By age twenty, Shino Kurugawa was no longer a girl playing at survival; she was a ghost of the Great Forest. Her movements were silent, her Cait Sith ears could filter the rustle of a leaf from the snap of a bone, and her amber eyes held the sharp, analytical depth of a master scholar.
She was tracking a rare medicinal moss near the forest’s edge when the "noise" hit her. It wasn't the rhythmic thrum of the forest. It was the frantic, metallic clash of steel against iron.
"Steel?" Shino whispered, her tail going rigid. "That’s not a monster."
The Ambush
In a clearing choked by ancient roots, a young man was fighting for his life. He wore polished silver plate armor—dented and streaked with mud—and a blue surcoat bearing a crest she didn't recognize. This was Kazuto Asada. He looked exactly like the heroes Shino used to read about: brave, noble, and currently very, very outnumbered.
A pack of five Mountain Orcs (Level 22) surrounded him. Kazuto swung his longsword with disciplined form, but his breath was ragged. He was a knight-in-training, high-born and skilled, but he lacked the "wild" instinct of the woods.
"For the honor of the Asada house!" Kazuto roared, thrusting his blade, but a second Orc swung a massive stone club at his flank.
The Shadow Drops
Shino didn't think. Her body, conditioned by four years of solitary grinding, moved on instinct. She launched herself from a branch thirty feet up.
[Analytical Eye Activated: Target - Orc Leader. Weakness - Cervical vertebrae.]
She was a blur of dark fur and sharpened bone. She landed on the lead Orc’s shoulders, her twin bone-daggers—one tipped with Frost-Claw venom—sinking deep into the base of its skull. The beast didn't even scream; it simply collapsed.
Kazuto froze, his sword mid-swing. He watched as a woman with cat ears and a predator’s grace danced through the clearing. She didn't fight like a knight; she fought like a storm. She used the Orcs' momentum against them, her Cait Sith Agility making her impossible to pin down.
In less than a minute, the clearing was silent.
The First Word
Shino stood over the final Orc, her chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. She wiped her daggers on a tuft of moss and slowly turned to face the knight.
Kazuto stared at her. He had seen Demi-Humans in the capital, but never one like this. Her clothes were a patchwork of high-level monster furs, and her gaze was so intense it felt like she was reading his very soul.
"Are... you... hurt?" Shino asked. Her voice was rusty, the syllables feeling heavy in her mouth after four years of silence.
Kazuto lowered his sword, his face flushing a deep crimson as he took in the mysterious beauty of the woman who had just saved his life. "I... no. I am Kazuto Asada, squire of the Northern Reach. I owe you my life, Lady...?"
"Shino," she said, her tail giving a shy, nervous flick. "Just Shino."
Kazuto took a step forward, his eyes shining with a mix of awe and a spark of something he couldn't yet name. "Shino... I have never seen such strength. Please, the sun is setting. May I share your fire? I have much to ask, and even more to thank you for."
Shino looked at the polished knight, then back at her dark, lonely forest. For the first time in four years, the "Librarian" felt like a new chapter was actually beginning.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8IRbBanH4B
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