Strange Grief Wants to Retire ~ The Weakest Hunter Dreams of a Hero ~-Chapter 44: The Source of Disaster

The Source of Disaster

With it’s whole body frozen white, the pseudo-slime let out a garbled scream. It’s body was only about a third of it’s original size.

Sven and the others had continually attacked together, and after shaving it down little by little this was the result.

In front of the White Wolves Den, a disastrous scene had spread out.

Because of the force field the pseudo-slime was enclosed in, scores of trees had fallen down and there were places in the ground that were gouged out.

But there were no longer signs of the pseudo-slime’s former agile movement.

It was proof that the monster thought to be invulnerable was on the verge of death.

The pseudo-slime looked warily around at the distant hunters encircling it’s surroundings in a long unbroken line.

It rubbed it’s body against the ground creating a grating noise.

Gark breathed roughly as he turned the tip of his 『Blizzard War Fang』 towards the pseudo-slime.

“Haa, haa, ...at last, it’s movements have slowed...”

His outward appearance showed no wounds, but from his eyes and figure there was likely accumulated non visible damage.

He had a bitter expression consisting of pain and perseverance.

Few others apart from Gark could take on the Slime’s attacks. They could ward away one off attacks, but it mostly only made time for Gark to regain his posture. And more importantly, there was no person that could substitute for the 『Blizzard War Fang』 that could damage the slime with just a touch.

Gark received a potion from the hunter next to him to heal his injuries, and drank it in one shot.

But the flow had already been determined. As long as the pseudo-slime didn’t have any hidden moves, Sven and the others wouldn’t be defeated.

When it was frozen it could be injured by Sven’s arrows. The pseudo-slime with it’s whole body frozen made a good target.

However, Sven didn’t let himself relax, and shouted to the others.

“Don’t get careless! This is one of Infinite Varieties trials! Watch your surroundings, it wouldn’t be strange if two or three more like this guy appears!”

“I’m already doing so!”

“Y-You all, up to now just what the hell...” A member of Footprints answered Sven.

As they said, some of the members of Footprints had shifted their vigilance from

the slime to the forest under the veil of darkness.

Gark’s eyes twitched as he watched a situation that seemed familiar somehow.

Sven said nothing more, and aiming at the pseudo-slime he greatly drew back an arrow.

As if feeling the threat, the pseudo-slime attempted to escape, but while it was frozen it’s movements were hindered and it’s speed was a shadow of it’s former self.

“...This is, the end!”

And, no matter how much fatigue had built up, Sven’s aim wasn’t bad enough to miss from merely a number of meters away.

He breathed a small breath, put everything into his arrow and gave a shout. And then, he released the jet black arrow.

The pseudo-slime could barely move.

The sharp pointed metal arrow flew at the speed of lightning and pierced the center of the pseudo-slime, nailing it to the ground.

The power the arrow was loaded with shook the ground on impact.

The vibrations calmed down. 𝗯𝗲𝐝𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝗹．𝐨𝗿𝗴

The body of the pseudo-slime was skewered through the middle. The frozen body cracked.

Were the depths of the interior already frozen over? There was no indication that the threatening mana barrier was functioning.

Until the end the pseudo-slime had it’s emotionless eyes turned toward Sven, who remained at the ready.

And without anything unexpected, it broke into fragments and vanished like the phantom it was by nature.

§

Sven knew from experience that the hand of death would fall on those that let their guard down.

He swiftly checked over the situation. Many heavily wounded. One person that had lost their arms.

They had been continually focusing during a battle that had drawn out for about an hour. They had built up a lot of fatigue, but there were no casualties.

Everyone that had joined for the investigation into the White Wolves Den could return home safely.

Plunking down on the ground, Gark breathed a silent sigh. The two unfit examiners were also unable to stand and sat with haggard expressions.

“Well, that was an unexpected monster... how did it become like that... was it... a phantom?”

“Damn it. This is exactly why I hate coming along. This job would have just been better off being slandered as incompetent.”

One of the examiners spoke without any force. Maybe those words were what everybody was also thinking.

The pseudo-slime had definitely been strong. They had somehow found out how to defeat it and carried it out.

The main thing was that it had been a complete unknown. A slime that could create a mana barrier was unheard of.

In the first place, as the older examiner had said, the chances of a slime appearing there were close to none.

The members of the same clan sat together worn out. Sven looked at the hunters that had grave faces despite returning alive, and raised his voice.

He couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Always continue to plan countermeasures. It’s something Sven felt many times since joining First Step, the know how to survive.

“I’d say, that slime thing... is probably related to the shrine abnormality. It’s too much of a coincidence.”

In the end the investigation into the interior of the shrine didn’t turn up anything. The sole remaining lead was the pseudo-slime.

Marietta, who had completely exhausted her mana from the continuous use of attack magic sighed deeply.

“Yeah that’s true. If it was just the levels of the Phantoms being raised it would be ok, but this might make things worse.”

At those words everyone’s expressions clouded over further. They all understood the severity of the circumstances.

Extreme mana exhaustion. Built up fatigue. Some injured. Although they understood how to defeat them, if another similar slime appeared it would be trouble.

However, abandoning the area and returning home involved a high risk. Those were Sven’s thoughts.

They managed to defeat the pseudo-slime because they were the elite. They were prepared, resolved, and well coordinated high level hunters.

This is how they confronted the pseudo slime, but if it was the knights of the third order that kept order around the Imperial Capital there would be a great amount of damage.

The third order of knights were highly trained and frequently absorbed mana material. They had high power and were by no means weak, but they were much less of a match compared to hunters that were used to the various gimmicks within shrines.

Using a method of brute force against an enemy like the pseudo-slime was a hopeless approach.

With time they may also notice it’s weakness, but it was doubtful they could hold their ground until then.

“We should be able to tell where it came from... if we do it now there should still be tracks remaining. There shouldn’t be that many. If there were, the forest wouldn’t still be so quiet.”

To Sven’s words, Gark scowled and let out a low groan. He must have be thinking of the trouble this would make for the Explorers.

The details of the request only concerned the interior of the shrine. If traces were found outside the shrine, then the information should be brought back. But there was no obligation for them to jump straight into danger.

If they returned now their reputation may suffer, but there would be no charges held against them.

At that time, the sitting brown haired hunter looking down at his lost arms stunned, raised his face.

He was the man that had suffered the most harm in this matter. The impacts of his arms were needless to say as a hunter, this would impede his everyday life.

The voice that came out was hoarse. “...anyway, do you think there are still more?”

“...The likelihood is low. But, any of the members here should be able to deal with it without a problem. That slime doesn’t have the power to wipe out a party in an instant. Even if we separate up to search, we can still run away.”

The hunters exchanged glances with each other.

Fear. Exhaustion. Some of the members of Footprints had bitter smiles. They were probably muttering silent complaints to the Master in their thoughts.

Sven also sympathised with the difficulty of the one thousand tribulations. Certainly the pseudo-slime was a powerful and unknown enemy, but still the degree of difficulty was low compared to how they had been treated in the past. Being able to pinpoint the weakness by sending Gark, could only be said to be something indescribable, but he didn’t think there was a need for close to one hundred hunters to be there.

In other words, the tribulations still hadn’t ended.

If that was the case, they should proceed on. To Sven and the others the options could not be seen as equal.

“It’s fine if you choose to retreat... but nothing good will be waiting. You lot, you might be attacked on the way right?”

“......”

“The ones that want to return can do so. We will... continue.”

The attacks of the pseudo-slime were simple but powerful. Even a tough hunter wouldn’t be safe if they took a blow in a vulnerable area.

He waited for a moment, but there were no objections. Naturally none were raised from the members of Footprints, but the outside hunters also remained silent.

The appearance of the pseudo-slime may have added credibility to his words.

There was an excess of personnel remaining. They could divide into individual parties and thoroughly search the nearby area. It wouldn’t take long.

Deep in the forest, the direction the slime came in could be seen.

There was enough light provided by the floating magic sources, but the quiet forest

enveloped in darkness instilled indescribable fear.

It would be better if they hurried. All of a sudden following his instincts, Sven stood up.

§

Advancing through the forest.

The pseudo-slime had the nature to indiscriminately destroy anything it touched. The viscous body had been made from Mana Material and there was nothing like a trail of mucous left over. But it wasn’t difficult to track by following the various trees that had split open or fallen on the ground.

Sven’s group consisted of Iron Cross, Gark carrying his halberd, the two examiners, and the brown haired hunter that had lost his arms as well as his party.

The other parties had spread out, checking whether there were additional slimes in the area.

The brown haired hunter steadily gazed at Sven as he moved at a quick pace. Sven cleared away the thickets with his short sword as he spoke.

“The manifestation of 『Prism Garden』 was hell. This wasn’t much compared to that.”

“...compared to this, huh.”

He gave a small nod without speaking.

The 『Cherry Blossom Viewing Incident』 was a topic still passed down within the clan, as it was an opportunity to rewrite the commonsense of the hunters in Footprints.

While carefully following the tracks, he continued.

“The opponent this time... was a phantom, but the opponent back then, was the

『environment』.”

『Prism Garden』 (Kanji: Chalk Garden) was the name of a beautiful shrine with countless flowers blooming in profusion.

However, it’s true nature was a hell incomparable to the likes of the White Wolves Den. Even now, Sven sometimes dreamed of it.

“It was pollen. It had a sleeping effect. A few seconds after the shrine appeared, half the members of Footprints fainted.”

Originally the location was a field of flowers.

Suddenly altered by Mana Material, petals and pollen soared from a sea of

blooming flowers.

Like it’s name it had a chalky texture, and it held the property of inducing severe drowsiness in those that inhaled or touched it.

Powerful enough to make a hunter with a honed mind faint in seconds.

There were several shrines that were even further apart from the standard classifications.

Among them, 『Prism Garden』 had an environment that was a high hurdle for

hunters on it’s own, and was categorised as an 『Environment type』 shrine.

“It seems that the changes in the Earth Veins were quite large. The surrounding area transformed quickly. People fainted before being able to understand what was happening. Besides drowsiness, there was also paralysis and poison. And of course

– there were carnivorous plants and beasts adapted to the environment as phantoms. 『Prism Garden』 is like a trap where the whole shrine is lying in wait for hunters.”

“...You managed to survive.” “I was lucky.”

At the time of it’s manifestation, 『Prism Garden』 only had a small amount of

Mana Material accumulated, and the degree of difficulty was lower compared to now.

And yet for Sven who was mid-rank at the time, it was a hopeless opponent.

If just Sven and his party were there, they would have already been nutrients for the plants by now.

Once you entered, you could never return. That shrine was a prison.

He would never forget the ones that broke through the situation, the members of

『Strange Grief』.

Without speaking, they moved smoothly as if they had known everything beforehand.

Not really in a state of comprehension, just as Sven was getting hazy, Liz stabbed herself in the waist with her knife.

Luke bit through his tongue, and Lucia broke her little finger. Everything was to shake off the drowsiness with pain.

The first thing they did was to put on their symbol, the 『mask』. Wind to blow away the pollen. Fire to burn down the flowers.

Fragments of dazzling flames danced like petals. Moving calmly within the burning red, the form of the 『smiling skeletons』 was still intensely seared into the minds of the hunters of Footprints.

There shouldn’t have been much time to make a decision.

Now the members of 『Strange Grief』 held second names that were well known, but at the time they weren’t much different to Sven and the others.

There was little difference in level, and their physical abilities were about the same.

At that time, Sven didn’t understand how they made the usually unthinkable decision to self harm in that abrupt abnormal situation.

Now he knew. Their experiences were night and day to each other.

Iron Cross had spent more time as hunters, but Strange Grief had been through scenes of carnage an unusual number of times.

Among hunters, the powerful were given respect.

Ever since then, there was no one within the clan that would openly speak badly of them.

Because 『Strange Grief』 were so severe they didn’t have a good reputation, but they had a portion of wildly enthusiastic fans.

Sven also still held some fear towards those eccentric figures. It wasn’t that their abilities were high. They were simply superhuman.

He was thankful to have the good fortune to be in the same clan as them.

However, he wasn’t content to remain in the same position. Sven also held pride as a hunter.

It was probably precisely because many others also thought like this, that there were still many members in Footprints.

Following the tracks, Sven and the others reached an open area. The traces of sudden violence didn’t continue on from there.

Of the two examiners, the younger one with brown hair timidly peeked around the surroundings.

“Is this where it manifested...?”

“No, this is outside the Shrine. It’s not likely it could appear here.” The other examiner refuted him immediately.

Gark was checking on the broken trees. How they were twisted and smashed resembled the tracks of the pseudo-slime.

Phantoms tended to be stronger deep within shrines where it was thick with Mana Material.

But when concerning tendencies, it was strange for such an odd phantom to appear at all.

The first thing necessary was to cast away common sense. And then only put together what was fact.

If it really did manifest here, they had no choice but to accept it.

As Sven brooded, Gark groaned sounding half shocked and half impressed.

“...That Cry, how does he predict these things time and time again? Even though he came straight to the shrine.”

“Predictions, predictions, huh...”

Cry Andoric was a genius. He wasn’t a god, but a person that made moves like a god.

This time as well, he had guided Gark here as a trump card against the pseudo- slime.

Even for Sven who had a long relationship with him, he didn’t know the truth behind Cry’s foreknowledge.

However, there should have been some meaning in the amount of people sent. Cry hated pointless waste. The lineup hadn’t simply been for defeating the slime.

At that moment, timid of his surroundings, Henrik called out. “Sven-san, there’s, there’s something here.”

“Hm? What is it...?”

He handed across a large piece of metal. It had a curved shape. It wasn’t very old, without any rust it gave a dull shine.

It was solid enough to be used as armour, but it was destroyed as if it was twisted in half.

The other members also handed over pieces of metal newly discovered. They seemed to be scattered across the vicinity. Some of them were thick chains. Looking at the collected pieces of metal, Gark’s expression became severe in the blink of an eye.

They were simple shapes. They arranged them to match in the way they were destroyed.

“Oi oi, this is – “ “...handcuffs and... a collar?

The completed shapes were five solid rings.

Huge handcuffs, shackles, and a collar. There were some fragments missing, but

there was no doubt.

The size clearly wasn’t for restraining a human.

The expressions of the two examiners had changed. The earlier fatigue was forgotten as they touched the different parts.

Sensing the feeling of dread, Sven held his tongue. The two whispered as if to hide their voices.

“It can’t be... shackles and handcuffs? A phantom could be restrained with these but-“

“...This is crazy. I thought it was an unknown phantom but -“ “It needs to be reported right?”

“Obviously. It’s one of the ten sins!? It would be a crime to conceal it. Damn it, Infinite Variety, such an absurd thing is-“

Grave voices. They couldn’t stay calm concerning a crime.

The two who seemed to know something, had understood this was more of an emergency than they thought.

The ten sins were the most serious crimes under Zebrudia law.

Equal to crimes such as rebelling against the Emperor, or attempting to overthrow the country.

It wasn’t something you would hear about any other day.

In relation to Treasure Hunters the 『Sin of Liberation』 was the most famous, involving freeing transcendent beings that were sealed deep within shrines. But that likely wasn’t the case here.

To put a transcendent existence into words, it was 『a being as close to a God as possible』. As one would think, that didn’t apply to the pseudo-slime. And if something was released, there would be no way Infinite Variety wouldn’t come.

Eventually the older examiner raised his head.

He didn’t give a detailed explanation, but he talked to Gark quickly.

“Branch chief, the circumstances have changed. There is a possibility someone released that Phantom, it needs to be reported immediately.”

At that moment, the sharp sound of a whistle interrupted their words.