From the way Laila is acting, it seems that Sis hasn"t changed much in these two years.
The reason why Laila was so on edge and why she chased me all the way to my inn is most likely because Sis is still a handful and still easily deceived.
The people around her would go sick with worry if they don"t stay on edge and always keep an eye out for her like Laila is doing. It was the same in the village as well. I"m sure that even now, it is the same in that adventurer team.
Although my sister is someone who would definitely get something done once she puts her mind to it, she"s just, y"know, on everything else. To put it mildly, she"s completely hopeless. She"s just hopeless. My sister is hopeless and foolish. And this is all putting it mildly.
In this big city, she"s definitely been falling for little scams here and there, causing trouble and worry for everyone around her. I can easily picture it in my mind.
And Laila probably thought that I was a suspicious megane swindler looking to once again trick Horun out of her money. What a terrible woman she is.
Though, well, I might be wrong.
"Well, I"m leaving now."
"Me too. Thanks for the gla.s.ses."
Since our talk is over, Laila and Lorobel both stand up.
It became decided that I"m to meet up with Laila again three days later in the evening. She promised to bring me over to meet Horun once she"s back in town.
So then.
I"ve repelled the unexpected guests, and the sun is still high in the sky. It"s still only slightly after noon.
The reason why I returned to the inn is to retrieve my bow.
When I had checked out "Joseph"s Store in Area Six" as introduced by the weapon shop along the large avenue, I learned that the store has a shooting range in the back. Apparently it"s for customers to try out their products.
In the case of bringing in my own bow, I would be charged an entrance fee.
But that seemed like the only place close by where I can practice my bow in safety, so let"s use that for now.
And then, well.
After listening to Laila, I"ve vaguely decided what I"m going to do.
Since I can"t move for several days, I might as well earn a bit of money in that time.
It could very well go towards Horun"s repayment, or it could go towards my purchasing of a hunting knife in commemoration of my having come to the royal capital. My pockets are quite light at the moment, and it"s not like having a bit more purchasing power would be a bad thing.
I"ve still yet to fully accustom myself to the new bow I received from Shishou, so today I can"t though.
My goal today is to familiarize myself with the bow, so that tomorrow I can go out on a hunt.
——Alright, let"s go.
The next day.
After slowly eating breakfast, I wait the entire morning for an envoy from the castle.
Upon confirming that no one is coming today, I shoulder the luggage that I"d packed yesterday, then head towards the city entrance.
"You may pa.s.s."
Thanks to my preparations yesterday, I was able to easily pa.s.s through the gates without any fuss.
Having learned various things from Joseph, the store owner of Joseph"s Store, I realized that I had no identification papers. That meant that I would be charged an entrance tax whenever I re-enter the city.
The fastest way to get identification is to register myself with the city government or a guild in the city, so that"s what I did.
Yep, I got my identification papers from the Hunter"s Guild.
It"s smaller than the Adventurer"s Guild, its scale is small, there"s nothing conspicuous going on in there, foot traffic is low, and even the number of requests it gets from the city"s inhabitants is low, because it"s an organization that only deals with the hunting and observation of living creatures.
From every which way, it seems just like a more inferior version of the Adventurer"s Guild. Thanks to that, almost no one ever visits.
That"s the Hunter"s Guild that I registered at.
It fits my preference to a T, so that"s why I thought it a great idea to register there.
The building is tucked away, and is only large enough for 5 or 6 people. There"s only a receptionist inside, and she doesn"t even look like she wants to be there. That"s a big plus in my book. If she"d been the inquisitive type and peppered me with questions, I would have turned my heels right there and then.
However, the information that it handles, such as the distribution and behavior of living creatures in the vicinity, seem to be real and accurate, so that turned out to be a happy surprise.
In other words, its scale may be small, but it"s definitely functioning, even if it"s only barely. By no means is it going bankrupt. Surely there are quite a few people who wish to stay inconspicuous like me using its services.
After pa.s.sing through the gate, I spread out the map of the vicinity — which I had copied out myself — to confirm where I"m going.
My destination is a forest frequented by newbie adventurers. As long as I don"t dive in too deep, apparently it"s quite safe.
"That way."
What I"m looking for is rabbits or deer or other such easy prey. The forest in the south that I can see in the distance seems the most appropriate place for that.
Yea, I don"t think I would have been able to see it without my gla.s.ses. What with everything being fuzzy and all.
Judging by the distance, if I take my time walking, I should reach it around evening.
Having determined my place of destination, I take off at a small run.
Close by the city entrance gate, there are many traveling merchants and carriages in sight. But as I gradually veer off from the highway, I begin spotting adventurer-like types here and there.
I pa.s.s some by and overtake some as I hurry towards my destination.
——Around here seems good.
On the other side of a small river spreads a verdant forest.
I string up my bow, and make my final preparations to go hunting.
"…… There are several people nearby."
Everything seems quiet, but when I probe around with my presence, I find several people in the forest. They seem to be staying near the edge of the forest. What might they be doing?
Actually, never mind, I don"t care. They"re probably just adventurers picking herbs or something.
But because of their presence, there are no prey nearby. All the animals have probably fled deeper into the forest.
…… Wait, no, there"s one. A bird.
I draw my bow, then loose an arrow towards the forest.
"——Gi."
I hear the sound of metal sc.r.a.ping.
The arrow that flew in a straight line had landed exactly where I"d aimed.
Hopping over the small river and diving into the forest, I find a ridged pheasant with brown plumage lying on the ground, pierced with an arrow. It"s a common wild bird that tastes great. Wonderful, I"m off to a good start.
"Is abovehead a surprisingly profitable blind spot?"
I cut open the bird"s neck and hang it up somewhere random to drain all the blood.
Animals see humans as enemies and run away immediately upon sensing one of us nearby. It should be the same for birds too, but……
It seems that that"s not the case in this forest.
From what I can sense, there are already two within the range of my bow.
Perhaps it"s because the adventurers active in this area only show interest in animals and demon monsters at the ground level.
That"s why the birds up above aren"t particularly wary of humans. They don"t get attacked, so the birds just ignore them.
Well, that"s just my theory though.
I just can"t see them well, but there"s prey.
Furthermore, the prey is not vigilant. I can"t imagine better hunting conditions than this.
Alright, let"s focus on birds near the edge of the forest for today.
I still want to familiarize myself with my bow a bit more, and I also don"t want to dive too deep into a hunting ground that I"m visiting for the first time. Let"s settle for slowly learning the terrain.
——As a result, with the war trophies of five whole birds in hand, I turn back towards the royal capital.
"But still, these gla.s.ses sure are mysterious."
As I focus on prey hiding behind obstructing trees and on the other side of branches and leaves, it almost seems to me that the trees and branches become kind of see through, allowing me to accurately see the prey"s status and posture…… I think.
I"m not actually seeing it, but I kind of feel like I"m seeing it.
It may be because my sight has improved that my presence sensing has become more precise. Though I myself can"t see the relationship between the two, to be honest.
In any case, there"s no doubt that it"s thanks to my gla.s.ses that I was able to nab this many prey in such a short period of time.
I"m beginning to appreciate my Talent more and more.
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