*Unedited
” Good Morning~ ”
Ruby sang as she pushed open the thick wooden door even if the sign said [Closed]. She was treating it as though her own home. Well, that was because this was ‘Dyan’s Magical Tool Shop’. Zen’s father’s shop, who always caused his son to worried after his sloppy lifestyle.
Ruby had been coming over ever since she was little. Plus, she had gotten used to entering and changing the sign to [Open] every morning for the past 6 months. Because if she were to leave it, the sign would remained [Closed] forever. Zen had, with deep worry in his eyes before leaving for school, asked for her help in looking after his father.
To Zen, Ruby was his childhood friend as well as an older sister whom he could rely on. That very Zen had also promised her that he would try his very best in school, even trying to skipped grades, all so he could take over the shop someday.
As for Ruby, she was thinking of staring out as a newbie hunter in this town, Tattora, of the Sociunnov territory. It seemed that a few generations back, Ruby’s family had migrated over and was working as a hunter by using their special Cat Beastmen’s nimble and agile ability. Ruby wanted to continue the family’s line.
Zen had always said that he won’t lose to her so she was looking forward to what he would say this time. As Ruby had also teased this little boy who loved sticking close to her, she had forced him to say stuff like ” I am going to graduate in a blink of an eye! And I definitely will not return home before then! Definitely! ” before glaring at her. But she was sure that he would find an excuse and come back.
Ruby smiled.
” Oh. You’re early, Ruby. ”
” No, I’m not! Baron is the one who’s late! The other shops had long since opened for business. It’s because you’re like this that even Zen is worried about you! ”
The ‘even Zen’ phrase shown how much Ruby knew about Zen’s natural airheadedness. But Ruby was not wrong. The common time to open up the shop was when adventurers or hunters started heading towards the adventure guild.
As the missions they took was often more than not dangerous, they loved spending their money as they do not know when they would meet their demise. Very few would had money left on them overnight. So it would be hard for normal merchants not to bank in on this chance. Even Ruby was on her way to the adventure guild as she dropped by the shop, it being along the way.
” Ah, but I just seem to always forget about turning the sign over. ”
” That’s why I said it’s better not to even hang up the sign in the first place! ”
That sloppy way of thinking made Ruby can’t help but to tsukkomi. But to think Baron’s eyes would started sparkling.
” Good idea!!!! ”
” Stop jokinya around!! ”
She yelled, even stumbling over her words. Aah. Ruby sighed. This happen every morning. Ruby’s mum had always said that it was because Zen had such a father that he grew up to be so diligent. But Ruby thought otherwise.
Zen’s father was sloppy, but underneath all the sloppiness, he was actually quite airheaded. Yes, like father like son.
” Seriously…. Get a hold of yourself! I’m going to the guild! ”
Ruby had started to nag even though she was still young but that was also because she was forced to.
Reaching the guild, it was already packed with people. As most of them were her sempais, she greeted them as she headed towards the notice board. As a hunter, she was always on the lookout every morning for missions that requesed for the subjugation of a certain animal or beast, or the supply of some ingredients. Also not forgetting to look for gathering (herbs/plants) missions that she could do on the way to hunt.
After checking the notice board, she confirmed the missions she had accepted before heading out towards the forest.
” The subjugation of [Hornet]… ”
She mumbled to herself as she walked. [Hornet] were a large bee-type of demon beasts. Requests to subjugate them would come out every summer. But, these [Hornets] had extremely good sense of smell so for Cat Beastmen who hide in the shadows, they were a huge threat.
But, the meaning behind these requests appearing every summer would meant that there were quite a number of them in the forest. It would be bad if she were to met one. Not only has it had a fiery temper, it also had that poisonous sting so all Ruby could do was to pray that she would never meet it.
” Sigh….. Please don’t let it appear, please don’t let it appear.. ”
She was rather unwilling to hunt during this season. But she was her job so she could only try to overcome it when it came.
Taking a deep breath and preparing herself, Ruby then stepped into the forest.
After walking in the forest for a while, Ruby began to notice something wrong. There was no beasts around. [Tanuki] or even [Rabbit] that she always hunted was no where to be seen.
This was the [Demon Forest]. It should be brimming with beasts. Then, Ruby noticed something in front of her. It was traces of a campground. And from the traces, there should be quite a number of people.
Weird.
Definitely weird.
Those who entered the forest were usually locals who rarely ventured deep inside. That’s why it was normal for them to head home once the sun set. Although there were still people who would go deep into the forest, they were mostly people who knew what they were doing and would not leave such obvious traces around.
Plus, that large number of people.
From the leftover traces, Ruby can determined that quite a large number of people spend the night here. The only group that passes by with that amount of people would only be merchants that came a few times every month.
But they would usually enter through the path facing south near the town and not through this forest.
As Ruby was deep in thought, she suddenly snapped her head up.
” ….are…. coming….! Hunters…..danger… ”
She then felt a force hitting the back of her head. As she heard some voices talking behind her, her consciousness began to go black.
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TN: Character page updated. Added Spinel, Zirco, Shiro and new Buu-san picture.