Chapter 80: Revisiting the Hunting Hut
Two weeks had passed since his eldest brother Ryan left for the Royal Capital.
Passing through the dew-covered grasslands, Ren stepped into the shallow layers of the forest. It had already been about a quarter of a day since he left the village’s south gate.
Thin rays of sunlight filtered through the gaps in the trees, and the branches rustled whenever the wind blew.
Ren stopped and nocked one of his handmade simple arrows onto his bow.
On a branch ahead, there appeared to be nothing at first glance, yet faint glimmers of mana light leaked from the spot, making the air around it seem to waver slightly.
(That thing again…)
An Ashveil. A small bird-type magical beast with the dark attribute. Its dark-attribute magic stone sold for a fairly good price, and its feathers could be used for crafting. Whenever he entered the forest, one was often perched up in the trees as though it had come to scout him. So far it had never actually attacked, so he could probably ignore it, but the way it hid itself and watched him without moving bothered him.
Ren quietly inhaled.
(Push with the hand holding the bow. Push…)
He remembered the words Ryan had taught him just before he departed.
Awkwardly, Ren put strength into his left arm.
He drew the string, took a small breath, held it, and released the arrow.
Whissh—a sharper sound than before.
A short screech rang out, and the branches below shook heavily as something fell.
“…Alright.”
Ren blinked.
He hurried over and checked where it had dropped in the bushes. The arrow had pierced the Ashveil’s throat.
Quickly storing the Ashveil inside the “Small Box,” Ren strained his ears at his surroundings.
Rustle.
The faint sound of something brushing a branch. Ren snatched up his next arrow.
With a rushing sound, a blackish mass came charging at him. Fangs gleamed, oversized for its build.
Without hesitation, Ren loosed the arrow.
“Kiih!”
The magical beast was pierced by the arrow and tumbled to the ground as if flicked aside, and from the bushes all around, the other magical beasts scattered and fled.
Small-Fang Rats.
“Small-Fang Rat… I finally took one down.”
The last time they attacked him, the most he could manage was to throw up the “Small Box” as a shield on reflex. They always ran off at once, so he had been wanting to catch one someday.
“I wonder how much this’ll sell for…”
Looking forward to it a little, he bled the creature inside the “Small Box,” stowed it away, and started deeper into the forest again.
Along the way, he made sure not to forget to bury a “Small Box” into the ground at fixed intervals.
Setting them to glow when he passed nearby, he eventually reached a place where four “Small Boxes” were lined up together. Using the trail markers running on from those four as his guide, he continued onward until he arrived at a place where a massive tree lay fallen across the ground.
After slipping through the gaps in the branches, his view finally opened up, revealing the path leading to the old hunting hut.
In front of the moss-covered hut wrapped in vines, pale blue mana light occasionally flickered from the cracks of a broken stone magic tool.
Glancing sideways at the magic tool, Ren stood before the hunting hut’s door. After feeling out whether any people or magical beasts were lurking inside, he pushed the door open.
Creeeak…
Stale, shut-in, dusty air flowed out from within.
Ren wrinkled his nose without meaning to.
The floor, lit by the sunlight from the doorway, was covered in dust and dirt spread thick as a carpet.
Raising one hand, Ren gathered his mana.
“Floor Refresh.”
Pale mana spread out, gathering the dust together from part of the floor. It was an application of “Boots Refresh”—a spell he had been thinking of trying out once he visited the hunting hut. “Boots Refresh” combined earth magic and wind magic, but “Floor Refresh” combined earth magic, wind magic and water magic.
Only a narrow patch about the size of two pairs of boots had come clean.
But seeing the wooden floorboards made him feel a little better.
“Floor Refresh.”
Zazaza…
“Floor Refresh.”
Zash…
“Floor Refresh.”
Little by little. Little by little.
Ren set about cleaning, steadily and patiently.
He opened the windows and used wind magic to change the air. Lighting up the inside of the hut with the brightly glowing “Small Box,” he looked around and thought.
(…If I cleaned it up a bit more, I could probably use this place…)
A hideout. Or a base. Words like that drifted into his head.
Ever since his eldest brother Ryan had gone, the atmosphere in the house felt as though it had changed a little.
Everyone was carrying on as usual. And yet it was quiet somehow.
Over this past year or so, Ren’s time outside as an apprentice adventurer had increased, and his chances to see Ryan face to face had already grown fewer. Even so, it was different with him gone.
It was as though a hole had been left behind.
And then he thought.
Next year his sister Liese would turn twelve and go to the Royal Capital. The year after that, his second brother Lewis as well.
The house would go on changing, little by little.
His father had said he wouldn’t pay Ren’s tuition.
Because he had no expectations for Ren’s skill.
Then Ren would have to live by his own means.
…But could he really do it?
He was still uneasy.
When he read books in the study room at the mansion, he came away with knowledge different from what he got at the Adventurers’ Guild reference room. If he went to the Royal Capital, maybe he could gain all sorts of knowledge. He wanted to go to the Royal Capital. Even though he still had no confidence he could live on his own.
There was no guarantee he could make a living as an adventurer. He might die alone in the forest.
But still.
Ren looked around the cleaned floor.
A dim hut, only a little cleaner than before.
The light of the “Small Box” lit up the quiet hut.
He let out a breath and looked around the inside of the hut.
“…If I could live here…”
Ren’s murmur carried through the silent hut.