Apocalypse Hunter

< A Hunter and a Stray Cat (1) >

Usually, cities had big chip safes due to the threat of thieves. Storing chips at home was considered stupid. Merchants formed unions and stored all the chips in one safe altogether.

Occasionally, there were times when the guards would embezzle the chips, but storing chips inside the safe was considered quite secure. When someone had ones chips taken away by robbers, it was very likely that ones life would also be at risk. As a result, the people established a bizarre rationale for using a safe. 

Cities would usually place their safes in secure locations, and secure locations were usually ordinary locations. People had similar thoughts, and so safes were usually placed in predictable locations. Zin entered a rather well-maintained four-story building. 

Safes were usually in the basement of a safe building. Zin could not remember a time when this rule did not apply. Perhaps humans instinctively thought that it was more secure to be underground. Zin felt thankful for the tendencies of people.

As Zin walked down, he stopped at the sound coming from ahead.

crunch! crrunch! 

A ghoul was sitting down and gnawing on something. As expected, there were corpses herethree to be exact.

I guess something killed them while they were trying to rob the safe.

The stairway was the only way down to the basement. Blocking the stairway, the ghoul kept eating its corpse and ignored Zin. In the midst of this tragedy, these people had died from their greed in robbing the safe. It probably wouldnt be smart to get too close to the ghoul. The ghoul would react if one were to pass by. Fortunately, there was only one ghoul, so taking care of it was not a big deal for Zin. 

Zin took out a gauntlet with blades. The blade gauntlet was especially useful in dealing with small-sized monsters.

Slowly and quietly, Zin approached the ghoul that had its back facing him.

crunch! crunch! 

Krrr! Krrrr!! 

The ghoul wasnt aware of Zin at all as it continued to focus on its meal. Zin moved slowly, almost as if he stood still. Like a person walking for the first time, Zin very quietly drew close enough to the ghoul that he could see the soiled pores on its head.

Hunting was simple.

Approach quietly, and then 

craack! 

When hunting, move swifter than sound.

Kr aaaarggh!

crack! pow! 

Kraaak!

Zin grabbed the ghoul by the neck, breaking it and yanking it completely off the body. The blades on his gauntlet slashed the ghouls neck apart. Zin overpowered the body of the ghoul and pinned it down until it stopped moving.

Hunting was different from fighting a battle.

Hunting involved the battle and the time taken to approach the enemy, or the time it took for the enemy to approach the hunter. 

Overpowering the enemy within a split second was the most optimal method of hunting. The battle itself was important yet took the shortest time.

Zin stuck the blue-chip extractor into the ghouls corpse. It extracted a total of three chips from the body. Zin pulled out the extractor and headed down towards the safe. He found a closed old steel door, with the locks unfastened.

The steel door was so heavy that it would require at least three ordinary people to open. That was probably the reason why there were three dead people in heretheyd tried to open the steel door. And on the steel door, there were dozens of claw marks streaked across the surface.

For Zin, it wasnt so hard to open the steel door.

creeeeaaak! 

The heavy steel door scratched the floor as it swung open.

Zin felt stunned at the sight of the lantern light. Zin shook his head as he looked at what lay in front of him. A person woke to the sound of the opening steel door and looked sluggishly at Zin. The person smiled faintly.

Its a human.

A girl was lying down on the floor.

The girl was so malnourished it seemed like a miracle that she was still alive. She slowly murmured:

Wawater please.

 

The girl passed out after saying the words. Zin looked at the girl on the floorher body had been tied up with ropes.

Zin looked around slowly to determine if she posed a threat. The exhausted girl did not wake up as Zin examined her like an object.

The hunter thought:

Looking at the color of her eyes, shes not a vagabond, and since shes a child, she cant be a Slaughter.

A civilian.

She looks extremely starved. Its a miracle shes still alive.

This door is too heavy for the Giant Wolf cubs to push open, and I wonder if thats how she survived. The wolves tried to open the door after sniffing the girls scent, but the door wouldnt open. Thats probably the reason for the claw marks on the door.

On the other hand, the door was too heavy for the girl to open. The safe saved her, but at the same time, she was starving to death inside the safe. I wonder how she entered the safe in the first place?

Did the dead robbers trap her inside?

The hunter analyzed.

I can use her as a witness.

This girl was a survivor of Zado City. He could use here as a witness for the Ard Point request. Or he could leave her alone after listening to her testimony. It would be cumbersome to bring this small child all the way back to Ard Point.

Zin searched the safe, leaving the girl alone. Soon, Zin found another reason to keep the girl alive.

No chips here.

There was not a single chip inside the safe.

When the girl woke up, the first thing she saw was a man boiling something in a pot. Inside the sealed safe, the man watched the girl.

You finally woke up.

Zin passed a cup of water to the girl, and the girl barely grabbed the cup to drink the water. The girl felt more energized as if her thirst had disappeared with the crispness of the water.

Who are you? 

A hunter.

I see. I thought I was gonna die. Thank you.

No need for that.

Zin passed a bowl of soup to the girl, and she gobbled it quickly. Burning her tongue as she drank the hot soup, she finished it completely.

I gave you water and food, so now answer my questions.

The girl understood what he was about to ask. Zin was not a polite person and spoke harshly.

Ive got three questions for you.

First, what caused the destruction of Zado City? Second, how did you end up in the safe? Third, where are all the chips in the safe?

Zin asked the three questions quickly, while the girl stayed still and alert, looking at Zin. In the wilderness, one couldn’t guarantee their own safety. If the hunter didnt get the answer he wanted, there was no knowing how he would react.

What happens if I dont answer?

I will make you answer them.

How?

Well, are you curious?

As Zin spoke, the girls face hardened. The girl talked slowly and with great animosity.

Youre going to kill me after I answer, arent you?

The girls suspicions were understandable since people frequently killed others after gaining the needed information.

If Im someone whod kill you after listening to your answers, dont you think Id kill you if you dont answer? 

Speak.

Then, I am going to ask you one thing too.

The girl spoke brazenly, seemingly unaware of her situation. The world was full of countless crazy and weird fools, and this behavior was nothing new to Zin. He asked:

What is it?

The girl showed him her empty soup bowl.

This. I chewed on something meat-like?

Shed eaten it in a hurry, and the food had the texture of meat. It was very tough and smelled bad. Shed eaten it first but felt uneasy afterward. More importantly, meat was not something that people shared with strangers so easily.

Of course it tasted like meat because it is meat.

what meat?

The hunter started eating the soup and pointed at the steel door.

I just hunted a ghoul.

Huh? What?

You dont get it, do you?

So youre saying that this meat is.

What else? Ghoul meat.

Oop blaargh!

The girl started throwing up as soon as she heard the words. Zin sighed as he watched the girl throw up.

Kids these days.

Spitting out words like an old fart, Zin continued to eat the ghoul meat soup.

The girl seemed hungry again after throwing up and started eating the soup, stuffing it down her throat. She felt nauseated, but she continued to eat since she felt that shed surely die if she didnt eat anything.

Phew

The girl looked better after eating, and she glanced at Zin.

Im Leona. Whats your name?

I didnt ask for your name. Answer my questions.

Leona pouted.

If you forgot the questions, let me repeat them. First

I remember them all. You dont need to tell me again.

Cutting him off, Leona became more attentive.

What guarantee do I have that youll spare my life if I answer all your questions?

Well, I am planning to take you to Ard Point, which is four days away out west, to use you as a witness for a request. Without you, I wont get paid 100 blue chips, so killing you is not in my interests.

Thats hard to understand. Can you explain?

Leona made a face as though she couldnt understand Zins words, and Zin lamented that kids these days werent quick to pick up on things.

You are a survivor, so you should know the full details about the citys demise?

What does demise mean?

Zin felt helpless thinking about how hed need to explain his words in laymans terms. After a short pause, Zin started speaking once more to the puzzled Leona.

I need you because you know better than I do how this place ended up as a dump. Without you, I cannot solve my homework, understand?

Ah… okay! Thats better.

Zin sighed again at seeing Leona understand his easier words.

So youre telling me that you need to tell someone why Zado got trashed, and because I know it the best, you need to take me to the boss, and thats the reason you cant kill me?

As dumb as you are, youre starting to get it.

Hey, what do you mean?

Just joking.

Joking?

Leona shook her head but didnt ask again. She started answering the first question.

I dont know exactly when I started hearing the wolves howling all over the place, and then big and small wolves starting killing people.

Werent you trapped in the safe?

When the monsters came, the wolf cubbies trapped me inside the safe so that I couldnt run away.

Hmm those Giant Wolves dont form packs. Those monsters. Do you know why they were forming packs? 

Leona shrugged.I dont know? They were just doing it.

There was no way she would know. As Leona answered the first question, she answered the second question as well. Suddenly, the attack began, and she ended up trapped in the safe. It was not by her own will.

Did you cause some issues in the city?

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I killed two people.

Why?

One tried to steal my chips, and the other tried to rape me.

I see.

Zin was surprised by the fact that this small girl was able to kill people, let alone that she’d killed without any remorse.