Chapter 2 – 2. Hilda (2) [Edited]
Early morning.
The sun wasn’t up yet, but the lights in the bakery were brightly lit.
“Whoa… I guess this is enough, right?”
Before we knew it, store shelves began to fill up with bread freshly baked from the oven.
The sweet smell of bread tickled Hilda’s nose.
Gulp.
‘Ha. Should I just eat one? You can eat it instead of breakfast.’
I picked up a piece of bread that was out of shape, unfit for sale, and put it in my mouth.
‘Um, I made it, but it’s so delicious!’
Hilda, who was still hungry, took another piece of bread, put it in her mouth, and left the house.
Well then, shall we start our daily routine today?
In front of the yard, Hilda began doing morning stretching.
As her body began to relax, she felt someone coming from behind her.
“Uh? Good morning, Chief. “What are you doing to me at this time?”
“… Helia, I have a favor to ask of you. Yesterday during the day. My son went to the river and did his laundry. What did he see? I heard that it was a deer corpse… It felt like it had been torn apart by something huge. When I heard it at the time, I thought it was just a bear or some other wild animal… What do you think?”
“Hmm… That sure is strange. At most, the only things that can appear here are goblins or wild animals, and I don’t think such corpses can occur naturally.”
“I think so too. “I’m sorry, but could you take a look?”
“All right. “I didn’t have anything to do at the moment, so I’ll check and come back.”
“Thank you. Aren’t you from a golden plate adventurer? “I’m so glad there’s a trustworthy person like you in the village.”
“Oh! I heard the deer carcass is near where the villagers wash their clothes, so you should be able to find it quickly. And just in case, I’ll tell Millia too. “She is also a silver-plated adventurer, so she will be of great help.”
After saying everything he wanted to say, the village chief headed to Milia’s house.
Hilda, who was watching this, went straight into her house and took out her sword, which she had not used for a long time.
It wasn’t her own sword that she used during her warrior party days.
The sword was too conspicuous, and if anyone recognized it, Hilda’s identity could be revealed, so she kept it in the subspace.
The sword I am holding now is a long sword that is easily available nearby and was purchased at a village blacksmith shop.
Hilda swung her sword horizontally for the first time in a long time.
Ssam-!
The sound of a blade cutting through the wind reached her ears. Hilda looked satisfied and moved to the riverside.
* * *
Jump and jump.
I think I walked for about 20 minutes. The sound of water flowing in front of her began to reach her ears.
‘I said it was around here…?’
Weeeeeing. Weeeing.
‘Oooh… The smell… There it is, a corpse.’
Fortunately, the body was quickly found. It was a place with wide visibility, but the smell was so overwhelming that I couldn’t notice it.
Hilda approached her deer’s carcass and examined her condition. Perhaps because her decomposition was so advanced, flies and maggots were boiling on her, and Hilda’s face was also crumpled.
The next thing I looked at was the deer’s upper body. To be exact, the entire lower body has disappeared, leaving only the front legs and head.
“Hoo?”
It was definitely a winner. If it were a goblin, there was no way it would have been hunted like this, and if it had been a bear or another wild animal, the body would not have been left in this way.
I looked around to see if anything, but I couldn’t see any footprints from hunting.
Whether it’s a bear or a goblin, you have to step on the ground to hunt. Then, footprints must remain, and being invisible meant that the other person was intelligent enough to erase their traces.
“Is there really something?”
After that, we searched the forest near the river for over 6 hours, but ultimately found no traces.
‘For now, let’s go back for today and come back tomorrow.’
So Hilda went back to the village.
* * *
Hilda headed straight to her village chief’s house. Since the chief was at home, she was able to meet him right away, and as she searched the forest, she told him about her thoughts and the level of danger.
“I understand for now. “Can I ask you to search tomorrow as well?”
“Yes. Well, if there’s something dangerous like that near the village, it’s better to catch it quickly. “No one should get hurt.”
“Thank you for your hard work today. See you tomorrow.”
Hilda also said hello to her village chief and headed home. Hilda soon returned home and checked the time. The clock was already past 4 o’clock.
‘I haven’t done anything, but the whole day has already passed. I guess I should at least give Arthur some bread.’
Hilda went to her kitchen and took out one of her baskets, which she filled with some of the bread she had baked this morning, and she headed to Milia’s house.
Knock.
“Are you there?”
Footsteps were heard, and a moment later the door clattered open.
However, contrary to her expectations that Arthur would appear, Milia appeared.
“Hilia? “You’re back.”
“Yes, I just got back. But where is Arthur?”
“Maybe she’s hanging out in town. Was it 30 minutes ago? “She went out with Aris at that time.”
“Oh, I see. Then she brought some bread…”
“Oh my, you treat me like this every time… I’m sorry I get it so often, but would you like to have dinner at my house tonight?”
“Really? Then I am very happy. It’s been a long time since we ate together.”
Millia heard Hilda’s words and called Jade.
“Jade? Helia and I decided to have dinner together today. Make more than usual!”
In response to Millia’s words, she heard Jade replying that she understood.
“Ah! Right, Jade? “Did she hear where Aris said she was going to hang out today?”
“I heard you went out with Arthur with a net to catch fish? She probably went to the river. It’s almost night, so won’t you be back within an hour?”
Hearing those words, Hilda and Millia both looked at each other in surprise. It was Hilda who spoke first.
“Milia, I will go first. Grab your weapon and come straight to the river. “If you find the kids first, don’t worry about me and go home first.”
Millia nodded her head and hurried into the house. After confirming this, Hilda immediately took out her long sword from her scabbard, held it in her hand, and started running towards the river at high speed.
* * *
There was a girl and a boy by the river. What was so funny? Their laughter echoed across the river.
“Hihi~”
“Aris, I’ll drive the fish there!”
“Get to know it!”
At Arthur’s words, Aris picked up the net and moved to a good position to catch fish.
“Arthur!! Now! Now!”
With a splash! With a splash! Splash!
At Aris’ signal, Arthur kicked the water with her feet and drove her fish towards Aris.
Clap!
Hehe!! Arthur! Got it!! Look at this. It’s much bigger than the one I caught last time!”
“Amazing! As expected, Aris is the best!!”
“Hmph! Of course! Next time, I’ll catch a bigger one and give it to you.”
“Really? I’m looking forward to it, Aris!!”
Aris was coming out of the river to take the fish she had caught to her home.
“Arthur! Let’s go home now.”
“Can’t I just splash around a little more and then go?”
“Ugh, okay. “I’ll be drying my clothes here!”
Jump! Jump!
Tuk.
“Oh! I dropped it by mistake. Hehe.”
When Aris bent down and stretched out her hand to pick up the fish that had fallen to the ground, Arthur called out to her in her urgent voice.
“Ah. Aris!! Before! Look ahead!!”
At Arthur’s words, Aris raised her head without thinking and looked in front of her.
“… Huh?”
A large black wolf appeared in front of Aris.
Just looking at the height, it looked like it was 3 meters high, but the good thing was that the distance was still about 200 meters away and the wolf didn’t seem to have found Aris yet.
‘Yeah… Yeah! From now on, all you have to do is quietly move to the side. And then I hold Arthur’s hand and run to the village.’
Arthur’s urgent voice came from next to me.
“Aris, hurry up…! “I have to go now!”
But strangely, Aris’ body did not move.
“Uh… Huh? Wait a minute… I feel strange. “Her legs don’t move.”
– Stumbling.
‘Whoa. I almost fell because my legs gave out. If I had fallen, the wolf would have definitely caught me because of the sound.’
But when Aris looked in front of her again, the wolf was looking at her. The wolf, perhaps sensing her presence at the river, was slowly moving towards Aris.
As Aris watched the wolf getting closer, her mind turned white from sheer fear.
‘Uh… Why? The only animals that appeared here were deer! There were almost no wild animals. Even the adults didn’t say anything! Lord. I don’t want to die!! Please! Someone please save me. Mom and Dad…’
Before we knew it, the distance between Aris and the wolf was less than 50 meters. If a wolf attacked Aris, he would not be able to resist and would die.
“Hey!!! Mom!! Dad… Hmm. “
In the end, Aris burst into tears.
If it had been a nightmare, he should have woken up by now, but unfortunately, it was reality, so the wolf just continued to approach Aris.
Tuk! Tap!
At that time, a stone flew towards the wolf. The wolf looked at the location where the stone flew.
Aris also turned his head in the direction the wolf was looking and looked at the location where the stone flew.
There, Arthur was seen throwing a pebble with his left hand to attract the wolf’s attention.
“Profit! Get away from Aris!! “Go away!”
‘Arthur! You should have run away… What are you doing! And then you die!!’
Aris wanted to scream at him to run away quickly, feeling that he had to save Arthur. Because of her fear, her mouth could only tremble, and no words could come out of her mouth.
Puck-!
Unfortunately, the stone Arthur threw succeeded in hitting the wolf. The wolf that was approaching Aris suddenly changed direction and started running towards Arthur, as if it was going to punish Arthur for his actions. Aris, who was startled, succeeded in shouting at Arthur in a hurry.
“Arthur!! Run away!!!”
But Arthur was already lying on the floor, pressed by the wolf’s paw. Arthur began to struggle to escape, but the wolf gradually increased its strength and pressed heavily on Arthur’s chest.
“It hurts!! It hurts-!!!”
“Hehe!! Die!! I’m going to die!! Aris!!! Help me-!!”
Uh? What is it? Arthur is dying right in front of me. What am I doing now? Why isn’t my body moving.?
“Hmm. Ugh!!! It hurts!! It hurts so much!!!”
Should I go and stop it now? How? By what method?
“Aris!! Hehe… Help me!! Please, turn it off. Hehe. Hehe… Uh. Huh?”
Arthur, feeling the pressure that had been pressing him like crazy disappear, looked up in surprise and saw the wolf raising its front paws.
‘Why.?’
Arthur thought. He might be able to survive.
‘Okay, get up and run away now-‘
Phew!
With the sound of leather being torn, Arthur felt something penetrate his flesh and enter his chest.
“Uh? … Kwaaaaa am-!!!!”
Aris couldn’t believe the current reality. Even though Arthur continued to scream in pain, he only looked at the wolf. The wolf was also watching Aris.
The wolf’s eyes seemed to be asking Aris. What can you do to stop me? If you continue like this, your friend will die.
Even at this moment, the wolf’s claws were slowly digging into Arthur’s body.
“Aaaaahhh-!!!”
After what seemed like an eternity,
“… “
“Ah… Arthur?”
Arthur’s screams were no longer heard. Aris looked at Arthur.
Arthur, who was not yet dead, was bleeding, and his body was seen continuously twitching and shaking.
The wolf was slowly removing her claws from her Arthur while looking at Aris. Blood continued to flow from the hole where the claws were stuck, but the wolf didn’t care and raised its front paw upward.
Aris looked into the wolf’s eyes. The eyes, which drew fine lines, felt as if they were laughing at their helplessness.
At the same time, Aris noticed why the wolf raised her front paw. That wolf is now planning to put its front paw down and turn Arthur into a mess, and then Arthur will really die.
Is it because he really thought Arthur was going to die? Aris’ body began to move again.
“Oh, no!! Stop! “Stop!”
But when the wolf saw that Aris was moving, she swung her front paw towards Arthur,
Suddenly! Suddenly!
Just before the wolf’s paw touches Arthur.
A long sword engulfed in red flame cut off the wolf’s front paws and neck almost simultaneously.
When Aris looked at the person who killed the wolf, she saw her red hair. As far as Aris knew, there was only one person with red hair in the village.
Aris, who moved his gaze to her face, met Hilda’s eyes with hers. She tried to say something to Hilda, but she couldn’t say anything because her mouth wasn’t moving.
Hilda also glanced at Aris with her eyes, then she didn’t care any more and immediately hugged Arthur and started running with all her might in the direction of her village.
Aris, who had been staring at her like that, continued to look in that direction even though her Hilda had disappeared. For a few minutes.
As time passed, Aris, who naturally relaxed, sat down on the spot and began to cry due to the overwhelming feelings of relief and guilt she felt.
“Huh … Black … Arthur … I’m sorry …
So Aris just cried endlessly until Millia came.
