SS1 7.1 - Hunting Old Jack

  When we arrived at the RV it was already past noon. It still looked like how when we left it yesterday, a quiet small mound in the middle of huge plain. We had clear vantage point to all directions, so we could a bit relax while waiting for Jie Ten Bie.

  After taking out the HMV and hopped up on its rear section I said to Ariel, “Let’s have a lunch.”

  “Mhm.” Ariel lightly nodded as she followed me to hop up to the HMV. “Will we cook our lunch?”

  “No.” As I recalled a review from flood vlogger about a donburi store in Tokyo, I added, “Let’s buy deep-fried cutlet bowl as our lunch.”

  “Deep-fried cutlets bowl?” Ariel curiously said.

  “It has lot of varieties, but the one we will buy basically is,” I happily explained. “The cook will simmer onion using kelp stock flavored by sugar, cooking sake, and soy sauce. Once the simmer is vigorously boiling, he put slices of breaded deep-fried cutlet on it and bonded everything using beaten egg, and then he serve it on top of warm rice.”

  “Is it yummy?”

  After a grin I replied, “It’s super yummy.”

  Without delay I ordered two sets of deep-fried cutlets bowl. For Ariel, I ordered deep-fried pork cutlets or pork katsu bowl. As for me, I ordered chicken katsu bowl. After offering the gratitude for the food, we ate the katsu bowl.

  The food vlogger was right. The chicken katsu bowl was superb. I didn’t know how they did it, but after being put on simmered scallion, large part of the chicken katsu was still crispy. Most of all, it matched warm white rice well.

  As for the pork katsu bowl, I didn’t need asking Ariel to know her thought on it. From the way she wolfed it down, I could tell she loved it so much. In summary, we finished our lunch in no time and then enjoyed a small bag of mini-mikan orange as desert.

  “I need to do some chores,” I said before putting the last mikan piece I had in my mouth.

  “Ariel will help,” Ariel eagerly said.

  “Nope,” I casually said. “You have to be on lookout duty and ensure no one can sneak on us.”

  Ariel nodded and replied, “Okay.”

  Then, I handed over to Ariel a pair of safety glasses. “It will help your eyes a lot when you are in lookout or riding a car. The clear one is for nighttime use, while the black one is for daytime use.”

  “Mhm.” Ariel happily accepted the glasses.

  From the way Ariel curiously checked it, I could tell this was the first time she received glasses as a gift. To be fair, it was only regular lab safety glasses made by Italian manufacture, but I knew from firsthand experience it was decent piece.

  I chose the model for field work. It was 16 dollar a piece or about seven times more expensive than the indoor model, but it worth the money. It’s strong enough to protect the eyes from spark or particle, had minimum fogging along with proper air flow, and the nose pad was very comfortable.

  The black one also had anti UV feature. Most of all, both glasses had the shape and size pretty similar to the most popular model from Oakley, but with far cheaper price.

  “Here,” I said as I helped Ariel wore the black glass.

  She then used the rearview mirror to check her new look and a smile instantly bloomed in her lips.

  “It looks very good on you,” I said.

  “Mhm,” Ariel happily gave me a small nod.

  After another smile, I then went to carry my chore.

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  We knew Jie Ten Bie would never come, but I and Ariel had to pretend we didn’t know about it. We had to wait for them until tomorrow morning before we could return to Karmen. Honestly, I didn’t want to sleep at a place where a day ago I put nine lives to permanent leave.

  Who knew if their vengeful spirits still stayed around and would wake me up in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, I had no choice. So at least, I would make sure I didn’t spend my time for nothing.

  Wasting no time, I dug a pit to bury the trash we accumulated in our inventory. I also took my time to make several sandbags. After that, I bought a washing machine and foldable clothes line made of aluminum frame.

  Then, I did the laundry for both Ariel’s dirty clothes and mine. It took me about 90 minutes before finally I hung the last piece of today laundry in the clothes line. Then, I regrouped with Ariel in the HMV.

  “Berg,” Ariel said as I leaned my back on HMV’s side. “Can you teach Ariel how to use washing machine when we return to Karmen later?”

  “Sure.” After a moment of pause I added, “I will also teach you some of my crafts.”

  “Like how to use firearms?” Ariel asked as her eyes sparked with excitement.

  I gave Ariel a light nod. “If we will go hunt together, it will help us a lot if you master some of my crafts.”

  “Okay, but what about Pukin’ Dogs?” Ariel warily asked. “What if they don’t want Ariel to join the team?”

  “I have decided I will leave Pukin’ Dogs and form our own team.”

  Surprise instantly flashed in Ariel’s eyes. “You will leave Pukin’ Dogs?”

  “We will need another two hunters who know how to drive and shoot,” I said firmly, “and we are good to go for low-risk hunt.”

  “What if we can’t find another two hunters who know how to drive and shoot?”

  “As long as we keep looking, we will find them sooner or later.”

  “Okay.”

  Silence then descended upon us. At the same time, the thought about Old Jack resurface on my mind. Wasting no time I checked the bulletin from House of Hunter, but I found no update on Old Jack other than the bounty raise on his head.

  ‘Old Jack is still online out there,’ I muttered before tuning my gaze to Ariel. “What do you know about Old Jack?”

  “He is very sly, but Ariel and Big Sis managed to predict his resting spot several times,” Ariel casually said. “We then sent it to house of hunter, but the hunters who received the assignment to kill him always failed or killed to the last man.”

  “I see.”

  “Berg,” Ariel said as her gaze became drop dead serious. “Do you have a means to defeat 9 mm thick armor plate?”

  I nodded as I recalled that Old Jack’s skull had hardness equivalent to 9 mm thick armor plate. “6.5 mm CBJ, the round I use can defeat it with ease.”

  “How far its effective range?” Ariel curiously asked.

  “If I use suppressed TRG M10 and subsonic armor piercing round, it’s about 120 meters in flat trajectory,” I casually said. “If the height difference is higher than third floor, I can extend it up to 160 meters.”

  After a short ponder Ariel said, “If Ariel can get you that close to Old Jack, can you headshot him?”

  “I can. High angle shooting is a bit tricky, but I can handle it as long as it’s not raining,” I confidently said. “But, are you sure you can get me that close to Old Jack?”

  Ariel gave me a firm nod. “Super sure.”

  “Kubran Valley is huge and Old Jack changes his resting spot every 2-3 days. How do you will find it?”

  “We will track the resting spots he used recently. It will narrow Old Jack’s option for his next resting spot,” Ariel confidently explained her plan. “Then, we pick the resting spot with best shooting position and wait for him.”

  “And if Old Jack doesn’t show up?”

  “In that case we miss the chance,” Ariel said in low voice.

  “I see.”

  “Do you know why lot of hunters failed or get killed when hunting Old Jack?”

  “They made their approach in daylight when Old Jack’s sensory is in highest level,” Ariel casually said.

  “Are you saying we should approach Old Jack at night?” I curiously asked.

  “Mhm.”

  “But Kubran Valley is full of low-rank monster that are very lively at night.”

  “Ariel knows how to evade them.” After a short pause Ariel added, “Big Sis and Ariel always offered night guidance to the hunters who were sent to hunt Old Jack, but they all refused, especially when they had C-rank hunter with them.”

  “I see.”

  Honestly, carrying out a hunt in Kubran Valley only with Ariel gave me a chill in my nape. The low-rank monster population in this valley was really too high. No matter how good Ariel’s evasion skill, she still could make a mistake.

  I also didn’t know if I had enough physical fitness keep up with her in case we had to avoid hot pursuit. If we encountered a mishap, there was a possibility I would get both of us killed. However, after recalling that a few days Old Jack took away two kids before my eyes, I felt an urge to take the chance. I really wanted to kill this wyvern.

  ‘If I die, then I die,’ I muttered as resolve to kill Old Jack blanketed my heart and mind. Then, I looked at Ariel straight in the eyes. “What will you do if we encounter a situation without escape route?”

  “Ariel will fight to the death,” Ariel firmly said.

  “I see.”

  Despite her age, she was truly a hunter and a warrior. I should treat her disposition accordingly. She was not ordinary child.

  After a smile I said, “Well, let’s bag Old Jack’s head or die while trying.”

  “Mhm,” Ariel firmly nodded.

  Wasting no time we packed the laundry and then left the RV straight to high-risk hunting. At the same time, I felt a great relief. I didn’t need to spend the night where there was a possibility Sum Ting Wong and his pack would visit me with their pale face.

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