In the woods, three pairs of eyes locked onto one another, yet not a single person was willing to be the first to speak.
The two young Ursus men had very clearly been scared half to death by what had just happened, while on Saito’s end, he was busy mulling over exactly what kind of identity he ought to adopt when making contact with the Ursus locals.
Coming right out and explaining his actual origin was definitely not going to fly — and on top of that, most likely no one would even believe him.
What was more, judging by the look in these two’s eyes, the conversation that lay ahead was probably going to be at least somewhat difficult.
Tension.
Fear.
Wariness…
Saito read those emotions clear as day off the faces of the two before him.
He really needed to give some serious thought to how he was going to settle their nerves.
The silence between the three didn’t last all that long.
The older of the two hunters slung the longbow in his hand around to his back, and did his best to smooth out the tightness in his expression, trying to make himself look as relaxed as he could manage.
“Honored sir, thank you so very much for stepping in to help.
If it hadn’t been for you, I’m afraid the two of us would have ended up dying right here.”
“My name is Matvey, and his name is Vannini — we’re both hunters from a village nearby.”
He took two steps forward, his face piled high with smiles — but with his body, he subtly shielded the young hunter behind him.
Back in his younger years, Matvey had spent a few stints in the Ursus military, and he’d laid eyes on more than a few formidable Arts masters and warriors — but those capable of pulling off something like what Saito had just done were rare birds indeed, the kind you might count on one hand.
Taking a closer look at Saito’s features — bright, piercing eyes, fresh-faced and well-kept.
Even though he was wearing a coat that looked a touch on the worn-out side, going by either looks or bearing, this fellow was very unlikely to be an ordinary commoner.
Matvey drew in a deep breath.
The sudden appearance of someone like this in their godforsaken little corner of the world was not exactly a good omen.
With that in mind, he quietly tucked one hand behind his back and started flashing hand signals at Vannini.
‘If anything happens — don’t hesitate.
Run, immediately!
Go find that honored sir and ask him for help!’
Vannini watched Matvey’s hand signals, his lips moving as though he wanted to say something — but in the end, he closed his mouth back up and lowered his head a little.
And on Saito’s end, he’d already more or less figured out his cover story.
“It’s nothing, really — barely lifted a finger.”
Saito gave them a very friendly smile, and then walked over to stand in front of the enormous Rend Beast, sizing the big guy up from top to bottom.
This big guy, once stood up straight, was easily over five meters tall.
Its thick, brawny arms were nearly as wide around as Saito’s own waist.
The knotted muscles were even now still taut and tensed — if that vicious head of its hadn’t already been smashed in by Saito, you’d genuinely be left wondering whether the monster might leap to its feet again at any moment and go right back to attacking people.
“You said just now you two were hunters from around here, right?”
Saito turned his head to the side to look at the two of them.
By now, Matvey was already crouched down beside Vannini, helping him tend to the wound on his arm.
“Yes, honored sir.”
It was still Matvey who answered.
“Well, in that case — could I trouble you for a small favor?”
Saito looked at the two behind him with a wholly innocuous, butter-wouldn’t-melt smile, then gave the enormous Rend Beast beside him a couple of pats.
Under their tightly-strung gazes, he went on:
“Could you help me deal with the body of this Rend Beast?
As compensation, you can take a portion of its flesh and blood with you.
That’s what you two came out hunting for in the first place, isn’t it?”
“…Sure, I suppose we can do that.”
A flicker of hesitation passed through Matvey’s eyes.
If that really was all it was, then yes, there definitely wasn’t any problem with it.
The expression on Vannini’s face beside him suddenly turned a bit anxious.
He was just about to open his mouth when Matvey, without any visible motion, pressed him back down.
“Much obliged, then.”
Saito gave a nod, pretending he hadn’t noticed their little exchange, and stepped aside to make room for them.
…
…
Very quickly, the enormous monster in front of them was, bit by bit, being broken down at the hands of the two hunters.
As the facts proved, Matvey and Vannini’s concerns appeared to have been entirely unnecessary — this Aegir youth of unknown origins really did seem to have no malice whatsoever, and his having shown up here was simply because he’d heard the Rend Beast’s roar along with their cries for help.
“My name is Saito.
I’m a traveling merchant, and I only just arrived in these parts recently.”
Saito laid out for the two of them the identity he’d just made up on the spot.
Matvey kept right on with the work in his hands, his expression carrying a faintly half-believing tinge.
“You’re from Yan?”
Saito just gave a smile, neither denying nor confirming.
Over these last few days, the Administrator had given him a bit of a crash course on the geography of Terra, so naturally he’d heard the name ‘Yan’ before.
“But our part of the world here is frozen solid year-round.
There isn’t a single place around that you could even call a proper city.
What in the world would you be doing trying to do business in a place like this?”
Vannini, off to the side, couldn’t hold himself back from chiming in.
As for this particular question — Saito, of course, had long since prepared his answer.
He let out a couple of dopey, good-natured chuckles, and then, with an expression of pure ‘innocence’ painted across his face, looked up at the sky that was slowly dimming overhead.
“To tell you the truth, the merchant business is really just a hobby of mine.
My real dream is to use my own two legs to measure the breadth of this entire land, and to see the scenery of other countries with my own eyes.”
“My hometown is down in the south of Yan — you simply can’t see snowscapes as magnificent as these back there!”
Matvey nodded thoughtfully.
A young master from a wealthy Yan family heading out to experience the world for himself — in theory, that did kind of add up.
There were still plenty of fishy points about the story, sure, but none of those were things they needed to worry their heads over.
So long as they knew Saito didn’t currently bear them any ill will, that was enough.
The older hunter gradually picked up the pace of his butchering work, and very quickly, this giant Rend Beast had been fully broken down.
“As expected of professional hunters — those motions of yours are clean and crisp.”
Saito offered a couple of compliments.
After he’d taken away the intact Rend Beast hide, along with a portion of its meat, he was the first to speak up and bid the two of them farewell.
“It’s getting late — my companion is still waiting on me, so I’ll be heading off ahead of you.”
“Take care on your way, honored sir.”
The two of them naturally had no objection to that — if anything, they couldn’t have wished for Saito to leave any sooner.
And so it went.
Only once Saito’s figure had completely vanished into the depths of the thick forest did Matvey finally let out a long sigh of relief.
“Whew…”
Beside him, Vannini had obviously been holding it in for so long he could barely stand it any longer.
He didn’t even bother with the leftover Rend Beast meat scattered on the ground — he just grabbed the longbow lying off to one side and made to run off in the direction they had originally fled from.
“Stop right there!”
But Matvey caught him by the arm in one quick motion and snapped at him in a low voice.
“Uncle Matvey — I have to bring Vasily back home…”
Vannini said his brother’s name out loud, his eyes dimming.
He had seen with his own eyes the moment that Rend Beast’s claw had smashed into his brother’s abdomen — the odds were heavily on the worst possible outcome.
But he wanted to take his brother home.
“I know.”
Matvey kept his voice pitched low, his eyes ceaselessly sweeping left and right at their surroundings, as if he was still trying to make absolutely sure Saito really had gone.
A long moment later, he finally turned and looked at Vannini, with deep, deep sorrow in his eyes.
“About what happened to Vasily — I’m truly, deeply sorry.
But…
you can’t bring his body back to the village.”
“Wh—…
you already knew?”
Matvey gave a nod.
He had very clearly known for some time that Vasily had contracted Oripathy — and if that particular fact were to become known to the rest of the villagers, then the days ahead for Vannini’s whole family would be…
“Think of your mother, think of your little sister — don’t do anything stupid, Vannini!”
“I…
I get it…”
Vannini’s eyes gradually dimmed.
He gave a hollow, listless nod — and even the pain in his arm seemed to fade right along with the light in his gaze.
____
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🔥 New history:Samsara Game: Starting in The Long Dark with My Waifus
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