Chapter 24 - Clara Project: End of Project

In the middle of the dungeon, Tafnekha suddenly noticed something and looked in a particular direction.

"What's wrong?" asked one of her party members.

"Apparently, my friend is successful with her hunt; therefore, I'm glad for her. Alright, let's haste."

Back in the dark cave.

The void bull's head moved strangely due to a convulsion on its head muscles. Its howl also slowly toned down even though Maya and Aslana kept attacking its tummy until it bled out.

Clara and Alc pulled their arms back and oversaw the monster's movement for any potential danger that could jump on them at any moment. It moved without any meaning until it completely stopped. Aslana checked on Alc, and he nodded, confirming what she could have been thinking.

Finally, the prey was hunted. The hunter could breathe in relief now.

"Finally, we did it," said Alc while he wiped away his sweats. There was a little potion left, so he consumed it to heal all of his bruises and wounds fully.

"We…win?" asked Clara in disbelief. The void bull in front of her didn't move an inch, and her instinct told her there were no other signs that the monster was still alive.

Her legs gave out as she kneeled on the ground. Almost all of her strength was gone. All that was left was this emotional surge that couldn't be described.

"Ahh–I did it, right? That monster is dead already?"

She did it. She successfully helped her family so they wouldn't die and punched away all of her trauma with her strength, even though it was just a symbol since Alc was pretty much the primary contributor here.

Still, her hands were shaking. If only she hadn't come here and brought first aid for her parents, maybe they wouldn't be here now.

"Clara!"

Maya shouted and hugged her daughter again. She patted Clara's head gently because of the intense joy inside her heart. 

"I'm thankful that you're here, my daughter. You're a lifesaver!" praised Maya as her mother.

"Uuh, hnghh…"

She bawled out because a burst of emotion swelled inside her chest. Joy, relief, exhaustion, furthermore, when she knew exactly that she was able to face the void bull to help the others–

Clara continued to cry while her mother hugged her, letting the lion girl let out all of her emotion as she pleased while the father folded his arm. He patiently waits for his daughter without really saying anything, with smiling Aslana beside him because of this sight.

Angga also sighed in relief to be in his safe location, knowing very well that no one died because of this fight against the strong monster.

"Alright. That's a wrap, then," he commented in relief.

And then, after a few hours had passed, they arrived safely at Canau town and sought treatment immediately. Potions were effective, and all, but healing spells got a more substantial effect and to do a check-up if they got terrible ailments due to their hunt.

Before returning to the town, Aslana activated the spell to report their hunt spoils to the Town Hall and waited a while for the process to complete.

Right now, Clara and her family are treated in the hospital town. When Angga checked, the building was modeled like the hospital of his world with its many patient beds. However, there were no sophisticated medical tools since it was just a guild where the great healer of the town gathered and would heal any conditions in exchange for gold. Perhaps they could use this building as an inn, too, when no patients were around.

Clara's parents have exhausted to the point that the stamina potion does not affect their bodies. So, when the three arrived at the hospital and were treated, they passed out right away on the bed. The healer said they were merely exhausted because they had been fighting for three days straight so Clara could calm down.

Around two days after the end of the void bull hunt, they finally woke up and refreshed, even though they still needed a little rest.

And they happened to be gathered around the same ward and laid down on the bed while feeling the healing magic go through their body. So, Nixie, the staff of the Town Hall, only needs to relay the information regarding the void bull's hunt once.

"I see that everyone is here," greeted the Town Hall staff who just arrived.

"Technically, yeah. It's because they've been put here due to the staff's decision since they're family-related," commented Angga.

"Just as you said. Alright. I'll inform you about the result of the appraisal magic of the void bull's hunt. Since we rely on the appraisal magic all the time, it goes without saying that Town Hall always obeys the outcome of what the appraisal magic has bestowed on us. After all, the said magic is the blessing from the Overseer itself."

Nixie pulled an envelope from her pocket despite being inside the water bubble, and yet the paper didn't seem to be wet at all. She activated magic to open the seal and pulled the paper, which was also unaffected by the water.

"Alright, here we go," said Angga, expecting the results. 

Clara was also on standby while looking at Nixie with full alert. Indeed, she managed to save her family from the void bull's domination. However, the result of the hunt, which would affect the contest's outcome between her and her father, is one thing.

Nixie read the paper's content before she looked at everyone in this ward.

"As we are all aware, void bull contains many super rare and important materials for our society. The appraisal magic has measured fairly every attempt to subdue the monster.  Calculating the results of void bull hunting, here is the status of the gold both parties have accumulated: Alc's party has accumulated 15.000 gold in total, and Clara's party has accumulated 10.000 gold in total."

Angga's jaw almost dropped.

"Wait, let me confirm first. So, Alc currently has the biggest number?" asked Angga in disbelief because of the gap between Alc and Clara, "perhaps there's a wrong assessment there. Can you check for it again?"

"As I said before, we never doubted the result of the appraisal magic which originally came from the Overseer itself. If I can say something about it, I think it's fair since Alc's party didn't sleep for three days while Clara only arrived at the scene to deliver a first-aid potion and finish the monster together with Alc."

Angga gritted his teeth because Nixie's opinion made sense. Anyone could see the weight of the contribution to subduing the monster was different. So the next question is, how to beat those numbers of gold gathered in a spare of one week?

"Angga," called the lion girl who approached him. 

Clara looked at him intensely, hoping that Angga wouldn't give up yet and would keep going to fight.

"Yeah, I know, Clara. Let's go to make more. We have to win this."

The two went swiftly like a wind, leaving Nixie and her parents, who were still on the ward. Nixie and Alc didn't say anything, while Maya looked concerned.

"Dear husband–"

"Let them do as they please, Maya. I appreciate the fire inside my daughter, who always burns through her determination. Let's see what they can develop during this remaining time," replied Alc sternly.

If that was what Alc said, then Maya didn't have to do something about it. Alc didn't intend to back down from this contest even though his daughter literally had saved him. He would see this until the end.

And so Clara and Angga tried their best again to make more and more content using their expertise. Since the time left was only around a week, they couldn't pull off the stunt, such as a wildlife documentary again.

Hence, Angga decided to create some small content to accumulate gold, such as Clara's daily vlog, and place reviews in the Tavern and other places around the town. Thanks to the lion girl's improved skills to act in front of the camera, they kinda managed to get by. They took a lot of recordings about what Clara did around the town, especially around the night market or where there were unique places to eat, while watching exciting performances by the street performers.

They even reviewed the tavern to rake up the views from the Watchers, of course, with the approval of the tavern's owner and Grecan. Angga had to take some footage that featured Grecan and Clara long enough so that he could use this later to boost more views. Somehow, he kinda noticed that the Watchers quite liked it when Clara was talking or interviewing other girls on the same screen.

Angga even sacrificed his sleep, so he always came to his office looking tired and relied heavily on two or three cups of coffee every day. Whenever he had free time, when his work was finished, he edited everything and published it for the Watchers to see when he arrived back in Canau.

A week almost passed, and all they got was–

"We've got around 1.000 golds, huh? Then, our position in the competition against Alc is…"

"11.000 versus 15.000. We lack 4.000 golds more," replied Clara while she read the report from the Town Hall.

"Oh, damn."

All of his energy was gone. Angga definitely lacked sleep, and he let his body fall on the soft sofa and covered his eyes with his arm.

"The deadline is tonight, right?" asked the human guy.

Even Clara didn't have the energy to reply. "Yeah…"

It was utter defeat. 

Perhaps it was the right choice for Alc to aim for a dangerous monster to push his position so that Clara has no way to defeat him. Even Angga's expertise couldn't flip the situation as they had hoped.

After a few hours passed, Clara and Angga were only waiting for the outcome to arrive since they had no energy left. Nixie finally came before the Resources Guild's building. Alc, Maya, and Aslana came too.

Clara and Angga came out from the door and approached the competition judge while Aleid followed in the back. Even though they knew the result, they should attend Nixie to close the competition for good since she got the authority from the Town Hall.

And yet, Clara didn't regret at all what she did in that cave. To help her family survive and win this competition that started so that she could make a point for his father was two different things.

"As the Town Hall's staff, let me do the honor of announcing the results of this contest. Alc's party has reached 15.000 gold, and Clara's has reached 11.000 gold. Alcibiades and his party is the winner of this competition!"

The announcement was made and was final. As promised, Clara must listen to what Alc has to say since he is the victor.

Of course, she didn't want to obey her father's path to hunt the monsters and continue living while doing that. Actually, she felt better about monsters of medium or large size and slowly gathered more and more confidence to face her. Still, the hard training she would receive later from Alc was one factor she didn't want to go through again.

She truly enjoyed making videos, especially with Angga. Those moments would be something that Clara truly cherished, and she definitely won't forget them.

And now, she couldn't prove to her family that she would defeat her own father with her contents.

"Okay, Papa. I'm lost in this contest that I proposed myself, so I'll obey whatever you have anything to say for me," said the lion girl with a weary smile.

Angga somehow knew that Clara tried her best not to cry in front of everyone, yet she had to be responsible for her own words. That was why this whole contest has been made.

Alc didn't say anything yet. He only looked at his daughter with his usual stern look while folding his arms on his burly chest. Even Aslana noticed that it was his party's victory, but Alc didn't seem happy.

He approached Clara with her head looking down, staring blankly at the ground.

Watched what happened before him, Angga clenched his hands. Another hard lesson has been learned, and he will remember this defeat, which was similar to the ones he experienced in the past during his struggle to pursue the position he is in now.

Aslana, Maya and Aleid silently watched the dispute between Clara and her father. There was nothing they could do but let the two solve their own problems since the contest result was set.

Alc was still looking at his own daughter while Clara didn't move an inch. And then he hugged her, making the girl's eyes widen while she was on the verge of tears.