I was walking through the hallway of the Twilight Manor, just passing the time, when I came across Riveria. She was holding a bow, and it seems she saw me as well.
"Arin? Good morning." Riveria walked closer, her jade eyes fixated on me.
"Good morning, Riveria," I replied. "Going somewhere?"
"Yes, I was thinking of going hunting, but didn't get the chance to," She explained. "Lefiya and Alicia have also gone out with Ais and others, so it gave me a chance to be alone."
"I see… have a nice hunting then." I wanted to accompany her, but she had previously told me that she didn't get much chance to indulge in her hobby of hunting alone. So I refrained from asking.
"Thank you, Arin. I will." She said and walked past me, and I also started to walk away. Just then, I heard her voice from behind me.
"...Arin, do you want to come with me?" I turned my head back and asked.
"Can I?" She gave a smile and responded.
"I am inviting you. It will also serve as good practice for you as well to see the result of your training with Ryuu." At this point, both of us knew that was just an excuse.
"Okay. Just give me five minutes, and I will get my bow as well." I said and started walking towards my room. Riveria started to walk behind me.
"I will also come with you." We quickly made our way to my room, and upon entering, I picked up the new bow I had bought the previous day. Riveria observed the bow and spoke.
"That's a pretty good quality bow," her eyes tracing the bow I was holding.
"Yup, Ryuu helped me choose it."
"That's understandable. Maybe next time we can invite her as well." I was happy that Riveria was thinking about a future where we are all present.
I strapped the bow on my back and spoke. "I am ready, let's go now." Although she told me that Lefiya and others are not present here, I still don't want to take any chances.
We both left the Twilight manor behind and walked through the city streets.
"Things have started to become better now, haven't they?" Riveria spoke, looking at the hustle and bustle of the city.
"Yes, they have," I replied. Most of the rebuilding is completed, people also seem to have overcome their grief to a large degree, and are preparing for the festival.
"By the way, Riveria, shouldn't we get a permit first to leave the city from the guild, since we are not allowed to leave Orario without it?" I asked about my doubt since Eina has told me several times about it.
"Yes, though I do have a special pass that I had the guild make for me, since I had to travel urgently sometimes, due to Aina's health." She explained, "But I am not too sure if that will allow you to pass as well."
"Hmm… then let's first try, if that didn't work, then we can get a permit for me." and so we continued making our way towards the gate.
"Oh, I almost forgot it, but Daneteus is happening soon as well, so you will also be getting your first Alias right. I wonder what it will be?"
"Ugh… I just hope it's not something too embarrassing, although Loki promised so won't let anyone give an embarrassing name, I also asked Astraea, Hermes, and others to back her up as well."
"Fufu, you are thinking too much. I am positive they won't give you an undignified name." Riveria gave a small laugh and assured me, but I still don't feel good.
"I sure hope so." Before long, we neared the exit gate, and to my surprise, one of the people guarding the gate was none other than Ardee herself. She noticed us approaching the gate as well as she called out.
"Oh! Arin and Nine Hells as well. What brought you here?" She asked, bubbling with energy like always.
"Hello Ardee, we were thinking of going into the forest for some hunting." As if anticipating my words, Ardee spoke up.
"I see, but do you have the permit, Arin? Because without that, I can't allow you to pass. No hard feelings, just doing my duty."
"C'mon, can't you overlook it, like you did with that thief?" I tried to coax her.
"Th-That is different. Besides, he already redeemed himself by working extra hard during the rebuilding." She argued.
"I see… that's too bad, I was thinking of giving you the new hero story books that I so 'happened' to find." I shook my head in sadness.
"O-ohhh… Story books, huh? W-well, since we are so close, maybe I can overlook it just this once and—GAH!" Before she could complete her words, a fist fell on her head, making her cry out in pain, clutching her head.
"What are you doing, Ardee!?" scolded Shakti, "Taking a bribe like that, you are setting up a bad example for others."
"I-I am sorry, sis." Ardee, still rubbing her head, apologised promptly.
"Don't call me sis when we are working, seriously, what do I do with you?" Shakti sighed deeply and shook her head. She lifted her gaze and looked at me. "And Arin, you don't have to give this idiot anything; you can go ahead, I will just pretend you were not here."
"Really? Won't that put you in trouble?" Riveria asked.
"Hm? No, it's fine, I owe Arin that much; besides, you are just going to the forest, which technically is a part of Orario, so no issues, just don't let the others know about it."
"Okay, thanks, Shakti, you are the best." I said, and we started to walk outside, "See you later, Ardee." I waved towards her, and she just nodded, still rubbing her head
"Are you and Anakusha close? Her bending rules for someone is very rare," as we walked through the forest, Riveria asked.
"I mean, we are friends, I guess? We take rounds around the city a few times, but I think she overlooked it, maybe because I saved Ardee from death once." I also don't think Shakti otherwise would have done this.
"I see, that's understandable," replied Riveria, and we both made our way a little deeper in the forest. Riveria stopped in front of me.
"This spot is pretty good, I think we will be able to do a good hunt." She said and settled herself down. I also sat near her, but with enough distance to not get in her way.
The sun had already gone over our heads, indicating it was late afternoon. We waited silently for some time until we spotted a wild boar walking through. Other than monsters, this world also has all types of normal animals as well.
Riveria loaded her bow with the arrow, pulling the string back, her eyes sharp and focused. She aimed at the boar. Every single move she made was filled with elegance and strength.
She waited just a moment before she released the arrow towards the boar. The arrow tore through the air, hitting straight at the wild boar's neck.
"SCREEEEE!!" The boar let out a scream before falling on its side.
"Let's go and check." Riveria stood up and walked towards the fallen wild boar. I followed after her, the wild boar's eyes were already dead, its whole body numb.
The size of this boar was not that big, so we still have some space remaining for some more hunting.
"Let's dismantle it, Arin. since a lot of its meat is useless." I must say, Riveria, who is a literal princess, butchering an animal was truly a sight to see.
After dismantling the boar, Riveria froze the usable meat to preserve it and put it in the bag we had brought.
"Now it's my turn, huh?" I said, feeling a little giddy, since it would be the first time I would use my bow skills in practice.
"Indeed, let's relocate first. The scent of blood might drive away other prey." And so we walked away in search of another good place to hunt. Shortly after, we came across a small pond. Thinking it would be a good place, both of us hid ourselves at a distance with a clear view of the pond.
We might have been waiting for about forty minutes. Though the forty minutes of waiting hadn't felt long at all. Riveria had been telling me stories about her childhood in the forest, her voice barely above a whisper to avoid scaring potential prey.
"You know," she said quietly, "this reminds me of when I used to hunt with Aina. Though she was never as patient as you are."
"Eina, mother right? She seems like an interesting person. I would love to meet her." I kept my eyes towards the small pond as I replied.
"Maybe next time I visit her, you can come with me; she would be happy to meet you, too, though you should ignore her if you start talking nonsense."
Just when I was about to ask her what she meant by that, I saw a deer come near the pond, and it looked around before starting to drink water from the pond. I readied my bow, loading it with an arrow, and pulled on the string as far back as possible.
I took a few deep breaths and finally, after aiming carefully, I released the arrow; it made a shing like sound and hit the deer right on the area where its heart should be. The deer flared on the spot for a short moment before losing all its strength and falling.
"That was some great display of skill, Arin," Riveria, who was sitting near me, said.
"Thank you, Riveria." Both of us walked towards the deer and found it was dead. I was glad to see that, which might sound weird, but torturing an animal was not my intention, though I guess that's a pretty hypocritical thing to say, since I have just killed it, which might have been worse than torture to some.
Stop it. I am overthinking things again. I shook my head to distract myself from those gloomy thoughts.
"Is something the matter, Arin?" Seeing my behaviour, Riveria called out.
"No, it was nothing. Can you pass me the knife?" I extended my hand, and Riveria passed the knife to me.
"Sorry…" I muttered quietly before I started dismantling it.
"You did well, Arin," Riveria said softly, settling beside me. "Your form was perfect—Ryuu taught you well."
As I worked with the knife, I noticed Riveria watching my head intently. "Is there something wrong, Riveria?"
"No, it's just..." she paused, a small smile playing on her lips. "You have a leaf in your hair."
Before I could react, she reached over and gently plucked it from my head, her fingers briefly brushing against my hair.
"There," she said, holding up the small green leaf. "You looked like you were becoming one with the forest."
"Maybe I was trying to camouflage myself for hunting," I replied cheekily.
Riveria laughed—a genuine, melodic sound that seemed to harmonize with the forest around us. "If that's the case, you might need more than one leaf."
She looks so cute laughing like that. Seeing her smile, all the conflicting feelings that come from killing a living being were dashed.
We kept talking as I dismantled the deer body, separating the edible meat from the useless parts. Riveria froze that as well, and we both got up for some more hunting since there was still some space remaining in the bag.
.
.
.
.
"I think we have enough for today," I said, shouldering my bow and the bag of meat.
"Agreed. Though I have to say, this was much more enjoyable than hunting alone," Riveria admitted as we began walking back toward the city.
When we finished our little adventure together, the sky was starting to turn orange, indicating sunset, and we mutually decided to end our hunting for today.
"I am glad to hear that. We should do this more often. I hope you don't mind me joining you every now and then."
"Of course not, like I said, I enjoy our time today, and you are free to join me whenever you want." Said Riveria as she started walking in front of me, her low ponytail bouncing with her every step.
I said nothing and walked up to her; we both made our way back to the city, walking side by side.
As we started to enter the city, I noticed Ardee and Shakti were nowhere to be seen, and in their place was a different group of people. They said nothing and just did a little bow of their heads in my direction. I was a little confused, but nodded back, trying to remember their faces, then finally I remembered they were the same group of adventurers that I saved from that dragon.
Maybe next time I see them, I will greet them properly.
I thought as both Riveria and I walked back home.