The Primal Hunter

Jake stood there thinking and going over what the fuck to do next as he heard a meek voice beside him.

“If My Lord wants to…”

He wondered what she meant as he remembered what he had just said. Instantly the situation just turned more awkward as Jake facepalmed. “No… no, I mean fuck me for being in this situation… not to actually…”

For every moment, Jake got more and more sure Villy had to have known and even looked forward to this entire shitty thing happening. Jake could practically see him sitting there laughing his head off at Jake, trying to deal with his newfound circumstances.

Meira at least looked embarrassed too at her misunderstanding, but also a bit relieved and… disappointed? Nah, Jake definitely misinterpreted that.

She clearly wasn’t going to break the silence either as she sat there unmoving, forcing Jake to take the initiative and try to make the situation just a tiny bit less awkward. “Even using My Lord is a bit much. Just call me whatever you want, okay?”

“That would be inappropriate and disrespectful… wouldn’t it?” she asked. The elf looked just as out of water as Jake himself.

Whatever game plan she had was clearly out the window long ago. They both had been tossed into a situation neither was comfortable with, and Jake would do his darndest to at least make it bearable.

“Where I come from treating others overly respectfully is odd, and if we are to live in the same residence, it will get old fast and just make everything weird. No, just call me by my name Jake… well, I use the pseudonym Hunter while within the Order, but considering everything that happened before hiding my name seems pointless,” Jake said as he tried to keep it casual.

Meira still seemed unsure as Jake doubled down.

“Look, I call the Malefic Viper by the made-up nickname Villy and sure as hell am not going to refer to him as Lord or whatever else people use, at least not in private. If I can do that, you can call a fellow D-grade by his name, can’t you?”

That turned out to be a bad idea as Meira whitened even more and looked afraid something terrible would happen. Like divine retribution was inbound. She even looked towards the sky, but nothing happened as Jake once more tried to calm her down.

“He wouldn’t have made me his Chosen and be so casual around me if he was going to smite me for that, now would he?” Jake said, really trying to hammer through he was a casual person.

“I… how can you?” she finally stammered out.

“We are friends,” Jake just shrugged. “I know it seems weird from your point of view, but I am a bit of an odd person, so don’t fret it, okay? Just relax and keep it casual and down to earth.”

He really tried to seem approachable and friendly, but Jake seriously had no confidence he was making headway, and he wasn’t only making things worse. He just wasn’t built for this kind of thing.

His words also clearly didn’t work as she looked as meek as before, now just mixed with a good dose of extra confusion. Jake thought a bit as he said: “Look, how about doing it like this. While it’s just the two of us call me Jake, and when around others, you can call me My Lord or Master or whatever else you find appropriate, okay?”

She finally looked up but didn’t even address what he said, as she stammered out: “Are… you the Chosen of the Malefic One?”

“Wait, you were hung up on that?” Jake asked, clearly not reading the flow of their one-sided conversation very well. “Yeah, I am, at least in the name. Maybe in function, too, as it is a unique title, so whatever way I act is how the Chosen acts? Either way, yes, I got the True Blessing from the Malefic Viper.”

“How?” Meira asked again.

a dick, to begin with, but we ended up vibing and having a good time, and then at the end, he just sneakily gave me the

dick, as Jake once more reiterated: “As the Viper said earlier, I am also a bit of a heretic, I guess? I like the Viper well-enough as a person and all, and we generally tend to have a good time, but I don’t really treat him like a god or whatever. Just know that he is fine with it. It

didn’t feel like they were progressing much. Jake thus decided to take it as much down to earth as he could as he pulled out

of you, but just because of what it represents. However, it seems that would inadvertently lead to a shitty situation for everything and everyone except my own conscience, so I won’t. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it, and I swear I have no interest in treating you like a slave. As you are stuck here, we can figure out some working arrangements, but if you decide to just stay and chill in this huge mansion indefinitely, I won’t bother you. You can speak your mind whenever around me and treat me like

as she looked up: “Please allow me

up a hand. “What I am just saying is that for you to stay and the both of us to feel comfortable with

bit, but she

you weren’t bound by any contract that told you what you had to

before she spoke. “I was trained and raised before that to be a good worker and able to assist someone else… I want to

answer Jake hoped for, but he didn’t want to press anything more. “Okay, so what do you want to do

down again. She looked almost scared Jake would do anything, which only

“Jake,” he said calmly.

She looked up.

me Jake, and I

she fell silent again. It didn’t

looked lost in thought again. Rather than keep pressing, he changed the subject as he hoped he had gotten his point through. At

else. I just arrived, so could

and as

“Where would Master

he gently corrected her: “Jake is just fine, and can you show me the lab first? I just got one made back home, and I would love to see the

quickly nodded with relief as she led

did have to admit he felt like he was walking on eggshells throughout the entire tour, and he did recognize the ridiculousness of the situation. However, he was confident that she would get used to him

assumed for him to be an absolute shitbag, which made Jake

token alchemist of the Noboru Clan. They had instantly stepped through a gate and appeared in a large entry hall leading into a massive hallway with doors

the way to make space for two scalekins laughing as they went into two of the rooms a bit down the hall. In the entry hall, they soon stood a dozen or so people from the new batch from the ninety-third Universe. A few had already gone and found their rooms, but Reika had chosen to

fellow humans approached her and Haruto. “My name is

waiting for, and she was glad she wouldn’t have to be the first one

you,” she said

black-token human?” Jiub asked, just as Reika had expected. “My Lord is a

are at most allies and do not hail from the same factions back on our home planet. I would

same time, make it clear that she did have an amicable relationship with Jake in case

hope that in the future, we can work together and help

reason was that they still hoped for an opening with Jake. She knew others had already seen her and Jake exchange contact information, so at worst, they would