Dark Fantasy’s Extra Chapter 151

After the trainee graduation ceremony, I went to the Hunting Order branch in Offenbach with Gerda and five other 8th-rank hunters who had been training instructors.

Since it was Gerda’s first time traveling long distance by carriage, she got a bit motion sick at first.

Though I told her looking outside and getting some fresh air would help, she kept staring only at me for some reason, so she didn’t recover quickly.

While I fully understood why Gerda was worried about me, isn’t this a bit too much?

“We’re approaching the border soon.”

The coachman said.

Throughout the journey to Offenbach, I had too many thoughts on my mind to spare much attention for Gerda.

Chris, Maia, Marquis Bluebeard, Bari, Blanc…

Too many things had happened in such a short time.

Before one wound could heal, too many events came crashing in.

And not a single one of them had been properly resolved.

After traveling by carriage for a while longer, we finally arrived at the Offenbach branch.

“…”

The guard at the entrance was someone I had seen before.

He looked us over briefly, and when his eyes met mine, his face stiffened.

Then he just jerked his chin, wordlessly telling us to enter.

I hadn’t expected to receive a warm welcome.

Though the Marquis’s betrayal was surely being kept secret even from most hunters, they still had ears to hear and feelings to sense things.

They must have at least heard that after I came, such incidents happened, and that a hunter from headquarters had been going in and out of the Heresy Inquisition Department.

But the other 8th-rank hunters who didn’t know the details looked somewhat uncomfortable.

I felt bad for them.

“Welcome. You must be the training instructors from headquarters?”

A mid-ranked hunter was waiting for us just inside the entrance.

This was another face I recognized.

However, he showed little reaction even when our eyes met.

He must have already received the information.

“My name is Ulysses. My job is to guard the branch commander.”

Ulysses, the mid-ranked hunter who used to guard Bluebeard’s mansion, said.

“The branch commander is waiting for you. Follow me. Oh, and since the branch commander is a very high-ranking noble, don’t do anything disrespectful.”

We followed Ulysses deeper into the Offenbach branch.

Looking around as we walked, this place had a smaller grounds and generally smaller buildings compared to headquarters.

But more than that, the atmosphere was deeply depressed.

“Are those the ones…”

“Could one of them be…”

As we passed by, I could hear the local hunters whispering.

There were several groups in corners watching us with uneasy eyes.

Some even openly displayed displeasure and hostility.

Though I hadn’t expected a grand welcoming ceremony, receiving such treatment made even us grow tense.

Of course, those of us who came from headquarters were all veterans hand-picked by Crowty who had shown good results, except for Gerda.

We wouldn’t show anger or irritation over something like this.

Still, the unpleasant feeling was unavoidable.

Especially for me, who had a guilty conscience, hiding my unease was quite a task.

“…”

Suddenly Gerda grabbed my hand.

When I looked down at her, she had quite an anxious expression.

Oh no.

Had I been too caught up in my own thoughts?

Gerda is still young, so suddenly receiving such stares must be uncomfortable.

Moreover…

“That girl over there…”

“Well well…”

Among the gazes directed at Gerda were some mixed with different, unsavory intentions.

Among us 8th-rank hunters, all except one were plain-looking men, and the remaining woman was more of a tomboy than a beauty.

Someone young and above all beautiful like Gerda would inevitably catch attention.

Come to think of it, there were quite a few unsavory characters among hunters.

I had momentarily forgotten about that lately.

Someone poked my other side.

When I just turned my eyes that way, the sole female 8th-rank hunter, Auntie ‘Beth’, rolled her eyes between me and Gerda.

Probably a wordless signal telling me to look after Gerda well.

I gave a very slight nod in response.

After continuing our uncomfortable walk, we finally entered the building and arrived in front of the Offenbach branch commander’s office.

“Excuse us.” 

Ulysses who had led us knocked and opened the door.

Inside, directly opposite us were Jarkoff and a man who appeared to be his secretary.

“The training instructors from headquarters have arrived.”

“Thank you for your work, Ulysses.”

When Jarkoff gestured, Ulysses gave him a slight bow.

For someone who knew the full story, his posture showed sincere respect.

And that person was the one who had directly discovered the Marquis’s corruption back then…

“Welcome to Offenbach. I am Jarkoff Bluebeard, the overall commander of this place.”

Jarkoff gave a small nod with a slight smile.

“Hmm…”

None of the 8th-rank hunters were unfamiliar with the Bluebeard name.

The Marquis should have been quite old originally, so having his son suddenly appear created an awkward atmosphere.

“My father recently retired and passed his position to me. I apologize for not informing you beforehand.”

Jarkoff spoke casually.

But his face showed undeniable deep fatigue.

Not only were there dark circles under his eyes, but his face was gaunt as if he had rapidly lost weight recently, and above all his expression was gloomy even when smiling.

You could even call it pitiful.

Knowing the full situation, I felt sorry for him.

“…”

Just then, Jarkoff’s secretary gave me a quick glance.

The original secretary had been an elderly man named Drian, but I had never seen this person before.

Probably… someone from the Heresy Inquisition Department.

And his job would be monitoring Jarkoff of course.

Of course, that included me who knew the backstory, in this position.

“It must be challenging. I am Marcus, representative of the training group.”

Marcus, who was the oldest and most experienced among us, stepped forward and spoke.

A face full of shallow wrinkles and small scars, but a person excellent in both character and ability.

We all bowed our heads to Jarkoff in unison.

“We have high expectations for all of you. The Offenbach branch has been desperately needing excellent training instructors as we’ve been expanding our personnel recently. When you return, please convey my regards and thanks to Sir Crowty.”

“Yes.”

“You must be tired from the long journey, so let’s save the longer discussions for later. First, I’ll have you shown to your quarters.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

We left Jarkoff’s office again and were guided to our assigned quarters.

But after Ulysses left, we all gathered in Marcus’s room without any prior arrangement.

“Everyone’s here.”

Except for Gerda, all five of us were veterans with long careers at the Order headquarters.

Of course, being an 8th-rank hunter required surviving 12 years at the lowest 9th rank as a basic condition.

Beyond verified skills, to train well you also needed good character and communication ability.

“You all saw it on the way in, but the atmosphere isn’t good.”

“Could it be because the Marquis retired? It’s not strange for things to be unsettled when the leader suddenly changes. Plus the Marquis was famous for being respected.”

“I think so too. And Jarkoff hasn’t even inherited the title yet, and his condition didn’t look good, probably from having too much work.”

My fellow hunters each shared their impressions.

Mostly reasonable deductions.

No one would think about the Marquis’s betrayal.

“So we need to make schedules for each of our areas, but has the other side…”

“Wait. There’s one thing I really want to address first.”

Auntie Beth said.

“About Gerda. I saw quite a few men with lecherous looks outside earlier. Of course I’m not too worried with Eugene here, but we can’t just do nothing.”

Auntie Beth was someone who had raised two children while being a hunter.

So she couldn’t just ignore Gerda’s situation.

The other hunters nodded as well.

“I was going to ask for the same thing.”

I said, placing my hand on Gerda’s shoulder.

“Gerda has the potential to become a higher-ranked hunter. She’s practically the Order’s future, so I would deeply appreciate everyone’s help.”

Among them were some people from around the same time as the seniors who had taught me in the past.

The seniors who had taken the lead back then were mostly… no, all dead, and only those who had kept some distance from them were here now.

Marcus had been very blunt and preferred being alone when I saw him during my errand boy days, but he had changed quite a bit after that incident.

“Including that, we should coordinate our schedules and movements well. And…”

At headquarters we had each handled 20 people, but here we needed to take turns teaching our specialties to 150 people.

Which means there would be times I had to leave Gerda alone.

The other hunters agreed to take turns staying with Gerda during those empty times.

“Oh, no. You don’t need to do that for me…”

Gerda, understanding the flow of conversation, waved her hands in protest.

“This is necessary.”

“Of course!”

“We can’t just leave everything to Eugene, it wouldn’t look right.”

However, as each person took turns speaking up, even Gerda seemed overwhelmed by the adults’ atmosphere and could only bow her head.

“Thank you.”

And I also expressed my gratitude to them.

The concern about Gerda wasn’t unnecessary worry.

We knew well from our long experience.

That there were plenty of bad characters among hunters.

Whether gamblers, con artists, or even local thugs – as long as they had magical power, they would be accepted as hunters.

Of course, such people had generally sold off basic conscience long ago, and strangely enough they were good at banding together.

To put it bluntly, it wouldn’t be strange if there were groups determined to assault Gerda.

While our headquarters was somewhat managed by Crowty, what about Offenbach?

Above all, now that the Marquis was gone, Jarkoff would have to control such problem cases… honestly, he didn’t seem very reliable.

He probably had his hands full just handling his own work.

Plus he likely had no real authority due to the Marquis’s betrayal.

We spent time discussing countermeasures for potential situations and only finished around dinner time.

“This is really fortunate.”

I said after returning to the quarters with Gerda.

“Thanks to them I can worry a bit less about you.”

“I don’t really…”

But Gerda still looked uncomfortable.

“I understand you don’t want to be a burden, but you should clearly accept help when it’s offered, just as you should give it clearly.”

“Do I have to stay with those people when Brother isn’t around?”

“Yes. They’re all trustworthy people, and if you feel like a burden, you can repay them by becoming an excellent hunter later. So for now, please rely on us.”

“That kind of…”

Gerda still seemed to have trouble accepting it as she hung her head low.

Though I couldn’t see her face clearly, she probably wasn’t used to relying on adults yet.

And while they were all good people, it was a separate issue for Gerda herself to trust or become familiar with them.

But we had no other options right now.

“Only Brother…”

“Hm?”

“…No. It’s nothing.”