noveltune 0009 Dating Guidance
0009 Dating Guidance
It's certainly a good thing to be one step closer to obtaining the Hunter's Medal.
But Li Ai also knew that going hunting in the wild without the skills of a hunter was no different from suicide.
The current physical deficiencies do not affect the learning of skills, so it is better to participate in hunter training as soon as possible.
After the two cats had finished cuddling and came down from the roof, Li Ai asked Cissell for Seneca's address.
"By the way, if you find any suitable jobs, please contact me. As for where to contact me..."
"Where this bucket is, that's your home, my cat."
That makes sense.
"Wait a minute, meow."
After saying that, Cissell ran away.
Before long, he ran back carrying a small wooden bucket.
Before the lid of the bucket was even lifted, Li Ai could smell a very peculiar, pungent odor.
"The Elus also use wooden barrels as their dwellings, but they can't guard them all the time. To prevent someone from accidentally taking them away, they write their names on them, meow."
After explaining, Cissell put down the small wooden bucket and lifted the lid.
"Why is it pink?"
"This is what Grandma Cat's neighbor's house had left over from renovations; there aren't any other colors left, meow."
"Oh, it's free! Thank you, Cecilia. I love pink the most."
"You're welcome, meow. You helped me understand the true meaning of love. This little reward is nothing, meow."
As he spoke, Cissell handed over a small wooden brush.
After thinking for a moment, Li Ai painted the words "Gu Mei Love Guidance House" in large characters.
Then, below, a message appeared: "Guaranteed to teach and learn, no charge if ineffective, temporary residence, please do not move."
Li Ai thought it was worth a try because she could both earn money and complete tasks.
The Sene family home is a detached two-story house with a yard.
Two Ailus in the courtyard were putting firewood into the earthen stove to prepare breakfast.
After Li Ai explained his purpose, he was invited inside and seated.
Seneca's home was simply furnished, with a few large wooden chests and a bed on the first floor.
Hanging on the wall are one-handed swords made from various monster materials, indicating that the homeowner is a hunter skilled in one-handed swords.
Not long after, Seneca returned from his morning run.
After explaining his purpose, Senegal said that after having breakfast together, they would go to the guild together to introduce Li Ai to the hunter instructor.
Li Ai was surprised by the other person's appetite and eating speed.
The Ailus, who quickly took the plates and cleared them away, were used to this scene.
"Is it not to your liking, meow?"
Jim noticed that Li Ai was eating very slowly, so he asked her with concern.
"No, I ate some this morning... Oh, right, I brought you some instant noodles."
"Ah! I can draw cards again, meow!"
Daily training doesn't require wearing heavy armor, so the two people and the cat quickly went out.
On the second floor of the guild, Sene introduced Li Ai to an uncle named Langde, a hunter instructor.
Langde looked Li Ai up and down, then reached out and pinched the muscles in his shoulder and arm.
"Li Ai, right? You really want to be a hunter?"
"Yes, Instructor Ronde."
Li Ai stood tall and straight, her expression resolute.
"Hmm, not bad, but your physical condition... what's your family's financial situation like?"
When Langde suddenly asked this question, Li Ai was a little confused, but she still answered truthfully, "I don't have a family."
Normal answers are either good or bad, but Li Ai's statement that she has no family immediately made Lang De realize the other person's extremely poor situation.
"This is difficult. To become a hunter, one must be proficient in a hunting weapon. The one with the lowest physical requirements is the light crossbow. The downside is that training ammunition consumption is too high, and many people find it difficult to afford even if they become hunters."
After listening to Lang De's explanation, Li Ai understood why he had asked about her family situation.
For those with weak physiques who want to try becoming hunters, the light crossbow is the best choice.
While other weapons can be practiced by simply standing still and swinging, light crossbow training requires live ammunition to be effective, and the cost of ammunition for initial training alone is a considerable expense.
"Instructor Langde, I will actively train to improve my physique. Let's start with melee weapons."
"Alright, but you definitely can't handle a greatsword or a spear. Of the remaining weapons, which one do you prefer?"
"Tachi."
As soon as Li Ai spoke, Langde smiled helplessly, looked at Seneca to his side, and sighed, "These young people nowadays..."
Li Ai was somewhat puzzled, wondering if there was also prejudice against swordsmen here.
"You wanted to learn the long sword because you heard that the hunters in Pokai Village hunted a Tyrannosaurus Rex with their long swords deep inside the volcano, right?"
Lang De's question left Li Ai somewhat bewildered.
Sene explained, "As a new type of weapon, the katana was only tested and forged in Pokai Village by the guild. Currently, only a few hunters from outside the village possess it, and even if you have local guild instructors, they are unable to teach it."
"So that's how it is."
Li Ai suddenly realized.
No wonder he'd never seen any hunters carrying the Charge Blade or Switch Axe; the only weapons that Kokot Village could currently craft were the original seven types.
"There are definitely more and more young people wanting to learn how to use the katana. I should probably go to Bokai Village for further training soon, otherwise I'll be left behind once the workshop starts forging katanas... Li Ai, why don't you get a different weapon?"
"Land asked."
"With monster girls assisting in battle, it would be better to have a more balanced offense and defense..."
Li Ai quickly came up with a suitable hunting weapon.
"Instructor Lang, I want to practice one-handed sword!"
"Actually, dual swords are more suitable for your physique... Alright then. This is the document confirming your participation in the training. The guild branch will not charge any fees, but if you get injured during the training, you will be responsible for it yourself. If you have no objections, just fill in the information, sign it, and hand it to the counter. The receptionist will inform you of the exact participation time."
"Understood, Instructor Lang."
After Li Ai finished speaking, she went downstairs to the counter.
"Sene, why did you introduce Li Ai? He clearly has no talent at all, and his physique is even worse than that of an ordinary villager."
Landes asked, puzzled.
"It was someone like him, wielding a broken hunter's knife, with a socially awkward girlfriend who was always on the verge of fainting, who survived for half a month deep in the forest. Don't you think someone like that is quite unusual?"
As he spoke, Sene tore open the spice packet.
"A full two weeks? That's definitely unusual. I need to pay closer attention... What are you eating? It smells delicious."
"This is called crispy noodles, barbecue flavor."
As he spoke, Sene poured a small amount of crumbs into his palm and shoveled them into his mouth.
"Give me some too."
"No."
On the first floor of the Hunter's Guild, receptionist Becky looked at the form that Li Ai had filled out with a puzzled expression.
"Li Ai, what is the address you gave for 'Gu Mei Love Guidance House'?"
"The large wooden barrel under the third tree from the right outside the blacksmith's workshop."
Becky pointed her finger and said, "The third big tree...that's pretty close to the guild. Okay, your form is correct. This is the schedule for the hunter training courses. The hunter knowledge course is on Saturdays, and everyone must attend. The hunting weapon instruction rotates daily. The one-handed sword you applied for is on Mondays, so don't forget."
"Understood... Do you still have any wooden bucket brushes in the warehouse?"
"There shouldn't be any more recently, but now that you have your training certificate, you can enter the training ground in the backyard at any time."
"Oh... so having a real Hunter's Badge means you can accept commissions, right?"
"Of course... I think you've already asked this question."
"I just wanted to double-check. Thank you, Becky. When I become a Hunter, I'll only accept commissions from you."
"Okay, then you should keep up the good work!"
When Li Ai returned to the guidance house, most of the villagers seemed uninterested in the dating guidance business, or perhaps they felt that the person living in the barrel lacked authority.
Even late at night, no one came to inquire.
The next day at noon, Cissell introduced a job to plant seeds on a farm.
After a busy afternoon, I received the 260z in the evening.
The blacksmith said the wooden one-handed sword for training would cost 580 z, so Li Ai saved up the money.
Saturday has arrived, and the Hunter Knowledge course begins.
The guild's teaching room is filled with people of all ages, mostly children.
The content taught by Instructor Langde was relatively basic.
One is the preparation of wild recovery medicine, and the other is the identification of the scent of dye balls.
Because of its unique smell, the dye fruit is used to create dye balls with super strong adhesion, which are often used to track monsters.
Upon smelling that familiar scent in the classroom, Li Ai knew what the pink paint bucket that Cecilia had given her was made of.
Perhaps because she had lived in the barrel for two days and had a deep impression of its smell, Li Ai achieved first place in the evening's test of identifying the scent of dyed fruit.
The results of the drug blending assessment were less than satisfactory.
The dark, viscous substance in the pot was completely inedible, let alone having any healing effect.
Inside the bucket at night, Li Ai looked at the class notes on the folding screen and continued to study this problem.
"Could it be that we didn't add enough water... Or maybe we should forget about it. If we don't make any money tomorrow, we won't have any training weapons to use for Monday's classes."
Li Ai was getting ready to sleep when the bucket lid was suddenly knocked on from the outside.
Who is it?
"Come discuss business, relationship advice."
The sound from outside the bucket was unusually low, as if it were being deliberately hushed.
Realizing that a business had come to her, Li Ai slammed open the bucket lid and quickly climbed out.
The burly man in the black robe with his hood up paused for a moment, then turned to leave.
"Sene...is that you?"
The man in black robes sighed in the darkness and slowly turned around.
The face hidden in the hood was undoubtedly Seneca.
Outside the village, on a small hillside.
Seneca gazed at the few faint lights in the village, sighing after every few bites of his instant noodles.
"They said a stranger came to the village and could even match up Palicoes, but I never expected it to be you."
"I didn't expect you to be here late at night, dressed like this, to discuss business... Just tell me what you need. I'm a professional dating consultant, and I won't disclose that information to others."
"Okay, actually I just don't...no..."
"Nothing?"
Seneca's repeated no's made Li Ai nervous.
Sene gritted her teeth slightly: "I just can't fall in love! Absolutely not!"
"That scared me to death. If it's just that you don't know how to date, it's not a big problem."
Is there any hope for improvement?
"Of course, I'm a professional, but you'll have to tell me who your ideal partner is?"
"Anxia".
"I remember seeing her when I went to work on the farm with Cecilia. She was a very hardworking girl who worked hard to run the farm."
"It's her."
As Sene spoke of the other person, his brows relaxed.
Li Ai touched her chin, a look of confusion on her face.
Hunters are the most respected profession in the village, and Senee is one of the best. There's no reason why he wouldn't pursue someone else.
"Did something special happen between you two? After that, when you faced her, there was an inexplicable resistance in your mind that made it impossible for you to face her calmly."
Whoosh~
The instant noodle bag fell to the ground.
"No wonder you dare to call yourself a dating guru..."
Seneca closed his eyes, utterly captivated.
"Tell me the details."
Li Ai picked up a bottle of AD calcium milk and started drinking it.
"When I was still a four-star hunter, I received an emergency request that said the last farm outside the village had been attacked by a black wolf bird. I was hunting alone at the time and had already faced off against a female Rathian. I didn't think the smaller black wolf bird was a threat. Plus, it was close to the village and I had a chance to repel the black wolf bird and save the farm, so I set off without gathering any teammates."
"Is the last one outside the village...the one by the river?"
Li Ai realized that this was the location where the planned sheep village was to be built.
"That's right. When we arrived, the farmland was already ablaze because of the fireball. The black wolf bird was standing in the flames, while Anxia was hiding in the house, crying loudly."
"Wait a minute, this isn't right..."
Knowing that the farm was abandoned, Li Ai had already guessed what was going on.
"At that time, the black wolf bird's fighting power was beyond my comprehension. Although I was unwilling to admit it, I did lose to it. I experienced the biggest defeat of my hunter career, and it was in front of Anxia... After that, I didn't know how to face Anxia."
Seneca showed a rare expression of pain.
"You're in so much pain not only because you like her but can't face it, but also because An Xia took the initiative to contact you afterward. Because of the above reasons, you couldn't express your feelings, and then you felt that you had hurt her, which made it even harder for you to face her."
Sene took a breath, and the way she looked at Li Ai had become somewhat strange.
"How do you know everything?"
"I'm a relationship coach; you can't just write that title on a bucket like that."
"There has to be some basis for that, right?"
"If I had to give a reason, it would probably be because you're a hero hunter. Someone who dares to face and hunt even the Black Horned Dragon shouldn't be restricted by love, unless the person who wants to restrict you is yourself."
"You mean, what I truly can't face isn't just Anxia, but also that failed hunt?"
"Yes, although you made your own efforts... but for Anxia, she doesn't care about the black wolf bird or witnessing your failure."
In the silence, a cold wind blew by.
"I understand, I'll do it tomorrow..."
"Forget about tomorrow, let's go tonight. You're a six-star hunter, what in this world could possibly frighten you?"