New World with Four Husbands-Chapter 588: Hunters’ worries

Coco found herself wandering through the forest, the afternoon sunlight filtering through the trees in golden shafts— casting everything in an almost dreamlike haze.

The air filled with the sounds of distant birds singing as she moved with a slow, deliberate rhythm, her mind wandering with no real goal. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

This noon was quiet, peaceful, or at least it should have.

Coco moved through the forest with quiet precision, her body moving on instinct as she tracked signs of monsters— twigs snapped, disturbed leaves echoed, along with the faint scents lingering in the air.

Six hours had passed since she had left the house. Six hours since her mother’s voice, soft and trembling, had dropped those words like a stone.

"A bus.. It hit me, and it happened so fast."

The memory hit her between breaths. She didn’t cry. Couldn’t, actually. Instead, she moved.

Gripping tight on the farming tool, the hunting became rhythm— a way to outrun the ache in her chest and deep down? She wasn’t just hunting monsters. She was running from grief.

As usual, Coco watched as the flying pig tumbled to the ground with a heavy thud, its wings still flapping wildly before falling still.

Her breathing was ragged and she wiped the sweat from her chin, the shirt she wore riding up to expose her stomach as her eyes scanned the area for any more monsters.

In the sweat and the physical exertion of every monster she had taken down, the strain had pushed out everything else from her mind.

She was good at this, good at pushing her troubles away, good at distracting herself from pain.

In the distance, Neo stood silently beside Lukas, arms crossed as they watched Coco move with eerie precision, her every motion sharp, relentless, with another fallen pig lay twitching before her, another silent trophy in her growing tally.

Lukas shook his head slowly, disappointment in his eyes.

"This human.." He muttered bitterly. "She’s like a mindless machine. Just hunting. No pause. No nothing."

He turned to Neo, voice low. "How many has she taken down now? Ten? Twelve?"

Neo didn’t answer right away and just kept watching her through the trees, then he met Lukas’ eyes. ".. She’s not hunting monsters.

"Then what do you call that?" Lukas frowned at him.

Neo’s gaze softened. "She’s upset."

Neo averted his gaze and looked back at Coco, just in time to see her move away from the fallen pig.

"Whenever something is troubling her, she does this." Neo explained softly. "I’ve seen it before. It’s like she’s trying to.. Outrun her own pain by throwing herself into this tiring hunt."

Lukas’ gaze shifted to Coco, concern and realization in his eyes. "But it’s not working, is it?"

Neo shrugged, then walked over to the pig and bent down to hoist the pig over his shoulders with practiced ease.

"It doesn’t fix anything." He admitted, adjusting the weight as he stood. "But it helps— just enough to keep her from breaking, I guess.. I mean, she won’t talk about it..

He glanced toward the trees where Coco had vanished. "So this? This is how she copes."

With a step forward, he began walking in her direction. "So yes, we carry whatever monsters she has on her missions today and hope she remembers to stop before she gets lost in all that silence."

"Humans.." Lukas muttered incredulously, as if the very word was a mystery, and followed closely behind Neo, shaking his head. "They are confusing and frustrating."

The sacred beast huffed. "One minute, they’re all laughter and warmth, and the next.. It’s like they build walls around themselves and won’t let anyone in."

He kicked at a loose branch as they walked. "Why can’t they just say what they mean?"

Neo snorted, adjusting the pig on his shoulders as he shot Lukas a sidelong glance. "You’re walking beside a human, sir, and aren’t you a human too?"

Lukas blinked— then scowled and looked away sharply, his jaw tightening for just a fraction of a second, so fast most wouldn’t notice, his fingers twitching at his side.

He didn’t answer because he is not a human. Never had been and never will be.

And though the lie had worn comfortably for months.. Standing here, watching Coco push herself to the edge and hearing Neo’s teasing jab— it scratched at something buried deep within.

Lukas stayed silent so Neo didn’t pry further, but they walked on and on, until they heard a rustling and a squeal ahead.

The two barely had time to react when they saw Coco lunged forward from atop of a tree, her body twisting mid-air into a powerful swing, her hoe cracking through the air with a sharp whoosh— connecting square with the flying pig’s head just as it dove at her.

The creature squealed, thrown off course by the impact and tumbled sideways into bushes below where it writhed— dazed, but not dead.

"Coco!" Neo called out, hurrying forward. "That was too close! You didn’t even see it coming from behind!"

Coco landed on the ground, panting and her grip still tight on her hoe, knuckles white.

".. I knew." She muttered, time flat. "I felt it."

Lukas glanced at Coco, eyes narrowed at how reckless that move had been. "You’re pushing too hard."

Coco didn’t answer.

Lukas stepped forward, ending the pig’s pain with a swift, merciful blow and dusting off his hands, his eyes skimming through the darkening tree line.

"We better head back." He said, and Coco didn’t protest.

Instead, she looked at the fallen pig for a moment before turning on her heel and walking back the way they had come.

Lukas lifted the pig onto his shoulder without complaint, its weight nothing compared to the silence hanging in the air.

He fell into step behind Coco, right beside Neo, his sharp eyes tracing the way her fingers remained clenched around her hoe— knuckles pale, grip tight.

And for their way back to the guild, she had not loosened it once, not even for a second.