Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Strange Grief Wants to Retire ~ The Weakest Hunter’s Hero Dream Chapter 25 \n25 戦後 After the battle\n

The crimson wolf knights that appeared demonstrated their fighting potential.

The full body armour easily repelled slight attacks, and since each one held a different weapon you couldn’t plan on a single countermeasure. The blows that were sent out one after another from strong arms held the power of a mid-class Hunter reinforced by Mana Material. It had the might to be slightly dangerous.

In addition, without prior knowledge of this information, that was precisely why it would be able to be a threat.

If your opponent has hardness, prepare weapons that could penetrate. If they hold a variety of weapons, then make countermeasures for everything beforehand.

And, if it was difficult to beat with mid class Hunters, just bring Hunters that were certified at a higher level.

It was a Shrine ranked at Level 3. A cavern existing within a thickly grown forest – the name was the 『White Wolves Den』. Not less than ten treasure hunters were gathered.

The equipment and outfits were not uniform, and the ages and gender were also diverse. The only common point held among the gathered Hunters was ― they were all top class Hunters acknowledged as Level 5 or over.

The average level of Treasure Hunters was said to be 3. This is because levels beyond that require more talent and luck than experience.

Of the Hunters gathered, they were all well known in Zelbrudia, the Holy Land of Hunters where various Hunters came together. Some even held a second name.

A hunter that had been certified with a high level meant that they had taken in a certain extent of Mana Material, a person that had crossed over the limits of those at mid range.

For the Hunters used to exploring Shrines ranked much higher than 3, even the wolf knights that were several levels above the originally appearing Phantoms weren’t worthy of caution.

A male hunter cut through the thick armour of a wolf knight keeping watch. To the feeling in his hands that remained his eyes widened, and he confirmed with his companion that was intercepting a wolf knight with a bow and arrow at the back.

“…Was this place, definitely Level 3?”

“Yeah. All of a sudden the levels of the Phantoms went up. The spear user Rodolph was done in you know. Seems like the boss is tough.”

“Are you serious… wait? But that guy Rodolph, I saw him at the Explorers today.”

“Then the rescue was in time.”

“Oh, so that’s what happened huh.”

A light conversation played out while they never stopped moving.

A released arrow pierced through a skull, and a wolf knight toppled over.

The hunters were gathered together to confirm the circumstances of the White Wolves Den.

It was rare for a Shrines degree of difficulty to suddenly spike, but it wasn’t impossible. In a situation where irregularities sprung forth, the Explorers issued a request for qualified hunters to investigate, to reclassify the former ranking.

Do the hefty rewards offered by the Empire and Explorers, these requests were profitable for high level Hunters.\n

“Still, so he was able to survive well then…”

Curious seeming words.

The investigation request given by the Explorers was officially announced just recently. Which meant the Hunters that took the rescue mission wouldn’t have known of the abnormalities beforehand.

They may have been cautious because a Level 5 had gone missing, but it wouldn’t have been strange for the mummy collectors to become mummies themselves.

To the doubting words, the hunter with a huge bow replied with a sour look.

“Yeah. That 『Infinite Variety』 seems to be the one that carried it out.”

“!? Uueh… The Level 8? Why again…”

“Who knows. He’s a hard man to get a read on. But he must have some aim that we aren’t able to understand.”

“Must be.”

Even in the Imperial City, with a large population of hunters, there were only three people recognised as Level 8. All of them had captured countless Shrines, contributed in various fields, and had been recognised as extraordinary people by Explorers Association.

Among them, Infinite Variety was a Hunter specialised in Treasure Hunting.

There wasn’t anything special in particular. A party of resourceful members, the leader of 『Strange Grief』, the master of a large-scale developing clan, properly raising levels by overcoming Shrines, however ― almost all rumours placed him as a strange man.

He spent his time at the clan headquarters, and rarely took center stage so there was no chance to meet him. Only, apparently he didn’t have the look of a Level 8 and was said to have a dull appearance.

Of course, reality would be different. Since Level certification trials were not that simple to overcome.

“It’s about time we entered. Confirm the rank of the highest level Wolf Knight, and the Boss too if possible. We can’t earn the reward without working for it.”

“Understood”

In an instant their mode of thought changed, becoming conscious of the battlefield. From the voice of the Leader, each expression tightened as they looked towards the dim Shrine.

Cold air drifted out, as if to threaten away invaders. Howls resounded.

§　§　§

A Shrine exploration will be rough. No matter how much attention you place on safety, you will be putting your life on the line fighting the inhabiting monsters and Phantoms.

Therefore excellent Hunters were diligent and never slacked off.

The Capital also held many training facilities that could be used by regular Hunters, and smaller ones were also provided by the Explorers Association. When it came time to raise funds to build the base of 『First Step』 it was only natural to include facilities for training purposes.\nThe training grounds of 『First Step』 were built on five floors underground, so they could be freely used by each clan member.

To endure the absurd strength held by Hunters, the facilities seem to have taken a lot of money, but their reputation was superb. Since I didn’t interfere I didn’t know any further details, but it seems at the start Eva and the admin staff went through some terrible hardships.

I descended the metal staircase, and passed by a party I remembered from somewhere.

It was a mixed gender five person party. One of them saw me and their eyes widened. A man with a towering large build with a large scar running down his cheek. His weapon was a long handled axe that would be capable of bisecting full body armour.

……I definitely recognised him but his name didn’t rise to the surface.

“Cry. This is unusual, are you training?”

I’m slightly used to it, but when someone I didn’t know the name of called me by my own name it gave me a weird feeling.

The other person wouldn’t know that I didn’t remember their name. I put on a calm smile to deceive them.

“Something like that. Are you all training as well?”

At my question, the members exchanged uncomfortable glances. A bad reaction. In cases like this the answers they give usually aren’t good.

As I was filled with apprehension, the representative large man showed a frown.

“Right… however, at the moment… it might be better not to go. Since it’s a little bit, rough.”

“That was… already torture.”

A man at the back had turned pale as he muttered a few words. I see… I think I’ll not go anymore….

Without a doubt it would be Liz-chan.

In regard to where Liz is, there will either be a collapsed human body or a corpse of a monster. It was a miserable method that you could arrive there naturally if you searched an area going through turmoil long enough.

Tino was excellent. Only a handful of people could reach Level 4 in such a short period of time. And, she achieved it through Liz’s training that seemed severe even to Hunters that had been through many battles. I think saying torture was a bit of an over-exaggeration, but since she just returned from a Hunt Liz was probably still a bit fired up.

“It’s alright it’s alright. Because Liz is usually rough.”

“…Aah, 『Severed Shadow』 was a member of Cry’s party wasn’t she?”

Five people turned over silent inexpressible gazes.

A child of ours is always troubling you, forgive us.

“If we try to stop her she’ll fight back, so it’s better for us to wait a bit before we go in ―”\n\n“…Anthem and Lucia both, no one is here to put a stop to her. Why did Liz have to return alone?”

Sven and the people behind him seem to be fed up. If it was this man he would be able to put up a fight to some extent, but in that situation Liz-chan would keep biting until one of them collapsed…

The members of Strange Grief… my childhood friends were roughly divided into two groups. The problem children, and the ones with comparatively good sense.

And in our party generally, there was the equation that Liz and Luke caused uproars, and Anthem and Lucia pacified them. The current Liz without a stopper was more vicious than the monsters in the area.

A child of ours is always troubling you, truly please forgive us.

“She released all the traps and arrived at the Boss room, but abandoned it and quickly came back because she seemed to want to return home.”

“…This time it was the 【Fortress of 10,000 Demons】 wasn’t it?”

Sven frowned at the incredible talk. I also found it incredible. Liz truly behaved freely.

By all rights abandoning others at a Shrine and returning wasn’t something permissible. But in our party everyone except one person were childhood friends, everyone was a free spirit and they were all skilled.

Well, it wasn’t the healer that left, and they had another thief so it would work out somehow.

Sven spoke to me in a hurry.

“If you don’t stop them quickly, Tino will die.”

“Ahaha, that’s too much. People won’t die that easily.”

“N-No, really…”

Liz was indeed the Genocider, with the habit of indiscriminately biting out here and there and getting caught by the guards in a brawl many times over. And she was a person that would keep beating the other side until a reward came out and continue until there was just dust remaining. But she wasn’t someone that would kill her own disciple.

Sven and the others took a step back. I gave an exasperated smile and slowly opened the door to the training ground.

Liz was standing in the center of the training ground. Her pink blonde hair was tied up at the back, coupled together with her small build it looked cute.

Regrettably, scattered at her feet was something like a ragged lump of clothing, and her penetrating cold and indifferent voice made it all less sweet seeming.

“Hey? Why aren’t you standing? How come you won’t stand? Is this already your limit? It shouldn’t be right? Maybe you can’t draw anything else out? Are you trying to make light of me? Want to die? You want to die? You think you won’t die? Think you won’t be killed? Should I kill you? Don’t you have something important? Nothing to protect? Why are you’re arms and legs not moving, even though they’re still attached? If you don’t bring out all your power ― you’ll die.”

“Ok let’s leave it there-!”

Without breaking my smile, I wedged my way between them while clapping my hands.

Of course my inner mind was pulling back. Please, I just want you to live a little more peacefully.

Translator Notes

-The guy Cry meets on the staircase calls him Cry-dono. From anime you mainly see this used for like a knight character or something referring to their lord. However from the way the hunter talks it seems intentionally informal. It’s not really used in real life Japanese apparently. Either used by really old people or used to make fun of old people. Anyway it didn’t seem necessary to me, since it might get confused as super respectful when it (probably) isn’t and also since we’re unlikely to see that nameless character again anyway. -Sven Anger(both Germanic – Norse). His last name I guess could be Unger (Germanic also). But Anger is legitimate plus it has that naming convention thing going for it so why not.