Chapter 27 - Daily Life on a Hunting Day
It has been one month since I became a hunter.
The season has reached the end of June, and it has become more accurate to describe the temperature as hot rather than warm.
Sweat is slowly seeping into the clothes of Kyle and me as we walk the mountain paths of Nordende.
By the way, Lauren-san is not here because he split off from us to hunt in a different direction.
"We managed to hunt a wild boar and two rabbits today, so shall we head down soon?"
"You're right. It's past noon, so let's call it a day... Ah, wait."
I was about to agree to Kyle's suggestion, but I felt the presence of prey overhead and readied my bow.
Then, sensing the presence through my ears and the flow of the wind, I fired an arrow toward the sky.
Just as it seemed the arrow had been fired fruitlessly into the blue sky, the shadow of a large bird appeared as if jumping out from the trees and was pierced.
The bird, whose belly was suddenly shot through from below, crashed to the ground without even a moment to struggle.
Good, just as expected.
Since I've been using a bow continuously as a hunter lately, I think I've improved a bit.
"...How can you shoot down a flying bird with an arrow?"
While I was doing a mental fist pump, Kyle, who had been holding his breath behind me, spoke in an exasperated voice.
"I just sense the presence and predict it?"
As long as it's a bird with low vigilance, even if it's flying in the air, I can shoot it down if it's within the arrow's range.
High-ranking, intelligent bird-type monsters would lead their subordinates and come to kill me with all their might. Of course, they don't just fly straight and absentmindedly. They fly using various maneuvers like sudden ascents, dives, feints, rolls, and turns.
Compared to that, shooting down a mere bird with low vigilance is an easy task.
"Sensing that initial presence is what's difficult. And predicting... The opponent is flying in the sky, you know?"
"Yeah, that's why you just have to listen to the sound of the wind."
When I answered flatly, Kyle made a troubled expression and said,
"...I can't do something like that."
Hmm, the best way to sense an opponent's presence is through life-threatening experience.
Even if I made Kyle train in a mountain overflowing with monsters, he wouldn't have enough lives, so there's no way to teach this. In my case, I was in an environment where I would die if I didn't acquire it, so I simply had to learn it to survive.
"Yeah, I can only say it's intuition and experience."
I wonder about that as advice, but there's no other way to put it.
"Well, fine. Let's go pick up the fallen prey."
I followed Kyle with a wry smile as he sighed and started walking toward the prey.
After processing the bird I shot down and tying it up with rope, we finally headed down the mountain.
"Ah, Pico Fruit."
Finding red, round berries along the way, I picked them and put them into a small hemp bag.
I personally love Pico Fruit, and the village children are happy when I give them some, so I make sure to pick them every time I go to the mountain.
Kyle, perhaps knowing he would be pestered by children, was also silently picking Pico Fruit.
While picking Pico Fruit and Kuku Fruit, I also picked some Kirk Grass that the village ladies had asked for.
This is a medicinal herb that grows on this mountain; if you crush it and apply it, small cuts or scrapes heal immediately.
Since the demand is high for minor injuries and children's scrapes, I am often asked for foodstuffs and medicinal herbs like this when I enter the mountain.
They have helped me with various things, like tailoring my clothes and making my futon. This much is an easy task.
I'm happy to feel the connection and the realization that we are helping each other in our lives.
Humans can never live alone, after all.
"Ah, Kirk Grass. You were asked for that by the village aunties, right?"
While I was picking Kirk Grass, Kyle, who had finished picking Pico Fruit, said as he walked.
He'll probably climb the Ere tree next. Lauren-san had told him to pick some.
"Yeah, that's right."
"It's tough in many ways, isn't it?"
"Is it?"
I'm just picking it while I'm in the mountain anyway. It's not really much labor?
Kyle, who had climbed the Ere tree with ease, looked at my puzzled face and said,
"The aunties who keep asking you have daughters of marriageable age, right?"
"Ah—I thought so?"
Yes, when I go to deliver the gathered items, they frequently make me rest at their houses or offer me food.
At first, I thought they were being considerate because I was a newcomer to the village, but I realized they were recommending their daughters to me, a single man.
"Skilled hunters are popular, after all. They're reliable in times of need, and having meat on the table is a big deal."
Kyle gave a wry smile while picking Ere.
Well, how should I put it. I appreciate the sentiment, but it's a bit troubling to have a daughter recommended to me so suddenly in front of her parents.
I wonder if I'll be offered dinner and a daughter again today.
"You don't have to hand-deliver it every time, you know? You can just give it to the small children, younger brothers, older brothers, or neighbors of the person's house. There's no trouble in gathering it, but hand-delivering it every time eats up a fair amount of time."
I see, if I do that, I don't have to go to their houses to deliver it. This village is surprisingly small, so it's common for a daughter's younger brother or sister to be helping with field work.
I can just give it to that child along with some Pico Fruit.
◆ ◆ ◆
Having finished picking Kirk Grass and Ere, we shouldered our prey and descended to the village.
As we headed from the mountain toward the village, the children who were helping with field work today also came running over.
Even though they were in the middle of work, the adults around them showed relaxed expressions, as if it couldn't be helped.
"Did you get any prey today?"
"Yeah, we did. Today it's one wild boar, two rabbits, and one bird."
""Yay! Meat!""
When Kyle and I showed off the prey we had hunted, the gathered children rejoiced greatly.
It makes me happy to have them rejoice so honestly.
"Which one did Kyle-nii take down?"
A boy curious about the prey asked while tugging on Kyle's sleeve.
"...The rabbits."
"What, just rabbits? How lame!"
The boy laughed at Kyle, who answered bitterly.
Kyle is quite mature for a child, but it's strange how he often gets teased by the children.
"But rabbits are quite fast, so they're difficult to finish off, you know?"
"...It's not much of a follow-up coming from someone who shoots down flying birds."
I tried to back Kyle up, but he said something uncute.
Perhaps because we've become closer since we started hunting in the mountains together, Kyle has started saying strangely uncute things.
...I can well understand Lauren-san's feelings when he teases Kyle lately.
"Amazing! Aldo-niichan, you can shoot down flying birds!? I've used a bow before, but I don't feel like I could ever shoot down a bird flying that fast!?"
"Is that impressive?"
It seemed the boys who had touched a bow understood, but the girls who hadn't touched one didn't understand at all. No wonder.
The children, who had been looking at the prey with interest and listening to hunting stories, gradually began to get restless.
"Do you have the usual stuff?"
"Pico Fruit!"
"I have that too."
When Kyle and I opened our small hemp bags, the children happily reached out.
As Kyle and I handed them out so that everyone got some, the children happily popped the Pico Fruit into their mouths.
"Ehehe, it's delicious."
Those happy expressions are extremely adorable. Children are a good thing.
It's something I first realized after living in this village.
The children I had known until now were only the tough children of the slums and the cheeky children who aspired to be adventurers, so these normal children seem fresh to me.
I don't dislike those guys who work desperately to survive, but I couldn't quite like them because it was like looking at my past self.
While thinking deeply, I noticed a girl I knew, so I called out to her.
"Ah, Colette-chan."
"Whaaat?"
"Could you give this to your mother? She asked for it."
"Yeah, okay!"
When I handed over the Kirk Grass, Colette-chan nodded with a smile.
Good, now I can avoid having her older sister, Colin-san, recommended to me.
No, it's not that I dislike Colin-san, okay? I just hadn't thought about such things until I came to this village, so I just don't really know what to do.
It's just that I couldn't imagine us living together in my house.
"Well then, Aldo-san, Kyle-nii, see you later!"
Once the children finished eating the Pico Fruit, they all went running off while waving their hands, perhaps because they still had work.
Kyle and I smiled and waved back as we watched them.
"You've really settled into this village, Aldo-san."
"...It's thanks to everyone."