Chapter 29: Strange Grief Wants to Retire ~ The Weakest Hunterâs Hero Dream Chapter 29 \n29 ćŞĺ¤˘ Nightmare\n
I had a dream. A dream where the Capital was burning brightly, a dream of the worldâs end.
The sky burned a deep red. Screams cried out. The hunters, knights, merchants, and the townspeople ran away in mass confusion. The wide streets were awash with people, all frantically trying to escape the city. And, the walls originally meant to protect them, prevented them from leaving.
I was alone in an empty room as I looked down at the Imperial Capital from above.
The room where I always spent my time, the top floor of the clan house of ăFootprintsă. Overlooking the Capital I understood the circumstances perfectly. And also the reason why the sky was burning.
The Imperial Capital that was soon to surpass a history of three hundred years, Zebrudia. The well ordered streets were covered by burning red liquid.
Thick viscous liquid slowly spread outwards through the city. It was as if a giant tsunami was consuming the Capital, however there were no oceans in the vicinity. From above it could be seen that the way it flowed was different to that of water.
That was â clearly aiming towards the living.
Rather than the vacant buildings, empty carriages, and unmanned stalls, it prioritised the escaping children and elderly, and the knights trying to control the chaos. All life that came into contact with the liquid without exception burst into flames like a torch, vanishing without a trace in seconds.
Emptied armour and clothes, swords tumbled by the wayside. The air that touched the skin was hot.
For three hundred years, the walls that protected every person from the surrounding monsters and phantoms prevented each one from escaping. The Capital Zebrudia was surrounded by walls, and the exits were too narrow for the amount trying to escape. With the capacity overflowing, the slow evacuation didnât advance.
The castle seen from far away already showed no sign of life. Already, half the city had transformed into ruins. Buildings were undamaged and life had vanished cleanly without corpses. The quiet streets were extremely eerie. There might be survivors inside the buildings, but the surrounding liquid made escape hopeless.
There was no indication the volume of liquid would decrease. On the contrary, little by little it looked like it was increasing. This liquid wouldnât stay inside the capital. Eventually it would exit the walls and wash over the whole world.
No, that â wasnât liquid. I already knew.
That was a living thing. It was the weakest monster that existed in nature. That was itâs base of creation, a product of madness that shouldnât exist.\n
Told to treat with caution, and thoughtlessly set free (maybe).
Before I knew, a girl was standing next to me overlooking the same scene that I was. A gentle impression was given from her droopy eyes and short cut pink blonde hair.
A featureless simple grey robe, it wasnât something magical that Magi would wear into Shrines. They were work clothes worn under the assumption they would get dirtied.
The girl turned to face me as if just noticing. Her eyes were opened wide. She was smiling in spite of the crisis, and spoke in a soft voice as if for small talk.
Her voice was heated. I wasnât sure what she was saying, but I could see her excitement from her glittering eyes.
I desperately tried to stop her but my voice wouldnât come out. My whole body was filled with dark despair and impatience. I seized her shoulders, and the girl gave a bashful smile and embraced me.
Thatâs not it. Iâm not praising you!
I gripped both shoulders, and pushed her body away. As I shook the shoulders of the child that was happy with the results of her slime, I woke up.
I rose from bed in the total darkness of the room, my body trembling. My back was cold with sweat, and my heart still pounded furiously.
That was a terrible dream. Yet it held sobering reality. Particularly when she embraced me.
I was someone that was prone to worrying so I often had bad dreams, but that was unmistakably the number one of recent times.
I slowly regained my breath. I persuaded myself.
Itâs ok, the Capital wouldnât fall into ruin that easily.
Zebrudiaâs strength as a nation was high.\nItâs knights boasted of invincibility, several hundred Magi assembled a force of sorcery. And there were many hunters and former hunters here. It wasnât just the military might that was powerful. The Empire was also at the forefront of information, technology and research. It was without a doubt that strongest of the surrounding countries. And the Imperial Capital where it wouldnât be strange for anything to happen considering the surrounding Shrines, had the greatest defence capabilities. If the Capital was destroyed by a sudden disaster, the other countries also wouldnât be able to be a match for it.
âŚHm? Could this maybe be bad?
For some reason the vividly remembered scene from the dream entered into my mind, and I shook my head.
âNo no no no no, my dream canât be true.â
âmm⌠whatâs wrong?â
A sluggish voice came from the left. Looking over while laying on her side, Liz got up as if it was natural.
Her face slightly resembled the girl in my dream â Sytry, and I involuntarily grimaced. Liz and Sytry were blood related sisters. They had many places they were different in such as hair length, eye type, and height. But their appearance was so similar that if you put them in disguise you wouldnât be able to tell them apart.
Liz had no malice and smiled at me.
âMorning, Cry-chan. Sleep well?â
Thin fabric. Liz stretched out in her nightclothes made for comfort, and she came over and clung to my arm as my heart beat in ill manner. Brimming with energy, Lizâs body temperature was quite higher than mine. Being embraced would make me gradually sweat.
This was the nightmares origin. She wasnât there before I went to bed thoughâŚ
I felt like making a complaint, but it was no use saying I had a nightmare.
As I didnât reply with anything, Lizâs leg twisted around my own.
The ring around her ankle touched me, and it felt slightly cold. It was the form of Lizâs Relic, Highest Roots, when it was on standby. When it wasnât in use, her shoe type Relic transformed into a ring. Liz who was always saying to be combat ready at all times, didnât remove her Relic when she was taking a shower or when she went to bed. In a day she would only remove her Relic for an instant.\n\nIt was a bad dream. Just a bad dream. It was because of Sytry, and also Liz that I was unable to sleep well. Unbelievable sisters.
âAlright. Lets go out together.â
âKya-! Thanks, Cry-chan!â
Liz raised a shrill voice and buried her head into my chest. I stroked the head of my friend giving violent skinship, and breathed a sigh.
§
At the entrance to the clan house, Liz glared at the large man, with a look more dangerous than a runaway monster.
Whether the opponent was a noble, a knight, a veteran soldier, or an acquaintance, belonging to her own group or a higher up of the Explorers Association, her attitude remained the same. Lizâs figure was different to when overcoming shrines, it looked completely casual and unlike a hunter. No knife, belt, or other held weapon. The colour of her attire remained black, but she wore a skirt and her stomach was showing.
However one thing from when she hunted shrines was constant. Most of her legs up to the knees were covered by a black Relic, and her foot was tapping the ground in irritation.
From the good humour of earlier, the difference was too intense.
âYou know Cry-chan is busy today? Can you not get in the way of Liz-chan with something stupid? We donât have the time to clean up after some small fry, so beat it.â
âLizâŚ? So the bitch has already returned has she? How was the ăMyriad Demon Castleă? Youâre supposed to make a report when you capture a shrine level 7 or higher right?â
Gark-san scowled at the tiny berserker that he hadnât seen around lately. They had been associating for a long time, so he knew how tiresome Liz was when she was in a bad mood.
Behind him was Kaina who wasnât a former hunter, her expression turned pale as she watched the other two. Ah-, the timing was bad.
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Translator Notes
I think previously I named the level 7(or was it 8) shrine â fortress of 10,000 demons? I read the manga, and it looked like the disney castle, so I changed the name. In my defence I feel like it had been built up as an ominous place. Gark calling Liz a bitch. So he says âTemeeâ here, which isnât something nice but could just be taken as him being rude to her. Itâs honestly quite difficult to convey that. And using bitch makes him seem sort of sexist which isnât there originally. Youâll just have to forgive me on this, since I want the scene to have the dramatic impact but I donât have the skills. Something else is that when Liz says âclean up afterâ she literally says âwipe the ass ofâ. Droopy eyes. Apparently Japanese have a thing about the attractiveness of slanted eyes and droopy eyes. Iâm ignorant of it though.