Chapter Text
Fel Mystel got up from bed and looked outside the window in his room, blinking from the mild rays of the morning sun. Realizing it to be 7 o'clock, he started getting changed out of his purple and white pajamas and into his battlemage-esque clothes.
Half an hour later, he was out on the streets, walking with a piece of parchment clutched in his left hand. Scribbled face up on it was a small map of Bariura, leading to a fruit orchard. On the back were mission details.
A Bariuran official had issued the Meru-Meru hunting mission at the inn's noticeboard this morning, and the boy had been the first one early to take it and ask the official himself waiting at a table.
The official was unsure if he could leave it to a kid twelve years old, but he said there was a supposedly powerful person also taking the mission, which he seemed reassured of for 100% success.
Fel continued to walk down another street, passing by a convenient shop of mirrors anyone could use to see what they looked like at the moment. A slow, observant walk by the same shop allowed Fel to check himself.
He had silky yet messy silver hair, giving a fringe that covered his forehead and a little of his forest-green eyes. A thin, waist-reaching length of hair ran down his back. Fel was 131 cm tall or so, last he checked.
He wore a long-sleeved, a little oversized, royal purple and white-outlined coat that almost reached his feet. He also wore a black T-shirt, white trousers with many large pockets, and lavender steel-toed leather boots. What was not usual were the belts instead of buttons on his coat, and the red, power-speaking runes on his clothing.
His body was thin overall, but only a little developed from all the things he had done over his travels. The only reason he was not tall or developed was probably because of the constant non-combat work he kept on taking, like accounting, or lazing around in deep thought.
Walking calmly again, Fel sensed a glare from behind him, which was likely to be another person feeling either jealous or cautious of him, of his hidden power.
As far as he knew, Bariura is centered around political battles, with every person—or noble—looking for opportunities in terms of physical, mental and magical power, something like Fel.
He had been getting looks from several important-looking people when he passed them by. It felt as if they were sizing him up, some thinking 'just a kid', others thinking 'not just any boy'.
A few minutes later, he was on the city's borders, where an old orchard was left abandoned. Blackened steel gates with brick foundations surrounded the orchard for long distances, while the gate entrance was wide open. The sign on top of it was worn away by age, making the writing on it indiscernible. The ground only had several patches of grass here and there, while a dug out dirt path went from outside and into the orchard.
The orchard's trees had plenty of harvestable fruit right now, but none of the gardeners seemed to be around, obviously because of the monster. So why were Bariura's warriors were not called on to eliminate the monster? Was this not the property of Bariura?
Anyway, Fel was supposed to meet the other hunter here, and speaking of which, someone revealed their presence in the sixth sense. Fel whirled around to meet him.
Or rather, her. Judging by the shape and curves, it was a girl shorter than him by a few centimetres. She wore a black hood that hid her face, though something seemed to jut out on the back of her head, like a horn or a long hair bun. Other than that, she wore a black-and-purple-accented coat and shorts. In her left hand was a large scythe that was taller than her.
Fel guessed this was the partner he was going to be working with. He sensed the power of darkness from her, and there was an impressive amount of it.
"Er, you must be the other person I was going to be working with, to hunt the Meru-Meru. Well, my name is Fel Mystel. Can I get your name?" Fel spoke politely.
The girl raised her head in his direction, as if scanning him.
"Alice," she said after ten seconds.
"Alright then Alice. Let us start." She seemed shy and cautious rather than professional, though the mood was not right for a good conversation, so Fel decided not to talk any further.
They went through the rows of trees and trees, Alice taking the front while Fel at the rear. They both walked calmly, eyes alert for any disturbance.
A loud sound between a screech and a roar echoed from their left.
"We're getting close. Alice, I will be the one distracting it, while you sneak around and take its weak spots. Is that all right with you?" Fel asked, wanting to be prepared.
Alice seemed to fit the assassin role, so that was why she was best for taking the weak spots.
The dark reaper nodded silently, hefting her scythe in her two hands and ready to make a swing.
They walked more faster now, only taking a few seconds until they spotted the treetops of the monster, its front facing their left.
"We go on three," Fel started counting, "One... two... three!"
They shot off in different directions, Alice going to the back of the monster while Fel went head on.
The boy stretched out his right hand, making a pristine, elegant sword appear in a flash of light. He flicked it, and red, golden flames started to gather around it. His clothing flashed to become red and yellow-accented, matching the flames on the now-red-inlaid sword.
Fel slammed the sword right down the Meru-Meru's face, making a gash appear on the monster's face.
It screeched in pain, lurching its body upright and glaring at Fel. It swiped at him with a tentacle, but Fel ducked. It swiped at him again, but Fel just cleanly sliced through it, leaving a burn.
The Meru-Meru roared in anger. It started wriggling its roots, but Fel quickly rammed his sword through its trunk, dragging it across to the left and withdrawing, leaving a wide gash that leaked sap.
Interrupted, it screeched its anger when a dark blur raced towards its treetops. In one massive cleave, Alice slashed its treetops off, tentacles and branches and all.
It roared even harder at the pain of being headless. It wriggled its roots again, this time stretching out several roots to impale the monster hunters. Fel burned them away with massive flames, while Alice avoided them by jumping off the ground agilely.
Fel took this chance to make his sword glow with an orange light and thrust it towards the Meru-Meru. A bolt of fire shot out and blasted the trunk in a massive explosion.
The monster staggered, allowing Alice to slice through its roots repeatedly with several black shockwaves. The monster fell, lying still. A moment of silence passed.
Alice appeared next to Fel, not looking tired at all. She stared at Fel though.
"Oh, this magical sword allows me to change elemental types, except for light and darkness. It is an amazing legendary sword that has always helped me whenever I travel to many places," the boy explained, raising the sword for Alice to see.
Looking closely, the longsword was inlaid blood red edged with snow white metal, with a crimson flame pattern on it. The cross guard, rain guard and pommel were golden and the hilt was wrapped in dark brown leather.
"Anyway," he said as he went up to the Meru-Meru, "we need to make sure this one is down."
As if on cue, the tree monster went back up, roaring as sap dripped down its trunk and head.
Alice reacted quickly, sending a wave of darkness with a swipe of her scythe. Fel did the same with his weapon, only with a wave of fire instead.
The two waves collided with the trunk of the monster with doubled firepower, knocking the monster back for a few steps before letting out a dying cry, falling onto its back with a loud earth-shaking boom.
"Confirmed kill," Alice said in a monotonous tone.
"Then let us take a few things from it as proof our mission is complete." Fel walked around the monster and over to the monster's treetops Alice sliced off.
/~~~~~~~\
They were walking back to the inn where the same official said he was staying until the quest was complete. The two monster hunters were carrying small sacks full of Meru Nuts and Fairy Fruit from harvesting the monster's treetops.
"You were really impressive Alice. Have you ever done this before?" Fel complimented, sounding awkward however due to the girl's quiet aura.
Alice nodded in acknowledgement. Something about the compliment made her feel better, even if it were half-hearted, but she brushed the thought away.
"...Alice. Do you happen to be the princess of Bariura? I mean, one of the members of the royal family here?" Fel asked again.
"Yes," she said it as if it were nothing.
"Well, it is an honor to meet you, but what is a princess doing out here on a mission?"
"Training exercise. Third time doing this to see if I had lived up to my father's expectations." The way Alice said it was rather mechanical that it chilled Fel.
"So that was why no one else had been sent then. It was meant to be your test."
Alice nodded silently.
"Do you think it was a great service?" Fel wanted to test how she responded.
"Yes, for the Empire."
"Is it more to your father or the empire?"
"...My father."
They had ended up on the street back to the inn, but Fel was still wondering about Alice's life. Judging from the way she acted, she hardly interacted with people and lived a rather isolated and no-questions-asked life.
He chose his next words a little more carefully. "If... if it really is so... then does he really care about Alice the young girl with a life ahead of her, or Alice the soldier with magical powers used for war?"
Those lines came from a storybook he liked to read, lines that he hoped to get through Alice, even if it meant being cheesy again. Fel had seen plenty of people from many walks of life, and this girl was one full of interesting mysteries like many others, even if her life was not something to elaborate much on.
"...I care for my father and shall do what is expected of me." Internally, Alice was starting to realize something. What reason did she have to serve her father like this?
Family bond? Her father never paid real attention to her feelings. Kept under a roof? She could just do a few jobs, earn some money and stay somewhere right now. But even if military training was what gave her that possibility, that was a poor reason, compared to what life outside the palace offered.
Fel and Alice reached the inn, opening the door to inside, where the inn's occupants were having fun, which was what Alice probably never had.