Chapter 124: Clothing

After writing this, I did some research and discovered that interpreting "the clothes that kill DT" as "the clothes were so complicated to take off that he died" was incorrect, but since this interpretation is quite interesting overall, I will publish it as is.

Furthermore, the first half is almost entirely a clothing quiz for the Katayuki character.

I wrote it out for the time being so that everyone could easily imagine what kind of clothes these are, and so that interesting exchanges could happen even if one didn't know whose clothes they were, but I am sorry that people don't know Katayuki at all. I ran for fun.

"At first glance, it is nothing more than a neat and elegant blouse and skirt; from a woman's perspective, this is of no consequence.

First, the ribbon at the neck. Depending on the garment, the difference lies in whether it is actually wrapped and tied like a necktie, whether it is tied but the ribbon itself is sewn onto the garment, or whether it is already sewn into the shape of a ribbon and cannot be untied...

So if you don't notice what type of ribbon this is, you might laugh when you try to untie the type that is sewn into a ribbon shape.

This shirt is also tucked into... you mean the pleats here. It hides the buttons, so if you don't know how to tuck it in, it looks like a T-shirt without buttons or a collar. In my opinion, unless it is a T-shirt, it is hard to believe that such a tight collar cannot be seen from this fabric.

Most importantly, the most difficult part is the skirt.

This skirt has a high waist like a corset, and as you can see, it is tied with a ribbon, so you would think the ribbon would be untied, then re-tied one by one, and then put on and taken off. You can put on and take off things via buttons or zippers on the back.

Of course, you can adjust the waist slightly, but you don't have to untie it. Conversely, if the size is perfectly fit, it won't fall off even if you untie it.

But after all, depending on the brand, some things are really like corsets and cannot be taken off unless the ribbon is untied.

In other words, this outfit is not just "clothes suitable for DT, looking good on a cute and elegant girl," but as Sora said, "I don't have much experience with women, so I don't know the structure and rules of women's clothing, I don't know how to take it off, I will ruin the opportunity I worked so hard to bring, and then die."

"It's okay!! Or rather, you can take it off!?"

Sora himself, caught in the interpretation of Media's wet clothes and Sora's remarks, plunged in again with teary eyes.

Just like that, he actually untied the ribbon at his neck and started unbuttoning the blouse, so Media and the two men who had fainted in pain from the sudden destructive power rushed forward to stop him.

"Wait! Calm down! Didn't you forget there's someone here!?"

"Hey! Sorry, I was distracted!! So don't take it off! Or rather, would you rather be naked than have that outfit!?"

"Wait wait wait calm down! It's so cute! It looks good on you, no need to take it off!!"

"I don't need flattery!"

Not just the three of them, but Media, the Dragon Tooth Warrior, and the three fists with shooting abilities inexplicably stopped Sora from taking off his clothes, but Sora refused and made remarks that exacerbated her trauma and complexity.

While the three were desperately trying to stop Sora, they tilted their heads at Sora's shouting.

Sora is no longer a narcissist, but since they have known each other for a week, when someone praises their appearance, they say, "I've known you since I was born." I don't understand why he doesn't recognize you. He doesn't accept it and seriously thinks it doesn't suit him.

Although they don't understand, for some reason, Sora didn't say "I really hate these clothes," but instead said "I hate it because I feel it doesn't suit me." Repeating Zero's words and actions is understandable, and the three were even more confused.

So in the end, the two of them couldn't stop what happened after that.

"Alright, sorry! You can change clothes, just don't take it off now! When you calm down, you'll be ashamed to death again!!"

Media, who was strangling Sora, allowed him to change clothes, and before canceling the permission, Sora shouted: "Then you wear the jumpsuit now!"

However, Media grabbed Sora tightly and expressed her apologies.

"Sorry, it's dirty, I'll take it off and have the Dragon Tooth Warrior wash it immediately."

"You're the criminal!! I can have this person bury his head in the floor with a German suplex, right!?"

He looked sorry, so he probably didn't abuse it, but in the right sense, with genuine kindness, he stole Sora's escape. I beg you.

However, the shooting is also shooting, saying sorry.

"It poured with rain today."

"It is!"

Shoot pointed out that in the pouring rain where the guerrillas were looking for the Unicorn and the Poacher in the forest, Sora and the others used the dense forest trees as a roof to avoid getting wet, but they were left in the forest to dry. Recalling the cruel fact that their clothes were soaked by the rain, Sora knelt on the ground and lowered his head with a look of despair that neither Kurapika nor Biscuit had ever seen.

"Enough! You can wear it after squeezing and dehydrating it!!"

Because he didn't want to carry a lot of luggage, he regretted only bringing two jumpsuits to change into, in an OTL pose. Media stopped Sora from trying to put it on.

"That won't do, it's almost the end of November, if you wear semi-dry clothes, you'll catch a cold."

"That sermon, I don't want you to be the only one now!!"

"Yeah, I'm really sorry!!"

Honestly, he was the one who caused this situation, so Media was not qualified to preach what Sora said. He frankly admitted that due to Sora's blow, the tension had only just eased, and expressed his apologies.

Unfortunately, this woman, although she had calmed down a bit, still hadn't recovered a shred of decency.

"But if you catch a cold, I'm sorry because it's my fault. I can't force my hobbies on you anymore, so please endure the clothes I made."

"There's another one!?"

Not only Sora, but the remarks of the two also complemented Media's remarks.

Media responded to the thrust with a nice smile in unison.

"Yeah. I have about 10 more, so I think at least one will suit Sora's taste!"

"You earned too much!!"

Of course, the answer just created a new thrust point, so he coordinated the thrust again.

And after the two of them were in harmony, where did Sora's DT Speed Kill Weapon come from? Just as I thought my doubts were resolved, I realized I was still stuck on one point, and the two of them rushed in.

"I mean, you made these clothes yourself!!"

"When did you do it!?"

"Ah, I said something like a 'hobby' before I went to sleep, and then I sewed it. Do you know the size!?"

Sora, who was in the same room as the woman, responded to the thrusts of Shoot and Knuckles, but I couldn't imagine that she was also motivated by her own creative motives and had to make at least one piece of clothing every day. No, I pushed it back in while pulling it back.

However, Media, whose rampage had not yet stopped, did not notice at all that the three of them had turned and left, and I went back inside to bring it back.

After that, it goes without saying that for a while, Sora, Knuckles, and Shoot turned into a Media clothing competition, or rather a sprint competition.

Needless to say, after all, no one stopped Media from losing control.

The only person who didn't realize this fact and spoke Sora's "true feelings" was himself.

"This is my first recommendation!"

As the tension escalated, the first thing Media noticed was a White Dress.

It was indeed made from fabric bought at a countryside fabric store; it didn't feel luxurious enough for attending a gala, but the simple and elegant design reminded one of an ancient Goddess.

The black corsage and headpiece on the pure white fabric, layered with many petal-shaped ruffles, and a bold slit on the right side of the skirt, emphasized a design that was both sweet and cute for a young girl and alluring for an adult. At the same time. It was truly fantastic.

However, this garment had one major flaw.

Even if Sora didn't want to wear it or hated it, this was a defect that Sora could not wear. That was...

"Small!!"

No matter how you looked at it, it was for a girl, with a size limit of 140cm.

Sora was slim, so if she were willing, she might be able to wear it, but she would likely lose all the beauty of the garment. This made no sense at all.

Medea finally came to her senses, looked away embarrassedly, and muttered, "... Not enough material."

Naturally, to the question "Then why did you succeed?", the only thing I could say was "Because I wanted to succeed."

Well, although I thought it might suit Sora, I didn't really intend to wear it.

First of all, from an objective perspective, I thought it was great, but its design made me feel that current clothes were more suitable for me to wear.

So, the white dress push had subsided, and Sora breathed a sigh of relief, but Medea's tension quickly recovered as she took out the second focus.

"But this is the only unmatched size!

What's next? She's as cute as an idol."

Then, when did you understand your own size so perfectly? Sora didn't get involved because saying so was too stupid, but she did enter the second idol-style outfit reported by Medea.

"You're wearing a belt?! If this were an idol outfit, the PTA would protest!"

When wearing the black ruffled miniskirt, in Sora's view, it had reached the point of furrowing her brows, but I still walked ahead.

Just as Sora said, even for underground idols who don't care about selling their names, wearing this level of costume, even if you called it AV instead of an idol, the upper body of the costume was too explicit to argue.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the belt was wide enough to cover Sora's entire modest breast, but even so, if she moved violently, it might slip off, and being covered by mysterious steam, flashes, unnatural sound effects, and balloons, a costume that could see what had been modified should not be called an idol costume.

Sure enough, Medea didn't intend to sexually harass you to that extent, and even said: "It's okay, provided you wear a leotard like figure skating underneath!" But of course it was better, so it was immediately rejected.

Medea didn't like my current clothes, so it was obvious that this idol costume would be rejected from the start. Although she looked disappointed, she didn't seem to care if she just wanted to say something suddenly.

"Then, how about changing it a little?

Judging by your name, Sora is Japanese, just like Lord Soichiro, right? I wonder if a shrine maiden hit a Japanese nun? With this outfit, it's purely maidenly and natural, isn't it even more embarrassing?"

"Medea, you know nothing about shrine maidens!"

After Sora's blow, Knuckles and Shoot looked relieved. This was correct.

The self-proclaimed shrine maiden outfit photographed by Medea was not the very ordinary shrine maiden outfit of white small hands and scarlet hakama, but red water-chestnut and a tateeboshi hat, which was a big mistake from the beginning, but it was still good there.

Her marriage partner seemed to be Japanese, but no matter how you looked at it, Medea herself was not Japanese, so it might be a good idea to confuse a shrine maiden with a white-gi. In fact, there was no doubt that a white-gi was also a type of shrine maiden.

But the problem was the hakama. By the way, this was not a hakama.

The shape was a hakama, but when the length reached above the knees and the thighs were completely exposed, it could no longer be called a hakama. This was just a miniskirt.

To be precise, the sexual desire that Knuckles and Shoot started with was vastly different, but if you were told that this was the look of a cleric who serves God and respects chastity, you would say, "What kind of religion is that?", he thought.

This reaction was natural. Medea really should apologize to Shinto.

Pushed by Sora, Medea pursed her lips slightly, "Because I think short is cuter," but still obediently shut her mouth.

The design was indeed cute, but if you insisted that this was a shrine maiden, you would seriously misunderstand Shinto, so please stop.

"Then how about this? This is simple, without any twists."

The next thing I took out was definitely a simple, un-twisted, orthodox, straight path.

The collar and sleeves had red lines on a dark blue background. There was also the same dark blue scarf and pleated skirt. Without any extra decoration, this was why it was worth ingenuity and modification, which inspired the desire to create.

"This is definitely the best so far, but I'm already in my 20s, should I wear a sailor suit?"

"Sorry."

Once again, it was simply as simple as the sailor suit taken out by Medea, and Medea immediately apologized again.

But, of course, Medea hadn't given up yet. Seriously, this guy.

After that, when did Medea do it seriously? I launched a lot of high-quality clothes that made me think, but there were black Gothic Lolita clothes, orange dancer clothes with high exposure, if there were any, unique white maid clothes like old nurses, and exotic clothes. I accidentally forgot the concept of designing underwear, took out a dress with a mini-long chest, and either pulled three times in a row or was dismissed by Sora with cold eyes and calmness.

However, the loose Chinese-style outfit was simple, without any extra decoration, and the design was very similar to the design of an Ao Dai, with long pants instead of a skirt, so Sora finally got rid of the wrinkles carved between her eyebrows. And said: "Then I'll wear this."

When this incomprehensible time finally ended, Knuckles and Shoot breathed a sigh of relief, but the one who opposed Sora's conclusion was of course Medea.

"Wait! I have one more, one more! This one isn't finished yet, it'll be done by tonight, take a look!"

Of course, it had been like this until now, so Sora had a look of displeasure, and the two were also dumbfounded.

However, if the clothes I used just now were rejected, I would just put them away without forcing them, and for some reason I had tried my best not to wear the clothes made by Medea, but why is this woman related to fashion? It was a quality built with skill that made me doubt whether they were professionals, so it was interesting to watch, and most importantly, I had already obtained decent clothes, so I said, "... Just take a look." Sora agreed.

"Thank you so much!

But I think you'll like it too. I designed it as a rider suit instead of a skirt."

Getting Sora's permission, Medea stood up, her face innocent and shining like a child, while saying she was still working on it, she took out the last piece of clothing she had left in the room instead of the bedroom.

When they saw the last one they brought, Knuckles and Shoot were confused.

I wasn't interested in women's clothing, so even if I could understand Medea's view on women's clothing, I really didn't know what to say.

At first glance, it looked like a white jumpsuit, but it wasn't the kind of loose clothing Sora usually wore.

However, there were belts on the arms, shoulders, and legs, and a large lock hanging around the neck, so it looked like a leotard.

But it was still good. It was still in the realm of personal design.

The two had trouble commenting on the accessories of the jumpsuit.

A belt with white lace like a skirt and a veil made of the same lace.

Accessories that didn't even match the jumpsuit usually, and accessories that didn't look good when worn, were strangely matched with the white jumpsuit that looked like bondage.

"... A wedding dress?"

Instead of the man who didn't know what to say, Sora, who opened her eyes wide, whispered.

These words made the men breathe a little sigh of relief. Our impression was correct.

Yes, this is a wedding dress.

Aside from the color, the rider suit is too rugged, or perhaps it is just a lace veil train-like belt added to the seemingly restrictive bodysuit, but the impression changes vividly, appearing gorgeous and pure.

According to your perspective, the belt and padlock even seem to represent chastity as "something protected and locked just for you."

It is hard to say this outfit suits Knuckle, but it is definitely a wedding dress.

At the very least, I feel this incomprehensible thing is just right for a woman who has exacerbated such incomprehensible trauma and complexity, and who rejects the word "cute."

She maximizes the glamorous parts while keeping the glamorous parts to a minimum; this suits her well, as she is ashamed of her chastity, denies her own innocence, and yet possesses a chastity suitable for luring a Unicorn.

From the fluffy dress like a princess to this combat suit—I don't understand a woman's heart, and I have no confidence in my own senses, but this is just my personal impression of Knuckle and Shoot, based on what I have known about her since I started dating her over the past week.

If that person were to speak his mind, I could not predict what would happen, so I did not say anything either.

I said nothing and watched quietly.

The two looked silently at the round eyes, cheeks slightly flushed, with Sora holding the lace veil.

"... Favorite?"

Medea asked with a gentle smile.

Sora did not answer. She did not answer and continued to stare at the veil.

Medea said nothing. I did not say why I made these clothes, or what I was thinking when I made them; I just smiled and said.

"I think it will be finished when we enter the forest again at night."

If I repeat the same words I said before bringing this, Sora shifts her gaze away and mutters.

Is there no one who wants to be called "cute"? Just like you asked.

"... If the bodysuit isn't dry by night, I'll go borrow one.

... It would be easier to walk in the forest without the veil and the train replacing the belt at the waist."

Facing this sentence, Knuckle, who was about to give an extremely rude impression of "You are not honest," had Shoot and Medea simultaneously raise their elbow irons to make him shut up; Shoot had a confused look on his face, as if nothing was there, and Medea smiled kindly.

Sora snorted at them and retreated to the back of the room in her gorgeous dress.

Her cheeks were flushed red, and the corners of her mouth could not hide it.

"... Deceived."

"What happened all of a sudden!?"

Shortly before sunset, I took a nap and did some chores, such as sending an investigation report to the Association via email.

Shoot was also drawn in by the sudden remarks and the sullen momentum, but when he noticed Sora's appearance, he tilted his head; he did not intend to pursue it further and honestly stated his impressions and opinions.

"... Is it about that dress? It suits you very well. If I had to say, I am going to the forest now, so it suits me, but the belt with the veil and the thing that looks like a skirt—you should take it off."

"Thank you for the compliment, but I'm sorry, I didn't intend to wear the veil for training either, but I had no choice but to put it on."

"Huh?"

Sora was wearing a unique wedding dress, a white knight's outfit, just as she said, because the weather was bad today and the bodysuit made of thick fabric had not dried.

Sora answered with the most sullen expression unsuitable for the outfit; the two were wearing unique pure white wedding dresses, which seemed to suit them better than yesterday's DT Speed Kill Weapon.

Yesterday, Knuckle and Shoot, who were sinking into Sora's attire, were not good, because although Sora's appearance radiated a pure image through colors and decorations like lace, the body lines were clearly visible, making it sexier than clothes that were not revealing enough. Incidentally, it was fortunate that they neutralized the appeal of this outfit, and in a bad way, they ruined them, but they had no reason to want to work with someone so sullen.

This time, it was not just Sora, but also the doubt of Medea who was present.

"Hmm... I think it's a bit bad, but if this is a wedding dress, it's okay to be brave, but I think it's too brave. I tried to express it, but..."

"Where did that 'sissy' come from!! This isn't a surprise slut! If you're not good at it, it would look better to wear that belt idol outfit!!"

"Hmph, unexpected slut?"

"What kind of...?"

Medea smiled bitterly and told the two why Sora was in a bad mood.

Medea's explanation, or rather, the "maiden's dilemma," was meaningless, but what's more, the two words of mysterious power, "suddenly attacking slut," were thrown into it, and the two fell into deep confusion and bewilderment.

However, Sora, who was grabbing Medea and protesting with tears in her eyes, did not turn around to grab Medea, but deliberately retreated to the same position as Medea, grabbing from the side, as if there was something behind the unfinished part that I hadn't looked at carefully.

The veil and train that were not intended to be worn initially might be because they wanted to hide their backs.

However, after I understood this much, Knuckle and Shoot tilted their heads again.

At first, I thought it was a design without fabric on the back, but if it were such a design, even if covered by a less transparent veil, the position could be seen from the side.

Within the range where Knuckle and Shoot could see, the back of the bodysuit was also normally covered with fabric, so there was no ulterior motive; it was just out of curiosity that the two moved their positions slightly to watch Sora return, and the moment they wanted to see, it was as if something invisible and hard had fallen at their feet.

"Don't stand behind me."

"Sorry! But where are you? 13 thirteen is!?"

Gandr pointed his right finger at the feet of the two behind him and shot; a pair of bright eyes squinted, not to the extent of killing intent, but sensing the anger in front of the two when he rushed in.

Seriously, what exactly was that "maiden's prank" or "unexpected slut" on her back? Shoot had no intention of digging deep into things that shouldn't be done and decided to put the mystery aside; Knuckle asked him the most fundamental thing, thinking, although it was already late.

"Or rather, if you don't want to wear it, just wear yesterday's cheongsam."

"No. Or rather, that's impossible.

Well, the material is thin, so it's not bad as pajamas, but even if you don't go to the battlefield, it will be torn to shreds walking in the forest, and it is usually transparent in the sun."

Responding to Knuckle being really late, Sora glared at him with a face as if saying, "If I could do it, I would have done it from the beginning."

"You... didn't you do it on purpose?"

"I wouldn't!... Ah, but it's really good, this girl. She is a bit different from my favorite petite and cute girl, but she is beautiful, cool, sexy, and almost every type is complete. It looks like a dream that I can do..."

"Mr. Medea, are you still sleeping?

Perhaps he really wanted Sora to wear the clothes he liked, and he deliberately washed two bodysuits, and he might not have even given the best clothes to the broken one, but he denied it. Sora, a more gentle person, asked Medea, who was also obsessed with Sora, with a blue vein on her temple.

Sure enough, knowing that I had done many things that I couldn't complain about even if I was angry, Medea apologized obediently, saying, "Sorry, I was distracted."

"Sorry, I really lost control. For the time being, shouldn't we say today is Sora's day off?

At least for one day, you don't have to go to the forest. If the Unicorn doesn't appear after a week, it's likely not a Unicorn, and even if it does appear, our goal is not to hunt the Unicorn horn or the Unicorn itself, so you go. It will be solved somehow, so you must retreat, right?"

Making Sora into a dress-up doll might carry a sense of guilt, but unlike Knuckle and himself, she is a helper in a different field, told things as unreasonable or even more so than Shute, so Medea wouldn't want Sora..., but Sora hummed, answering briefly.

"Well, you can do something. In fact, even without me, you have caught poachers and protected children before.

However, even if one can use Medea's aura wave tactics, called Dragon Tooth Soldier, if one wants to reliably catch poachers with children in a vast forest, it is better to have more people and more combat power.

If you could take a nap at home by yourself, you wouldn't have come here in the first place."

Saying this, I lifted the Veil and continued walking forward.

On the way to the forest, this is the best way to stand out, but rather than resting, it is better to wait for the jumpsuit you are wearing to dry completely. No, but he said he would do what must be done to prevent tragedy.

"... You really are a good girl."

Whether sulking like a child or yelling at him with an incomprehensible complex, he never forgot the importance of being a Hunter and being human; impressed by his attitude of prioritizing others, Knuckle placed his hand on Sora's shoulder. Trying to put

But before putting it down, he turned around and pointed his index finger at me. The reckless Bullet Gandr was fired. The Knuckles retracted with the momentum of building a bridge like in some sci-fi movie, dodging the overly excellent melee Bullet that would have caused 5 hours of tickling Harassment once hit.

"Whoa!?"

"Whoa, sorry! But I told you not to stand behind me!!"

"Seriously, sorry, but seriously, which Assassin are you!?

The person who fired also apologized in surprise, then insisted, "Don't stand behind," and while watching the noisy exchange where Knuckle also apologized again and interjected, Shoot asked Medea next to him again.

"... What exactly did you do to those clothes?"

"... I wanted to express 'a young girl's irresponsibility' because it was just too cute, sorry."

Medea awkwardly shifted her gaze away from the lens, the murmured answer still somewhat hard to understand, and it was a pity that the chance to follow up was lost.

"What the hell! Wedding dresses in the city are like this!!"

A high-pitched voice suddenly rang out, and the four rolled their eyes and turned their faces toward the source of the sound.

There were four girls around ten years old.

One was climbing the fence, and the other three were soothing their petite and mischievous friend, but they all stared at Sora with sparkling eyes.

At the girls' reaction, the Hunter mixed a smile with a somewhat awkward laugh.

"... Hmm, are you children from the village?

Although Sora was a bit puzzled, he still took the initiative to speak to her.

Living a life with days and nights reversed, so it's not much, but when preparing to enter the forest before the Sun goes down like today, there have been many times when a child fascinated by Hunters came to see me and talk to me. There are such things, so I think these four are all the same, even though this is my first time seeing them.

The other three also made the same decision, but they all knew that their appearance and looks easily made children feel scared and vigilant, so the first person to deal with the children was Sora. Since it has been decided, I will leave it to you for now.

"Yeah! My dad told me not to be a Hunter who gets in the way, but I want to be a Hunter in the future, so I didn't get in the way, I just came to see!!"

"Tatsuko-chan... you're already bothering me enough..."

The young girl who came down from the top of the fence after being spoken to by Sora answered happily.

Facing Tatsuko's answer, the most docile and timid young girl murmured in surprise, and the other two also let out a deep sigh as if they were in sync with her.

However, Sora is a female just like this young girl named Tatsuko, so she also answered with the same straightforward smile.

"I see. Acting as soon as you think of it, that is a good quality for a Hunter. Within the range of not disturbing your friends... I'm afraid that's impossible, so apologize for now, and if you cause trouble, try not to cause the same trouble."

While Sora stroked the head of the young girl who wanted to be a Hunter and gave accurate Suggestion, the young girl wearing glasses, perhaps thinking Sora was an "easy person to talk to," also spoke to Sora.

"Hey, big sister. If you are also a Hunter, what kind of clothes are you wearing?"

"... What is it?"

Being asked was a matter of course, but Sora herself didn't know why she was dressed like this, so she couldn't help but ask back with an indifferent face.

However, in Sora's view, the secondary voice of "Please don't touch these clothes" unfortunately did not reach the children's ears. He raised his hand and answered.

"Big sister, you are going to be a Unicorn's bride, right? Unicorns look for beautiful brides!"

"Gafu!!"

"!!??"

Responding to the ticklish child's answer, Sora was hurt by the momentum of spitting blood and squatted down on the spot, causing the children to fall into a panic after being greatly frightened. And Medea, slightly relieved by the interaction between Sora and the children, held her head and expressed sympathy for Sora.

It was probably a misleading explanation made by an adult who couldn't explain to a young girl what a "pure maiden" was. The sense of shame that should have been blown away a bit struck Sora again, and he wrapped himself and a train like a bagworm with the Veil and hid.

The beautiful big sister who was talking to me in a friendly way suddenly got hurt and squatted down, then turned into a grasshopper, and the children were naturally even more confused.

All the children were confused. However, the reason why only one person was confused was different.

When the three Hunters didn't know how to soothe Sora who had turned into a shameful bagworm, I realized this, and the children were also confused by Sora's reaction. Because the child said expressionlessly.

"Unicorn? What are you talking about?

There is a River Ghost in the forest, right? Did your father and brothers say so?"

The smallest but most mischievous girl who climbed to the top of the fence said with a puzzled face, and not only Medea, but even Sora who was squatting down wrapped in the Veil raised his head, "River Ghost?"

As for the children, except for the child who said "River Ghost," one by one they realized their mistake and had regretful faces.

"Hey, what do you mean by the Unicorn you mentioned? What is that? What do you mean by looking for a beautiful bride?"

It seems that only this mischievous girl didn't know about the 'Forest Unicorn', so she grabbed the arm of the girl with glasses next to her and asked persistently.

During that time, Sora and the other Hunters asked the girl and the timid child what was going on.

"Ah... as you can see, she is that kind of mischievous girl who moves her body first and then her brain."

"When I heard about Unicorns, they would completely skip the 'don't go near it because it's dangerous' part and go into the forest to look for them, so I decided not to tell them..."

Satisfied with this explanation, Sora and the others smiled bitterly. For better or worse, she really looked like a childish girl.

Although she let out a familiar sigh, clearly indicating that she was struggling with her own behavior of not thinking about the future, the three of them must have loved this girl and regarded her as a friend.

That is why I deceived my friend, because I didn't want them to be in danger.

Honestly, it might be more that the continuous questioning is annoying, but the girl with glasses didn't tell the truth that aroused her curiosity, which would only make her understand dangerous things.

"Oh, forget it!

A Unicorn is a man-eating ghost horse, with only internal organs left, just like a River Ghost!!"

"!? Wait a minute! Learn more information!!"

!!??

The four Hunters explained through gritted teeth; this was supposed to be highly inappropriate, and the same logic once again left the children feeling confused.

The Sun has already set, and the date will change soon.

Leaving was much later than planned, but I am not satisfied with this.

From now on, rather than misunderstanding the Origin, continuing a pointless search, and making irreparable sacrifices, it is better to spend more time deceiving the newly acquired information and formulating countermeasures I can think of based on this information. Time.

This is why Sora walked briskly wearing her white Veil, with her train fluttering.

All in all, it was a unique figure that should not have fit this place and situation, but most of the light from the moon and stars was blocked by the trees in the forest and the pure white attire shining in the Pitch Darkness. The forest itself, along with the Veil fluttering like wings, Sora, who had just been walking by the river, danced, not only for those who did not know the true identity, but also for Medea, who was watching Sora by erasing her presence with "Ryu". She seemed to be in a world full of fantasy and mystery, like a dancing fairy.

Of course, Sora was not walking to be seen. Her role remained that of bait.

There was no change in walking through the forest as bait. However, unlike before, the area of roaming was narrowed down to a certain extent, even in the center of the forest.

Sora took a walk along the riverbank.

She continued to walk alone, slowly moving from downstream to upstream.

There was one more thing; she tried to lure her opponent in a way different from usual.

This was also one of the reasons she looked like a dancing fairy.

While Sora walked, she would occasionally wave something toward the riverbank.

It was a Towel swinging about, but from a distance, it looked like a rhythmic gymnastics ribbon, a factor that made one think of a "dancing fairy."

But once you knew what was actually soaked in the Towel she was waving, this image was unfortunately shattered.

The Towel Sora was waving was soaked in a red-black, iron-smelling liquid... it was Sora's own blood.

After dipping the Towel soaked in her own blood into the river water, Sora waved the towel, scattering her blood dissolved by the water.

Knowing the truth, what Sora was doing could only be called bizarre and insane, far from a fantasy, but even if she was actually a madwoman, there was no meaning or reason to her madness.

There was a reason for this. This is why Medea no longer said "it didn't have to go that far," but rather because they could not completely oppose it until the end.

Medea said.

"I'm sorry. This is because I lacked knowledge."

Having said so much, I blamed myself.

At first, I thought the story of seeing a Unicorn was some kind of fairy tale passed down in this village, so I did a little research, so I should have noticed, but Medea could not connect the story to a Unicorn.

Knuckle told her with a regretful face that it was not Medea who was wrong, but himself.

"You are in a different field, so it can't be helped that you didn't understand. On the contrary, I should have noticed it sooner."

"Damn it! I wish I had a hint! I should have realized sooner that that Unicorn-like horse disappeared by the river, but only a part of its internal organs were washed downstream!!"

As a Beast Hunter, I didn't realize it; from Medea's report, I was convinced it was a "Unicorn or a mutant with similar characteristics."

And Shoot said, comforting Knuckle who was thinking this.

"It's useless. People think 'that' was hunted to extinction a long time ago."

"You usually can't imagine that there are still survivors now, appearing in the form of a Unicorn."

Yes.

This was a beast that should have been hunted even before Knuckle, Shoot, and Medea were born.

The reason they were hunted to the end was human ego, but they were not over-hunted just for fun, because they were easily hunted as they were not so cautious, even for their fur and meat.

It was clear that it was hunted for annihilation.

The children were unwilling to be bitten suddenly by a Hunter, but they taught me.

A story made up by a mischievous friend who was interested in the Unicorn, so as not to sneak into the forest to look for it and admire it.

A story was passed down in the village and recognized as a fairy tale.

He told me the story of the "River Ghost".

The "River Ghost" has no Fixed number.

Sometimes he appears in the woods in the image of an old man, sometimes in the image of a beautiful woman, and sometimes in the image of a horse with reins.

The "River Ghost" can transform into a charming form at will. It uses its appearance to lure people to the riverbank, and when it drags people into the river, it finally reveals its true identity, but no one knows its true identity.

Unless one is a good swimmer, anyone dragged into the river will drown. Even those who survived as good swimmers desperately searched for the true identity of the "River Ghost" and eventually survived.

The purpose of the "River Ghost" is to eat the humans dragged into the river and drowned. To eat people, it takes various forms to lure humans into its territory, the river.

This is a common monster story. That is why Medea thought it had nothing to do with the Unicorn and did not want to learn more.

However, this "River Ghost" had the biggest characteristic that was different from "ordinary monster legends."

If I grasp its characteristics well, I can connect it to Medea, whom I don't know much about, except for the medicinal divine beasts of the Hunter world, but she regretted that she thought it had nothing to do with it.

For some reason, the "River Ghost" does not just eat a part of the internal organs.

The "River Ghost" is a ferocious whale-eater that eats everything except clothes and the prey's belongings, leaving no bones, and it is said that it is left on the riverbank or washed downstream.

Except for the most dangerous child, Tatsuko, the three children thought this story was a moral lesson: "Don't follow strangers, don't play in the river."

In fact, "now" might be the only way.

However, until about half a century ago, this story was definitely true.

The terrain of this forest and the water quality of the river might have been very suitable for a "monster in the river," so such a story was passed down.

This is why the human ego of "not wanting to die" destroyed the "it" that survived, which might have drifted from somewhere looking for a place to inhabit and prey.

While walking and thinking about the speculation that no longer made much sense, Sora felt a tingling sensation in the back of her neck.

For her, who could barely make a circle, it was nothing more than a premonition, but because she did not want to die, she kept breaking, kept destroying, and even if she was burned out, she could continue to run, and she fell into a vigilant network of death fantasies.

Sora stopped waving the blood-stained Towel and looked back at the Veil, Training as they fluttered gracefully.

When I turned around, "it" was in the river.

I don't know how much time had passed, but it appeared from the river almost silently and slowly approached Sora, just like Sora's attire, a pure white fur shining in the darkness, with a long spiral horn growing on its head. A horse.

Legend has it that "it" looks like nothing more than a Unicorn, possessing the graceful posture seen in paintings, slowly, ever so slowly, closing the distance with Sora.

A Unicorn and a young girl wearing a wedding dress.

A mysterious and marvelous scene was born, just like a scene from a myth or a fairy tale.

However, although this girl was undoubtedly a "pure virgin," she was not a girl worthy of the Unicorn legend.

The moment the "Unicorn" reached a certain distance, Sora raised his hand holding the towel, then brought it down forcefully.

The water soaked into the towel turned into droplets, flying toward my face with all its might; of course, it took almost no damage, but for an instant, the 【Unicorn】 was trapped in the void.

This was the goal.

I raised my hand to signal. This was an impromptu performance; even for an instant, one could create an opening by swinging downward, but neither the idiot who couldn't understand it nor the idiot who would waste the opening was here.

Under Sora's signal, the completely closed Nen was opened, knuckles were shrouded in Aura, and the Dragon Tooth Warriors, whose Aura had been cut off by Medea, jumped out from the bushes all at once. The forest where they were hiding, pouncing toward the "Unicorn."

"You finally came out! You horse-faced bastard!!"

Knuckle struck the horse with his Aura-filled fist while shouting an insult too natural to be an insult.

However, the "Unicorn" remained in the river, ignoring the flow of the river water, swinging its sharp horn from side to side, charging wildly.

Medea's Dragon Tooth Warriors, moving with Nen Ability, were fragile, and coupled with being caught by the river water and poor coordination, most were kicked by the "Unicorn." Its horn or hind legs. And crushed.

The surprise attack failed... no.

On the contrary, this was "bait."

With Sora, Knuckle, and Medea's Dragon Rider, the "Unicorn's" escape route was completely guided in a specific direction.

When I ran in that direction, something flew at me from an unavoidable blind spot with the momentum of a rocket, which triggered a super-reaction in me similar to Sora's, even surpassing the instincts of a beast. I hit him.

This was one of Shoot's left fists.

The freely floating fist of Shoot hit the "Unicorn" in the right eye with one punch, then scraped it off and locked it in a pitch-black inn.

The damage shouldn't have been much, but the sudden attack, combined with the blindness in the right field of vision, made it panic and lose focus.

Knuckle and Sora, who attacked from Shoot's attack as if adding another blow, and "It," which was trying its best to escape from Shoot's fist, could no longer keep up the pretense.

"... Somehow, it's really too smart for this guy to have survived."

That is true. Even if you say you have the ability to transform, the closer you are to the true form, the lighter it must be than being far from the true form."

The river water was hiding in a deep place where it couldn't be approached, but there was no intention of escaping either. Sora picked up a suitable branch from under his feet, looked at the blue sky, and let out an admiring sneer.

As soon as these words came out, Knuckle snorted in disgust, and Medea and Shoot, who walked out of the forest, also agreed very much.

"Among the same 'horse-shaped phantom beasts,' choosing a Unicorn is also smart.

Yes. If it's a Unicorn, even if you don't go out of your way to approach it, many stupid people will come to you just to let you see what they look like, and most importantly, Hunters will prepare the perfect prey for a defenseless girl. It tastes extremely unpleasant, but I can understand it."

"... The reason the first poacher was killed was not to protect the child, but because he was still just a child, too small to attack with those horns."

Why did "it" look like a "Unicorn," and why were only poachers killed when Medea discovered it?

There was no longer any illusion or mystery anywhere about "it."

The horn melted. Even the silver-white hair changed color, as if the pigment had melted.

It turned into a dirty-looking gray fur, and the Medeas all made a face as if they were looking closely at the moonlight spilling through the gaps in the trees.

A weird green eczema-like thing could be seen on the fur.

Its appearance was modeled after a steed like a Unicorn, but compared to the graceful Unicorn, its appearance was extremely crude, and it should have been hunted to extinction decades ago. Beast, and in Sora's world, it had the same abilities, appearance, and name as a Kelpie.

It was no surprise that no traces of hooves or feces were found.

Its territory was not in the forest, but in the river.

If it excreted in the water, it would be washed away, leaving almost no traces. If I had gone to the river to investigate in detail, I might have found it, but unless the target was confirmed to be an aquatic Phantom Beast, I had no reason to go out of my way to investigate until the end of November.

If you think it's a Unicorn or a new breed of horse with similar characteristics, you would usually investigate to the riverbank, not into the river.

It was raining the day Medea discovered it, so the previous hoof prints might have been lost in the rain.

And after being discovered by Medea, you can assume he didn't come out of the river, which was his territory, because he was wary of her and the increasing number of Nen users.

Are you that cautious? That's what I thought, but perhaps the intelligence of this water demon is not much different from that of humans.

Without it, it's hard to explain. If it possessed the same abilities as the legends Sora knew, it should have that level of intelligence.

A ferocious carnivorous beast that disguises humans as something defenseless and drags them into its territory's waters to feed.

Because of its special abilities, it especially liked to eat human flesh, and one Phantom Beast was identified as danger level C and hunted.

Like his beloved, Sora's clan was self-destructed by someone, leaving him alone, and like himself, he survived with the single-mindedness of "I don't want to die."

"... Sorry. You don't want to die either, but I don't want to die either. It's more unwilling, and it's only temporary, but in the end, I still stood on the side of the barren valley.", too.

That's why I will destroy you. Kelpie.

Sora made a declaration to the water demon Kelpie, who drowned people, ate people, and left only the liver.

Because he had the same instincts as himself, he told him that he would kill him with Alaya's self, and that he should not be allowed to live.

At that statement, the Kelpie hissed.

No longer the graceful Phantom Beast in Unicorn form, all I saw was a woman.

Humans destroyed their own race, but without the hatred of the scarlet boy, it was they themselves.

Only the primitive instinct born from "I don't want to die" and the self that seeks things that should not be done because of wisdom.

Just like Sora's instinct and self-declaration, the Kelpie returned an answer that only had instinct and self, "I want to eat delicious meat," and then sank to the bottom of the water.

Now, here are the answers to the first half's costume quiz.

Girl in white dress → Euryale or Stheno

Idol outfit with upper belt → Elisabeth Bathory

Miniskirt → Suzuka Gozen

Sailor suit → Tono Akiha (Asagami Girls' Academy uniform)

Black Gothic Lolita → Saber Alter (casual clothes)

Orange dancer outfit → MataFirm

White maid outfit → Sera or Liz (Einzbern maid outfit)

Trousers, exotic dress → Rani VIII

Chinese outfit → Karyo Kaie bodysuit

Wedding dress → Bride Saber

Honesty, I really want to write Sora cosplaying as Bride Saber. No regrets, no regrets.

The true identity of the Unicorn, the Kelpie, has a lot to say, but I would be grateful if you could ignore it.

Due to a major expansion in the interpretation of its transformation ability, it has become a Phantom Beast completely different from the legend.

And while writing this Kelpie, I thought, if the Kelpie's transformation ability is a Nen Ability, then is Kiriko's ability to turn into a human also a Nen Ability?

Or is this some kind of trait unique to the Kiriko species?

I will state it again.

This time it ends in a serious manner, but this chapter was planned to be a comedy from beginning to end.

In other words, announcing various endings in the next Kelpie.