Chapter 115
"Am I late?"
Zenobia smiled at her favourite child of late . "No, you're just on time . We're still doing final checks . Have you met the team?"
Zero looked around . Every hunter on the team looked scary but when they saw their latest addition, that sternness on their faces melted away .
"Why, hello there!" A man with a very wide grin greeted Zero . He held out his hand and Zero shook it, noting how human he looked .
"Hello, I'm Zero . I'll be in your care today . "
The man with a wide grin and shaggy dirty blond hair introduced himself as Gweshr .
"Are you human?"
Gweshr trained his brown eyes onto Zero with a mischievous twinkle in them . "What do you think?"
Zero frowned . Gweshr looked like one but Zero knew for sure he wasn't one . There were only two humans in the village after all . Also, Gweshr wasn't a ghost . Zero could detect him on Mii's map .
A huge hand patted Zero's fluffy hair and the brunet blinked . He hadn't heard the man move and was that a horse's body he saw?
"Don't worry about that dog, Zero . I'm Crudgel, those two fellows are Vrald and Gerald . The lady beside Zenobia is Mitch, you've met her husband earlier . "
Mitch glared at Crudgel and fired an arrow at the horse-man who dodged it with ease .
"Don't call me Mitch . It's Mitchnew . Also, in case you're wondering, my husband is the fool called Sekkin . "
Zenobia had to break up the tension before it could a fight could break out .
"Does this happen often?" Zero asked .
Zenobia sighed . "Mitchnew is a little testy so don't take it personally . She's not a bad person . Also, Gweshr is a werewolf . You'll be following him during this hunt to check traps and track prey . I heard from Hua Tuo that you were an expert . "
Zero beamed . "Leave it to me! Also, can I ask what Crudgel is? Is he more of a horse or a man? I can't tell . "
Vrald, the man with red hair and eyes, guffawed . "That's a good one kid . . . I can't tell either . He eats like a man but farts like a horse . "
Gerald, the man with golden hair and eyes, elbowed his companion and silenced him with a glare . "Sorry, Crudgel . It appears that my companion here is lacking some brains . He's caught a deadly disease that cannot be cured . "
Zero perked up . "What disease is that? Perhaps I could try . . . my master is a great doctor . "
Gerald was amused . "Can your master cure stupidity?"
Everyone laughed when Zero honestly told Gerald that it wasn't possible . "There are many unknown diseases that exist but my master has once said that there was an incurable disease that exists amongst humans and sometimes species of the other races . Stupidity is one of its names . Don't worry, it's not infectious . The best treatment to reduce its side effects is to apply sympathy . "
Mitchnew walked over to Zero and slapped him on the back lightly . She was laughing so hard that there were tears in her eyes . Zero thought that she looked beautiful and that Sekkin was a lucky person to marry such a great lady .
"I think I'm going to like you, Zero . Well said . I couldn't have done any better myself . "
Vrald spluttered and Crudgel teased the warrior until his face matched his hair . Gweshr taught Zero how to do a fist bump and talked a little more about everyone on the team .
"Ex-adventurer!"
The werewolf nodded . "He may be an idiot but he's strong . Both Vrald and Gerald travelled together before settling here . They're dragon descendants . Crudgel is a centaur . That means he is both man and horse equally . He's a great archer like Mitchnew and the chieftess . Mitchnew is a half dark elf . I've never seen her laugh like that before . You're the first to make her do so . "
Zero blushed and tried to redirect Gweshr's attention elsewhere . The werewolf grinned at Zero's shyness and decided to spare the poor brunet . He moved on to explain to Zero about the kinds of traps they had and where they were located .
"Why are they located in such weird places? Do they catch anything at all?"
Zenobia overheard the question and grinned . "You're a curious one . Normally, they wouldn't . However, Wiser did a little something so they're very effective in catching whatever we need during the season . For example, we catch rabbits in the autumn with them, deer in the winter, boars in the summer and sometimes bears in spring . "
"Season?"
The chieftess paused . "Have you not experienced it?"
Zero shook his head .
"Well then," the chieftess blinked . "I suppose you can learn about them when we set off . Feel free to ask Crudgel when you're on his back later . "
Zero nodded and wasn't sure of what she meant by 'on his back' but agreed nevertheless . They quickly gathered what they needed and set off at once . Zero came to understand what Zenobia meant . He was literally carried up and placed on the horseback of the centaur . The view from Crudgel's back was certainly different and Zero was equal parts excited and scared .
"Hold onto my waist," the centaur advised . "We'll be travelling fast through the forest to check the traps first . Any game can come after that . "
"Why don't we hunt first and check the traps later?"
The centaur smiled . "We don't want to hunt too little or too much without knowing what's caught already . "
It made sense . Zero nodded and asked about seasons . Apparently, Earth experienced weather changes all the time . The four seasons happened at a specific time of a year . Sometimes it became very hot and that was called summer . Sometimes it becomes very cold and sometimes snow started falling . That weather was known as winter and these weathers can last for months at a time hence they were known as seasons .
"What about rain? Is rain a season?"
Crudgel scratched his chin . "I don't think so . It doesn't last for months does it?"
Zero shook his head . It lasted for less than a day most the time so it didn't count . "But what if there was a place that had rain that could last for months? Or perhaps, years?"
The centaur shrugged . "There might be such a place but I wouldn't know . Maybe it could be considered a season if it happened? Like light rain season, heavy rain season, warm rain season . . I don't really know . "
Zero found that idea fascinating and thought about what he would name them when he found such a place . A place with lots and lots of rain sounded cool . However, that also meant that Zero would miss the sun . Maybe it would be rainy every other day and sunny only once in a while like how the normal weather was now? Zero would love to visit such an interesting place . Would the plants there grow resistant to the rain?
Before he knew it, they've arrived at the first trap . Zero hopped down Crudgel's back with some difficulty and scurried over to help Gweshr check the trap . It was empty so they quickly reset it and moved on .
On the third trap, Zero saw a trapped baby jackal-monkey screaming for help . He thought that Gweshr was going to kill it but was surprised when the hunter let it go .
"Why?"
Gweshr blinked, not quite understanding Zero's question . "Why what?"
Zero pointed to the trap . "We caught it didn't we? Why did we have to let it go?"
Mitchnew smiled . "It was a baby . We let the baby animals live so that they can grow up and produce more babies . It's the cycle of life here . If we kill this baby, there might not be enough adults to keep the species going . "
"Mitchnew . . . he's only a kid . He couldn't possibly understand this," Crudgel began but Zero shook his head .
"No, I understand now . It was my mistake . Back on Endow Hill, I can't remember how many baby animals I've hunted because they were easier to catch . A boar was difficult to catch but a baby boar was manageable . I won't do it anymore . "
Zenobia watched all these from the tree she was on, impressed . Zero was very wise and intelligent for his age . Hua Tuo had chosen a wonderful candidate to pass his knowledge to . The chieftess was slightly envious . Unlike Lowis, she had no kin . The skills and knowledge she had would die with her if she had no one to teach . Zero was a brilliant child and Zenobia entertained the thought of adopting him only to dismiss it . According to Hua Tuo, Zero was going to travel the world . She wouldn't bind Zero to such a tiny village .
The fourth trap turned out to be a dud too and Zero was feeling slightly hopeless . Gweshr smiled and told him not to worry .
"We just need to hunt more if there isn't anything in the traps . The mountain and forest are generous, fear not . "
The fifth trap came into sight and Zero held his breath . When Gweshr cut the rope loose, they saw a dead fire pheasant . Zero helped reset the trap while Gerald and Vrald helped to dismantle their catch .
"Are you ready for the real hunt now?" Crudgel asked Zero .
Needless to say, the brunet was ecstatic . Zenobia then asked Zero and Gweshr to track their prey . Zero didn't have to spend much time or effort to locate the prey . However, he was curious about how Gweshr did it so he asked how the werewolf did it .
"I have a superior sense of smell and hearing . I just head into the general direction of the smell and sounds until I find an animal track . We chase them from there . "
Zero blinked . It wasn't magic but a superior sense of smell and hearing sounded like a huge cheat . Zero never used detection magic to hunt on Endow Hill and it usually took him a few hours to find anything . Thankfully, he was familiar with the terrain to know where to find his prey . Here, Zero was at a complete loss .
"Can I use detection magic to locate the prey instead? Would that be considered cheating? I'm not too familiar with the terrain here so I thought it would help . . . "
"You have detection magic?" Mitchnew was surprised .
Zero nodded and even the ex-adventurers went silent . Nobody spoke for a while and Zenobia cleared her throat to break the awkward atmosphere .
"Zero, could you share with us how your detection magic works?"
The brunet thought for a while . "I usually call for Mii and she will help me with it . "
"Mii?"
Zero grinned . "She can't stay out here for too long because it uses too much mana . But if it's for a bit, she could say hi . "
The hunting party watched with amazement at the materialisation of a small strawcherry fairy . The fairy had red hair and eyes, wore a top made of leaves and pants shaped like cherries with strawberry seeds . Mii flew around with a pair of transparent wings and Zero blinked . Did Mii always look like this?
"Did you grow?"
The strawcherry assistant looked annoyed . "No, I evolved . With all the hunting and learning, did you think I would always remain as a strawcherry?"
Zero apologised . "It's great to see you again physically . Mii, meet the hunting team of Half Moon village! There's Lady Zenobia the chieftess, Vrald and Gerald the ex-adventurers, Gweshr the werewolf, Mitchnew the half dark-elf and Crudgel the Centaur . We're currently hunting and need to use the map to find prey . Could you help?"
Mii rolled her eyes . "After months of not seeing me the first thing you ask of me is to work? I hate you . "
Zero apologised once more . "What would you like in return?"
Mii thought about it . "Zoe makes great food right? I want to eat meat if I help with the hunt . "
A strawcherry fairy that eats meat? It was unheard of but nobody questioned it . They were too busy gawking at the screen that appeared in front of them .
[Zero has invited you to the hunting party . Do you accept?]
Gweshr was the first to smash the "yes" option and he wasn't disappointed .
"What is this?" he asked, pointing at the strange window with colours and dots .
Everyone stared at the same window that appeared before them .
"Why are there green, red, orange and yellow dots? Also, there are white ones in clusters all over behind the green ones . "
Zero grinned and explained how to understand the map .
Gweshr was impressed . "I saw we go for the orange one to the north from here . I can smell venison . "
Vrald and Gerald offered to help while Zenobia had a different idea .
"With this map, we could split our hunting party to work more efficiently . Crudgel, Mitchnew and I can take on the smaller prey . What do you say?"
The centaur disagreed . "What if we meet unexpected danger?"
Mii grinned . "That is when party calls work best . "
"Party calls?" Zero asked . He didn't know that such a thing existed .
"You know how you call Truen sometimes? It works the same except the call never ends and you can talk to everyone in the party . It's something that unlocked when I evolved . "
"Testing, can everyone hear me in the call?" Mitchnew decided to try .
Gweshr jumped, having sensitive hearing . "It's loud . . . "
"You can adjust it," Mii offered to help and it took them ten minutes to get organised with the new system .
"Alright, team alpha . . . ready?"
"Team alpha on standby," Zenobia grinned .
"Best of luck, let's see who can catch the best meat," Gweshr grinned and took off with Vrald and Gerald .
Zero was hanging onto Gerald's back as the hunters took off . The archers went in the opposite direction and split up . Zero monitored all of it happening while Gerald ran . The brunet also noted how the dragon descendants didn't pant or sweat, unlike Gweshr . He could feel how powerful Vrald and Gerald were as they ran . The preys on the map were running away as if they sensed something and Zero frowned .
"Something's not right . The preys to the northwest are scattering . Should we check it out?"
Vrald took a brief glance at the map and exchanged looks with Gweshr . The werewolf nodded and all three hunters stopped running . Gerald let Zero down gently and Gweshr bent down, asking Zero to get on .
"Change of plans, kiddo . Let's get you back to the village alright? Thanks to your map, we could avoid getting into trouble . Zenobia, can you hear me? We've got some trouble northwest . "
The chieftess replied swiftly . "Vrald, Gerald . Check the enemy numbers and strength and report back . Avoid confrontation . Normally I would have Gweshr do that but Zero's safety comes first . The rest of us will regroup to proceed with the next course of action . "
Zero wanted to help too with his detection magic but Zenobia disallowed that . "We are responsible for your safety . Please stay with Hua Tuo when you return, I promise everything will be fine . "
Reluctantly, Zero agreed and left . He left the party on Zenobia's request and had Mii stay with the ex-adventurers to help them . All the way back, Zero was worried . What was happening? He saw some red dots around but didn't think they would really be enemies . Mii mentioned it before that red dots were enemies but back in Sleepy Cave, they turned out to be simply monsters . Could he be wrong? Were they not monsters?
Zero felt uneasiness brew at the pit of his stomach and a frown made its way onto his face . He knew that the peaceful days were probably numbered .