Lowell

Chapter 18

They continue through the Quoi Woods for a good hour without much conflict. A few monsters lash out but are quickly disposed. They're nearing the edge of the woods when Repede barks that someone is watching them. A rustling is heard bush to the side as a scream comes out.

"P-prepare to die, eggbear!" the two sidestep and watch a young boy holding a giant sword almost as tall as him. They watch as he spins in circles until he drifts next to them and Yuri beats him back with a simple thrust of his sword. The weapon in his hand snaps easily like a cheap toy and the boy falls to the ground with a groan. "Ooh, man that hurt..." Repede stands over him and the boy panics. He falls back down again and cries. "I-I'm warning you! I don't taste very good. You'll get the runs!"

Repede lets out a gruff bark. "Do I look like I eat kids?"

The boy seems to take this the wrong way and begs for help. "Is this kid for real?"

"It's all right now." Estelle kneels next to him and the boy opens his eyes in shock.

"Huh? The monster turned into a girl?" Yuri pauses at the statement. This kid is not the sharpest sword in the bunch from the looks of it. The boy realizes his mistake and stands up tall and strong to greet them. "I'm Karol Capel! I'm a member of the Hunting Blades guild. We travel the globe in search of the toughest monsters." A kid in a monster hunting guild? That seems reckless and stupid. Kids could get killed wandering outside the barrier. He barely looked older than his neighbor's son Ted and Yuri didn't trust him with a knife let alone a sword.

Yuri introduces themselves quickly and takes off towards the exit. There's little time to waste. It's already well past morning since they took a few wrong turns here and there. They don't have time to spend talking to a kid. The sooner he got away from Estelle the sooner Yuri could smell something besides her scent of decay.

The kid runs ahead of them eagerly. "W-wait. You guys are here to enter the woods, right? Well then, I'll-"

"Actually, we've just finished coming through the woods, and we're on our way to Halure." Estelle interrupts and the kid is taken aback.

"No way! You guys made it through the cursed woods?" He looks them over and Yuri wonder if this kid got lost. "Did you guys run into any eggbears?" Estelle looks at Yuri for an answer and he can say for sure that they didn't. Or at least he thinks they didn't. The poor boy deflates and hangs his head low. "Man... Wonder if I should head back to town, then... They definitely won't like it if I keep them waiting... All right." He jumps with renewed energy and ensures them that they're safe now that a star member of the hunting blades is there to protect them. Karol points to his blastia and book while Yuri points to his broken weapon and Estelle the empty pages in his monster manual.

"It might hurt your 'star member' status if it got out that you broke your sword." Yuri chides as they head out while Karol calls from behind for them to listen to him. Saying he broke his sword on purpose and that they're going the wrong way. Before they can say anything, he's following behind making little remarks here and there.

"I don't understand Repede. He's a dog, with claws and fangs, but he uses weapons?" Karol says eying the way Repede cuts away at obstacles in his way with a sword rather than using claws.

"Because, I have pride in my appearance and refuse to reduce myself to being nothing more than a barbaric animal." And, Repede says he's the vain one.

Yuri has to think on the matter, because he's so used to thinking of Repede as just Repede. Actually, he almost never animals as animals. Lambert never seemed like a dumb beast nor have any of the other creatures he's met. But then, Yuri could actually understand what they were saying. "I guess most dogs do fight with their claws and teeth."