In Terra, a Hunter and a Bad Woman

"A."

Maria ignored the Puppy girl's confusion. After repeating her pronunciation several times, she stared at the girl again and gestured for her to follow along.

Though the Puppy girl did not understand why, she was clever enough to quickly grasp Maria's meaning and opened her mouth to imitate her.

"Ah..."

"..."

"Hmm?" The Puppy girl's ears twitched atop her head.

"It's still not quite right, but... forget it. This counts as progress."

Shaking her head helplessly, Maria looked at the innocent Puppy before picking up a wooden skewer, spearing a small piece of roasted meat, and handing it to her.

The girl did not disdain such a small piece of meat at all. She eagerly swallowed it in one bite.

As far as Maria could tell, she had not even chewed!

After that, Maria continued her instruction.

"Oh..."

This time, the Puppy girl learned quickly.

Without waiting for Maria to gesture, she nodded on her own, opened her mouth, and imitated the sound.

As usual, Maria rewarded her with another small piece of roasted meat.

After repeating this several times, even Maria began to find it strange.

Though she had always called the girl Puppy and the like, she had truly regarded her as a human, as a special kindred spirit.

But... judging by the girl's current behavior, Maria found it difficult to see her as one of her kind.

"She looks more and more like..."

"Woof?"

"...Nothing." Maria shook her head, pushing that rude thought out of her mind. Then she picked up the roasted meat again and looked at the girl before her.

"Since you understand now, then... let's continue."

"Tonight, you need to learn at least all the pinyin..."

"Woof!"

The Puppy girl tilted her head, looking puzzled.

But seeing the food Maria offered her, she did not think too much about it. She happily accepted the fragrant roasted meat, then continued imitating Maria's voice.

Time passed little by little...

One Week

"Bi... zi... ri..."

"Ao... ko... zo..."

"Du..."

Early in the morning, the Puppy girl was diligently reading from the notes Maria had left for her.

Her small body swayed as she recited. Her tawny hair swayed too, occasionally brushing against the roasted meat beside her.

The roasted meat was still warm. Its faint aroma alone was enough to make anyone swallow and want to taste it.

But the Puppy girl remained extremely focused.

Even though her throat had started to itch, she refused to turn and look at the roasted meat.

Yet the increasingly rapid pace of her recitation still revealed what she was thinking.

Only after reading the slip of paper before her several times from beginning to end did she carefully take out a skewer from a plate of roasted meat and chew it with a blissful expression.

Though the waiting had been difficult, once she received the roasted meat, the girl felt it had all been worthwhile.

And after finishing it, she did not sneak another skewer. Instead, she turned back, picked up the slip of paper, and began reading again.

This routine had already continued for a week.

Over that week, Maria woke early each day to prepare the girl's breakfast and arrange her morning tasks before heading out to investigate on her own.

She would not return until noon. After a simple lunch, Maria would drag the girl off to train.

More specifically, to spar.

It was just that the girl had never lasted a full three exchanges against Maria.

Every time, she was beaten until her whole body ached terribly.

But after suffering through the daytime, Maria would press on her with her fingers at night.

It hurt at first, but before long, it became comfortable again.

Maria said it was called a massage, meant to relax the muscles...

Of course, the Puppy girl did not know what muscles were. She only knew that every time Maria worked her over until midnight, her body would feel better again the next day.

Then the same routine would repeat.

Time quietly slipped away amid such days.

Although the two had not truly shared much intimate contact, the girl had developed considerable affection for Maria.

Because of that, even though she had had many chances to run away, she never chose to leave Maria in the end.

Instead, she stayed by her side.

After all, compared to her previous life, where even getting enough to eat was something to be grateful for, being able to obtain food now just by making sounds under the protection of one of her kind was truly a blessing.

And after such days continued for a while longer, Maria, dressed in black hunter's attire, slowly emerged from the forest.

Her face was as cold as ever, without the slightest trace of emotion.

Yet upon seeing Maria like this, the Puppy girl became incredibly excited.

She trotted over to Maria, her eyes full of excitement.

"Maria~ Maria~"

The little girl excitedly called Maria's name. Her small voice was like a tune, rising and falling in different pitches.

Perhaps she did not understand the meaning contained within it, merely treating the sound as a tool for calling the other person.

And with each call from the girl, Maria's expression gradually softened.

After briefly rubbing the Puppy's head, she turned and looked over her camp.

It had been about a week since she discovered this campsite.

During that week, Maria had stored food and refined potions while also teaching the Puppy girl.

The Puppy girl learned very quickly. In just a few days, she had already learned many words.

This even included relatively abstract words like "I," "it," and "light."

Unfortunately, the girl seemed only able to remember them. Holding a complete conversation was still very difficult.

But it was no small improvement.

Besides that, Maria had also glimpsed a little of this world's mysteries through the girl.

Though it was an unconscious display, the girl seemed to possess some sort of remarkable ability.

This ability allowed her to draw out a certain kind of energy no matter what weapon she picked up.

More specifically, the girl could enchant her weapons.

From fire wards to lightning and storms.

So far, Maria had discovered five different manifestations of energy from the girl... but this did not seem to be the girl's limit.

Maria could not help wondering what kind of rules this world operated by.

Of course, before that, nurturing this Puppy girl was the first priority.

"Perhaps... I can write some storybooks with phonetic annotations for her later?"

Watching the Puppy girl constantly cling to her and call her name, Maria silently considered this as she walked over to the campfire.

Although most of her time was currently spent teaching the Puppy girl, Maria had not forgotten her actual duty.

She was a Hunter, one who hunted the monsters known as beasts.

Her goal was to kill the Great Beast and reclaim the Umbilical Cord.

To achieve that goal, now that her abilities were temporarily sealed, she needed to borrow other sources of power.

For example... the power of this thing calling itself the Little Regret System.

"It says I'll gain rewards for completing assigned tasks, but... what exactly am I supposed to do here?"

Maria still had not figured out what she needed to do.

To be honest, by now Maria was beginning to wonder whether she had been deceived... A week had passed, and she had done nothing serious. All she had done was keep the Puppy girl company.

Though this life truly did relax her, and was even somewhat pleasant... it could not put her at ease in the end.

It would be better to complete the task as soon as possible.

The only clue she knew of was that there might be some kind of monster in the forest that howled like a wolf. Perhaps it was the target Maria needed to find.

These past few days, Maria had gone out every morning in an attempt to find that monster.

Then a problem emerged.

The entire forest seemed to be shrouded in some unknown force. No matter which direction she went, she would eventually return to this camp.

It was as if some power was restricting her movements.

This left Maria increasingly puzzled.

Could it be that the other side had already noticed her and taken action?

Anxious, Maria frowned.

Beside her, the Puppy girl approached worriedly.

"Maria?"

Tilting her head, she crouched obediently beside Maria and stared at her blankly.

Though Maria was anxious, she did not take out her irritation on the girl.

After silently nodding, she comforted her.

"It's fine... I'm fine."

"Woof?"

The Puppy girl did not understand, but after thinking for a while, she seemed to make up her mind. She took out the candy Maria had given her earlier from her pocket and solemnly handed it to Maria.

"Candy... tasty!"

She said this to Maria.

Maria looked helplessly at the girl before her.

"I do not need candy to numb my heart."

Her words were as merciless as ever, but her movements were exceptionally gentle.

Maria knew very well just how much the Puppy loved sweets, to the point that she would become depressed if she did not eat sugar.

And the fact that she was willing to give this candy to Maria showed, from another angle, that their relationship had already reached a very important place in the girl's heart.

Though she did not show it, Maria's mood improved somewhat because of this.

It was just...

"Don't you usually eat candy the moment you get it? Why haven't you eaten these?"

Maria was a little curious.

Unfortunately, the Puppy girl still could not quite understand such a long sentence. After tilting her head, she revealed a confused expression.