The Seirei Gensouki Spirit Chronicles
Chapter 1

“But .. Is there any point in deciding such things? Who cares as long as you understand? Things like ‘go’ and ‘stop’ you can know from mood and some simple things.” As it turned out, Shin had yet to understand the importance of hand signals.

“There's point. If you have not broken the rules of communication before, you may become even more confused. When you want to communicate something more complex, you will stagnate.”

“Hah .. I think there's a point too. All right, looks interesting. If you insist so much, then we should have our own movements when we are hunting. Teach us it.” Dola seems to receive Rio's explanation, suggesting a ready willingness to apply the use of hand signals to communicate during hunting.

“Well, if the boss says it, then I guess ..” Shin agrees. Thus, Rio taught some simple sign language to the two of them. Then, a few minutes later …

“Good. We're a little late, so let's go! You two, follow me.”

Under Dola's leadership, they eventually set out for a village hunting ground in the mountains. Dola gave lessons on village rules about hunting as they walked, but they eventually ran out of things to talk about and began to communicate actively through hand gestures instead. As an experienced hunter, Dola's adaptability meant she was quick in taking; she mastered the sign language Rio taught without delay.

Shin still had a way to go, but Rio handled it superbly. He said he had experience .. It was impressive for a weak performance like his. But, it seems like he won't have any problems. If he proves himself with hunting abilities, then he can work on his own from tomorrow onwards.

Dola smiled wryly. Shin's hunting attitude was still too reckless, and he often missed the hand signals that Dola had sent. On the contrary, Rio's ability deserves high praise. The way he muffled his footsteps, the way he hid his presence, his ability to find traces of their hunting prey, and his knowledge of the behavior of the animals – no matter how you look at it, Rio is proficient in everything.

So, Dola and Rio naturally split the hunting prey quest between them, moving in a top two formation with Shin trailing them, which he disliked the most. Although he regularly went hunting with Dola, he always received instructions, and was never given responsibility himself. However, a newly recruited outsider like Rio – someone younger than him – is trusted and given the responsibility of hunting. It was as if he was becoming a burden to Rio. Maybe Rio thought of it as a burden. And while that thought never even crossed Rio's mind, just the possibility of it made Shin feel extremely frustrated.

More than that, Rio put forth his wisdom about sign language and caught Dola's attention. In Shin's eyes, Rio looked like he was trying to get Dola's attention, making him even more incredulous than before. Eventually, his frustration develops into irritation, leading to an inevitable disruption of focus.

“Hei, Shin. What's wrong? If you're gonna slack off, go home. You're in the way.” Dola noticed his chaotic attitude and decided to warn him.

“... Not that,” muttered Shin pouted, making Dola furrow her brows.

“It's there.” Rio said after he shot his bow. The arrow cut through the air with a fwip sound! It flew with a direct trajectory to their prey – almost like sucked – and hit a target more than twenty meters away, piercing birds in trees.

“O-Ooh, a Lenou bird! That's a tough grade! The birds acting like this became very nervous around the others. Hunting them is hard. ”

“I'm sorry. I shot an arrow at my own judgment .. The bird has noticed us and will fly,” Rio apologized, looking regretful.

“Don't worry about that. More importantly: your bow arms are amazing. There's hardly any time between when you pull your arrow and when you shoot it. And at this distance also – incredible views!” Dola, letting her annoyance towards Shin disperse, turned to praise Rio. Shin's expression grew even more sulky.

“Thank you very much.”

Rio gave a short thank you before rushing over to Lenou whom he had shot. He grabbed it with his feet and pulled the dagger with his free hand, slicing his neck to drain the blood. He wore a serious expression as he worked, though,

it even makes a brief moment of silence as a tribute to the prey that has been sacrificed for food. Dola watched Rio work hard with his familiar hands and let out an impressed voice. “Oho. Alrighty! We can't lose either, Shin,” he said enthusiastically, urging Shin to continue.

“I know! As if I'm going to back off ..!” Shin replied angrily. Dola looked directly through her attitude and smiled wryly in despair as she approached Rio.

“Good. It's still a little early, but we can finish it here. You two did well – we have more meat we bring back to the village than usual,” Dola ended the day with a happy smile.

“But I only have one. Just you and that guy, boss,” muttered Shin, sulking a little.

“What did you say?” Dola asked, a tired expression on her face.

“This is the result of the three of us working together. You also helped in besieging the prey, Shin. Thanks to that, our arrows can land where we want. ”

“Betul. Cornering prey is an important job of a hunter as well.” Dola agreed with Rio's opinion, but Shin remained sullen, clicking his tongue before walking down the mountain alone.

“Ya pardon .. She's desperate. I'm sorry Rio I'll talk to him later, so just think of it as a bad boy's rage. Don't let that bother you. ”

“... No, it's okay. I also want to apologize. If you can pass it on for me, I will thank you,” Rio apologized with a sorry expression.

“... You don't need to apologize, but fine. Also, I think you'll be fine hunting by yourself from tomorrow onwards. I have to look after his juniors, so if you can hunt enough to cover your share, that would be good. Do you think you can do it?” Dola scratched her head with a guilty look, shaking her head as she spoke.

“Sure – leave it to me,” replied Rio smoothly.

“Alright, I'm counting on you. Now, let's go back to the warehouse and clean up our shit.” Dola slapped Rio's shoulder with a grin.

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After they finished cleaning up all the animals, Rio picked up some meat and returned home.

“I came home,” he said into the house from the doorway, but there was no answer. There was no one in the living room, or in the kitchen to the right of the clay floor.

… Is no one home? Well, I guess it's still during business hours right now.

Rio decided to first get rid of the smell of the ferocious beast clinging to him. There was no bathroom in the house, so she took a bucket of baths in the kitchen and went out. He went around the back of the house and placed a bucket on the ground, then raised the ground surrounding him with spirit arts to create a wall to seal the space. Then, he used spirit arts to fill the bath bucket with water.

Splice....