The Hunter Lurking in the Darkness

I activated Presence Concealment and carefully closed the distance, watching the adventurers through gaps in the trees.

They were looking over the traces of my charcoal making and talking among themselves about something. I tried to listen in, but they were too far away to hear.

After watching for a while, they began to search the surrounding area while maintaining a formation. They might be planning to set up camp here so they can investigate more thoroughly.

Their movements were well coordinated, making it clear they had been a party for a long time.

Their footwork, shifts in balance, and the way they scanned their surroundings were all polished. They were not the kind of weaklings you find anywhere. Among them, the one who seemed to be a scout stood out in particular for how good his movements were.

To avoid being noticed, I had to keep a considerable distance.

Judging from how skilled they were, I guessed these were not adventurers who had come to the mountain by chance, but ones dispatched from Rock Cliff.

Taking on four opponents of that level by myself would be tough. If I went straight at them head on, I would definitely be killed.

I kept observing, looking for an opening.

They lit a fire and boiled water. Everyone except the scout relaxed while drinking something like tea and preparing a meal.

Grr. I have not eaten anything since morning, and they are this relaxed. I need to endure it. If I defeat them, that tea will be mine.

Their clothes and even the pot they were boiling water in were wonderful items that reeked of civilization. Imagining them in my hands helped boost my motivation.

The waiting continued, and eventually the sun set and night fell. Nights in the mountains are truly pitch black. It is darkness on a level unimaginable in modern Japan, where lights are on around the clock.

I have gotten somewhat used to the darkness of the forest. Attacking the adventurers is only possible at night.

They had set up camp and likely would not move for a while. I moved away from them and carved a throwing spear from wood.

It was a simple weapon with nothing more than a sharpened tip, but I had coated the point with poison. The poison was made from a weak poisonous plant that normally needs to be boiled down before use.

Used as is, it is only slightly better than nothing.

I focused hard on presence detection and sensory enhancement, letting my senses adjust to the darkness. I concentrated on conceal presence, disguising my existence.

I melted into the darkness. The air became me, and I became the air. Holding that image, I blended into the night as much as possible.

When the boundary between myself and the surrounding darkness began to blur, one of the adventurers left the campsite. It was the scout.

Reconnaissance? In this darkness? Does he have presence type abilities like mine, or night focused skills? I quietly followed, careful not to make a sound.

A short distance from the camp, the scout began fumbling with his pants. Taking a leak? Careless to do it alone.

Was he confident in his skills, or just letting his guard down? He had separated from his companions and was relieving himself alone. The act was so full of openings that I suspected a trap.

But there were no other presences nearby. The situation was so inviting it almost felt suspicious, but I decided it was a chance.

I quietly approached from behind.

Just as he finished urinating and gave a small shiver, I covered his mouth and nose with my left hand and, at the same time, drove my knife into the base of his skull with my right.

“Mmph.”

The scout let out a muffled cry, shuddered, and his body went limp. I supported him carefully so he would not make a sound, and checked the surroundings for any sign of others.

There was no trap at all. He had simply been careless. His confidence in his own skills may have made him expose a fatal opening.

Relieving yourself leaves you very vulnerable. Normally you have a companion come with you, or you do it close to the camp.

Still, even if it is just for one night, no one wants to defecate or urinate near where they are sleeping. And it is understandable to not want others watching either.

This mountain only has rank three monsters. He may have thought he could handle things on his own.

Even in Japan, there have been cases where female hikers went off alone to use the toilet, slipped, and died as a result.

People do not want others to hear or see them relieving themselves, especially women. But choosing embarrassment over safety in dangerous situations dramatically increases the risk.

Which one you choose is up to the individual. Looking at the man I had just killed, I etched that lesson into my heart.

That said, for someone like me, covered in mud and completely naked, shame is hardly an issue anymore. Thinking that, I carried the scout’s body deeper into the mountains.

After quickly searching his belongings, I found a guild tag that indicated his adventurer rank.

“A rank five adventurer, huh…”

Proof that he had reached level twenty. He was higher level than me. He was the stronger one, but in a way, I was lucky he was only rank five.

If they had been any higher rank, I definitely would not have been able to deal with them. There were no rank five adventurers stationed in Rock Cliff. Either they were called in from another town, or they happened to stop by on an escort job or something similar.

After stripping off any useful gear, I tied it up in a tree. That reduced the risk of monsters getting to it.

I lightly marked the tree with my knife, then hoisted the body and left the area. When I got close to a monster that had shown up on my presence detection, I left the body there.

After that, the monster would take care of disposing of it nicely.

Not being noticed while approaching such a skilled scout gave me confidence in my conceal presence ability. At the same time, it made my weaknesses clear.

At the moment I drove the knife into the base of his skull, when I finally committed to killing him, he noticed me. Luckily, I stabbed him while covering his mouth, so he could not scream.

That was close. If he had shouted, the remaining adventurers would have noticed, and then I would not have been able to pull off a surprise attack.

No matter how much I focus on hiding my presence, the instant I try to kill someone, the moment I take a human life, I cannot help but become aware of it.

That I am about to kill a person.

My focus wavers, and my concealment stops being perfect. This time it worked out because he was careless, and because of that strange shiver people get when they finish urinating.

That shiver comes with a weird sense of pleasure that steals your attention.

If he had been on guard, or if he had not been shivering like that, he might have counterattacked or screamed for his companions, and it would have been dangerous.

I need to reach a mindset like the man I respect, G*lgo 13, where I can think of it as nothing more than getting the job done.

I have killed plenty of people in this world already, but maybe I just do not have a natural talent for killing.

When I returned to the campsite, things were in an uproar. Even though I handled it quickly, it still took some time. Anyone would get suspicious if he stayed gone that long.

The adventurers seemed to be arguing. They were skillfully keeping their voices low so as not to stir up the mountain’s monsters while still bickering.

“We have to go look for Cloots!”

“How are we supposed to search the mountain at night? The scout is the one who’s missing!”

“Both of you, calm down! Let’s wait a little longer. Van is right. Walking the mountain at night without a scout is dangerous.”

It seemed they were arguing over whether to search for the missing scout. I would have preferred to attack while they were relaxed, but this was still a chance.

Their coordination would be off while they argued, and their attention was scattered. I quietly moved closer to the campsite and threw a stone to the opposite side from me.

It was a classic trick, but an effective one. The stone rustled through the leaves. All three of them turned toward the sound at once. That was the moment I sprang out.

Holding the knife in a reverse grip, I drove my right fist into the man’s nose.

“Ahh!”

As he reeled back from the blow, I slashed at his neck, but he shielded himself with his arm and hopped backward.

I sliced deeply into his arm, but his neck was protected. Matching his retreat, I lunged in and followed up with a vertical left punch straight into his philtrum.

The hit was shallow. He was over 190 centimeters tall, and the height difference put his face farther away, plus he leaned back to avoid it.

I tried to press the attack, but another adventurer swung a sword from the side. Having already “seen” it with presence detection, I dodged the strike and fled straight into the mountains.

“What was that just now?”

“I only saw it for a moment in the firelight, but it looked like a goblin.”

“There’s no way a goblin like that exists!”

“It could be a new type of goblin!”

“Hhey, stoh fighing and hehp me! It hhurts, my arm hhurts so bad!”

“Van, did that thing do this to you? This is bad. Get the healing salve, now!”

“Aaaah!”

“Lehm, damn it! Where are you? Show yourself, goblin!”

I am not a goblin. I protested silently as I calmly observed the adventurers through gaps in the trees.

They were in complete disarray, full of openings. I hurled my poison coated throwing spear. By sheer luck, it landed cleanly in the thigh of the adventurer who had been calling me a new type of goblin.

At level twenty, his body was tough, and a crudely sharpened wooden spear did not sink in deeply. Still, it was far from a light injury. The poison was weak, but it was there.

With their scout gone, the adventurers could not move freely at night. Dawn was still far off. I would take my time wearing them down, both their minds and their bodies.

I bear them no grudge. But I have to kill them. This is not Earth. In this world, murder is nothing more than one common means among many.

They would kill me, and I would kill them. So even if it is ruthless, even if I am called vile, I will kill them. With everything I have, I will end their lives.

“Ith hurtth. Hurry up and treat me,” the adventurer whose arm I slashed and whose nose and front teeth I broke wailed. With his front teeth gone, his speech sounded stupid and slurred.

“Van, we do not know where that thing is. I am the only one who is uninjured. We need to stay alert. Sorry, but treat yourself. You should all be carrying healing salves. Lehm, how bad is your wound?”

“The cut itself is not that deep. But after it stuck in my thigh, the wood shattered and small fragments got lodged in the wound. I need to pull them out, but it is too dark for that.”

“Near the campfire… no good, huh.”

“Yeah. It would be like putting up a sign saying ‘shoot me.’”

The adventurers were confused right after the attack, but now they had calmed down. As expected of rank five adventurers.

While crafting new throwing spears, I observed them from a bit farther away.

The two injured adventurers, having finished treatment, were sitting with their backs against a thick tree, wrapped in cloth like makeshift blankets, their eyes closed.

The uninjured adventurer stood guard over them.

Impressive. In this situation, he chose to prioritize the injured ones’ recovery. This was hardly a situation where you could really sleep, but even just closing your eyes and resting helps recover stamina.

Trying to carry injured companions down the mountain would be suicidal at night without a scout. Even if I did nothing, they would probably become monster food.

They must be planning to conserve their strength until dawn. Being able to choose rest in this situation is admirable.

But for me, it is also convenient. Honestly, the worst case would be the uninjured one abandoning his companions and desperately rushing down the mountain toward town.

Splitting up would also be troublesome, and even though it is unlikely, it would be bad if they reached town. Whether he could not abandon his wounded companions or simply chose to avoid the risk of descending the mountain at night, I do not know.

Whatever the reason, it works in my favor. I will take my time wearing them down. I will not let them conserve their strength.

By my sense of time, about two hours had passed when the adventurer whose nose I broke began to groan. A slashed arm can be disinfected with salve, but a broken nose is another matter.

When I broke my own nose once, I ran a high fever and suffered badly. Even lying in my bed at home was miserable. Enduring a high fever while lying on bare ground like this must be hell.

Hearing their companion groaning in pain was dragging down the morale of the other two as well.

Sensing that the guard’s focus was slipping, I threw a spear not at him, but at the two injured adventurers.

Since they were sitting close together, even if my aim was off, it should hit one of them. That was my thought, but the guard drew his sword instantly and cut the spear out of the air.

I thought his focus was dulled, but his reaction was fast. Either he was still properly alert, or he was simply that skilled. Rank five adventurers are no joke.

This time it failed, but the night is still long. I will not let them have an easy time. Glowering at the adventurers dimly illuminated by the flickering campfire, I melted back into the darkness.