40-035 Tatsuki & Yuki, First Team

Whoa!　I got a visual on the radar!

Give me a status report!

Suspected boar, 2.5 miles, 50!

"...... Nao, Toya, what's with the theatrics?

Haruka sighs tiredly.

Apparently he didn't like it.

What's that line you want to say?

I know!　I'd rather do that one myself!

That's Toya. That's why he's on board.

I'd take your place, but I'm better at spotting things.

Mmm-hmm.

We're walking near the forest, a little off the road.

It was getting close to noon, and I accepted Toya's suggestion that we hunt some boar for combat training as well. As a result, I accepted Toya's suggestion.

As for me, I'd rather eat a bird, but ...... I'll make a suggestion when I can hunt a boar successfully.

"Well, after all, there are two boars about 50 meters away, is that right?

"Yeah. You want me to go get some?

Well, let's leave ......1 to Toya, Yuki and Natsuki, and if we catch both of them, Nao and I will deal with the other one.

It's a good idea. Oh, Natsuki, let's trade my spear.

What?　But ......

He looked at the spear I offered him and compared it with his own spear and looked puzzled.

It's true that the prices are probably ten times different.

"Only for now. To be honest, that spear would break if you took a task bore head-on.

But Nao, you and Haruka are going to fight alone, right?　Isn't that more dangerous?

I'm more worried about Natsuki getting hurt. Besides, I have magic.

Thank you Nao-kun ....... I'll borrow it.

He exchanged the spear with a slightly happy Natsuki, thrust it into the ground and headed for the forest.

To be honest, a spear in the forest is a hindrance when it comes to fishing.

As I entered the forest from a suitable animal path, Haruka, who was following behind me, climbed a tree on the side and set up her bow.

As I approached, I spotted a mating pair of Task Boars.

The larger of the two is one of the largest I've ever seen.

The smaller one was also of a reasonable size, so I guessed they were not a father and son but a couple.

Basically, task boars are stupid, so if you provoke them, they'll come straight at you, but if you have both of them, you have to think a little.

Aim for the smaller of the two.

If you attack it too powerfully, it may run away, so you use the regular Fire Arrow.

At the moment of impact, it makes a little noise and leaps into a position where the opponent can see it.

You run back the way you came with the screams of "PIGAAAA" and "BUMOMOMOMOO" in your back.

He ran out of the forest, grabbed his spear, and ran to Toya and the others, making sure that they were following him.

It's coming!

There was no more than a ten meter gap between them and the enemy.

The moment I was about to run past Natsuki, who had her spear at the ready, I stepped out and saw an indentation in the tip of my foot.

Whoa!

Perfect timing!

If only I were the enemy!

"Oh no!

I immediately thrust my spear into the ground with all my might, and managed to take a half step forward to avoid the dent.

You'll be able to see that the boar is a huge one, and at the same time, you'll hear a heavy thud. With a heavy thud, Natsuki's spear was thrust into the boar.

--It hit the boar right in the eye, and the tip of the spear was sticking out of the back of its head.

That's instant death.

This is no time to watch.

The boar with the arrow sticking out of its head came out of the forest almost without delay. It's the boar I hit with the Fire Arrow first.

While I was looking at it, a second arrow pierced it, so I rushed over and stopped it with my spear.

The boar was weakened by the "Fire Arrow" and the two arrows, so I was able to finish it with a single blow.

The boars both stopped moving.

The boars both stopped moving, and I let out a big breath when I saw that there was no response to my search.

Even with the boar, I was still nervous about fighting.

Yuki rushed over to me and bowed.

"Nao!　I'm sorry!　I--

"Oh, no, no problem. It's not going to work out in the beginning, is it?

I laughed, patted Yuki's head, and made her raise her head.

In fact, even if she had fallen, it wouldn't have been a serious problem.

He might have sprained his ankle, but Haruka could have healed it, and the boar behind him would have been within Toya's reach.

He was forced to do some acrobatics, but there was nothing wrong with that.

Yes, yes. That's what we're practicing for.

Haruka, who had come down from the tree, agreed with me as she collected the arrow from the boar.

"Uh-huh. Sorry. But thank you.

More importantly. Yuki needs to learn to dismantle. Fortunately, we've got two teaching materials.

"Ugh. ...... I'll do my best. ......

Yuki's expression is a little tense, but she answers stoutly.

The first time I saw my prey dismembered, I was pretty shocked too, so I understand how you feel.

Just hang in there. You'll get used to it.

When I returned to Toya and the others, dragging the boar I had killed, Natsuki was pulling the spear out of the boar.

He looked a little pale, but his hands were firm.

A boar with its head pierced is pretty gruesome, but ...... strong.

I was pretty shocked the first time I killed it.

Oh, Nao, thank you for the spear. If it hadn't been for this spear, it might have been broken.

"Ah... But it's amazing, Natsuki. One thrust from that thing.

I'm sure the spear was good enough to penetrate his head, but to be able to calmly thrust a spear into his vitals in his first fight is quite a feat, isn't it?

I was expecting Natsuki to attack him as he passed by, and Toya to catch him and stop him, but I didn't expect him to finish him off with a single blow from the front.

And the fact that he didn't let that huge body run into him, means that he was able to catch that huge mass with his spear, right?

It's not just simple strength, it's also technology. ...... This is really amazing. It's a good thing I'm a level 4.

I'm not sure if you've ever heard of it, but I'm sure you've heard of it.

I'm not sure what to make of this.　What's the difference?

I'm not sure what to do, but I'm sure you'll be fine. You'll be fine, Yuki, with training.

I'm sure you'll be fine, Yuki, if you train." "Well, to be honest, it's pretty hard to make a well-timed pitfall, so don't worry about it. It's impossible to succeed the first time.

Thanks for the follow-up. I'll practice hard.

Yeah. But right now, we're practicing disassembly. Copy that.

"...... Yes.

Yuki nodded as she accepted the dismantling knife offered by Haruka.

Yes, I copied it.

The copy itself is instantaneous, after all.

I'm not sure what to do, but I'm sure you'll be fine.

Then I'll teach Yuki how to dismantle it. I'm going to teach Yuki how to dismantle it, and maybe you should watch Natsuki too.　I want everyone to be able to do it.

I understand.

Nao and Toya are at .......

Haruka gave me a look that said, "What do you want to do? I said what I had been thinking about earlier.

"Can I go hunting?　It's been a while since I've had a bird.

"Birds?　Will you be okay without me?

I'm not sure if it's because I've been hunting birds with Haruka's bow, or because Haruka asked me that question. ...... I can handle it, probably.

I'm not sure what to do.

But if you can't hunt, it's embarrassing, so I'll take precautions.

It's a good idea.　Don't go too far into the woods.

Okay. Hey, Tor, let's go.

Me too?　I don't know. I'm off then.

A little worried by Haruka and the others, Toya and I went into the forest again.

I'm not sure what to say.

So, how are we going to kill the bird?　I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one with a bow.

There's a good number of birds out there, and I can find them with my [Enemy Search] and Toya's super-senses.

I'd prefer a tasty bird if possible, but the first priority is to kill it.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that, but I'm sure I'll be able to do it.　You've got legs, right?

"Don't be absurd!　I'm not sure what to do.　...... Well, how about a bird walking on the ground?

You can't reach up a tree with a sword! ...... Well, what about a bird that walks on the ground? Hmm, a bird like a quail, ...... that could be minced?

I'm not sure what to make of this.

I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not.

A pheasant or a dove should be fine, right?　There's also a way to stop it with a roar. ......

"No, no, no, no, you can't use that, you can't catch the second one.

It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

She didn't need to use it on the task boars that were her main prey, as they came right at her, and she didn't have time to use it on the vipu bears that threatened her.

It was effective against the goblins I fought twice, but I only used it once, and the number of times I fought them was too small to call it active.

When used against birds and rabbits, it was useful for stopping their movement, but it resulted in all but the target prey running away from the surroundings. To be honest, it was hard to use for hunting.

"Okay, if there's a large bird within range of the sword, Toya will use it, otherwise I'll use the Fire Arrow.

I'm sure you can, but if you use the Fire Arrow to kill them, won't it burn them all?　You can also burn its wings and let me finish it off.

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm growing up, too, you know?　The Fire Arrow is evolving, too.

I've been training diligently, and my magic is improving as well.

You'll be able to get a lot more out of it than you did in the beginning, even though your skill level hasn't improved.

Yes!　So to speak, Fire Arrow 2.0!

That's a little old-fashioned. I know what you mean.

Leave it. Well, it means you can use it to focus and increase penetration. If you get it right, you can wipe out a quail's head.

"...... if you get it right.

"Accuracy is still in its infancy. You'll have to wait and see with Fire Arrow 3.0.

If the target is not moving, you can now focus on a range of 20 centimeters at a distance of 10 meters, but if the target is as small as a quail, you have to get at least five meters closer.

"The ...... target is a larger bird.

I hope the meat is not too tough.

The smaller the bird, the harder it is to find, but basically, the smaller the bird, the better it tastes.

If they are too small, there is no place to eat them.

Shall we look for them anyway?

Yeah.

When I say "search," I just concentrate on looking for life-signs, sneak up on them, and check who they are.

It's good if you can figure out what you're dealing with, but it's not that versatile.

There's a skill level indicator in [Searching for Enemies], and I'm starting to understand Task Boar, so maybe I'll be able to figure it out soon.

It seems that Toya's super-sense is even more vague, so we can't rely on it too much.

He can be relied upon to detect something like a killer spirit, though.

(Oh, it's a bird this time, huh?　(Oh, it's a bird this time, isn't it? It's called a cotus.)

([Appraisal]. It's small. ......

It's still a little bigger than a quail, and it's light brown with no pattern.

"Okay, I'll go with my Fire Arrow 2.0.

"Oh.

I focused my attention and fired my Fire Arrow, focusing it to the limit.

I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not, but it's a good idea.

"It missed!

It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

Hey, hey, hey!　You can do it just like normal, can't you?

And you were moving at the same time as I fired before I removed it, right?

I don't think they trust me.

I don't know how you did it. I was hoping that Nao would take it off and I could catch her as she took off.

"Geez, .......

I swallowed my words as Toya looked back at me and smiled.

I swallowed my words as he looked back at me and smirked, but I couldn't say anything because I was within five meters of him.

But then again, Kotas' head is less than three centimeters long, right?

You can't blame them for not hitting you, can you?

...... What?　I'm not sure what to make of this.

I'll leave Kotas to you. I'll go for the one that's out of Toya's reach.

Let's forget the inconvenient truth. Of course, we shouldn't make a movie about it.

Well, I'm sure the big bird can take a shot at the body with the Fire Arrow 2.0.

"No, I'm going for the head!　It'll work this time. I promise. Yeah.

And for a while.

The number of dead cotus was increasing rapidly, and finally I found a nice prey.

It's about 50 centimeters long with wings, dark brown with a little white on the tail.

It was perched on a tree branch, so Toya wouldn't be able to disturb it.

--No, I was following. Yeah, I just couldn't guess, could I?

What's that?

Coolus. Is it edible?　It's a little crow-like.

It's okay. --Oh, help. It's a coolas.

Considering that when I saw Task Boar before, it was called "Beast (edible)", I thought it would be called "Bird (edible)", but since I knew the name before I saw it, I guess it showed the proper name.

I thought it would say "bird (edible)," but it didn't, because I knew its name before I saw it.　I don't think many people eat them these days.

I've heard that my great-grandfather used to catch and eat them.

Since there are many of them in the city, if they were produced locally and consumed locally as "gibier," the damage caused by crows would be reduced, but I guess that's impossible.

But I don't think that's possible. Ravens have an image of being filthy.

I've heard that ravens are smart, and if they think they'll be hunted, they won't come out into the city.

Let's go, then.

"Okay. Good luck, 2.0.

"Shut up. Fire Arrow.

Catch your breath, aim well, and fire the Fire Arrow.

In an instant, the arrow reaches Coulas and bounces off his head.

"Yes!

He picks up his prey, which has fallen from a tree branch, its head missing but its body intact.

Isn't that perfect?

"Oh, that worked. But we can't drain it like this, can we?

Sure.

Because of the Fire Arrow, the wound is burned and the blood has stopped.

It's not a good idea to leave it like this, so I take out my dismantling knife and cut it down a bit to draw out the blood.

So now that Nao has her prize, let's go home.

".......

If I had only thought about lunch, I wouldn't have needed to hunt the crow, since Toya had already killed six cotus.

But I guess he was trying to save face by staying with me until I could finish him off.

I'd come out with a precautionary line, but it wouldn't look good if Toya had six and I had none.

When we were sure that Cuirass was no longer bleeding, we headed out of the forest.