Chapter 61 : The Monster of the Bow (1)

The evacuation of the refugees is nearly complete.

The next task that Hoshino, as a hero, must do in such a city.

That is to hunt down the second-class monster that is still lurking inside the city.

“I’ll leave first.”

“Ah, no! Hoshino!”

Ahead of Zero, Hoshino sets off toward City B, where a bat-like monster is hiding.

Makoto, her mother, tried to stop her.

But.

“Whoa, whoa, Lord Makoto. She has already made up her mind. If you lend her your hand as her mother here, how much further will her pride drop?”

“Representative Avanka!!”

With a swift motion, Makoto grabbed Avanka’s collar.

Just as the blade of Zero’s sword seemed to point at his throat.

But it didn’t matter much.

Creeeek…

“…! Is it stiff?”

“This is the realm of the swordless, Zero.”

“Realm of the swordless…?”

“Yes. One of the limits of human potential that can only be reached through endless training. For Lord Makoto, who has already turned his body into a ‘sword,’ your sword wouldn’t work on him.”

As those words implied.

The loud noise when Zero’s blade pointed at him was none other than the sound of metal clashing.

It sounded as if two blades were crossing each other, and in this moment, Zero realized that he alone could not protect Representative Avanka.

However, Avanka herself continued to smile.

“What’s funny?”

“Funny? No, I am smiling because I am happy, Lord Makoto.”

“Happy? After making my daughter walk a road to hell with such divisive tactics?”

“Road to hell? If anything, please use the more elegant term ‘change.’”

The grip on Avanka’s collar grew even tighter.

But she continued to smile and speak.

“Currently, the heroes of Hero City want figures like Princess Hoshino, such a progressive hero.”

“…What?”

“Think about it! If she defeats the bat monster here, how much more amazing will this young sprout grow afterward?”

Like a role model for heroes.

In the newly formed Hero Rank, this will certainly become a great case study.

A princess challenging her limits to become a hero!

Just by hearing it, one can immediately understand how impressive and beautiful such a statement sounds.

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

“And then, what if… my daughter fails?”

“…What?”

“What if she gets eaten by the bat monster? Representative Avanka… How do you plan to take responsibility for that?”

At this, Lord Makoto asked, “What if it wasn’t meant to be?”

Life never goes as one wishes, which is what makes it fun, but also what makes it tragic.

Yet, as she saw the woman in front of her, who had recklessly placed her daughter on the life-or-death crossroads, the eyes of the mother turned wild, almost beastly.

“Lord Makoto… Do you not trust your daughter?”

“…What?”

Avanka, almost in disbelief, replied.

“Do you not trust Princess Hoshino?”

“…! Of course, I trust her! She has always shown me more than I expected! But this…!”

“Such ‘conservative’ thinking is unknowingly blocking her growth.”

“?!”

Even if one dies in their choices, it is always like this for humans.

In the pursuit of advanced abilities, there will always be sacrifices who fail and die. But those deaths were never pointless.

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

And even if she fails, the achievement of fighting monsters beyond her limits will be passed on to the next ‘successor.’

Yes.

Even if she dies, she will not truly die.

That spirit will become the foundation for the next generation, like the life-giving rain from the heavens.

“To die by one’s own choice is the greatest ‘happiness.’”

“What does that mean…”

“All or nothing. One or a hundred. Rather than living a cowardly life, safely growing old and dying like a bug, isn’t the challenge itself, whether you live or die, a more beautiful form of humanity?”

The Okami family has always been a lineage of beastmen with fox-like traits.

And, as a beastman belonging to the canine family, Hoshino always used her keen sense of smell when tracking monsters.

Sniff sniff.

“It seems… the monster’s distinctive smell is getting stronger.”

How long had she been running?

The limousine her mother was in was no longer in sight.

It was strange… She thought things might change a little as she got older.

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

Thinking of Lord Makoto, Hoshino decided that today, she would finally break free from that.

“I’ll make you see me differently!”

She was determined to quickly hunt down the bat monster.

‘After all, this was a wall I had to overcome eventually. And… I think I need to get that strong if I want to face that horned mask monster again.’

Ten years ago, when the Okami family almost perished.

A monster appeared suddenly, like the guardian of their clan, and defeated the sword monster sealed by their ancestors.

People called him the infamous horned mask monster.

But Hoshino knew.

He was the most caring monster of all.

Beyond just forming a friendly relationship by contracting with heroes, when he first saved her mother,

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

This monster, who had never caused any casualties.

Even when he appeared ten years later, he only defeated a dog monster.

When she tried to chase him afterward, there were plenty of ways he could have shaken her off, but he kept running away, clearly a very kind monster.

‘It’s a bit weird to use the word ‘kind’ for a monster, especially since I’m a hero now…’

Anyway, I want to catch up to him.

So that he can never run away from me again.

I wanted to have enough strength to catch him and talk to him.

So when the stench of the monster got closer, Hoshino drew his sword and prepared himself.

Failure meant death.

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

“Monster of the bat! I’ve come to defeat you…!”

At that moment, just as he turned right past the damaged area—

“Hoshino Princess.” You’ve arrived.

“Je…ro?”

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

And in front of her lay the corpse of the bat monster, left alone.

“No way… You already defeated a second-class monster?”

Her sharp senses dulled for a moment.

As Hoshino’s mind wandered, countless thoughts passed through her head.

She had been so confident in front of her mother and the council member, yet now she had to taste such an overwhelming defeat.

Not only had she arrived late to find the monster, but the match ended before she even had the chance to fight.

Realizing this, she knew she shouldn’t be feeling this way as a hero, but the frustration was so overwhelming that tears started to well up in her eyes.

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

“My mind contains all the maps of Hero City. And with my intelligence powered by a supercomputer, I deduced that this was the fastest route.”

“What the heck…?”

That was like playing Go against an AI.

Unlike a human searching for a way, Zero must have already seen the path from the moment the match began.

A battle she never could have won from the start.

…So Hoshino thought, and then wondered how much her mother would mock her for boasting so confidently only to lose.

…

Even with those worries, she knew she had to accept her defeat gracefully.

“Congratulations, Zero.”

“Huh?”

“I mean the bet. It’s my complete defeat. Honestly… With that level of intelligence and the ability to take down a second-class monster, it makes sense that when the Hero System is reformed, you should rank higher than me.”

Hoshino, her eyes reddened, extended her hand as if acknowledging a good match.

Zero, following the programmed gesture, took her hand.

But as he shook her arm, he soon spoke as if he couldn’t understand.

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

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Because I wasn’t the one who defeated this bat monster.”

…What?”

As they finished shaking hands.

Hoshino, now looking at Zero again, was left speechless.

Wait, neither she nor Zero had taken down the second-class bat monster?

Then who did?

A second-class monster isn’t just some stray dog—it’s a threat capable of turning an entire district into a disaster.

Fifth-class monsters are personal threats.

Fourth-class monsters threaten groups of people.

Third-class monsters are a danger to organizations or larger entities.

Second-class monsters threaten an entire district.

First-class monsters threaten multiple districts.

Special-class monsters threaten the world itself.

That’s how the monsters were categorized by threat level.

And now, a second-class monster, capable of consuming an entire district, had been eliminated without any hero’s intervention?

Chills ran down her spine.

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

“…Why?”

“Because there is only one possibility in which a fourth-class or higher monster can be eliminated without a hero’s involvement.”

Even among creatures of the same species, life does not live peacefully just because they are of the same kind.

Just as humans kill each other in acts of ‘murder,’ though not as frequently, similar incidents were commonly observed among monsters.

In other words—

Mutual slaughter.

Ding.

“Mmm~ This fish cake melts in your mouth~”

“?!?”

“This is… dangerous.”

“I can see that myself!”

“Huh?”

Right at that moment, from within a convenience store whose glass walls were completely shattered, a monster chose to open the door and step outside.

As soon as Hoshino and Zero spotted the pale-skinned, elf-eared woman, they both took their stances.

But they could already tell.

The woman standing before them, clutching a bundle of rice balls and chewing on a fish cake—

“What’s with these little chicks?”

With a bow as big as herself slung over her back, she treated the bat monster as if it were nothing…

It was clear.

She was an existence far beyond what they could handle right now.