## Chapter 10 – Cockatrice Hunt
Before starting the real hunt, we went into a reasonably empty building and had a meal.
While eating, we discussed and agreed on specific plans. There wasn’t much to it. William and Winia would just use their tracking skills to find the cockatrice’s nest and kill it. From the start, the two C-rank adventurers weren’t worried at all about facing a cockatrice.
It was almost like they were going for a walk and getting some light exercise.
Nana Copson couldn’t even imagine it.
“Here, Shorty! Carry this!”
Winia gave me a big backpack. A very big backpack. I knew it from the start, but Copson and I were basically here as laborers. When you catch a cockatrice, you get a lot of useful material items. We were hired to collect them, basically.
“You have to pack everything important, got it? You’re dead if you leave anything out!”
“Okay…”
I put on the backpack. Cockatrices generally drop a lot of miscellaneous items. The feathers can be used for arrow fletching, so nothing is wasted. Bones, beaks, and claws are used as equipment materials. Even the crest and heart are said to be used as magical ingredients. Of course, the meat is also not to be wasted.
Just thinking about carrying all that made my legs wobble already…
It would easily outweigh any military pack.
Anyway, I set off with the big backpack on my back and Copson with a small one. William, at the head, tracked the footprints as he moved forward. Copson followed behind, looking left and right, and Winia and I moved at the very back, guarding the rear.
“Shorty, water.”
“It’s here on my waist.”
“Shorty, water.”
“…”
Without a word, I took out the canteen, opened the lid, and handed it to Winia.
This is so unfair. I was already starting to worry. I was worried about not getting paid. Of course, this quest was commissioned by the guild, so there was no need to worry about that, but this bitch would definitely screw me over somehow.
Winia, that bitch, was capable of anything.
The forest continued endlessly. Had we been walking for about an hour? William, moving forward without hesitation, was truly a skilled professional. I don’t know much, but his tracking skills were perfect. We seemed to be getting closer and closer to the cockatrice.
“Hmm… Smooth. A typical wild monster. It doesn’t even think about erasing its tracks. It must be stupid, lost in a territorial fight, and fled near the village.”
“Is that so? Wow, just following along is educational.”
“At this rate, we’ll find it soon.”
See? Just listening to William and Copson’s conversation made it clear that this quest would go smoothly. Thinking about Copson learning tracking skills from William’s side made my stomach ache. Opportunities like that are rare.
This world has no internet or TV. To learn a skill, you have to pay someone you know to teach you. But having a high-level adventurer in the same party and seeing their know-how firsthand was free.
“Shorty, did you hear? It looks like it’ll be over soon.”
“Oh.”
Anyway, it was a damn fortunate story. I wanted to get away from this woman as soon as possible.
“Shorty, are you free after this?”
“Free? Why?”
“We haven’t seen each other in a while, shouldn’t we spend some time together?”
I don’t think that’s a law.
Was there such a clause in civil or criminal law?
Or is it in UN international law?
I can’t forgive international law if there’s such a law…!
I was horrified, chattering my teeth as I looked for an excuse. Spend time together? I’d rather go into a dungeon alone, which would be two hundred times more profitable and healthier.
“Th, that’s, well. I don’t think I can.”
“Why?”
Winia, instantly turning into a ferocious beast, used her staff as a hook to grab my neck. Her face got closer. Rather than being impressed by the unique scent of a mage, I coughed because I was suffocating.
“Why can’t you?”
“Gek, well, I have an appointment.”
“Oh, what bullshit is that?”
Then, she grabbed my ear as if to tear it off and said. There was no limit to her strength. Winia was as ferocious as her chest was big.
I desperately searched for an excuse. My brain was spinning rapidly. At this rate, I’d become a cauliflower ear. It was a cool nickname that made my mouth water, but I didn’t want to sacrifice an ear for that kind of nickname. It hurts like hell, damn it.
I wracked my brain. Hanging around the guild, I’d hear some news and gossip. I picked out one that seemed useful.
“Well, it’s not really an appointment, but I have to go to church.”
“Church? Shorty, you have a religion?”
There was something other adventurers were talking about at the guild. It was definitely the Brass Celestial Society. They were gossiping about holding a sermon. They hold sermons so often that I remembered thinking, “Are those bastards holding another one again?”
“It’s not that, but the Brass Celestial Society is holding a sermon for the general public. I have to go to that, no lie.”
“Why would Shorty go to that?”
Why would I go? To avoid you, you bitch! Winia, still not convinced, still pulled on my ear and asked. I wish she’d get the hint!
Ear, ear, ear. My ear’s gonna fall off!
“Are you going to become a paladin or priest? At the Brass Celestial Society?”
“Of course. My dream is to be a paladin.”
Since I was young, my dream was to be a paladin.
A paladin is an all-around character who can tank, deal damage, and heal all by themselves. Of course, as an all-around hybrid character, their tanking is worse than a knight’s, their damage is worse than a warrior’s, and their healing is worse than a priest’s. But the important thing is that they do it all alone.
Just kidding.
I have no intention of becoming religious. Not to mention a strict, rule-following paladin. Being a paladin is basically the same as being in the military.
My military service was more than enough in two years.
“Shorty, are you going to lie to me? Or do you just not want to hang out with me? Either way, you’re dead to me.”
“…”
Winia, seeing through my lie, revealed her murderous intent. I was flustered and gestured wildly, revealing the truth.
“N, no, I’m kidding. If you attend the sermon, you get a free bottle of holy water.”
“Oh, really?”
“My body’s been so fucked up lately, it’s not like it used to be. I need to drink some holy water and recover my stamina. But if they’re giving it away for free, I have to go, right? I don’t have any money, so I have to take care of things like that.”
“…Is that so?”
I tried drinking that lowest-grade holy water they give out once, and it had no effect at all.
But the story was true. If you attend the sermon, the pastor will yap for about five hours, and then at the end, they’ll give you a bottle of the lowest-grade holy water. It wasn’t worth standing there for five hours listening to all that, though.
I desperately made excuses.
“Pff, pfft!”
Winia, listening to my desperate excuses, burst into laughter. I had a bad feeling.
“Why, why are you laughing? Did I say something funny?”
“No, Shorty. Then.”
“Then.”
“I can just go with you!”
“Oh my god! There was such a method! I was so surprised!”
“Right? Right, right, right?”
“Of course, right!”
Damn it. Of course. There was no way this bitch would be considerate of me just because I said I had an appointment. I was screwed. I was really screwed. I crossed a river I couldn’t turn back from because I blurted out a stupid lie. What am I going to do with my life?
Like this, I ended up attending some crazy church sermon with the crazy Winia because of a stupid lie.
Where is my day off going?
“Stop.”
As I was sweating profusely, William said. Instantly, my random thoughts disappeared, and all the muscles in my body tensed. An enemy? I quietly took off the backpack, which still had nothing in it, and drew my sword.
ㅡFwoosh.
ㅡFwoosh.
What stood in our way was a [Spirit]. Judging by its green glowing appearance and the size of a human head, it was definitely a moss wisp, a spirit of the forest!
Those two murderous monsters, emitting green light and flying like beetles, circled around us! What the hell! We were targeted! This is dangerous!
“A spirit, huh.”
“A, a spirit! Barbarian! It’s a spirit!”
“I saw it too, damn it!”
Like lightning, I stood in front of Winia and took a stance. Copson, screaming like a banshee, also pulled out his axe and jumped next to me. As agreed, we had to leave the front line to William and protect the mage.
The tension reached its peak in the face of the sudden encounter with the enemy.
“…Why are you making such a fuss?”
Winia muttered, looking at our 모습.
“Sir William! Battle preparations complete!”
“…Hmm? Oh, is that so.”
Unlike Copson and I, who felt a sense of impending doom, the two of them were completely relaxed. What? I didn’t quite understand, but maybe C-ranks look down on spirits like that. Really?
Those murderous monsters?
“Spirits are definitely a bit much for you guys.”
Moss wisps were monsters that were hard to see, but for low-level adventurers like us, they were a disaster.
In other words, they were boss monsters themselves, so it was common sense to run away without looking back if you encountered them.
“Wisps steal human souls! Sir William!”
“Th, that’s right!”
I don’t know much, but forest wisps steal the souls of foolish humans. They look like pushovers, but they’re actually hopeless pests with advanced killing techniques.
This was only the second time I’d seen one in person.
The first time I saw one, I barely escaped with my life. It was back in my F-rank days. At the time, one of my nameless companions had their soul stolen and died.
“What? Pff, pfft hahaha! Come to think of it, that might be true. Don’t worry, wisps don’t have that ability.”
ㅡSlash.
William, bursting out laughing, simply cut one of the wisps in half. The wisp disappeared as it dropped some debris. The remaining wisp immediately flew away and ran away.
“Huu…!”
I was shocked as if I’d been hit in the head with a baseball bat…!
Is that even possible!
He killed a wisp in one hit!
C-rank adventurers are so damn strong!!! This was the first time I’d actually seen the power of a C-rank adventurer, and I didn’t know they were that strong!
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Copson, his eyes glazed over from the shock, drooled as he asked William. His eyes were already shaking left and right like he was cross-eyed.
“All they have is basic hypnosis magic. Stealing souls? Is that what adventurers think these days?”
“Hypnosis magic? But I actually saw a colleague die.”
I said. I had clearly seen a wisp kill someone with my own two eyes. Killing an adult man isn’t as easy as you think. And to kill them instantly like `that` is a huge deal.
“That’s probably just because they were hypnotized and dragged deep into the forest. Well, dying is the same, I guess.”
I listened to William’s unbelievable explanation of the wisps.
“If you don’t have any magic resistance like you guys, you’ll be easily hypnotized.”
“So, are you saying that wisps are actually pushovers?”
“Even with just a little magic resistance. Now, look at this.”
William picked up something like a small, fingernail-sized green stone and showed it to me. It had fallen when he killed the wisp just now.
“It’s a wisp’s core. It’s used as a magic ingredient. Wisps themselves are rare, so it’s not a common item, so it’s worth a bit.”
I looked at Copson’s face with a dumbfounded expression. He couldn’t believe this situation either. As far as we knew, wisps were ghosts that devoured people’s souls.
“Oh, and speaking of eating souls, aren’t you guys confusing wisps with soul eaters? The monster that eats people’s souls is called a soul eater.”
“Soul eater?”
“Yeah, that’s a tough opponent. You said you saw a colleague die? Then it might have been a soul eater. They look similar to wisps.”
Anyway, Copson and I learned something we never knew in our dreams. I swallowed hard and put my sword back in its sheath. I touched my forehead and found that I was sweating profusely. My heart was even beating like it was about to jump out.
“Hoo… I really thought I was going to die.”
I was more afraid of the boss monster wisp than the cockatrice. So this was a misunderstanding.
“Shorty, you thought soul eaters were wisps?”
“…I guess so.”
“Hehe, Shorty, you’re so funny. Ah! Seeing you get so serious because you were scared of a wisp!”
Damn it.
