Chapter 9

In the shadow of the rocks, a dry bush fire crackled with fire spirits.

It was a cold night. The smaller one was wrapped in a blanket, but the larger one, wearing only a breastplate, was leisurely puffing smoke from a branch about ten centimeters long.

It was a campsite for the hunters who had come to hunt the parent demon beast.

"Mr. Maxim doesn't seem to be cold at all."

"Because the heat from the daytime is still lingering."

"I must say, I envy you tonight."

The large man called Maxim flexed his arm muscles.

"Ah, that's fine. Are you going to show us your youthful maiden form?"

The smaller woman with short black hair groaned.

"It's not as impressive as the 'Gift of the Spirits' from the Hero."

"Do, what, what?"

"I think they call it the 'Blessing of the Gods' in that place."

"About the blessing, I mean. And please, spare us the 'Hero-sama' talk."

Having been summoned for more than half a year, with no Demon King in sight, he was tired of being flattered as a hero. No, it might be more accurate to say he was tired of seeing other summoned people, who had been quickly dismissed, basking in the flattery.

The black-haired girl glared resentfully at the muscular, bearded Daruma who was laughing heartily.

"Don't say that. Regardless of the Hero talk, any hunter would want to know where the prey is."

The black-haired girl's power was a map and marking system. A map of a certain range centered on herself appeared in her mind, and any entity within that range that held a certain level of hostility or malice towards her, and possessed a certain level of power, was marked in real-time in red.

The range and power levels were tricky, and the base values were not clear. Sometimes even a rabbit in the grass would be marked. The reaction to hostility or malice also varied, from slight ill will to murderous intent, and the level of hostility that triggered a reaction was not consistent.

The girl bowed her head and muttered.

"...I'm sorry, I'm just a burden."

She had no physical strength, magical power, or combat ability, and had been carried on Maxim's back to get here.

"You don't understand. Hunters work in roles and help each other. We were able to hunt the Ilneic because we got here unharmed. Now we can sleep soundly and have no worries about the return trip."

Maxim said this with a serious face.

"I brought Aka because I need her. Don't worry, you're just one or two small people."

Being treated as useless in the country where she was summoned had become a bigger complex than she thought.

Maxim had noticed this.

The black-haired girl, called Aka, laughed awkwardly and threw a bush into the fire to cover up.

"...But why did that demon beast attack?"

After a small yawn, Aka spoke to keep the drowsiness at bay.

"It's called the White Phantom of the Alerdoria Mountains, and it's so rare to see that it's hardly rumored to attack people. Only a dozen or so have been hunted in the past few hundred years. Considering that only one team is allowed to challenge it once a year, I guess it makes sense, but if it's as aggressive as today, it should have been hunted more often, don't you think?"

Maxim threw the shortened smoking stick into the fire.

"I don't know."

He took another smoking stick from his waist.

The fire spirit floated over and lit the smoking stick.

"Sorry."

Aka said, "It's practice."

This is just my wild imagination, Maxim prefaced before continuing.

"Maybe it didn't want to wait for death. Even if the species isn't inherently aggressive, there are individual differences."

"Was it sick?"

"No, maybe it was old? Judging from its size, which I've never seen or heard of before. And during the fight, its legs lost strength, which became a weakness for us."

Aka felt a sense of impermanence at the thought of old age.

"Don't look at me, I'm still young, the girls in town still—"

"Ah, that's enough."

"…Not everyone who challenges is a top-class hunter in the kingdom."

It's a lottery.

This time, it was only because the kingdom government pushed the association to make it a test for the Hero.

"Go to sleep, it's early tomorrow."

The plan was to leave at first light.

"But, the watch…"

"I won't be able to sleep for a while, and I need the warmth of a human body."

"Pervert!"

Aka lay down, wrapped in her blanket, fuming.

Maxim's crude laughter echoed in the cold night.

Lying down, Aka whispered softly, and Maxim answered briefly.

She had felt the wind spirit moving all along.

You're listening, right?

Not red, right?

Yes.

Then leave me alone.

Reassured by these words, Aka closed her eyes.

She began to think that the rough ground wasn't so bad.

The hunters left early the next morning without incident.

The hidden observer, who had stayed up late, did not see them off.

In the shadow of the rocks, a dry bush fire crackled with fire spirits.

It was a cold night. The smaller one was wrapped in a blanket, but the larger one, wearing only a breastplate, was leisurely puffing smoke from a branch about ten centimeters long.

It was a campsite for the hunters who had come to hunt the parent demon beast.