"Eh... So that's what happened 8 years ago, huh?" Christa casually goes back to the round table, sitting on the chair comfortably as she continues to speak. "This is just my opinion but..."
Aina quietly stares at Christa, seeing her eyes hidden in the dark, as if she was about to say something serious and shocking. It suddenly made Aina feel quite nervous as she awaits Christa's opinion.
"I am happy to hear something that had happen in the past but, I think you skipped the most important parts in this one."
"What?!" Christa's word made Aina's mouth fell open.
"Well, first of all, you skipped the part after Angelika saved the village from the plague. What she did was to remove whatever that scent that causes the plague and kills the villagers. But what happened next? Did she find the source of the plague? Has she eliminated it by herself?"
"That's..." Aina quickly tries to remember what happened during the plague. Until she remembers that she fell asleep right after Angelika casts her magic to purify the village.
"That's right! I fell asleep right after Angelika casts her magic. But I heard from the villagers that Angelika went and found the source of the plague and she eliminated it alone. That's why some people here are calling her a hero."
"Eh... Then, the most important of all, when did we actually became a family? When did you actually called and treated me like your real sibling? Have I ever accepted you to be my big sister?"
"Have you ever... accepted me...?" Aina ponders as she gets shakingly nervous with Christa hitting her with a question far harder than the last one. "I can't remember it full well but..."
Before she could continue her sentence, Aina came rushing and grabs Christa's shoulders tight with a troubled look on her face. She then began begging on her. "Sorry, I really forgot! You can say anything or punish me, just don't say that you don't want to be my little sister anymore!"
Christa suddenly started laughing heartily as Aina begs on her, Aina was also silenced after seeing her beloved step-sister laughing over her, seeing her laugh for the first time over her begging to the girl. Christa then finally calms herself, but she's still a bit giggly as she speaks to Aina.
"Why are you getting so worked up? I haven't even remembered if I really did accepted you as my big sister." Christa goes back laughing joyously.
Meanwhile, Aina was devastated, as if she was hit by thunder. She was nearly in tears after what Christa said, they don't really know if she ever accepted Aina to be her sister, after all. Just then, Christa talks to her again.
"Well, I think I kinda get what happened in the past, and what happened in the past is in the past now, we don't have to think about it seriously." Christa grabbed Aina's arms and taking her hands off of her shoulders. "I'm sorry for asking you a few trivial questions. And I'm sorry if what I said earlier hurt you mentally or something, big sister."
As the words escaped Christa's mouth, Aina were left frozen after suddenly hearing the words she never used to call her before.
"D-did you just b-big sister...?"
"Well, I guess that's what siblings do."
"Does that mean you won't disown me?"
"That's a pretty harsh word, don't you think?" Christa released Aina's arms from her grasp. Doing so, she then turned her eyes towards the open window. "Aside from the fact that we're not even blood related, I have no particular reason to do that."
"I see." Aina let out a sigh of relief. "You don't have to point out that we're not blood related though." Aina whispers to herself.
"Well, to be honest, that month that I spend in the capital, I've been getting involved to people who are really close to someone important to them." Christa began reminiscing the events in the past a month ago.
From the people of carmila town, the girl she's unaware of that she saved and reunited with her family, and the survivors of the goblins' nest who get to see their family once again, to Itsuo who did what he could to save her mother.
"Seeing all those things made me feel a bit lonely, especially now that Angelika left. But to think that I'd get to meet my big sister that I didn't know she existed, it makes me feel a bit ecstatic." Christa shows off a contented grin.
"Wait. Did you just say that Angelika went away? Did she die?! Has she died?!" Emotions started running around Aina once again, thinking about something that obviously didn't happen.
"Silly, Angelika just went somewhere. I don't know where nor when she's coming back, what I only know is that she got a quest that she really need to attend. It must be a really difficult task for her to not coming back for a month." Christa stares at Aina's eyes as she answered her question.
"I'll frankly say this, if I'm strong, then she's ten times, no, she's probably twenty times stronger than me. No matter how hard that quest is, it shouldn't be a problem for her. And I'm sure, one day, she'll come back."
Aina nodded as a reply. And with Christa's answer, her thoughts that have clouded her emotions have faded like a strong and heavy cloud burst. "I see. That's a relief."
After a long talk about the past and Angelika's whereabouts, Christa decided to move on to another matter. A matter that is relating to something that will happen soon tonight.
"Now then, enough talking about Angelika and everything. There's something I want to do before tomorrow comes."
"That is?"
"Actually, that vampire boar hunting piqued my interest and I was thinking if I could join their hunting tonight. Do you think they'll let me join?"
Aina ponders for a bit before she speaks and said, "If you talk to the mayor about it, I'm sure she'll gladly have you in their hunt." Aina responds to Christa's questions.
"I see. I'll talk to her."
Time went by and the night finally comes, the dark envelops the corners of the village while the green land faded as the night fell upon the naked earth. But the moon was up in the clear sky, flaunting it's beauty as it gives light the villagers needed for their hunt.
The people who have waited for this night have gathered on the way inside the territory of the monsters, beasts, and their target - vampire boars. The person who is leading the group of villagers, the mayor talks to her people before they enter the dark woods.
"Now then, we are going to enter the woods. Just remember that boars are not the only ones that are awake looking for food at night, stay alert from your surroundings and don't go too far from each other!"
"Yes!" the villagers responds with enthusiasm.
"Alright. If everyone's ready, let's..."
Just then a girl shouted from a distance, turning the mayor and everyone's attention on her as she approaches them.
"Wait!" Christa went passed the villagers as they watch her heading straight to where the mayor is standing.
Christa catches her breath before she speaks. "I made it time..."
"Christa? What's the rush?" The mayor asks the girl who came by a rush. Christa's breathing have calmed down, with that, the girl asks the mayor.
"Mayor... This hunting, is it okay if I join?"
The two looked into each other's eyes. A few seconds after, the mayor smiled as she replied to Christa.
"Of course, a helping hand of a high ranked Adventurer would be very much appreciated. What do you think, everyone?"
The villagers shares their different opinions and thoughts, but they all agreed to Christa joining them for the hunt.
"Of course!"
"Having a strong Adventurer would help us get more vampire boar than we can get!"
"Yeah! Join our hunt!"
Christa felt relieved, having the villagers accepted her to join their hunting, it brought a smile to her face. The mayor takes everyone's attention as she speaks to them once more.
"Alright, if everyone's ready, let's enjoy our hunt tonight!"
"Yeah!"
With everything that is said and done, Christa joins the mayor and the villagers as they all took a step towards the dark woods, completely unaware of what awaits them inside the darkness of the territory of the beasts and monsters, their hunt for the vampire boars had finally begun.
.
.
.
The group finally takes the first step towards the dark woods, with Christa and the mayor taking the lead. The villagers pulled the swords hanging around their belts and behind their backs as they all stand not far from each other. The group barged in inside the territory of beasts and monsters, each taking a slow and careful step towards the path with only the light from the gigantic moon that only lits up certain parts of the surface where the tree leaves aren't blocking their only source of lighting.
One wrong step, and they might get tripped, get injured, or monsters finding out where they are. But the villagers seem to be quite experienced about walking through the dark path, perhaps it was because they've done hunting beasts during the night since way back. During those times, their sense of sight have sharpened and their footing have completely memorized the rocky and uneven terrain.
Meanwhile, Christa doesn't seem to be bothered by the dark as well. It all thanks to the experience she gained from training for 10 years that even during the night, she would train in the middle of the darkness.
"Seems like the villagers knows their stuff at night."
"Of course! We've been hunting boars like this since way back. The villagers aside, you seem more used to this than us." The mayor spoke and responded to Christa. "Anyway, this should be far enough. Everyone! Let's do this!"
As they get deep enough in the woods, the villagers began to spread out with five people on each group, each going through different directions. Meanwhile, the mayor and her group stick to the same track on the way, with Christa following them.
"They're spreading out?" Christa spoke as she watch the other villagers disappeared in the darkness.
"Yeah, but they should be close enough to hear the others if something happens. This way, we'll be able to avoid monsters lurking here. We'll also be able to find the vampire boars more easily." The mayor spoke and answered Christa's question once again. Christa and the mayor's group continues to move forward.
On their way, Christa caught a fleeting light from where the other villagers went.
"There's a light to where the other villagers went."
"Yeah, that must mean they found more than one vampire boar. The closest group should get to and help them now. Let's keep going."
Suddenly, Christa went on the jump in front, using her arm to stop the mayor and the villager from moving forward. Puzzled, the mayor asks Christa.
"What is it? Is it a boar?"
"No... It's the trees."
The villagers of Eisvel are used to the dark terrain with their usual night hunting. But their eyes aren't sharp enough to see quite far in the dark, unlike Christa. What she sees in front of them was a countless number of tree stumps that are left after their upper body was cut off and disappeared.