Why am I even here?
I let out a small sigh, a wry half-smile on my face, overcome by an indescribable sense of exhaustion.
The plain, overgrown with tall grass and foliage, was devoid of any other person—wrapped in a mysterious, eerie silence.
The sun had long since set, and only a single hazy moon hung in the sky. The world was cloaked in darkness.
The Imperial Capital Zebuldia was a major city. Inside its walls, it was bright and lively even at night, but beyond them, things were very different.
The areas near the main roads stretching in all four directions were regularly thinned of Monsters by the knightly orders, maintaining a reasonable degree of safety—but stray even a little from those paths, and it became a world of survival of the fittest.
It was dangerous even in the daytime. At night, it was even more so. Normally, this was a place you wouldn't want to visit even with an escort.
Hunters who had absorbed Mana Material had not only their physical abilities but their five senses enhanced as well.
The faint moonlight might have been more than sufficient illumination for a first-rate Hunter, but for me, it was practically indistinguishable from total darkness.
A sudden tap on my shoulder made me flinch violently.
Turning around, I found Rize bounding toward me, waving her arms with the same boundless energy she'd had that morning.
"Krai, Krai! Look, look! A Cymos! A Cymos! Isn't it amazing?"
"…Yeah, yeah, sure."
Dangling from Rize's waving hand was a bizarre, enormous creature.
What she was gripping looked like a giant needle. Thin, wing-like membranes rubbed against each other, producing a rattling, spine-chilling sound. It was still alive, thrashing wildly, and Rize was swinging it back and forth to keep it restrained.
It was too dark to see clearly, but it was probably about the size of a puppy. Though calling it a puppy would be a gross understatement.
Not seeing it clearly was actually a blessing.
Cymos? What the heck is a Cymos?
…Don't go assuming I know everything.
Nearby, Tino—ever vigilant, orbiting around us like a satellite while scanning for threats—spoke in an awestruck, trembling voice.
"Big sis… as expected of you. To capture a Cymos that sneaks up without making a sound or leaving any trace, in the dead of night like this…"
What? Is a Cymos something every Hunter knows about?
Resigned, I activated the dark-vision ring I'd been conserving due to my low remaining magic power—Owl's Eye.
The Treasure Weapon's power flooded my vision with light in an instant.
What Rize had been gripping was a giant mosquito. Give me a break.
Just because she wore gauntlets didn't mean she had to be this unfeminine. There was a limit to how wild you could get.
The creature called a Cymos was flapping its wings desperately, like a fish flopping on dry land. The wings alone looked to be nearly a meter across.
I was weak against most Monsters, but insects and undead were my worst nightmare of worst nightmares.
Tino was crouching down, observing the Cymos up close. Her eyes were wide with fascination, but she didn't seem the least bit frightened.
Were the women in our group too tough for their own good?
"So they actually live this close to the Imperial Capital…"
"Mm, normally they'd be deeper in the forests or something…"
"I really hate these things…"
Seriously, who in their right mind would like a mosquito that size?
In response to my comment, Rize took the Cymos she'd been cheerfully swinging around and smashed it against the ground.
A squelching, sickening sound of something being crushed. The crushed Cymos's long legs twitched and spasmed.
I instinctively looked away. This was exactly why I hated bugs.
Rize brushed her hands off, flashed an adorable smile, and tilted her head.
"There were a bunch of them. What should I do?"
"…Should've brought bug spray."
Rize nodded once, then her figure vanished. She'd apparently gone to exterminate them.
From the distance came a series of booms, like detonating bombs rather than kicks. The sounds echoed across the plain.
This was exactly why I hated leaving the capital. Rize was terrifyingly strong, but when it came to consideration and tact, she was dead last among the Mourning Specter—tied with Luke for worst.
Well, that was part of her charm, though.
"Mastaa, um… are you really okay with this?"
As always, Tino—clad in dark attire that blended seamlessly into the shadows—asked me.
She was in full gear. A black jacket, various tools strapped to her waist. The large short sword hung at her hip, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice, and there was no trace of fatigue from her earlier training in her bearing.
It was already past the time when an ordinary Hunter would have finished work for the day. Truly, hats off to her.
"…Well, it can't be helped. Rize is headstrong like that."
After Tino had chosen the Treasure Hall she wanted to visit, Rize had thrown a fit.
Apparently, she was bothered by the fact that Tino had rejected the suggestion I'd offered.
Well, I'd managed to smooth that over, but what Rize said afterward had caught me off guard.
—Alrighty, then let's go!
…I hadn't actually intended to go.
The Mourning Specter, founded by childhood friends, technically had no hierarchy. I was the nominal leader, but there were none of the strict rules found in a regular Hunter's Party, and everyone had always done as they pleased.
Among them, Rize had the most freedom of all. And to make matters worse, she had an annoying habit of constantly trying to show me her good side. Of course, if I firmly refused, she would back down—but the fallout from her resulting bad mood would have to be paid for by someone other than me.
In this case, it would be Tino who'd have to endure a moody Rize. That was just too unfair.
Tino puffed out her cheeks and muttered softly.
"…When I invited you, Mastaa, you wouldn't come with me…"
I didn't want to go either. Honestly, I really didn't.
Right now, I had no Treasure Weapons. Even the Dark Wings of the Night I'd used last time had run out of magic.
For defense, I still had a few Barrier Rings left, but everything else was virtually wiped out. The recharged Dog Chain was usable, but unless Lucia came back soon, I was getting to the point where I'd be too scared to even step outside properly.
"Did I really need to come?"
"Huh? An adventure with Krai after so long? It's so much fun!"
Rize had appeared at some point and wrapped her arms around my neck from behind, hugging me tight.
She was even more lightly dressed than Tino. Her body wasn't particularly voluptuous, but pressed against me like this, she was plenty soft.
She nuzzled against my cheek, rubbing against it, and whispered in a sweet voice that sent shivers down my spine.
She was full of energy despite it being nighttime. She sure was in a good mood… I really didn't want to go on an adventure.
Tino looked visibly taken aback by Rize's high spirits.
"Big sis, we're already outside the Imperial Capital. There seem to be powerful Monsters here too, like that Cymos, so maybe you shouldn't be so, um, physical…"
So a Cymos counted as a powerful Monster…
Rize stopped hugging me from behind at those words, moved to my side, and took my arm. Interlocking her fingers with mine like a couple, she said to Tino with a beaming smile.
"Tii, stay on guard. Krai's here with us, so don't embarrass me, okay?"
"Y-Yes…"
…Well, as long as she was in a good mood, I supposed.
Since Rize was stronger than me even when I was fully armed with Treasure Weapons, I was weaker now than last time but somehow safer.
I'd bought enough time. Let's just get this farce over with and head home.
§ The Treasure Hall Tino had chosen was every bit as low-level as the one I'd picked.
It was a good distance from the White Wolf's Den and fully met the criteria I'd used when selecting Treasure Halls—but the reason I hadn't included it as an option was that its scale was extremely small.
With two reliable escorts in tow, we walked for about thirty minutes before it came into view.
Seventeen thick stone pillars standing in the middle of the plain. Around them, a cleared area roughly a hundred meters in radius.
The difference between the Treasure Hall and the surrounding plain was that not a single blade of grass grew within its borders. The seventeen stone pillars jutting from the rough, exposed earth were jarringly out of place, but honestly, they were incredibly boring.
Level 1 Treasure Hall: the Aleyn Column Ruins.
A genuine junk-tier Treasure Hall that always languished at the bottom of the annual Treasure Hall rankings published by the Imperial Capital's Explorer's Guild.
The seventeen pillars ranged from three to five meters in height. Any Hunter who had absorbed even a modest amount of Mana Material could easily climb to the top and survey the entire Treasure Hall—only to discover that there was absolutely nothing there.
Technically, a Phantom in the form of a humanoid Sand Golem about one meter tall would appear, but its strength, agility, and durability were all laughably low—one solid hit and it crumbled, making it useless even for combat training.
Treasure Weapons almost never dropped here. Even a brand-new Hunter would probably opt for a somewhat better Treasure Hall.
Well, Ley Lines had a close relationship with terrain, and Treasure Halls that formed in open, featureless plains like this tended to be low-level, but even so, this was egregious.
Incidentally, "Aleyn" was the name of the man who had first discovered this disappointing Treasure Hall.
The reason I'd wanted to send Rize here was to stall. I needed something simple that would take time to explore.
With a Treasure Hall like this, Rize would finish investigating in ten seconds flat.
But that was actually convenient now.
I hadn't expected to come here at night, but by now Sven and the others should have safely finished their exploration of the White Wolf's Den. All I had to do was somehow brush Rize off, and it would be over.
But Tino… choosing a Treasure Hall that I'd deliberately excluded from the options—her last expedition must have really gotten to her.
Rize grabbed my hand excitedly.
"Hey, hey, look, look, Krai! A Sand Rabbit burrow!"
Her eyes weren't on the ruins at all. What Rize was pointing at was a hole in the ground.
Sand Rabbits were a kind of rabbit, somewhere between Monster and animal, widely distributed around the Imperial Capital.
They were the same color as the earth, their fur was cheap and their meat tasted bad. They dug large burrows in the ground and made their homes there. They weren't the sort of thing people bothered hunting, but they had high reproductive rates and were apparently one of the species that sustained the ecosystem around the capital.
"This Tii's Treasure Hall is booooring, so how about we pull out some rabbits and play with them?"
At her shrill voice, Tino was rattling like a set of chattering teeth. She'd probably realized that the Treasure Hall she'd chosen had even less than its reputation suggested.
Well, even if she'd picked from the ones I'd suggested, there still would've been nothing—but at least it wouldn't have been this blatantly empty.
To the visibly terrified Tino, Rize spoke with her smile still firmly in place.
"Come on, Tii. Go find something. You picked this place because you thought there'd be something here, right? And Krai went through the trouble of choosing it for you, yet you rejected even that. Don't make Rize look bad, okay? For this Treasure Hall—how many minutes do you need? One minute? Three? How about five? You're a Thief, so you should be able to do at least that much, right?"
"!? M-Mastaa…"
Rize really was harsh on others and lenient with herself.
Tino was always calm and dependable, but whenever Rize was involved, she turned meek and helpless—so from my perspective, she always seemed pretty pathetic. Poor thing.
The trembling voice with which Tino called out to me sent Rize's voltage skyrocketing.
Her smile vanished in an instant. She released the arm she'd been holding and whirled on Tino, shouting.
"Hey!? Don't you go blaming this on Krai! Take responsibility for your own words, you imbecile! Do you even understand!? Krai is saying that you're nothing but trash who can only clear crap Treasure Halls like this!"
I never said that.
"I never said that."
"Krai's so kind—. But Tii is Rize's student, so even though she's different from Rize, she needs to straighten out that spoiled attitude. …Right? Just like Krai did for us a long time ago."
Rize put on a coaxing, sing-song voice.
Yeah, yeah, that's right. Rize should be nicer to people other than me, too. Also, what had I done, exactly?
Tino was desperately shrinking into herself. Unlike last time at the White Wolf's Den, Rize was right beside me, so Tino couldn't even hide behind me.
I stepped in, suave and supportive like the senior Hunter I was supposed to be.
"Come on, come on. It's a perfectly decent Treasure Hall."
"Hmm…"
I grabbed the shoulders of the pouting Rize and turned her gaze toward the Treasure Hall.
Tino looked up at me nervously, so I gave her a confident nod. It was fine—I knew exactly how to handle her.
"Look, seriously, take a good look. It's not like there's nothing here."
"Hmm? Really?"
There was. Definitely. …The pillars, for instance.
I looked around for anything else, but there was spectacularly nothing. Well, if Rize's anger didn't subside, I'd just have to claim that my hobby was pillar-watching.
"…Well, it might not be much, but I don't hate it."
"Oh?"
Just then, my vision plunged into darkness. Owl's Eye had run out of magic.
I'd gone from owl vision to bird's-eye—in the worst sense. I couldn't see a thing.
Even I found this ridiculous enough to crack a grin. You could call it escapism.
Noticing Tino was watching me, I cleared my throat and put on a serious expression.
"By the way, it's dark here, but can you see okay, Tino?"
"Oh, Krai, that's just insulting. I've trained extensively in darkness, you know? Sure, I'm still trash who can't move properly when wearing a mask, but I am Rize's student."
Rize pouted her lips. How to put this… I was really sorry about the trash thing.
Rize let out a small sigh and jerked her chin toward Tino.
"Fine, whatever. Tii, go on and search properly, okay? Prove to Krai that there really is something to see. You can do that much, right?"
"Y-Yes… Big sis. Mastaa, please watch me."
Sorry, but I genuinely can't see a thing.
Tino took off running and vanished into the darkness in the blink of an eye. In the distance, a dark, blurry shape began ascending one of the hazy pillars with fluid ease.
Ah, no good. It was worse than I'd thought—I literally couldn't see anything at all. I'd at least send some words of encouragement.
"Tino, be careful!"
"I will! Mastaa!"
It'd be bad if she fell. …Though at Tino's Level, a fall probably wouldn't hurt her.
But this darkness was truly problematic. To make matters worse, clouds had rolled in. If the moon—my only light source—were to be hidden, I wouldn't be able to see anything at all. This was bad.
I trusted Rize's abilities. With her speed, protecting just me would be trivially easy. But at the same time, Rize and the other members of the Mourning Specter had a tendency to overestimate my abilities. It was family favoritism.
Rize hung her head apologetically, looking meek and subdued.
"Krai, I'm sorry. You went through the trouble of suggesting candidates, and yet…"
"…No, no, don't worry about it. And it's not a lie that this Treasure Hall Tino picked isn't bad."
"Huh? Really?"
It wasn't really, but it also was.
"It is. In fact, I fully expected Tino to choose this Treasure Hall. Everything is right in the palm of my hand."
"Huh? Really? As expected of Krai! I'm glad I didn't have to scold Tii!"
Wasn't that what you just did a moment ago…
I couldn't see Tino at all, so I looked around helplessly.
I had no detection skills, but I still wanted to at least go through the motions.
Just then, I spotted something small and faintly glowing in the darkness a few meters away. I squinted but couldn't make out what it was. My eyesight wasn't poor, but it was just too dark.
It wasn't my imagination. Something was definitely glowing.
Rize was casually stretching beside me, loosening up. Had she not noticed?
"Rize, what's that?"
"Hmm? …Something about the Sand Rabbit?"
Ah, of course. It was just a rabbit's eyes reflecting light.
That made sense. If it were a dangerous Monster, there was no way Rize—a detection specialist—would have missed it.
As I was relaxing with relief, Rize moved. In a flash, she was back, and in her hand was a rabbit.
She held it up by both ears, dangling it right in front of my eyes.
I couldn't make out its color in the darkness, but it looked like an ordinary rabbit. Its eyes sparkled, its body was plump and round, and its fur was rough. The Sand Rabbit, apparently now realizing it had been caught, thrashed its body around.
I hadn't asked you to catch it…
Rize, still holding the dangling rabbit, peered into its eyes and frowned. She was silent for a moment—then, before I could stop her, she slammed the Sand Rabbit against the ground and stomped on it.
The nauseating sound of bones and flesh being crushed repeated—how many times I didn't want to count. Rize looked down at the now motionless Sand Rabbit, then turned to me—frozen in horrified shock—and said: "I'll catch the others too."
"Ah, sure."
Without thinking, I answered reflexively, and Rize vanished before my eyes.
Had she perhaps discovered the joy in dragging rabbits out of their burrows and obliterating them? If you were going to play with them, at least pet them nicely first.
I'd known Rize for a long time, but I still couldn't figure her out.