I Became A Married Man in Another World
Chapter 15
015 The Hunter
The smell of blood lingered on the rocks. It was the same in the surrounding area. Someone had made a clumsy attempt to wipe away the traces of a beast, but it was child’s play. To a hunter’s eyes, exactly what had happened was clear as day.
Gus found it strange. If this much evidence remained, it had to be a fairly large beast. It was no small animal like a rabbit.
However, if one were to ask if a man without a bow or spear could catch a large beast, the answer was an absolute no. Even an experienced, professional hunter would find it difficult to hunt a large animal alone in a single day.
Furthermore, the giant’s hands looked as though they had never held a sword, let alone a bow. Gus suspected there might be an accomplice. Strangers were always a cause for caution.
That was why he had hidden himself to observe for a while, but there was no sign of another man in the cabin. The giant was truly alone.
“…”
Gus shifted his gaze to the giant’s hands. Wounds that hadn’t been there when they parted yesterday were now etched into the man’s skin.
‘Those are…’
The shredded skin and the deep puncture marks were unmistakably from a wolf. Having seen wolf bites many times, Gus knew them well. There was no way he was mistaken.
But what truly caught Gus’s eye wasn’t the wounds themselves. It was the fact that they were already healing. The edges of the gashes, which looked deep enough to expose bone, were already knitting back together.
‘It’s impossible.’
He had seen many animal bites in his life, but he had never seen a wound surface clear up like that in just one day. Usually, with a bite that severe, a person would succumb to a fever, start hallucinating, and die.
Wolf bites might look simple on the surface, but the internal tearing was typically severe. If it was deep enough to see bone, the blood vessels and muscles should have been completely shredded. One shouldn’t be able to move as perfectly as the man before him.
There was likely only one possibility.
‘Could this man be a Magician? A very rare kind at that?’
There was no reason for a Magician to appear in a place like this. But if he was…
Gus felt as though someone had pried open a door that had been slammed shut in front of him a long time ago.
Magicians existed in this world. They were people commoners rarely encountered. Gus had only heard stories; he had never met one.
Some Magicians used fire, others used water. He had heard there were even those who commanded the wind.
And, on very rare occasions, there were those who used healing magic.
‘If that man really is a Magician.’
Gus lowered his head, hiding his expression from the giant.
‘My chance has come.’
Perhaps he could finally have his revenge. An opportunity had arisen—one he thought would never come in his lifetime.
A smile spread across Gus’s normally expressionless face.
*
Young people often tend to think of the elderly as having been born old and narrow-minded, but the elderly also had a time when they were boys, a time when they were vigorous young men. Gus, too, had once had youthful days filled with hope.
Gus was destined to be a hunter from birth. At least, that’s how it felt. By the time he was old enough to understand the world, he was already trekking through the mountains behind his father, who was also a hunter.
The mountains felt more comfortable to him than the plains. He was confident he would become a hunter superior to anyone else. He hoped to use those skills to one day become a close aide to the Lord. That was his dream.
If one became a Forester—managing the Lord’s private mountains or forests—they received various benefits in exchange for the obligation to serve on the battlefield for a set period. If one achieved great deeds there, becoming a confidant of the Lord was not an impossible dream. It wasn’t easy, but a few had managed it, and he believed he was more than capable.
That future was shattered when he first left his father to find a place to work as an independent hunter. He happened to hear that a remote village was looking for a Forester.
Youth is a terrifying thing. It lacks the discernment to distinguish between what is possible and what is not. It tricks you into believing the world exists just for you.
His father tried to stop him, but Gus ignored the opposition and became the Forester of that village. He traveled for many days by carriage, passing through numerous villages to get there. Having just reached adulthood, he knew no fear and was only full of hope.
In that village, the Village Chief sought a Forester on behalf of the Lord and signed a formal contract at the end of every year.
Once the contract was finalized, one could receive money and goods for settlement. He had heard the list was extensive: grains, flour, salt, and fabrics like linen and wool. The treatment was far better than anywhere else.
But that was exactly why his father had been against it. He said there was always something foul behind conditions that were too good to be true. Foolishly, Gus thought his father was just jealous—that he envied his son for receiving treatment he never had.
Blinded by the goods the Lord supposedly granted and the benefits of the mountain, Gus started his work as a Forester without proper investigation. He was a fool.
To be a Forester, one must first become intimately familiar with the mountain. It required a process of gradually learning the terrain and the animals, adapting oneself to the land.
Gus climbed the unfamiliar mountain every day. It was a bountiful place. Not only were there plenty of beasts like rabbits, birds, and roe deer, but edible plants and fruits were scattered everywhere.
To a Forester, all of that was permitted. He thought there could be no better conditions.
While one had to pay the Lord in either labor or taxes, even ordinary commoners were allowed to take firewood from the Lord’s forest. Firewood for cooking and heating water was needed in every season—spring, summer, and autumn—and gathering it was always a highly competitive task.
In winter, the need for firewood increased, often requiring people to venture deep into the forest. But on that mountain, fallen branches for fuel could be picked up anywhere.
In his excitement, Gus never stopped to think deeply about why the villagers only gathered firewood from the shallow parts of the mountain.
‘I was such a fool.’
To become a Forester who protected and managed the Lord’s woods, one had to have all four limbs intact at the time of the contract.
However, before the formal contract could be signed, Gus failed to meet the requirements and was disqualified. He had severely injured his leg.
Goblins lived on that mountain.
Unaware of their presence, Gus had been roaming the mountain when he was ambushed by them. The injury he sustained then forced him off the path of a hunter forever.
A Goblin tribe must be completely exterminated down to the last one, but doing so is no easy feat.
On that village’s mountain, it seemed that every few decades, a cycle repeated: a Goblin tribe would be suppressed, but a few survivors would escape, only to form a new tribe elsewhere.
The villagers knew this fact but kept it a secret.
He only learned later that they had gone to such a distant place to find a Forester because it was impossible to find a hunter nearby.
Goblins kidnap human women to reproduce. Because of that, the neighboring areas called that village, which had so few women, the “Goblin Village.”
“…”
Even after he was unable to work, Gus could not leave the vicinity of the mountain. He lived a wretched life, dreaming of the day he would take revenge on the Goblins who had dragged him into the abyss. He hated the villagers, yet he lived among them for decades. It was all for the single-minded goal of revenge.
Many people think a hunter’s job is the thrill of chasing down beasts, but in reality, most of it is quiet, tedious time.
You must set traps and hold your breath nearby for a whole day or even several, or track a beast for days by following the traces left on the ground. It is a boring process, but that is real hunting.
Because of this, a hunter’s greatest talent was persistent, dogged tenacity.
Gus, who had lived in that village for decades waiting for a mere chance at revenge, truly had hunting in his blood, just as his father had said. If only he hadn’t been attacked by Goblins, he surely would have excelled.
‘I will never give up until I’ve killed them all. I will burn their entire tribe to the ground.’
Gus looked at the giant. This man could do it.
There were two kinds of hunters.
The first was the ordinary hunter. They set traps or caught beasts with bows. They hunted animals commonly found in the mountains, like wolves, rabbits, deer, and birds.
The second was the Magical Beast hunter.
Ordinary hunters could not catch Magical Beasts or monsters. No matter how skilled a hunter was, the moment they encountered one, they were as good as dead. That was why, from the moment they first climbed a mountain, hunters were taught to run if they met a Magical Beast or monster.
It was adventurers who caught Magical Beasts and monsters. When a Magical Beast appeared, the Lord or the village would request the Guild to send adventurers. It was the same in every country.
However, on rare occasions, there were those with a talent for magic who became hunters. Such hunters were stronger than adventurers. The hunting skills that adventurers lacked made Magical Beast hunters the strongest of all.
If he could use healing magic, he wouldn’t die even if he was injured. Looking at the wound on his arm, this man’s recovery ability was stronger than anything Gus had ever heard of. Gus knew better than anyone how great an advantage that was in hunting.
Furthermore, the giant possessed Herculean strength. The load he had carried up the mountain was far too heavy for one person. Yet he had climbed the mountain carrying a woman and a child as well, without his breathing even turning ragged.
This man could become stronger than anyone Gus had ever known, stronger than any hunter he had ever heard of.
“…”
Gus was sixty-five this year. It had been well over forty years since the last Goblin subjugation, so by now, another tribe must have formed.
When a tribe grew large and the few women they kidnapped one by one were no longer enough, the Goblins would raid the village. For now, they were hidden deep in the mountains and did not appear before humans, but it wouldn’t be long. They would eventually raid this village. That would be the chance to slaughter them all.
‘I will mold this fellow into an exceptional hunter until then.’
Whether it was because he could use magic or not, he was already a remarkable hunter if he had taken down a wolf at the cost of his hand. With just a little polishing of his talent, this man would soon become a hunter superior to all.
He had to be careful. He must not let it be discovered that Goblins lived on this mountain.
Goblins didn’t just kidnap women; they raided houses and ate people. No human would stay in the mountains knowing there was a Goblin den nearby.
‘I have to hide it until the contract is signed.’
Once a contract was signed, it became legally binding. If one broke the contract and fled without the Lord’s permission, they were punished as a criminal.
Since the giant didn’t know the language, he wouldn’t find out easily. There was no way the villagers would tell him, so he didn’t have to worry about that. The sly Village Chief would deceive him well with his friendly face.
He could tell him about the Goblins after the contract was signed.
The giant, who had seemed wary at first, lowered the axe he was holding and let out a grin.
“####.”
The giant said something in a language Gus had never heard before. It was likely a greeting. However, one of the giant’s legs was shifted back slightly, almost imperceptibly.
‘Is he keeping his center of gravity toward the back?’
Looking closely, his right shoulder was also naturally lowered and pulled back. It was a stance taken before an attack. This man, though smiling, seemed concerned that Gus had been watching him from hiding. His sense of caution was strong.
‘He’ll make a fine hunter.’
Even though the giant didn’t seem to have learned hunting, his movements were strangely similar to those of a predator. It wasn’t conscious. Rare as it was, there were people who acquired such things instinctively.
This man was likely one of them.
‘There is time.’
He had been searching for signs of Goblins continuously, but they hadn’t been found on the mountain yet. So it was fine. For a man of this caliber—someone with the talent to take down a wolf alone without any training—there was plenty of time to train him.
To show he had no ill intent, Gus let his hands hang at his sides and offered a smile.
“I shall teach you how to hunt starting today. I will pass on everything I know.”
It was a good day. The sky was clear and white, and the energy of the mountain felt exceptionally fresh today. The chirping of winter birds searching for food in the early morning echoed from all directions. It felt as if the mountain spirits were smiling. Everything seemed to bless this day. In all his life, there had never been a day this good.
