Strange Grief Wants to Retire ~ The Weakest Hunter Dreams of a Hero ~ - Volume 4 - Chapter 4.1

Chapter Four: A Fun Vacation

Never in his career as a hunter had Arnold seen such a large pack of monsters in one place. There were more glowing eyes than anyone could count. The stench of beasts and blood was carried on the wind. Most were orcs, but plenty of other monsters were mixed in.

The well-trained mustangs cried with fear. Chloe and everyone in Scorching Whirlwind was pale as a ghost. Who could blame them? Even for the seasoned hunters of Falling Fog, this was a gathering of monsters vaster than any they had ever seen.

Under normal circumstances, a single party would never run into a pack of such a scale. At least nobody was fleeing. A personification of chaos, the monsters moved across the plain like a tidal wave. They trampled one another and moved almost as if something were drawing them in.

“They’ve gone completely insane. Did a spell do this? Or some sort of drug?” Eigh speculated.

But this was no time to be worrying about the cause. Eigh’s comrades formed a defensive formation, and a Magus began the incantation of his most powerful spell.

Falling Fog was a party that specialized in hunting large monsters and mostly contained members trained for close-range combat; they had no Magi who could use wide-area spells. Everyone looked ready to die, but that resolve was unnecessary. They would fight through and win like they always did.

“We won’t be able to protect you,” Arnold told Rhuda and the others. “You’ll have to look out for yourselves.”

His sword was made out of the bones from the Thunder Dragon they had defeated. He tightened his grip and the blade crackled with lightning almost as if it could still remember when it was a part of a dragon.

Equipment made from the parts of monsters possessing powerful magic exhibited some of the same powers the monster did. Arnold’s sword, the source of his moniker “Crashing Lightning,” was one of the finest examples of this. Equipped with a weapon only permitted to a Dragon Slayer, orcs were a trifle, no matter their numbers.

“Arnold, take a look,” Eigh said with trembling shoulders and a stiff smile. “The monsters are covered in wounds. Maybe they’re running from him.”

Orcs weren’t completely stupid, but they were also savage and foolhardy. Such an immense pack of them wouldn’t choose to run from just anything. This made clearing orcs out of their forts difficult. But that fact only lent further credence to Eigh’s suggestion.

Arnold knew better than anyone that a Level 8 hunter couldn’t be understood through the lens of common sense. He also knew that powerful hunters saving towns was a regular occurrence.

“That man, what did he do?”

How did he chase them from their fort? And if he did that, then why didn’t he also kill them all? Chasing them out was preferable to fighting them in their fort, but a rampant orc pack posed a danger to travelers.

There was no time to think about it any further. The Magus let loose a volley of fireballs that hit the orcs dead-on and sent a dozen of them flying back. But the pack didn’t stop.

Arnold noticed a broken potion vial. It must’ve been left by a traveler. He made up his mind, almost as if encouraged by the litter. It was a valuable item he was about to use, but this was no time for hesitation. As the leader, it was his responsibility to take the lead and cut a path open.

From his belt, he pulled out a potion that enhanced his powers and gulped it all down. His insides shook, and a warm strength coursed through him around his heart. A sense of tremendous strength calmed his nerves.

The orc pack saw Arnold and detected his overwhelming sum of mana material, but they still didn’t stop. It almost sounded like an earthquake. Particles of dirt knocked into the air reduced visibility.

Arnold tossed the vial aside, stood at the vanguard, and shouted in a thunderous voice as lightning crackled about him.

“Very well! You’ll see that it isn’t the Thousand Tricks, but me, the Crashing Lightning who you should fear!”

“You!” said a strange voice.

Arnold held his sword above his head and blocked a sudden attack. The stench of a monster came over him. Murderous, bloodshot, golden eyes looked at him up close. The lightning enveloping his blade seared the monster’s body, but it didn’t budge an inch.

It was an orc, an unusual one covered in black armor. It towered over the average orc, its black skin was covered in scars, and its left eye was gone. The large sword it gripped was crude but well maintained and it was clearly no common weapon if it withstood a hit from the Crashing Lightning. But what truly separated this one from other orcs was the glint of intelligence in its eyes.

It was exceptional, an outlier, a monster that naturally surpassed the rest of its kind. Each of its attacks had weight, its superb strength making it clear that an average hunter couldn’t hope to cross blades with it.

Bold enough to face a Level 7 hunter and the strength to back it up. No doubt, this was the boss of the pack. Faced with such a strong foe, Arnold mustered his strength and swung his sword. If he defeated the boss, maybe the pack would come to a stop? No, they were clearly out of control. The crush of orcs and monsters were intercepted by the other hunters.

The black-furred orc took a big step back and screamed, sending spit everywhere. Its speech was fragmented but its intense feelings were clear enough.

“This scent, fear, animosity. This scent, won’t stop. Treacherous. Strange potion, this is the way of humans!”

What was he talking about? Doubts floated through the back of Arnold’s mind but he was in no position to be getting his facts straight. Before him was a monster who had attacked him, his only choice was to respond in kind.

He blocked another strike. Again and again, they clashed, and Arnold confirmed his suspicions. Before him was an orc unlike any other but he was the stronger of the two. If only by a small margin, he had the superior weapon, physical strength, and mana material. With the potion enhancing him, there was no way he could lose.

The orc’s face twisted with shock; it had probably never fought someone so strong, someone better than it. The orc jumped back. Arnold immediately followed up with another attack, lightning enveloped his sword and shot forward. Unperturbed by the attack, the orc began to move. The lightning would be enough to finish a lesser opponent but even burnt skin wasn’t enough to stop the orc.

Its lunge was one made only by those prepared to die, made with the desire to kill your opponent even if it meant sacrificing yourself. Arnold’s reaction was delayed; he hadn’t expected the orc to make the move it did. The orc wasn’t going to swing at him.

This wasn’t good. Arnold tried to dash for it but it was clear he wouldn’t make it in time. The orc’s sword was directed straight at Chloe and the monsters she was fending off. She noticed the charging orc, but its strength was on par with that of a high-level hunter; she wouldn’t be able to defend against its attack.

It was no use, Arnold wasn’t going to make it in time. Chloe’s eyes opened wide. The large blade came down, it was about to connect with her skull—

Tongues of flame falling from the sky swept over the orc. It was almost cataclysmic, more than one, more than a downpour of flames poured over the monsters immolating them all. Clearly, it was no natural occurrence. Fire engulfed the plains, instantly turning the area into an inferno. The monsters’ cries of agony echoed throughout the heat and pillars of smoke.

Of course, Arnold and his comrades didn’t get out unscathed either. One of them must have erected a barrier because they were somewhat shielded from the heat. However, their fight was over.

“What’s that?!” one of them cried.

Looking up at the dark night sky, bright blue flames floated about.

***

It was a miracle they were still alive. Even the next day, the events of that night felt like nothing short of a nightmare. Even still, there were certain things expected of a first-rate hunter.

“Goodness, it might have been unfortunate for you, but I don’t think anyone would argue that it was a stroke of good luck for us,” said the portly mayor of Gula. “What a coincidence it was that a Level 7 hunter happened to be visiting.”

Arnold agreed, though he didn’t show it on his face. Within the center of the town was its town hall, and there in a room for special guests was Arnold and his party.

The mayor and his subordinates all wore shining expressions—the exact opposite of those on the hunters. They had survived two successive journeys through hell and their fatigue was more than they could hide from view. Scorching Whirlwind was the less experienced of the two parties and over half their members were fast asleep. Chloe had declined to attend as well.

Arnold leaned back on a luxurious sofa.

“Defeating a pack of orcs with so few allies at your side, you live up to your level,” the mayor said as he layered on the praise. “I hear you once slew a dragon in Nebulanubes, but you’re a hero to this town as well.”

“Mr. Mayor, may I remind you that it was more than just orcs.”

“Ah, that’s right...”

The hunters had already changed out of their bloodstained garments and had their wounds treated. However, within Arnold, there was still a boiling rage, a fighting spirit. The mayor was oblivious to it, but the other hunters could see in his eyes that Arnold was ready to explode at any minute.

First-rate hunters excelled at many things and one of those was control over their emotions. But every time he remembered what happened at the gates, his anger came close to getting the better of him. In moments of weakness, he felt the urge to abandon everything and continue his pursuit, but his party members were wounded and he couldn’t just abandon Chloe, Rhuda, and Scorching Whirlwind.

“I hear a fire elemental appeared,” the mayor said. His eyes were wide and his voice trembled, almost as if he were before a rampaging hero.

The mayor was right, one had appeared. Arnold closed his eyes and he remembered it clearly, the incandescent flames burning in the heavens. As they had been locked in a brutal fight against orcs and other monsters an elemental appeared. It was of comparable strength to the one they’d fought the day prior. It was a fire elemental, as opposed to a lightning one, but that made little difference.

If this was a coincidence then Arnold was probably experiencing the worst luck of his life. The only thing he could consider fortunate was that Chloe had survived. The bright elemental had playfully spread out a blanket of flames over the orcs and hunters and then simply flew off.

If it wanted to, a high-elemental could cause destruction surpassing what even a first-rate Magus was capable of. If it had continued attacking then the hunters would have all been turned to ashes along with the monsters. Even if Arnold had survived, it was extraordinarily likely that many more would have perished.

The road and its surroundings had been turned into a blaze. Anyone traveling the road would come across the shocking sight of a charred land buried under a pile of monsters’ corpses.

A grimace formed on Eigh’s face, he was likely remembering the battle.

“What a joke. I dunno much about this land, but are elementals that common? We’ve never run into two in such a short span,” he complained.

“Oh, no, not at—the elementals of Zebrudia can only be found deep in the wilderness. If not that, then being commanded by a Magus. I can’t recall ever seeing one so close to somewhere so—”

“Okay. I understand. If they were such a common sight then there’d be no trade out here, right, Arnold?”

Arnold nodded but his thoughts had already moved on to other matters. He was preoccupied with considering how he might take revenge on the Thousand Tricks. The sequence of events and the words of the orcs made it clear that he had set the monsters upon Arnold and his companions. It had ended without tragedy but what he had done was still against the ethics of hunters. Even if it wasn’t, staying quiet would sully the name Crashing Lightning.

Arnold ground his teeth.

“Whatever the case, the orcs threatening the town are gone and the damage was kept to a minimum,” the mayor said with an obnoxiously big smile. “It’s hardly a sufficient thanks, but we as a town would like to extend our gratitude. Of course, we can offer some reward—”

“No,” Arnold said. “We’ll be leaving immediately.”

The mayor’s eyes bulged. It wasn’t every day you received the collective gratitude of a town as large as Gula. This was also a chance to spread the good name of Falling Fog and Scorching Whirlwind. Normally, Arnold would have gladly accepted the offer but the Stifled Shadow’s provocation had made him far too agitated to enjoy such an occasion.

More than that, however, the Thousand Tricks had seen them covered in wounds. Keeping one’s body in top form was fundamental to treasure hunting; even someone as far-sighted as the Thousand Tricks wouldn’t expect them to continue pursuing him. In other words, he would be getting complacent.

Arnold’s top priority was to make him regret looking down on Falling Fog. The Thousand Tricks wasn’t traveling on foot, but he could leave now and still catch up. No, he had to leave now if he wanted to catch up. Even if the Thousand Tricks didn’t cover his tracks, the more time he was given the more his lead would grow.

“Apologies, but I have something I need to do. I can’t stay long,” Arnold said with force.

The bewildered mayor’s eyes bulged. He looked at Arnold, who was scowling and only just managing to keep his anger in check.

“I understand,” the mayor said. “As a Level 7 hunter, you must not have much time to rest. Are you perhaps in the middle of a quest?”

“A-Arnold, giving chase to those guys isn’t going to be easy in our current condition. We need to rest, three of us nearly died back there,” Eigh reported in a whisper. “We’re all out of consumables and our equipment’s beat up. Even our better-off members are still exhausted. Chloe, Rhuda, everyone in Scorching Whirlwind are also at their limit.”

Though they had managed to scrape by, being attacked by a horde of monsters while carrying lingering fatigue from Elan had done a number on them. The carriage they had purchased shortly after arriving in the capital was almost beyond repair, their horses had been killed, and their weapons and armor were badly damaged. They were barely in any condition to be traveling, much less fighting powerful foes. The same went for Chloe and Scorching Whirlwind. It was something of a miracle that they had even managed to walk the rest of the way to Gula.

The mayor seemed to misunderstand what their objective was for he took on a serious expression and said: “Allow us to assist you in any way we can. If there’s something you need then we can arrange for it.”

Resupplying consumables and preparing a carriage might have been possible, but full maintenance of their gear would be hard in a town of this size and would take time. The stopgap measures they took back in Elan wouldn’t be sufficient here.

On a scale, Arnold weighed the lives of his comrades against their injuries, his pride, and his future. After a few moments of silence, he clicked his tongue and turned around.

“Damn it. Do what you can with two—no, one day. Eigh, start resupplying immediately. Get plenty of consumables and a large carriage. And better horses too. We’ll finish this soon.”

No matter where the Thousand Tricks had run off to, Arnold was certain he would catch him and get his payback for everything that had happened so far. Even after looking Arnold in the eye, the Thousand Tricks had turned away indifferently. Amid that crowd, the Stifled Shadow had yelled humiliating things at them.

Just remembering the sight of his nemesis caused Arnold to clench his teeth.

***

From the top of the carriage, I heard a low, slightly garbled voice.

“It, uh, appears we have lost them. I do not detect any pursuers. We are traveling on the same road as they were, so I think they might catch up to us.”

They must not have been used to speaking politely because they sounded awkward. Still, I breathed a sigh of relief. Next to me, Liz folded her legs and smiled with genuine amusement.

“Didya see that? Did you, Krai Baby? His face was totally red,” Liz said between giggles. “He’s just a Level 7 from the countryside and I put him in his place!”

I wished she would give me a break. If she wanted to start fights that was her business, but for reasons beyond me I was always held responsible. This was a Level 7 she was antagonizing. A Level 7! That was higher than her! This was someone I couldn’t hold a candle to as I was, in practice, a Level 1 hunter (there was no Level 0).

“Quit trying to start things,” I told her. “You shouldn’t be doing this even if it was somehow my fault that they ended up fighting a pack of orcs, and it’s not my fault.”

“Quite right, Krai. It wasn’t your fault. It was thanks to you,” Sitri said with a smile, backing up Liz in an odd manner.

It’s not my fault, nor is it thanks to me. It’s their bad luck and their responsibility, just like my bad luck is my responsibility.

I had no allies in this argument. If there was one, it was Tino and she was completely wiped out at the moment.

“Do you think they’ll come after us?” I asked.

“I imagine they will,” Sitri answered. “If they don’t, then they’re lacking something vital to a hunter.”

I agreed with that. A good hunter was like a good hunting dog; once they had a target they would chase it forever and not give up even after a setback. Some really obnoxious ones were on my tail. I wondered how Arty had resolved things with them back at the café.

It seemed possible that they might keep chasing me even if Liz or Sitri gave them a beating. If that was the case then it would be fastest to kill them but that was the one thing I wanted to avoid. That would mean my end not just as a hunter but also as a human being.

I couldn’t tell why, but Sitri wore a bright smile even though she fully understood the situation we were in.

“Mmm, however, they seemed quite exhausted. It doesn’t seem likely they’ll immediately continue to pursue us,” she said in a voice that made me want to give up on thinking about things and rest easy.

She was right. If they had immediately come after us then they would have caught us before we reached our carriage.

I was able to calm down a bit. Outside our carriage, Drink and Killiam were running along with us.

Hunters needed to make thorough preparations before doing anything and some members of their group were injured. In those conditions, I didn’t think they would try to take on Liz.

Furthermore, I didn’t see how they could know where we were headed; the only people who knew our destination were in the carriage with me. And we had been hiding our identities with fake (real) ID’s. Perhaps I should have also hidden my face with Mirage Form. We were in a carriage which meant our wheels would leave tracks. But this was a road, there were plenty of carriage tracks.

Liz stretched out her legs and swung them back and forth as she pursed her lips.

“I’m booored. Let’s play freeze tag,” she said.

I wish I could’ve frozen you back there. Arnold looked like he wanted to crush my head like a fruit. I’m certain of it.

Tino’s head wavered side to side as she looked at me through swollen eyes. She was at her limit.

I steeled my resolve. It didn’t seem at all possible that we might be caught but I decided to take what cautions I could. I unfolded the map. I had initially planned to head along safe roads and pass through multiple towns on the way to Night Palace. After all, I wasn’t in a rush and I considered safety to be a top priority.

However, if we were being pursued then we would have to change our route. Even if it would be hard for our pursuers to catch us it was still possible as long as we simply stuck to the road. So I decided we would take a shortcut. Leaving the road would increase our chances of running into monsters, but we had Liz, Sitri, Drink, Killiam, and Sitri’s hired hands with us. Dealing with monsters seemed better than worrying about a high-level hunter.

“Dammit, I wish Ark could have come along. That dandy is never around when I need him. Maybe he doesn’t like me?” I wondered aloud. What was the point of being the strongest in the capital if he couldn’t help me?

My grumbling caused Ark’s self-proclaimed rival, Liz, to puff up her cheeks, making her look more childish than usual.

“What, am I not good enough for you, Krai Baby? If I’m not, then just say so? You know I love you.”

“No, you’re fine, yeah, you’re plenty. Plenty strong,” I said. “All right, time to change our course. We’re no longer sticking to the road!”

Liz’s eyes glimmered and she leaned forward with a wide grin.

You’ll see, Arnold. I’m gonna enjoy my vacation no matter what. I’ll show you, I can flee even better than a Level 8 (probably).

***

Is he serious? Black thought. Sitting in the driver’s seat, she received orders that made her momentarily doubt her ears. Every order she had received so far had been benign. They hadn’t run into any particularly strong monsters and, with the exception of the first day, the weather had been good. The incident of Drink running away had been trying, but the chimera ended up coming back around dawn, albeit covered in blood. It was a lot better than the sort of treatment she expected when the collar had been put on her.

Roads were generally safe as monsters tended to keep their distance from them. They also had the fearsome chimera at their side. On the rare occasion she did spot a monster, they didn’t come any closer.

But to leave the road would drastically increase the potential danger.

“B-But, the Galest mountains are teeming with—I mean, your chimera is strong but it’s too dangerous for us to enter those mountains with so few people,” she said.

A window opened and a smiling girl poked her head out.

“And what of it?” she asked.

Her flawless porcelain skin and fine features might have made her a target for Black and her companions under different circumstances, but now that smile looked demonic.

The Galest Mountain Range ran across the northern regions of the empire. They weren’t terribly steep but there were ley lines running through the mountains and, outside of treasure vaults, the local monsters were some of the strongest in Zebrudia. A forest spread out from the foothills of the range and it was said to be inhabited by monsters not found anywhere else.

“There is a path, though only in the barest sense of the word,” Sitri said. “The Galest mountains aren’t much compared to some of the treasure vaults we’ve cleared in the past. If we’re quick to dispatch the monsters then this will be a nice shortcut. And besides, we have done this before.”

“A short...cut?”

Unbelievable. Black opened up her map and looked at it with eyes wide as saucers. Crossing the mountains would indeed be a shortcut. Leaving the safety of the road and passing through the forest and then the mountains would shave a day or two off their trip. But you might also say it would only shave off a day or two.

Travelers normally opted not to pass through the Galest mountains. Hunters strong enough to fight their way through also avoided the mountains. The risk was too high and the benefits too low. Black, White, and Gray were confident in their strength and it was possible they could make it through but they still preferred to avoid these mountains at all costs.

“What’s our destination? Our ultimate destination?” Black asked in spite of her surprise.

They didn’t even know where they were headed. Insofar they had simply been told to follow the road and had been given the name of the occasional town.

“Do you have a need to know? Please just go. This is what was decided by Krai, by the Thousand Tricks,” Sitri Smart said with a meaningful smile.

***

“They weren’t here?” Chloe Welter asked the municipal admittance officer. This wasn’t the response she had expected.

“Correct. I checked all the ledgers and I didn’t find the names you requested...”

Every entry to departure in every city in Zebrudia was recorded in a ledger. If someone had entered or left a city, then it was reasonable to assume their name had been written down, and Arnold had seen the Thousand Tricks with his own eyes. It didn’t make any sense.

“If a high-level hunter had entered our town we would have requested their aid. In a state of emergency we wouldn’t have let them pass without at least trying to enlist them,” the officer said.

“I understand,” Chloe said.

One of the roles of the soldiers stationed at a municipality’s gates was to pick out combat-capable entrants. They would have noticed a high-level hunter passing through. While Krai Andrey regularly disguised himself as a civilian, the other members of his party did not. If they hadn’t been stopped at the gates then it meant the Thousand Tricks was intentionally hiding his identity, and, apparently, even using a fake ID.

Just what in the world are you up to, Krai? Chloe wondered.

Faking one’s identity was a violation of imperial law. Becoming a Level 8 hunter came with special privileges and he would likely not be punished so long as he had a good reason for his actions. However, that still didn’t make it laudable behavior.

Initially, she was just supposed to accompany the Thousand Tricks and keep an eye on his progress. Yet somehow things had ended up like this. She let out a deep sigh. That battle had been like a scene out of hell. Though she had once aspired to be a hunter she ended up becoming an employee of the Explorers’ Association. For someone like her, such a battle was a first.

She was supposed to have been protected but the situation hadn’t allowed it. Instead, she had drawn her sword and fought for her life, slaying many monsters in the process. But then death came for her. The pitch-black monster was more than just a higher-orc. When that blade was swung at her she was certain she was going to meet her end. It was a miracle that such a doom had been avoided.

Just remembering that moment caused a shiver to run down her spine. Arnold hadn’t made it in time to save her—if it weren’t for the fire elemental then she would have perished.

The fire elemental had been blue, an indicator that it was exceptionally strong. Just like their lightning counterparts, the fire elementals were elusive beings and very few people in Zebrudia could command one. The only such person that came to mind for Chloe was the Abyssal Inferno, the clan master of Hidden Curse and one of the three Level 8s in the capital. However, she was supposed to be in the capital and Chloe hadn’t seen any evidence of her nearby.

Arnold had said it was a miracle that nobody had died but Chloe wasn’t so sure. She had seen the elemental roast both the orc pack and Falling Fog. She and Scorching Whirlwind hadn’t even been targeted. It might have been just a coincidence, but if so it was a coincidence that had saved them from some severe burns.

She didn’t know why or for what purpose they might have been spared. Of course, she also had no evidence. Neither did she have evidence to suggest what chased the orcs out of their fort, why the monsters ran towards them, or who sent the fire elemental their way. Nothing. All she had were facts with no clear meaning. She didn’t know if she should defend the Thousand Tricks or join the Crashing Lightning in his quest for revenge.

In the inn, everyone in Scorching Whirlwind was completely exhausted. That was what happened when you managed to barely avoid being annihilated. Gilbert and Rhuda weren’t as bad off as the rest but deep fatigue still showed on their faces.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me. Does Tino go through stuff like this every time?”

“White Wolf’s Den was bad, but this...”

They didn’t even have the energy to be angry. That was perfectly reasonable; that battle wasn’t something most intermediate hunters could handle. It was only because the other hunters had eased her burden that Chloe could still move.

But they couldn’t split up here. Arnold still planned to go after Krai and she hadn’t completed her objective yet. It seemed they would have to stick together a bit longer. After giving it all some thought, she forced a smile onto her face and entered the room. Treasure hunters sure had it rough.