Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 121 (Part 2):

Leaving the discussing group behind, Helmut immediately left the spot.

He needed to put more distance between them. To a far enough place where no one would detect the fight.

A good method to deal with Asuka came to mind.

‘Just give him prey.’

A heavy and massive prey, capable of winning the contest. He could send it ahead early.

Helmut decided not to dwell on the hunting contest. As he moved towards the water source, he carefully observed the traces.

A large beast always leaves traces. As he approached the water source, a strong scent hit his nose.

Resin was oozing from a wounded tree. It was a recent wound, as the resin hadn’t hardened yet.

‘Claw marks.’

Following Asuka, who seemed bored, asked.

“What’s this, is there something?”

He was the type who would rush to shoot arrows at a discovered prey, lacking the patience to wait.

“Ah, these marks. Looks like a bear.”

It was exactly at the height where a bear would have stood up and scratched the tree.

“A bear? Catching that would guarantee first place, right?”

Asuka asked with wide eyes, filled with hope.

“Maybe.”

There was no guarantee that someone else wouldn’t catch a better prey.

However, Helmut wanted to send Asuka away quickly. It seemed possible.

‘Judging by the height of the claw marks, it’s a big one.’

“Hey, but there are two of us. Since you know there’s a bear, if you track and catch it, wouldn’t it be yours?”

Unexpectedly, Asuka reasoned. Before Helmut could respond, Asuka quickly concluded.

“No, since we’re acting together and I could have found it first too. Let’s say the right to it belongs to whoever shoots and kills it.”

“……As you wish.”

Facing Asuka’s greedy eyes, Helmut nonchalantly agreed.

It was a competition where Helmut had nothing to gain, having seen Asuka’s archery. At least he had some conscience.

Luck was on their side. Without needing to track, they soon found their target. Asuka narrowed his eyes.

“Is that a bear?”

A brown bear was slowly walking on all fours towards the water source.

Judging by its size, it was the one that had left the marks on the tree. Unaware of anything, it leisurely approached.

Asuka aimed his bow and declared.

“The right belongs to the one who kills it.”

Helmut also aimed his bow formally. The bowstring was pulled tight. Just letting go, the arrow would pierce the bear’s neck, killing it painlessly.

Helmut wondered.

‘Would killing a beast also trigger the seed of darkness?’

After killing two 2nd-rank mercenaries and suffering the aftermath, he had avoided killing.

He couldn’t pay attention to ants or grass trampled under his feet, but since then, nothing had died by his hands.

‘It’s not the time to test.’

Asuka released the bowstring first. Swish! The arrow flew sharply towards the target.

Thud! The arrow narrowly missed the bear and stuck in a tree. It was because the beast suddenly sped up.

-Grrr

The bear growled defensively. Helmut released his bowstring.

Swish! The arrow flawlessly grazed the bear’s front leg. Blood trickled down.

-Groaaar!

The bear roared in pain and immediately kicked the ground and ran. It was in the opposite direction of the flying arrow.

Even though it was a fierce creature, it chose to flee rather than attack them.

But with an injured leg, its escape had limits.

“Nice!”

Asuka started chasing the prey like a predator, his eyes gleaming. Helmut closely followed.

Asuka ran, aiming his bow and shooting arrows indiscriminately. Surprisingly accurate for such hasty shots.

The third arrow successfully hit the fleeing bear’s body.

-Groaaar!

Approaching the tumbling bear, Asuka quickly readied another arrow. This time, he aimed precisely at the head and released the bowstring.

Thud! The bear’s movements ceased. Its trembling body lost its life force. It was dead.

Asuka yelled excitedly.

“Wow, got it! See?”

Helmut, who had been standing far away in case the seed of darkness would be affected, pressed down on his chest. Fortunately, there seemed to be no issues.

‘Maybe it’s fine as long as I don’t kill directly. It seems okay with animals.’

Hunting demonic beasts had a slight effect due to magic, but it didn’t seem to stimulate the seed of darkness too much.

‘For now, it seems avoiding direct murder is enough.’

Helmut concluded. Asuka circled around the bear’s carcass, admiring it.

“Wow, with this, I could really win first place.”

Though he shot blindly, it was his first catch with an arrow.

However, he soon noticed something odd.

“But why didn’t you hit it even once while I was shooting?”

Asuka looked at him suspiciously. Helmut, finding a convenient excuse, casually replied.

“You were in front of me. How could I shoot with you blocking?”

“Really? You could have just outpaced me.”

Asuka scratched his nose, having rushed ahead without thinking.

“But it’s good to have caught it, but how do we carry this bear? It seems enough for me, but don’t you also need to hunt something?”

As he said this, his eyes were wary, fearing Helmut might catch something better. It was obvious what he was thinking.

“You go back to the campsite first. I’ll hunt a bit more.”

“That won’t do. You never know what might happen, so we were told to act in groups of two or more.”

“Do you think something will happen to me?”

“Hey, don’t be overconfident. Anything dangerous could be hiding in such a forest.”

It might have been a thoughtless comment, but his intuition was sharp.

“Then…”

Suddenly, a chilling sensation ran through him. Helmut instinctively turned around. It was the direction they had come from.

“Aaaah!”

A scream erupted. It was quite distant, faintly heard. But the voice was familiar.

“What? Is something wrong?”

Asuka clicked his tongue. His expression showed little sense of crisis.

“Basil!”

Someone shouted loudly from afar. A member of Team 9. The shouts continued.

“My God, are you okay?”

“Basil!”

Otaku_Tensei

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