Strange Grief Wants to Retire ~ The Weakest Hunter Dreams of a Hero ~ - Volume 2 - Chapter SS

Side Story: Sitri’s Growth Journal

Sitri Smart had cried a lot. She’d been so timid compared to her sister, Liz, that I sometimes couldn’t believe they’d been related. Back in the day, she’d come crying to me at the drop of a hat. Her brother, Ansem, had been quiet and stoic, and her sister had been...well, Liz, so the responsibility had fallen upon me, the party leader, to lend her a shoulder.

On another note, I’d known nothing. Well, I’d had basic knowledge and vocabulary about treasure hunting, but those had still been insufficiently specialized for me to comprehend most of what Sitri had been saying. Still, I’d been an effective listener for Sitri because she hadn’t been looking for practical advice or even more knowledge. She’d been dedicated, hardworking, and unmistakably talented (I may be biased); the only thing she’d lacked had been confidence.

I’d assumed that watching the others grow stronger and stronger had rattled her. Sitri had been plenty strong in my book already, but she’d always held a low opinion of and maintained very high standards for herself. Since Alchemists needed to be skilled in many departments, Sitri had always made herself the most studious of all of us. The only thing I could do had been giving her pretty useless advice confidently. It’d been exactly her own hard work that had made her the ever-smiling, best-studied Alchemist I’d known.

This...was a record of Sitri’s growth throughout the years, written by her useless advisor:

***

Sitri, fifteen at the time, had come to me with tears in her eyes.

“I want to be useful too...”

“You already are,” I’d said.

Grieving Souls had one of the best attack and defensive capabilities of any party I’d seen, and Sitri was the backbone of our operations. She handled everything including replenishing our supplies, researching information on vaults and phantoms, and even negotiating if it came to it. Even though she wasn’t the best fighter in our party, we couldn’t operate without her. She was so useful that there was practically nothing left for me to do. Most of the time, I just stood by Sitri and watched, not bothering to perform the duties of a party leader.

I meant what I’d said, but Sitri shook her head.

“Not when in battles! I...want to join our fights! I can’t stand just giving directions from afar!” she said as she buried her face in my chest.

“Yeah...uh-huh.”

I patted her head to calm her down.

But that isn’t the job of an Alchemist, is it? I thought.

She’d already contributed infinitely more than I had to the party, and she still wanted to do more. Besides, our battles were always intense, so I thought she might be better off pursuing a supporting role rather than becoming yet another attacker. We were too bloodthirsty then.

For the first time in a while, I seriously contemplated her conundrum.

“Well...then why don’t you try throwing potions or something?”

At the time, Sitri’s role in battle was to give direction, as well as to support and heal the other members before and after combat. Combat was too intense for her to directly intervene, but if she could at least heal the other members midcombat, that would make a huge difference for our party.

Sitri looked up at me and crooked her neck. She said, “You mean...I should brew poison to throw at our enemies?”

“What?! W-Well, I’m sure you’re good at brewing poison, but—” Why is she so hell-bent on killing things?

“But most existing poisons are useless against monsters and phantoms—”

“Aren’t those illegal anyway?” I pointed out.

“I’m licensed to handle them, of course—oh, I see...”

Since when has she obtained that license?

With utmost sincerity, Sitri said, “I just need to concoct a brand-new poison: something that could kill phantoms and monsters with just a single drop.”

“What?!”

“Now that you’ve mentioned it, I’ve been too focused on healing and supporting—but with my aim, the poison may hit Liz or Luke—”

“W-W-W-W-Wait just a second!” I blurted out, taken aback by her confusion.

My intentions had been completely twisted in translation! And so, with a deep breath, I attempted to talk some sense into her.

“You know...you can rely on your friends some more, Sitri.” Just leave the attacking to Luke and Liz, I thought. After all, that’s all they’ve cared to learn.

Sitri clapped her hands as if in revelation; her tears had already dried.

“I understand...” she’d said. “I just need to help them build immunity, so they won’t be affected by the poison even if it hits them... That’d help them survive other poisons too. What a revolutionary idea! What have I been so worried about? I have so much research to do! Thank you, Krai!”

With that, Sitri had beamed at me and stormed off before I could get a word in edgewise.

***

Sitri, sixteen at the time, had come to me with her lips tightly pursed and tears welling in her eyes.

“Krai, I can’t do this anymore... I’m useless...”

“Come here. Deep breaths, deep breaths,” I’d begun to console her.

Sitri had leaped into my arms.

Nowadays, her physical growth in the breast department was getting really noticeable when she held me like this. This was a bit awkward for me, feeling those soft peaks through her thick robe—not that I was paying them any mind in Sitri’s time of need.

“The enemies we’ve been facing are too nimble for me to hit them with my poison!” she said while sobbing.

“Yeah, uh-huh...”

Sitri’s poison-throwing tactic had proven deadly. With just a drop, her poison melted away monsters—even those with impenetrable exoskeletons. In some vaults, she’d kill more enemies than even Luke or Liz. That, of course, had stoked a flame in their hearts. For a while, Sitri, Liz, and Luke had competed to see who could kill the most monsters and phantoms during our quests.

Her voice quivering, Sitri pushed her body against mine.

“What should I do...? At this rate, you’ll expel me from the party.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” But you’re an Alchemist—you’re supposed to be the backup.

Sitri had somehow gotten herself into the front line, much to my terror. Watching her jump into action hadn’t been good for my blood pressure. Chucking vial after vial of poison didn’t seem quite right for her.

“Why don’t you take a moment to ponder the essence of an Alchemist’s role? I’m sure you’re tired of throwing poison vials around too.”

“The essence of an Alchemist’s role...” she repeated.

As she said, she put her ear against my chest as if to listen for my heartbeat. I’d say the same for Liz, but there was something off about the Smart girls: they acted like they didn’t consider me as a guy.

“When you put it that way...maybe as an Alchemist, I should contribute magical creatures rather than poison,” she said.

“Huh...? Yeah, uh-huh.” Who was I to disagree? Her new pursuit would work out better for me at least.

Creating magical creatures, along with concocting poisons and potions, was a craft reserved for Alchemists: they created artificial life-forms like homunculi, golems, slimes, and more. There weren’t too many Alchemist hunters in history for Sitri to take inspiration from, but I heard that even Alchemists who worked in labs kept a golem or two as bodyguards. Pursuing this path surely had to be better than chucking incredibly lethal vials of poison at our enemies.

“But, Krai, I’ve done my research on this: slimes, homunculi, golems, chimeras...they’re all too frail, at least for the hunts we go on.”

“Well...”

“Chimeras are the most durable of them all, but building a strong one requires the corpses of powerful monsters. For how difficult it’d be to obtain the ingredients, it won’t be very... The wrong combination will lead to immunodeficiency... Considering the growth potential...” Sitri rambled on, teary-eyed.

While I didn’t understand most of what she was saying, it sounded like she had put a lot of thought and effort into that already. Like she’d said, I supposed there were hardly any magical creatures that could keep up with high-level hunters. If making magical creatures of such caliber had been easy, all the Alchemists would’ve been taking on side gigs as hunters.

“Yeah, uh-huh. Hunters are just about the only people who can make it through high-level vaults anyway,” I said.

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed better for Sitri to stick to a support role. Harsher battles would mean a greater need for support anyway.

Sitri looked at me with her eyes reddened from crying. “Hunters are just about the only people who can make it through high-level vaults...” she parroted. “Yes! I just need hunters!”

“Huh?”

Sitri was now mumbling to herself incoherently in my arms. In this state, even my words wouldn’t be able to reach her. Times like this reminded me that she really was Liz’s sister.

“Chimeras...a patchwork of the strongest parts... If they’re all humans, I won’t have to worry about necrosis...strengthen them with mana material... With humans, its mana material intake rate...”

“Yeah, uh-huh...” I said while combing her hair with my fingers as she continued.

“But how can I get my hands on them...? We can’t hunt down other hunters...can we, Krai?”

“Uh, no... No, we can’t.” How did that thought get into her? “Crime is bad, Sitri, just to be clear. What goes around comes around, you know?”

Massacring monsters and phantoms daily seemed to have taken a toll on her moral compass. Helping my friends retain their humanity might very well have been one of the few things only I could do. Maybe that had been my purpose in life...

Sitri clapped her hands. “What goes around comes around... Crime... Criminal hunters... The great prison... You’re right! There’ll be plenty of ingredients there, plenty of talented hunters...” Sitri rambled on incoherently.

Sometimes, I wondered if she was just too smart for me to understand her words.

Suddenly, she turned her gaze to the ground and said, “But...do you really think I can do it?”

Her frail shoulders were trembling.

Whatever she was aspiring to do, her nervousness was threatening to make the better of her. With her talent and the skills she’d worked so hard to build, she could do anything.

All I could do was to encourage her. I held her tight and patted her back.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but you can do anything you set your mind to,” I’d said.

After a few moments in my embrace, Sitri had stood strong again, her tears dried.

“You’re right. I’ll never know if I don’t try. Thank you, Krai! I better start planning...!”

“Okey dokey, good luck.”

Another job well done.

With a satisfied smile, I’d watched Sitri set off on her project.

***

“I messed up, Krai...”

Sitri had come to me completely downhearted.

Accused of aiding the breakout at the great prison, Sitri was in a serious predicament. Every bit of circumstantial evidence pointed to Sitri being involved. There was no smoking gun, but it seemed like we, the Grievers, were the only ones who had faith in Sitri’s innocence.

I’d used every connection I’d made since moving to the capital to try and defend Sitri, but I’d only achieved to cast a tiny shadow of a doubt to her guilt.

All the high-level hunters who’d broken out of the prison were still at-large, and the Third Order was frantically searching for them and any physical evidence of the culprit.

Honestly, I’d never felt that powerless in my life.

“I’ll accept the moniker; some blame lies with me too. It’s no good if the culprit hasn’t been apprehended. There are plenty of things I can learn from this. Next time...next time, I won’t make such a mistake. I’ll be better,” Sitri said.

She remained strong. Even in the face of great dishonor and the worst punishment a hunter could ever receive, she didn’t change. Tears no longer filled her eyes, which glimmered with determination instead.

A full-fledged Alchemist stood before me.

“But I did get my hands on some wonderful ingredients. So it all worked out in the end.”

Whatever ingredients she’d been talking about, I was happy that she was focusing on the future.

Sitri had smiled and said, “It’s all thanks to you, Krai. Thank you so, so much!”

***

Sitri, seventeen at the time, had come to me cheerful and blushing.

“Look, Krai! I’ve finally managed to put them together. It’s still a work in progress, but I really wanted to show you, so...here it is.”

Standing over two meters tall, the thing was like a gray boulder. Its humanoid frame was bulging inhumanly with muscles. Only a banana hammock and a paper bag mask covered its anatomy, the bag contracting and expanding with its heavy breathing.

The shock of coming face-to-face (or face-to-bag) with that creature was almost enough to make me barf. I’d seen plenty of unhinged hunters over the years but nothing as off-the-wall as that. If Sitri had told me that this thing towering above me was a potential new member of Grieving Souls, I would’ve retired on the spot.

“It’s wonderful! At this rate, it can continue to adapt to higher-level treasure vaults. Organic is the way to go! I did waste a lot of the ingredients though... Anyway, its name is Killiam!” she explained.

In response, Killiam shrieked, “Kill...”

“Uh-huh...?” I said, completely disgusted. I’d never seen any creature like this before. “What is it?”

“Um...a magical creature,” Sitri said.

“A magical creature?!”

I would’ve been less surprised if she’d told me the thing was a bona fide demon.

With Killiam’s shoulders rising and falling in the background, Sitri smiled at me and said, “Yes, a magical creature—my magnum opus! Considering the ingredients used, I already know it can absorb mana material at a remarkable rate. The more vaults I take it to, the stronger it will become!”

Killiam already looked too strong for my taste... What was more disconcerting though, was the fact that she planned to take the thing around like a pet...

What does this have to do with alchemy whatsoever? I thought. What kind of magical creature is it anyway?! This is complete madness!

Shining through the holes in the paper bag were Killiam’s eyes—I wanted to barf!

Sitri, her eyes lowered, timidly suggested, “This has really helped me on becoming more confident. So I’ve been thinking of furthering my research on some other magical creatures. I’d stopped myself from conducting such research before... I don’t know if I’ll succeed with it, but—”

Masking my disgust flawlessly, I calmly advised her, “Sitri, why don’t you go do some research with other Alchemists in a lab outside the clan? I’m sure that will be better than taking this on alone.”

“What...?”

And have them remind you what’s right and what’s wrong, I’d thought.