Chapter 82

As cold air rushed in through the opened door, Kurahito shivered.

Then, while feeling thoroughly exhausted from the alcohol from last night having turned into lethargy in his body, Kurahito peered through the gap in the opened door at Milko and her guards, shrouded in mist. Even with a dull head from a hangover, he knew Milko's purpose was the logs leaning against the hut and the creeping trees.

The logs wouldn’t fit inside the hut.

Though they could be carried on the shoulder, ignoring their weight, each was about two meters long, making it impossible for them to fit inside the dilapidated hut. Thinking about Milko's research on the creeping trees, it might have been better to avoid the village and return directly, but Kurahito had ended up drinking to his limits with the gorilla men. It had been a long time since he had such a pleasant drink, but the gorilla men were as stubborn as Irida. Kurahito, who only had a liver capable of handling a normal amount of alcohol, couldn't remain as carefree as the gorilla men who had drunk a lot of Snow White and ended up staggering back to the village to sleep in the hut.

The fact that Milko was in front of him was due to his prioritizing sleep.

She probably wanted a small sample, but if that was the case, why didn't she just say so?

Kurahito felt a vague sense of trouble and said,

"…Well, come in. But I'm leaving soon, so make it quick."

With that, he opened the door and let Milko and her guards in.

The hut was small and empty.

Kurahito sat with his back to Snow White at the back of the hut, and Milko sat opposite him. There was no more room for anyone else to sit, so the two guards stood behind Milko.

Gaspard, the middle-aged man who had met Kurahito in front of the gate yesterday, didn't seem overly tense seeing Snow White for the second time, but he still exuded a seasoned hunter's caution. The young hunter, on the other hand, glared at Kurahito suspiciously.

Kurahito didn't say anything, but the lingering lethargy in his body made him feel annoyed, and he idly tickled Azurona's neck with his fingers as she slept soundly, wrapped in Snow White's tail.

—Gyuu

Azurona, still wrapped in Snow White's tail, squirmed but showed no signs of waking up.

In fact, at last night's banquet, when the female gorilla, Mumu, playfully gave Azurona a little drink, Azurona, for some reason, started climbing Mumu's body. Mumu seemed to find it ticklish and amusing, letting it continue, but Azurona took an unexpected action. Upon reaching Mumu's buttocks, Azurona bit the tail there and, for some reason, fell asleep. It seemed she had mistaken it for Snow White's tail. The brave-looking Mumu, with slightly blushing cheeks, gently pulled Azurona off her tail and returned her to Kurahito, saying "sorry" in a small voice. The male gorilla had chuckled, but when he was punched in the side by the blushing Mumu, he groaned, and the drinking party continued, ignoring it.

Azurona slept through the night and now lay happily, still wrapped in Snow White's tail, gently nibbling on the white fur.

"…So, the matter you want to discuss is about the creeping trees outside, right? Did you get them last night?"

Milko asked with interest.

"Yeah, for personal use."

"Wood identification?"

"Anything will do. I could have used any tree around here, but I thought I'd use the creeping trees, which are somewhat stronger than ordinary trees."

"Does that mean you can't give me even a little—"

"…No can do. I don't know how much I'll use. Besides, you can get samples from the guards, can't you?"

Kurahito glanced at Gaspard standing behind Milko, but Milko, without answering Kurahito's question, looked at him seriously.

"You know that the wood quality of creeping trees can't be determined until they are cut down, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then, what do you think would happen if the wood quality could be determined without cutting them down?"

"…It would be more convenient, I guess."

Kurahito said after a moment's thought.

If the supply could be stabilized for different uses, costs would decrease, and the range of applications would broaden. If the wood could be efficiently collected for different uses, such as fire-resistant, frost-resistant, hard and light, or heavy and hard, the value would skyrocket.

Milko smiled wryly at Kurahito's vague answer and said, "That's right," and continued.

"That's right. Creeping trees are more diverse than ordinary wood and can have contradictory properties. If the wood quality can be determined without cutting them, sturdier ships can be supplied at a lower cost, and even poor villages can use them as strong walls. I believe many people would be saved."

"…If there are enough of them."

Milko looked somewhat smug at Kurahito's words.

"Speaking of the inner forest, it's said that half of the visible part is creeping trees. Most of them are dormant, but there are many such places in other regions, so the number is not a problem."

Adjusting his round glasses, Milko continued.

"I am researching a method to identify the wood quality of creeping trees without cutting them, a non-destructive wood identification method. I think the secret might be in this village, which also trades creeping trees…"

Saying that, Milko explained the reason.

The wooden stakes surrounding the village were all of the same quality, hard and heavy, and even somewhat resistant to spirit magic.

When he asked the village chief about it, the stakes had been there before he was born, and he didn't know how they were made.

The creeping trees used to repair the stakes were stored one by one over a long period, and the wood quality was not selected efficiently. It was also said that the stakes were built over a long period.

"Indeed, it makes sense, but I couldn't quite accept it."

Milko adjusted his round glasses, which seemed to slip easily, and looked at Kurahito, but the atmosphere was different from before.

The impression of weakness had not disappeared, but his eyes were slightly sharper.

"Even if you don't tell me, there's nothing I can do.

Research had hit a dead end, and with no means left, you appeared and brought back two logs of creeping trees that looked exactly the same the next morning.

Why did you go out at night to get the creeping trees? Do you know something? I'll pay a small reward. If it's groundbreaking, we can sign a formal contract. If you know something, please tell me."

Milko's purpose was the non-destructive wood identification method for creeping trees, as he called it.

Milko seemed to be researching it with a sense of great mission.

However, Kurahito's decision was already made.

To protect the secrets of Ekaitzu and the gorilla men.

That was the right thing for Kurahito to do, and there was nothing else to consider.

"…Did you touch them?"

"I didn't touch them. I only looked."

"Only looked and they were exactly the same?"

"Indeed, just looking, it's hard to say they are exactly the same, but the similarity is undeniable. If I could touch them, I could tell for sure. Even if they are not exactly the same, it's unlikely to get such similar creeping trees by chance."

Kurahito shrugged.

"Even if you say that, if you say they are the same, then they are. It was just a coincidence. Just like human twins, creeping trees can have twins, can't they?"

Milko, who showed no sign of being shaken by Kurahito's response, thought for a moment before Kurahito asked in return.

"On the contrary, is it strange to hunt at night?"

"…As far as I know, ordinary hunters don't hunt at night unless it's a special request or an attack."

"See for yourself, I hunt with beasts. Moreover, my affinity is highest with the dark spirits. So, night hunting isn't that difficult. In fact, it's easier at night when there are no competitors. Monsters are also more active at night."

It was a rather forced story, but if Kurahito said it was all a coincidence and he hunted at night because it was convenient, there was nothing Milko could do without clear evidence.

What was he thinking, asking without any evidence?

Kurahito tilted his head in confusion while looking at Milko.

Milko adjusted his round glasses, which were not even out of place, with his finger. It had become a habit.

Milko had wanted to talk after gathering solid evidence, but he didn't know when this hunter would leave the village.

Although he had gathered sample data, he had no other information, and his research had hit a dead end.

He tried to get information from the village chief and the villagers, but no matter how many times he asked, he couldn't get anything useful. The only things they would say were that there was a shrine dedicated to creeping trees in the village, which was still believed in along with the Sandra religion and had a festival once a year, and that the inner forest was said to be inhabited by the Mist People.

He knew all that.

This was not his first visit to the village, and his research was not just from yesterday or today.

But his research and interviews had yielded no results.

The non-destructive wood identification method had been a research subject for over three hundred years, and many researchers had given up, deeming it impossible, and that had become the prevailing view.

Many researchers had visited Chitta Village and left without discovering anything, but Milko's intuition told him there was something.

However, time was running out. Thanks to the good will of the Jade Fortress, he could hire guards at a low cost, but the research funds were minimal.

He might have been anxious.

That's why he talked to a suspicious hunter without any evidence, hoping to get something from it.

But the hunter, who had no connection to the village, was as unresponsive as the village chief and the villagers.

His expression and tone of voice remained almost unchanged throughout.

It wasn't that he was lying, but that he had no intention of talking. He didn't say anything unnecessary.

Milko was a bit surprised by this.

His rudeness could be seen as stubbornness due to ignorance, but his eyes were extremely rational.

In Yurifranz, the government provides basic education, teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, basic magic, physical education, and history.

However, children start working as early as under ten years old, and no later than twelve, so only the wealthy or exceptionally talented receive advanced education. In remote rural areas or border regions, the age is even younger, and most do not receive even basic education, with the help of the Sandra religion being the exception.

This hunter spoke to him, a scholar, without hesitation.

It was unusual.

If he had only received basic education, there would be some hesitation in speaking to a scholar, but this hunter had none.

This rudeness was also common among the three old adventurer types, but it wasn't entirely absent. Many of the three old adventurer types had not even received basic education, and this inferiority complex often led to a rebellious attitude toward scholars, who were their complete opposites. On the other hand, some were extremely friendly and even admiring of scholars.

But this hunter showed neither.

This meant that the hunter had received a certain level of education.

If that was the case, Milko had completely misjudged the hunter.

He had no intention of deceiving him, but he had hoped to gain cooperation and, at the very least, some information.

But all he learned was that the hunter was hiding something.

It was probably related to the non-destructive wood identification method for creeping trees, which he had come to believe in after coming to the village.

Of course, there was no clear evidence.

But the village's wooden stakes, the shrine dedicated to creeping trees, the suspicious hunter with the identical creeping trees, all seemed related to Milko.

Kurahito closed his mouth as if to say he had nothing more to say, picked up Azurona and Snow White's tail, and started tickling them.

Snow White looked annoyed, but her ears twitched every time Kurahito tickled her.

Milko had no more questions to ask.

But as Kurahito and Milko fell silent,

"…Our reward is not high."

Gaspard suddenly broke the silence.

Kurahito looked at Gaspard, still holding Azurona and Snow White's tail.

"Our clan, the Jade Fortress, is one of the top two in Maranova. Even with the professor's reward, we can't keep hiring a mid-level party like us. But we accepted the request because we also want to do something for the country.

Of course, even though it's a request from a professor with little research funds, it also adds prestige to our clan as a request from the country. But more than that, we believe in the professor's research to save people.

If you know something, can you help us?"

Gaspard's sincere words.

Kurahito was a bit envious of their ability to say they were doing it for the country.

"…I'm saying it's a coincidence."

But Kurahito's response, while tickling the tail, was indifferent, showing no intention of understanding the other's feelings.

"…Many people can be saved! Poor villages can build strong walls. Weapons can be cheap and powerful. As a hunter, you should understand, right!"

The young hunter shouted at Kurahito's attitude. Gaspard tried to calm him down, but he wouldn't stop.

"Fewer people will suffer from monster attacks. Fewer children will cry for their lost parents, and fewer parents will mourn their lost children. Many Yurifranzians, many people, can be saved!"

It was true. The non-destructive wood identification method could indirectly save many people and be a discovery that would go down in history. Kurahito vaguely understood that.

"…It's a coincidence, so there's nothing I can do."

But that was not a reason for Kurahito to reveal the secret.

What would happen if Kurahito revealed the secret?

How would those who knew about it be treated?

What if it wasn't a matter of race?

What would happen to those who didn't need much wealth and wanted to live quietly?

What would happen to this forest? Would someone protect it?

Was there any guarantee they wouldn't be exploited?

Was it right to abandon a small tribe to save the majority of other races?

These internal questions might have stemmed from Kurahito's nature and background. They were not entirely rational.

But Kurahito had no intention of voicing these questions.

The more he said, the more he would be suspected.

Moreover, he didn't think Milko and the others could answer these questions and solve the problems adequately.

"…Is it time to go? I want to leave."

Kurahito's indifferent words made the young hunter want to say more, but Gaspard strongly calmed him down.

"But it's already past noon. If you leave now, it will be night."

"As I said, it's none of our business."

As Kurahito stood up to respond to Gaspard, Snow White, finally freed from the tail, got up with a relieved look, still wrapped in the sleeping Azurona.

"…Can't you help us at all?"

Milko looked up at Kurahito with pleading eyes.

"There's nothing I can help with, so there's nothing I can do."

Kurahito said and tried to leave the hut, but the young hunter, pushing Gaspard aside, blocked his way.

But before Kurahito could say anything, Gaspard pulled the young hunter back, and Kurahito reached for the hut's door.

"…A lower-ranked hunter relying on beasts, acting so high and mighty."

The sulking young hunter muttered this loudly, but Kurahito ignored it and left the hut.

It wasn't entirely wrong.

Behind Kurahito, the young hunter kicked the hut's door angrily, but Kurahito, ignoring it, pulled Azurona, who was gnawing on Snow White's tail, into his hood and picked up a log. Snow White, lifting the other log with her tail, they walked toward the village gate.

In fact, Milko's intuition was mostly correct.

K