GILF Hunter

Chapter 478: 478 Luck

Frenda, lying inside her sleeping bag, quietly opened her eyes.

It was the dead of night.

In truth, there was no way to tell if it was actually night, but... judging by her internal clock, she felt that was likely the case.

The environment was far too ambiguous to call it night definitively, so she could only describe it that way.

The flickering light of a small lamp faintly illuminated the inside of the tent. Every time the light wavered, hazy shadows danced restlessly against the tent walls.

To get proper sleep, it would be best to turn off the light, but given the environment here, that wasn’t an option.

Even if it wasn’t as deep as the floor they had entered last time, the darkness of a Labyrinth fundamentally possessed a power to induce fear in people. Sleeping with the lights off was the perfect way to invite nightmares.

From outside the tent, the faint sounds of low-voiced conversations could be heard.

The presence of those who weren’t yet asleep.

It was the sound of people who had woken up after a short nap, or those who naturally didn’t sleep much, sitting around a campfire and talking.

This was something unthinkable in expeditions with the knights. Staying up all night at will while defying rest orders—if the Knight Commander caught them, they would have likely faced dire consequences.

But this was a circle expedition. Since it was a relationship formed for social purposes, there was no such strict hierarchy, nor was the atmosphere that rigid.

Of course, such an atmosphere was permitted only because this place wasn’t that dangerous. If it were a perilous area, Ariel wouldn’t have tolerated such leisure.

Frenda slightly opened her eyes and looked at the person lying next to her. There, Ian was sleeping with his eyes closed.

...She had accompanied him to help him in the Labyrinth, but so far, it didn’t seem like she had been of much help.

She never expected the expedition would be this relaxed.

Frenda’s participation in the expedition had been done half-impulsively. She had been consumed by the thought that she must be helpful to Ian.

And... well.

Perhaps, she thought about what had happened inside the Labyrinth last time....

She also had the thought that maybe those kinds of things might happen again.

Frenda felt a throbbing sensation in her chest. The chillingly pleasant sensation Ian’s touch had given her resurfaced vividly.

...It had felt good.

She had tried it by herself, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t replicate that feeling from back then.

Moreover, touching her own chest and moaning alone in her bedroom at night felt like something a priestess absolutely shouldn’t do, so she eventually stopped after a few days due to guilt.

Perhaps, if she entered the Labyrinth with Ian, there might be another such opportunity... It was true she had harbored a bit of that expectation.

Sleeping Ian’s face was right in front of her nose.

Suddenly, Frenda recalled what had happened toward the end of the last expedition. Remembering that moment, Frenda touched her lips.

It was her first... time.

Though it was a very brief moment, the sensation of that kiss remained vivid in her memory.

...Wouldn’t this be okay?

Since she had used a bit of mana while performing some healing magic. If the reason was to recover from fatigue, Ian would have no choice but to accept it.

After a moment of hesitation, Frenda carefully tilted her head and secretly kissed the sleeping Ian.

Since she had already experienced doing it in front of everyone, how hard could a second time be?

Frenda’s slowly approaching lips touched Ian’s.

There were many worries about whether this was right, but once she closed her eyes tight and went for it, moving to the next step was much easier.

She carefully slid her tongue through the slightly parted lips....

She explored the unresponsive mouth to her heart’s content. She nipped at his soft lips and licked the inside of his mouth.

Haah....

Hot breaths leaked out soundlessly between their parted lips.

’....’

And.

Airi, who was lying on the other side of Frenda, quietly opened one eye and looked sideways. She could see Frenda’s back as she did something to Ian.

With her accumulated experience and intuition, Airi could immediately tell what Frenda was doing.

This was definitely the sign of... something lewd happening.

To ignore it and fall back asleep, the rustling sounds coming from right next to her were too vivid.

Gulping, Airi eventually couldn’t fall asleep. Holding her breath inside her sleeping bag, she stealthily reached out her hand.

＊ ＊ ＊

Thus, the first day in the Labyrinth passed.

The expedition cleared the area around the camp and began checking the things discovered there one by one, starting from the closest.

’Ah... found it!’

Someone’s shout echoed through the forest.

It was the cry of a member who had climbed up to a massive bird’s nest built atop a withered tree.

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[Ownerless Bird’s Nest]

- Contains random items.

- [Take the item as is]: You feel an ominous sensation as if someone is watching.

- [Place another item in its stead]: Effect occurs depending on item grade.

※ High Grade: [Luck] increases for a certain period.

※ Same Grade: Nothing happens.

※ Low Grade: Receive [Nightmare] status ailment.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A massive nest that offered no clues as to what kind of creature it belonged to. Inside lay a single blackened branch.

It was the [Thunderstruck Branch] the expedition had been searching for.

The member who climbed the nest replaced it with a [Fire-scorched Branch] he had picked up earlier, then descended with the [Thunderstruck Branch].

’That’s the third one already! To get this many in just one day—it’s a record!’

She had heard that normally one would come out with about one branch after a single run of the Witch’s Forest, so three was quite a record.

In just one day, three members had found [Thunderstruck Branches].

Of course, since they had to go through the bidding process after the expedition was over, they couldn’t call it entirely theirs yet, but as the discoverers, they would hold a significant stake.

In the meantime, Ian was also able to find one [Shadow Flame] in a thorn bush.

Ariel, who unfolded the map and crossed off the bird’s nest they just checked, muttered while looking down at the map.

’The area around the camp is already finished.’

Every object marked on the map while exploring yesterday was now crossed out with an X.

She didn’t think they could finish everything in a single day, but thanks to Frenda’s healing magic and the Temple goods Ian brought, the exploration had proceeded without a hitch.

The secured branches... 3. They were lucky.

Since the goal had been sufficiently achieved, with this much harvest, it was worth considering ending the expedition early and returning.

In this [Witch’s Forest], the fog grew thicker the further one went, and the probability of encountering dangerous areas increased. Therefore, if there was a decent harvest after touring the safe spots, returning was the best option.

However, it felt a bit regrettable to stop there.

The members’ physical condition was still at its peak. It was a situation where it was perfectly fine to continue the exploration further.

Above all, they hadn’t yet secured the target amount of [Shadow Flame] that Ian needed.

Actually, since the Ian Mercenary Group was in a position like guests who suddenly joined the expedition, Ariel had no obligation to care about their target amount. Even if they returned now, Ian’s side would have no choice but to follow.

...Still, Ian didn’t participate empty-handed, so it felt wrong to ignore him like this. It wasn’t an urgent situation where they had to choose an early return for safety either.

Moreover, the members also seemed to want to continue the exploration.

’We’re quite lucky this time, aren’t we?’

’We have leeway... shouldn’t we explore as much as possible at a time like this?’

’That’s true.’

Ariel also nodded at the members’ words.

As the members said, it was worth going a bit further on a day like this. Since they had only spent one day on full-scale exploration, they hadn’t reached a dangerously distant point yet.

Ian, who was checking the map with Ariel, made a suggestion.

’Shall we check this direction a bit more? It looks like there might be something there.’

’Is that a hunch?’

’...You could say that.’

A hunch while exploring a dangerous place like a Labyrinth. What use was that...?

One could think that way, but ultimately, in a Labyrinth where one never knows what lies ahead, there were many cases where one had to leave everything to intuition and make a decision.

Intuition is the greatest strength of a Labyrinth explorer. This was the conclusion Ariel had reached after a long time of mercenary work and Labyrinth exploration.

In that sense, Ian could be called a Labyrinth explorer with significant skill. Judging by the stories, his luck also seemed to be very good.

’Then shall we head this way? Since we don’t have a pre-determined spot anyway.’

Ariel nodded and set the direction toward the unexplored area Ian pointed to.

＊ ＊ ＊

How long had they walked toward the new area?

As they moved, the members felt something strange.

...The atmosphere had changed.

The trees gradually disappeared, and the lush undergrowth also slowly diminished.

The moment they took one more step, their vision suddenly brightened. It was because the surrounding fog vanished abruptly, and their field of vision widened significantly.

What was revealed as the fog lifted was a radiant flower garden filled with countless blooming flowers.

’Oh no....’

Ariel immediately drew her bow.

She immediately retracted her earlier thought about Ian being a lucky fellow.