The Records of an Overpowered Herb Hunter

5.3 Did not lose anyone this time

- Before -

The rest of the hunt was uneventful as Aki successfully picked the high ranked Layrid and did not encounter any more monsters. They then smoothly made their way to the palace.

"HEEEEYYY!!! Isn't that Aki? Who are those behind you?"

Entering the palace, the first thing that Aki saw was Takeshi and Heiki who were leaving the palace. Aki eyes brightened as she trotted up to them.

"I went on a Hunt."

"Little girl, this is where we part. I will submit a report and you won't be charged with the escort fee. After all, we got protected instead of protecting you! Hahahahaha!"

Dean gave Aki a hard pat from behind and Aki gave a small smile and a wave to Dean.

"See you later, Dean."

"Looks like you made a new friend." Heiki said, scrutinizing the adventures that were leaving.

"Aki! Did you get the Layrid?"

Martila appeared with Axel, who rushed up to Aki with Kit Kat in his arms. He gripped on the edge of Aki's sleeve and tugged lightly. Aki gently patted Axel's head as Kit Kat flew back up onto Aki's head.

"Aki! Are you safe?"

"Safe. Here you go Axel, the Layrid."

After handing the Layrid to Axel, Aki was escorted to a waiting room where she was requested to wait for her reward. Although they could just send it to her electronically, the maids said it was the request of the prince who wanted to meet and thank her personally.

Heiki and Takeshi also joined her in the waiting room, where Takeshi was getting the details of Aki's latest adventure and Heiki joined in, listening from the side.

Soon after, the maids came for Aki and escorted her to the Prince's bedroom and Heiki and Takeshi left for their dorms. Although it was weird to Aki why she would be brought to somewhere as private as a bedroom, Aki shrugged it off as maybe the Prince was not well enough to get up.

"Come in."

A low velvety voice answered after the maid knocked on a solid wooden door. Although it looked like a normal door, Aki could feel a little buzz of magic coming from it which unnerved Aki a little. As she entered, what first caught her attention was not the Shining Prince or the ridiculously big bed which he was resting in, but eyes. There were eyes looking at her from the shadows.

"Welcome, please have a seat."

Aki who never participated in anything Royal did not curtised or even bow to the Prince and directly sat at the chair at the Prince's bedside. The Prince's eyebrow raised a little at Aki's casual attitude.

"I am Kyle Julian de Valticand, the first Prince of Valticand. Nice to meet you."

"Aki."

"Thank you Aki for helping to hunt the Layrid on such a short notice. It was quite unexpected to get poisoned while I was just having my lunch. I didn't really trust all my servants and cooks, but didn't know that they could be capable of such betrayal."

Aki tensed as she listened to the Prince's rambles. There was a murderous intent from where the gaze hid.

The hidden shadow guard observed Aki who was paying attention to the Prince. As a courtesy, the girl had held her sword in her right hand which prevented her from drawing the sword and the room was warded, preventing any use of magic.

Although the shadow guard did not know why his highness wanted to test this girl, an order was an order.

The shadow guard flashed to Aki's back and just when he was about to strike, a sixth sense, overwhelming pressure and a sense of dread washed over him that made him freeze instinctively in fear. It was telling him that if he took one more step, he would be dead.

Just as he gritted his teeth and was about to strike against his instincts, a hand pulled him back by his collar and held him in place.

"Stop. Whatever in heaven are you doing to my little junior, Prince?"

Aki's hand which was about to draw Shinshu out from the scabbard paused and slid the small section of the blade that was revealed back. Turning to look, she saw a familiar person holding down the shadow guard.

"Roku! You're late. Well, I just wanted to test this girl out a bit. Did you know that she saved my silly little brother from an assasination attempt? I just wanted to know if that story was really true and if it was, I was planning to ask her to protect him."

Roku scoffed and pushed the shadow guard away. Aki kept her eyes on the person called Roku. It was him, the one that Aki met at the Hunter guild a while back. The corners of his crimson eyes crinkled as he gave a lazy grin, making his scar on his left eye even more prominent.

Although the sense of danger from him was carefully covered up this time and disguised, Aki still remembered the feeling of a sharp aura from him when they first met at the Hunter's Guild.

As Roku walked past Aki, he ruffled her hair again and headed to the window. He leaned against the edge, facing Aki with the prince between them.

"You should not play such games, Prince. And Aki is a Herb Hunter, not a bounty hunter or even a bodyguard. Go use one of your shadow guards for that."

"Pity. I hope you didn't mind Aki, i just had to test you to see if you were fit for the job."

Aki looked at the Prince's smiling face and nodded. Even though an attempt on her life was just made, Aki made it seem as if it was a norm and didn't create any fuss about it. The Prince then thanked Aki again for her help and told her that the reward will be transferred to her account.

Closing the door behind her, Aki placed the small episode behind her, not thinking of how just moments ago, she was ready to decapitate the shadow guard and kill the mastermind, the Prince, after too.

Roku looked at the girl with deep raven hair tied back into a high ponytail. Even though her expression was cold, her features were still sharp and beautiful. Dressed in an all black outfit, she seemed just like any other ordinary hunter. But her hands never left her sword and was always prepared to draw it.

"Kyle, be careful of who you are playing with. If I was even a second later, your shadow guard would be dead and you would have been cut up into pieces. It will then really be a pity to have blood splattered all over this splendid room."

Kyle startled as he looked at Roku slouched against the window.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. Don't poke a sleeping lion."

~~~~~~~~~~

- After -

The floating debris named Aki was still looking up at the blue sky when a rough wave hit her. She tried to ignore it but it was getting persistent and a seaweed smacked into her face. Looking at the source, she saw a ship that was getting attacked by a giant octopus monster.

"Didn't think I would see something like a Kraken too."

Aki looked down at the piece of red seaweed that she was grabbing onto. It was a Rhodo, a herb that was useful in curing diseases in marine creatures. Aki stuffed it into her magic bag.

"I really hope Shinshu doesn't get damaged from the salt..."

Sending some magic power to her feet, Aki was able to stand on the water. She did a quick draw and a few slashes at a speed too fast to see with an untrained eye and sheathed it again. For a moment, nothing happened.

"I guess I should get going. First I need to go back to check if Kit Kat and Cadbury are still there."

Aki jumped as if stepping on invisible steps in the air and she sped through the air, disappearing over the horizon.

Back at the ship, the sailors were shouting incoherently, with some already given up and were praying to their god. The captain was trying his best to take control of the ship but the octopus had already wind their ship up tightly in its grasp.

Suddenly, a cut appeared on its tentacles and blood spurted out. Following that, the tentacles were split into many pieces and blood rained down on the ship. The bits and pieces fell into the ocean, with some crushing the sailors on deck.

The red soaked captain stood stunned at their sudden escape from death.

"Thank God..."