Chapter 42 : The Strange Hunt

Kaito and Renji arrived at the designated hunting area for horned rabbits. As expected, there were dozens of them scattered across the field.

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Horned rabbits? You brought me all the way here for this?"

Renji didn't answer. He simply snapped his fingers — and in an instant, all the rabbits froze.

"M-Mutated...?" Kaito muttered as he sensed something off. Renji's magic had altered them somehow.

"Alright," Renji said with a smirk. "Fight them now. Don't worry—you won't die from this."

Kaito looked puzzled. "But… they're just horned rabbits. I've already reached the realm of gods. I've slain dragons. You really think—"

Before he could finish, one of the horned rabbits vanished from his sight—and a tree nearby was torn apart by a blur of movement.

"What the hell—?!" Kaito barely dodged an incoming attack. "They're moving faster than my eyes can track!"

The once harmless horned rabbits now moved at blinding speed, their strength absurd for their species. Trees toppled one after another. Kaito gritted his teeth and glanced at Renji.

"You expect me to stop them without using divine power?!"

Renji chuckled. "Use your brain. What were the very first abilities the gods granted you?"

Kaito paused, trying to recall his early blessings. Then it clicked.

"There was one ability… I never thought to use it in battle…"

He activated it—a strange ability designed to program or weaken targets based on magical patterns. As soon as he directed it at the mutated rabbits, their speed began to drop, and their attacks grew sluggish. Kaito seized the opportunity and quickly subdued them all.

Renji nodded approvingly. "Good. Now… shall we move on to the next target?"

From a distance, Althea, Amelia, and Lilia were watching them, hidden behind a ridge.

"Why are they on some random adventure quest all of a sudden?" Althea wondered aloud.

"Well, whatever," Amelia said. "Let's follow them for now."

The adventure didn't end with horned rabbits. Kaito and Renji faced a series of monsters—orc aggressors, trolls with regenerative abilities, goblins, phantoms, and even various types of golems: mithril, iron, copper, diamond, and orichalcum. Each one was stronger than usual—far beyond what their species were known for.

Althea, Amelia, and Lilia observed everything, astonished.

"How is Kaito defeating all these…? And why are these monsters so powerful?" Lilia muttered.

"These aren't normal variants," Althea said. "Something's off."

Eventually, Kaito and Renji headed back to the guild in Neonexus. On the way, Kaito asked, "We only accepted a quest for horned rabbits. What are we supposed to say about all these monsters?"

Renji simply grinned. "You'll know when we get there."

Upon entering the guild, they were met with chaos. Adventurers were panicking, and the staff were running around frantically.

"What's going on?" Kaito asked one of the staff.

"A horde of dragons is approaching the city!" she replied in panic.

Kaito turned to Renji, eyes narrowing. "You knew about this, didn't you?"

Renji said nothing.

Without another word, Kaito rushed out toward the city gates. As expected, a group of dragons and wyverns was closing in.

He raised his hand and channeled his spell — Death Prison.

A dark vortex enveloped the sky, trapping the dragons and wyverns in a deathly domain. Seconds later, they collapsed inside it—lifeless.

When Kaito returned to the guild, he asked the staff, "Can you buy the dragon corpses?"

He then recalled the Black Dragon he had defeated a few days ago and included that as well.

The guild master arrived shortly after and, upon assessing the value of the monsters, declared, "Kaito, I'm promoting your rank to Platinum. And the total reward will be… 1.95 million platinum coins."

Kaito blinked. "Isn't that a bit too much?"

The guild master smiled. "Not at all. You brought in five wyverns, nine dragons, including rare types—black, red, silver dragons, and four rare-class wyverns. They'll sell for a high price at auction."

After the formalities, Kaito asked, "What about Renji? He was part of the quest too."

The guild master replied, "Renji declined any payment. He said all the monsters were defeated by you. However, the official quest reward for horned rabbits and other monsters—4560 gold and 14 platinum coins."

Kaito made a mental note to talk to Renji later.

When he confronted him, Renji just said, "Keep an eye on your finances. That's all," and walked off.

Kaito scratched his head in confusion. What did he mean by that...?

He stored the money in his dimensional storage and made a mental note to send Renji his share later through his shop.

Back at the palace, the girls were having dinner when Kaito arrived.

"Perfect timing," Althea said. "Come sit."

He joined them at the dining table, where Althea, Amelia, Lilia, and Pixie were already seated. Pixie, as always, floated above her chair, munching on cake.

"So, where were you?" Althea asked casually.

"Adventure quest," Kaito replied simply. "Had to test some new spells… and well, some dragons attacked, so I had to deal with them."

Amelia tilted her head. "Say, Kaito… why doesn't Renji ever eat with us? He's always in his shop or away."

Pixie answered in her usual chirpy tone, "Renji's timing is different, remember? I told you before."

"Then where does he even stay?" Lilia asked.

"In the workshop, obviously," Pixie said. "He practically lives there. Sleeps while working on his creations."

Althea glanced at Kaito. "After dinner, we need to talk."

Kaito raised an eyebrow but nodded.