On Terra, a Hunter, and a Bad Woman

But the warm sound of her heartbeat quickly soothed her.

After only a few moments, the puppy girl seemed to have completely forgotten Maria's rough treatment. Instead, she comfortably rubbed herself against Maria's embrace.

Maria looked down.

Sniff, sniff~

"You smell a little."

"Mm?"

"Out in the wild, hygiene and health are things that need attention too. Before I teach you language, health may be the first lesson you'll need."

"Hm?"

The girl couldn't speak. She could only make meaningless sounds in her throat in response to Maria's words.

Maria hadn't expected her to say much anyway. After sighing, she slowly untied the girl's restraints and led her toward the nearby lake.

After all, she was the first person Maria had encountered here... Though one look at her made it obvious that this girl probably knew nothing, that didn't stop Maria from taking care of her.

After all, in this world, a normal person was more important than anything.

Of course, she couldn't stay with the girl forever and act as her nanny. So while taking her along for the time being, Maria planned to teach her some knowledge and common sense as well.

And the first lesson in common sense... was bathing!

The clear river gathered here before flowing off into the distance.

Maria tentatively tested the water temperature. Once she confirmed it wasn't too cold, she slowly removed her cumbersome dress...

Before the foolish puppy girl beneath the moonlight.

The pearl-like beauty slowly shed her outer shell, revealing the smooth, jade-like curve of her back.

The white hair tied beneath her tricorn hat came loose. As it swayed and fell, it rested neatly on her shoulders.

"All right..."

She slightly raised a hand to cover herself and turned toward the girl.

Her face remained as calm and indifferent as ever.

"Time to get in."

"Puppy..."

Slaughter!

"Wuh..."

By the campfire.

After gently wringing the remaining water from her hair, Maria slowly rose to her feet.

Beside her, the puppy girl was huddled by the fire in fear.

Maria hadn't expected the girl to be afraid of water. The moment Maria had pulled her into it, she had struggled fiercely.

Her little hands had clawed wildly in every direction.

Although Maria had eventually subdued her and washed her clean, the rough process had clearly left quite a shadow on the girl.

The way she looked at Maria had also become increasingly complicated.

In her eyes, Maria was someone who kept switching back and forth between a good person and a bad person.

One moment, she gave her delicious food, so she was a good person... The next, she made her do strange things, so she was a bad person...

Naturally, that complicated feeling meant little to Maria.

She hadn't intended to form much of a relationship with the girl in the first place. Everything she'd done so far had simply been to make the girl understand some basic sense, so she wouldn't pounce on people when she met them later.

But... it had to be said, this puppy girl was rather pretty.

Not in a particularly seductive way. Simply judging whether she was beautiful or not, Maria would have given this puppy an above-average score.

Not stunning, but... very cute.

Of course, it was probably impossible to make Maria say the word cute.

On one hand, Maria's personality meant she wasn't the kind of girl who would say things like something was cute or someone was handsome.

On the other hand... there was Yharnam's influence.

Although she had escaped that endless cycle of dreams, the constant slaughter had still left behind many memories.

Even if she truly praised the puppy girl, she would at most say, "You're like a newborn beast."

She wasn't good at expressing her feelings.

As she thought, Maria beckoned.

The puppy girl was clearly somewhat afraid of Maria, but when she saw the unquestionable look in Maria's eyes, she trembled, lowered her head, and reluctantly shuffled forward on her little feet.

"Afraid, but you don't dare resist?"

Seeing the girl's movements, Maria roughly understood what she was thinking.

But wisely, she said nothing more. She simply placed the girl on the branch bed beside her, then turned away and stopped looking at her.

That left the puppy girl deeply conflicted.

A moment later, she looked at the roasted meat Maria had prepared but hadn't eaten, then swallowed with a gulp.

Forget it...

She'd follow this strange member of her kind for a while.

There was delicious food, too!

After some simple thought, the puppy girl quickly made her decision.

Compared to living here every day, never eating enough, never staying warm, and constantly being afraid, following a powerful member of her kind might be the better choice.

A moment later, she flopped onto the branch bed as though she'd given up on everything and began resting peacefully.

Time slowly passed as Maria waited.

Before long, it was deep into the night.

The campfire's warmth gradually faded, and its flames grew weaker. Above, the tiny crescent moon struggled to stretch itself across the sky.

Unfortunately, its light was still too weak for the forest.

The silly puppy girl lay sprawled on the ground, sleeping without a care. Maria could even see the satisfied smile on her face.

Pure... and beautiful.

"What a lazy puppy."

Maria spoke softly, but it was impossible to tell whether she was pleased or angry.

The girl had fallen asleep, but Maria didn't dare sleep.

It wasn't only because of her past experiences.

More importantly, there were the restless sounds of breathing all around them...

Without saying anything, Maria slowly stood.

Moonlight shone upon her black hunter's attire, reflecting a delicate gleam.

"I thought you were merely a pack of lost beasts, but it seems... you're prepared mad dogs?"

Maria spoke coldly, her calm voice provoking the people watching them.

Those people froze when they heard Maria's voice.

Once they realized they had been discovered, they stopped caring about anything else.

With savage howls, they charged out of the forest!

"Ah—!!!!"

There were around seven or eight of these crazed people.

Their faces were sallow, and they looked severely malnourished.

Their eyes gleamed with a horrifying green light as they wildly raised their rusted weapons and rushed toward Maria!

It was obvious these people had been driven mad by hunger. They had come here to seize food...

If they had spoken politely to Maria, she wouldn't have minded sharing some of her food with them.

But judging by their posture... they had no intention of talking at all!

"Sigh..."

Maria sighed. Looking at the beast ears and tails on their bodies, she couldn't help feeling a little emotional.

"So beasts will always be beasts?"

Although she had encountered a simple creature like the puppy girl, this world had ultimately been corrupted.

Had so many people already fallen into bestialization and become incapable of rational thought?

Then... there was only one thing she could do...

Maria opened her eyes again, and her gaze instantly sharpened.

Faced with the thugs charging at her with weapons raised, she advanced instead of retreating!

Her right hand shot out!

Bang!

Her jade-like hand pierced straight through thin skin and plunged viciously into the beastman's abdomen.

She clenched her fist and twisted.

Then...

Bang!

The instant she pulled it out, organs and blood burst forth. The terrible pain didn't even give the thug a chance to howl or beg for mercy before he collapsed to the ground and began convulsing.

That intensely shocking sight instantly intimidated the surrounding thugs, bringing their frenzied charge to a halt.

"I don't kill people... but I do have some experience killing beasts."

Maria lowered the brim of her hat and spoke softly.

"Uh..."

Her cold, cruel words began to fill the beastmen with fear.

Especially since Maria hadn't shown even the slightest panic from beginning to end, making them realize that this seemingly frail woman was anything but ordinary.

Fear naturally began spreading among them.

That commotion also quickly woke the puppy girl, who had still been resting.

She sprang up from the ground and warily looked around in terror.

When she saw that people had already surrounded them, her eyes became filled with hostility.

But Maria's calm words swiftly pulled her back to reality.

"Move aside, puppy. There are no opponents for you to fight here."

The cold voice made the puppy girl's entire body stiffen in an instant.

But Maria had no intention of explaining. She merely stared at the crazed thugs before her, her expression unchanged.

If it were one-on-one, Maria wouldn't fear these people.

Even if she was injured, she had ways to deal with it.

But the problem was that there was also the puppy girl here.

Although she was a beast as well, in Maria's eyes, the puppy girl leaned more toward being human.

Though she had the traits of a beast, she was undoubtedly human.

As for these people before her...