Chapter 125: Chapter 126: Aunty Loves Her Niece! (3)

“Beast King Garum is a half-human, half-demon monster ruling the territory near the borders of Ordor. Well, you guys would be able to defeat him easily but he has many loyal subordinates.”

Things could become troublesome if we were to get caught by any of his many underlings and then endlessly targeted.So it was important to move around the forest without being discovered, basically.

“Cecily, have you brought the slingshot?”

Cariote asked.To which Cecily responded by reaching into her bag and pulling it out.

“I have.”

“You kept it in your bag? That’s bad practice. When on hunting grounds, it’s one of the basics to always be holding onto your weapon so that it’s ready for use whenever. That’s a minus from tomorrow’s snack points.”

“… Uuuu….”

At the scolding from Cariote, Cecily puffed out her cheeks and pouted.

For reference, snack points was a system that Cariote implemented to train Cecily.It was a rewards system, with points awarded for doing well or deducted for doing poorly which determined whether Cecily could have a snack.

“Childrakes are mobile plants. They’re also easily frightened and aggressive. Even if you find one, there’s no point if you can’t hit it. Keep that in mind.”

“Hmph, I know that.”

Cecily turned her head away prissily.Is this what it’s like to learn hunting from your mom?

I can’t say.If I think about it, I don’t have any particular experience of learning something from either of my parents. This would be the norm in a world that didn’t have a developed education system.

━Krrrrr!━Khong!

Just then, a wolf jumped out of the grass.Due to being infected by the evil karma that was prevalent here, it was a mutated Orthor with two tails and snouts each.It was far smaller than the one that I had faced at the lab, but Cecily stiffened in fright.

“Hiiiik…! A monster just—”“Shhh—”

Cariote covered Cecily’s mouth with her hand.Thanks to her quick action, the Orthor didn’t notice us and just looked around.Is it following our scent?Keeping an eye out through the grass, Cariote spoke.

“This is good. Cecily, this is a warm-up before hunting the Childrake. Aim for that one with your slingshot.”

“You want m-me to do it? That terrifying monster?”

“Yes. Load it. Hurry.”

Shuffle— Shuffle—Cecily took out a metal marble the size of a thumb tip. Then she placed it in the cloth part of the slingshot and pulled it tightly on the band.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Aim for its head.”

“The head….”

Scrunch—Cecily frowned in concentration.She then let go and the marble went flying with a Fwoooosh—.

Thwack—!But the marble whizzed past the Orthor’s head and hit a tree.

━Khong—!━Orrururu-!

The two-headed demonic wolf noticed us because of that and sprinted viciously towards us.Its claws and fangs glimmered dangerously.

“Moonlight Hunt.”

Shing—Slash— Slash—!

Cariote stepped forward with her Kodachi unsheathed and drew two crescent moons.The beautiful blade aura sliced both wolf-heads which dropped to the ground, silencing them of their cries forever.

“Why did you misaim?”

Cariote questioned Cecily.Cecily was shaking from the incident and blood spraying from the monster’s necks. Then she spoke up courageously.

“I-It might have hurt them….”

I see.I was also aware that Cecily had missed on purpose.

It would have been hard to miss something that large.But it did seem that Cecily was feeling an aversion to hurting a living thing.A child who was only in 1st grade.I nodded in understanding but Cariote clucked her tongue.

“If you don’t hit it, then you’ll be the one that ends up dead. Another deduction. That’s two. No snack for you tomorrow. A hunter who fails must starve. Reflect on that.”

“…….”

Droop—Cecily noticeably slumped her shoulders.Seeing this, Astarosa snorted.

“As strict as ever.”

* * *

Cecily and Cariote’s hunting continued after that.When Cariote spotted a target, she would tell Cecily to take aim, and Cecily would miss. This repeated several times.

“She’s fine with tin cans.”

Cecily hit every single can that I set up with her slingshot.But whenever the target became a living thing, she seemed to have trouble.

“…….”

The usually confident and proud Cecily was downcast like a kitten who got drenched in the rain.

Understandably, considering it was past midnight and she wasn’t sleeping, plus her mom had been deducting points the whole night.

“There’s a cave. We can rest for a bit over there.”

Of course, Cariote cooly assessed the situation.There was a cave nearby and it was perfect to hide out in for about 10 minutes.

“There are monsters around with sharp senses so don’t start a fire. I’ll patrol the area.”

As soon as Cariote left, Cecily let out a deep sigh. Was she relaxed a bit now that her mom was gone and she was free from the scolding?

“I want to go home. I knew I shouldn’t have come here!”

I see.Would it have been better for everyone if I brought Naru?

“Tomorrow’s snack was a lemon meringue tart. Now I can’t have it.”

The prospect of missing out on the snack dampened her spirit.Elegantly enjoying a delicious dessert would have helped with upping her princess level so I was also feeling the loss.

Swoosh—Just then, Cariote returned.She was holding a dark-furred animal that was struggling in her hand which judging from the long ears, must be a rabbit.A soft and fluffy-looking rabbit.When she held it out to Cecily, Cecily brightened up considerably.

“It’s a bunny? How cute!”

Did she catch one to make Cecily feel better?Cecily gathered the rabbit from Cariote into her arms.

“My goodness, it’s so warm and fluffy…!”

The sight of a child holding a rabbit was rather good for the heart.At that, Astarosa was also impressed.

“Isn’t that a 「Night Rabbit」? Good for you; it’s a hard one to catch. It’s a breed of 「Mana Rabbit」 that grows from an intake of evil karma. Cute creature, though it does steal food.”

I see.It was pretty cute.Didn’t expect Cariote to gift one to Cecily.

Though cold on the outside, Cariote was still a soft-hearted woman, I thought, when Cariote pulled out her dagger and gave it to Cecily.

“Kill it, Cecily.”

“P-Pardon?”

“To be a hunter, you must get used to taking a life. Anyone can stab a still creature. If you can’t do this, you will starve until the next day.”

Cariote’s expression was strict.

“Come on.”

Cariote prompted.With wavering eyes, Cecily took the dagger.

“Uuuuu….”

Long story short, Cecily couldn’t kill the rabbit.It was too difficult for her.

“Tsk.”

Cariote clicked her tongue like it was pitiful.Were all Barbaroi educated this strictly?

“Since you failed, you will go without food until the day after.”

“Huuu….”

Of course, unable to keep up with the training, Cecily was crestfallen.Seeing her so down, I couldn’t help but take pity and say something to Cariote.

“Aren’t you asking too much of her when she’s only in grade 1?”

“I’ve done it. So had my father. And so would have my father’s fathers. This is how we have lived. Cecily must also do the same. If not, she cannot survive and will die.”

Die?It seemed a bit of an exaggeration but Cariote’s expression was absolutely serious. Because I had left most of the children’s education to their mothers, I couldn’t say anything more.They would be growing up in this world so I figured it was right to leave it to the parent who was of this world.

“With Cecily like this, it’ll be impossible to gather any Childrake.”

With that said, Cariote twisted the neck of the rabbit she was holding.The Night Rabbit died with a Kyek—.

“I'll get rid of this.”

Cariote left the cave once again.

* * *

Cecily was very dispirited.So much so that she didn’t even react to me poking her side.

“It doesn’t tickle?”

“Hehihih…! Stop that…! Before I bite your finger…!”

Oh, she reacted.So not that much.In an effort to comfort, I spoke to her.

“It’s okay. When I was your age, I couldn’t kill rabbits either.”

“…….”

Then Cecily snuck me a glance.And she asked softly.

“Is that true?”

“Yeah. But now I’m a total killing machine. Cecily, when you get older you’ll naturally be able to kill anything so don’t worry too much.”

“… Hmph!”

At my words, Cecily scowled and turned away.

If it was Naru who heard this, she would’ve been happy like, “Oh, holy shh…! Naru will one day become a Night Rabbit slaughterer…!” but I guess Cecily was different from her.

Grrrowl—Cecily’s stomach quietly rumbled. It was long after having eaten dinner so she must be hungry.

Swoosh—

Right then, Astarosa held out something to Cecily.

“Hey, kid. Open your hand.”

“... What is it?”

Cecily seemed skeptical of Astarosa. Though she was suspicious of what the demon might do to her, Cecily opened her hand and three yellow fruits the size of her thumbnail dropped onto it.

They looked like cherry tomatoes but they were yellow.

“What is this?”

“Eat it. It’s edible.”

With that said, Astarosa put one in her own mouth. Was it to show that it was safe?Cecily saw that and looked between Astarosa and the fruit with narrowed eyes. Then finally, she ate one.

Her skeptical expression relaxed.

“It’s tangy and sweet. Like an apricot.”

“Well, pretty similar. It’s a cherry apricot. I picked some while we were walking. Don’t tell your mom.”

We were told not to give Cecily anything, but I guess as a demon she didn’t care about following rules and baited children into temptation.Astarosa kept going.

“I hated hunting as well. Used to misaim on purpose. I didn’t want to be a hunter because I enjoyed listening to mom’s stories more than hunting.”

“Mom’s stories?”

“Wearing gowns to balls. Princesses and princes from faraway lands. The sparkling chandelier. Banquets that ran late into the night. I actually wanted to go to the city and become a noble lady like Mom used to be.”

I see.… It was then that I remembered that Astarosa too was a daughter of the young noble, Leone Von Ragdoll. But hearing her speak, didn’t it seem like she remembered everything from when she was human?

“In one story, Mom went to a ball and the Sultan’s sons came from the distant land of Ishmael. They were holding three treasures, one a flying carpet….”

“The three treasures of Ishmael’s Sultan! I, Cecily, have also heard of them!”

Astarosa and Cecily shared stories like that.I felt weird listening in so I stepped outside the cave only to see Cariote at the entrance, leaning against the wall.

“You heard all that?”

“Even if I don’t try, I can hear everything within a kilometer.”

That’s true.I scratched the back of my head awkwardly, then spoke.

“Your sister seemed to remember a bunch of things.”

“I know. She’s likely angry with me. It may be something beyond that, even. She might not consider me family anymore.”

Really?In my opinion… it was the opposite.But I didn’t say that.No, I didn’t have time to say it.

Boooom—!Something humongous landed in front of us.

It was a bipedal silver-colored wolf that had jumped down from a tree.Its size was about 2 meters tall.

It wore some kind of armor of leather and iron like a veteran warrior and on its shoulder was a giant blade just as tall as itself.

A greater demon.It was strong.The level of Pandemonium’s three pillars?No, it wasn’t at the rank of the swordsman Alcatraz or the wizard ValdesJust one lower.

But it wasn’t to be underestimated and I put up my guard when Cariote unsheathed her dagger.

“Are you the beast king that rules this area?”

“Indeed, I am the Beast King Yan-Orvault. You would be Hunter Cariote. The aloof hunter who slays beasts under the moonlight. You are also well-known amongst the residents of Pandemonium.”

“…….”

“Do you remember the wolf you killed in the Ancient City, Hunter? The Beast King called Yan-Mith. He was the twin brother of me, Yan-Orvault.”

At the wolf’s question, Cariote grasped her weapon even tighter.The story of Cariote defeating the Beast King alongside the Priestess during the war in 「The Ancient City」 was a famous one.Didn’t think he had a twin brother.Of course, it wasn’t good for Cariote.

“Not to worry. We were not so close that I would seek vengeance. My brother was weak, therefore he died. That is all. I am not here to talk about that.”

“Then why did you reveal yourself? Do you want to fight?”

Cariote asked.Killing intents were exchanged as we gauged one another carefully.The werewolf looked at me and Cariote with golden eyes, then with a “Huhuhu—” his shoulders shook.Was he laughing?

“I am not so foolish as to engage in a battle near the man who killed the Demon King. My brother might have. I prefer to use my brain over strength.”

With a sharp claw, Orvault tapped his forehead.He continued.

“I have good hearing, so I heard you speak. You are searching for Childrakes, yes? I will help you. There is exactly one Childrake in these /genesisforsaken