GILF Hunter

Rin silenced her footsteps and moved forward quietly.

Until now, she had been able to move stealthily by hiding behind bushes or trees and waiting for monsters to pass, but the number of monsters increased the further she went.

There were often terrains where it was difficult to hide, so eventually, there was a limit to just staying hidden.

Rin quietly poked her head out from behind a tree to survey the surroundings.

There was one Stinger on guard nearby. It didn’t look easy to pass by without being noticed.

...Should I take care of that one?

Climbing the tree soundlessly, Rin leapt high from a branch.

─!

Leaping significantly behind the Stinger’s field of vision, Rin slashed the flying Stinger with her sword.

It happened in an instant, so the Stinger, ambushed from behind, plummeted without even a chance to react.

’I won’t be caught for a while, right...?’

She would probably be discovered soon, but for now, buying enough time to check the area ahead was sufficient.

After moving the halved Stinger corpse into some nearby bushes, Rin moved forward again.

By repeating this process of moving stealthily and quietly taking out Stingers that inevitably blocked her path,

Rin finally discovered a place where a massive number of Stingers were gathered.

’It really is here...’

An enormous structure was hidden in a low-lying area shielded by a cliff.

A giant nest made of mud and dried paper-like materials clumped together. Its shape looked like something children might make for fun, but its scale was immense.

Rin didn’t know much about Stingers in detail, but she felt that anyone who saw this would immediately know it was a nest.

’Leader... you didn’t tell me it was this big.’

Rin unintentionally muttered to herself.

Of course, she thought a hive for such large bees wouldn’t be a normal size... but this was at a level that could almost be called a castle.

Countless Stingers were moving in and out of it.

Hiding in a spot where she could look down at the nest from a distance, Rin took out the map from her bag.

A point located quite deep inside.

It was a place Ian had marked as having a high possibility of a nest, but it wasn’t Rin’s assigned sector. It was likely the sector belonging to Luca, who had told her about this location.

Rin marked that there was a nest there.

Then, surveying the surroundings, she noted the scale of the monsters, their direction of movement, and unique features of the terrain. It was a method she had learned by watching Ian draw maps beside him.

──!

Suddenly, the area near the nest became noisy, and a swarm of Stingers took flight with a loud buzzing of wings.

It seemed they were trying to strengthen the surrounding patrols.

’Ah... did they find out I took out a few?’

Since she had confirmed the location of the nest, there was no reason to stay longer.

Lowering her body quietly, Rin returned using a different route instead of the path she came from.

Arriving at the nearby cave, Rin found Luca hiding inside.

’Are you back? How did it go?’

’There really was a nest.’

’Really? See, I was right!’

Luca spoke to Rin with a proud face.

’Hehe... with this, the special bonus...’

Muttering that, Luca stopped and looked at Rin with an expression as if he had realized something.

After a brief moment of thought, Luca spoke to Rin with a look of resignation.

’Tsk... can’t be helped. Let’s split the special bonus fifty-fifty.’

’...I’m fine, really.’

Because Luca’s expression while suggesting splitting the nest discovery bonus looked so pained, Rin simply declined.

However, Luca stared at Rin with a shocked face upon hearing that.

’What, since you’re B-rank, is that amount just pocket change to you?’

’Eh...’

Rin flinched.

Did... I do that?

It wasn’t her intention, but from the perspective of the person listening, it might have felt a bit like that.

Since a mercenary’s pride was a troublesome thing to touch, Rin immediately apologized and corrected herself.

’Alright. Then let’s split it half and half.’

’You’re going to take half the bonus a C-rank gets... the haves are even worse.’

’What do you want from me...’

It seemed he had just said that out of envy.

Looking at Luca, who now looked depressed after losing half his special bonus, Rin sighed.

Anyway, the place where the nest was located was Luca’s assigned area, and it was true that his first discovery of a suspicious spot was the most decisive contribution.

After a short discussion, Rin decided to split the bonus 8:2 with Luca.

’But the sun has already set...’

It was originally supposed to be a one-day scout, but after saving this man and confirming the nest’s location, she had somehow spent two nights in the forest.

She thought about moving now, but perhaps because she had taken out Stingers near the nest earlier, patrols had increased further.

’Aren’t we staying inside too long? They’ll be waiting outside.’

’Why worry about the outside? We’re the ones suffering. Finding the nest is more important.’

’I guess... you’re right.’

Rin took out one portable food item from her bag and split it in half.

’Here, have some.’

’Thanks for this.’

Luca accepted the food Rin had split.

It was a relief she had brought a bit of extra food just in case. The downside was the small portion since she kept splitting it in half to eat.

Both of them devoured the food in an instant.

She hadn’t thought they’d be here this long, so she brought the small size, but splitting that repeatedly made it feel like they hadn’t eaten anything at all.

Rin thought of the last portable food remaining in her bag.

...Since we found the nest, should I just eat it?

After agonizing over it, Rin just tore open the packaging of the last remaining food.

’Huh? Didn’t you say you were saving the last one?’

’We’re going to leave now anyway.’

’You really have no worries...’

Despite being isolated in a forest teeming with Stingers, Rin seemed to have no worries at all.

Is that what it takes to be a B-rank mercenary?

Thinking so, Luca lifted the portable food Rin had split for him.

’Do B-rank mercenaries eat this kind of portable food? It seems like a very high-end product.’

’We’ve been eating this since a long time ago.’

Is this the wealthy mercenary group people talk about? If he had joined a place like that, he could have saved much more money than he does now.

Thinking that, Luca suddenly remembered the friend waiting for him in his hometown and pulled out a pendant from his chest.

’Look at this. What do you think. Cute, right?’

Rin glanced at the pendant Luca showed her.

Inside the pendant was a simple portrait of a boy. It was likely a childhood portrait of his childhood friend given to him when he left the village.

’Once I get the special bonus this time, I’m going back to get married...’

’You’ve already said that several times.’

’Sorry, it’s a habit. Every time I say this, I manage to return alive from a situation where I almost died. Surely this thing brings good luck.’

’Hee...’

If he were lucky, wouldn’t it be better if those situations didn’t happen in the first place...?

Rin tilted her head with a dubious expression, but since he thought so, she just accepted it.

’Anyway, let’s rest a bit today and head out when the sun rises. Can you walk now?’

’No problem. I’ve run around even when I was more severely injured.’

Rin opened the map one last time and marked a few spots.

They were the approximate locations of the suspicious dirt mounds she had discovered while going to and from the nest.

They were the suspicious structures Ian had told her to remember the location of if she found them.

Luca, who had been peeking at it from the side, asked with a puzzled face when he saw Rin marking spots where nothing seemed to be.

’What is that for you to keep marking it?’

’The leader told me to find these too.’

Checking the last spot, Rin spoke to Luca with a look of generosity.

’Hmm... alright. Since you told me the nest location, I’ll say you discovered one of these that we found on the way.’

’Just what on earth is that...’

Although Luca was puzzled, he accepted it since she was giving it and recorded the location on his own map.

＊　＊　＊

The sun rose.

...Is it morning?

Kiri lifted his head in front of the extinguished campfire.

It was unfortunate, but it was time to head back.

’Everyone, let’s head back now.’

’Vice-leader! They’re back!’

’Yeah. I’m saying we should go now.’

’No, I mean Luca is back!’

...What?!

Kiri leapt up from his seat.

Two people were indeed walking out from the forest. They looked perfectly fine, without any signs of major injuries.

’Leader! We found the nest!’

’Really? Where was it?’

’It was one of the spots you marked... B3!’

’Ah, you got stuck with a bad one...’

’Yes, I took a look and it seemed it would be difficult to enter.’

Ian and Rin were naturally talking business, not even sharing a conversation like ’I’m glad you’re safe.’

It looked so natural, as if they hadn’t even considered the possibility that Rin might be in danger from the start.

’...’

Watching the two, Kiri recalled what his leader had said.

Did he say that from B-rank onwards, it’s only humans who are a bit broken who move up?

At the time, he thought the leader was just trying to disparage a successful mercenary group for no reason.

Looking at them now, he felt he could understand what the leader meant by humans obsessed with their work.

As Luca approached, Kiri, who had been peeking at Ian and Rin, asked Luca with a serious expression.

’...You found the nest?’

’No, is that all you have to say to someone who went through so much trouble? You’re not planning some trick to avoid paying the bonus, are you?’

’...Phew, never mind. What’s the point with us.’

Kiri just slapped Luca hard on the back and walked away.