Dark Fantasy’s Extra

After returning to the Order, we tried to deliver the Beast of Bone Fragments’ head to the Development Department.

“How interesting… We should send this to that person.”

The Development Department staff said.

“That person?”

“You know about the behemoth that appeared around here recently, right?”

I know it all too well.

“Because of that, we got a new person in the Development Department. They used to work at a regional branch, but they were rumored to be quite skilled, so they were brought here.”

A skilled developer from another Order branch?

Ah, could it be that person has arrived?

So Blue Paper Moon has truly begun now.

“From now on, we’ll send anything of high rarity to that person. Though interestingly, they requested that the hunters who caught them bring them in personally. Said they need to hear how they were caught.”

Following the staff’s guidance, Hilde and I walked deeper into the Development Department.

With a sense of déjà vu from my previous life, I entered a place marked ‘Workshop 3.’

“…Excuse us.”

The inside of Workshop 3 was completely different from the medieval cathedral-like feel of the rest of the building.

Beast specimens were displayed like exhibits on one wall, while various weapons hung on the opposite wall.

And in the center of the workshop was a massive mechanical device.

Exactly as I’d seen in Blue Paper Moon.

I walked toward the person sitting in front of the central machine.

“Excuse me.”

“…”

“Hello?”

“…”

I gently tapped their shoulder.

“Ah?”

They finally turned to look at me.

Bleached-looking blonde hair, strangely dull and lifeless eyes, lifeless skin, complete with dark circles under the eyes.

A perfect match with how I remembered her.

“Who are you?”

“We’re hunters. We brought a Beast specimen.”

“Aah…”

She got up while ruffling her disheveled hair.

Even her posture was hunched.

“Put it on that table over there.”

The nametag on her coat read ‘Zepetia Polendina.’

I placed the Beast of Bone Fragments’ head on the table.

“…Ooh.”

A strange fire lit up in her lifeless eyes.

“Never seen anything like this before… Where did you catch it?”

“In the juniper forest.”

“Speak casually. You hunters seem much older than me… Ah, I’m Zepetia. I just got to headquarters, so please overlook any mistakes or things I don’t know yet.”

“Sure. I’m 8th-rank hunter Eugene.”

“I am Hilde Grimm. Pleased to meet you, Ms. Zepetia Polendina.”

Hilde greeted her elegantly.

“Ah, yes…”

But Zepetia slightly shrank back and avoided eye contact.

In this world, having a surname indicates noble status, but she had a setting where she was overly interested in academics from childhood and was actually weak when it came to noble-like things.

That setting seems to hold true here as well.

Hilde tilted her head at Zepetia’s lukewarm response.

“Ah, ah, anyway, about this Beast…”

Zepetia changed the subject.

“The juniper forest, that was… the place where Beast-transformed wild creatures kept appearing, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought it was a strange place, but there were never any reports of real Beasts appearing there.”

“There was a Beast mimicking a tree deep in the forest. Or rather than mimicking, it felt more like a shell.”

“That is strange… Tell me more about it.”

Hilde and I took turns telling the story of how we faced the Beast of Bone Fragments.

We told everything, from its initial tree form, how we attacked it, to the true form that appeared at the end.

“I can propose a few theories. Just as you hunters said, that tree was probably really a shell. Perhaps it was preparing to be born as a more powerful Beast, like a chick hatching from an egg someday.”

Word for word what I’d heard in Blue Paper Moon.

Of course, in the game the player’s explanation of the Beast was skipped, but Zepetia would look at Beast specimens and speculate about their characteristics and origins.

“How interesting… Alright. I’ll make good use of this valuable specimen. Ah, and come back here in a week. I’m going to try making something using this specimen, and I need someone to test the prototype. I think it would be more accurate to have the person who actually hunted it try it out. Of course, it’s free.”

“Free?”

In the game, you would give Beast remains and Order Silver coins and immediately receive equipment.

But thinking realistically, it would be impossible to instantly create equipment just from being given Beast body parts.

Here, instead of taking Order Silver coins, it takes time.

Is this a change because the protagonist is Hilde?

Or would it have been the same if the male protagonist Noah had come?

“Well, anyway, I’ll leave it to you.”

As long as I get the weapon, that’s all that matters.

After handing over the Beast remains, Hilde and I wrote our mission report at the administration office and returned to our room.

“Now let’s wash up and rest.”

“Yes!”

Hilde’s eyes sparkled at the mention of washing up and resting.

“Come to think of it, do you know where the shower room is? Grab your casual clothes and follow me.”

I took Hilde to the shower room.

As usual, I threw my dirty clothes in the laundry basket, quickly washed with cold water and cheap soap, came out and waited.

“…”

Not long after, Hilde also came out.

“Huh? You’re done already? I thought you’d take longer…”

Hilde hadn’t washed at all.

“Um, well…”

“What is it?”

“The water is cold… And there’s no bathtub…”

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, until just days ago, Hilde was an ordinary noble lady.

For her, bathing would naturally mean soaking in warm water.

“Well… there’s a paid shower facility over there. Let’s go there. Though there probably won’t be a bathtub there either.”

Even in the women’s section, I doubt there would be a bathtub here.

Those would only be in the private rooms for higher-ranked hunters.

“What? How do you wash without a bathtub?”

“Just take a shower. It’s a shower room, not a bathhouse.”

“Yes…”

Hilde looked quite disappointed.

Maybe I should get a bathtub for the private room given to 8th-rank hunters that has basic shower facilities.

I took Hilde to the paid shower facility and waited outside.

Fortunately, she came out quickly.

Having soaked in warm water, she looked like she wanted to sleep right away as the accumulated fatigue hit her all at once.

Last night’s camping wasn’t enough after all.

When we returned to the room, Hilde collapsed onto the bed.

And fell asleep immediately.

I wasn’t particularly tired.

Unlike Hilde, I had rested enough during last night’s camping.

It was only 2 PM.

It’s time for afternoon training for hunters not out on missions.

While training Hilde is good, I can’t neglect my own training.

I quietly went outside and headed to the training ground.

*    *    *

Zepetia sat lost in thought before the Beast specimen the hunters had just brought.

“Headquarters really is different… Getting something like this on the first day.”

The Order branch where she originally worked was in a very remote area.

It was quite a peaceful place where not even mid-tier, let alone high-tier Beasts had appeared in the past 10 years.

Of course, that was good for the residents there, but as a scholar, Zepetia felt somewhat regretful.

At the Hunting Order headquarters, she could surely get her hands on far more diverse Beast specimens than there.

So when she heard that headquarters was expanding their staff, she asked her family for help.

Though her family usually treated her as eccentric for having no interest in marriage or socializing, they actively supported this since they viewed gaining prestige and connections at the Hunting Order positively.

Of course, this was only possible because her research achievements backed it up.

And on the very first day her workshop opened, something incredible appeared before her.

“Hu, huhu… Stay calm. Stay calm. It’s just my first day working at headquarters. I need to produce proper results here…!”

The remains of a mid-tier level Beast just freshly hunted.

A precious specimen she could only dream of in her hometown.

Moreover, a uniquely strange Beast made entirely of black bones.

Not bones that had turned white from being long dead, but a Beast made purely of bones that moved using curses as power.

Though it was slightly disappointing that one side of its face was smashed, she was too excited to care much.

Zepetia carefully put on gloves and placed the Beast of Bone Fragments’ head into the machine in the center of the workshop.

It was a great invention left by her grandfather that she had brought directly from her hometown.

Even she didn’t fully understand the detailed principles, but she knew well enough how amazing its effects were.

When she pressed the switch, the machine began operating with a red glow.

The Beast’s head inside the machine turned into particles.

“Good. It’s working properly!”

Even if it broke down, she could fix it to some extent.

But no one except her grandfather knew everything about this machine.

“I’ll work hard… And I’ll definitely find it.”

Zepetia’s grandfather disappeared 20 years ago.

Though she had never met him since then, the research materials he left behind completely changed her life.

“Grandfather Vile…”

Vile Polendina.

A genius scientist and inventor of the century.

A man whose name was erased from academia.

And the name of a behemoth who suddenly appeared 20 years ago, massacred dozens of civilians, and vanished without a trace.

*    *    *

I returned to the room after lightly warming up at the training ground.

Hilde was still sleeping.

Looking at the clock, about 30 minutes had passed.

“Wake up.”

“Mmm…”

“I said wake up.”

I shook Hilde awake.

“Eh…”

Hilde slowly opened her eyes.

“Is it morning already…”

“No. Not even a day has passed.”

“What…?”

“Get up and come out. We’re going to train.”

“Tr-training?”

Her voice clearly showed her displeasure.

“You’ve slept twice already, that’s enough. I’ll teach you a special technique, so change into your training clothes and come out.”

Hilde shot up.

“A special technique?!”

“Yeah. Now that you can use magical power, you need to learn proper techniques.”

“Yes!”

I took Hilde back to the training ground.

“Senior! What exactly is this special technique?”

“Rope climbing.”

“…What?”

“We’ll start with rope climbing.”

“Ah, ahh. So we’re warming up lightly.”

“Actually no.”

“…?”

“Don’t you know how important rope climbing is?”

“…What?”

“Of course, there’s more after that.”

“Y-yes…!”

“Tree climbing.”

“…”

“Then learning how to fall without getting hurt…”

“W-wait a moment. What’s all this…”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

Rope climbing, tree climbing, falling techniques.

These are skills you learn quite early in Blue Paper Moon, and they’re actually used very often in reality.

“After that, we’ll do rock climbing and breath holding too.”

Above all, the hidden places we’ll visit in the future can’t be entered without these skills.