Chapter 8: Ghoul Hunter

The captured ghoul towered over the hunters, standing more than twice their height, clutching a withered tree branch, clearly much stronger than them. Two hunters armed with spears drew the ghoul’s attention, perilously dodging the swings of its wooden club. The heavy club struck the ground, kicking up dirt that nearly blew the two hunters away.

Meanwhile, the ambush hunters seized the opportunity, drawing their bows to launch sharp arrows that struck the ghoul’s eyeball, forcing it to drop the club and howl in pain while clutching its eyes. The other two hunters immediately charged in, fiercely stabbing at the ghoul’s ankles.

Thus, the four hunters deftly avoided the ghoul’s attacks, coordinating seamlessly to gradually inflict damage on the cumbersome creature, completely oblivious to a silver-haired child in a bear cloak sitting nearby on a tree, watching their intricate teamwork in rapt attention.

–Illustration 1

Time seemed to stretch as the ghoul, gradually spent from all its efforts, succumbed to their final blow. The child couldn’t help but jump down from the tree and clap, exclaiming, “Sugoi, sugoi!”

The four hunters turned, wide-eyed, at the small child behind them, muttering incomprehensible words.

The silver-haired, red-eyed girl seemed to realize that there was a language barrier between them. But being only three or four years old, she thought learning to speak should be easy.

Yet by the time the girl gathered her wits, she had already been surrounded by the four burly men.

“How cute! Let’s take her home and raise her!”

“Four smelly men?”

“When she grows up, she’ll make a nice wife!”

“I’ve still got my childhood sweetheart back home waiting for me.”

“This girl is going to be a beauty when she grows up, huh?”

“By the way, what’s a kid doing way out here in the forest?”

“This outfit looks so warm.”

As the hunters exchanged these nonsensical dialogues, one of them picked the girl up. She was hoisted high by what seemed to be the leader of the hunters, who began examining her with a curious look.

“Are you speaking the dialect of the ghoul tribe from Mt. Arus?” the leader asked the girl in another language.

“Yes! I’m a homeless little hunter now, can you uncles take me in?” Upon realizing this man could understand her, the girl immediately made her plea.

For now, she just needed to win their favor and secure her place with them. The girl thought optimistically, forcing herself to present the most adorable expression and gazing at the hunters with her watery eyes.

“Take you in?”

The leader scrutinized the girl’s silver hair and red eyes with an incredulous gaze, asking coldly:

“Do you know about the Tear-marked Ghouls in the forest? It’s been pretty unsafe lately; we saw a tall Tear-marked Ghoul with silver hair and red eyes on our last hunting expedition—its hair color was identical to yours, terrifyingly strong; it almost wiped us all out. Do you have any intel on that creature, or are you perhaps the offspring of a ghoul?”

Uh-oh, she might really be just as he said. The girl gasped internally but kept a brave face, quickly responding, “I’ve never seen it!”

After saying this, she envisioned warm blankets and delicious food in her mind, doing her utmost to show the hunter holding her the most innocent smile she could muster.

Seeing the girl’s radiant smile, the leader’s demeanor softened.

“Well, that makes sense; how could a ghoul give birth to such a cute little human? You’re probably a child abandoned by some wild ghoul mercenaries, right? Did you come from that direction?”

The leader pointed towards the distant mountains, continuing his questioning.

The little girl tilted her head in confusion and then confirmed with the hunter.

“Do you remember your name?”

This time, the girl didn’t speak, just shook her head silently.

“Well. For now, we’ll take you back to the village so everyone can give you a name. We’ll also teach you the language here.”

After saying this, the leader turned to the other hunters and spoke in the local dialect, “Let’s take care of this girl for now.”

Upon hearing his words, the other hunters responded by taking turns carrying the silver-haired girl.

“She sure has a lot of hair.”

“She’s probably been abandoned for a long time.”

“Can’t believe she’s managed to survive in the forest all this time.”

“So cute! I’m taking her home, it’s decided!”

“Well, we can’t just leave her here.”

“Hahaha, don’t let my gruff exterior fool you; I used to take care of little siblings back home!”

“Got it, let’s head back quickly!”

“Eh, we decided just like that?”

“Anyone against this?”

With that, the hunters cuddling the girl continued to chatter away in a mix of languages, now on their way back to camp.

“So troublesome! Because of that stupid barrier, we can’t start a fire.”

“We’ll be at camp soon enough. Do you really need your fix that badly?”

“By the way, did anyone mark the spot where we found the ghoul’s body?”

“Whose fault was it last time we almost lost it, thinking it got taken by a fire bear?”

“This time, it’s properly marked.”

And so, amid the booming voices of the hunters, the girl was carried back to camp like a toy.

Interlude: Ghouls, Names, and Haircuts

Reim, a ghoul hunter living outside Poseidon Fortress, made his living alongside three partners hunting ghouls. In their hunting team, he took on a leadership role.

Today, the four hunters successfully killed an exceptionally large ghoul in Silya Forest and found a little girl on their way back to camp.

Indeed, though Reim still found it hard to believe, they had actually found a three- or four-year-old girl deep in the dangerous woods. Wearing nothing but a tattered bear pelt, her silver hair was nearly dragging on the ground, clearly abandoned in the forest for quite some time.

Leaving the girl alone in the woods was simply impossible to bear. Moreover, with the emergence of unusually powerful ghouls lately in Silya Forest, there was no way they could let her stay there any longer. With that thought, Reim and the hunting team resolved to bring the girl back to camp.

Now, in the common room of the rustic hunter’s lodge at the edge of the forest, the girl sat quietly in the center, while Reim held a pair of scissors, preparing to cut the girl’s excessively long hair.

“Well, it seems like asking Reim to cut hair is the best option, since you’re the one who trims all our hair.”

The three companions all chimed in with the same sentiment, leaving Reim with no choice but to accept the task.

But this was hard! After all, long hair looked best on girls, but managing long hair could be a hassle, especially for hunters who frequently ventured into the forest, as it could easily get in the way. Perhaps it was better to give her a short hairstyle instead. But what style? Bangs or a forehead show? This was truly a tough choice! Reim thought of asking for the others’ opinions, but the three had already started drinking beer and were eagerly crowding around to watch his performance.

Ugh, looks like I have to do this by myself.

After a long hesitation, Reim finally managed to snip off the excess hair from the little girl. His companion, Maern, pulled out a small copper mirror from a box so the little girl could see her new look, while another hunter, Kaiding, stealthily plotted to take away all the cut hair.

“What are you planning, Kaiding?”

“Ah, I was thinking this silver hair is so beautiful; the girls in town might be interested…”

“You really can’t stop thinking about women, can you?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Just as the hunters were ready to tease Kaiding again, the little girl let out a tinkling laugh.

“Seems like she really likes her new haircut!”

“No doubt about it, our handy Reim does it well.”

“Reim’s cooking is great too.”

“Just like mom.”

“Quit it, Kaiding, you’re in charge of helping the girl pick a name; we can’t keep calling her ‘the girl’ forever!”

“Eh, why me?”

“You’ve traveled all over before coming to Posein, so you’ve met the most people here, right? You’re the most knowledgeable among us.”

“And you’re always surrounded by females; you definitely know a few pretty female names!”

Thus, Kaiding approached the girl earnestly, squatting down to observe her for a long while, before standing up as if he’d received a revelation and declaring:

“Alice! Let’s call her Alice!”

“Alice sounds great!”

“Oh, Alice has the middle name of a silver-haired, red-eyed vampire that transforms into a dragon back in my homeland. How fitting she is for this girl’s image, huh?”

“Fitting my foot! Vampire and such—too unlucky!”

“How about Jonas then? That’s the middle name of a legendary blood-dragon! Or perhaps Yuna sees, the male name for a silver-haired vampire?”

“Why do we keep mentioning vampires? Could we not come up with something luckier?”

“What’s wrong with vampires? Back in my home, everyone idolizes them! I used to fantasize about becoming one when I was a child!”

“Stop being ridiculous. If you were one, we’d just throw you out right now!” shouted Kus, the local brute.

“I remember there was an attack from ghoul folk coming from the west a long time ago, right?” Reim recalled the ghoul stories of their village.

“Eh, there’s such a thing? I always thought ghouls were raucous, jovial fellows,” Maern, the former mercenary who had partnered with ghoul soldiers, responded.

“Are we trading stories now? Hurry up and tell me!” the gossip-loving Kaiding prompted.

“It was about the time I was around this little girl’s age. It was a cold winter day…”

“Enough already! Let’s discuss her name!”

“What do you think, Reim?”

Reim paused, considered, and said, “I think Alice sounds pretty good, excluding all of Kaiding’s extraneous comments.”

“Ah, Reim, thanks for supporting me!”

“Well then, we’ll go with Alice, then.” Kus conceded, “Seems no one we know is named Alice anyway.”

Upon hearing this, Reim approached the little girl, bent down, and gently patted her head as she obediently sat on a small stool, saying, “From now on, your name will be Alice! So be sure to listen well, alright?”

Well, Alice still seems to be struggling with the common human language; she probably doesn’t understand what we’re saying. After Reim thought this through, he pondered how to teach Alice the common human tongue. Among the hunters present, only he could speak the dialect of the Arus mountain ghouls, it seemed the teaching duties would inevitably fall upon him.