Chapter 106. Boar Hunting & Kaori’s Intentions

Mihou

The night passed by in a flash, inside the guild, with both Mana, Kaori and Flora who were holding Crystal’s hand tightly as if she didn’t want to let go all looked around at the guild board. We were once more on the quest to grind ranks inside the guild.

Leisha was supposed to be here today but apparently, she had another appointment which she said was a tiny charity event at a nearby town which she needs to participate which is why she decided to not follow us today which is a bit disappointing since she is the person who I spent the littlest time with.

“What quest do you think would be nice?” I inquired before Flora rose her hand, pointing at a quest on the board which made us curious as we all looked towards the quest before Kaori chuckled.

Boar Hunting

A recent spike in wild boars was found in a forest nearby. The spike is said to be because of the changing of seasons in which boars would look for mates, but this change in season is causing the wood industry heavy damage due to boars smashing onto logs, causing damages up to a hundred gold coins. The United Logging Guild has issued a quest in which for each boar killed near a forest, one will earn one silver coin to a gold coin depending on the strength of the boar.

Prize

One silver coin to one gold coin depending on the overall quality, strength, and type of boar.

“You really want to chase after boars every day, don’t you?” I looked at Flora before she averted her gaze, embarrassed which made Crystal a bit surprised as Flora pouted.

“Boars tastes good, especially roasted…” she refuted which caused a loud laugh to escape from Kaori’s and Mana’s mouths. There would never be a day where Flora would stop thinking about chasing boars, it’s to the extent that boars are the ones who are afraid of coming to a radius of 100 kilometers near her.

Not to mention, her smell is like that of a dog… it can smell a boar from far away, even her sight is that intense which makes me wonder whether she has a grudge against boars in her past life if she ever had one.

“We’ll take it, no worries. The reward is fine, not to mention, the experience points gained for each boar are decent enough. If we take down around fifteen boars of A-tier, we should be able to garner enough experience points to rank up as a party,” I said before the little fluff ball’s eyes sparkled.

“Uhm… what is A-tier?” Crystal suddenly questioned as Mana looked at her with a smile.

“In the Guild, there are different categories for everything which are all ranked by alphabetical order. The strongest is the SS-tiers while the weakest are the F-tiers, an SS-tier monster would be around the levels of a dragon while an F-tier would be around a slime,” Mana walked in front of Crystal, lowering herself down as she explained.

Crystal who was still the youngest and the uneducated one had an even more confused look on her face, it was as if her entire world was spinning as she asked, “What’s an alphabet?” which made us smile wryly as it was obvious to us that she was never taught anything.

“You will learn all of those once you start your education, don’t worry,” I patted her head, attempting to pick her up before a sudden bite struck on my arm which stunned me as the bite came from none other than Flora whose eyes were as if she was protecting her property.

“You can’t!” she pouted.

It seemed like she doesn’t want us to take Crystal from her which shocked all of us especially when you consider this was the same girl who threw a tantrum on us for bringing her. Crystal was also oblivious to Flora’s actions which matched that of her age though.

“Fine, but be sure to watch your younger sister well, okay?” I looked at Flora and said before the girl showed a bright smug on her face.

“Naturally…” she said before looking at Crystal with the corner of her other eye who was still confused. I couldn’t understand what was on this little fluff ball’s mind, is she into Crystal, or is she trying to act cool as an elder sister… well, whatever it may be, as long as the two don’t quarrel, it’s a win-win situation for me.

As if finding Flora adorable, Crystal poked her finger onto Flora’s cheeks which surprised the little fluff ball as she moved back abruptly with her eyes wide open as Crystal giggled at her, poking it even more as Flora tried to defend herself.

“Aren’t they really adorable?” Mana smiled as the two of us nodded.

It wasn’t only us who were finding their interactions adorable, most inside the guild were watching at the two of them with warm gazes as Crystal started chasing Flora around the guild which created a lively and warm scene onto the formerly tense establishment.

A while later, the two soon returned back to us with Crystal reaching her hand towards Kaori who quickly understood her intention as she picked her up from the floor before caressing her back as the black-haired girl rested her head on Kaori’s shoulders.

Flora on the other side had a conflicted look on her face but surrendered as she looked at Mana and reached her hand the same way to which Mana similar to Kaori picked her up as the two little girls soon fell asleep at the same time.

“I knew it… those two will never like me!” I pouted before the two giggled.

“Let’s go submit the quest and head on with our day, shall we?” Kaori suggested as all of us nodded, writing down the quest identification number on a sheet of paper before handing it to the counter who soon provided us with three wooden tokens.

After we received the tokens, we soon made our way out of the city, walking down towards a nearby forest which is around a thirty-minute walk before soon reaching the forest where dozens of parties awaited, thinning down the boars on the forest.

There was obviously a limit to how many boars we can eliminate per party, it was around fifteen per party since as much as the Guild wants to exterminate them, they also don’t want the entire race to become extinct.

“I smell boar…” Flora suddenly woke up and looked around before pointing towards a nearby tree as her eyes glowed green. Obviously, this little girl was not lying as a boar soon came out from the tree… a different kind of boar to be extinct.

It was a boar with black stripes and a red skin which was a sign of an evolved boar, these kinds of boars sell for around a gold coin each which got me railed up as I soon rose my hand upwards before a white foggy bow appeared on my hand.

“Heaven Arrow…” I whispered to the bow, pointing in the direction of the bow as I took a deep breath before a super light arrow appeared on the tip of the bow. The edge of the arrow was super sharp despite the arrow itself looking blurry.

After aiming for a straight second, a bell sound soon echoed inside of my head as I soon released the bowstring before a shockwave exploded from the bow, propelling the arrow forward as two bright wings appeared on it.

In an instant, blood rained down from the skies as the boar’s feet vanished, creating a large pool of blood to which Flora hopped down from Mana’s embrace and started running towards the boar with glimmering eyes.

“Nice shot…” Kaori said with a smile.

“Well… it’s still miles away from what Mom can do…” I said with a blush before she giggled.

“You shouldn’t compare yourself with Mo—your mom… she is someone powerful enough to make a Goddess shiver by herself,” Kaori rebuked with a wry smile. Indeed, Mom was someone powerful enough to make a Goddess fear her.

After some time, Flora soon came back dragging the boar by its ear which had died completely. The boar despite losing its leg kept its original value because the legs of a boar are considered worthless which is why most of us would target it.

“Aywumi-mwa! Is this for dinner?!” Flora asked with her sparkling eyes, her cheeks were stained with a little bit of boar blood which was easily wiped off by Mana’s handkerchief.

“We can have it for dinner but first, we need to store it somewhere…” I said before Kaori smiled.

“Let me store it,” she suggested before she rose her hand up in the skies, slashing down towards the boar as it vanished completely. It was as if the boar never existed in the first place, there was no trace of it other than its bloodstains on the floor.

“Isn’t that the legendary spatial magic from the books?” Mana looked at Kaori with shock before the white-haired beauty showed a smug.

“That’s not all I can do though,” she said before looking at the forest as she pointed her hand towards the direction of the forest before dozens of swords appeared around her, circling her like a machine gun as she mumbled, “Go…” before all the swords vanished.

Silence soon ensued which confused all of us as we looked at Kaori with questioning gaze while she held Crystal on her shoulders, smiling as she caressed the little black-haired girl’s hair before all of a sudden, a loud explosion echoed from within the forest.

An entire dozen of swords soon flew back carrying a total of six boars that were all stabbed by two swords each which soon vanished, leaving behind loud cheers from other parties who looked at us with awe. There was no jealousy at all, simply shock and awe from the sudden events.

“This should be enough for six gold coins, right?” Kaori smiled as she looked at the boars which all had their legs amputated, their appearance was exactly like that of the boar I killed. Her eyes looked at Mana as if she was showing her superiority which made me feel a bit conflicted.

It was as if the two were competing against one another, but I could tell from their glances that they didn’t think of each other as enemies, rather they think of each other as allies. It was a friendly competition from what I can see.

“I can do better…” Mana said before Kaori showed a smug.

“Don’t bully Mwama!” Flora suddenly bit on Kaori’s arm which surprised all of us as Mana giggled at her, picking the little girl up as she smiled.

“She isn’t bullying me, my dear… it’s friendly competition,” Mana smiled before looking at the forest as she turned towards me with a smile, “I guess I should also use this as an opportunity to test out my new powers since I’ve been stuck at home…”

As if the intention of Kaori, a smile appeared on her lips as she mumbled in a soft, nearly inaudible voice, “That’s good… I only want strong people around Ayu-chi… no one should drag her down…” which made me even more shocked as I looked at Kaori in a brighter light.

Mihou