Chapter 8: The First Hunt (Revised)

“Lady Juliana, we should be getting back to the estate.”

A middle-aged man with dark blonde hair dotted with strands of white, and a robust bearing spoke in a deep voice. He wore a dignified set of steel armor, and carried a long sword on his hip. Five other men dressed in similar armor stood near him.

“Uncle Delvian, just a few more things and we can go home.” A pure and graceful looking young girl with dark blonde hair and blue eyes, who looked to be about fifteen years of age responded to the man. She wore a dark blue dress, with gold bracelets and a sapphire jeweled necklace. Such accessories were the most recognizable sign of her noble background.

“As you wish young lady.” Delvian said with a warm smile.

The lady he referred to was obviously his niece and the youngest daughter of the Fairfax family, one of the top five noble families in the kingdom. The Fairfax family were known for their immense influence, they had ties with merchants, court officials, generals, knights, blacksmiths, architects, mages, and alchemists. Delvian Fairfax was the fourth born son and instead of getting into political or economic matters he chose to train in the sword. That being so, he and a few of the men under his service would often escort Juliana whenever she wanted to go around the capital.

Juliana led her uncle all over the commercial district as he helplessly followed, instructing the servants to carry the items she purchased. Eventually even the knights following her had to carry a few bags. To bystanders such a scene was common, Grenalda was the capital of Gren and the center of commerce, many young noble ladies liked to purchase expensive items.

“Lady Juliana, I’d suggest we rest a little. There is still time until evening.” Delvian said. He had long since taken notice of the servants signs of fatigue.

“Ah, you’re right uncle.” Juliana agreed. She had begun to feel a little tired even though she had nothing to carry.

The group stopped to rest in a small plaza, which had a few well crafted tables and chairs. Juliana and Delvian stopped to sit at a table, the knights took a separate table and the servants didn’t sit at all, but they got to place the bags down and rest. Many food stands were placed around the plaza, but the quality couldn’t compare to more expensive delicacies nobles often enjoyed.

As Juliana and her Uncle talked, she noticed a handsome youth with black hair and bright yellow eyes dressed in black staring at her with a dumbstruck expression.

……

“How would I know where the Great Forest is anyway?” Ira grumbled.

He spent a considerable amount of time asking for directions for to the Great Forest.  Some people gave vague directions, some people laughed at him, and some made rude comments about his intelligence. After a few more inquiries he gathered enough information to surmise the Great Forest wasn’t too far from the Capital.

Grenalda, the Capital of the Grenitian Kingdom, was the largest city in the Grenitian Kingdom, located south of the five other large cities which made up the territory of the Grenitian Kingdom, around a day’s walk from the capital was the entrance to the Great Forest. The Great Forest stretched hundreds of miles southwards, although the resources were plentiful in the forest it wasn’t suitable for humans, there were many attempts to create human strongholds, ultimately it wasn’t a fruitful expedition as many human footholds were raided by monsters or forest dwelling creatures before they could be properly fortified and established. Since then the Great Forest had long since been accepted as land only accessible by the Elves.

Just when Ira set out to leave he stopped in his tracks. In front of his eyes was something thoroughly enticing. Ira blanked out for a few seconds and began walking forward with heavy steps. He was thoroughly entranced by what lay in front of him, and couldn’t help but walk forward.

….

“Uncle Delvian, do you know him?” Juliana asked in a curious tone.

“No, it appears to be another love struck suitor of yours, Lady Juliana.” Delvian with a voice filled with annoyance.

Many young nobles would seek out Juliana for courtship, one reason being her pure and graceful appearance, she was even said to be among the most beautiful young ladies in the Capital. Another reason was because her powerful family, the Fairfax family name carried weight and even the Kingdom had to show some consideration when dealing with them.

“Uncle Delvian, you shouldn’t joke so much. I’ll send him on his way like the others.” Juliana gave a gentle smile while looking at the dazed youth walking in her direction. It was none other than Ira, he continued walking until he was a few feet away from Juliana and then...

“Young sir, you shouldn’t-”Juliana could only trail off as Ira walked past her.

Yes, Ira didn’t even seem to realize she existed and walked directly to a food stall. The small unassuming stall which sold pastries, and was maintained by a wrinkled old man. The yellow eyed youth walked past Juliana and straight to the old man.

“What is this?”

Ira asked the old man eyeing a basket of pastries. Upon closer inspection the stall only sold one thing, a bun with powdered sugar on it. Honestly speaking, this type of treat didn’t warrant a stall in the commercial district, it was a very common and inexpensive pastry to make, and it was neither eye catching nor was it especially appetizing.

“It’s a sweet bun.” The old man answered quickly in a dry voice, his incredibly aged and wrinkled face made it appear as if his eyes were closed and his cheeks were unable to move.

“How much?” Ira asked as he eyed the pastries.

“One Gre.” The old man replied immediately.

“I’ll take the all of them...with the baskets too.” Ira said as he fished money out from his pocket.

“No.” The old man huffed out stubbornly.

Ira paused before he looked at the old man, “Why not?” he asked curiously.

“One per customer.” The old man replied in a tone that indicated an unwillingness to negotiate.

Ira turned and looked around. There was no one else at this stall but him, a few feet away and seated at a table was a group of knights and a young girl, but no one else gave this stall a second look.

“But I’m the only customer.” Ira complained.

“One. Per. Customer.” The old man replied again.

“How about this, I’ll give you one thousand gre for all four baskets.” Ira pulled more money out and stuck his hand out towards the old man.

“One per customer.” The old man responded, his tone indicated he was angry but his wrinkly face didn’t show any change of expression.

“Ok, two thousand. Is that ok?” Ira asked.

“Fine.” The old man hurriedly snatched the money from Ira and handed over one basket at a time.

“Thanks.” Ira said before storing three away the first three baskets and carrying the last by hand. The old man closed his stall and hobbled away without a word. Ira turned to walk away, but as he passed Juliana he stopped as he recalled her saying something to him as he walked past.

“Were you gonna say something earlier?” He sported a carefree grin as he spoke to her.

Juliana was stunned when he ignored her and instead walked towards a stall with shabbily made pastries. She was a noble girl who was constantly told she was beautiful, there were no shortage of boys who wouldn’t hesitate to marry her, but now the yellow eyed boy in front of her thought some cheap pastries were more appealing than her, causing her to feel inadequate. Holding the mentality of a noble she erased all feelings of insecurity and began thinking the boy in front of her just wanted to show off his wealth and impress her. In her mind Ira’s purchase was a poor attempt at flaunting his wealth.

“It was very unwise to waste all that money on those cheap pastries, even the most reckless spenders wouldn’t waste money on something like that.” Juliana said as she reprimanded Ira, channeling the stereotypical haughty attitude of a noble.

Ira still kept his carefree smile, but his eyes showed slight confusion. He assumed that she wanted on of his pastries, but was attempting to take on in the most roundabout manner.

“These ‘cheap pastries’ are worth whatever I want them to be worth. Just like those shiny rocks you’re wearing…so If that’s all you wanted to say I’ll be leaving.” Ira replied before turning to leave.

“You! You scoundrel!”Juliana shouted at his back, even though she knew he was right.

Wasn’t it hypocritical to call someone else out for doing something she herself does regularly? Although she knew the answer, her feelings of superiority were deeply ingrained in her, and the more arrogant someone is, the harder it is to cope with feelings of rejection and embarrassment. If you were told “yes” your whole life how would you react when you heard “no” for the first time, most likely it would be similar to a child’s tantrum.

The knights, led by Delvian, got up and walked to Juliana’s side, bringing a threatening atmosphere with them.

“I am Juliana Fairfax, the youngest daughter of the Fairfax family!” Juliana yelled at his back, drawing the attention of pedestrians. Since she failed to reprimand the boy she would use her family name to make him apologize, she wanted to wipe away the stain of embarrassment that began to grow in her heart.

“Good for you.” Ira replied without slowing his steps. He had no idea what the Fairfax family was and didn’t care enough to ask.

This stunned the spectating pedestrians, everyone in the Grentian Kingdom knew of the Fairfax family, they were a family who shouldn’t be trifled with.

“Boy! Don’t you know what the Fairfax family represents? You’d best apologize right now!”A Knight of the Fairfax family spoke up.

“I’ll pass.” Ira shrugged his shoulders as he kept walking.

Delvian stared at the departing youth’s back, he couldn’t let this youth walk away without some form of punishment, not only did he upset his niece Juliana but he disrespected the Fairfax family name. He turned his head and nodded at the Knights.

“Don’t kill him.” Delvian warned.

Two Knights chased after Ira. Hearing the Delvian speak, Ira turned around to see two Knights running towards him. The surrounding people knew this kid went too far, it was only natural for him to receive a punishment.

“Kids are really idiotic these days. There are some people who can’t be touched.”

“Time for him to learn his lesson”

“People can be just too impulsive.”

Although some people didn’t think he should be beaten, no one would step forward to help, after all that would just make them targets as well.

“Bastard!” Both Knights caught up to Ira and the closest one swung his fist. To his surprise, he missed and instead was met with a kick.

A kick that sent the Knight flying back 10 feet, although the armor negated most of the force and Ira held back a lot of his strength it still affected the Knight. The second Knight was stunned by the strength of this young boy, and while he wasn’t paying attention, Ira threw a punch towards his chest which was protected by armor. The second Knight sailed through the air, meeting his comrade on the ground. The surrounding spectators were stunned, the boy easily dealt with the Knights who tried to harass him, almost too easily, it appeared as if those Knights were made of feathers.

“Impudent!” The rest of the Knights drew their swords. The two who rushed out, were only Junior Knights and although they were significantly weaker than the older Knights, the senior elite Knights couldn’t let anyone think all of the Fairfax Knights were pushovers.

“Enough!” Delvian shouted, anymore action on their part would damage the reputation of the Fairfax Family. Another reason was, with Ira’s ability it was clear he must have the backing of an elite family.

“We’ll leave it here boy. You shouldn’t make an enemy out of my Fairfax family.” Delvian said as he urged caution.

The two Knights who were knocked away, got up, looking at Ira confusedly. Juliana was stunned speechless and couldn’t find anything more to say to Ira, not only did he not care or know about her family, he also wasn’t scared to fight with them.

Instead of saying anything more, Ira decided to just leave before eating a few pastries.

“Investigate that boy.” Delvian ordered a Knight.

“Yes, sir.” The Knight responded.

“Let’s go home Lady Juliana.” Delvian said to Juliana, instructing the servants to carry her bags.

“…” Juliana stayed silent as she stared at Ira’s departing figure.

…

With no more interruptions Ira headed towards the Great Forest in a rented carriage. One of the entrances to the Great Forest was a few hours away from the Capital by carriage, so it was easy to rent a carriage to it. Ira managed to arrive by the late afternoon, he climbed out of the carriage and looked at the sight in front of him.

“Pretty isn’t it? You’d best be careful though, there is no shortage of danger in there.” The carriage driver said as he began to depart.

“Thanks for the advice.” Ira smiled before handing money to the driver. He started walking into the forest. The trees were hundreds of feet tall and tens of feet wide. The wildlife was abundant as many small and large animals could be spotted if one looked hard enough, though most were no threat to humans. A few foxes and deer roamed the outer edge of the forest, while the deadlier creatures were hidden deep within.

Ira walked deeper and deeper into the forest, looking for any human activity. Although a few traces of campsites could be seen, it was clear they haven’t been used for awhile.

“At this rate it’ll take forever.” Ira thought to himself.

The Great Forest was hundreds of miles wide and filled with all types of life, finding one specific person would take a few weeks at best, assuming one was very proficient with tracking and scouting. Ira stopped and closed his eyes. He began to focus his senses, but he still couldn’t pick anything up other sounds of wildlife. He poured all his focus on hearing. His four senses were rendered temporarily inert, as his hearing was immensely enhanced. Now he could even vividly hear the sound of ants tunneling under the ground. Suddenly, Ira’s eyes shot open before he looked towards the easternmost direction.

“Ah.” Ira exclaimed with a bright expression, as a small amount blood began dripping from his ears slowly. He wiped his ears with his sleeve and walked eastward.

……..

Deep within the Great Forest, a small party of mercenaries began making camp.

“Sarah scout the perimeter, Valerie and Zella can lay a few Detection Spells. Gerald and I will pitch the tents.” Lance, the leader of this small team, gave his orders. The party members followed his words and spread out.

The members of the party were all friends from the capital academy, who graduated with average grades. They decided to make a mercenary party and go adventuring instead of becoming Knights. The start was incredibly arduous, testing their, loyalty, friendship, and skills. The times they barely survived fatal endings were numerous. Soon the party completed enough low-level monster subjugations and miscellaneous jobs to be called experienced, becoming an B+ rated party with their combined might.

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Once they gained enough confidence, they made the decision to do a bounty request, although all of them were inexperienced with killing, they didn’t think they would have to kill the target this time since it was optional.

If anyone were to know they weren’t familiar with killing a person but decided to do a bounty request, they would be laughed at. A criminal on the run with harsh charges would never give up willingly, a lot of the time they were fleeing from a death sentence. In the end if they were caught alive, they would still be killed. So did it make a difference who was killing them? They would treat everyone who attempted to capture them as an enemy they had to kill. The Mercenaries Union wasn’t a place for such idealist who had trouble wetting their hands with the blood of a living person.

The party finished making preparations for camp as it became dark, and gathered around the campfire for some beef stew.

“Gerald it still amazes me that you can cook so well, your wife must be happy.” Lance said as he ate.

“Yeah it’s really good, like always.” Sarah also added, while Valerie and Zella nodded.

“Thanks guys.” Gerald said with an embarrassed expression.

Although he had a quiet and humble temperament and was the oldest in the party at twenty-one years old, Gerald was a huge guy measuring 6’5 and had a robust stature weighing around 275 pounds and although he was usually quiet, he was a fierce warrior, wielding a large mace and kite shield. He was also quite friendly, which was surprising, his large build and nice personality caused a family friend arrange his own daughter with Gerald for marriage. The family friend stated his reasoning was “A guy who will treat my daughter well and is strong enough to protect her, is the only thing a father can hope for.”

Because of him being happily married and his soft temperament, their wasn’t any awkwardness from him regarding the three females in the party, since his motivations were purely out of friendship and nothing more. The leader of the party, Lance, was another story. His face wasn’t bad and he had a heroic temperament, and after working together with him for so long, the three girls in the party started to develop feelings towards him bit by bit.

Lance on the other hand wasn’t concerned with romance as of yet, being only eighteen he wanted to enjoy his adventuring a little more before he found a wife. Sarah, Valerie, and Zella were different. There ages were 17, 17, and 18 respectively. Each of them still held daydreams of romance, and hoped deep in their hearts too find their true love, and because of them being in contact with Lance so often, he started looking a bit more and more like their ideal guy, but no concrete feelings emerged yet.

“Another bowl please, Gerald.” Lance said as he held out his bowl.

“Sure thing.” Gerald smiled and began filling it up.

“Don’t forget us!” Valerie pouted.

“Yeah, don’t let Lance take it all.” Zella added.

“Isn’t that his third bowl, serve the ladies first Gerald.” Sarah also complained.

“Oh, what’s this?” All of a sudden an unfamiliar voice came from the far edge of the campsite.

The party quickly drew their weapons in a quick, rehearsed, and unflustered manner. Lance pulled out his short sword and round shield, Gerald stood in front of Lance with his mace and kite shield ready, Sarah drew her bow and took aim at the source of the sound, the mages, Valeria and Zella, began chanting magic incantations.

“Come out.” Lance shouted as he looked toward Valerie and Zella.

They chanted in a low whisper before sending a pulse of mana to scan around a 50 foot radius for signs of life.

“Just one.” Valerie whispered to Lance.

“Come out now!” Lance said tensely.

All of a sudden a handsome youth dressed in black with black hair and yellow eyes, who looked around sixteen, stepped forward and could be seen under the light of the campfire.

“Who are you and what are your intentions?” Lance said, still not letting go of his caution, eyeing the sheathed sword in a black scabbard on the waist of the youth.

“Ira and...my ‘intentions’ are somewhere else.” Ira said, not at all by the tense atmosphere. There was a mix of indifference and amusement in his eyes. If the people in front of him acted like the Knights in the Capital he could freely kill them without worrying about anything.

“How did you get past the Detection Spells?” This time Valerie spoke up, curious as to how the youth approached the camp and avoided the arrays.

“Oh so that’s what those were.” Ira’s expression turned thoughtful. His instincts seem to warn him not to step in certain areas and so he listened to them with no idea as to why.

“I guess I’m good when it comes to things like that.” Ira continued as he looked on at this group.

“Mercenaries right?” Ira asked. If the people in front of him were in fact Mercenaries he could go about his way without much worry.

“Yeah, we are. Why does it matter to you?” Lance responded, still keeping himself ready for any sudden attack.

Lance couldn’t help but think it was some sort of a trap. Ira gave him an uneasy feeling especially with his lack of armor or equipment, only carrying a sword and waltzing into their campsite was beyond strange.

“What a coincidence.” Ira gave a wide grin, his yellow eyes looked as they were glowing as they reflected the flames of the campfire.

“You’re looking for The Slaver?” Lance asked as he began to relax.

“I am.” Ira responded simply. The questions were beginning to annoy him though.

Lance began thinking. Although Ira was an unknown variable to them, and could be a potential threat. If he could find Detection Spells, he might be a good person to temporarily partner up with. Though there is always the risk he is working with The Slaver or might backstab them due to greed.

“Where is the rest of your party?” Lance probed as he scanned the surrounding darkness but couldn’t make out anyone. He was attempting to see if Ira would slip up, if he were to have a party it would make them unable to be allies.

“I don’t have one.” Ira responded. Boring. That was Ira’s only thought, the questions were becoming a bother to him and he decided to leave.

“Your equipment?” Lance asked, looking at Ira closely. Ira only wore a black shirt and black pants, the only thing for defense was his leather boots, only the truly confident or truly stupid would go without equipment.

“I’m wearing it.” Ira said in a tone that indicated it was obvious. Now the questions were just plain annoying and Ira decided not to answer anymore.

“What about-”Before Lance could finish he was interrupted.

“You ask a lot of pointless questions.” Ira said in a slightly bored tone.

“That-” Lance tried to speak but Ira held up a hand to stop him.

“I don’t feel like answering anymore, so I’ll be leaving.” Ira turned to walk back into the darkness.

“Wait a moment!” Sarah suddenly shouted at Ira.

“What?” Ira’s irritation could barely be contained as he turned around.

“You must be capable if you can get past Detection Spells, right?” Sarah asked.

“I suppose so.” Ira said, while smiling faintly. Her question peaked his interest

“Then…” Sarah continued, looking toward Lance for confirmation, who gave a reluctant in response.

“…Would you be willing to temporarily join us?” She asked.

“Why not?” Ira shrugged his shoulders and put on an amicable smile.

The party of five looked at each other, nodding their heads in agreement, everyone slowly put their weapons away as Ira found an empty spot to sit in. Lance, being the leader, took the initiative to build rapport with Ira, in order to lessen the awkwardness that usually came from introducing a new ally into an already established group.

“I’m Lance the leader of this group, these are my friends and comrades, Gerald, Sarah, Valerie, and Zella.” Lance pointed towards each group member as he introduced them.

“Nice to meet all of you.” Ira smiled.

“How long have you been a mercenary?” Sarah asked abruptly. She was slightly eager to learn more about Ira. Whatever method he used to find the Detection Spells drew her interest. As the scout of the group she had to often be careful of traps.

“For a day.” Ira responded non-nonchalantly.

The group collectively reexamined the youth. To pick a bounty target and show no sign of nervousness, in addition he didn’t give off the naive rookie feeling they themselves once had when they started.

“You know…It’s usually recommended to start at a job that’s ranked three or two ratings below your current rating.” Lance advised.

“Is it?” Ira shrugged his shoulders.

“You’ve graduated from the academy then?” Valerie decided to ask.

The only way Ira could be so relaxed is if he went through some elite training courses or if he was truly ignorant to the ways of the world.

“Nope.” Ira responded plainly. His response caused the assumption of the latter. It was safe to say that Ira was more or less ignorant to how the world operated. Though he had a firm handle on killing other matters were a different story entirely.

The group was stunned completely. What gave the boy in front of them such confidence to walk into the Great Forest alone? There was no one stupid enough to try it without some sort of assurance, so why did this boy decide to?

“Well I think that’s enough questions for now, let’s get some rest. Ira, I hope you don’t mind if I place you on first watch with Sarah.” Lance said before giving Sarah a meaning look.

“It’s fine.” Ira grinned before standing up.  Sarah noticed Lance’s gaze and nodded before she began to walk. No one would put a stranger on first watch, Sarah was paired with him to monitor him for any signs of suspicions and to take note of his capabilities. Sarah, being the group’s scout, had several items to warn of danger, and at the first sign of trouble they wouldn’t hesitate to attack Ira.

…

On a tree branch thirty or so feet above the ground, two people were present. One was Ira, who reclined on the branch peacefully, and the other was Sarah who sat, her eyes showing constant vigilance. Sarah was around 5’4, red hair and brown eyes. Although she was far from Captain Avery or the young noble lady Juliana, she still had an above average face and sharp eyebrows that fit her strong hearted personality.

“You should pay more attention.” Sarah said, in a slightly reprimanding tone.

“Why is that?” Ira replied with his eyes closed.

“I don’t know how you can be so relaxed, but this forest is riddled with danger, you know? Just last month an experienced party was ambushed by a Manticore and completely decimated, you should also know they were in the top 200 Mercenary elites.”

“Oh?” Ira had the thought of finding the Manticore for himself, but he had no idea where to look. Then there was the fact that it wasn’t recommended as a job for him so it would probably be out of his league.

”In this line of work any inattentiveness will lead to an early grave.” Sarah took on an instructional tone as she saw the current Ira as an inexperienced junior. Or at least, she tried to, his laid back attitude erased any attempts to mark him as such.

“Then you should pay more attention.” Ira responded with a chuckle.

“What are you say-” Ira interrupted Sarah by pointing toward a spot away from them.

“There’s nothing...”Before Sarah could finish, she spotted a small light very far away from them.

“F-Fairy?” Sarah was completely shocked, Fairies were one of the existences that occupied the Great Forest, they were incredibly hard to find, mostly because they can sense the intentions of people or things they come into contact with, and are nearly impossible to be tricked. Sarah had the urge to go further into the forest and see this fairy up close.

“I wouldn’t if I were you.”

“Ah.” Sarah was brought back by Ira’s words. She realized how incredibly stupid it would be to attempt to track fairies in the middle of the night, she felt embarrassed about instructing Ira on paying attention when he spotted an unknown entity without even looking, it seems it was more to him then she thought.

“…How did you know? Now that I think about it, how did you even know about the Detection Spells?” After recollecting her thoughts, Sarah spoke again.

Ira opened his eyes and looked directly at her. His yellow eyes gave off a faint fluorescence in the dark, making him seem even more unfathomable.

“I had a feeling.” Ira grinned before closing his eyes, not willing to speak any further.

Sarah knew it wasn’t good to pry and dropped the question, instead focusing even harder on the surroundings.

……..

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