Chapter 63
Furiously angry Liribet was trying to dissuade Briden, who was armed and checking his sword.
“Even though you can’t see well ahead, what on earth are you thinking!”
“I’ll be going with the knights, so there won’t be any dangerous incidents.”
“No, cancel it even now. Brother, you’ve never even properly held a sword!”
“……This might be the last chance.”
The last chance for our siblings to survive……
Remembering the ducal couple’s conversation, Briden’s face darkened.
“What last chance?!”
“You don’t need to know. Anyway, I’ll return safely, so don’t worry.”
“Brother! Briden! If you don’t stop, I’ll chase after you too!”
Though called out in an angry voice, Briden ended up following the Skia knights just like that.
Panting with frustration, Liribet dashed off somewhere.
Arcian, who had been watching her with pitying eyes, quietly opened his mouth.
“Let’s go now.”
“Ung.”
Asil followed him toward the base camp. While doing so, she was thinking other thoughts in her head.
The snow leopard brother in the beastkin forest and Briden kept overlapping in her vision.
Recalling how he had pushed her away in the imperial palace garden saying not to approach, she felt resentment, but thinking of how he had protected Liribet, it wasn’t entirely hateful.
‘Brother always protected Asili too.’
Certainly, going out to hunt monsters when you couldn’t even see properly ahead was an extremely dangerous act.
‘If snow leopard brother went like that, Asili would be extremely worried too.’
The human called Lilibet would be very worried too.
‘Later when going to scold the leader Arcs, I should help the human called Briden a little too.’
Because Asili is a dragon with a heart as wide as the sea!
“My daughter, you’re making odd thoughts.”
“Uung?”
“Sneaking into the hunting grounds without telling Daddy to scold the leader Arcs, or helping the Skia young lord.”
Eek! Wh-what, how did you know?!
Startled, Asil looked up at Arcian.
Arcian, grinning, gently pulled one of Asil’s soft cheeks without hurting her.
“It’s all written on my daughter’s face.”
“Asili’s face has letters on it?!”
That’s not good. Who wrote letters on Asili’s face?!
It was at that moment when, in her panic, she was about to rub her face vigorously.
Arcian quickly grabbed both her hands to prevent movement.
“No, it’s just a figure of speech. But why are you trying to catch the leader Arcs?”
“Uung. Because husband has no money. They say if you get first place here, they give a ton of money. Asil will get first and give money to husband.”
“There’s no way a ducal family has no money.”
Arcian’s eyes flashed with the dislike he had harbored toward Edenber from early on.
“Is it a cheap trick to make some money by exploiting a child ignorant of the world?”
“No. Asil saw husband chopping wood and stuff. Really no money.”
“A duke chopping wood? We call that kind of thing a cheap trick.”
“But it’s not, the knight humans did it together too.”
“Using the entire family just to fool one child, he’s really someone I don’t like.”
“So Asil helped chop wood too.”
“What?”
“They said I’m the best. Asili is the greatest.”
Recalling the knights clapping and cheering, saying finally acknowledged by the divine beast, she naturally felt proud.
Asil proudly stuck out her belly.
“What on earth are they making my daughter do by bringing her along.”
Those weak…… though not weak hands, if they get hurt, what then.
Arcian ground his teeth secretly from Asil.
While doing so, he firmly resolved to one day tour the Monlepe ducal residence pretending to be Asil.
In any case, this wasn’t the important thing right now.
“My daughter isn’t a participant, so even if you scold the leader Arcs, you can’t become first place.”
“……!”
Faced with an unexpected obstacle, Asil gaped her mouth.
This can’t be! Then it’s no good?
In the midst of that, a good idea came to mind, so she timidly asked.
“Then can we give first place to husband?”
“How about giving it to Daddy? Daddy’s name is on the participant list too.”
“Uncle has lots of money. Husband is poor. No money.”
“Daddy is poor too.”
“If you lie, you’re a bad beastkin.”
Asil pointed to the jewels dangling from Arcian’s clothes.
She also pointed at the diamond ring on his left ring finger.
So many expensive things. Liar!
“I know Daddy would get first place too……”
Downcast Arcian drooped his shoulders.
But soon, as if it had never happened, he returned to his usual self and worried about Asil.
“I know our daughter is incredibly strong, but Arcs are dangerous kids.”
“I know. But Asili is stronger.”
Once, during a field trip to the outskirts of the beastkin forest, she had one-shot an Arc charging at her friends.
“Understood. If anything dangerous happens, call Daddy with the necklace. I’ll be on standby so I can go anytime.”
“Ung!”
Answering vigorously, Asil fiddled with the necklace around her neck.
Before long, the trumpet signaling the start of the hunt resounded.
Asil slipped into the forest, avoiding people’s eyes.
* * *
No matter how much the hunt was an individual competition, it was better to move in groups than alone.
Because Arcs mainly moved in packs.
“Oh dear, such a thing! It was one that Duke Monlepe was catching.”
Edenber was just about to catch the leader Arc, like the pack’s leader.
An arrow flew from somewhere and pierced the Arc’s neck.
The near-dead leader Arc turned into smoke and vanished just like that.
“……”
Edenber, robbed of his prey, looked toward where the arrow had come from.
A group of nobles was grinning at them.
They were vassals of the Skia ducal family.
“What can we do, we’re so sorry? We can’t give it back.”
In the hand of the noble saying that was a red orb.
As spoils that attached upon killing a leader Arc, the ranking was determined by how many such orbs one had at the end of the hunt.
All the drops from other Arcs excluding the leaders were fully attachable.
Edenber sighed inwardly.
‘This makes the second interference……’
“It’s fine.”
He curtly cut them off and turned his horse by gripping the reins.
Monlepe’s knights followed behind with dejected expressions.
Normal Arcs only gave small orbs, so their value was significantly lower.
It was like 1/10th of the orb from catching a leader Arc.
Dylan, looking at the small orb in his own hand, couldn’t hide his anger.
“Interference doesn’t go this far. We must go to Duke Skia and formally protest!”
“It’s fine. We expected them to act like this.”
Since he had voiced opposition to the war with beastkin, the crown prince, who saw him as a thorn in the eye, would take obvious actions.
‘He must have gone to the Skia ducal family and told them to defeat Monlepe by any means necessary.’
So that Monlepe’s opinions would weaken.
“We just need to move even more cautiously. Any followers?”
“None.”
They rode on, scanning their surroundings with the resolve not to let prey be stolen this time.
And so they encountered the third Arc pack.
After confirming no one around and struggling to almost catch it, once again the leader Arc was stolen by Skya’s people.
“Ah, truly sorry.”
The Skya person said with a face not sorry at all.
“There was a dying Arc, so I just shot an arrow first, but it was the Duke’s.”
“Th……!”
One of Monlepe’s knights, furious to the top of his head, tried to step forward, but Edenber stopped him.
“It’s fine. Withdraw.”
“Thank you for showing mercy. May the grace of the gods be upon the Duke.”
The Skya person left after saying it mockingly.
While Monlepe’s knights glared at him grumbling, Edenber reviewed the battle that had just occurred.
In this vast forest, they had their prey robbed three times by Skya’s vassals.
One or two times could be called coincidence.
But the third?
“They must be using some trick.”
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By Anna 💓
