" Wha- " Kinmed, who was in the middle of talking, was suddenly interrupted by the scream of a man from the forest.
" Was that James?" Toons looked worried as he suddenly heard his comrade's scream.
" Relax toons, James is a 4* Healer. " There's no way a Normal Lair could do harm to him." Kleir, the one who could transform her head into that of a bird, reassured the panicking Toons.
" Yeah, let's check on him just in case. A rabbit horn might've entered his hind for all we know." Kinmed laughs as he tries to calm down the panicking Toons.
I mean, it is kind of weird, how Toons is panicking when he knows there should be nothing that would have the ability to hurt the 4* Hunter except us...
We walked towards the source of the scream with Toons still panicking while Kinmed and Kleir tried to calm him.
Sol and I stood behind them, and it was a little annoying having to go around the forest, still quite tired from all the hunting from earlier, because our healer tripped or something.
I was honestly not enjoying this stroll. It was beautiful and quite scenic, but I had already spent the first few hours of my life in this world while running from an overgrown gorilla with a crow's head and goat legs. I'd rather not spend most of my time repeating that experience.
As we move through the forest, I suddenly notice Sol's complexion. He was cautious and wary. He had a serious expression with one of his arms holding the handle of his katana.
...
This is getting kind of weird now...
My entire body tensed up as Sol's expression turned grim. Things might seem like nothing could go wrong, but this guy probably had one of the strongest intuitions in the world. Besides, he had his own system that would give him quests that fit the scenario, so things might not be as good as they appear based on his expression.
" Oh my god..." Kleir, who was laughing with Kinmed, immediately changed her expression as she saw the mangled corpse of James by the riverside.
And it seems like his intuition was right...
What... What happened? My entire body shook from the sight. How did this happen?
Toons? I switch my attention towards the burly man with an expression heavier than the rest. Kinmed? I stared at the grim look Kinmed was giving to the mangled corpse...
No... they didn't leave our sight while hunting the rabbits. Furthermore. we still heard his shout when we were all together back at camp. This shouldn't be possible. Even if he was careless and was killed by rabbits, he shouldn't have gotten mangled like that.
" This... Wait, what's that? " Kinmed, who had quite a complicated expression, suddenly approaches the mangled corpse of James. He bends down as he picks up a black feather close to where the body is.
"A crow?" Toons look at the black feather in Kinmed's arms, amazed by the sheer size of it.
" No, that's too big for that... It resembles the feather from a Shrieker... " Kleir looks at the oversized feather, which is all familiar to me already.
You have to be kidding me...
As Kleir announced that, almost everybody tensed up. They could all kill a Shrieker, but there was confirmation that it would all be dealt with easily. Besides, there's also the fact that how did it manage to enter this Lair, when it's elevated from the ground? They all thought of that, except for one guy, Sol. With the monster being named by Kleir, Sol was the only one who knew I had recently encountered one. He looks at me quickly and warily, wondering what my position or accountability is in these matters.
I mock him, as if I could even bring a Shrieker to this lair above the skies as a 1* hunter, because I killed a Shrieker to save my life. It was quite dumb. I mean, I was quite mysterious in his eyes, but still.
Anyways, as I did so, Sol seemed to realize how absurd it was, so he removed his attention from me, but he still had his guard up. I wanted to pounce on him as a prank, but I'm afraid my head might fly off.
Anyway, as much as I agree with Kleir that the feather was from a Shrieker, that Shrieker was definitely not here. A Shrieker would find us instantly with its great sense of smell, and it also wouldn't be as quiet as it is now. The footsteps of the Shrieker would reverberate all throughout the forest.
This atmosphere was not made by a rogue beast; it was none other than the work of a human...
I don't have any one particular in mind, but I know Sol was obviously not it. The others were suspects as it seems whoever was responsible for this murder planned it to be a rogue beast, specifically the Shrieker, to be the main suspect, knowing full well that the others had almost no knowledge of the beast, but it seems like they didn't take me into factor.
" This... I TOLD YOU GUYS WE HAD TO HURRY! " Toons suddenly shouted as he looked at James' dead body.
"Toons, calm down! This is not the right time to throw a fit. We have to get out of here before the Shrieker comes here. " Kinmed tries to calm down the angry Toons.
" How did you know that then? How did you know James was in danger just from a scream?! HUH!? " Kleir who was crying, suddenly retorted at Toons. It seems like she felt guilty about his death, but she didn't want to take the blame for his death.
"STOP! Everyone, calm down. Let's get out of here before we become its next prey. Let's think of a plan before we try to confront it."
He's quite the leader, huh? He successfully calms the two down, and he switches his attention toward us instantly.
" I'm sorry for this guys. I hope you guys are fine. I'll make sure you guys get out of here safely. "
" Yeah, we're good..." I reply with only one thought in my mind.
Was it Kleir, who seemed to know a lot about Shriekers, or Toons, who seemed to know more than he appears...