CH 74

Chapter 74 – Glasses boy has a small mystery solved

After completing various tasks in the morning, we went to practice in the afternoon, as usual.

Though we were told that our training would be different starting today, and I was really looking forward to that.

Lisse forcibly inviting me to go hunting with her first thing in the morning was bad, but let’s forget about this bad experience and focus on the good things coming next.

That’s how I was thinking at least.

In the underground training facility, the filthy old man Zant, who was our instructor, said, “This morning’s hunt. Tell me about it.”

Lisse, who had arrived before me, turned my way and said, “Eil?”

She didn’t seem to want to explain it herself, so she was pushing the job of telling Zant about it to me.

And well, from my point of view there were plenty of mistakes in the hunt, but I don’t really want to point out other people’s mistakes. She can talk about them herself if she wants.

… Unless she isn’t aware of her own mistakes?

Well, it’s already in the past, so there is no point in saying it. There will be no next time anyways.

So, I stayed silent too. Neither me nor Lisse talked about the hunt.

Zant sighed, “So, Lisse, did you tell the boy about your Gift?”

“Eh? No, not really.” Lisse replied.

“Huh? Didn’t you show it though? You must have talked about it afterwards.” Zant seemed to be in disbelief.

“Well… If he asked me about it, I would have answered, as there was no way to hide it at that point, but he didn’t ask me at all…” Lisse told him.

Yeah, I didn’t ask anything.

“Why didn’t you ask, boy? Didn’t you see it? You must have gotten curious about it.” Zant asked me.

Well, I certainly was curious, but… “I don’t care about it. I don’t really need to know its details.”

Even if I did understand how her Gift worked, we are not going to hunt together again in the future, so it’s fine if I don’t know.

Or rather, I’d prefer to not get involved in troublesome things. My curiosity isn’t stronger than my desire to maintain a moderate distance from her.

“… Did something happen between you two?” Zant asked.

“Nothing really.” I replied.

“I don’t think so…” Lisse mumbled and averted her eyes.

Zant must have noticed there was something wrong, so he sighed, “Youths…

“Well, never mind. Let’s move forward with this. You two can handle conciliation in one way or another. Dunno how.”

It’s not something that requires conciliation, and I don’t feel any need to repair our relationship, so I refuse.

Not knowing my thoughts, Zant continued, and said something quite disturbing, “Listen, boy. Lisse’s Gift is the Shadow Hunter Sword.

“To put it simply, it’s the power to increase her effective firepower when facing Demon Beasts.”

Oh, Shadow Hunter.

… Wait, hold on, “Shadow Hunter?” I asked.

Zant then started explaining it, “Demon Beasts are creatures whose physical abilities are enhanced by the power of the Magic Core within their bodies.

“Basically, thanks to their Magic Core, Demon Beasts are in a constantly enhanced state, where their physical strength is greatly increased, and their bodies become much tougher. It’s something that goes beyond what you can see with your eyes, so don’t think of it as getting more muscles or larger bones.

“As for Lisse’s Shadow Hunter Sword, it forcibly cancels the strengthened state of the Demon Beasts, allowing her to bypass their usual resistance.

“Also, the sword itself is strengthened to some extent, becoming much sharper than what you’d expect.”

… Oh, I see. It’s a special attack against Demon Beasts.

I can now understand why my sister, who also has a Shadow Hunter gift, is so strong.

Even when Horun was a child, she was already able to hunt weak Demon Beasts by doing something as simple as throwing stones at them or piercing them with tree branches on the ground.

That’s why I had my suspicions of her maybe being a Taboo Child, but… After a while, I came to the conclusion that she was a normal human being.

And now I finally got an answer to one of my sister’s mysteries. Horun simply had a Gift that made her strong against Demon Beasts, that was it.

… Mysteries involving her personality, disposition and ecology still remain though. I wonder if a day will come where I’ll be able to solve them.

“And that’s how it is.” As Lisse said that, she pulled out one of the two swords that were attached to her waist and showed it to me.

The blade was chipped… No, that’s not enough to describe it. There is a crack on the blade. Even an amateur like me can understand that this sword can no longer be used.

“My gift increases the power of my sword, but the sword is greatly damaged in the process.

“After using it just once, the sword already reaches a state where it is barely usable, so… This Gift is quite tough on my wallet.” Lisse explained.

Oh, so that’s why she brought two swords with her. The other one was a spare, since her swords break too easily.

This certainly feels like a power that is tough on one’s wallet…

“So, what do you think, boy?” Zant asked me.

What do I think about what?

“This is also one of the answers for firepower that you were looking for, right?” Zant explained.

Ah… He’s right on that.

If the power of the Shadow Hunter can be put on arrows, then the arrows would become effective against strong Demon Beasts.

The reason my arrows can’t pierce those enemies is because of the strengthening caused by their Magic Cores, after all.

Redbears can be pierced easily due to their Magic Cores being weak, but I was hopeless when facing the Chalk Chicken.

Certainly, this is one answer to the firepower that I seek.

Instead of strengthening my arrows, I can reduce my enemy’s resistance. That is certainly a valid option.

… However, I cannot use this power.

“Lisse, you need to improve your usage of this power, by the way.

“There will be situations where you’ll be forced into an unexpected series of battles. How will you be able to succeed if you can only land two or three blows on your enemies? That’s a fatal weakness!

“You won’t be able to do anything to your enemies once you’re out of weapons to wield.” Zant told her.

“Well, that’s why I’m here, isn’t it?” Lisse replied.

I don’t like many things about Lisse, but I think her response makes sense.

Just like me, she is here because she wants to become stronger. A part of that is to overcome one’s weaknesses and further develop one’s strengths.

“By the way, what is your Gift, Eil?” Lisse asked me.

Wow, for real!? Has she never heard that it’s rude to ask that?

“We’re not in a relationship where I feel the necessity to talk about such things.” I replied.

“Eh? You just heard mine, didn’t you?” Lisse said in disbelief.

“I didn’t ask about it though. Zant just talked about it on his own.” I told her.

That’s exactly why I didn’t want to ask her about her Gift. I didn’t want her to feel comfortable enough to ask about mine.

Zant most likely told me about Lisse’s gift because he thought it was necessary.

… Or maybe Lisse told him directly that she thought it was fine to tell me about it. That’s probably why she was willing to show me her shining sword.

But this is this and that is that. Even if Lisse is comfortable with sharing her Gift, I have no reason to talk about mine.

“Hey, Zant! Look at what this guy is saying!” Lisse exclaimed.

Wow, such a childish reaction!

Zant smiled wryly at her words, “Well, I can’t force him to talk if he doesn’t want to.

“However, from now on, we’ll start training on improving your own abilities, strengths and your Gifts.

“Also, for as long as you two train together, I think it would be better for you to reveal your Gifts to one another, and to improve said Gifts while using them without any hesitation.

“But at the same time, I can understand why the boy doesn’t want to reveal it. I won’t force him to do so.”

Zant then lifted two fingers of his left hand, “Now then. Let’s talk about Gifts.

“Roughly speaking, they can be split in two categories.”