Chapter 18: Stay Indoors on Rainy Days
The sunset has descended.
Nightfall enveloped the entire Kawano City.
The “hunters” were also out in force.
They wore various outfits and their appearances differed widely.
Some looked like regular office workers just finishing their day, while others resembled drunks stumbling out of a tavern.
The “hunters” belonged to the “Hunter Guild,” an organization exclusively for pure supernatural beings, who held animosity toward fantasy monsters and all “Monster Tamers” who had contracts with them.
Internally, they practiced a doctrine of supremacy for supernatural beings.
In the original work of “Starline 2,” they belonged to the non-heroic “Supernatural Organization.”
They were also referred to as the “Anti-Supernatural Organization.”
Opposing them was the well-known—
Tehuan SEMA and the Academy.
They prided themselves on being the nemeses of these two major supernatural organizations.
However, in reality, both their scale and power were far inferior to the aforementioned two.
The nature of the “Hunter Guild” resembled that of the adventurers’ guild in a Japanese fantasy RPG game.
Some people posted requests on the guild’s website.
Then hunters voluntarily accepted those requests.
Finally, they completed the tasks and received rewards.
This time, they saw a particularly tempting request on the guild’s mission board.
Moreover, the requester was generous.
This led many greedy hunters to the location mentioned in the request—
Kawano City.
For hunters, this was a wonderfully quaint little city.
Hunters made a living by hunting fantasy monsters.
Fantasy monsters were the best materials for crafting extraordinary items, which were highly sought after in the black market.
In the eyes of hunters, fantasy monsters were like moving treasure chests.
Although sometimes these chests would devour them instead.
Their task was simple.
Hunt the fantasy monsters in Kawano City.
The number of fantasy monsters in Kawano City exceeded the imagination of some hunters; it was practically a massive treasure trove.
While some young hunters were lost in the thrill of hunting fantasy monsters.
Some seasoned hunters began to sense that something was amiss in this city.
It was as if someone was deliberately guiding hunters into this massive net.
Cautious old hunters had already left this dangerous place ahead of time.
However, some ambitious old hunters planned to investigate the city thoroughly to see if they could root out the mastermind and hunt a big prey.
The night was their best cover.
Even the “Anti-Supernatural Organization” abided by the most important rule: “Do not let the existence of supernatural powers be revealed to the public.”
Because this rule safeguards their true objective—themselves.
“Ah Sang, should we go straight to the gathering now?” asked a man in his thirties who looked like a fisherman.
Tonight, the hunters lurking in Kawano City had a major operation.
The hunter referred to as Ah Sang was a burly uncle in his fifties, built like a bear.
Dressed like a bartender, in a white shirt and black vest.
His stout muscles stretched the fabric tight; if he stood behind a bar, he would surely get generous tips from customers.
The bartender uncle had a cigar in his mouth and his sharp gaze swept over the distinctive buildings in the city.
The building of the Tehuan SEMA branch.
He then revealed a contemptuous smile.
The hunters had already investigated this city.
Only one A-rank supernatural being from Tehuan SEMA could pose a threat to him.
He felt confident about tonight’s operation.
But just as the bartender uncle stepped out from the eaves onto the street.
A drop of rain fell from the sky, landing precisely on the tip of his nose.
In an instant, he froze like a statue.
“Ah Sang?” The young hunter noticed something was off with him.
“Rain…”
“Ah, it’s raining. Looks like it’s going to be a fine night.”
The rain would obscure the hunters’ movements.
“…I won’t participate in the operation tonight.”
“What?!”
The bartender uncle was not joking as he turned and walked back toward the underground bar.
“Why? It’s just a bit of rain?”
“I advise you to join me for a few drinks tonight.”
The seasoned hunter turned his head, his expression serious.
“You’re still young; you haven’t lived through that era.”
“Supernatural beings should never go out on rainy days.”
His weathered eyes fixed on the young hunter, enunciating each word:
“On rainy days, stay indoors.”
A white figure soared over the sky of Kawano City.
It was a night for overtime work.
…..
…..
“Good work,” Nagi said softly.
A white dove flew through the window into Nagi’s room.
Garuda’s feathers were fluffy and smooth, not a single drop of water clung to them.
It was hard to imagine that this dove had flown through torrential rain to get here.
Tonight, Nagi planned to act, so she had Garuda summon a heavy rain in advance.
“Master, what are you… doing?” Garuda hesitated for a moment but decided to ask.
At this time, Nagi had changed into a red-and-white shrine maiden outfit.
It was the costume she had borrowed last time, and she still hadn’t found an opportunity to return it.
So Nagi planned to use it as her special uniform for actions temporarily.
She even bought a fox mask specifically to disguise her identity.
If Seira could still use her powers, she could easily deceive others or the world’s perception.
But now Nagi could only rely on these external elements to disguise herself as much as possible.
However, what truly concerned Garuda was that Nagi was currently engrossed in reading a girls’ manga.
A few other volumes were piled up beside her, freshly read.
These were borrowed from her sister Sayaka’s room.
All of this was to gain inspiration.
She needed to find a way to take the initiative when pretending to be Kanu’s boyfriend.
“So, did you find anything, Master?”
“……It’s so good that I accidentally got absorbed in it,” Nagi admitted honestly in response to Garuda’s question.
She had previously struggled to relate to girls’ manga.
Unexpectedly, she found herself sobbing alongside the female protagonist.
Which made her forget her original objective.
“……”
“Garuda, I must correct you here; an excellent manga knows no bounds of gender or age.” Nagi said with determination in the face of Garuda’s skeptical gaze.
“Well said, so what part do you think is excellent, Master?”
“The romance between the male and female leads is so pure and sweet~~ The male lead’s confession is truly romantic—”
Becoming an enthusiastic otaku, Nagi suddenly froze midway.
“…..Garuda, are you plotting against me!?”
This was a characteristic of otakus; they would babble endlessly about a topic they loved without realizing it.
Tonight, Nagi intended to visit the home of Amano Institute’s Amaya.
A luxury villa on the edge of Kawano City.
Regarding this suddenly appearing “young lady” from Amano Institute, Nagi lacked adequate understanding.
Moreover, she had taken the initiative to approach Kanu—
Nagi had to clarify her true identity and purpose for the sake of peace in Kawano City, not to mention her position as the underling of the real power holder in Kawano, “Boss Maki.”
She needed to have some interaction with her.
“I hope she won’t be suspicious of me…” Nagi prayed as she styled her conspicuous long black hair into a high bun.
Then she wore the fox mask to cover her properly structured face—
……
The sound of rain pattering against the window.
Awoke Amaya, who had dozed off with her head resting on the table.
