C48-Bunny Squads

Name: Neine | Age: 18 | Level: 122

Title: Gold-rank Huntress (A+)

Race: Were-Cheetah

Redvelia — Hunter's Guild training yard.

「 Early morning, the Last day of Summer… 」

The chill air of the morning crept upon the yard as the Sun had not yet risen. The days began shortening, and some trees showed signs of stress. Those early signs of autumn were barely perceptible, but for someone like Neine, it was obvious.

It was quite an amazing sight. The whole place was well lit by the torches and arcane crystal lights. Her new party members had told her that it was possible thanks to Aizel. Her new leader had annoyed the Hunter Master, who in turn annoyed the Temple until they complied.

A lot of were-kin were slowly gathering around the yard. They were selected because of their speed, independent of their rank. So there were even a few bronze ranks among them. Neine had chosen a quiet spot under a roofed area and was just sitting down while covering herself with a little sheet to be comfy until the last briefing began.

'I need a ring of timeless holding. Having a warm drink right now would be nice. But I don't want to make it, and the markets are not open yet.'

She was about to begin stretching when Aizel came walking into the yard. Followed by Valerie and a blue-haired were-fox. Neine had heard of her before. She was quite the subject among the temporal alliance she was part of when coming to Redvelia, an exotic comfort-huntress who was part of an all gold-rank brotherhood.

"Hi, Neine." Valerie waved at her and came to sit by her side.

"What are you doing this early, Valerie? I thought you and your wives would only participate later in the day."

"Yeah. We are only participating after dusk when all of you return. I'm just keeping Aiz company since I'm used to waking up early, unlike the other two."

"Hehe. And what about the Were-Fox? She's not part of the bunny squads."

"She's just enjoying Aizel while she can. There's something she has to do after the raid." Valerie shrugged.

"Is he going to add her to the party?"

"Not right now. She wants to rank up with her party first."

"Wow. I don't think I can go past gold. It was hard enough to get here."

"Her party has some kind of mission ready. But it will take them a long time to complete. It has to do with the dungeon. I think they are scouting routes."

"Quite bold."

"They are very strong. They have a tank, mage, arcane scribe, and mana knight. She's their scout."

"Holy gremlin. But why is she not joining the bunnies if she's a scout?"

"Aizel said she's more useful on stage three with the rest of her party. They were speaking a lot last night, so he got a pretty good Idea of how her party works."

Aizel began to speak with people from the Temple that arrived. He was writing something while taking a few satchels and other stuff. Moving resources around inside rings of holding while the number of people surrounding him only grew.

The were-fox left him and came walking towards them after he began to work and was more focused on the scrolls in front of him. Once she got close, the smell of Aizel within her was evident. Not even his wives carried a smell so strong the day before, or even Valerie besides her.

It made sense. She was a rare were-kin. And he was not only part of an even rarer kin, but quite the catch of a man. So they were probably having sex all night. It was funny to see. The were-fox was attracting a lot of envious gazes from the other huntresses.

"He ignoring you, Nadia?" Valerie asked once the blue-haired woman got close.

"~Hi. I like your name. I'm Neine."

"What's good, Neine." Nadia smiled and waved at her. "No, Valerie. He practically shooed me away." She chuckled.

"Yeah. Even if he delegated most of the stuff, they still come to him for confirmation. He was not even going to come to the guild until dusk, but you saw how the Hunter Master somehow found out where we were staying."

"What do you mean, Valerie?" Neine asked.

"We were sharing a room with Nadia. But she's not part of our party, and we told no one where we would sleep. We were supposed to only be visiting her, but ended up sleeping there. And the Dwarf somehow found us and delivered a message to Aizel to ask for his help."

"Oh." Neine turned back to Aizel. He did not look to be mad about it; if anything, he looked to be into it and ordered everyone around with a lot of confidence. She commented this to Valerie, and she had something interesting to say.

"If it wasn't for the quadruple blowjob we gave him before coming, he would probably not be as relaxed; he was a little angry at the message boy."

"Just a little?" Nadia asked with raised brows.

"Huh, he's quite energetic." Neine was not implying anything dirty; she was referring to his way of acting right now, not what Valerie said. However, that is exactly how the two women took it. Because they both turned away with redden ears, that was an odd behavior coming from the supposed comfort-huntresses for an entire brotherhood.

Nadia was an interesting woman. Neine had not interacted with comfort-huntresses before, only with man-whores. And they were always either prideful or shy, unlike this woman who was quite normal; if it wasn't because of Aizel's smell, she never would have guessed what they were up to.

"All right, Hunters. Form up!" Aizel called.

"Well. I guess I'll see you later, Neine. Don't die out there." Valerie gave Neine a tight hug.

'She's so pretty.'

The hunters formed up before Aizel without question. If Neine had doubts about him being a good leader before, they were just cleared out. He had the authority and discipline she had only seen in high ranks—except for Mira, her old party leader.

'She would be perfect for this mission. She's a were-leopard. Where the heck is she?' Neine expected her to arrive late. But to her surprise, the woman was not part of the bunnies. 'I bet she thinks she's above this type of mission.' Neine rolled her eyes.

Aizel stood in front of them. Waiting for them to settle and making them shut up just by standing there.

'Now that's a proper leader. He does not need to scream his rank.'

"Hunters. I know this has been said a few times now. But just in case it was not clear, I will repeat it and answer any questions you might still have.

The mission is simple. Jog at a comfortable pace to your designated area. Once you have reached it, you take your potions and boosters. Only after you have done that, you pull out your lure from the ring of holding you've been lent. Infuse it, and run back to town via your designated route.

If you fall down or are injured. Use the second scroll you were provided. Unfortunately, it's a lot of ground to cover, so your rescue is not guaranteed. Please be careful. I'd rather you return late than not at all.

Now. This is probably the most important part. I know it's tempting not to use the potion or booster. That the mission can be completed without it, and you can make more silver if you keep them. Don't.

If one of you dies…and I find a fucking stamina potion on your corpse. I'm taking what's left of your body and selling it to the first necromancer sub-human I find. …"

Aizel briefed them on the ins and outs of the mission. It was nothing Neine had not heard more than five times already. But even then. There were a few hunters who were asking the same questions over and over again. That was probably the reason he was reminding them of the details.

He got quite creative with the threats if they decided not to use the provided equipment. Neine was confident in her skills. But even she would not dare not use the free equipment, especially knowing how long the mission would be.

After the sun began to cast its first rays of light above the yard, they all broke into their designated squads.

"Neine," Aizel called while he walked towards her group. Now she was the one attracting envious gazes from the huntresses.

"So. …" It was quite obvious that he was just looking for any excuse to come towards her. He could not even think about what to say. And from the way Nadia and Valerie were snorting from the side, they also caught on to this.

"I'll be fine, Aizel."

"If you need to drop the lure, just do it and run directly back to town. No matter the route you were assigned."

"You said that already."

He inhaled deeply and locked eyes with her. For a moment she thought he would go in for a hug or a kiss goodbye. But her request about him not overstepping his bounds seemed to be working. She would not mind it if they knew each other better. Right now, just knowing that he cared was enough. Anything else would be too much.

After he left her with a few words of encouragement and a nod. She turned back to her squad.

"Do you share, sister?" A were-dog girl with bronze tags who was around her age asked.

"Sorry, we are not like that. He's my party leader and a worrywart. But her wives are into sharing; just don't raise your hopes too high. Those two are his." Neine glanced to the side where Valerie was getting along with Nadia.

"Holy Gremlin." The woman chuckled as her eyes bounced between the two women.

Neine had not clarified how only one of them was his wife. But she did not need to. Nadia would probably be joining them at some point based on how Aizel was behaving with her. Neine was sure that would probably be the way he would behave around her if she let him.

But she wanted to know him more. She had suffered too many disappointments to throw caution away and let herself be swept away by blind hope.

"Oh, well. Everyone ready?"

The huntresses of her squad nodded after patting their bodies and checking their gear.

"All right, girls. We will stay close together until the time comes for our solo missions." Their temporary leader said.

"Sir!"

— —

「 Late Morning… 」

Neine's temporal squad did not speak much. They were all scouts. And speaking would be a waste of energy when a simple gesture was enough. They moved at a comfortable pace. At least for them. People who were not used to jogging for a long time would have a hard time keeping up.

And aside from her, they were all were-dogs. Helping them cover the distance with even greater ease; no wonder there was not a single human with them. They had been traveling all morning, and the sun was about to reach its apex in the sky when the squad leader raised her arm.

"Halt. We've arrived. Gather your breath and rest. We will depart at the same time when shadow hits this rock."

The platinum squad leader kicked a rock. She was giving them a lot longer to rest than Neine thought they needed. Her doubt must have been written all over her face because the squad leader addressed that immediately after.

"We arrived here earlier than planned. We need to give time to the other squads to arrive at their designated location, so all bunnies can depart at the same time. Or close to it."

They nodded and began resting and stretching their bodies to not hurt themselves when going all out.

Neine looked around the wilds. They were northwest of Redvelia on a mound that allowed them to see all around. She expected to see signals in the sky from other parties getting into trouble, but there were none, meaning they either arrived without major issues or were already dead.

"Nice route your boyfriend picked for us. Not even once did we run into trouble." Their squad leader said.

Neine was about to bite back at that comment. Thankfully, another scout opened their mouth and shut the leader down without arguing.

"Hah. Someone was not paying attention," A small were-dog woman said.

"Excuse me?"

"The scouts have been carefully picking the departure routes for almost half a fortnight. Specifically so we did not run into goblinoids, or even other predators. The danger will start once we return."

"And how do you know this? Only leaders were allowed to get inside the meetings."

"No? Only they were summoned. But anyone was allowed in; it's not like they were checking who got in or out. I just got in on the mission briefs concerning me."

"Good for you. Now, stop wasting your breath; it's almost time."

They all chuckled at her.

— —

「 Noon… 」

Neine walked towards her departure location after separating from her temporal squad. She did not even remember their names. The only purpose of going out in groups was to lower the chances of someone getting lost or hurt before the actual mission began.

She pulled a ring of holding out of her pocket. Infused it and took out her equipment. Two scrolls, a potion, a booster, and a small map with the path she needed to take.

"Ten camps… Well, at least he did not give me preferential treatment after I asked. Unless throwing me face-first into danger is his idea of a present."

Green lights shone in the edge of her vision. Signal scrolls began throwing green sparks into the sky, marking the departure of a 'bunny.' The first stage was beginning.

Neine gave her route one last look before putting the rush booster inside her mouth. It tasted kinda nice. Like a nice winter dessert, or a sweetbread she loved to eat on her age day.

She was about to drink the potion when she noticed something odd. It was not the sky color she was expecting, but lavender. And it had a note attached to it.

« Neine. This potion belonged to a crazy person. Its contents are much better than the ones in the other potions the guild gave. I know you said that I should not give you preferential treatment when picking the routes, but you said nothing about the equipment. Come back to me so you can yell and complain all you want. From: Aizel K. »

"This man… And this letter is kinda… … No. Focus, Neine!"

She drank the potion, using it to down the remainder of the booster. Was she crazy? Drinking the potion from a man who was clearly a little insane without question.

"Well, it's too late now…"

Neine secured the letter inside her satchel. It was a nice gesture that she had only heard of before. Maybe Aizel would not be a creep after all. She had worked with males who acted like him. But every time it turned out to be just an act. Once they discovered she was not going to spread herself after a single present, they either stopped pretending to be nice or became aggressive.

She looked at the horizon. Waiting to see if she could see him or Valerie floating nearby. 'Well, I suppose they would pick a mountain to watch over the wilds, not be…'

Neine's thoughts were interrupted when her vision expanded. Her body began to burn as the booster forced the rush of battle on it. Tricking it into feeling as if she was in mortal danger. The colors became more vibrant. Smells sharper.

Neine activated her scroll by pulling a small flap on its side.

~Puff. Her green signal joined the others.

She began to run south. It did not take her long to find her first target. A goblin camp with four monsters.

Neine called to the last piece of equipment she needed. Or she hoped to need. The lure. It was a simple bundle of fabrics and herbs no larger than her arm. It did not even smell that much, even after infusing it. At least to her.

As soon as the air carried the scent of whatever was inside the lure. The creatures stood up and turned to her. This was nothing Neine could not deal with by herself. She could probably kill one of these camps by herself before needing to rest. But that was not the mission.

She sprinted. Rushing them and passing in between them. They clawed and tried to stop her, but Neine was fast. Besides, a booster aided her speed, plus a fine potion she would scream at Aizel for later. Wasting it on something so simple was beyond stupid.

—

「 Afternoon…」

The lure was extremely effective. Normally, goblinoids would not chase her for so long. Or from so far. She had put at least a click in between them, and the creatures were still chasing her.

By the time she reached the third camp in her route, she could even hear other goblins not part of her route picking up on the trail. Joining the line she was tracing with the lure.

Four camps. The terrain began to become drier. This route would take her close to a low peak formation without much vegetation. She was about to question the location of the supposed fourth camp when she saw it.

"… Hob… goblin…" Her breath began to shift. Her body was working really hard, even if the potion was preventing her from feeling the worst of it.

"What?" Neine could feel how she was also healing a little. "Did this crazy man also slip health power on that potion?…"

She chose to ignore it and leave that subject for later. The hobgoblin had thrown a spear at her. She dodged it with (Focus) with great ease, letting it brush against her head to not waste energy. But there was something that surprised Neine. The booster was so intense that she did not even feel in danger, meaning the skill did not call by itself. She had to call it.

Running past him, she got a little bold and clawed at its side, enraging the creature. Neine wanted to turn around and fight it. It took her willpower to turn around and continue her mission; the potion was giving her a false sense of security. Sure, she could fight one. But then what? Be surrounded by five camps' worth of goblins?

—

「 Late Noon…」

Seven camps. There would be a horde of around thirty goblinoids following after her if it wasn't because of the distance she had put between the ones already following her and the next camp. And that is only if she did not count the ones outside of her route who picked on the trail. The lure was so strong that the creatures were not even fighting among themselves.

Ten camps and Neine's legs burned. Her lungs felt as if they would leave her at any moment now. Her heart thumped hard against her chest. She could hear her pulse through her ears, threatening to make them burst.

At last, the final camp only had two goblins. And it was downhill.

She only ran past it. During her luring mission, Neine discovered that the lures were amazing. The creatures snapped towards the smell and began pursuing her. There was no need to bother engaging with them; they all entered heat and gave chase after a single sniff.

—

「 Dusk…」

Neine had been paying attention to the sky since she began running at noon. She expected to see at least one red signal in the air. But there was none. Hopefully that meant that there was no rescue needed, and not that someone died before they could ask for help.

There was also a lack of other hunters around. The routes were so carefully planned that there was no overlap. Even if the path was not straight, far from it; if anything, the route she was tracing waved around the wilds, making sure all monsters close to the action gave chase.

She had been running for so long that her legs were numb. In fact, most of her body was numb. She did not know when. But at one point the pain went away, and she began to enjoy the moment. Her thoughts were clear, and her mind was enveloped in a wave of euphoria unlike anything she had ever felt before.

It was weird. She should not be feeling this good. At all. There was a literal army of goblinoids following after her. Sure, they were all separated by one or two clicks' distance in between them. But all it would take is a little rock tripping her for the first ones to catch up and eat her, or worse.

'I guess… it's technically the last ones? Blah, who cares…' Neine began laughing. Was this really all she needed to do? Run all day, and the guild would pay her a winter's wage?

'This was the best decision ever! Well, second only to leaving Mira's party.'

The sight of Redvelia's northern walls interrupted her thoughts. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Torchlight illuminated the whole wall; parties of bronzes and silvers formed outside. Archers, slingers, spearmen, arbalest, and even musketeers stood on top of the walls as if they were part of a nobleman's army and not Hunters.

There was a part of Neine that wanted to keep running. She was not tired or even hungry. She even began skipping with little hops and sliding on the mud. 'Neine, stop that; they will think you crazy, and you will ruin your boots.'

'It could not be the potion; I'm sure it stopped working after the sixth camp.'

She entered running through the north gates. Aizel had been standing in the center of the road and was already walking towards her. Neine almost tackled him without reason; she was feeling like running at him and hitting him in the chest just because she could. She was sure he would not even be mad if she did that.

'What is this smell? It's amazing! I wonder if he will let me lick his neck… What!? Neine! Snap out of it! Ask him for water!'

"How did it go, Neine?" Aizel asked once she was glued to his chest.

"I~ Dh - t…" She tried to speak in between deep breaths.

Aizel grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her away. "Easy there, come. Breathe in slowly; you are safe now. Look at me." He cupped Neine's face.

"~Purifica Restoradis…"

Her body began to hurt. Neine understood that it was because her body was waking up only now that he was healing her. The pain did not last long, and soon it was replaced by a cold breeze that hugged her from the inside; her smell changed; he was also cleaning her.

~Purr— Neine began purring, but she managed to stop doing it in an instant. The last thing she needed was to give him any Ideas; the purring of feline-kin was often associated with feelings of love. They were. But she was not in love with him. It was her body's reaction after a long mission; it happened when she finally went to bed after working hard.

"What's that spell?" Neine asked.

"It's restore and purify; one is for healing and the other for cleaning."

"So you're also the party healer?"

"If you were to get hurt, sure. But so far my skills have not been needed."

Neine realized she was inside his embrace once again only after the sound of wooden shields being hit reached her. She pulled away from him. He did not look mad and only chuckled.

"Be sure to drink a lot of water and eat before going to bed. I tried to use only my mana, but the skill still used some of your body resources to heal you."

Neine nodded. "As if anyone is going to be able to sleep tonight."

More bunnies began to run past them. Always followed by one or two small goblins.

Aizel just glanced at them as they rushed in and kept running all the way towards the temple as it was instructed in the briefings. Neine was about to tease him for giving her preferential treatment when Nadia approached them from behind.

"Can I borrow him, Neine?" Nadia asked.

Neine pulled back, since she was already creeping in closer to him for the third time. She needed to rest; even if the skill helped her body, her behavior was a clear indication that her mind was exhausted.

"He's not mine, Nadia." Neine rolled her eyes and massaged the bridge of her nose. Thankfully, Aizel seems to have noticed that her behavior was not normal and did not take advantage of her impaired judgment. "I will go and complete the mission, Aizel. I still need to visit the temple and the guild to give my report. Then I will go and catch sleep as much as I can before midnight, in case you need me or there is a party."

Aizel got close to her. But once Neine pulled back a little, he stopped. "Sorry." He apologized? 'Damn if he's self-aware!'

"Well. Good job, Neine. May the… moon keep you?" Aizel said.

"Why are you asking it?"

"Sorry, I don't remember how the 'good night' thing goes." Neine chuckled and waved him goodbye.

— — —

Name: Nadia | Age: 26 | Level: 124

Title: Gold-rank Huntress (S+)

Race: Were-Fox

"Well… This is it then." Nadia said. Looking at the ground. Not having the mental strength to say goodbye.

"Can't you wait at least until tomorrow?" Aizel asked. Getting closer to her and caressing her shoulder.

"We can, Aizel. But it will be more dangerous. We want to take the chance and cover a lot of distance while the wilds are clear of monsters."

"I can just take you—"

"No. Aizel. I already told you."

"You don't want my help. But you are fine to use the moment of respite my mission will create?"

"It's different."

"How is it—"

"Please. Can we say goodbye like lovers without fighting about this? You have no Idea how hard it's for me to leave right after finding you."

Aizel looked as if he wanted to keep arguing. She had not even provided that good an excuse. And if he began talking, she was sure that he would convince her and just do the mission for her. That was something she could not allow.

Nadia looked to the side. More goblins were arriving; so far they only came alone or in couples. But Nadia could already smell the lures compounding their smell as more of the hunters from the bunny squads returned and ran past them.

A soft hand took hold of the side of her face.

"I'm sure we will find each other again." She said.

"You got it wrong, Pretty Fox. You can't outrun me; the only way you have to get rid of me is to tell me to fuck off. Otherwise. I can always find you."

"How?"

"That's a secret. Maybe one day you will stop running away from me, and I will tell it to you."

Their moment was interrupted when a small man came crashing directly into them. Sliding on the floor after bouncing against Aizel's frame.

"Someone did not drink their potion," Aizel said while looking at the small were-dog, probably smelling the lack of stamina potion within him. Since, from what Valerie said, his senses were to other immortals, what immortals' senses were to simple humans.

Nadia had to give it to the small man. He had balls to stand up to Aizel. The were-dog wheezed and took a couple of deep breaths before speaking up. "Weren't you supposed to be out there in case one of us needs help!?"

"No? I was taking turns with… Why am I even talking to you? Congratulations on making a few scraps of silver by putting your life in danger, bunny. Fuck off."

The were-dog complied and walked away, but not before showing his tongue to Aizel as if he was a young brat and not a grown man. Aizel chuckled and turned back to her.

Nadia bit her lip. "As much as I want to fuck you right now. I need my energy."

"Fuck me? I'm pretty sure I was the one doing the fucking."

~Puff.

A blue spark shot in the sky. Signaling that there was a group in need of support, but that was not in danger.

"That's you." She said.

"No. The girls will take care of most. I will only enter battle after stage five."

"Then I won't be able to say goodbye. I will engage now that stage two is beginning and will leave town before stage five."

"Such a shame. You will not see me in action." He teased her and grabbed her hips. Pulling her closer to him.

Nadia wanted to tell him that she loved him. It was stupid. How could she be in love with a man she just met a cycle ago? Was it because he was good at fucking? No. It was something more. The way he behaved, the way he moved, he talked. Everything. She even wanted to share his wives already. Their beauty was divine.

She knew they were all immortal-kin. And they would not only outlive her, but never grow old unless they wanted to. So it was even harder for her to let go.

"You said you can always find me."

He nodded. Caressing her forehead with his nose. Even small gestures like those were something she had never experienced. She had seen them on others, but it was the first time someone did it to her, and it felt sincere.

"Then come to me during the Winter solstice."

He turned his head to the side. "The shortest day? Why?"

Nadia narrowed her eyes. His behavior was sometimes odd, to say the least. "What? Don't you celebrate it?"

"I don't know. I might, and I just have a different name for it."

"Fine. Don't tell me." She rolled her eyes. "I doubt my mission will be even halfway complete by then. But I want to spend the solstice with you."

"Sure."

Aizel got close to her. His kiss was slow and measured. Passionate. Nadia could not help but fantasize. She saw herself hunting with him and the other wives, camping under the moonlight. She wanted to give him heirs. Nadia did not care about dragon blood or whatever it is the source of his power was. All she wanted to do was spend as little or as long as he would let her be at his side; she would have a hard time sleeping with any other man after him.

'Is not like I need the silver anymore… Sorry guys, you will have to hang in there for a while until we return to town. Thankfully they all knew it was only a matter of time before I stopped helping them out with their needs. Although, Melvin will probably throw a tantrum, heh.'

The moment felt magical. The sounds of battle increased as blue sparks shot in the air. She ended her kiss when the sound of Douglas's boots reached her.

"Until then, Aizel."