Becoming a Hunter in a Dark Fantasy - Chapter 81
Only Noblemtl
Episode 81 Two Cats (1)
Gale, Sercia, and Calix are silently shocked. Unlike Elwin, who is smiling brightly, Yana is silently looking like she doesn’t know what’s going on.
An eerie silence filled the room as more than half of the six people gathered at the scene fell silent.
“… … .”
“… … .”
“… … .”
The expressions on the Spero members’ faces were exactly the same, as if stamped out on a plate. Their eyes were wide open, their mouths were agape, and their faces expressed shock.
The gazes of these three people were fixed on one spot.
“Ha, haha… … . Well, that’s… … .”
At the end of those gazes stood a small boy.
Cat Suin, Hake. He seemed a bit embarrassed, holding his drooping ears with both hands, and lowering his tail to the floor, only the tip of it wagging from side to side.
“Oh, it’s been a while… … ?”
A word that came out after much hesitation.
That was the beginning. He threw a stone into a glass bottle that had already cracked from the great impact.
“You, you, how are you alive-!?”
The reactions of those who had been frozen in place like a video screen after pressing the stop button suddenly appeared.
“… … No, no. A dead person can’t be alive. That’s right! You’re a ghost! You’re a ghost! … … I, Nana, am so tasteless! If you’re going to take me, take a young master with good blood!”
“What the heck is this…? Mr. Hake, are you still alive?!!”
“I wonder too. Before I could intervene early on, weren’t you torn in two by a manticore? How are you still alive?”
It was natural. Who wouldn’t be surprised to see someone who was known to be ‘dead’ moving calmly right before their eyes?
But among them, there was one person who showed a particularly big reaction.
“You, answer correctly!”
The person, surprisingly, was Sersia Odelweiss.
“If you were alive… … If you were alive and well… … What have you been doing until now!!”
Until now, Sercia has always been a person who tries to maintain a calm and rational attitude.
But now, she was expressing her emotions directly, with her entire body gently revealing magical power.
As if he couldn’t hold back the emotions boiling up inside him like lava.
“Hey, miss. Why are you so excited all of a sudden? Calm down.”
“… … ? I don’t want to agree with that bastard, but I agree just this once. Calm down, Sercia.”
This felt quite strange to Gale and Calix, who had been with Sercia for a while and had somewhat figured out her behavior.
Besides, if we look closely… … don’t the three people here have much contact with Hake?
These three people, who had a brief connection with Hake, were from different races.
Among them, there were four people: Batan, Melasa, Natuia, and Frau… who had once formed an alliance as the ‘Union of Interspecies’.
“… … .”
I know. I know.
On a topic that is not even a party, on a topic that is only a third party… … Arguing with Hake like this is going too far and is no different from venting one’s anger.
She has no right or duty to reprimand Hake.
‘I never wanted to have that kind of emotional reaction again.’
But she had her own excuses.
If I were to defend myself, Sercia would say that she really had no choice but to do this.
“Why… … didn’t you tell Ms. Melissa that you were alive… …!”
She, Sercia.
– Miss Sercia. This is all my fault. It’s my fault. If only I had been a little stronger… … . If only I had been strong enough not to risk someone’s life… … .
I can’t just sit back and watch the ‘witch’s’ sadness.
-If that were the case, that kind and gentle child wouldn’t have died protecting someone like me… … . That child didn’t need to do that at all… … .
… … No, it was just because I couldn’t stand it.
Sersia Odelweiss can’t stand seeing a kind and gentle witch like Melissa suffer.
-Hello? Are you the new youngest member?
Whenever Sersia saw such a witch, she couldn’t help but think of ‘Sokia’.
Sercia’s precious witch.
“… … !”
At Sercia’s unusual reaction, Hake made a mysterious expression as if he felt something.
It seemed like he was in pain, but it also seemed like he understood a little bit.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to deceive you on purpose. … … No, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a deception. Maybe it wasn’t intentional.”
Hake, who had been rambling nonsense, soon lowered his head. Like a criminal standing before a judge, he seemed ashamed.
“Well, how did that happen… … .”
As Hake was crying and not knowing what to do, Elwin gently stepped in and continued speaking in his stead.
“I saved his life. Mr. Hake was just ‘disguising’ himself as dead using his powerful unique magic, he wasn’t actually dead.”
“… … El, Lord Lewin?”
Elwin nodded at Sersia, whose eyes turned into rabbit eyes as if she was surprised.
And he began to explain slowly. About Hake’s true identity and the conspiracy and anecdote surrounding the previous ‘616th Lampas Hunter Exam’.
“Wow! So there was such a deep plot hidden in the incident we experienced? … … Tsk! Depicchio is a complete den of lunatics.”
“… … Ha! You’re saying you’re aiming for complete occupation of Mediale? That’s outrageous!”
“Ha, so that’s what happened. I finally understand. A double spy… … Then I guess I had no choice but to hide the fact that I was alive.”
When the group heard this, they all clicked their tongues and laughed at Depicio’s stupidity.
There’s no way something like that could be possible when the guardian of Mediale, Elwin Kraiger, is still alive and well.
“Depicchio plotted something like that. It’s so embarrassing… … .”
“That… … I understand that feeling too, White Moon.”
Only Yana blushed in embarrassment. Hake cautiously comforted Anya, as if he understood.
If I were in Depicio, I would have never dared to speak to the ‘White Moon’ first, which would have been an unthinkable dream.
Now, both of them have betrayed Depicio. Feeling a sense of intimacy rising up for some reason, Hake gathered all the courage he had and approached Yana.
“When I left Deficio, I abandoned the title of White Moon. So please call me Yana. Can you call me Hake?”
“… … ! Ah! Yes, yes, of course! Lady Yana! It is an infinite honor!”
“Um, Hake. Honorifics… … You don’t have to do that either.”
“Oh, no matter what, that can’t be!”
Yana warmly accepted the courage of the young boy from the Cat tribe, although she seemed a little burdened.
“haha.”
Elwin, who was quietly watching them with a faint smile, suddenly became curious.
How would they react if they knew that the fall of Mediale was in fact a predetermined future?
“But this old man, I really don’t understand. You, little brat… … Of course you know! How on earth did you plan on invading Mediale, which was guarded by the incredibly strong Hwang’s special hunter?”
Gale was about to mention Elwin without thinking, but then changed his words after seeing Anya’s reaction. She didn’t know Elwin’s identity or real name.
“Something feels fishy. I have a bad feeling about this. Hake, do you know anything?”
“What do you think a lowly person like me would know? I just had to do it because I had to. Otherwise, I’d be the one getting punished for disobeying orders.”
“… …Cat, you’re more cynical than you seem? Then, little one, do you have any weaknesses?”
“Well, well, actually, there are some points where I can kind of predict it.”
Puss, Elwin, who had been laughing, answered with sharp eyes.
“But that doesn’t mean it’s certain.”
It was Elwin who overturned the development of Rampas from the very beginning. The expectation that the future development would be the same as the original was close to arrogance.
‘In the original, Deficio’s purpose in invading Mediale was to get rid of the saboteurs and hunters who would likely block them later.’
In this world, an obvious stranger, Elwin Kraiger, was keeping his place.
So, Deficio’s motives and reasons for his actions are bound to change.
‘Of course, even if that’s true, that damn ’cause’ that has been solidified through patience over a long period of time will remain unchanged.’
─Complete overthrow of the Kingdom of Batevils.
and.
‘Establishing a kingdom of different races, by different races, and only for different races.’
Like any madman’s longing for eternal life, Depicchio’s long-held desire was truly delusional.
“I’m going to find out from now on. What exactly is Depicchio aiming for with this invasion of Mediale?”
Elwin then turned to face somewhere and said:
“Is that enough sightseeing? Come out now.”
“Huh! You, you, you, where are you looking when you say that… Are you a ghost?!”
“Lord Lewin? There’s no one there.”
When Elwin spoke while looking into the empty space where no movement could be felt, others expressed their doubts.
Rustle- rustle-
A low bush growing lushly beneath a tall tree.
It was something I didn’t even know was hidden in the thick shadows, or rather, I didn’t even pay attention to it.
The bushes swayed violently, and something small popped out from within.
“Meow!”
It was a black cat. It had unusually bright yellow eyes.
“… … Huh? A cat?”
The cat approached them, sat down nearby, and calmly licked its paw.
“Hmm.”
Gail, who had been observing for a while with narrowed eyes, spoke solemnly as if concluding.
“It’s just a cat, isn’t it? It looks like something you’d find at the corner of an alley.”
“I don’t know anything special about it.”
“Meow?”
A faint blush appeared on the faces of several of the group members who saw the cat lying on the floor and acting cute.
“Let’s try to tame it with a snack. Tsk tsk, butterfly, come here~”
“… … So cute.”
But then, as if he had seen something unsightly, Hake frowned and muttered softly.
“An attitude so shameless that it is beyond words… … That disgusting gesture that seems to have no concept of shame in its brain… … Could it be?”
Hake, whose face suddenly hardened, grabbed the black cat by the back of its neck and lifted it roughly.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
When people tried to stop him from his sudden actions, Hake shouted excitedly.
“Don’t be fooled! This guy is untrustworthy! He fools and plays with everyone- ugh!”
Just as he was about to throw it, the cat scratched Hake’s hand first and fell, doing somersaults and landing on the ground.
And then he opened his mouth with a mischievous smile.
“You’re still the same. It’s always funny how you can’t see an inch ahead of you when you’re excited.”
Surprisingly… … the cat spoke! And very fluently!
I even knew how to whine!
“You bastard Nero!”
The cat smirked as he watched the burning enemy.
“How foolish. Think about our position. You and I are both traitors to Depicio, right?”
“that……!”
“Don’t forget your position.”
“… … Kkuuut!”
Everyone was frozen in place by the unprecedented situation of a talking cat.
The cat that had given Hake a warning walked leisurely to Elwin’s feet and squealed.
“Okay, let me introduce you.”
Elwin lifted the cat and showed it to them.
“This is Nero Chase, a fellow Hunter Rider and a high-level Hunter.”
“Nice to meet you!”
Then, surprisingly, the cat raised one hand and said hello!