CHAPTER 445: A GLIMPSE OF NEO’S THOUGHTS

When Neo first heard that an aspiring hunter had beaten a special kind of goleter singlehandedly, he couldn’t believe it.

Neo has been working for the hunter’s guild for almost half of his life and the thought of resigning had never crossed his mind, but when he encountered the said aspiring hunter, he was speechless.

He remembered like it was just yesterday how Coco Hughes looked as her team walked through the guild’s doors.

Apparently, her team and the team that cooperated with hers had taken over the first spot easily due to the numbers of the monsters that they had caught.

Honestly, when Neo saw the monsters, he wondered what kind of monster could possibly beat that much monster all by themselves and he was instantly silent when he saw what Coco Hughes looked like.

All he knows about the famous hunter was that she was a former noble’s daughter that was disowned.

Then, after the news of her disownment spread like wild fire, she soon vanished from the society and settled somewhere where no noble could see nor hear.

Every hunter inside the guild was taken aback when they saw the name of the person that took the first spot of the examination and couldn’t help, but wonder what could have happened for a person to become that strong.

From what Neo heard from his friends, Coco Hughes was rumored to be abusive and lower than trash.

She was a good-for-nothing drunkard in an unnamed village and was horrible to her husbands, but from what he had observed so far, it was completely the opposite.

Coco Hughes was one of the few people he knows that shows compassion towards someone like him.

In fact, Coco didn’t seem to mind striking a conversation with him whenever she could and seemed to enjoy every minute they spent together.

She was nothing, but a lovely and enthusiastic person for his eyes.

"Sorry, Neo." Coco apologized and wiped the sweat dripping on her forehead using the back of her hand. "I didn’t want to drag you out here, but the guild’s rulebook said I can’t do it without a helper."

Even if there was obviously something bothering Coco’s mind, she still managed to be kind and thoughtful to him.

It’s really confusing as to how Coco got the rumors swirling around her when she is this passionate and careful with the people around her.

"It’s fine." Neo waved her off and let out a grunt as he hauled a dead flying pig over the cart. "It’s my job, and I would rather have you drag me out here than you receiving a punishment."

"Still.." Coco mumbled, her eyebrows furrowing.

"It’s fine, Mrs. Hughes." Neo insisted and flashed her a reassuring smile, hoping that it would be enough to make her stop worrying about him.

"Okay.. If you say so." Coco sighed and turned away, her attention focusing back on her surroundings.

Neo watched her look around the trees, her head perking up in certain directions like she was hearing something that only she could hear.

"I can hear running water somewhere around here." Coco stated, loud enough for Neo to hear.

The man’s eyebrows shot up to his eyebrows in both surprise and confusion, the words she dropped taking him aback.. Because what does she mean there’s running water nearby?

He can’t hear a thing!

However, as usual, Neo didn’t say anything and just followed behind Coco.

He dragged the cart as he looked around, his footsteps slightly heavy due to the strength he had to input on the cart’s handles to make it move.

True to Coco’s words, there’s running water— a river.

Neo blinked, letting go of the cart and darted his gaze around them to see if he was just hallucinating.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t.

Coco launched her weapon in the air, just in time for a sharp talon came rushing their way.

"Take a step back!" Coco warned and he immediately did as he was told, afraid that he would be just getting in Coco’s way.

Before Neo could blink and watch the fight unfold, Coco had jumped in the air and smacked the flying pig down to the water, then her body soon followed and landed on the river with a loud splash.

She always ends the fights so quickly that I fail to observe her moves. Neo thought, letting a sigh through his nose.

Coco Hughes for Neo is a woman who goes by kindness and generosity— something that hunters fail to have as their trait lately.

If he was being honest, except for the hunter guild’s top five hunters, Coco is the only one who is this kind, caring, and sweet towards other people.

She doesn’t ask for anything except for the same treatment, but even if she did get treated badly, she still wouldn’t do a thing to them and would just ignore, averting the bad kind of people as much as possible.

For him? Coco is strong.. Not just physically, but also emotionally.

Yesterday, Neo caught sight of Coco’s tears when he left her to fight the goleter and did as he was told, which was to get a mission relating to killing a goleter, then got the appropriate equipment for securing a goleter’s loot.

When he got back to where he left Coco, she was already sitting on top of it and looked like something important got stolen from her.

However, the moment Neo made a noise as he got closer, Coco perked up and flashed him a smile.

It was forced, but it told Neo what he needed to know.

"You’re really strong, Coco." Neo mumbled, his gaze softening as he watched Coco emerge from the water, wheezing.

There was this strange flutter in his chest— warm, but unsettling.. A sensation that he’s not familiar with.

Considering that Coco is already married with four mediators who seemed to love her deeply and would do everything for her..

He couldn’t help, but wonder what is causing that pained look in her face.