly and changed into the clothes Citry had prepared.
The hideout was far more comfortable than you'd expect. It had a large bathroom, and Citry had cooked for us—her skills were excellent, and even the dishes made from preserved supplies hit my palate just right. It might have even been better than a modest inn.
The fatigue accumulated from marching through the rain had completely melted away.
When I left the bedroom and headed to the living room, Tinno greeted me in casual clothes.
"...Good morning, Mastaa."
"Morning. ...What's with the dark circles?"
Unlike me, who'd slept soundly, Tinno had developed deep dark circles under her eyes.
Her footing was steady and her tone was the same as always, but her expression showed heavy fatigue.
"You couldn't sleep?"
"...Just a little. I lay down on the sofa, but—I was worried about what was outside. It's all because of my own inadequacy."
She couldn't get a bed... Certainly, Liliz wasn't the type to let her disciple share a bed, and if she'd asked Citry to include her, that would have been risky in its own way. I'd gone to sleep without thinking, but maybe I should have considered Tinno's situation more.
Then again, Hunters were trained to sleep anywhere, anytime (that was my specialty), but was she so worried about what was happening outside that she couldn't sleep?
"It's fine, Mastaa. I'm a Hunter too. Missing one night's sleep won't hinder my activities."
"That's good to hear..."
I'd planned to stay hidden today too if the trouble hadn't subsided, but it seemed the cause of the alarm had been safely resolved.
After eating Citry's homemade cooking, I made my preparations, and we all left the hideout. Walking along the main street with my hood pulled deep over my face, the chatter about yesterday's alarm naturally drifted to my ears.
Merchants, Hunters, knights, and townsfolk were all gossiping about the previous day.
Apparently, a formidable Monster had approached the town. The knight order and Hunters had mobilized en masse to intercept it.
When I heard its name, Citry, who was walking ahead, widened her eyes dramatically.
"A Thunder Spirit...? An upper spirit appearing in a populated area like this—"
"Man... I wish I could've fought it too..."
A Spirit was a concentration of willful power and among the opponents a Hunter could face, it was by far the most troublesome.
They weren't necessarily hostile to humanity, but because of their ability to manipulate natural phenomena, some regions even equated them with gods.
Among the spells that Mages could cast, some involved borrowing the power of Spirits, and they were known as extremely potent magic.
If that great storm had been the work of a Spirit, it all made sense.
I was truly glad I'd managed to stop Liliz.
Relieved inwardly, I walked toward the town's outskirts and caught sight of the sturdy gate we'd passed through yesterday—completely destroyed. I stopped in my tracks, eyes wide.
A scorched gaping hole, rubble scattered everywhere, and bloodstains splattered about—all of it spoke to how brutal yesterday's battle had been. Houses near the gate were half-ruined as well.
The knights were busy directing foot traffic, filling in for the now-useless gate.
I was glad I'd ignored the alarm. Against a Spirit, even communication was difficult.
I would have been obliterated to splinters.
"A Thunder Spirit appeared and the town still suffered no real damage... They must have fought incredibly hard."
Unlike me, who was simply overwhelmed with relief, Citry's thoughts were different.
Still, she had a point.
Spirits could fly, and a gate was as good as nonexistent. In fairy tales, there were countless towns destroyed by a single enraged Spirit. The fact that the damage had been limited to this degree was perhaps a stroke of luck.
At that moment, perhaps hearing Citry's words, one of the knights managing the crowd said with a hint of pride: "Indeed. They were completely unprepared for the sudden Spirit attack—but as it happened, a Hunter with a high-level certification happened to be in this town. They joined the interception battle. The Spirit was powerful, but so was the Hunter. It was fierce, but they managed to drive the Thunder Spirit away. Thanks to that, casualties were kept to a minimum. All thanks to that Hunter."
A Hunter who could intercept a Thunder Spirit... There really were incredible Hunters out there.
Who could it be? If I ever met them, I'd want to say thank you.