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Meldorn looks at the sky, or as much as possible, given the mist. He has marked the princess and now knows the direction she’s in, and a rough estimation of the distance. It doesn’t seem like they intended to move to the meeting place at all.

The hunter already had a feeling about the hooded man, a hunch, and then he proves to be in fact the boy he came to know as Bob. The distance, the hood, the short hair, the muscles, all that masked his true identity from Meldorn enough to doubt it for a while.

The boy he taught turned out to be a hero. A ranger even now, which is quite an accomplishment. They even added an alfr to their party. It doesn’t seem like there is any mind control in place, seeing how all of them act together.

Will that change anything?

Gottfried will be infuriated that Meldorn has decided to split from the group to offer those young adults a last chance to surrender, or to at least try to negotiate. Instead, they have decided to run.

This doesn’t make Meldorn angry, it just disappoints him, though he didn’t make the effort to be recommended by his leader, but because it’s what he wanted. They’re still young, so they still have a lot of room to grow.

For a moment, he remembers Bo- Katsuragi Kenta, when he held a spear, for the first time… “Why a spear? Isn’t a bow better for hunting?”

“You’re not ready yet. Learn from the basics.”

“Phew… alright.”

Has he understood by now?

Meldorn waves, as he sees the rest of his party, riding on their horses with Meldorn’s in tow. Young Rotfeld sighs in relief, while the pontiff seems to be more wary, looking at the leader of the group cautiously.

Sir Gottfried’s shoulders are slightly more tense than usual, his face like stone, which shows his discontent with the fact that Meldorn just left last night, when he was on watch even. “You have ignored my orders,” the retired knight says coldly.

“Yes.” No need to deny it.

“This will have consequences, though I have some questions first: Have you accomplished anything you set your mind on?”

“No.”

“Will you tell me what happened?”

Instead of answering it, Meldorn opens his arms, showing that there is nothing to hide, but also nothing to offer. In the hunter’s mind, telling Sir Gottfried anything won’t change their course of action.

The retired knight understands that, but asks the one question that might make a difference: “Is the princess tricked, controlled, or just plain stupid?”

“I didn’t witness mind control. Katsuragi-dono asked for her opinions, came to a conclusion, and while he told me that he wants to meet, the princess is currently moving away at a much higher pace than before.”

“That’s one of the many reasons why I didn’t want anyone to meet up with them… Will they escape us?”

“Not with me here,” the hunter proclaims while mounting his horse. The princess is his quarry right now, and whenever he follows his quarry, he will capture it quickly. It’s like he and those who follow him are able to move at higher speed and only Meldorn needs to endure more exhaustion than usual.

“Alright. For the strategy, I have something in mind. Youngster, Pontiff, you’ll take down Katsuragi Kenta.”

―○●○―

“OK, quick break,” I say after chucking another SP-potion. We made good time, crossed some small woods, went up a hillside, made the path as treacherous as possible while leaving next to no tracks.

Actually, I want to put even more space between me and Meldorn, but as I have explained before: Even heroes have their limits, and I need to keep in mind that Ara-san will hit them earlier than me. It seems like her alfr physiology depletes her stamina quicker. Or in her words: Humans are ridiculously enduring.

One of the reasons why I chose this place for the rest is that there are ruins. It seems like some kind of farmstead that was abandoned years ago. On the fields are still three erratic boulders, this is the main reason. While I’d love to check the abandoned and half-destroyed buildings, I would need to use [Trackless] all the time to leave no clues, which would contradict the whole reason for a break.

The boulders, however, serve as a perfect spot to get off Kyou-san and Rine without them leaving obvious tracks. I doubt that Meldorn would check some abandoned fields to find a clue, as whatever grew there was long overtaken by other vegetation.

Though it makes me very concerned. “Did you notice? There are no monsters around. They should thrive here, it’s away from the roads, it is fertile enough that at some point people decided to make a farmstead here. There are even animals around here!” Mostly rodents and birds of prey, but I saw some wild bulls and cows with pig snouts here as well.

Kyou-san looks at me as if I called out for murder night like it was gaming night. “You already said it before… so you suspect Correo is behind this?”

“Yeah, the timing would be perfect… yet it still makes no sense. The monsters before were heading northwest, on the other hand, we go more or less straight north. I could look around for tracks, but… No, no buts. I need to be sure.”

“Don’t waste your time and energy,” Kyou-san says to me as a reminder, not to stop me.

“Yeah.” After a quick look with [Track], I could find a lot of highlighted monster tracks that tell me the same story. “They’re going westwards… is it some kind of beacon effect?”

“What do you mean?”

“Basically that Correo is calling the monsters to one place. Dammit, how can the timing be that perfect but the direction that off?”

“Kenta-kun,” Ara-san steps in while lying on a boulder and lifting her feet into the air, which is kinda arousing until I remember that it’s wrong to think that, “deal with the problems as they come. You’re acting human again and worrying about the future, while you should be concerned about the present. Don’t misunderstand, I agree with thinking about the future, but not with worrying about it.”

So basically, don’t get riled up about things you have no control over. That’s some solid advice, though I also know that Ara-san tends to be rather carefree. How can I say it… it’s not the optimism Rine shows, but rather the attitude that she’s too lazy to get worked up.

…well, she’s always true to herself, so I guess it’s a good sign?

So what can I do ‘now’? Be careful, diligent, and just try my best to predict what’s to come? So basically what I’m doing the whole time, and just try to not get worked up that much? “Phew…” Yet we did everything that I could think of: Masking our tracks, increasing the pace, looking for a hard to traverse route, continuing towards the great forest that is our ultimate home advantage.

Yet we’re facing Meldorn, who has taught me, and Gottfried, who’s Rine’s instructor. So I can’t help but to be riled up, as I can’t help but think of them as our superiors. Meldorn as the best hunter of Feuerberg, Gottfried as the best warrior… at least before his retirement.

I sit down on a boulder myself and rub my face with my hands. I may ignore the tiredness, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t experience it. I’m feeling a tad worn, mostly mentally.

“Kenta,” Rine suddenly starts to speak: “Do you want a massage?”

“No, thank you.” I guess she’s trying to mimic what Kyou-san did before. “Just let me close my eyes for some minutes.” I need to empty my head.

“Kenta. Thank you.”

“Huh?”

“For doing that for me. You too, Kyou and Ara. I know I’m selfish, but I… I really appreciate what you’re doing for me.”

“Don’t get all worked up, Rine,” I say obviously annoyed: “It’s not all about you.” In fact, most of our current troubles are about her, but I can make my own decisions, thank you! “I’m doing it, because I want to and if you want to thank me, think about how to repay me, once we’re done with all the shit raining on us. Your debts keep on increasing, after all.”

I can totally read Kyou-san’s look: ‘Seriously?’

‘Shut up!’

“This won’t bode well.” It’s Ara-san, who speaks so softly that only I may be able to hear it. I’m not sure whether she means my words or what we’re trying here.

“I will do my best! Though I don’t have much other than my sword and an arm to swing it right now. Ah, I could ask father to- ah, right. I can’t ask him. That’s troublesome…”

“We’re breaking the curse, then just make sure that you’re ready to follow me when I storm the demon king’s place. After some more leveling, that is.”

“Sure!”

In the end, everything is supposed to lead up to killing the demon king and returning home. I guess I’d better get to Luuto’s level of strength myself before attempting it… wouldn’t that take a hundred years!?

“Phew…” Let’s push that thought back into the ‘Way back later’-file. I check the surroundings, the mist is almost the same, maybe a tad more obscuring, so using a bird with [Share Senses] wouldn’t help much. “Break’s over, we’re conti- Wait!” Something feels wrong… “The ground!” I say that, as I jump from the boulder.

Ara-san leaps while dragging Kyou-san by her shoulders, and Rine follows, which marks exactly the moment the three boulders begin to float despite their weight.

Magic!

They’re rotating and start to orbit around us, as if they were looking for a target. Then all of them shoot at me.

I should have known that.

I step back, as one boulder after another pierces the grass where I was standing a moment ago. One, two, three! Wait, they’re still moving, dragging themselves out of the ground again. What a pain!

Rine cuts a boulder cleanly in half, which only changes the number of stones I need to keep track of: “Kenta, it won’t stop!”

I look around to find the caster of the spell. “Kenta-kun, there!” Ara-san points at the mist, and while she can’t see what is there, she can definitely hear.

I use [Pitch] to filter all sounds around me, and in that direction is something running. Two four-legged creatures. The native clawed horses?

With some more sidesteps, I evade the erratic boulders while announcing the strategy: “Ara-san, use [Quagmire] to hinder them. Rine, team up with Ara-san and be ready to face them. Kyou-san give me a [Protect]!” I need to find that caster, it’s unlikely that he can use such a spell without seeing the target.

Ara-san and Kyou-san cast their spells, and I feel the ward on my skin. It’s Kyou-san’s empowered version; by using her new [Arcana]-skill, she can increase the effect of the buff, which makes it much more useful. Before, it felt like being hit through a pillow, after experimenting with the empowered version, it’s like bundling three or four of them. Much more SP-intensive, but absolutely worth it.

The boulders stop moving and suddenly: “[Defog]!” A male voice says and everything around us becomes clear. There are two horses caught in Ara-san’s [Quagmire], which is especially effective on earthy ground like here. One ridden by an old man in priest robes, with a thick gray and white mustache, as if he needed to compensate that sorry excuse of hair with that. By his side is a man maybe ten years older than me, who certainly fell into the [Quagmire]. He taps his staff on his shoulder: “[Clean]!”, and the mud falls off as if it was never there in the first place. His brown hair had a reddish tone, and he reminds me of a wizard, so most likely the caster.

Just a bit more to the right is a single man, who walks elegantly and quietly, despite wearing a full plate. His broadsword is drawn and its tip is just a few millimeters above the ground. He has a helmet on, but it has an open visor and shows the face of an old man. An old man who doesn’t give a fuck about what we’ll do.

I thought that the moment I face Gottfried my legs would crumble or something like that, instead it’s just slightly creepy.

Where is Meldorn? Maybe he won’t interfere, as he’s just the tracker? How did he find us, in the first place?

All these questions have to wait, as Gottfried walks directly towards Rine, and the princess jumps at him. “Hello, Instructor Gottfried!” Then it’s all just flashes. *Clank, clank, clank,clank,clank-clank-clank-clankclankclank-clanclanclaclaclaclclclccccc-clank-clank-clanclan-clank, clank* The sound of metal on metal in different pitches, lengths, and variety.

Rine’s assault is quick and decisive, each blow would be the end of a monster, but every time, her sword gets blocked easily. She tries to use the momentum of her attack to make an overhead kick while her blade keeps him busy, but he takes a single step and leans his body back to evade it. I can hardly follow despite my enhanced eyesight as a [Ranger].

OK, that’s still within expectations. Rine will keep him busy, we take out the rest and support her. Gottfried is still only defending, so I was right: He’s holding back because he wants Rine to stay alive.

I take my bow, notch four arrows, and aim at the horses: “[Quadruple Shot]!” We first need to make it, so that they won’t be able to follow us anymore. I see another horse some meters away, most likely Gottfried’s: “[Seeker]!”

“[Heal]!” The priest touches the horse that tries to throw him off, as there are two arrows inside its flank. The healing doesn’t help, he is thrown off and may break his neck!

“[Levitation]!” The wizard points his staff at the priest, who begins to float in place. “[Gust]!” The wind carries the priest outside the [Quagmire].

“[Fountain Gun]!” Too bad for you, wizard, that helping your comrades left you open. Ara-san uses the opportunity to send the wizard flying deeper into the mud, as she aimed from above by switching her class from [Acrobat] to [Druid] in midair. She deflects an arrow that is shot at her.

Where is it coming from? There! Maybe three hundred meters away (984 feet) is Meldorn, who is also next to a horse. He’s using the ruins as cover.

“[Seeker]!” Again, I aim at the horse first and my arrow curves a bit to bypass the cover. This is one merciful death, three are still struggling. “Kyou-san, onto the priest!”

“Erm… yes!” She draws her knife a bit slowly, maybe overwhelmed at what is happening around her.

Rine is still struggling to even land a hit, even though she dances around the old man like she always does, her sword so fast that I see more flashes than metal. “Is that all, Stupid Disciple #1?” Gottfried asks at the border of bored and annoyed. So he’s testing her? Well, as long as it keeps him from our backs for a little while longer…

I shoot some more arrows to make sure to kill every single of their horses, while also keeping the wizard in line, who may have stupid ideas. Ara-san supports me in that regard, while Kyou-san approaches the priest.

“No you won’t,” says Gottfried while kicking a small pebble into the air and then towards Kyou-san.

“[Fountain Gun]!” Ara-san’s reaction speed is impressive as always, as she shoots the pebble away while dodging another arrow.

As I thought, the priest is their healer, so they will protect him. “Ara-san, Kyou-san, keep the pressure up!”

I still have some seconds of [Protect] left. If they think I’ll attack the priest, then I’ll instead take down their boss!