A few weeks later.
Early in the morning.
"Cimmy, are you there? Vaissien, you idiot, are you there too? Hey, are you still asleep? Heyyyyyy!"
A loud and repercussive shout echoed from outside the window. Vaissien was still deeply asleep. The voice couldn't cross the brick-thick wall for Big Sister Belle to clearly recognize. I was the only one who could get up and see the ones calling. As I went outside, I saw three persons standing near the doorway. First was a cute teenage girl wearing a normal red loose dress. Her attire looked so simple, yet she was still attractive. Her eyes were teal blue, and her straight blonde hair was long enough to reach the upper part of her buttocks. From my memory, I think her name was Elaine. She was 15.
Second was a busty and mature-looking girl. She was wearing a white blouse and a black miniskirt. Her raven black hair and blue eyes made her look more enticing and voluptuous. Her name was Rayha, and she just turned 16. The last one was a pale-looking young man. Her hair and eyes were brown, and so was his jacket and pants. He's 14 like us. His name was Ferm. I heard that all his apparels at home were brown. It was his favorite color, perhaps?
These three had just returned here. They helped deliver some herbal ingredients to the City of Gamus' alchemist, whom the Village Chief knew very well as a friend. They also brought back some magic items for the village to use.
"Oh, Cimmy, how are you? I heard that you were engaged in a public slugfest again a few days ago." Ferm queried in a brisk manner.
"I'm fine. Let bygones be bygones. Anything else? Because I'm gonna sleep back." I yawned while talking.
"Hang on, Cimmy, we're just glad that you're okay. Marco is strong, ya' know? Don't be so cold. Right, Elaine?"
"Ferm is right. Marco's physical ability is just superb. I'm glad that you're good." Elaine answered in a low voice.
Whilst we were in a normal chatter, I could hear Vaissien's steps closing us.
"Haaaay. Brother, what's wrong? I think I heard Ferm's voice." He also yawned wide as he walked closer to us.
"V-Vaissien, we've just arrived. Good morning." Rayha greeted him.
"Did we wake you up, by any chance, you lazy dog?" Ferm said.
"Huh? Who are you calling lazy, you idiot? I was already awake, you know? I just wanted brother to open the door first.
(You liar. You were sleeping like oil when I got up.)
"So, why are you here? I don't believe you're here just to know if we're still fine, no?" I told them to cut to the chase.
"Oh, actually, Chief Feldor wants to send a group of hunters to the other side of the wall again today. He said to ask you if you'd like to come or not. He said—." Ferm elaborated.
"Yes. We'll be going. Brother, prepare your stuff."
Before Ferm could finish talking and before I could grasp the Chief Feldor's intention, Vaissien already said yes and immediately ran to get his things. He even dragged me into this. He was such a brat.
"Oi. Wait! I haven't decided about… Tch, fine." I was annoyed a bit on it.
"He's as energetic as always." Rayha muttered with a red face.
"Yeah. He's always full of vigor." Ferm added. "A rudimentary trait of an idiot. Ha-ha-ha."
There was something wrong with these two. Vaissien and Ferm always referred each other as idiots. Were they allergic to each other? Anyhow, let sleeping lions continue to sleep. I didn't bother asking why were they like that. I went back inside to change clothes and prepare for our departure.
"Brother, please tell Big Sister that we're going out today, okay? On a note."
"What is it? What's with the commotion, it's still too early, you know?"
Vaissien was about to ask me to write a note for Big Sister Belle when the door on her room suddenly opened. She actually woke up from the noise from our stuff.
"Big Sis, we're actually planning to join the hunting party today."
"Huhhh???" She accidentally yelled. "Are you stupid? Do you even know how dangerous the monsters living there?"
"No, actually, we've just been invited by Chief Feldor himself. So I think it's okay, right?"
"Vaissien, what are you talking about? You're not yet strong enough. You've not been trained well as well. Even if the Chief is present—."
"Don't worry, Big Sister, I'll help him." I meddled on them while putting my knife and other needed things like water and extra food to the brown bag.
"You too, Cimmy!?"
"As you're aware, I can't just leave him alone, can I? So please take care over here."
"F-Fine. If you say so. Be attentive, okay? You look out for each other."
""Yes.""
The five of us left with due haste. We went to the meeting point of the team at the northeastern part of the village. Actually the village was in pincer between two broad forests. First was the small one separating us from the Kanto Village—located in the south. The other one was the Pernicious Forest of Buntod—located in the northeast side. This forest is continent-size, and the central part of it was the abode of the world's most vicious monsters and beasts.
On the Adventurers' Guild Book I borrowed from Chief Feldor, there were two types of creatures in the forest: monsters and animals. Monsters were those wild and chemic animals that when killed, their corpse vanished leaving only their core crystals. These crystals had been very expensive because of numerous purposes. Making high-class jewelries, magic items, swords, and many others.
On the other hand, normal animals wouldn't disappear when hunted. Unfortunately, though, the number of animals in the forest had been diminishing. They had been hiding very well to avoid the monsters from eating them. The central part of the forest was home for monsters, while the outskirts were for the normal ones. Therefore, the main purpose of our mission today was to stroll around the forest and hopefully discover some group of hiding animals for food. This was very hard. Why? You might be killed first by monsters first before finding one. Or else, you and your newly discovered animals could be devoured simultaneously in an instant.