“Asagi…?”

“Mm? Ah, good morning, Daniela . ”

“Uh, good…morning…”

What happened? She seemed kind of absent-minded this morning . At least she seemed to have drunk her soup .

I throw the deer onto the ground . I had already drained it of blood and dug out all of its guts, but I still had to skin and dismember it . It was a doe given the lack of antlers . A large animal, something that would make a worthy meal .

“Um, Asagi…”

“Yeah?”

It was just as I pulled had out and twirled my short sword, ready to cut into the meat, that Daniela called me . I looked back and saw that she was standing behind me and looking very uncomfortable . It was rare to see her so timid looking…

“About yesterday, I was wrong! It was a misunderstanding!”

She quickly bowed her head . That was all it took for me to understand . She was talking about what happened last night . Ah, I see now . So she figured it out . But it didn’t change the fact that I had created the reason for it .

“I’m the one who should be sorry . I didn’t know you dressed like that when you sleep . ”

“I do not!”

She points a finger straight at me . It was like she meant to refute some important argument .

“That was the work of the ale I took from the kitchens to help me sleep! It became hot while I slept and so the clothes came off . I hereby declare that I do not normally sleep in that manner!”

“Oh, ohh…”

While slightly red, she fired off very pa.s.sionately . I see . So that was why . It made sense .

“If that’s the case, then I guess there’s no reason for me to sleep up in the tree anymore . ”

“Yesterday, I had already realized it when you had gone to collect the vines . But your skills with ropemaking were so captivating that I lost my timing to bring it up . ”

Yes, yes . My vine-rope making skills are second to none . There was nothing you could do once someone was under my spell .

Anyway, it seemed that we could at least return to a more lighthearted relations.h.i.+p . I guess there was no real need for the deer then . Not that we wouldn’t eat it . It looked delicious .

“I hunted this deer here to make amends for angering you . But I guess it wasn’t needed . Let’s eat it together . ”

“Aye, it’s a good one . ”

She smiled happily . Being able to see that was enough for me .

We went even deeper into the forest that day . We would set up camp and go out hunting the forest wolves . Once we had them, their fangs would come out . Rinse and repeat . The bodies would evaporate if left alone . This was apparently due to the magical energy being degraded by the air . But any materials carved off before then would remain . I didn’t understand how it worked . Such things could be left to the scholars . I just wanted to hunt .

The venison we had for dinner was exceptional . The meat was juicier than wolf but not too soft and just felt plain good to eat . It was still too much for us to eat alone, so we smoked the rest and decided to bring it back to the Spring Wind inn as a gift .

Hunting went well the following day as well . We found ourselves moving deeper again into the forest, becoming hunters .

But there was one thing that I noticed . The numbers of forest wolves were decreasing . Perhaps we had killed too many of them . There were very clearly less than the first and second days now . I worried that they were going extinct, but according to Daniela, this was not a problem . She said that monsters were just naturally born in nature . In places that had a high concentration of magic, or a normal wolf would suddenly transform . Hearing that was a great relief .

“Asagi, you worry too much . ”

“Do I? Well, it’s better than not worrying at all . ”

“I suppose so . ”

There was dried meat, vegetables and yesterday’s venison boiling in the pot in front of us . We would eat this, sleep and return to the town, first thing in the morning . The three days had gone by so quickly, but I ama.s.sed quite a bit of experience points and as far as knowledge went, Daniela had taught me a lot as well . I took out my status card .

“Status open . ”

Name: Asagi Kamiyas.h.i.+ro

Race: Human

Job: Adventurer (Rank: E)

LV: 32

HP: 316/316

MP: 285/285

STR: 125  VIT: 118

AGI: 366  DEX: 158

INT: 120  LUK: 14

Skills: Jack of all Trades, Presence Detection, One-handed Sword, Short Sword, Spear

Magic: Ice, Water, Fire

Quest: Eliminate the Forest Wolves

Party: Daniela Villesilf

Equipment: Head – None

Body – Leather Armor

Arms – Leather Gloves

Legs – None

Feet – Leather Boots

Weapons – Iron Sword

– Iron Short Sword

Accessories – None

I had Presence Detection now . I guess it was because of all the practicing . It was great being able to actually see the results of your work . I put the card back into my pocket and report it to Daniela .

“I have Presence Detection . ”

“That is good . You worked hard for it!”

She was so happy that you’d think it was her that got a new skill . It made me feel even better about putting in the effort .

“Well then, food looks about ready . ”

“Asagi!”

“Huh?”

One moment Daniela was standing in front of me, the next she was on my side as she rammed into me . I didn’t understand what was happening . The spoon I was holding got caught on the pot and the whole thing flew into the air . The delicious looking soup danced in the air before losing to the powers of gravity and splattering all over the ground .

“Danie…!”

“We run! Asagi!!”

I returned to myself with those words . There was something on the other side of the pot . It looked a little like a giant wolf, but I didn’t have time to make sure of it, as I stumbled off after Daniela .

“Wha…t…was that!”

“Hahhh, hhh…ah…That was…Beowulf…!”

After running from our camp, the two of us were now hiding in the hollow of a large tree . Whatever it was that I saw, it was called Beowulf . Apparently, he was the master of the forest wolves . Daniela explained this as she caught her breath .

“Hhhh… He is a forest wolf who has lived a very long life . But as forest wolves are hunted by adventurers, it’s only a small few that survive that long… I never would have suspected he’d be in a forest so close to the town…”

“I only saw it for a second, but it looked huge . ”

“Aye, he was over two meters tall . ”

“Could we kill it?”

“To be frank, that would be quite difficult . ”

I find myself making a fist . There was a monster that we were not capable of defeating . There was no one to call for help here . And it was night time . It would be hard to see . But he was huge and a wolf besides . It wouldn’t take long for him to follow our scent and find us . There was almost no chance of us winning .

“What should we do…”

“I’m afraid that I’ve done you great harm . ”

“What’s this, all of a sudden?”

“This would not have happened if I hadn’t suggested we come out here to train . ”

“Daniela, that’s not true . And I’m glad that we came out here . I learned a lot, and more than anything, it was fun . ”

“Asagi…”

“But I have no intention of dying here . We’ll kill him . We’ll live and we’ll return home . ”

“Yes, you are right… We are a party . We must both live . ”

The light that shone from the cracks in the clouds illuminated Daniela’s smile then . Her face was as beautiful as any art could be . I couldn’t help but be captivated . But then I saw something behind her .

“What is…that?”

Daniela turned around to see .

“It looks like a building of some sort . ”

I could see it now . The stone structure in the moonlight .

“What should we do?”

“There’s no point in staying here . Let’s give it a closer look . ”

Daniela nods and stands up . Still cautious of our surroundings, we decided to slowly make our way towards the mysterious building .

“Asagi…?”. . .

“Mm? Ah, good morning, Daniela . ”.

“Uh, good…morning…”.

What happened? She seemed kind of absent-minded this morning . At least she seemed to have drunk her soup

I throw the deer onto the ground . I had already drained it of blood and dug out all of its guts, but I still had to skin and dismember it . It was a doe given the lack of antlers . A large animal, something that would make a worthy meal

“Um, Asagi…”.

“Yeah?”.

It was just as I pulled had out and twirled my short sword, ready to cut into the meat, that Daniela called me . I looked back and saw that she was standing behind me and looking very uncomfortable . It was rare to see her so timid looking….

“About yesterday, I was wrong! It was a misunderstanding!”.

She quickly bowed her head . That was all it took for me to understand . She was talking about what happened last night . Ah, I see now . So she figured it out . But it didn’t change the fact that I had created the reason for it

“I’m the one who should be sorry . I didn’t know you dressed like that when you sleep . ”.

“I do not!”.

She points a finger straight at me . It was like she meant to refute some important argument

“That was the work of the ale I took from the kitchens to help me sleep! It became hot while I slept and so the clothes came off . I hereby declare that I do not normally sleep in that manner!”.

“Oh, ohh…”.

While slightly red, she fired off very pa.s.sionately . I see . So that was why . It made sense

“If that’s the case, then I guess there’s no reason for me to sleep up in the tree anymore . ”.

“Yesterday, I had already realized it when you had gone to collect the vines . But your skills with ropemaking were so captivating that I lost my timing to bring it up . ”.

Yes, yes . My vine-rope making skills are second to none . There was nothing you could do once someone was under my spell . .

Anyway, it seemed that we could at least return to a more lighthearted relations.h.i.+p . I guess there was no real need for the deer then . Not that we wouldn’t eat it . It looked delicious

“I hunted this deer here to make amends for angering you . But I guess it wasn’t needed . Let’s eat it together . ”.

“Aye, it’s a good one . ”.

She smiled happily . Being able to see that was enough for me

□　　　□　　　□　　　□.

We went even deeper into the forest that day . We would set up camp and go out hunting the forest wolves . Once we had them, their fangs would come out . Rinse and repeat . The bodies would evaporate if left alone . This was apparently due to the magical energy being degraded by the air . But any materials carved off before then would remain . I didn’t understand how it worked . Such things could be left to the scholars . I just wanted to hunt

The venison we had for dinner was exceptional . The meat was juicier than wolf but not too soft and just felt plain good to eat . It was still too much for us to eat alone, so we smoked the rest and decided to bring it back to the Spring Wind inn as a gift

Hunting went well the following day as well . We found ourselves moving deeper again into the forest, becoming hunters

But there was one thing that I noticed . The numbers of forest wolves were decreasing . Perhaps we had killed too many of them . There were very clearly less than the first and second days now . I worried that they were going extinct, but according to Daniela, this was not a problem . She said that monsters were just naturally born in nature . In places that had a high concentration of magic, or a normal wolf would suddenly transform . Hearing that was a great relief

“Asagi, you worry too much . ”.

“Do I? Well, it’s better than not worrying at all . ”.

“I suppose so . ”.

There was dried meat, vegetables and yesterday’s venison boiling in the pot in front of us . We would eat this, sleep and return to the town, first thing in the morning . The three days had gone by so quickly, but I ama.s.sed quite a bit of experience points and as far as knowledge went, Daniela had taught me a lot as well . I took out my status card

“Status open . ”.

◇　　　◇　　　◇　　　◇.

Name: Asagi Kamiyas.h.i.+ro.

Race: Human.

Job: Adventurer (Rank: E). . .

LV: 32.

HP: 316/316.

MP: 285/285.

STR: 125  VIT: 118.

AGI: 366  DEX: 158.

INT: 120  LUK: 14.

Skills: Jack of all Trades, Presence Detection, One-handed Sword, Short Sword, Spear.

Magic: Ice, Water, Fire.

Quest: Eliminate the Forest Wolves.

Party: Daniela Villesilf.

Equipment: Head – None.

Body – Leather Armor.

Arms – Leather Gloves.

Legs – None.

Feet – Leather Boots.

Weapons – Iron Sword.

– Iron Short Sword.

Accessories – None.

◇　　　◇　　　◇　　　◇.

I had Presence Detection now . I guess it was because of all the practicing . It was great being able to actually see the results of your work . I put the card back into my pocket and report it to Daniela

“I have Presence Detection . ”.

“That is good . You worked hard for it!”.

She was so happy that you’d think it was her that got a new skill . It made me feel even better about putting in the effort

“Well then, food looks about ready . ”.

“Asagi!”.

“Huh?”.

One moment Daniela was standing in front of me, the next she was on my side as she rammed into me . I didn’t understand what was happening . The spoon I was holding got caught on the pot and the whole thing flew into the air . The delicious looking soup danced in the air before losing to the powers of gravity and splattering all over the ground

“Danie…!”.

“We run! Asagi!!”.

I returned to myself with those words . There was something on the other side of the pot . It looked a little like a giant wolf, but I didn’t have time to make sure of it, as I stumbled off after Daniela

“Wha…t…was that!”.

“Hahhh, hhh…ah…That was…Beowulf…!”.

After running from our camp, the two of us were now hiding in the hollow of a large tree . Whatever it was that I saw, it was called Beowulf . Apparently, he was the master of the forest wolves . Daniela explained this as she caught her breath

“Hhhh… He is a forest wolf who has lived a very long life . But as forest wolves are hunted by adventurers, it’s only a small few that survive that long… I never would have suspected he’d be in a forest so close to the town…”.

“I only saw it for a second, but it looked huge . ”.

“Aye, he was over two meters tall . ”.

“Could we kill it?”.

“To be frank, that would be quite difficult . ”.

I find myself making a fist . There was a monster that we were not capable of defeating . There was no one to call for help here . And it was night time . It would be hard to see . But he was huge and a wolf besides . It wouldn’t take long for him to follow our scent and find us . There was almost no chance of us winning

“What should we do…”.

“I’m afraid that I’ve done you great harm . ”.

“What’s this, all of a sudden?”.

“This would not have happened if I hadn’t suggested we come out here to train . ”.

“Daniela, that’s not true . And I’m glad that we came out here . I learned a lot, and more than anything, it was fun . ”.

“Asagi…”.

“But I have no intention of dying here . We’ll kill him . We’ll live and we’ll return home . ”.

“Yes, you are right… We are a party . We must both live . ”.

The light that shone from the cracks in the clouds illuminated Daniela’s smile then . Her face was as beautiful as any art could be . I couldn’t help but be captivated . But then I saw something behind her

“What is…that?”.

Daniela turned around to see

“It looks like a building of some sort . ”.

I could see it now . The stone structure in the moonlight

“What should we do?”.

“There’s no point in staying here . Let’s give it a closer look . ”.

Daniela nods and stands up . Still cautious of our surroundings, we decided to slowly make our way towards the mysterious building