The Strongest Gun Magus: I Cast Bullet!-Chapter 21: Runt of the Litter
Soft squealing was coming from a large burrow underneath a rock.
Reynard leaned toward it and immediately recoiled when, from inside, came a flash of fire.
"I never thought... How are we supposed to carry them out?" Terence asked from a safe distance behind.
Reynard made sure that he still had eyebrows, then clicked his tongue.
"That’s a part of our challenge, I guess! Makes me wish that I brought an asbestos bag with me. To think, even the piglets can breathe fire..."
"There are spells that can protect from the elements, but since they create continuous magic, they require at least Albedo-stage aura to cast... Maybe... We can search for an Albedo-stage student, Mister Artemy?"
"Seriously? Not only can they be ANYWHERE in the forest, but they will also just take all the piglets for themselves!" Reynard shook his head. "Let’s just try this."
He took off his backpack and fished out a thick leather bag and a pair of thick leather gloves. These were his work gloves, taken to pick poisonous plants and the like. Reynard didn’t expect to gather piglets with them...
Then he took out a piece of bread and put it in front of the burrow.
There was another flash of fire, but it didn’t even burn the bread.
"Huh, this fire looks much scarier than it’s actually hot!" Reynard realized. "Well, little piggies... Are you too little to eat the bread?"
He leaned into the burrow again and covered his eyes from the next flash. When it dissipated, he could see the five piglets clearly.
They were absolutely tiny compared to the adult Forge-Boars! All light brown, each only as long as his palm. Their eyes glowed like coals, and they squealed pitifully.
"Aww... I killed your parents, and now I’m going to sell you to tamers... But you will have a good life in the forges, I swear!" Reynard cooed. "Now c’mere... And please, don’t burn my hands."
The piglets squealed louder and barfed puffs of bright fire. But like Reynard already found, it was colder than it looked.
’He-he, these piglets are so much cooler than the adult Forge-Boars... In all meanings of the word!’ Reynard thought, carefully putting the piglets in the bag. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
They were too small to meaningfully resist.
"Phew! I think they will be fine if we go to the nearest entrance immediately," Reynard said, straightening again. "Carry them, Terence. I need my hands free."
"Sure, Mister Artemy... Oh, do you hear that?"
Reynard paused in the middle of passing over the bag.
There was a lot of squealing, squirming, and random light flashes coming from it, but his senses, enhanced by his aura, caught countless other noises.
There was rustling of grass and leaves in the wind, the calls of birds and insects, and even the taps of tiny legs of rodents in the underbrush.
And another tiny squeal, one that was coming from inside the burrow.
"Was there another one?" Reynard passed the bag to Terence and leaned back to check.
The sixth piglet was hiding at the very end of the burrow. Its eyes were closed, and its brown hide made it look like a rock. The beast was much smaller than its siblings—a runt of the litter, probably doomed to die until Reynard’s interference.
He picked it up, but the piglet didn’t even try to flash him.
"I think I’d better carry this one separately. He looks like he needs special attention."
Reynard gently held the piglet in his palm. It let out a weak chirp.
’I never thought pigs could be so adorable... Even more adorable than puppies...’
"Didn’t you need free hands, Master Artemy?"
"Shush! I will be fine with just one. See? One hand for the pig, one hand for the entrance token to guide us!"
***
Marien was sure that she was going in the right direction if she was going to find a beast that would actually fight her.
And, perhaps, find Reynard. But that was secondary in her mind.
Marien was itching for a real fight!
She had smelled the smoke and blood on the wind long before she found the massive boar tracks on the ground. Marien followed them to an empty burrow in the ground, and from it, to a clearing in the forest, anticipating a territorial beast attacking her at any moment.
She was badly disappointed.
Ahead, two Forge-Boar corpses were lying near each other, one of them with some meat cut off from its side. Countless wounds covered their bodies, but the blood-stained fur made it hard to tell how many exactly and what size and shape they had.
All Marien knew for sure was that someone killed them before she could!
She huffed angrily.
They must’ve looted the burrow, too! How could she get points if everything was stolen ahead of her?
"This is so unfair," Marien muttered, walking away from the clearing and making sure her robes weren’t stained in blood, too.
Then she glanced up, and her eyes widened.
It was a Wind of Mana! A weak, but promising one—if she could follow it to a cyclone.
Forgetting all about her previous desire to fight a Forge-Boar, Marien hurried after the Wind of Mana.
If she succeeded, she might start advancing toward the Albedo stage!
