Chapter Ten: The Joyful Life of Alice and Four Hunters

“Kaidin, bring over the long knife for cutting.”

“This ghoul’s skin is really thick this time.”

“It’s so cold, Little Alice, could you start a fire?”

“Eh, it’s not even dark yet. We might have to stay up all night.”

“If we start the fire now, my magic should last until morning, Mr. Reim.”

“Awesome, Little Alice, your magic power has increased!”

“If this goes on, we’ll be able to live cozy and warm in the forest 24/7.”

“Reim, if you don’t step up your game, Alice might take your spot as the team’s magician.”

After Reim bought me a red pendant magic item, I rapidly improved my black magic fire techniques. Plus, each time Eleanor took Yulia to Master DeVein’s shop to teach me reading, she also helped me with magic. So now, I can not only control the shape of flames skillfully, but I can also generate fire with very low magic consumption.

Besides that, I can create up to seven fireballs at once, acting as a guard and protecting the hunting team from unnecessary attacks.

Now, just by using Self-Identification, I could see that new changes had appeared in my information:

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Race: Ghoul Half-Blood

Status: Frenzy – Curse of the Black Goat Calf, Logic – Infection of the White Spider Larva

Skills: Great Demon Tribe Language, Self-Identification, Frenzy – Demon Transformation, Hunting, Black Magic – Fire, Low-Level Word Spirit

Magic Power: 13/15

Other: Ghoul Eater, Rabbit Slayer, Manipulator of Flames

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The title “Manipulator of Flames” must be Master Self-Identification praising my abilities. Over the past three months, I had also asked Miss Eleanor quite a bit about the basics of word spirit magic, and finally, a few days ago, my skill received a long-awaited upgrade.

“Don’t slack off, Kus, hurry up and cut off the horn.”

“But this thing is so hard; let’s have dinner first.”

“Alice is hungry too!”

“Well, since even Little Alice said so, let’s cook first.”

“Does that mean my opinions don’t matter?”

“Kus, stop acting dumb and quickly get the pot out.”

It had been over a year since I first met Maern and the others. I quickly grasped the basics of conversation and lived a hunting life with them.

Three of the four, including Maern, were locals from nearby villages, while Kaidin was from the North, even though they all had distinctly different personalities.

Maern seemed to be the eldest among the four. As a former mercenary, he was the strongest hunter in the group and also the most serious and stern member.

In contrast, Kus was always wearing a goofy grin, cracking weird jokes that annoyed Maern while enjoying slacking off.

As for Reim, he had delicate skills that were totally at odds with his rugged appearance. Though he claimed to have the weakest combat ability, he was the jack-of-all-trades in the team. As the only magician among the four, he used his magical talents to search for prey in the forest and heal injured teammates, while outside the forest, he handled trading and negotiations. He was the soul of the group.

As for the outsider Kaidin, he proudly claimed that “there’s a beautiful childhood friend waiting for him to earn enough money to return home and marry.” He was a total playboy, constantly flirting with the women in camp and town, disrupting their peace, and even teasing me, who looked like a five-year-old girl.

“Hey, Alice-chan, wanna hug?”

“No way, I’ve got to start the fire.”

“Geez, Kaidin, don’t come over and mess up my cooking.”

“Alright, alright, Kus, let’s try to cut that horn off before dinner!”

“Ahaha, when did you become such a joker?”

In this manner, I’ve been taken care of by these four, serving as both a heater and an apprentice. My agility is unusual for a kid, and whether it’s hunting ghouls or collecting materials, they always brought me along.

Of course, the giant bears continued to eye me with suspicion. They say those bears specifically prey on ghouls, so I guess they came sniffing around because they caught wind of the ghoul scent on me. Luckily, those giant bears were cautious around the four hunters and didn’t dare to come too close.

So, recently, I’ve been quietly sneaking out of camp at night, resolving the nearby gray bears that could pose a threat before sneaking back. Well, I typically slipped out while Kus was dozing off on guard duty.

After all, I can’t let them discover my horrifying ghoul transformation; otherwise, I’d be abandoned like a monster, and I’d never get to enjoy Reim’s grand feast again.

Now, we were gathered around the fire, feasting on deer meat. Indeed, deer meat was the best in this forest.

“Reim’s cooking has improved again.”

“You could marry him, marry him!”

“Kus, have you not been taught enough?”

“Speaking of which, Alice-chan’s birthday is the day after tomorrow.”

“Ahh, that smelly old man DeVein decided on that birthday without consent.”

“Let’s throw a big birthday party in the camp today.”

“Eh? No need to make such a fuss; it’s just a randomly made-up date.”

“That’s not allowed; Alice is a girl, after all.”

“She is our little treasure.”

“That statement is just packed with affection.”

“In my hometown, I’ve got a beautiful childhood friend waiting, so don’t get the wrong idea, Alice.”

“What kind of gift does Alice want?”

“I told you it’s fine not to fuss over it…” My face slowly turned red.

“You’re embarrassed! That’s embarrassing!” Kus relentlessly teased me.

My face flushed crimson; using magic, I made the flames hovering in the center of us sway wildly toward Kus.

“I’m sorry! Please let me go, Alice, no!”

And so, for over a year, I’ve been living a very joyful life.

Two days later, I was lazily sleeping in the wooden cabin at the camp, while Maern and the others were hauling a cart filled with ghoul materials to Master DeVein’s shop in the settlement to discuss prices.

The ghouls with horns we hunted a few days ago were quite rare, so we should earn a fair bit. I was dozing off while thinking aimlessly when I woke up to find Kaidin covering my eyes and pulling me out of the hall.

“One, two, three, Happy Birthday, Little Alice!”

The small hall was decorated with care, and a perfect roast turkey sat at the center.

Finally, the cloth covering my eyes was removed, revealing a giant bird larger than a wild deer, leaving me astonished to the point of speechlessness.

“Wow, what a huge turkey! How did you manage to get this?”

“You’ve never had it, right? I specifically asked the owner of Joy Street to get it.”

“And we picked out these new clothes for you yesterday in town.”

“After all, you’ve been wearing Reim’s old clothes.”

“And your cloak has become all tattered and worn.”

“Quick, try it on and show us!”

The four of them said as they handed me a new outfit. I initially accepted the clothes with glee but soon realized something was off.

What kind of outfit is this? Isn’t this a dress meant for girls? And the fabric on the top is so scant, are they really trying to make me expose my shoulders? Plus, this strap and these stockings—do they really want me to wear this embarrassing outfit?

Ah, what strange taste do they have, did they learn this from Eleanor?

Despair filled me as I gazed at the four hunters, an overwhelming urge to flee surged within me, and I quickly turned around, throwing the clothes down and bolting away.

However, a child cannot escape the grasp of adults, especially when those are four strong hunters. I was instantly pinned to the ground by Maern, while Reim picked up the dress from the ground and approached with a mischievous grin.

And Kus was also deftly bringing over the leftover stockings and ribbons, while Kaidin expertly started forcibly taking off my clothes to get me into the new outfit.

With no choice left, I could only be held down, furious but unable to move, letting them dress me up with tears in my eyes.

Thus, they roughly dressed me in new clothes, and I displayed myself in front of them, almost on the verge of crying. The four hunters looked on at me like I was the cutest little animal.

–Illustration 4

“Although you were cute before, you’re even cuter now.”

“Exactly! This cute outfit really suits Alice!”

“Since you’re so good at flattering, how about I give you all something in return?”

To mask my extreme humiliation, I raised my voice and ran out to fetch the gray bear’s firestone I had secured earlier.

This was the result of my nighttime hunt to ensure safety around the camp. Although only one gray bear had a usable firestone, it was bigger than the other stones I had found before.

“What is this?”

“This is the firestone from the giant bear!”

I placed the stone in Reim’s hands and let them take turns trying to inject magic into it. Unfortunately, aside from Reim, who already could use magic, only Kus succeeded in igniting a flame among the four.

“Awesome! That means I can use fire in the forest from now on.” Kus gazed happily at the flame flickering in his palm, theatrically teasing the others, “Well, if you two practice hard, you’ll definitely be able to do it too.”

“How infuriating, a measly Kus!”

“Not fair!”

“By the way, Alice, where did you get these stones?” After Maern and Reim exchanged strange glances, they asked me.

I guessed that Maern would ask this, so I employed my foolproof method of dealing with it.

“It’s a girl’s secret, you know.”

I blushed and pretended to be shy, quickly turning my back to them. With my current outfit, I smoothly diverted the topic away.

“How annoying, you definitely had Eleanor take two people into the forest again, didn’t you?” I chose to ignore Reim’s puzzling statement.

Whatever, let’s eat first. I didn’t care about Reim’s muttering, and I picked up a fork and moved toward dinner.

Kaidin was already gobbling down the food over there, munching on chicken meat and saying, “Stop chatting and eat the turkey; it’s going to get cold.”

“Kaidin, don’t steal food!” I said, hurriedly putting turkey onto my plate.

“Oh, by the way, I ran into Yulia at Master DeVein’s shop yesterday. She said she wants to go hunting in the forest with us in a few days.”

“Don’t worry, today when I asked Eleanor for help picking clothes, she told me she had already declined Yulia’s request.”

“Ah, but taking her out once wouldn’t be a big deal, would it?” I said, chewing on a turkey wing, feeling displeased.

“Since that’s the case, in a few days, I’ll take Young Miss Yulia and Maid Eleanor out to the forest to hunt deer,” Maern suggested.

“I wanna go too! I wanna go too!” Kaidin quickly chimed in, his eyes lit up, “Maid Eleanor is such a beauty! Damn you, Reim, are you really classmates?”

“That woman is extremely terrifying; I’d advise you not to have any thoughts about her,” Reim responded, looking like he recalled some dark past.

“Ah, Reim, she isn’t your first love, is she?” Kus sniffed at a hint of scandal.

“Is that true, Reim?” I pressured, pushing closer.

“What nonsense are you all talking about?” Reim immediately denied, wanting to change the subject.

Thus, the five of us enjoyed another pleasant day filled with laughter.

Then, five days later, I had my first encounter with Dante.

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About how Alice dealt with the giant bear corpses in the forest: Most were roasted and eaten in her ghoul form. Alice is quite the frightening girl, isn’t she?