The cold wind made Raul's heart freeze as his life hung by a thread. In that fleeting moment, countless thoughts flashed through his mind.
'This… is way too sudden…'
'Luffy… Norda… I haven't yet…'
The venomous maw of the forest serpent crept closer to his face, its fangs now just a breath away.
Then, it split.
In midair, before Raul's terrified and regretful eyes, the beast shattered completely — its body torn into more than a dozen pieces — scattering in front of him like kitchen scraps thrown carelessly into the garbage.
At the same moment, he felt a gust of wind brush past his cheek.
A streak of shimmering light hung in the air.
The serpent's blood spattered onto his face, still hot, and only then did the startled gasps around him spread like a rising tide.
Raul ignored the worried cries of the others and turned to look at the figure who seemed to have "squeezed out" of thin air at his side.
"Are you okay!!"
That voice — one he'd heard nearly every few days for the past half year — struck his ears.
The wind just now hadn't come from any snowy tree in the mountain.
It had simply been carried by a man.
"Papa!!"
Sylphy's panicked cry grew closer as Raul glanced at the dead and thoroughly ruined serpent on the ground, then at the anxious face of Allen standing before him. He stood there in a daze before snapping back to reality.
"Thanks… you really saved me."
As his adrenaline faded, Raul felt his legs go weak and nearly collapsed, but Allen caught him in time.
Allen examined him up and down, checking carefully for injuries before letting out a quiet breath. Meanwhile, Sylphy and Rudi were already running through the snow toward them.
Seeing the serpent's corpse, Sylphy immediately understood what had happened. Her lips quivered as she threw herself into Raul's arms, while one of her hands reached out and clung tightly to Allen's sleeve.
Raul stroked Sylphy's head, softly comforting her with lingering fear still in his heart.
Allen, watching the little hand gripping his sleeve, allowed himself a faint smile.
'Good thing I made it.'
At that moment, Paul suddenly appeared as well, looking annoyed.
"Are you alright!? I was watching the other side— damn it…"
"Just a scare."
Paul let out a sigh of relief as his gaze landed on the serpent's body — which looked ready to be cooked — and his mouth twitched.
"Your Muon no Tachi (Silent Blade) is sharper and faster than ever."
"It was just luck."
"But you reacted before me — how?"
"I kept my senses sharp. Didn't you say there might be magical beasts, uncle?"
"You brat… you really think ahead."
Allen chuckled as he glanced down at Sylphy, still clinging to his sleeve, then exchanged wry smiles with Raul and Rudi.
—
The preparations for the hunt lasted five full days, with nearly the entire forest cordoned off. Allen came to understand the plan:
They divided the forest into zones with nets, threw torches into the woods to wake hibernating beasts, and shot them down with bows behind the nets. This kept the weak magical beasts — those that thrived on sheer numbers — from overrunning the forest. As for boars, their dark hides made them easy to spot in the snow, and they were already few in number.
Actually, no need to worry about boars.
Allen had already eaten nearly all of them.
On the surface, that seemed like a good thing, but in reality his "chef-like" behavior eliminated the natural predator of the weak creatures, and Paul and Raul estimated the forest population would rise by thirty percent this year.
And swarms of weak magical beasts were far more dangerous to the villagers' crops and lives than a single strong one.
So the nets had to be set carefully.
Five days later, snow began falling again. Everyone left the forest and returned home.
The day the snow stopped would be the day of the hunt.
—
"Dear! You're back!"
"I missed you so much, Zenith~"
With Allen and Rudi both covering their faces in embarrassment, Paul — like an unleashed dog — abandoned all pretenses of composure the moment he got home, running up to Zenith and pressing his face against her belly.
Zenith, long used to flirting in front of the children, simply smiled at Allen and Rudi before flicking Paul's forehead.
"If you missed me so much, why didn't you come home sooner?"
Paul grinned at her.
"The forest's too far. And this year we went deeper — Raul nearly got himself killed, so I had to watch over him."
"Alright, time for dinner~"
Lilia happened to bring the food out just then. She smiled at Rudi and Allen and began setting the table.
Dinner was warm and pleasant.
But throughout, Allen's gaze kept darting between Paul — whose hands wandered around Zenith — and Lilia, who sat quietly with her eyes down, his lips curling into an enigmatic smile.
—
The Greyrat house's walls weren't very soundproof.
Especially not to a Suijin-ryuu (Water God Style) swordsman with honed senses.
The first night.
From the next room came the usual flirty noises of Paul and Zenith. But in the middle of the night, a strange noise — like smacking lips — arose instead of the usual moans.
After a while, Zenith seemed exhausted and only murmured softly before falling silent.
Half an hour later, Paul's footsteps were heard as he left for a long bathroom trip.
The second night.
Same late-night sounds. Zenith seemed to try harder but still soon quieted.
This time Paul also took a hot bath after his bathroom trip.
The third night.
A quiet winter night in Buena Village, the falling snow outside clearly audible.
From next door came the same.
Tonight, there was even the sound of curtains being pulled. Maybe, Allen thought, once the snow stopped and they could hunt again, Paul could vent some of that excess energy.
But the snow kept falling for a week.
And so, naturally, things spun out of control—
The fourth night.
When Allen stepped out for the bathroom, he found Lilia, wrapped in her robe, heating water in the kitchen at midnight before returning to her room to bathe.
As though the winter cold made her room especially unbearable.
And every night, there were always footsteps from the next room.
Finally, the seventh night.
After the usual door opened next door, no footsteps followed.
Not long after, Allen — lying in bed — heard something else.
Whispers, faint and broken, but even with his Suijin-ryuu Saint-level hearing he could barely make them out.
But unmistakably… not Zenith's sleepy mumblings.
Allen silently rose and stepped into the hallway.
The sound was clear now — coming from the maid's room at the end of the second floor.
"…You… have been holding it in for a long time, haven't you?"
"…N-No I haven't…"
"Oh, really?"
"Ah… yeah… no… ahhh."
"Do you like it?"
"…"
The muffled creak of the bedframe.
"Ahh… yes… I like it."
(End of Chapter)
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