Chapter 1-12 : Innocent Hunter (part 3)
「Alice, those wolf corpses remain. Is it because of the effect of your【Hunter】skill you told us about?」(Shougo)
「Yup. As you can see.」(Alice)
「I see.」(Shougo)
「I mean no offense to Alice-san, but honestly, I didn’t believe it at first. But…」(Shuu)
「Yeah, me neither. But the corpses really do remain.」(Gaul)
「It seems that her【Hunter】skill is real. As expected from Alice-chan~!」(Leone)
「Ugh… I prefer they disappear upon being killed… Hmph!! Hoeekkk!!」(Kururu)
Seeing the corpses of the wolves who were cut into a few pieces, Kururu threw up.
Leone, who was standing next to her, stroked her back.
「Are you good?」(Leone)
「No… problem… Ugh…」(Kururu)
「Say, Alice, do we need to skin these corpses to get the materials?」(Rin)
「Hm? What are you talking about, Rin? Of course. Isn’t it obvious?」(Alice)
「Uhh…」(Rin)
「It looks more like hunting in the real world than in a virtual game… So, anyone up to learn this skill?」(Shougo)
「Avoiding RNG and getting all the materials from monsters you kill is a great thing, but… I think I’ll pass for now.」(Gaul)
「Me too. I’m not used to touch animal corpses.」(Shuu)
「I’ll pass too. And Kururu… Well, we don’t even have to ask her.」(Leone)
「Hoeeekk…!!」(Kururu)
「I see. I can understand. I don’t get why Alice is fine with this kind of thing though.」(Shougo)
「Well…」(Alice)
「Shougo, It’s Alice we’re talking about. She must see these corpses as delicious meat to cook. Don’t you, Alice?」(Rin)
「Yup! You really know me well, Rin!」(Alice)
「Hahh… That’s Alice for you… Anyway, I understand that the corpses remain thanks to your【Hunter】skill, but one thing I don’t understand is… How the heck did you kill all these wolves so quickly!? Moreover, you kill them in one hit!」(Shougo)
「Aa! That’s right! I’m curious too!」(Shuu)
Suddenly, everyone turned their gazes to me.
Even Kururu looked at me with her pale face.
「Umm, probably the wolves are just too weak?」(Alice)
「No, no. Unless you are a veteran player who has been playing for a year, normally, you won’t be able to one-hit-kill Erst Wolves.」(Shougo)
「Is that so?」(Alice)
I didn’t know that. It seems that my【Sever】skill is much more powerful than I thought.
「Did you use a specific skill to do that?」(Shougo)
「Yup.」(Alice)
「Don’t tell me… You learned it from an NPC?」(Shougo)
「Yyyyup」(Alice)
「Kaah! Another unique skill from an NPC, huh?」(Shuu)
「I see. How does it work?」(Shougo)
「This skill is called【Sever】. As the name suggests, this skill helps me cut off my target’s body parts. When I activate it, I can see red lines all over the bodies of living creatures. I can easily sever their body parts by simply hitting the lines with my blade.」(Alice)
「I see. That’s a fascinating and powerful skill. But… You say you can see red lines all over the bodies of living creatures. Does that mean you can see those lines on us too?」(Shougo)
「Yeah. All living creatures including players. I can see them on your necks, your abdomens, and your limbs. By the way, I always aim for the neck because it’s easy to hit.」(Alice)
「Hmm… Interesting.」(Shougo)
「Uwaahh… So you can see a red line on my neck? That’s scary… That means you can chop my head off anytime, right…?」(Shuu)
「Not just your neck. I can also cut off your limbs and turn you into a Daruma doll!」(Alice)
「Hiiiiiiiiiyy!!」(Shuu)
「Fufu. Just kidding.」(Alice)
「Alice-san, your joke sounds scary!」(Shuu)
I actually have turned an Erst Bear into a Daruma doll before, but… I don’t think I should tell them about it.
「Guhihi~ I don’t mind being turned into a Daruma doll by a cute girl like Alice-chan~」(Leone)
「Leone, please… I will definitely faint if I see you being turned into a Daruma doll…」(Kururu)
「Anyway, we should be careful not to annoy Alice. Anyone who pisses her off has to prepare to be beheaded or turned into a Daruma doll! You guys understand?」(Shougo)
「Uhh… I won’t do that, okay?」(Alice)
Shougo’s party members seem to love to joke around…
「Speaking of Alice-san, her name reminds me of Alice in Wonderland, but after learning more about her, she’s more like the queen rather than Alice the main protagonist.」(Shuu)
「Ah, if I’m not mistaken, that queen loves to behead people who annoy her.」(Leone)
Alice in Wonderland… I used to love that show.
Remembering the show makes me want to sing.
「The queen of hearts, she made some tarts. All on a summer’s day～♪ The knave of hearts, he stole those tarts and took them clean away～♪ The king of hearts called for the tarts and chop the knave’s head off～♪ Chop his head off～♪ Chop his head off～♪」(Alice)
「Ara~ Alice, you’re still good at singing!」(Rin)
「Aaah~ Alice-chan’s voice is so beautiful! Let me hear more!」(Leone)
「It would be much better if she wasn’t covered in blood… Ugh…」(Kururu)
「Umm, guys? We’re still in the forest and we still have a job to do. I’m sorry to say this but we have to postpone Alice’s solo concert for now.」(Shougo)
「Hahh… Women are so carefree…」(Gaul)
「Hehe… Alice-san is super cute… ーOuch!」(Shuu)
Shuu muttered something, but I didn’t hear it.
Since Shougo hit his head, he must have heard what he said.
After I put the wolf corpses into my【Storage】, we decided to continue heading deeper into the forest while gathering herbs on our way.
Shougo said he would feel bad if I was the only one working, so he changed the strategy.
Gaul, Shuu, and him would hold the monsters for me to finish off. Meanwhile, Rin, Leone, and Kururu would provide support from behind.
Thanks to Shougo and the others holding down the targets, it was so much easier for me to hit the red lines on their necks and kill them instantly.
Everything went so smoothly and we made good progress.
It didn’t take long for us to finish the quests.
「Alice, now!」(Shougo)
「Hyaa!」(Alice)
ーSLASH!
「Phew…」(Alice)
「Good job. That should be the last Erst Bear around here. I think we can go back to the town now.」(Shougo)
「I thought this mission would take longer.」(Gaul)
「Yeah. We were able to finish it much faster thanks to Alice-san.」(Shuu)
「Hehe~」(Alice)
Everyone looked at me and smiled. It made me feel a bit shy.
「Well then, shall we go back now?」(Shougo)
「Wait! Before we go back, Alice-san, can you stand over there?」(Kururu)
「O.. Okay…」(Alice)
I didn’t know what Kururu wanted, but I did what she said anyway.
As soon as I got into the positionー
「【Water Cannon】!」(Kururu)
ーShe shot me with a water spell.
「Abababababababa!!!」(Alice)
「Alright. You look much better now.」(Kururu)
「Pwah! Eh? Ehh??」(Alice)
I was so confused at first, but then I understood what she was doing after I looked at myself.
She washed the blood away from my clothes and my body.
「Ku, Kururu-san, I appreciate it but you could have told me first. You scared me.」(Alice)
「Ahaha… I’m sorry about that. I just couldn’t stand seeing you covered in blood.」(Kururu)
She scared me but thanks to her, I’m clean now and I don’t have to go to the bathhouse.
My clothes are wet but I think they will dry when we get to the town.
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