Monster Hunter: Stars of Hope

Chapter Thirteen: Missing Out

It had been a few weeks since they had captured the Malfestio, which had long been released back into the wilds by now. Strangely, Nia was not able to get much information on the research into that wyvern beyond the fact that it had likely come from the Shrouded Rift: an ill-explored rainforest valley far to the east of Granport. The people in research were also starting to believe that the pair of locally sighted Hypnocatrice were also initially from there, especially given that, apparently, a third specimen had recently been sighted flying from that direction. Interestingly, this jungle was actually just across a mountain range from the woods that Arba Village could once be found in, so its name wasn't one that Nia was unfamiliar with. Of course, she brought this up, but Haldys had once again readily dismissed the idea that the Hopesbane could be responsible for displacing these monsters, among others that had also been reported. Still, it didn't convince her that there wasn't something to that; The evidence of some sort of connection was simply too obvious for there to not be one. Unless Haldys was outright wrong, which he very rarely was, there had to be some important element of this investigation that he wasn't letting her know about. Though, the old man would definitely have his reasons, so she was sure that he'd let her know all about it as soon as he could.

Beyond that, her hunts had been going very well. Among the monsters she could now claim to have slain or captured, of course with the help of her newfound friends, were a Seltas and a Royal Ludroth, as well as a Purple Ludroth; her first subspecies hunt. However, they had also managed to take down two far more impressive monsters, those being a Nerscylla and a Rathian. With the former, Nia despised every moment of hunting it; She never really was a fan of spiders, so having to face what was essentially arachnophobia given a physical form wasn't all that pleasant. It certainly didn't help that, even a week later, she was still finding webs in weird places on her armor. The Rathian hunt, however, she was particularly proud of, even if it did briefly bring her back to the gruesome memory of when she had first laid eyes on the Hopesbane. The team had not only gotten through the hunt with barely a scratch on them, but Nia herself had also managed her very first tail cut with her Greatsword; with a little bit of help from Sariko, of course. Part of her did feel a bit bad for that Rathian at the time, but it stopped the wyvern from poisoning any of them with the barbs on said tail, and had given Nia confirmation that she was definitely getting better with her weapon.

However, today was not a day for her to have much reason to feel good about herself. As far as the contract she was hunting under was concerned, today was a day for her to specifically be reminded of the wrong she had once committed and to feel bad for it. Today was a day for her to be explicitly disallowed from enjoying something everyone else was as punishment for her past actions. Today was a day for her to feel excluded. This day was the beginning of the Autumn Harvest Fest in Granport, which the terms of the Contract of Reparations demanded that she not take any part in, it being a 'non-essential guild event'. What was even worse was that she couldn't even go out and enjoy the civilian-run counterpart of this seasonal festival in the streets, since the Granport guild branch actually organized a large portion of it.

As a result, Nia was now all by herself at a bench within a secluded, outdoor terrace at the guildhall. If she were to stand up and walk a few feet, she could see the festivities that had spread into the waterfront district, but the simple sound of it all echoing through the air was already getting uncomfortable for her, given what she was being forced to miss out on. The only reason she hadn't just went home, even though she was not on duty for the day, was because her house was right next to the market, where the celebrations were most intense. If it wasn't for the fact that she couldn't get access to her equipment or even a quest of her own choosing to justify heading out into the field, she'd find herself a nice, quiet place outside the city to spend her time, away from all of this. As a result, Nia was left with a newfound disdain for that contract. Before now, its limitations were simply a collective series of annoyances that she just had to live with; Right now, said limitations felt nothing less than oppressive to her. Though, to an extent, she still found a small amount of appreciation in how it forced her into a dream job she once heavily struggled to get into and led her to friendships that she was now finding so much joy from.