Learning From The Hunter
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The next morning, I was up early. As soon as the sun rose over the horizon, I left my room and went to find someone who could help me with this new problem of mine. It wasn’t long before I found a woman in her mid-thirties sitting on a bench outside the inn’s common room.
She had short brown hair that she wore tied back into a ponytail. Her face was round, and she looked like an ordinary person—if you ignored the fact that she carried two swords strapped across her back and another one hanging from her belt.
“Good morning,” I said cheerfully when I approached her. “I need your help.”
She gave me a sharp look but didn’t say anything more than that for several seconds. Then she sighed deeply, stood up, and walked toward me. When we were close enough to touch each other if we stretched out our arms, she stopped walking and stared at me without saying a word. After what felt like forever, she finally spoke. “What do you want?”
“You’re a hunter, right? Is there anyone else here who might be able to help me?”
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she studied my face. Finally, she nodded once. “There is someone. But he isn’t very talkative.” She paused again, then added, “He’s also not very good.”
That made sense; it would have been strange if there weren’t any hunters in town. Still, I couldn’t tell whether or not that meant he wouldn’t be willing to help me. If so, I’d just have to keep looking.
“Do you know where I can find him?”
She shook her head. “No. He doesn’t go anywhere near the inn. And no one has seen him leave since yesterday afternoon.”
“Yesterday afternoon?” That surprised me. Wasn’t he supposed to stay around here all day?
“Yes. Someone told us that he had gone off somewhere alone last night.”
“So he hasn’t come back yet?”
“Not that I’ve heard.”
If he hadn’t shown up by now, maybe I should give up on finding him. This whole thing was getting complicated. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked for his help in the first place…
But then something occurred to me. “Wait! Don’t you think I could get some information about him from the people who saw him leave yesterday?”
“Oh!” she exclaimed. “Of course.” She turned toward the inn and called out, “Hey, everyone, did you see anyone leave here last night?”
A few minutes later, a group of men came out onto the street and began talking among themselves. They were all dressed similarly: dark leather armor covered their bodies, and they all had swords hanging from their belts. One man, however, stood out from them all.
His skin was darker than theirs, which made him seem even stranger. In addition, he had a pair of large horns growing out of his forehead.
“Did you see anyone leave here last night?” the woman repeated.
“Yeah, I did,” answered a young man wearing a black hooded cloak. “It was that guy. I’m pretty sure it was him.”
“Who do you mean?”
“The big one with the horns. You know, the one who looks like a demon.”
“That’s him,” the woman confirmed. “Was he alone?”
“Nah, there was a girl with him.”
My heart skipped a beat. So he really did meet that girl after all.
“And what kind of girl was she?”
“Well…” The young man hesitated for a moment, then said, “She was kinda cute, actually. She was wearing a white dress.”
“How old was she?”
“About seventeen, I guess. She was tall and skinny, and she had dark hair. Kinda reminded me of a deer.”
“Did she speak to you?”
“Not really. Just smiled real friendly and waved goodbye before she left.”
“Thank you,” the woman replied. “Could you please describe her to me?”
“Sure. She was probably a little taller than me. She had black hair and blue eyes, and she was wearing a red dress.”
“Is that all?”
“Uh, yeah. What else do you wanna know?”
“Everything,” she said firmly. “Where did you see her?”
“In front of the inn. She was standing by the door, waiting for the big guy to show up.”
“When did you notice her?”
“Like I said, she was just standing there. But she must have been watching the road because I saw her turn around and stare at me every time someone passed by.”
“Did she smile at you?”
“Um… Yeah, she did. But I don’t know why. It wasn’t like she wanted to talk to me or anything.”
“Did you try talking to her?”
“I did, but she ignored me.”
“Why would she ignore you?”
“Because I was staring at her like an idiot.”
“Were you?”
“Yeah, I was. I thought she was super-cute.”
“Then how come she didn’t smile at you?”
“Maybe she was too shy to talk to strangers.”
“What makes you think she was shy?”
“Well, she was smiling at me, but then she looked away when I started talking.”
“Did she say anything?”
“Just ‘hi’ and ‘bye.'”
“Did you hear her voice?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Okay, thank you. That will be all.”
After the young man left, I sat down next to the woman. “He was right. She was definitely the girl who ran into me outside the inn yesterday.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“It’s easy. Her hair was the same color as mine.”
“Really? How do you know?”
“Because there are only two girls in this town who have black hair and blue eyes. One is my sister, and the other is the girl I met yesterday.”
“Your sister?”
“Yep. We look so much alike that we can hardly tell us apart.”
“Wow, you guys really do look similar.”
“We always knew that,” I said with a chuckle. “People used to call us twins whenever we went out together.”
“Twins?! That’s amazing!”
“Yeah, well, our parents named us differently, though.”
“Huh?”
“They gave me the name Keima, while my sister got the name Kaede.”
“So your siblings are different genders?”
“Yup. My brother’s name is Sebas, and my sister’s name is Ayame.”
“Ayame?!”
“Yeah, that’s her nickname.”
“Wait, you have a twin sister named Ayame?”
“Apparently.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense! Why would your parents give you a name that sounds like hers?!”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s weird!”
“Don’t worry about it. Anyway, what were you doing here?”
“Oh, I came to ask you something. Did you happen to see a girl running through town yesterday?”
“Yes, I did. A pretty girl, with long, black hair and blue eyes.”
“That was her.”
“And where did she go after that?”
“To the inn.”
“Which one?”
“The Silver Moon Inn.”
“Thanks. Do you mind if I take a picture of you to use as evidence later on?”
“Go ahead.”
“Alright, thanks again.”
With that done, I headed back home.
***
“Hey, Keima. You’ve been gone for quite some time now.”
“Sorry, I was busy today.”
“Busy doing what?”
“Meeting a girl.”
“A girl?”
“Yeah, a girl. And I’m gonna marry her.”
“W-Wait, hold on a second! Who is she?!”
“Her name’s Jibril. She’s a succubus.”
“Succubi?!”
“Yep. They’re demons from another world, and they live in the Dungeon.”
“Demons?!”
“Yep. Demons.”
“Keima, you can’t just go marrying a demon!”
“Why not? Succubi aren’t evil. In fact, they’re very kind people.”
“But…”
“Besides, I already asked her to marry me.”
“You did?!”
“Yep. I told her I’d make her the queen of my kingdom.”
“D-Doesn’t that mean you’ll be married to her?!”
“Nope, it means I’m going to marry her.”
“But… But that’s wrong!!”
“Why? Because I’m marrying a demon?”
“Of course!”
“Who cares? If you don’t want to get married to her, then don’t. I’m not forcing you to.”
“B-But…”
“Anyway, I gotta run. I need to start working on the wedding preparations.”
“Wha—?! Wedding preparations!? What for!?”
“For the ceremony itself.”
“S-Sonny, I don’t think you should be getting married yet!”
“Why not? I love her, and I wanna spend the rest of my life with her.”
“But you haven’t even gotten to know each other! You barely know anything about her!”
“True, but I still feel the same way I felt when I first saw her.”
“Well, at least wait until you actually get to know her before you decide to marry her!”
“No can do. I’ve decided to marry her, so I’m gonna do it.”
“What are you talking about?! You can’t just marry someone without knowing them!”
“Sure I can.”
“Then why did you say ‘sure’?”
“Because I’m an idiot.”
“Eek!! N-Not that word either!”
“I am an idiot. So there.”
“Ugh… Fine. But you better not regret this decision later on.”
“I won’t.”
“Good. Then let’s hurry up and get started with the wedding preparations.”
“Right.”
***
“Okay, Keima, you’re officially engaged to Jibril.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Now, how do you plan on marrying her?”
“Hm. Well, I guess I’ll just have to keep pretending to be a human.”
“Pretend to be a human?”
“Yep. That’s the only way I can marry a demon.”
“But… Isn’t that dangerous?”
“It’s fine. Jibril said she wouldn’t kill me if I kept acting like a human.”
“She would never do such a thing!”
“Trust me, she will. It’s part of the deal. If I don’t pretend to be a human, she’ll kill me.”
“…”
“Also, I’m sure you’re wondering why I didn’t tell you all this sooner. The reason is because I wanted to wait until we were ready for the wedding.”
“Ready for the wedding…? Wait, what does that mean?”
“We’re planning on getting married next week.”
“Next week? Why so soon?”
“Jibril said she wants to get married right away.”
“Why?”
“She says she doesn’t want to waste any more time being alone.”
“O-Oh, okay. Yeah, she must really like you.”
“Yeah, apparently I’m the first person she’s ever fallen in love with.”
“That’s surprising. I thought demons were supposed to be heartless monsters who only cared about themselves.”
“They are, but Jibril isn’t one of those.”
“Really? Then why did she become a demon?”
“Apparently she had some sort of traumatic experience as a child.”
“So she became a demon because of something that happened to her when she was little?”
“Yep. Apparently, that trauma made her hate humans.”
“And now she loves you?”
“Yup.”
“Wow… She sounds pretty amazing.”
“Yeah, she is.”
“In that case, I guess I’ll support your relationship with her.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“I’m glad you approve.”
“By the way, Keima, I heard you got engaged to a succubus.”
“Yes, I did. I told you about that, remember?”
“Yeah, I do. But I didn’t hear you mention anything about getting married.”
“The wedding is happening next week.”
“Wedding… Next week? How long ago did you get engaged?”
“About two days.”
“Two whole days…? And you’re already getting married?”
“Actually, we decided to get married yesterday.”
“…Huh?”
“Yesterday, we talked about marriage, and today we decided to do it.”
“You decided to get married after two days?!”
“Yep.”
“But you don’t even know her very well!”
“I know enough to know that I love her.”
“Love…?”
“Yes, love. Love. I love her.”
“I see… But still, that’s a bit sudden, don’t you think?”
“It’s not too early or anything. We both know that we love each other, so it’s fine.”
“Keima…”
“Anyway, Mom, I gotta go. I need to prepare for our wedding.”
“All right, Keima. Be careful out there.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll come back alive.”
“Just make sure you don’t die before then.”
“I promise.”
***
“This is my room. This bed is mine. No one else is allowed here.”
“I’m sorry, Keima. I should’ve asked first.”
“No, it’s fine. I don’t mind sharing a room with a girl.”
“Thank goodness! I was worried you’d be mad at me for coming into your room…”
“Nah, I wasn’t angry. Besides, I knew you weren’t going to try and steal my bed.”
“Good! Now let’s sleep together.”
“Okay, but if you snore, I’ll smack you.”
“No, no, I won’t. I’ll be quiet.”
“If you’re lying, I’ll hit you.”
“I won’t lie. I’ll be completely silent.”
“Then I’ll trust you.”
“Thanks.”
“Hmm… What shall I wear tonight?”
“Whatever you want. You can pick whatever you want from my closet.”
“Okay, I’ll choose something nice for us to wear tomorrow.”
“That’s good. I want to look cute for you.”
“Me too.”
“Let’s take a shower together.”
“Sure.”
“What do you want to do after that?”
“Anything you want.”
“Hm… Okay, I’ll decide later.”
“Alright.”
“Hey, Keima. Do you have any idea what this is?”
“Uhh… It looks like a piece of cloth.”
“It’s called a towel.”
“A towel? Oh yeah, I remember seeing towels in shops before. They sell them in packs of three.”
“Well, they’re cheap, so I bought a bunch of ’em.”
“I see. Well, thanks for buying these for me.”
“My pleasure.”
“Oh, speaking of which, I just realized I forgot to buy more underwear.”
“You mean panties?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I meant.”
“I see. In that case, I’ll go buy some.”
“That’s great.”
“Wait, Keima, I think I saw a shop that sells lingerie nearby. Let’s go there instead.”
“Lingerie? Like bras and stuff?”
“Yes.”
“Ooh, I wanna see that.”
“Really? Why?”
“Because I want to see how big your boobs are.”
“They’re not that big.”
“So why would you want to see them?”
“I dunno, I just do.”
“Mhm. Alright, let’s go there.”
“Yay!”
“You really are interested in my body, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“Heheh.”
The End