Hey Guys, Aidka's here!
We finally reached the 200th chapter! (Hurrah!!!)
It's a good time to leave a review if you like the story. Consider it if you want...
July was very hard for me. As I wrote in an announcement, I tested positive in coronavirus. My symptoms were very mild, with the worst being chest pain and slight shortness of breath.
Around the 25th of July, I tested again and this time it was negative. The virus was already gone.
However, I continued feeling chest pain regularly, and a few days ago, I was attacked by a sudden and strong chest pain again at night. I called my doctor the next morning and told him about it. My doctor, slightly concerned, suggested me to take an x-ray and other tests.
One day later, I was diagnosed with acute bronchitis. Apparently, I had it from before I tested positive for corona, but the corona worsened it.
Fortunately, I'm a healthy (mostly) young man, so it's nothing concerning. But I started treatment with some tablets and inhalers. According to my doctor, I'll be alright after twenty or thirty days.
In conclusion, I not dying yet. In fact, I'm feeling much better recently (although the pain has not disappeared completely). I miss cold drinks, though. The doctor forbade me from drinking cold drinks and after several days of drinking only warm water and tea, I crave to drink a bottle of soda more than anything.
About the releases. They will return to normal this week, and I'll start to release the chapters I owe. I owe a lot, so I don't know how long I'm going to take, though...
I wish you a good August, and I hope my August is better than July. Take care of yourselves, Aidka :p
...
When Bloed was sure the hunter was gone, he sighed in relief and smiled at Aya.
"It looks like our luck is pretty good. The hunter is gone."
Aya nodded. She then stared at Bloed for a few seconds before blushing slightly.
Bloed was surprised by her reaction. But then, he realized the reason.
Currently, he and Aya were close, very close. Their bodies were practically glued to each other.
Moreover, Aya was hugging his waist tightly.
Because Bloed had told her to not move, she had remained like that since Bloed rescued her.
When Bloed realized the awkward situation, he hurriedly moved away and smiled stiffly.
"… I'm sorry. It was not intentional."
"Nn…" Aya shook her head in answer. "Don't worry, it was not your fault. Also... thank you for helping me."
"Well, I could not feign indifference when you are Javelin's little sister."
Aya nodded again. Her face, however, was still slightly flushed.
Bloed did not know how to react. He could only hope he did not create a strange flag with his friend's little sister.
That would be pretty awkward.
… Plus, he already had his hands full with Regina and Liu Ying. He did not need more relationship problems.
Fortunately, Aya's blush disappeared quickly and her face returned to her usual ice-cold look, as though nothing would have happened.
Bloed sighed in relief inwardly.
As expected, something like Aya falling in love with him after he helped her once was not going to happen.
… Right?
Bloed ordered Oculus to continue keeping an eye on the A-Rank hunter. When he was completely sure the hunter was not going to come back, he and Aya left the place where they hid.
Meanwhile, Aya's eyes were fixed in the wolf.
"… I heard my brother mention it when he talked about you… Its name is Leto, right? It's very beautiful and powerful."
"Mm? Javelin talked about me?" Bloed could not help but ask.
Aya nodded.
"… A lot. Like, he has talked a lot about you since he returned home."
Bloed was surprised. He never thought he left such a deep impression in the catkin.
Although, knowing that someone was talking good about him felt nice.
Bloed smiled wryly. He now felt much better about helping his little sister.
"What are you going to do now, Aya?" Bloed asked.
Aya thought for a moment before looking towards the center of the city. Bloed understood she was indicating she was going to continue with the test.
Therefore, he proposed something to her.
"Do you want to come with me?"
"Huh?"
"Well, as you saw, we can form teams. Plus, I think we will need to team up for the last part of this test. I'm sure other contestants must have realized it too."
Seeing that Aya was confused, Bloed decided to explain to her his thoughts about the rules.
Aya fell silent. and a moment later, she nodded.
"... Okay."
"Great." Bloed smiled. Pretty satisfied with his first teammate.
Judging from her battle with the two beastmen of before, Aya was pretty strong. She surely would be a good addition to their team.
"Then, let's go. Leto, you know what to do."
With Bloed's words, the wolf split itself into two wolves. Bloed climbed on one and indicated Aya to ride the other.
Aya was surprised. But she quickly reacted. With a jump, the black-haired cat girl climbed on the wolf.
At the same time, she looked at Bloed and the two Letos with a curious expression. She was unable to hide her admiration seeing the wolf split itself like that.
Bloed did not explain it to her, though. Smiling mysteriously, he gave Leto the order to advance.
But at that moment, Bloed furrowed his brows.
Oculus had just sent him an image.
A young man was flying in the sky one kilometer away. For some reason, he was looking in Bloed's direction.
Bloed was surprised to see someone flying.
Initially, he thought the young man was a demigod. But one second later, he realized he was mistaken.
With pointed ears, black eyes, and a pair of leather-like membranes going from his arms to his torso, the identity of the young man was clear.
A batkin.
"Mr. Bloed? Did something happen?" Aya suddenly asked.
Bloed stared at the batkin fixedly until the batkin left. He then shook his head.
"It's nothing. Also, please stop calling me Mr. Bloed. It feels awkward. Just Bloed is enough."
"… Okay… You too... My name is not Javelin's little sister."
Bloed smiled. "I call you Aya then."
…
In another part of the city ruins, the batkin young man landed on a building.
When he landed, two young beastmen were waiting for him.
"How is it?" One of the young beastmen, a racoonkin, asked.
"I found one of them." Replied the batkin. "The human. He is seven kilometers in that direction together with a catkin girl."
"Oh? That is good." Replied the racoonkin young man with a smile. He then stared at his other companion, a male wolfkin, and grinned. "What do you say, Gorde? Are we going to hunt him?"
"Of course, Tyke. A human doesn't have the right to participate in this competition."
"Hehe, you are right. Let's go then." The racoonkin, Tyke, smiled and spoke to the batkin. "Take us to the human."
The batkin nodded. He then sent mana to his mouth and emitted a muted sound that spread to the surroundings.
Ten seconds later, an inaudible echo reached the batkin ears.
In an instant, an image of the surroundings appeared in the batkin's mind. The batkin then searched for the human he had found before.
Less than one minute later, he nodded.
"Let's go."
He then started to run in Bloed's direction.
Gorde and Tyke smiled at each other and followed after the batkin.
As for Eve's warnings before the hunt started? Gorde and Tyke did not pay it any mind. Anyway, Eve could not criticize them as long as they followed the rules.
And one of the rules was to get as many badges as possible.
...
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels