GILF Hunter

Night quickly fell upon the campsite.

The mercenary groups that had settled in lit campfires at their respective spots.

Lighting a campfire, which is easily noticeable at night, especially in the deep mountains where many monsters roam, was normally an unthinkable act, but....

None of the mercenaries here cared about such trivial things.

Not only was there strength in numbers, but the gathering consisted entirely of high-ranking veteran mercenaries who weren’t the least bit intimidated by wild monsters.

Ian and his members also lit a fire and boiled a simple stew.

Sitting in a circle in front of the campfire, they waited for the stew to be ready while chatting lightly.

In the midst of that, there was one person who kept looking around restlessly with an anxious expression.

Rin looked at Airi and asked with a puzzled face.

’Airi. What’s wrong? You’ve been like that for a while.’

’No... it’s just.’

Airi glanced at the neighboring campsite and lowered her voice, speaking quietly to Rin.

’I feel like someone keeps staring at me....’

’You’re a celebrity. Of course they’re going to look.’

’It’s not that kind of thing....’

Muttering so, Airi looked to the side and locked eyes with Ariel again.

Startled, Airi flinched and hurriedly avoided the gaze.

No matter how she thought about it, surely a Rank A mercenary wouldn’t be loitering around just to get an autograph. There was definitely a more terrifying purpose involved.

And Freya noticed it too. It was an action far too obvious to ignore.

Freya, who was sitting by Ariel’s campfire right next door, asked Ariel.

’Why do you keep looking over there?’

’...I was just looking around to see the state of the campsite.’

’You’re interested in that mercenary group, aren’t you?’

’I-it’s not like that.’

As Ariel tried to brush it off with a clumsy excuse, Freya gave a mischievous smile and said.

’Really? I was going to let you talk to them if you were interested.’

’...Truly?’

’We’re acquaintances, so that much is easy.’

Freya certainly seemed to be well-acquainted with that mercenary group. Thinking so, Ariel spoke to Freya with a slightly tempted face.

’W-well, if you’re going to go that far. I won’t refuse....’

’What are you going to do for me in return?’

’....’

After a long silence, Freya, who had heard a whisper from Ariel, stood up with a smirk and approached the Ian Mercenary Group’s tent.

＊　＊　＊

Ariel walked into the thicket near the campsite where Freya said she had set up the meeting.

To be honest, she thought Freya would just call her over to the campfire and tell her to talk. She didn’t expect Freya to have enough tact to consider other people’s gazes like this.

Being a mercenary for a long time really does pay off.

As Ariel calmed her pounding heart and pushed through the bushes, there was....

Ian.

’Hello.’

’...Hi.’

Ariel’s expression immediately returned to a blank face.

Ian greeted Ariel and quietly asked for her business.

’I heard you have something to tell me.’

’...Right. It’s nothing much, but Freya insisted I talk to you.’

’Ms. Freya said it was a very important matter....’

’....’

That brat really....

Ariel scowled as she pictured Freya’s face, who must have blabbed all sorts of nonsense.

’...I just wanted to meet you because I’ve heard a lot of rumors. I’m contemplating whether I should treat you as a real Rank A in this expedition or not.’

’I see....’

Ariel’s expression looked very serious.

Though it was a story she made up on the spot, it wasn’t awkward because it was a thought she had actually been considering to some extent.

Ian recalled the words Freya had said to him before he came here.

Something about Ariel seeming interested in him, so he should try to woo her.

As if that would ever happen.

Ian tried to maintain a more serious posture and wait for Ariel’s next words.

...However, Ian noticed one thing that was very concerning and asked Ariel about it first.

’By the way, those arrows...?’

’...Ah.’

Ariel hurriedly hid the three arrows she was holding in her hand behind her back with a slightly flustered look. They were arrows she had brought thinking she would meet Airi.

Unable to bring herself to say she wanted an autograph, Ariel quickly made an excuse.

’Th-these are just... I was going to shoot them if you turned out to be a good-for-nothing. Don’t worry about it.’

’Pardon?’

Ariel waved her hand as if it were nothing and put the arrows away.

...A short while later, Ian, who had gone to meet Ariel, returned. The members who were waiting for Ian by the campfire stood up to greet him.

Everyone had already heard that he had been summoned by Ariel.

Among them, Airi, who had the most curiosity about Ariel, asked Ian first.

’H-how was it?’

’She seemed like a normal Rank A.’

Airi couldn’t get a sense of what ’a normal Rank A’ meant.

Ian spoke to Airi as if nothing had happened.

’Seeing as I didn’t get shot by an arrow, it seems she didn’t view me that poorly.’

’A-arrows...?’

’I heard she carries them around to shoot people she doesn’t like.’

’Hik...!’

Airi became even more wary of Ariel, who loitered around holding arrows.

＊　＊　＊

Ian and his members climbed the mountain path along with the other mercenaries.

Everywhere they looked was crawling with mercenaries. Looking around, Rin smirked and said to the others.

’This feels like we’re going on a trip somewhere....’

’Large-scale merchant caravans are almost always in this kind of atmosphere.’

Freya, who was walking nearby with a bored face, replied to Ian’s words.

’We haven’t been on a caravan escort before... it sounds fun.’

’Fun? You’ll be bored to death once it passes a month.’

Freya already had a face full of boredom. They had been walking through the empty mountains for several days already.

Meanwhile, the mercenaries at the front stopped walking one after another. It was because the vanguard had halted.

Ian, who was almost at the front, was able to go forward a bit to check what was happening.

’It’s here. The place where the Behemoth is.’

Ariel, who had stopped and checked the map, said. It seemed they had finally arrived at their destination.

Upon hearing that they had arrived, Rin looked around the front and asked.

’Where is the Behemoth supposed to be?’

’Over there.’

Ian raised his hand and pointed ahead.

’On top of that rocky mountain?’

’No. That IS the Behemoth.’

’Pardon?’

Everyone raised their heads to look up at the massive rocky mountain Ian was pointing at.

...Was Ian joking?

All the members looked at the rocky mountain with faces full of disbelief.

Meanwhile, Ariel finished her conversation with the Guild representatives and returned to relay information to the mercenaries.

’The Behemoth will wake up within a few days, so let’s settle nearby and stand by. I’ll hand out the list of which areas each of you will standby in soon, so finish your preparations to move in the meantime.’

’Yes.’

Everyone looked exhausted at the mention of more standing by, but it was still relatively good news that they didn’t have to move any further.

Ian and his members were also assigned a position and settled on high ground overlooking the rocky mountain.

＊　＊　＊

...Late at night.

It was a night about two days after they had started standing by.

Suddenly, an earthquake occurred.

’Leader! It’s an earthquake!’

’No! It must be the Behemoth moving! Check it!’

Ian, who had been taking a nap in the tent, shouted as he came outside.

The mercenaries on night watch were able to see a massive figure moving slowly in the darkness.

The mountain was writhing.

’Really... the mountain is moving!’

’To think that whole thing was a monster....’

The rocky mountain rose up on four legs.

As the soil and rocks covering it cracked and collapsed, a huge vibration and noise spread out.

The cries of beasts and monsters in the nearby forest waking up and fleeing echoed from all sides.

Mercenaries waiting nearby exchanged signals with flares.

Ariel hurriedly asked her members who were checking the surrounding signals.

’What about the first lure team?’

’A signal came that they’ve departed just now.’

’Good. Signal the rest to move according to plan as well.’

Ariel, who had taken a spot on the highest ground where she could look down at the Behemoth, returned to her tent and opened a locked box.

Those boxes brought from the Guild were filled with various kinds of minerals and mana stones.

It was bait to lure the Behemoth, which liked mana-rich minerals.

Using this, they would lure the Behemoth deeper into the mountains and continue to supply food. Eventually, the Behemoth would fall back to sleep. It was a simple plan with no great difficulty.

’Leader! The Behemoth is moving in a different direction than planned!’

’What? I thought Team 1 departed? Have they not arrived yet?’

’No! We received the signal that they arrived, but the Behemoth is ignoring them and heading elsewhere!’

Ariel, who had rushed out, reconfirmed the Behemoth’s position.

Near the slowly moving Behemoth, she could see the lights from the lamps held by the lure team.

The lure team should have approached with minerals to catch the Behemoth’s interest. Yet, the Behemoth showed no interest at all and began to step away.

Ariel looked in the direction the Behemoth was heading and asked.

’What is over there?’

’That way is... the direction of Labyrinth.’

The expressions of the mercenaries who hurriedly spread the map and checked the orientation hardened.