Chapter 56
{system: ‘Schuaden Bavilov’s’ favorability has increased by 2. Current favorability: 14.}
Wait, what…?
‘Why did his favorability go up just because I stepped in mud?’
I never knew Schuaden had such a weird fetish.
I stared at the yellow window floating in front of me with a sour expression.
No matter how I looked at it, there was nothing enjoyable about the current situation.
「Just ignore it. That white-haired guy’s always been a little messed up in the head.」
Kim Sword didn’t seem to care much either way.
「Anyway, according to the detection magic, there are a lot of small animals gathered in that direction.」
Turning my head where Kim Sword pointed, I saw a trail of round droppings—rabbit poop, most likely—strewn across the path.
‘He’s right.’
Normally, you couldn’t find rabbit droppings no matter how hard you looked, but now there were piles of them.
“Let’s go that way.”
For some reason, my voice was filled with confidence, and all the children’s gazes turned toward me.
“What makes you so sure?”
“Yeah. From the start, it’s like you already knew where to go…”
“I don’t care. If it’s where Lady Yuria goes, I’ll follow anywhere!”
The answers came one by one—Kailer, Schuaden, then Noel.
But that guy, Kailer—his glare stung the most.
He was definitely suspicious of me, wasn’t he?
‘Maybe I acted like I knew too much.’
Well, can’t blame him. Even adults easily lost their way in the Hurdleron Mountains, yet here I was, striding around like it was my own living room.
‘It’s not like I can tell them I’m actually a magic sword’s contractor.’
As I wrestled with my thoughts, I forced a sheepish smile.
“I can make some simple guesses by looking at animal droppings on the ground.”
“Now that you mention it, that makes sense.”
Kailer nodded with an expression of trust, as if my excuse satisfied him.
“Like that time you made gems pop out of bare earth with that weird magic—”
“Mmmpf!”
I quickly clapped my hand over his mouth. Noel’s eyes were sparkling with curiosity, so I blurted the first excuse I could think of.
“Th-that was… ah, right! Kailer must’ve just had a really vivid dream!”
“Mmmpf!”
“A dream?”
Noel, clearly interested, leaned in so close our noses almost touched. Her little hips wriggled as if she wanted me to keep going.
“So, the two of you even share dreams?”
And Schuaden—his reaction was unexpectedly gloomy.
I thought he’d be just as intrigued as Noel, but…
‘Anyway, that’s not what’s important.’
“Yeah, a dream. Kailer once told me this strange dream where we went to Etfasha together, and gems just started popping out of the ground.”
Crushing Kailer’s hand in mine to warn him, I gave him a sharp side glance.
“Isn’t that right, Kailer? Hoho.”
“…..”
His face turned bright red, but he nodded quickly, seemingly catching my drift.
“Right. Now that I think about it, that sounds familiar.”
“I wish I could have fun dreams like that too!”
Blissfully unaware, Noel squealed like it was the most romantic story ever.
‘Romantic, my foot.’
If that was romance, then romance deserved to freeze to death.
Anyway, we laughed and chatted like that until we finally reached a wide grassy clearing full of rabbits.
“Look, my lady! Real rabbits!”
“Of course they’re real, you idiot.”
Kailer, standing beside Noel, picked a fight for no reason.
“Shh! If you yell, they’ll run away. Everyone, keep your voices down and crouch low.”
Watching Schuaden step in as the mediator between them made me feel like…
‘This is exactly like a kindergarten.’
And I was the teacher wrangling them all.
With a soft sigh, I patted my waist.
‘At least the weather’s good.’
If it had rained or gotten cloudy, hunting small animals would’ve been much harder.
Stretching my back and looking up, I saw fluffy clouds floating like cotton candy.
“The weather’s great.”
Just as I inhaled deeply to enjoy the crisp mountain air—
“Look out, my lady!”
Something soft landed on my face with a splat.
Squish.
“……?”
My vision was cut off by some kind of squirming creature. Losing my balance, I toppled over onto the grass.
Thud!
“My lady!”
“Are you all right? A rabbit suddenly bolted and—”
Noel crouched next to me, chattering with concern.
“Guess it recognized its kin.”
That snickering voice could only belong to Kailer.
“I’ll get it off you.”
The gentle, considerate hands were obviously Schuaden’s.
“…Thanks.”
With his help, I peeled the rabbit off my face and picked off the fur sticking to my nose.
“Schuaden.”
“Yes?”
“Let’s catch this one.”
Noel gasped.
“T-this rabbit? But…”
“We came here to hunt small animals, didn’t we?”
We’d been so peaceful that we’d almost forgotten—this outing was for the hunting festival.
“So let’s focus on the main task.”
Nodding, Schuaden pulled out the weapon he had brought.
“I have a bow made of oak.”
Kailer followed, drawing a large sword from his waist.
“I’ve got a sword.”
Turning to Noel, I smiled sweetly.
“I’ve got a rapier. What about you, Miss Noel?”
Three pairs of eyes fixed on her. She flinched.
“I-I…”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t bring anything?”
Schuaden’s sharp words made Noel’s face turn pale. Her lips trembled.
“I’m sorry. My brother said this was just a casual outing, so I thought…”
“Your brother?”
“He’s last year’s hunting festival champion.”
…What? That lunatic who caught twenty rabbits was Lastin?
The revelation hit me like a blow to the head.
And to think—he won first place, yet gave his sister misleading info?
‘Probably not on purpose, but still.’
How was she supposed to protect herself like this?
Sighing, I said:
“Well, the Violet Hunting Festival is easier than the Dawn Festival adults compete in, but still… showing up without a weapon only burdens your team.”
“Burden…”
She muttered the word blankly, as if struck.
“It’s dangerous, too. Nothing should happen, of course, but if something were to attack us—”
I loomed over her like a bear growling “Grrr!” Noel recoiled, eyes wide. I quickly stepped back with an awkward laugh.
“In that case, at least you’d need something to defend yourself with, right?”
“….”
“You don’t want to just stand in the back trembling uselessly, do you?”
My words carried weight. Noel’s eyes welled with tears, but she nodded rapidly.
“S-sorry.”
“Geez, no need to scare her like that.”
Kailer suddenly butted in, pulling Noel by the wrist.
“Since her purpose here is different from yours anyway, I’ll look after her while you two hunt.”
“That works.”
Schuaden backed him up.
So I had no choice but to agree.
“Fine. Do that, then.”
“See you later!”
Noel clung tightly to Kailer’s side, waving and chirping.
“It’s my first time being alone with you, Kailer!”
“……”
“I’m not a burden, right?”
Kailer’s face remained stone-cold.
Come on, man, at least smile.
“S-sorry, I must be too noisy…”
‘Now she feels awkward.’
But he didn’t seem to care at all.
“Yuria.”
Just when I thought they were leaving, he stopped and turned to me.
“If anything happens.”
“Yeah?”
“Throw your ball into the air.”
“The ball?”
“The one you got when teams were assigned. It’s a signal flare in case of danger.”
“……”
What?
‘I… threw that away.’
“Let’s go, my lady.”
Schuaden, unaware, took my hand to lead me.
“Mm-hm.”
Well, it was a bit of a shame I didn’t have the signal flare anymore, but…
We split into two groups, promising to meet back before 4 p.m.
“Doesn’t look like anyone’s come this way.”
Oddly, Schuaden was chatty as he led the way.
“Probably because it’s so remote.”
Carrying a squirrel in one hand and a rabbit in the other, I kicked a pebble as we walked.
I felt like a tribal chief feeding her starving people.
“Should we catch just two more and then return? The net’s almost full…”
He glanced at the crimson-tinged forest path and muttered:
“You look tired too, my lady.”
Panting heavily behind him, I nodded gratefully.
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
‘So much for first place.’
Catching twenty rabbits had to be cheating. Or just a dumb rumor.
Between us, we’d caught six small animals: three little birds, two rabbits, and one squirrel.
“The deeper we go, the fewer animals we see!”
“It’s probably because they’ve sensed our presence. And we’ve already caught a lot.”
He wasn’t wrong.
By now, the small animals must have spread rumors about us: a girl who looked like a chief and a kid catching everything in sight.
“…Whew. Guess it’s time to head back.”
Stretching my arms and cracking my neck, I figured six was a decent haul.
‘Most kids only manage one apiece…’
With six, we could probably snag third place—unless another crazy like Lastin showed up.
“If we follow the marked stones back, we’ll be fine.”
I had been careful to mark stones along the way, just in case.
“Good.”
But just as we turned to retrace our steps, Kim Sword suddenly yanked my shoulder.
「Master!」
I shot him a glare.
“What is it?”
「I sense powerful magic nearby.」
“…Magic?”
「Yes. Or perhaps some other force—someone else’s power.」
Strange. Out here, in this empty forest?
‘Who the hell could it be?’
Whoever it was, it wasn’t normal.
「We should get out of here quickly.」
We had been planning to leave anyway, so I nodded.
“Schuaden—”
But just as I called his name—
An arrow whizzed past, grazing my cheek.
It glowed faintly blue before sparking out of existence midair.
“…..”
That wasn’t a normal arrow.
‘…Magic?’
“Who are you?”
A chilling voice filled the air, cold as the wind.
Stiffly, I turned to look.
“I asked who you are.”
{system: New Event Triggered! First encounter with ‘Noah Iosif.’}
A beautiful boy stood there, platinum hair cascading down to his waist.
On his back was a massive, rough-looking bow that didn’t suit his slender frame. Beside him stood a huge, snow-white stag.
His jet-black eyes were so deep and distant they felt bottomless.
“Answer me. You have five seconds.”
The creation said to be forged from the blood and flesh of gods themselves.
“Four.”
A being with an aura so mysterious and divine no human could dare approach.
“Three.”
Ears pointed skyward, skin as smooth and white as marble.
“Two.”
Untrimmed claws, sharp enough to tear flesh, looked ready to strike.
“One.”
And those frigid eyes—devoid of warmth, staring down as if from above.
“Time’s up.”
Yes. He was flawless.
