“I’m still against it,” Elisa said, her voice trembling with suppressed anger. “A hunter’s life is not a life!”

Jules smiled at his mother, bending over to kiss her forehead. Thanks to his growth spurt a year ago, he was now taller than her by a head. Elisa wasn’t a small woman, but he had inherited his father’s tall stature.

“Don’t worry, mom. I’ll be fine.”

“Fine my ass!” Elisa scoffed. “You’re not even an adult yet! I can’t believe Greg is dragging you into a hunt at your age. That stupid witch! We’re not in the Middle Ages anymore, and kids shouldn’t be kicked to the battlefield. You should be having fun with your friends, not going out on hunts!”

A chuckle escaped Jules’s lips. A few years back, he’d made up his mind to become a hunter. He wanted to infiltrate the Association to search for his father’s murderers, but it wasn’t an endeavor his mother approved of. She didn’t hide her dissatisfaction, constantly reminding him that he shouldn’t and had no obligation to walk this path.

But at the end of the day, Elisa knew she couldn’t talk Jules out of it, so she had been helping him however she could. Although she was retired, she had worked as a hunter for years; she even met her late husband on a hunt. She only quit because of her pregnancy and still retained all of her skills as a hunter. Thus, she took it upon herself to teach her son the ins and outs of hunting. Since dissuading Jules was out of the question, she could at least prepare him to face the dangers permeating the profession.  

“You really won’t reconsider it…?”

“I’m sorry, mom.”

“Goodness, I wonder from whom you inherited that stubbornness of yours!” Elisa groaned. “I know you’ve trained for years, but hunts are always unpredictable, and death always lurks around hunters. Honestly, I’m afraid you won’t make it back alive. I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose you too.”

Jules pursed his lips, mixed feelings storming about in his stomach. He hesitated but ultimately hugged his mother, gently stroking her back. “If it becomes too dangerous, I’ll run away. You taught me to always prioritize my safety over the hunt, and I’ll abide by your teachings. I won’t forget them, ever.”

“You’ve become a little too good at coaxing me. Greg’s influence is showing up.”

“Well, I can’t deny that.”

After Zack’s funeral, Jules had gradually grown closer to Greg. Although the man could never replace his father, he had taken on the role of a mentor. Like his mother, he had been training him to become a good hunter, though he was less strict than Elisa (and less scary). Jules wouldn’t admit it aloud, but he’d sometimes flee to Greg’s side to avoid his mother’s lessons; he couldn’t count the number of times he thought he’d die at his mother’s hands. Even if he was her son, she never went easy on him—if anything, she was even harsher because he was her son. Whether willingly or not, Jules had learned how to take a beating over the years. Just thinking about it made his bones throb in pain. 

“But more seriously, you still have difficulty manifesting your spiritual sword,” Elisa frowned, hugging her son tighter before lifting her head to look into his eyes. “It really is too dangerous to send you out on a hunt. What if your sword becomes unstable in the middle of a fight?”

“I’m not going alone, mom. I’ll be working with Greg and Veronica’s foster son, and we’ll play baits in a crowded area; the thing we’re hunting won’t dare to attack us in plain sight. A more experienced hunter will be waiting to ambush it, and Greg will be supervising everything from a safe distance.”

“How can you be so sure everything will go according to plan?! You have never met their foster son, and who knows if your chemistry will be good enough to work together! If you can’t coordinate your actions well, you will only be putting yourselves in danger.”

“Mom, our target is a lesser demon with barely enough spiritual energy to pose a threat. He’s been using human tricks to deceive his prey! Greg especially chose this hunt for me, so stop worrying. I know what I’m doing.”

“I still don’t feel reassured. You—”

A tumbling noise interrupted Elisa mid-sentence. The next instant, a child’s head popped into the doorframe. Her pale gray eyes peeked inside the living room, and when her gaze landed on Jules, a smile bloomed on her lips, brightening her face.  

“Brother!” the little girl giggled, running to Jules with her arms wide open. “You’re going out?”

“Yes,” Jules said as he let go of his mother and crouched to pick up his little sister, cradling her in his arms. “I’ll be staying over at a friend’s tonight.”

“You have friends?”

“….”

The innocent question stung a little. But it was no wonder his sister asked this; Jules hadn’t made any friends these past few years, too wrapped up in his training. When he wasn’t at school, he was in the yard improving his fighting skills, hitting dummies and practicing gathering his spiritual energy. And after his body had grown too weary to continue his physical training, he often shut himself in his room and studied everything he could about supernatural beings. Greg had given him many books about the subject, and Jules did his best to memorize them all. He wasn’t born a genius and needed to put the effort in if he wanted to get stronger. Since his father’s death, the only thing occupying his mind was revenge; friends were the least of his concerns.

“I don’t have many friends,” Jules cleared his throat, “but I do have some.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Annabelle tilted her head, then blinked her big, round eyes. She obviously didn’t believe him, and Jules didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. This kid, honestly!

“Anna,” Elisa said, “if you keep sticking to your brother like this, he’s going to be late. You don’t want him to make his friend wait, do you?”

“Oh…!”

The child struggled to get out of his arms, and Jules cooperatively put her down on the floor. He watched her bolt to their mother’s legs, plastering herself against Elisa’s left calf. She peered at him through a few strands of charcoal hair, making him unconsciously smile. Oh, well. He could forgive her for earlier; his sister was just too cute for words!

“I’ll be going then,” Jules finally said. “See you later.”

“Alright, be safe.”

Jules responded with a smile before glancing at his little sister one more time. He stared at her for a moment, unfathomable thoughts twirling in the depths of his eyes. In the end, his sister’s first words hadn’t been “daddy” or “dad” but “mommy”, and neither he nor his mother knew how to feel about this. Annabelle had been fond of her father as a baby, always crying for him to hug her, but….

Now, she had forgotten she even had a father. The man her mother sometimes spoke of was nothing more than a fairy tale character to her. In her young mind, her family had always consisted of her mother and brother; there was no “father”. 

***

“So, you’re Jules?”

“And you’re Cains?”

The two teenagers fell silent as they sized each other up. Cains had pale brown eyes and long eyelashes, and a tiny mole dotted the corner of his right eye. His face was round, his nose upturned, and his brownish blond hair, curly. He looked thin in his loose clothes, and his height was on the smaller side. Or, to put it bluntly, he had a cute childish air that made him look harmless.

‘Appearances sure are deceptive,’ Jules thought with a self-mocking laugh. According to Greg, his foster son’s forte was casting nasty spells, and he had an easier time learning curses than protective arrays. He wasn’t the kind of witch you wanted to make an enemy of.

“Nice to meet you,” Cains said as he stretched a hand to shake Jules’s. “Greg often talks about you, so I couldn’t wait to see you in the flesh. And I must say, your look is truly out of this world…. Wanna chat a bit after the hunt?”

“Brat!” Greg cried out, knocking Cains on the head. “How many times must I tell you to call me “Dad”?! And don’t flirt with your colleague right off the bat!”

“You dare to hit me, old man?!”

“How about you stop fooling around and take this hunt seriously?” a man who looked in his early twenties said. “I’d like it if you kept your guard up, or I fear the kids will get gobbled up before I can intervene. I don’t want the hunt to turn into a pain.”

“Oh, Reyes! Don’t be so stiff, the kids will do great.”

“How can I not be? You know I don’t like working with newbies,” Reyes snorted, “and you brought two of them.”  

“Experienced teen hunters aren’t exactly easy to find! And did you forget about the fact they hunt with their guardians? You know, the same ones that raise hell for non-hunters? And guess who isn’t a hunter here!” Greg paused to smile and point to himself, “Me.”

The hunter narrowed his eyes, seemingly shooting daggers at the witch.

“Oh please, stop it! My wife has been grooming Cains as her heir since he was 10, and I’ve been teaching Jules since he was 13. If I dare to bring them to you for a hunt, you know it’s because I’m confident they will do a great job. Trust them a little, will you?”

Reyes clicked his tongue. He glared at the two teenagers, his black eyes unfathomable. “I don’t care what you say. If we didn’t need teenagers to catch that thing, I’d never allow them to accompany us. But I don’t really have a choice here, do I?”

Cains laughed awkwardly, whereas Jules averted his eyes. The only reason they could participate in this hunt was thanks to their ages and looks, as both of them were a little over 17 years old and had a striking appearance. If it weren’t for this, Reyes wouldn’t even bother meeting them. 

Greg had briefed Jules a few days ago when he asked him if he wanted to participate in the hunt, and he thus knew why the hunter needed good-looking teens to bait the target. He hadn’t told his mother everything for fear of worrying her, but even he wasn’t that much at ease with the demon’s modus operandi.

That thing would only prey on boys between 12 and 17 years old, never coming near anyone who had reached adulthood. It’d approach its targets in human form, wearing a gentle mask to lower their guard. It’d then smoothly lead them away from the crowd and bring them to its lair. No one ever noticed when the teenagers disappeared, and their dismembered corpses would usually be discovered around a month later. From Greg’s investigation, the demon would feed on the boys’ flesh slowly, keeping them alive as long as it could. It loved to play with its prey and didn’t precipitate their deaths. 

Needless to say, the Association was out for its head. But although they deduced it was weak, the lesser demon was good at hiding itself. Thanks to its almost nonexistent spiritual energy, it was practically impossible to discern it from an ordinary human being. It knew how to mingle with the crowd and quietly vanish. Its appearance was also ever-changing, making it all the more difficult to find it.

To make matters worse, it’d only show itself when it was hunting teenagers. They had tried to disguise older hunters with a youthful and pretty appearance spell, but they never managed to catch the demon’s attention. It was as if it knew it wasn’t their original appearances. Therefore, if they wanted to bait it out of its hiding spot, they needed to use real teenagers, and ones that suited its taste. Otherwise, it’d keep on evading them.

The lesser demon’s latest victim had been discovered the day before, meaning it was currently hunting for a new meal. With this in mind, Cains and Jules came into play. They would wander the area of its hunting ground and hopefully get its attention. On the bright side, the demon was picky about its food, and all its victims were pretty boys. Considering Jules’s appearance, it’d be a fool not to go after him. And Cains was also on the cute side. It often preyed on two boys at a time, and the Jules-Cains duo was striking enough. There was a good chance it’d approach them tonight.

‘Having a pretty face can be handy at times,’ Jules snorted to himself before lifting his head to stare into the hunter’s eyes. They were pitch-black like an abyss, putting him a little ill at ease. Still, he confidently said, “You don’t need to worry, I’ll do my best not to hinder you.”

“Who cares if you’re being a burden! If something seems off, run and don’t look back. Whether the hunt is a success or a failure doesn’t matter; I don’t want to bury kids. Did I make myself clear?”

Jules was stunned into silence. Then, he smiled and nodded.

Greg was right: there truly were good hunters amid the rotten apples, and he was glad his first hunt was with such a hunter. Knowing Reyes would watch his back and wanted him to put his safety first was reassuring, and the anxiety twisting his belly lessened. Yes, it was his first hunt, but it was alright. Everything would go according to plan, and they would bring that thing down tonight, whatever it took.

---

Edited by Clozed!!! ♥

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