Ch.61The Bow Beast (1)

The evacuation of refugees was nearly complete.

In such a city, Hoshino’s next duty as a hero was clear.

It was to eliminate the Grade 2 monster that might still be lurking within the city.

“I’ll head out first.”

“No, wait! Hoshino!”

Hoshino set out toward City B where the bat monster was hiding, ahead of Zero.

Lady Makoto tried to stop her daughter.

However.

“Whoa, whoa, Lady Makoto. She has already made up her mind. If she has to rely on her mother’s help even at this point, how much lower would her pride fall?”

“Councilor Avanka!!”

Grab.

Perhaps unable to tolerate Councilor Avanka’s continued meddling in family matters.

Lady Makoto seized Avanka’s collar in the blink of an eye as she blocked her path.

Immediately, what appeared to be Zero’s blade, a greatsword, was pointed at her throat.

But it didn’t matter.

Clang…

“…! It’s hard?”

“This is the realm of the Swordless Blade, Zero.”

“The realm of… the Swordless Blade?”

“Yes. One of the limits of humanity that can only be reached through endless training. Your sword won’t even work against Lady Makoto, who has already turned her body itself into a ‘blade.'”

Just as he said.

The loud noise that rang out when Zero’s greatsword was pointed was none other than the sound of metal.

As if blade had crossed blade, Zero judged that she alone couldn’t protect Councilor Avanka in this moment.

However, Avanka herself continued to smile.

“What’s so funny?”

“Funny? No. I’m smiling because I’m happy, Lady Makoto.”

“Happy? After creating a path to hell for my daughter with your meddling?”

“Path to hell! If you must, please use the much more elegant expression ‘transformation.'”

The grip on Avanka’s collar tightened even more than before.

Yet she continued to speak with a smile.

“The kind of talent Hero City wants right now is a progressive hero figure like Princess Hoshino.”

“…What?”

“Think about it! If she defeats the bat monster here, how much more splendidly will that young bud grow afterward?”

Like a model hero.

This would surely remain as an excellent example for the newly organized hero rankings.

A princess challenging her limits to become a hero!

Even with just a brief description, one can immediately understand how cool and beautiful such a narrative is.

Could there be a more hopeful future for ‘humanity’?

“But what if… what if my daughter fails?”

“…Pardon?”

“What if she gets eaten by the bat monster instead, Councilor Avanka… how do you plan to take responsibility?”

Lady Makoto asked about the possibility of failure.

Life never goes as planned, which makes it interesting but also tragic.

But when the woman before her had arbitrarily placed her daughter at a life crossroads where failure meant death, the mother’s eyes transformed into those of a beast.

“Lady Makoto… do you not believe in your daughter?”

“……What?”

Councilor Avanka responded as if even more bewildered.

“I’m asking if you don’t believe in her, in Princess Hoshino.”

“…! Of course I believe in her! She has always exceeded my expectations! But that and this…!”

“It’s that ‘conservative’ thinking that’s unknowingly hindering her growth.”

“?!”

Even if one dies from their own choices, humans have always been this way.

There have always been sacrifices who died trying to evolve to gain advanced abilities, and such deaths have never been in vain.

If Princess Hoshino succeeds, she will enter a new stage.

And even if the princess fails, her achievement of fighting a monster beyond her limits will be eternally passed on to other ‘successors.’

Yes.

Even in death, she does not truly die.

Her spirit will become the foundation for the next generation, like life-giving marten descending from the heavens.

“If one dies by their own choice, that is the greatest ‘happiness.'”

“What are you…”

“All or nothing. One or a hundred. Isn’t the very act of moving forward, whether one lives or dies after the challenge, a more beautiful human form than living like a worm, stopping safely and dying of old age?”

***

The Okami family had for generations been therianthropes born with fox-like traits.

And like the canine therianthropes they were, Hoshino always used her sensitive nose when tracking monsters.

Sniff, sniff.

“I think I’m starting to smell… that distinctive monster scent.”

How far had she run?

The limousine where her mother had been was no longer in sight.

Really… she thought things might change a little as she got older.

But her mother still treated her like a child, just like ten years ago.

Thinking of Lady Makoto, Hoshino was determined to break free from that treatment today.

“I’ll make you see me differently!”

She was eager to eliminate the bat monster as quickly as possible.

‘I would have had to overcome this wall eventually anyway. And… I think I need to become that strong if I want to meet that horned mask monster again.’

That day ten years ago when the Okami family nearly perished.

The monster who appeared suddenly like a family guardian deity and defeated the Sword Monster that the family ancestors had supposedly sealed away.

People commonly referred to him as the unidentified horned mask monster.

But Hoshino knew.

He was the most gentle monster of all.

Beyond just having a friendly relationship where heroes form contracts with monsters, when he first saved her mother.

Hoshino felt ‘attraction’ toward a monster for the first time in her life.

A monster who had never caused a single human casualty.

Even when he appeared after ten years, he only defeated the dog monster.

And when I tried to chase after him, he could have found many ways to lose me, but he only ran away until the end, which clearly showed he was a very kind monster.

‘It’s a bit strange to use the word ‘kind’ for a monster when I’m supposed to be a hero, but…’

Anyway, she wanted to catch up to him.

So he could no longer run away from her.

She wanted to become strong enough to somehow catch him and talk to him.

So when the distinctive monster stench grew closer, Hoshino drew her sword and steeled her resolve.

Failure meant death.

But success would be the first step to a new level.

“Bat monster! I’ve come to destroy…!”

As she passed through a damaged intersection and turned right.

“You’ve arrived, Princess Hoshino.”

“Ze… ro?”

What entered Hoshino’s beast-like pupils was Zero, who had arrived at the destination before her.

And the bat monster’s corpse lying plainly before her eyes.

“No way… you already defeated a Grade 2 monster?”

Her sharp senses suddenly dulled.

Numerous thoughts crossed Hoshino’s mind as her expression turned crestfallen.

After being so confident in front of her mother and the councilor, she never expected such an overwhelming defeat.

Not only had she found the monster late, but the contest had ended before she could even fight.

Realizing this, though a hero shouldn’t act this way, she felt so frustrated that tears began to well up in her eyes.

“How… did you know the bat monster was here?”

“My mind contains maps of the entire Hero City. And when I deduced with my supercomputer intelligence, this was the fastest route.”

“What kind of…”

This was like playing Go against an AI.

Unlike humans who search for methods, Zero apparently saw the path from the moment the contest began.

A match that was impossible to win from the start.

Hoshino wondered how much her mother would criticize her for returning after making big claims and losing.

Even with such worries, she had to gracefully acknowledge her defeat.

“Congratulations, Zero.”

“Pardon?”

“The contest, I mean. It’s my complete defeat. Certainly… with that level of intelligence and the ability to defeat a Grade 2 monster, it’s right that you should be ranked higher than me when the hero system is reformed.”

Hoshino extended her hand for a handshake, even as her eyes reddened.

Zero took her hand in response to the gesture, as programmed.

But while shaking hands, she immediately said something incomprehensible.

“Princess Hoshino. I appreciate your congratulations, but there is no winner in our contest.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, I didn’t defeat this bat monster.”

“……What?”

After finishing the handshake.

Facing Zero again, Hoshino was immediately dumbfounded.

If neither she nor Zero had defeated the Grade 2 bat monster, then who had?

A Grade 2 monster wasn’t some random stray dog; Grade 2 was the level where a monster could bring disaster to an entire district by itself.

Grade 5: Danger to an individual.

Grade 4: Danger to a group of people.

Grade 3: Danger to organizations or larger.

Grade 2: Danger to an entire district.

Grade 1: Danger to multiple districts.

Special Grade: Danger to the world itself.

That’s how monster danger levels were classified.

And a Grade 2 monster, capable of devouring an entire district, had been eliminated without a hero’s help?

Shiver.

“Princess Hoshino. I request that we temporarily suspend our contest immediately.”

“…Why?”

“Because there is only one possible scenario where a Grade 4 or higher monster can be eliminated without hero activity.”

Even among the same species, living beings cannot naturally live peacefully just because they are of the same kind.

Just as humans kill each other committing ‘murder,’ a phenomenon commonly observed among monsters, though not as frequently as among humans:

Killing their own kind.

Ding.

“Mmm~ This hot bar is melting in my mouth…”

“?!”

“This is… judged to be dangerous.”

“I can see that!”

“Huh?”

Just then, a monster emerged from a convenience store with completely shattered glass walls, deliberately using the door to come outside.

Hoshino and Zero immediately assumed fighting stances upon spotting her, their bodies turning pale.

But they could tell.

The elf-eared woman before them, carrying a bundle of triangle kimbap while munching on a hot bar.

“What are these fledglings?”

The monster with a bow as large as herself strapped to her back could treat the bat monster as a ‘mere trifle’… she was clearly a powerful being far beyond their current reach.