Hunter of the Perished World

"Be noisy and the monsters will come. Be quiet."

"Ugh... Ugh!"

Leona shudders with a blush on her face, and the knife grabs her hand and smiles.

"The more I see, the funnier I get."

Since we have to spend the day at Ardpoint anyway, Carl settled down on the bottom and Jean also didn't want to leave for the deep night.

Gene gathers the flint feathers and sets the campfire. A scattered abandoned building in Ardpoint was today's residence.

"Obviously, it was kind of creepy in here."

The whole of Ad Point had a scattered atmosphere, not because of the person's disappearance, but because of the wanderer who was hiding. According to Leona, Jean looks out the window.

"I still look gloomy."

"… but it is."

Even with the ghost dead, the freshness is still drifting to Ad Point. Carl felt "disgust" on Leona and Jean's face. Leona and Gene do not speak of the death of Ardpoint, but they do suggest something they do not wish to say alone.

"Something, I wonder. They don't say anything."

The sword's questions are endless, and Leona smiles bitterly.

"I used to try to settle down here."

I could understand Carl well without saying anything behind my back. Slatters have been attacking, and Leona is furious enough to crush the box like a bomb. There must have been only one Leona.

But that's not why Jean needs to get Leona to a safe settlement. Gene stares at the knife.

"Are you a curious person?"

"I won't deny it. I think it's best to know everything, and I'm just curious about useless things."

Gene suddenly remembered the white sphere in the shape of such a knife.

Gene and the fact that his face came to his mind was not very good. Curiosity should be killed, eliminated, or both.

And Gene did a pretty good job with an old client who handed over a big sum of 1600 chips.

"Wonder why me and him hang out together?"

"Well, that's unusual, isn't it?"

Even if I pretend to be a loser, I'm not in the habit of driving a child. But I was actually carrying them around, so I wondered how they met.

Not as assisted with the hunter as Carl had hoped, and the old hunter and the boy who were too eager to be friends were a union that was hard to come by.

"I've decided to take the boy to a safe settlement. Just think of it as a quest."

"Do hunters take orders like that?"

"There's also a treasure hunt for the Wargrave, but there's nothing you can't do with a chip."

"Ha, I see... Then how did you meet him?"

Gene looks at the knife as if he was curious about everything, but his overly shiny eyes seem to be that of a boy longing for a story.

In fact, even though Gene saw the sword, he wanted to look 20 years old.

"I've been asked by the leader of this ardpoint."

Gene explained to Carl how he met Leona. Gin baked potatoes in the campfire, and there was plenty of time to finish the story until the potatoes were ripe.

Jean was not a fun person to talk to, but I knew she'd be calm and concise. I listened to Leonardo's curiosity about Gene's position.

He also found the City of Liberty collapsing, Gin guessed the process of the city collapse, met Leona locked in a vault, met the Maneater, and then returned to Ard Point to collapse again.

At the end of the story that was not short but not long, the potatoes were cooked properly, and Gin distributed the potatoes to each.

Leona laughs at Gin, smiling in secret.

"You're such an idiot, how could you forget to pay?"

"Damn kid. Forgetfulness means that humanity has not yet disappeared from me."

"If you're trying to be funny about it, you're right. It's really funny."

Leona laughs at Jean's words. After a long laugh, Leona senses a strange silence and looks at the knife.

Carl stares down at the potato, which is his share, and his expression is terribly stiff.

"What is it, man? What's the matter?"

"I heard well."

There was no laughter on Carl's face.

"But I'll double-check, is that true?"

"There's no reason to lie."

"I'm not kidding."

Suddenly, Jinn slashed the potatoes and said, in response to a polished knife.

"Hmm, what exactly is the truth?"

"The part about the city being attacked by Giant Wolfs. According to you, they're the kind of monsters that never stick together."

"Yes, it's true. I saw the bodies, all of them slammed into a fight in the middle of the city, and there was a mansion."

Carl's eyes are shaking.

"...... I'm sorry I keep asking, but why do you think I did it? Any particular reason?"

"I could not identify the cause, and it was not in my quest."

Gene wasn't lying, and Leona asked if Carl had a strange attitude.

"What's the matter? Is there a problem?"

"I can't tell you. But... but I need to know. Hunter, I need confirmation. Can I ask you one more time?"

"Whatever you can answer."

"You also told me that the city was brought down by a group of giant wolves. And also, according to your knowledge, Giant Wolf may be a cub, but adults only act in their own realm and never act in groups. Then, the monsters who 'never' flock together in cooperation said that they destroyed the poem and bit each other to death. Is that correct?"

Lt. Carl's remarks can never be fulfilled, but Gene believes the outcome of his judgment is.

It's hard to be sure, but Gene nods without a second thought.

"I don't know if you trust me, but I've seen it. There's no chance of anything else."

Gene is confident in his judgment without hesitation. Gene has lived as a hunter for a long time, judging by what has never happened.

"I see...."

Carl nods slowly, his expression darkening. Gene did not want to know what the thoughts and shocks were in Carl's head.

Although Carl is curious, Gene knew that curiosity would not benefit him much in life. Now that the quest is over, the hunter has no reason or obligation to care what the client thinks.

But Leona wondered.

"What's the matter with you? Let's know and think."

"I'm sorry, Leona. I can't tell you that."

Carl gets up from his seat without eating potatoes. Gene didn't want to hold out, just asked.

"Are you leaving?"

"... I'm sorry to wake you up. I need to check something out."

"Until you're sorry."

"And about this... I want you to keep it a secret."

Even though he didn't say it, he knew that it was also about the collapse of the city. But Gene makes no sense at all.

"Hmm, hunters don't do favors."

Gene then put his index finger and thumb together to form a circle. It was a gesture called a chip that worked everywhere.

Carl suggests that Wargrave's current attitude may have something to do with the collapse of poetry. If you want to keep a secret, give me the chip. Carl frowns at his actions.

Carl didn't want to get caught up with the hunter.

"How much do you want?"

"I'll settle this one in particular."

"…… ha. What a joke."

The knife pulls a chip out of its chest and hands it to Gin. Gene puts the chip in his arms and nods.

"Hunters don't usually do anything for free."

Hunters are an odd breed. Thinking that way, Carl smiles bloody. And Leona stares at Gin dazed for a moment.

Hunters don't do anything for free. That was in Leona's head.

"Are you going to poetry?"

"For now."

"Three days' drive from here in an emotional direction. Two days, maybe a day with your legs."

"Thank you...."

Carl nods and looks back before he leaves the abandoned building.

"... to be honest, it was nice meeting you. Jean, and Leona."

"Oh, yeah..."

Leona gets up slowly and approaches Carl, putting a little hand on Leona's head. Leona thought that Carl's hands were quite warm and soft.

"May you reach the place you seek.... I'll pray for you."

"Uh, uh... I don't know what it is, but be careful."

"Yes."

The blade runs swiftly past the point of the arcade. It seemed to Leona that it was running faster than a normal person. Leona stares quietly at the direction where the knife disappeared. It's not particularly sad, but Carl leaves strangely quickly.

"What? What's wrong with you?"

Leona returns to the fire and mutters, chewing potatoes.

"Did Wargrave do this to you?"

"Well, I don't know about that, but it's got a twist."

Although there were only two of them left, both Leona and Jean did not feel sorry for the person who left. Leona hands over the potatoes she left as Carl's share to Gin in half.

Gene glanced at the half-potato and immediately put it all in his mouth.

"By the way, mister,"

"Tell me."

"Why did Carl pretend to be a man?"

Gene shrugs. Leona notices the secret Carl is hiding.

Gene, who was very observant, knew it from the first moment we met. This was the first time either of you knew about it and brought it out on the topic.

"Why do you ask me if you're curious?"

"No, I mean, it can be awkward, right?"

Carl was obviously pretending to be a man, and Leona and Gene knew about it, but they fell for it. Gene was secretly thinking about taking a quiz.

"Carl (Charl) …. His real name would be Charles, Charles, Charlotte, Charlotte, something like that."

"How do you know that?"

"It's a hassle to explain."

"Then why don't you pick it up and serve it?"

"That's my heart, kid."

"Oh, this is so annoying."

Leona shakes her head.

Gene sits still, staring at the campfire.

The collapse of the Self-Substantiated poem is a bit of a bummer for Wargrave. Gene also did not intend to fundamentally investigate the collapse of poetry. I thought it was just one of the many accidents in the world. But of course, such coincidences and strange things have roots.

There are causes, so there are consequences.

What is the cause? I didn't have to think before, but now I'm different.

It was a suspicious incident. It's not what it used to be, but it's a different story if Wargrave instructors are sensitive enough.

Hunters think.

'There is a possibility that Wargrave is involved in the self-destruct.'

'If he was involved, why didn't Carl know about it?'

I didn't know. Why do you react so sensitive? '

It was important that Lieutenant Carl do exactly what he thought was necessary. Most of Wargrave's original manpower deals with monsters in the MCP area inside Fortress. Soon, I have no interest in the wilderness outside.

Wargraves roaming outside are often orbital vehicles and their escorts for transporting supplies. Such individual movements are very rare.

Lieutenant in rank, unknown affiliation, armed laser pistols.

It's true that the laser pistols are a weapon of higher firepower than their size, but it is also true that they are far too weak a weapon for a Wargrave soldier to carry alone in the wilderness. Think about who Lieutenant Carl is and what he's trying to do.

Carl is not in charge of the raided convoy. He tracks down a group of slatters who single-handedly attacked Wargrave. In the beginning, Carl told Jean that he would take care of everything without fighting.

That's as close to saying that laser pistols aren't all they have.

Along the way, Jean is left with only one job, with considerable amounts of chips at her disposal and enough to take on multiple Wargrave missions alone.

Executor. '

Executives are tasked with checking the situation of each fortress around the world and resolving difficulties in that fortress.

That is, a hunter from Wargrave headquarters.