Strange Grief Wants to Retire ~ The Weakest Hunter Dreams of a Hero ~ - Volume 4 - Chapter 1.2

The sun was setting, casting a thin shadow over the capital. A single carriage was in front of the clan house. It was a nondescript box-shaped carriage pulled by two horses. It lacked the First Steps insignia, proving that it wasn’t property of the clan. This meant the carriage’s passengers wouldn’t be immediately obvious.

Eva, who had gone beyond her usual duties and procured the carriage, tried to gauge my reaction.

“You said you wanted something that wouldn’t stand out too much...” she began.

“Yeah, this looks good,” I said.

Trusting Eva had paid off. Carriages usually had to be reserved in advance. The Explorers’ Association could be a bit more flexible, but this didn’t look like one of theirs. I had asked her not even a day in advance, but she delivered with spectacular results.

“It’s a rental, so there will be a fee if it’s destroyed,” she said. “While it’s not an enormous sum...”

“I won’t destroy it.”

“Okay, but how many carriages have you destroyed thus far?”

Eva looked at me with a sharp gaze. It seemed she had absolutely no faith in me.

“They weren’t destroyed, they just broke down,” I said with a cough.

It wasn’t my fault. There was nothing I could’ve done. 

I once thought of carriages as sturdy things. I later learned just how frail they are. Even one reinforced with metal plating wouldn’t last a minute against the attacks of a swarm of monsters or phantoms.

Of course, we weren’t intentionally catching the ire of monsters, nor were we charging into their homes, but treasure hunting was still a dangerous job. Not too long prior, I had even been denied a carriage insurance plan specifically intended for hunters. It was the strangest thing.

Eva looked over my Relic-covered attire with a scrutinizing gaze and spoke in a fast, clinical tone.

“It would be of great help to me if you were to return as quickly as you can.”

“Mm, of course.”

There wasn’t a hint of antipathy in her eyes. Eva was wasted on a person like me.

Yeah, I’ll return as quickly as I can. You bet I will. But I didn’t say just when that’ll be. 

My return would, at the very least, be after the conclusion of the Gathering of the White Blade.

“When’s the Gathering of the White Blade?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s the same every year, so...three weeks from now.”

Three weeks, huh? That’s further out than I expected. This is looking like it could be a long vacation. That should be more than enough time to meet up with the others. It might be nice to actually take some time to rest. 

In the end, I failed to find any other clan members to join us. I guess I couldn’t complain, I brought it up out of the blue after all. Still, what terrible timing, everyone had funerals, weddings, or just wasn’t feeling well.

Depending on how you looked at it, you could also see fewer people as a good thing. It meant we only needed one carriage.

“Krai, forgive my tardiness.”

From the other side of the road, Sitri ran to us in traveling clothes. She was in a green robe and had a large gray bag on her back. Behind her, carrying a sturdy-looking trunk and wearing a robe that was meant to be discreet (but maybe had the opposite effect) was Killiam.

Preparing for a journey, gathering supplies and information on treasure vaults, was always Sitri’s job. Luke and Liz were especially prone to forgetting things, so it fell to Sitri to assist on that front. The bag on her back wasn’t an infinite storage Magic Bag, but it was still a mysterious thing that held everything you could want. Sitri was second to none at support.

I smiled and looked back on good memories when Sitri turned around.

“Krai, allow me to make some introductions. Meet our new associates.”

“Huh?”

Three people who looked like bad news eyed me with intimidating glares. I had seen them when Sitri first arrived, but I hadn’t thought they were with her. They were all bigger than me; even the one woman in the trio stood over me.

They all differed in hair and eye color, but each one looked quite vicious. One had a scar on her cheek, another had a tattoo covering a large swath of his exposed shoulder. The last one had no scars or tattoos, but I could tell by his eyes that he was a cunning one. All three wore around their necks distinct metal chokers that gave off a strange glow.

If I ran into this bunch on the street, I’d keep my distance. I definitely didn’t want to be riding in the same carriage as them. Not one of them said a word, even after looking at me. There was just an oppressive silence. Eva looked put off.

Only Sitri was grinning. I was impressed by her ability to smile while being surrounded by such obvious ruffians. Long ago, she would’ve started crying in such a situation...

“Umm, this is Black, White, and Gray,” she said.

“Are those their real names?” I asked.

“Think of them like code names.”

Black, White, and Gray. I guess those are based on their hair colors. It’s easy enough to understand, but how do they feel about these code names? Not that I even know their connection to Sitri.

The three of them looked clearly displeased when Sitri mentioned their code names. A vein bulged on one of their foreheads and I heard the sound of grinding teeth. One of their hands began to tremble. I wondered why they weren’t saying anything.

Sitri was a cautious person. I didn’t think there would be any problems, but I still had something I wanted to confirm, just in case.

“Uh, these associates, they’ve agreed to this?” I asked in a hushed voice.

“Of course. They’re indebted to me,” she said.

It didn’t look like that at all. They looked at us like they were looking at enemies. They even seemed intent on murder. I didn’t know what sort of debt they had to Sitri, but they didn’t seem like the type to bring on a fun vacation. Honestly, I didn’t want them coming along at all.

“You’re bringing all three of them?” I asked.

“Oh, I thought I’d test them out...”

Sitri once again turned around, looked at the trio, and then clapped her hands as though she had an idea.

“If there’s anyone not to your liking, Krai, I’ll liquidate them,” she said. “I’ll figure something out before Lizzy arrives.”

Liquidate. What a funny word to use, I thought.

The faces of the three ruffians instantly became stiff when Sitri said this. I figured they most likely had been hired by Sitri. Sitri had a degree of sway in the capital; it was only reasonable that those three might worry at the thought of losing work.

I understood how they felt. Even unpleasant work must be done; living is difficult, and as much as it pained me to say it, three more people were too many. Liz and Tino were coming, and Killiam would be joining us as well, there was no room left in the carriage.

“Don’t hold back on my account,” Sitri said with a thin smile. “You needn’t worry about hurting anyone’s feelings.”

“Right...”

I folded my arms and looked at the one woman of the trio. She was tall for a woman, half a head taller than me. Her skin was dark and her body was toned. Her black hair was cut close and she had a large scar on her cheek.

She didn’t look at all endearing, but she seemed even stronger than Liz. My guess was that she was a mercenary. Either way, she had the air of someone who had survived many battles and looked just as dangerous as the other two.

Without softening her expression, she spoke up for the first time. Her voice was deep, but it was indeed a woman’s.

“C-Call me Black. I’m a capable killer,” she said.

What an unexpected response. My eyes widened.

Killing, huh? Will we have a need for such a specialty? Well, she seems more than fit to protect us.

I pretended not to hear her and moved on to White, who had white hair flowing over the right side of his head. He had a well-trained body and one of his shoulders had a tattoo. He looked quite like a bad guy.

“C-Call me White,” he said in a dry voice. “It’s an honor to meet you. I-I’ll do anything you need me to.”

“Anything?”

“Er... Anything!”

Hmm, he isn’t short on motivation. So he’ll protect us and carry our luggage? You wouldn’t tell by looking at him, but he seems like a good guy.

I looked at the final one, the man with the gray hair—Gray.

Gray was smaller than the other two. It seemed possible that he was a Thief. He didn’t seem like he could fight as well as the others in the trio, but he looked at me with sharp, appraising eyes.

Considering that all three were hired by Sitri, it seemed safe to assume they were reliable...which wasn’t to say they should be relied on.

But when I really thought about it, wouldn’t Liz and Tino be enough for protection? Killiam would also be with us and I just didn’t think I could relax with unfamiliar faces along for the ride.

I looked at Sitri and made a half-hearted smile.

“Sorry, but could the three of them—” I began.

Sitri’s eyes went wide and she held a hand over her mouth.

I opened my mouth to say the rest, but, out of nowhere, White and Black slammed Gray. They attacked without hesitation and it made a terrible sound like someone being hit with a blunt weapon. Gray flew across the street and landed all the way on the other side. I stood frozen as the other two yelled with rage.

With intense expressions, Black and White started mercilessly kicking Gray while he was down. It sounded awful.

“You sack of shit! We promised we’d behave! Die!”

“Apologize! Apologize to Sitri! You worthless garbage! Think you’re too good for this?!”

Gray’s head was slammed down and a crack formed in the ground. Blood splattered all over. I felt like I was having a nightmare. Eva went pale. Sitri, however, didn’t even flinch.

Just how much does Sitri’s employment mean to them?!

I continued to stand still in fear of the sudden bloodbath before me.

“I thought it might be best to make an example of one of them, but all three...” Sitri said, sounding troubled.

“I-I’m joking. I’m only joking.”

Yeah, a joke. They can come along with us, it’s fine. I just need to bear with it. I should just bear with it. 

Sitri rested a relieved hand on her chest.

“Hmm, so it was only a joke? That’s a relief,” she said and looked over at Gray being beaten to a pulp. “The truth is, they’re not yet fully trained. I’ll do what I can, but please understand if they’re a tad rambunctious.”

“Yeah, uh-huh.”

Is this really okay?

Watching Sitri stand between Black and White, I had serious doubts about it all, but I shook my head and forced myself to forget about it. There was nothing I could do so there was no use worrying about it.

Sitri made a face so scary you’d think she was a different person than the one I had just been talking to.

“Not to me! If you’re going to apologize, then apologize to Krai!” she shouted. “You’re no use to me, acting like you are! If you embarrass me then you’ll be getting the axe.”

Even though the sun was setting, there were still a fair number of people walking about. They had started keeping their distance, but it was possible someone might call the knights on us.

I turned away from Sitri and smiled at Eva.

“It’s gonna be a super fun vacation,” I said.

“Uh, huh. I hope you have a good time,” she replied. “And please come back as quickly as you can.”

It looks like even Eva won’t share in the joy. I just want to stay inside. 

Some familiar people came running out from the clan house. Perhaps they wanted to join us? Was I grasping at straws? An older hunter covered in bandages clung to me while tears flowed from his eyes.

“W-Wait! CM, is it true you’re headed out of the capital? If you are, then bring that creature!”

“Creature?”

“I’m talking about Drink! We can’t handle it anymore! At this rate, someone’s going to get killed!”

His eyes were bloodshot. If memory serves, this fellow was a Level 5. Behind him were many other hunters, all haggard and nodding repeatedly. Every one of them was wearing bandages somewhere on their body.

Drink. I had foisted every aspect of its care onto the other hunters. I wasn’t sure what to think if it had grown enough to be too much even for pro monster killers. Maybe it was just too much to try to keep it in captivity without killing it. But I considered that to be entirely Sitri’s responsibility.

Drink’s caretakers didn’t await my response and went inside. They came out again with five of them pulling Drink by chains thick as a person’s finger. It hadn’t even been a month since I last saw the critter, but it had already become an adult, growing with eerie rapidity.

When Sitri first brought Drink in, it fit in a crate small enough for a person to easily carry, but now it was nearly two meters long. I could probably ride on its back. From that back sprouted wings and they had even grown a splendid mane. Even as a cub, Drink was strong enough to kill me, but now it had become an outright monster.

Drink looked at me and let out a sweet meooow, something entirely unexpected from such a creature. But the large fangs in its mouth didn’t escape my notice.

The color drained from the faces of Sitri’s trio when they saw Drink. I was about to lose my will to go on when I heard some loud voices.

“Nooo! Forgive me, Lizzy! I can’t see Master after all!”

“Learn when to give up! You’ll always remain a whelp if you don’t pull yourself together! How many times have I told you? Krai Baby already knows how pathetic you are! If you keep feeling sorry for yourself, it affects my honor as your mentor!”

We hadn’t even left, yet I had a bad feeling forming in my gut. I looked at Liz as she dragged Tino along, then I wordlessly entered the carriage, pretended nothing had happened, and hugged my knees.

I already wanna go home...

***

“About that potion you asked me to identify, it’s a potent hangover cure.”

“Huh?”

Arnold was talking with a famous apothecary, well-known even within the imperial capital. The blood rushed to his head and the rest of Falling Fog were abuzz. Sitri Smart had pulled the wool over their eyes. The potion she had charged upwards of one hundred million gild for was a hangover cure. It was, in a sense, a sort of antidote, but that was beside the point.

Thinking about it with a cooler head, it did seem improbable that a hunter, no matter how dangerous, would poison another hunter’s meal. She had been mocking them. Arnold considered getting revenge through legal action, but it would be hard to win with just the appraisal results.

However, Arnold decided that didn’t matter. He decided he would put all other plans on hold for the time being. Grieving Souls had invited the wrath of the Crashing Lightning. They had wounded his pride. It didn’t matter that the Thousand Tricks was of a higher level than Arnold. If he didn’t settle this matter, he would both remain unsatisfied and possibly lose party members.

He would take down Grieving Souls as quickly as he could. He didn’t care about any past promises; he preferred to keep things simple. Arnold looked back on all the misfortune he had run into since arriving at the capital.

At the tavern, Liz Smart attacked him without warning and his defeat had been witnessed by other hunters. In a public area, he had been defeated by the Thousand Tricks. Sitri had all but extorted him into buying a hangover cure at an exorbitant price. He realized that these schemes had led to Falling Fog’s being at odds with Hidden Curse, a well-known clan—another incident that had been witnessed by many.

What bothered Arnold more than anything was that he hadn’t once been able to display his strength. There was nothing more important for hunters than strength. A weak hunter was worth even less than a hunter prone to stirring up trouble. If he didn’t get an opportunity to show his might, it would be hard for Arnold and Falling Fog to make a living in the capital.

Things weren’t looking good. They were a strong party, but that didn’t change the fact that at this rate they might fall apart.

If they wanted to turn things around, they needed to do something that would make everyone realize what Falling Fog was capable of. At their current rate, Falling Fog was at risk of being belittled not just by high-level hunters and the Explorers’ Association, but also by low-level hunters and civilians.

They could resort to a more physical means of stopping people from bad-mouthing them, but that could only go so far. Taking down Grieving Souls would solve their problems in a flash. Arnold had briefly buried the hatchet, but it was Grieving Souls who provoked them. That gave Falling Fog plenty of reason to go after them; they had no obligation to hold back either.

Grieving Souls had picked a fight and Falling Fog couldn’t just ignore it.

They would beat their opponents. The names Falling Fog and Crashing Lightning would shake the capital. Even if their chances of victory were slim, they would fight back. That was just how hunters lived. The Thousand Tricks had escaped them at the café, but that wouldn’t happen a second time.

Arnold was training at their lodge. He was swinging his beloved sword in an effort to shake off their earlier humiliation when his right hand Eigh Lalia ran in.

“Arnold, we’ve got bad news! I was listening in on a conversation about First Steps and it sounds like the Thousand Tricks has left the capital. He’s going on a vacation and nobody knows when he’ll be back.”

Arnold’s mind went blank.

After making fools of Falling Fog, he was now taking a vacation? What a clown.

The blood rushed to his head, but Arnold’s breath was ragged and he instead gave a concise order.

“We’re going after them. Get everyone ready.”

***

“Krai left the capital? Another sudden departure...”

In the Explorers’ Association branch manager’s office, Gark once again found himself busy processing documents. One report had taken him by surprise.

The Thousand Tricks was a hunter who deserved his status as a Level 8, but his one failing was his tendency to be slow to take action. It seemed he had everything planned out, but he was always causing people out of the loop, like Gark, to worry.

The named quest from Earl Gladis carried tremendous significance. Successful completion of the quest would likely make the earl more affable to hunters and that would benefit hunters in ways that money couldn’t buy.

Even Krai wouldn’t put off such an important task, Gark thought, his scowl still affixed to his face.

“However, Krai didn’t take the quest brief with him, did he?” Kaina asked after blinking a few times. “And Chloe was supposed to accompany him, but—”

“Ah?! Dammit, Krai!”

Quest briefs were documents that laid out the details of a task put forward by the Explorers’ Association. These papers were usually handed off to hunters undertaking a quest. They had tried to hand off the brief to Krai earlier, but he had turned it down.

It was unlikely that he had left the capital without knowing the details of the quest. Krai Andrey wasn’t that stupid and he had on multiple previous occasions completed quests without looking at the brief, though how he managed this remained a mystery.

Except, this quest was unlike any other.

This named quest was a joint operation between Krai and the earl’s personal knights. The quest brief wasn’t just to explain the nature of the quest, but also to act as proof of identity. The Thousand Tricks was famous enough that perhaps he could get by without it, but not having the brief would make it harder to leave a good impression. That could be fatal when dealing with a client who already disliked hunters.

Gark had figured things would go smoothly because Chloe would be accompanying them. However, Krai suddenly departed without bringing her along, even though he had initially been quite open to the idea.

With a grimace, Gark made up his mind to really let Krai have it the next time they met.

“Even Krai can prove to be clumsy at unexpected times,” Kaina said with a strained smile. “I hear he said he’s going on a vacation.”

“He’s too damn free-spirited. Can’t we do something about these habits of his? What kind of guy accepts a named quest from a noble and calls it a vacation?”

Even after a few years, Gark couldn’t get used to the bizarre nature of Krai’s behavior and results. He was certain Chloe hadn’t been left behind on purpose; it seemed possible that Krai had simply forgotten about her.

Gark held his hands against his throbbing skull.

“Have Chloe go after them,” he ordered Kaina. “No matter what, she needs to rendezvous with them before they arrive in the earl’s domain. We can’t leave a bad impression on Earl Gladis! Ah, but it’d be dangerous for her to go alone, send some hunters along to protect her. Their pay can come out of Krai’s.”