GILF Hunter

’Phew... Airi. I’ve gathered them all.’

’U-uh-huh.... Wait a second. I definitely saw it in this direction....’

Tanya and Airi were cleaning up the remains of the skeleton that had held the demonic sword in a corner of the room.

Airi, leafing through her grimoire, soon found the weathering spell and used magic in front of the pile of bones stacked before her.

She was still an awkward mage, but by now, she had become reasonably accustomed to black magic in her own way.

Thanks to that, as long as it was a low-difficulty black magic spell, she could manage to use it by looking at the grimoire even if it was a spell she was seeing for the first time.

After a while, when Airi’s spell was complete, the bones slowly began to crumble into dust.

Airi, having cast the spell, asked Tanya who was standing beside her.

It had been Tanya’s suggestion to collect and handle the remains.

’Wouldn’t it have been better to bury them? If we called the people above, they could have carried them outside.’

’I was afraid that if we left them like this, they would be used as research material....’

’....’

W-well, that’s true....

Remains this old were practically like artifacts.

Especially since it was a corpse affected by a demonic sword; thinking about it, it would undoubtedly be treated as research material.

If they hadn’t known the back story, they wouldn’t have thought twice, but after hearing the tale from Lia, it felt a bit uneasy to just pass by.

Since Rin had taken this person’s demonic sword, out of a hope that things would work out a little better, the two of them disposed of the nameless remains from hundreds of years ago.

’...So, that’s how it happened.’

’Y-you did something like that?’

Meanwhile, the rest of the group were gathered in one place, sharing a conversation.

Rin, kneeling before Lia as if being punished, confessed everything that had happened to everyone without leaving anything out.

From what thoughts led her to consult Ian, to how she ended up receiving this ability called the Stigma of Corruption afterward.

It was something that was going to be revealed eventually anyway....

Having been forced to spill it while unprepared, Rin’s face was dyed a deep crimson.

Rin, finishing her story, muttered in a small voice.

’So, I mean, it’s not like... it was particularly my fault....’

’You should have told us in advance!’

’It’s embarrassing....’

’Embarrassment is one thing. But your fellow party members need to know.’

Without knowing that, a huge commotion had broken out because of Rin suddenly grabbing the demonic sword.

Of course... if Lia had been in the same position, she felt she might have delayed telling the other members a bit too.

’To receive an ability, you... you did such a thing.’

Lia glanced at Rin’s lower abdomen.

Because she couldn’t believe what Rin had said, she had even lifted the shirt herself to check, and there really was a stigma there.

To think such a thing actually existed....

She thought it was just a made-up story that only appeared in impure erotic novels.

Lia swallowed hard and said, looking back at Ian.

’W-well, it can’t be helped. Since we can’t leave such an important role only to Rin, to me as well—’

’Sorry... this can only be for one person.’

’...!’

Too late...?

Hearing Ian’s answer, a huge shock seemed to echo in the horrified Lia’s head with a thud.

’....’

Lia wore an incredibly disappointed expression.

Had she wanted to become stronger that much...?

But since the maximum number of people couldn’t be increased, it really was unavoidable.

Having finished all the arrangements, Ian and the party returned from the secret room.

In the end, it was a place with no other treasures besides the demonic sword, but because the interior was filled with ancient records, it was a satisfying expedition for Ellen and the exploration team as well.

＊　＊　＊

Standing in the middle of the training hall, Rin warmed up lightly.

The Ian Mercenary Group’s private training hall, located in the building next to the dormitory.

Rin, who had visited early in the morning, warmed up and then took a stance before dashing forward.

’Waah...!’

Rin, who had lunged toward the straw dummy with all her might, could not properly control her body, which was moving much faster than usual.

Terrified by her own excessive speed, she tried to stop abruptly, but her posture broke, and she went rolling across the floor before crashing into the wall.

’Ugh, owie....’

Rin’s physical abilities had suddenly increased so significantly that she couldn’t handle her own speed.

Lia, who was watching from the side, muttered.

’She can’t control her body at all....’

’She’ll need some time to adjust.’

Along with Ian, Lia had come to the training hall to watch.

Even to Lia’s eyes, Rin’s physical prowess had improved tremendously. In terms of pure physical stats, she seemed like she would easily surpass her.

’Is the power of a demonic sword really that incredible?’

’It’s not just because of the demonic sword...’

’Then as expected, because of... ’that’?’

’...It’s due to several complex reasons.’

Lia’s strange gaze shifted to Ian, but it couldn’t be helped.

’Anyway, Rin... will have to start over from basic training for a while to adapt. She won’t be able to fight properly like this.’

Lia said so as she looked at Rin, who was sprawled on the training hall floor.

She had followed along because Rin said she was going to the training hall and thought she might need a sparring partner. But in her current state, sparring seemed absolutely impossible.

By completing the build this time, it was no exaggeration to say Rin’s combat power had suddenly jumped several times over.

Because of that, she would need time to adapt to her suddenly changed abilities.

Based on the final training standard, Rin’s build was the [Cursed Destiny Assassin], which ranked 3rd in attack power following the [Grand Finale Clown] and the [Holy Sword Kris].

In terms of pure damage potential alone, it had the potential to be ranked at the very top.

Even though it was classified as a meme build, it was also evaluated as being surprisingly practical. Mostly, those evaluations were from posts Ian had uploaded.

’Rin. Your role is going to be really important now.’

’Yes! I know.’

Rin, standing up, answered with a confident face as she looked at Ian.

Of course, there were many roles Rin had to perform... but for now, there was one thing she had to do urgently.

’For now, just... train hard.’

’Leave it to me!’

’Haah. Based on what should we leave it to you?’

’Pardon?’

Rin had answered confidently, but she was flustered and asked back after hearing words that came from somewhere.

As she turned her head, Freya was already standing there, looking at Rin.

’Ah, Ms. Freya!’

’Heh....’

Freya, who walked over from the entrance, stared intently at Rin with an intrigued expression.

Feeling a bit of pressure, Rin reflexively took a step back, but Freya caught Rin’s body faster than that.

’W-what brings Ms. Freya here...?’

’Ah. I called her. I asked if she could help with the training.’

’Eeeh....’

Freya’s visit was due to Ian’s request. Even Ian hadn’t expected her to visit quite so immediately, though.

Presumably, the words he had written in the letter had piqued Freya’s interest.

Freya held Rin and examined her body here and there, then stroked Rin’s belly with an interested face.

’Stay still for a second.’

’Hyak!’

Rin, whose lower abdomen was suddenly touched, flinched and struggled, but she was still far from escaping Freya’s hands.

’Oh... to connect this, like this...?’

Freya pulled the demonic sword from the scabbard hanging at Rin’s waist.

’Ah... you shouldn’t just touch that like that!’

’Why, because it’s a demonic sword? This much is fine. It’s already bound to you anyway.’

Answering so, Freya held the dagger that would become Rin’s new weapon close and examined it in detail.

...It was a nasty thing.

Just looking at it made her skin tingle from the dense curse she could feel.

’Doing it this way? This is some pretty interesting work that’s been done.’

Freya seemed to have roughly realized how Rin’s new ability and the demonic sword’s power were connected, even without hearing an explanation.

Seeing invisible flows was Freya’s specialty, after all.

...It’s planned to a disgusting degree.

That was Freya’s first impression upon seeing Rin.

Usually, a mercenary’s growth was just determined by luck at the time, or the mood of the moment when faced with choices. Because no one could know their own future.

Therefore, most of those results were inevitably impulsive, inefficient, and illogical.

In contrast, this was the exact opposite.

To Freya’s eyes, the result of this [build], which was as precisely constructed as interlocking gears prepared in advance, could only look incredibly alien.

Freya grinned while looking at Ian.

She had wondered how Ian would make Rin give up, but to think he would go as far as doing this to make Rin grow.

She felt she could understand why Rin believed in Ian so implicitly, saying that if it’s the Leader, he’ll surely find a way.

Where else in the world would there be a leader who provides succubus incantations and even a demonic sword just because a member wants to get stronger?

Freya tossed the dagger she was holding in her hand far away.

’Aah! What are you doing, throwing it... huh?’

’Don’t make a fuss. Since that’s completely different from a normal weapon, get used to it in advance.’

The dagger that had flown away was already back in Rin’s hand before she knew it.

Rin was startled to see the dagger back in her hand without her even noticing.

It was the characteristic nature of cursed items: being bound to the owner, so that even if thrown away or taken, it would return to the master.

’Good. At first, I thought what kind of nonsense he was talking about. But with this, it might just be possible.’

To make Rin stronger than herself.

Freya, who had laughed for a long time after receiving such a request from Ian, stared intently at Rin with a face that suggested this was going to be fun.