Dream Life Chapter 40.1: “Hunter”

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　The night of the day we fought the goblins in the eastern forest. I went to my grandfather for advice on how to gain skills in Stealth and Detection.

　I will talk about what I felt after today’s battle.

“I felt it during the goblin battle, but I think it is very important to detect the enemy’s presence at an early stage. Furthermore, not being able to detect our presence is also useful…” (Zack)

　Grandfather listens to me in silence, and I get down to my main point.

“…I will continue to train with the sword… but I also want to acquire the skills of a scout, such as Detection. I felt that the best way to do that was to follow a hunter into the forest. I ask your permission to do that.” (Zack)

　Grandfather paused for a moment.

“I have thought about the same thing. In my case, I noticed it in the battle just before I became a knight. If I had been able to detect the presence of the enemy, I could have reduced the damage to my side. I thought so many times. …Fortunately, I had Hector under my command, but I still had a hard time when I fought against a unit specializing in assassination. Do as you please.” (Govan)

　I breathe a sigh of relief at being allowed.

“I don’t know who is good at what in this village. I would like your opinion, Grandfather.” (Zack)

“I’m sure it’s Guy. But Guy has to work for the village. It would be best if you worked with the hunters, but it would be bad if you get in their way…” (Govan)

“Rob said it would be helpful to have a healer accompany them, but he might think it would be a problem if something happened to me…” (Zack)

　I wanted to work with the hunters, but I was afraid they would refuse to take the lord’s son into the woods, lest he get hurt or something.

“Hmm. Matt and I can talk to him about it. They will be more likely to take you if your father and his lord Matt says he doesn’t mind if you receive a few injuries.” (Govan)

　The next day, the three hunters, Rob, Joan, and Ted, are called to the house, and my grandfather and father ask them to train me as a hunter. Of course, with the condition that they would be pardoned no matter what happened to me.

　Rob, the leader of the group, has seen my magic skills and agrees to accompany me. Young Joan and Ted didn’t seem to think that I, at eight years old, would be of any use to them, and they had a negative attitude toward the awkward existence of the son of a lord. But in the end, they reluctantly agreed if Rob would take responsibility.

　Rob told me that his son Davy was beginning his training.

　Davy is eight years old, the same age as me. He started going into the forest this spring, and recently he has been able to kill birds and other animals.

　I bowed to the three of them and asked them to take good care of me, and from July 9, the following day, I was to enter the forest in earnest. However, Joan was concerned about my ability, so I decided to go into the western forest with four others, including Rob’s son Davy.

　A hunter other than Rob, Joan is a tall, slender man who will turn twenty-seven this year. He got married five years ago and has a three-year-old daughter. Rob told me that he uses a bow and is as strong as Hector’s, and I wondered where he got the power.

　Ted, the youngest, is a handsome two-sided man with short-cropped brown hair. And when he talks, he can’t stop talking, and they say he is like a talking bird.

　I later came to think of Ted, whom I had gotten to know well, as “a handsome man with an unfortunate flaw”.

　Finally, Rob’s son, Davy, is big like his father, taller than me by more than 10 cm. At a quick glance, I would believe him even if he were 10 years old.

　He seems hostile to me because he hears that I am the son of a lord. He seems to think that the son of the lord is being selfish and causing trouble for his father.

　Incidentally, there are other hunters in this village besides these three, but they are the only three who live almost exclusively as hunters. There used to be a few more, but now there are only a few hunters who set traps in between farm work, and none of them do any serious hunting with a bow.

　The reason for this is that livestock farming was originally flourishing in this village, and there is a large supply of meat. Furthermore, the agricultural reforms I initiated have increased the income from the fields, so many people are unwilling to enter the dangerous forests.

　Furthermore, the extermination of wolves and other vermin is the work of the Village Patrol, and there is little need for specialized hunters.

　Even so, sometimes people want to eat something with a different taste, and sometimes they want fur. Even in this small village, there is a demand for hunters, and their work will not disappear. Besides, since I regained my memory of my previous life, we have been buying wild birds from them. The wild birds they wholesale to the villa have become their main source of income.

　These three men are called hunters, but they are treated like subordinates of our squire, Guy, a former adventurer. They are the only three people, other than Hector, who can keep up with Guy in matters such as monster scouting and tracking.

　I follow behind them without a bow.

　The three of them were dressed like hunters, with longbows as tall as they were, short swords at their waists, leather helmets, jackets, pants, and boots.

　Davy was dressed in the same manner, but he was holding a short bow of about 120 cm in his hand, as if he could not use a longbow yet.

　Davy sarcastically asks me how I can hunt without a bow, but I say nothing and ignore him.

　As we enter the forest to the west, their moods become all the sharper. They keep their posture low and choose their route through the forest, making as little noise as possible.

　I try to imitate them, but when I look around, I step on a tree branch underfoot and make a cracking sound. If I keep my eyes on my feet, I lose sight of my surroundings.

(It’s harder than I thought. There must be a trick to it. The way I walk, the way I carry myself, the way I look at people, whatever it is, I’m going to absorb it all…) (Zack)

　Since our departure was around 10:00 a.m., it would be time for lunch in about two hours. Since we had to leave suddenly today, we had only bread, dried meat, and water instead of a full-fledged lunch box.

　After a quick meal, we entered the forest with little rest. After another hour or so, we finally get a feel for how to look and how to walk. They seemed to have chosen their route with a certain amount of foresight and were walking with a stride that avoided branches and shrubs.

(They are fine with stepping on any grass, and they are also avoiding places under trees where branches might fall. He seems to be choosing his route like he’s thinking about it, but he is probably thinking about it a lot…) (Zack)

　And I was also curious about the hand signs he sometimes shows.

　I could understand the meaning of the “stop” sign, in which the palm of the hand is extended out to the side, but I could not understand the meaning of the sign using the fingers.

　I had no choice but to move in sync with my surroundings, but inevitably I was a beat behind.

(It would be better to know some of them. I’ll ask them when I get back.) (Zack)

　I could faintly hear the two o’clock bell from the village.

　As expected, I am quite tired because I have been walking continuously after only taking a break for a meal.

　I could tell that Hector and Guy were very considerate of me and took many breaks.

(Davy is amazing, by the way. He can keep walking at this pace. I heard that he had been in the forest for about three months, but he was only about two months ahead of me. I guess he watched closely.) (Zack)

　An hour or so later, my fatigue was at its peak.

(It’s tough, but if I let out a whimper here, it would affect tomorrow and the rest of the day. I want to get the hunters’ skills at any cost…)

　By 4:00 p.m., I wasn’t even sure where I was walking.

　They stopped several times along the way and fired arrows, but so far had not taken any prey.

(I guess it’s my presence. Because I make noise, the prey runs away. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to go with them tomorrow…) (Zack)

　After that, we went out of the forest to the city road.

　Apparently, I was wandering along the west forest road.

　Rob suddenly approached me.

“Forgive me for testing you.” (Rob)

　With that, he bent his large body and bowed deeply.

　I had no idea what he was talking about, but his next words made me understand the meaning of his actions today.

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