79. Will o' the Wisp (Patreon)

Ket was the first to break the silence. He laughed. “You spoke to Will o’ the Wisp?”

Ike nodded slowly. “Uh… yeah? She was pretty normal. I mean, she ate a bunch of spiders, but—”

“She’s a maneater. No one who sees her survives,” Tana said, startled.

“Hi,” Ike said, waving.

“What did she look like? Are you sure it was Will o’ the Wisp?” Ket asked.

How can I be sure, when I didn’t know she existed until I met her? “She looked like a girl a little bit shorter and younger than me. Black hair, red eyes, pale skin…”

“Oh, it was just a girl,” Tana said, relieved.

“Wisp can take on human form, and she’s said to appear as a black-haired, red-eyed girl,” Ket replied.

Tana stiffened again. She looked at Ike. “How did you survive?”

Ike shrugged. “I just talked to her. She didn’t attack me. She even helped me fight.”

“Damn. That’s impressive. Whatever you did, keep doing it,” Ket commented, amused.

“No—Ike! Your life was in danger. If you ever see her again, run away as quickly as you can! You’re lucky to have survived the encounter once. You won’t survive it again,” Tana said, dead serious.

“I…sure,” Ike said. She’s going overboard. Wisp is dangerous, but she’s as dangerous as Ket. A powerful, rational person who could decide to kill me at any moment.

Then again, Tana definitely has a different experience of this world than I do. She grew up sheltered, with Ket watching over her and the former queen as her mother. I’m sure she couldn’t possibly imagine Ket attacking her. But for me, he’s just a guy who’s decided to help me for a bit. A guy who could change his mind and kill me whenever he wants. A guy who’s no different than any other high-Rank hunter. To me, Wisp seems just a little more dangerous than Ket, and I’m sleeping in Ket’s house.

Noticing Ike’s expression, Ket smiled. He nodded at Tana. “I’m sure he has it handled.”

“She’s a monster. She eats people!” Tana protested.

“Well, maybe some people need to get eaten,” Ike replied philosophically. It’s not like I have never killed. Honestly, what she’s doing is more noble than me. She makes use of the people she kills. It’s like how I break down the monster corpses. Every part of the person gets used to feed her. 

Besides, it’s not like all Hunters stop to find out of a monster is sentient or not before they kill it. What’s the difference between us eating a monster like Silver, and someone like Wisp eating a person?

Tana looked from Ike to Ket, aghast. “You two are okay with this?”

Ike shrugged.

Ket laughed, just a little. “There’s a lot to see in this big, wide world, Tana.”

“Why’s she called Will o’ the Wisp?” Ike asked, trying to change the subject.

Ket glanced at him. He leaned back against the wall and pointed at his face. “Her red eyes. They’re said to dance in the twilight like burning balls of fire…like will o’ the wisps. Leading travelers astray, directly into her webs.”

“Oh,” Ike said, nodding.

“She’s probably going to lead you astray. Trick you into her webs and suck you dry,” Tana muttered.

Ike snorted. “It would take some doing to accidentally walk into one of those webs. They’re pretty opaque. Like sheets.”

Tana narrowed her eyes at him. Taking the cue, Ike shut up. I am here on her and Ket’s grace, after all. I don’t need to piss off my hosts.

Dinner went quietly. Ike finished eating and excused himself to his room, where he quickly fell asleep. In the morning, he headed down early, hoping to escape before he ran into Tana again. He stopped by the kitchen on his way out. If there’s leftovers, I’ll snag a bite. Ike looked around, then turned to the cabinets and opened one at random.

“Hey there, kid.”

Ike jumped. Beside him, Loup whirled, instantly raising her hackles.

A beautiful woman stood across the kitchen. From the bottom of his heart, Ike was absolutely sure she hadn’t stood there moments ago, but now, she was there. She wore a skintight black-and-purple catsuit, with purple ruffles at the hips to make a facsimile of a skirt. A purple ribbon wound through her dark hair. She chewed on a piece of something green, and tossed a grin at him. “Hungry?”

“Uh… yes?” Ike tried, never one to turn down a free meal. Is she Ket’s girlfriend or something? Damn, Ket. Been holding out on us.

She tore the last leaf off the thing she was eating and tossed him the stalk. Ike blinked at it, then looked up at her.

“What? I’m looking out for you. You’re still new to the world of hunters, I can tell. I bet you’ve never had a potion or a pill. That plant’s leaves would kill you if you ate them without any resistance to pills. The stalk is just effective enough,” she said, nodding.

Uh huh. He looked at the stalk again, then at the lady. “What effect does it have?”

“Invigorates your mana. Makes it flow better. Go on, eat up. It’s good for you.”

Ike hesitated another beat, then shrugged and took a bite. Intense bitterness assailed his tongue. He grimaced, then took another bite. Jeez, this is—

Deep inside his core, his mana began to swirl on its own. It surged forth, circulating his body with a greater force than before. His passages widened, and the mana blasted through him, cleaning the rubbish off the inside of his mana passages. Ike coughed, then spat up a mouthful of black blood full of impurities. Wiping his mouth, he stood up. His whole body felt lighter, his mana circulation more powerful.

“See? Like I said. Good for ya.” She patted Ike on the shoulder, then breezed by, sashaying out into the back garden.

Ike stared after her, flabbergasted, then startled. Her eyes weren’t inverted. She must not be a resident. She can’t be Ket’s girlfriend if she isn’t even a resident. Then… wait. Did I just encounter a robber?

Ike ran out into the back garden, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. All that remained was a swirl of dark purple mist that quickly dissipated.

He licked his lips. Looking down, he met Loup’s eyes. “Let’s, uh, head out into the forest and pretend we didn’t see anything.”

Loup bounced onto her hind legs, understanding nothing but out into the forest. Chuckling, Ike led the way out of the back garden and out into the forest, moving a little faster with the threat of a pissed-off Ket behind him.