Strange Grief Wants to Retire ~ The Weakest Hunter Dreams of a Hero ~

Chapter?31: Feeling

Chapter 31

Feeling

『Strange Grief』 had many adversaries.

This was mainly because Luke and Liz picked fights everywhere.

If you hear of a master swordsman in the west, then go and test your skill. If you hear that fiendish bandits have routed Knights on the Eastern frontier, then travel several days to go and kill them.

If hunters didn’t have the tendency to respect the strong, our reputation would be terrible.

Particularly since our party name was so eerie, and since in the old days we only took on bandits and other grey requests, we were sometimes mistaken for a red party and attacked.

Inside the Capital nowadays there were no longer misunderstandings, but when we went out on expeditions there were still occasionally people that gave us cold looks.

“Gark has also fallen hasn’t he. Age is a cruel thing.”

While I walked next to her, Liz spoke calmly after having picked a fight with the Explorers Association for the first time in a while.

There was no ridicule in her tone of voice.

She was the one that had fanned the flames of his anger, but her voice seemed lonely like one of her brawling companions had disappeared.

“...It’s better not to use yourself as a standard.” “Ye-s”

Gark wasn’t as weak as she was making out.

Even these days when two hunters got into a drunken fist fight he would intervene and beat them both up. Just meeting his face was scary.

As you’d expect it’s not good to make comparisons with Liz who’s still active on the frontlines.

In the hunter world becoming inactive was a rigid weakness.

Liz who was currently swinging her arms while walking would also lose her power in this way.

For this reason there were many retired hunters that changed the location of where they lived.

Some Treasure Hunters also worked as mercenaries or bounty hunters as a side job. Many collected grudges. It was fine if you were strong enough to put out the sparks, but not if you get attacked in a place of weakness.

That went even more so for the type of person that plunged straight into the burning flames.

Liz and the others currently had no plans to retire, but I had secretly been thinking about a few destinations to move to for when that time came.

But that Gark’s expression hadn’t been at the level of being teased just a little. He should have had some understanding of Liz’s character, but he couldn’t stomach his anger.

He had some areas where he hated to lose, so in that state he might go back into a shrine out of his own will.

I talked with Liz while we walked down the street. It seemed like the Explorers Association was in a bit of an uproar, but the streets were still as peaceful as usual. She was exposing a lot of skin, with just her legs looking like they had robotic attachments which made her stand out.

Eyes collected on her, but she didn’t seem to care and smiled constantly. It would be nice if she was always this subdued.

The conversation was mainly about the hunt that Liz and the others had been on this time.

『Myriad Demon Castle』.

It was one of the Shrines that hunters rarely went to.

Distant location. Harsh terrain. Strong Phantoms. Obtainable Relics leaning to only a certain variety and so on.

The reasons were numerous, but sometimes the shrines that had not been

conquered in a long time accumulated Mana Material and became greatly enhanced.

『Myriad Demon Castle』 was one of those shrines.

To sum it up in a few words, it was a huge castle protected by a large number of powerful apparitions.

Apparently it seemed to be one with a mythological motif, and the phantoms that manifested had diverse variations making it difficult to prepare countermeasures for.

It was a shrine that hunters hadn’t challenged for a long time since it was so far from human settlements.

The White Wolves Den was also an unpopular shrine, but Myriad Demon Castle was different.

The former was simply an unattractive shrine, but the latter was due to the degree of difficulty.

The most recent hunters that challenged it had not succeeded, and there was almost no information on what was inside it.

Hunters were attracted by the notion that a large number of Relics should be sleeping inside, but they could only look at the castle in the distance and give up with frustration.

In fact I was very uneasy at the time its name was brought up as the next target shrine, but I couldn’t stop Luke as he explained with sparkling eyes.

More or less, I was the leader. I held the right to make the parties decisions. Maybe I should have told him not to, but how could a friend block him from going on a hero’s journey wishing for adventure?

The story Liz was telling this time was also more passionate than usual. The Phantoms that came out at level 8 were significant.

Dragons and griffons I knew of since they were famous, but halfway through she

started saying names I didn’t know. I could only smile and nod.

Things like Squonkand Yackles and the like. What are they. Are they living creatures?

“Sytry said it was pulling from the legend of 『Black King Grapps』...but afterwards there were a lot of intelligent human types, so maybe it was mixing a bunch of legends?

The terrain was also crazy.” “Oh-...was it tough?”

Enduring the various things I wanted to ask, I verified just one thing.

『Black King Grapps』 was the name of the supreme ruler that reigned over the continent thousands of a years ago.

He manipulated countless beasts at will, and through dark rituals he created beasts that should never have existed.

It was a tale from before the Empire came to be, and his authority had spread widely.

Even now there were various shrines throughout the world where manservant like Phantoms had been witnessed.

Among hunters he was the number one hated person.

To my words Liz put her finger on her lips as she thought for a while, then made a smile that spread over her whole face.

“Mmm... up until now I guess it’s the one at the top. It was like you’d think a level 8 would feel. The Black King’s beasts were tough... definitely stronger than in those days.

Physical attacks weren’t very effective, there were a lot of them, honestly I didn’t think I could handle it. If it was just escaping I could manage somehow.”

Don’t speak so delightedly...

Phantoms that couldn’t be handled by the Liz who I couldn’t even comprehend anymore. That level of threat is hard to imagine.

What kind of opponent can make someone that can knock away a barrage of bullets struggle?

“How were they compared to the Boss of the White Wolves Den from the other day?”

“Eh.....?”

The White Wolves Den Boss...that wolf knight that was concealed by a human skull, in a shrine where the level of phantoms had sprung up it still stood out. An enemy that overcame a party spearheaded by a level 5 veteran hunter.

Liz had appeared right away, so it wasn’t like I’d had any direct battle experience. But just recalling it’s shining pupils made me want to retire at any moment.

At my question, Liz-chan came to a stop.

She stayed like that for ten seconds as her eyebrows curved into a brood, and then spoke with regret.

“...Was that...a boss?” “...Ah, yeah.”

“Sorry? I’m sorry? That’s what Cry-chan said wasn’t it? Sorry. I, don’t really remember trash that well...I remember that we were looked down on and that Tee was disappointing though...”

Apparently compared to Level 8 Phantoms, that Boss wasn’t even worth remembering. After all it looks like I’ll never go on a hunt with these guys ever again.

It’s not particularly frustrating, and I don’t regret creating the clan and retreating from the front, but recognising that the difference was this much was a little lonely.

Looking at my complex expression and wondering what I was thinking, Liz grabbed my hand and spoke hurriedly.

“Ah, but you know! They were weak like trash, but there were a lot of weapons that came out! I thought they were good for training! It worried me that they were only carrying physical equipment, but they were just right for Tee don’t you think?”

I didn’t think they were that trival. “Uh-huh yep. That’s right.”

“Right-? Lets bring her along another time! I was troubled since there were only humans as opponents! After all, you have to bet your life or it’s worthless isn’t it?”

Ah, whoops. Should I stop her here?

Tino was just enrolled in some life risking training.

...Next time I’ll take her out for ice-cream.

This times date was for Liz. I walked around the capital while being lead by the hand.

Liz was extreme. She loved to fight, and when she became a hunter she was highly curious.

But when she walked the streets with me she preferred a general date like course. We made the rounds at boutiques and jewellery stores, and drank tea at a cafe.

We didn’t go to taverns, or look at popular weapon shops, and we didn’t go to back alleys the public avoided in order to fish for ruffians.

From the side, it really just looked like an ordinary date. Liz would also get tired if she always stayed on guard.

Maybe calm times such as these let her keep balanced.

As she walked next to me, a bag of gold coins on her waist jingled. Not really a purse, it was a large pouch filled to bursting.

After separating the overhead of equipment expenses on a hunt, income was divided equally between members.

Different to me that scooped up Relics immediately, Liz usually wasn’t materialistic and was a rich person.

In my wallet, Eva had prepared five Imperial gold coins for a time of emergency – 500,000 gil, a great difference to my own remaining 10,000 gil.

Aimlessly entering high class boutiques and jewellery stores and watching the extravagant spending gave a good feeling.

Seeing her try clothes one by one and hearing her ask if each one suited her was the only trouble, but this sort of thing was also nice once in a while.

I don’t know much, but they suit you. They really suit you, want to buy it? I’m sorry I can’t give it to you as a present.

If you drop two zeros from the price, I can buy you a present. Even if I want to I can’t use the money that’s there for emergencies.

As I walked around the city, I looked out for any hints that Sytry’s slime had caused an uproar, but I didn’t see anything in particular.

There were murmurs here and there about the disturbance on the northern highway, but the stray Phantoms had been manifesting since before I lost the slime so as you’d expect it was irrelevant.

“Hey hey, Cry-chan, what’s wrong? For a little while you’ve seemed a bit down.”

I hadn’t intended to show anything on the surface, but Liz suddenly called out to me. I’m sorry, all I do is worry everyone.

“Liz, what if... just asking hypothetically, if Zebrudia was about to be destroyed... what would you do?”

An extremely theoretical question. If such a thing actually happened and I was the cause, I wouldn’t be able to say that much.

It was so out of the blue it should have been taken as a joke, but Liz answered the tedious question immediately without a break in her smile.

“Run away together?”

...No no no, we can’t do that.

“Next, a southern country would be nice I think...I want to see the ocean...I’ve never been.”

Even though we were talking about the country being destroyed, she was surprisingly forward facing.

Seeing her eyes sparkle as she was lost in thought made me feel a little more cheerful.

Do what you can. And if that’s hopeless, maybe it would be good to run away together like Liz said.

Ocean. The ocean, huh. Not bad.

“It’s all water so you won’t be able to run you know?” “Eh-, you won’t know unless you try right?”

You should know even without trying. Please don’t transcend the laws of physics. Liz was speaking in a light manner, as if talking about going on a trip.

“It seems like there are Shrines even at the bottom of the sea, I think it’d definitely be pretty. We’d have to do something about the breathing problem though.

I wonder if going into the sky would be good too... It’s convenient living in the Capital, but how many years have passed since we’ve been here-“

While returning ‘Uh-huh, yep’ as I listened, Liz’s expression suddenly became severe.

The body that was sticking close to me was separated before I knew, both shopping bags she had been holding fell to the ground with a thud.

At that time a few meters away my childhood friend was pinning a man to the ground. His arms were pulled behind him and his back was tread on, perfectly sealing his movement.

The opponent was a man with a moustache. He was about the same height as me. He was featureless and gave a plain impression, and he wasn’t attired like a hunter.

The man let out a groan in pain. If I wasn’t looking to the side at that moment, I wouldn’t even know when the man had been beaten and thrown down.

I was surprised for a moment, and then I rushed over. For a hunter to turn their hand on an ordinary person was strictly forbidden. Even worse if the hunter was one sidedly attacking.

Liz was a violent person, but these days she hadn’t been striking out at ordinary people.

Just when you thought she had mellowed out, this happened. “!? W-What are you doing, Liz-chan?”

Why, when you were just in such a good mood?

Seeing me turn pale, she turned her gaze towards the man at her feet. The arm she was gripping creaked.

The people around us quickly left with their cheeks twitching. It was only a matter of time before the force for public order arrived.

Liz gave a look of disgust, then stepped down on his head rubbing it into the ground.

The man quickly stopped struggling and froze up. “You, just now, Liz-chan and us, you were watching.”

...so what? Are you going to just attack everyone that meets your eyes?

In the first place, Liz stood out. If it was people looking, I understood it. What’s the difference between other gazes and this guy?

The man attacked under such a miserable pretext groaned. I gripped Liz’s arm from behind and pulled it away.

“Ok come on, lets separate from each other first.” “...”

Liz separated.

While the man coughed violently, his body rolled over, and looked up at us with a pale expression.

He didn’t have any scars on his face, and his body wasn’t trained like a hunter. A commonplace regular build of a middle age man. He held no weapons, an ordinary virtuous citizen. It was completely a crime.

The Capital favoured hunters, but it wasn’t sweet on them to the point it would permit violence against ordinary people.

I offered out my hand, to help the man get back on his feet.

“E-Excuse us. This child, her emotions are unstable. You don’t have any injuries?” “-...”

The man didn’t take my hand, and let out a small scream as he broke into a run.

...Looks like he didn’t suffer any injuries. Good, that’s good... that wasn’t good.

I didn’t know what her trigger was. It makes me anxious you know.

Liz scowled as she watched the man run away. What are you unhappy about?

What? What is it? What rubbed you the wrong way? You’ve been such a good girl lately though?

Anyway lets get out of here before any people come. I faced her again. Seeing me in a hurry Liz thought a little, and tilted her head to the side in puzzlement.

“Hmm? Are you maybe.........setting him free?”

What’s this kid saying. There was nothing to set free, because there was nothing wrong.

So what was the harm to me? They were looking because you were wearing such a conspicuous Relic.

“Liz, I need to do some scolding later.”

“...Geez-, you’re too good at acting! I didn’t notice at all... next time I’ll pay better attention ok?”

Her good humour returned.

I said I would scold her, but she gripped my arm, and didn’t seem to reflect at all.

With Liz clinging to me in an extremely good mood, we briskly left the scene of the crime.

You should pay attention so you don’t randomly attack people... Before Liz trains Tino, I want her to learn from Tino some good sense .

§ § §

He ran with all his strength. Running to the limit his breathing allowed. No one stood in front of the man to block him.

Zebrudia was like the mans backyard. Tourists and merchants travelled the main streets, but he knew the back streets that ordinary civilians hated to go to.

But he had no extra time to think about that right now.

Keep escaping as if a small carnivorous beast was chasing you. That chilling gaze was in his mind while he suffered from insufficient oxygen.

The man only stopped after running with all his power to the opposite side of a gloomy building.

There were no pursuers.

If it was that girl then he should have been caught long ago.

No, he shouldn’t have been able to shake off her restrictions from the start. The vice like force in those thin arms limited all of his movement, giving the illusion that his whole body had been bound.

Weak sunlight shone through the cracks in the building, and shone on his hazy vision.

“Haa, haa,...-....what, was that...”

Out of breath, he pressed down on his arms and withstood the uncontrollable tremors.

He definitely hadn’t let out any signs in his behaviour.

His opponents were a level 8 and level 6 hunter. The man had been taking great care.

The two had stood out a lot, and walked down streets with lots of pedestrians. Even if he meant to cause harm, there was no way to distinguish between his gaze and the others.

His appearance didn’t stand out, he wasn’t a hunter.

He conducted himself naturally, and it wasn’t like he had stared at them abnormally.

He hadn’t held any murderous intentions, the purpose this time was just wait and see.

He was always careful to keep in their blind spot and not come into view.

In fact, until he had been thrown to the ground, he really didn’t believe that his shadowing would be discovered.

His arm that had been tightly restricted still ached in pain. He held it and got his breathing back under control.

He wanted to think it was coincidence, but clearly 『Severed Shadow』 had noticed his gaze.

What he needed to consider was why 『Infinite Variety』 had let him go.

He couldn’t imagine why you would let someone that was tailing you go free. The main thing was if they were going to let him go, there was no point in restraining him.

Apologetic words had been said, but it was obvious they weren’t genuine.

He hadn’t planned to give up any information if he was interrogated, but what meaning was there in not even doing that much.

Was it ― a warning? Shit, how much did he know?

He didn’t let out his voice, he just grit his teeth.

There hadn’t been any information leaks. Their plans were perfect.

Even though the White Wolves Den had been enhanced, the abnormalities were discovered much earlier than they should have been.

Even if it was invaded by misfortunate hunters, the shrines difficulty would still rise. They wouldn’t be able to leave alive.

But in reality, it was difficult to continue the experiment because too many people had gathered.

The cause hadn’t been found yet, but if the experiment continued on people would begin to suspect.

The reputation of 『Strange Grief』 was well known. He had been cautious, and up until now there was nothing so he had become complacent.

For someone to come and make a big move was unexpected.

Recalling the young man’s face as he apologised, his eyes widened and he began to tremble.

The sun had set by the time the man recomposed himself.

The White Wolves Den was already a lost cause. It had been perfectly seen through. They didn’t have enough people.

He needed to tell them that the plan must be modified. No one watched as the man unsteadily walked away.