Rebecca’s Ability

Since many Horn Rabbits had been spotted in the forest near the Royal Capital, Rebecca and I headed toward the destination while keeping watch on our surroundings.

We walked a short distance along the road, crossed the grasslands, and entered the forest.

“The forest really makes you tense… the visibility is so bad.”

“Yeah. We have to watch the trees too, so it’s pretty exhausting. Rebecca, you mostly took herb gathering quests before, but you do have experience hunting monsters, right?”

I knew Rebecca’s skill with the bow and knife because I had run into her several times at the guild’s training grounds. Early in the morning, when almost no other adventurers were around, Rebecca would always be practicing diligently.

But since I had never seen her fight in real combat, I still didn’t know her real fighting style or ability outside of training.

“Of course I do. I’ve never hunted monsters as an official quest, but after gathering herbs, if I had extra time I’d look for monsters to increase the amount of meat on our table and sell the leftover materials for money.”

“I see. That’s reassuring.”

“Yeah, leave it to me. I’ll be useful too!”

Rebecca declared that while clenching her fist, wearing a confident smile.

After that, we resumed searching for monsters and finally found our first Horn Rabbit. It seemed to be standing still at the base of a tree several trunks ahead, probably eating.

After observing the Horn Rabbit’s movements, Rebecca looked at me and nodded before quickly raising her bow. At the faint sound of the bow being drawn, the Horn Rabbit reacted and lifted its ears—and at that exact moment, Rebecca released the arrow.

The arrow flew straight toward the Horn Rabbit as if it had been pulled in from the creature’s side… and pierced directly between its eyes.

“That’s one.”

“…W-wait a second!?”

My voice cracked from the shock.

“What’s wrong?”

“Rebecca, were you always this good with a bow…? I mean, I’m genuinely, truly surprised.”

Normally, even if someone performed well in training, real combat was completely different. Unlike the training grounds, you couldn’t measure distance easily, the wind was blowing, and the forest was dim—and she hit it perfectly in a single shot…

“Was that… just luck?”

“Huh? That was normal for me.”

“Rebecca, are you… maybe a genius?”

She might have incredible talent with a bow. Once before, Adolf and the others had taken on a quest together with another party that had a bow user, but their accuracy wasn’t even close to this.

Hitting small monsters was usually considered lucky.

“I’m not a genius or anything. Isn’t this about normal?”

“I… don’t really know the details, but I think it’s amazing. The more accurate a bow is, the stronger it becomes. You might even be effective against strong monsters.”

Even the strongest monsters had weak points. Being able to target them from a distance made her an incredibly reliable companion.

When I decided to form a party with Rebecca, I had thought that I would protect her and help her when needed.

That might have been arrogant… it seemed like I would end up relying on Rebecca quite a lot too.

“Rebecca, when we save up money, let’s buy you a good bow. I read in a book that depending on the bow’s performance, the power of arrows can increase several times over.”

“Really? Then maybe my next goal should be buying a bow.”

“Yeah. Maybe one with magic enchantments. I heard magical tool weapons have been developed recently.”

There were convenient devices called magic tools that operated using magic stones taken from monsters as their energy source, and recently weapons made as magical tools had begun to appear as well.

Various things had been created, like swords that produced flames, but apparently bows were the most compatible with magical tools.

“I know about those! I always admired them, but I thought they were way too expensive for me to ever buy.”

“They’re definitely expensive, but if we keep taking quests, we should eventually be able to afford one.”

“Really!? Then I’ll work hard. Let’s buy a sword for you too, Luca.”

“Yeah. My sword… doesn’t really need to be a magical tool though. A normal one should be fine.”

Since I could already use every attribute of magic myself, even if a sword produced flames it wouldn’t be very useful. What mattered more was how easy it was to swing and how sharp it was.

“A slender sword would probably suit you, Luca. But first, let’s focus on saving money.”

“Yeah. Let’s search for the next monster. …But first, the Horn Rabbit we defeated.”

For now, I cut off only the horn—the proof of subjugation—and put it in my bag. The rest of the body would be sent to the Divine Domain.

‘Lady Seremees, I’ll come clean up the Horn Rabbit later.’

‘Understood. It will ruin the scenery, so make sure it’s soon.’

‘I understand. I’ll definitely do it by tonight at the latest.’

“Alright Rebecca, let’s go look for the next monster.”

After finishing my conversation with Lady Seremees and looking toward Rebecca, she was staring at the spot where the Horn Rabbit had disappeared with an expression of amazement.

“Divine Domain Interference is really an incredible ability.”

“It’s definitely convenient.”

“I think I really understand how useful it is now. If we store defeated monsters in the Divine Domain like this, they won’t spoil, right?”

“Yeah. That means every monster we defeat from now on can be used as food without wasting anything.”

When I said the words that would probably resonate the most with Rebecca, her eyes sparkled and she clenched her fist.

“Got it. Then let’s defeat a lot of them!”

Seeing Rebecca’s extremely motivated expression, I nodded with a wry smile.