Chapter 30 — A Girl's Emotions
Jun brought more than just his bow and arrows on his forest expedition. He also brought a piece of a wild boar's tusk.
Yukino skillfully crafted the long and sharp tusk into two arrows that were almost one and a half times longer than a standard wooden one.
The rest of the pieces were used to make a spear, which was left at the camp.
"Take a step back, Yukino..."
Jun, in the lead, suddenly grabbed Yukino's right hand and then pulled her back.
"What is it?"
Yukino hadn't realized that she was in danger.
"A snake... It doesn't look like a dangerous snake, though."
Jun crouched down behind some bushes and pulled Yukino down to sit beside him.
"Where?"
Yukino's cheeks turned red, but she didn't take her hand back. Jun's warm touch made her feel safe.
"There..."
Jun pointed to a bush ahead and to the left.
The leaves were rustling in an irregular pattern.
"Now I see it..."
Yukino finally saw the long, thick figure moving behind the plants.
It is a large snake with black scales.
From a distance, Yukino could only guess that it was in the middle of eating something based on its movements.
"It... it's huge..."
Instinctively, Yukino pressed herself closer to Jun.
"Relax. When they eat like this, they're at their weakest."
He was right. The huge black snake was about five to six meters long. It was a type of python. Pythons are non-venomous. They have a rounded head and a glossy body.
Pythons are dangerous even though they don't have venom.
A python that size could easily wrap around an adult man and crush his bones within minutes.
Don't underestimate wild animals. They can be much heavier than humans.
"Where are you going?"
Yukino panicked when Jun stood up.
"Relax. I've checked the area. There are no large predators nearby."
Jun gently squeezed Yukino's hand before letting go.
Python skin was very valuable...
After making sure the snake hadn't noticed them, Jun slowly stood up from the bushes.
He was ready with his bow and arrow.
Legend said that if snakes were threatened while eating, they would regurgitate their prey and run away.
Jun grabbed the special arrow, which was made from the boar's tusk.
This time, he not only had to hit the target, but he also had to kill it with one shot.
Snakes were known to be vengeful.
He couldn't let the dangerous enemy escape.
"Be careful..."
Yukino held onto the edge of Jun's pants, worried.
"Don't worry. I'm a sharpshooter!"
The snake was eating a mountain goat.
Half of its body was already swallowed...
Once Jun was sure the snake had almost finished its meal, he didn't wait.
He fired the special arrow.
Swish!
The string vibrated, and the arrow flew through the air very quickly.
The big black snake didn't even react.
It primarily used its senses to detect temperature and ground vibrations, not sight.
And long-range attacks like arrows were practically undetectable to its instincts.
But by the time it realized the danger, it was already too late.
Thunk!
The arrow went deep, going through the back of the snake's head and continuing into the goat's body, still held in the snake's jaws.
"Perfect! Let's go check it out!"
Jun ran towards the huge snake, excited.
Even though the snake's body kept moving, Jun knew it was dead.
The rest of the movements were just reflexes because it had no brain.
"Ugh... that's gross..."
Yukino made a face when Jun took the slimy goat out of the snake's mouth.
The air smelled bad, and she felt sick.
"Disgusting, huh? Alright, we'll leave it then."
Jun had already cut off the snake's head and got his valuable boar-tusk arrow.
He had also planned to bring the goat back, but he gave up when he saw Yukino's face.
They could always hunt another goat later.
He kicked the dead goat out of the way, looking angry.
"I wonder how it tastes. It's meat from a python."
I'm not sure how to skin this python.
A snake this size would be hard to skin.
He threw the snake's head and the dead goat to the side, then looked at the dead python. He stood still for a moment, not sure where to start.
It was huge.
You could only see how thick and strong it was by getting close.
It weighed around 80 kilograms, so it was not easy to handle.
Jun was in the same situation he was in when he was hunting the wild boar.
Unfortunately, this time they weren't near the river. It would be a lot of work to handle a carcass this big.
It looks like he'd have to rely on his skill.
Jun took both boar-tusk arrows from his back and pinned the snake's neck to a large tree trunk.
He cut open the snake's skin with a metal knife. Then, he started a tug-of-war between the snake's flesh and skin. He used his endless stamina.
"Hey, Jun, you're being too rough. You'll hurt yourself if you use too much strength."
Yukino was still thinking of a more logical approach to deal with the snake, but Jun had already gone full speed ahead.
"It's finished!"
With his endless energy, it took Jun less than ten minutes to remove the snake's skin.
"Phew..."
The pale white snake meat was still sticking to the tree.
He cut only a few pieces that looked fresh and appetizing, leaving the rest behind.
A snake this big probably didn't taste good anyway. There's no need to bring it all back.
He put several pieces of meat and the python skin into his backpack made of wild boar leather.
"You're really strong," he said.
Yukino was surprised that Jun had finished everything alone and was still full of energy.
This guy never gets tired?
Without thinking, Yukino touched Jun's arm muscles with the tips of her fingers.
"I'm strong, so I can protect you."
Jun didn't expect today's adventure to be so surprising and nice.
"Who said I needed protection?"
Yukino remembered this morning—and the red mark on Utaha's neck.
"Do you still want to keep exploring?"
Her tone suddenly became cold.
"No, let's go back. That should be enough for today."
Even though they were still quite far from their destination, it would be safer to return and continue tomorrow since Jun had already used a skill today.
"Okay."
Yukino nodded softly, not saying anything more.
They were just talking a few moments ago. Now she's cold again?
Jun wasn't stupid, but he still didn't understand how girls' hearts worked.
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