CH 94

Chapter 94 – Glasses boy belatedly says hello

When we got off the carriage, I could see that we were in the middle of the mountain road.

The forest to the left and to the right were quite dense, so we should be fairly deep within the one road that goes from Haidiga to the mountain.

A month ago, when I came here from the assassins’ village on the other side of the mountain, I took a safe detour, so I haven’t been here before.

After all, even the area around the foot of the mountain is filled with powerful Demon Beasts, so even though this is a road, it’s not really suitable for traveling.

As for the hunt I did together with Lisse, we didn’t go deep within the mountain, so this area is still new to me.

In any case, it seems like the people who had come here earlier to scout have joined up with our group, so there is a decent number of people here now.

Currently speaking, there are the four knights, the three members of Black Swan of Dawn, Lorobel, me, Lisse, Roda, and a few dozen adventurers who seemed to be the scout team.

Right now, the knights, the leaders of this expedition, were quietly discussing things with the adventurers that came earlier.

It was early in the morning, before sunrise, but it was just bright enough to let us know that dawn was soon coming.

In this quiet time of the day, the knights seem to intend to finish this hunt as secretly as possible.

Otherwise, they should probably be able to lure a Demon Beast as strong as the Obsidian Wolf by simply making a big fuss. It’s the kind of thing that tends to attract strong Demon Beasts.

But I guess that’s not the plan here.

That said… There are really few Demon Beasts here, aren’t there?

I’ve been looking around, and it’s way less crowded than the area I explored with Lisse.

And there aren’t many animals here either… Though well, it’s natural that there aren’t many animals in a region filled with Demon Beasts, as those animals tend to be prey for said Demon Beasts.

“Then, we’ll be waiting for you near the city.” One of the drivers said to Roda.

Then, a few adventurers, who were going to serve as guards, boarded the carriage. The carriage left right after.

The carriages that arrived with the knights and with Black Swan of Dawn seemed to also be leaving.

I suppose this isn’t the kind of place that they want to stay at for long.

“How about it? Did you find anything?” Roda, who was standing next to me, whispered.

“Oh, sorry. I’ll start looking now.” I replied.

I was brought here to find the Obsidian Wolf, after all. This comes first, looking at the surroundings can be done later.

So, I activated Night Vision… Or rather, Body Heat Vision. A power of my Glasses that allows me to see the body temperature of living things. It makes me see things like Demon Beasts glow with red light.

This function that I had called Night Vision, is something that actually looks at the body temperature differences, allowing Demon Beasts and animals to stand out.

I can’t see too much detail though, so this power is useless in a place with lots of fires.

It’s also useless in places like hot springs. Even if there are people inside, the red lights will mix up with one another and I’ll be unable to notice anything.

Similarly, this is also useless in highly crowded areas, as everyone’s lights will mix up.

Essentially, it’s the kind of ability that is mostly useful in unpopular hunting grounds, like this one.

However, after looking around with Body Heat Vision, I was unable to find anything that looked like the Obsidian Wolf.

Or at least, it’s not within my visible range, so… Let’s broaden the scope a bit.

I set the registered Gift, ‘Hawk’s Farsight’ in my Glasses, then looked around again.

Responding to my will, the words ‘Hawk’s Farsight’ briefly appeared on the lens, then they melted and disappeared.

This completes the setup.

Hawk’s Farsight is a Gift that lets me see farther than normal. Essentially improving my eyesight.

Normally speaking, I can only use one registered Gift at a time with my Glasses, but…

Body Heat Vision and Numbers are powers that are inherent to the Glasses, so there is no conflict between them and registered Gifts.

Essentially, I am able to use a registered Gift to enhance the natural characteristics of my Glasses. Hawk’s Farsight can be used together with Body Heat Vision.

Well, I think there is a lot more that I can do with my Glasses than just this though. I don’t think I have fully explored the limits of my Gift.

It’s not an omnipotent Gift though. And definitely not the strongest one out there.

In any case, with the aid of Hawk’s Farsight, I looked around again and… Ah, there it is. This must be it.

“He’s in that direction, probably.” I told Roda.

“Probably?” He asked me.

“Yeah, probably. To be precise, I know that something huge is over there, but I can’t say for sure if it’s the Obsidian Wolf or not.” I explained.

It is quite far from here though… About halfway up the mountain.

Still, I can see a really big red light over there… As expected, I can’t guarantee if it’s truly the Obsidian Wolf or not.

However, there are no living creatures near it, so I should be able to assume that the nearby Demon Beasts are avoiding this being, which makes it likely that it is the Obsidian Wolf.

I didn’t really explain what I was doing, but I think Roda probably understands that I can see the prey with my glasses to some extent.

After all, Zant had figured out what my Gift was to some extent, and he probably reported it to Roda… Either that or Roda just understood it on his own.

But well, even if he asks me about the details, I won’t really share them with him.

“Alright. I’ll be there for a while then.” After saying this, Roda went to the knights and joined their conversation… Is it okay to just blindly believe me like that?

“Ah, I get it.” Lisse commented.

Mmm? Why did she suddenly say that?

“You can see them, can’t you? The Demon Beasts.” Lisse asked.

I stayed silent.

Lisse was silent too.

We stayed like this for a small while.

“… Say something. Why are you staring at me with a blank face? Don’t look at me like that.” Lisse told me.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Were you talking to me?” I replied.

“There’s no one else here.” She stated.

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t help wondering what was it that was talking.” I said.

“Eh? What was talking…? Are you saying I’m grass again!? Why are you suddenly bullying me now!? Am I only cat grass to you now!?” Lisse exclaimed.

Bullying the listener is bad. I simply want you to let me choose to not to talk. I don’t want to talk, so I will ignore this.

… Ah.

“Sorry, Lisse. I’ll be on my way too.” I told her and started walking.

“Huh? Eh?” She said, but I ignored it.

******

“Why are you this dizzy…?

“Hey, Horun. Where are you going?” Ainliese asked.

When looking at the team of people from Black Swan of Dawn and Lorobel, I happened to see my older sister, Horun, staggering away from Ainliese. She seemed to be quite dizzy for some reason.

“Hey. If you go too far, I might leave you alone. You’ll be lonely, won’t you? Can you even go back home alone?” Ainliese told Horun as she staggered away.

This is the only chance. It has to be here.

I called out to Ainliese, the woman who was about to chase after Horun, who had already wandered into the forest.

“Sorry about my sister.” I told her.

“Oh… Oh, the little brother.” Ainliese, who had a pretty sour expression on her face, stopped chasing after my sister and smiled.

She had the same kind of carefree and gentle smile that she had back when I saw her at the Black Swan of Dawn’s residence.

“What’s up? I thought you had forgotten about us since you didn’t come to say hello.” Ainliese said.

I couldn’t forget them. In some ways, they’re more remarkable than the assassins.

“I thought it would be a bit troublesome if I got involved with my sister, so I came to say hello when I saw a chance.” I told her.

“Oh, yeah. Got it.” Ainliese nodded.

That’s good. She doesn’t seem to be angry that I didn’t come to say hello right away.

“I wanted to use this opportunity to say hello to Glock too, but he seems to be busy.” I said.

Glock seemed to be the leader of the Black Swan of Dawn team, and he was currently in a meeting with the knights.

“The air here is tense. It’s not a very good atmosphere.” Ainliese commented.

That’s because we’re about to start hunting. A hunt against a big game that can easily take our lives if we let our guard down.

It’s natural that everyone is tense now.

Though my sister being wobbly like that is strange… But well, she’s that sister of mine, so I guess it can’t be helped.

“Let’s eat dinner together after we get back to town.

“We’ll probably be staying in Haidiga for a while though, so the dinner can wait a bit if needed.” Ainliese suggested.

Oh, they are? Well, if they are staying for a while, then I guess we can eat together later.

“Then, can you tell everyone, other than my sister, that I came to say hello?” I asked Ainliese.

“Roger that. Let’s do our best to not die here.” She replied with a very carefree smile.

It was quite contrasting with the tense mood of this place…

“See you later.” As Ainliese said that, she disappeared into the forest, chasing after my sister.

That sister of mine… Well, maybe Horun smelled something good. She has always been the kind of person to pick things from the ground and eat them.

In any case… It was just as I thought.

I had only seen her briefly at the Black Swan of Dawn’s residence, so I couldn’t be sure, but I now got confirmation.

From the calluses on her hand, I had assumed that Ainliese was a bow user, and I seem to have assumed correctly.

Because right now, on top of her light leather armor, Ainliese was carrying a powerful longbow on her back.