Chapter 370
Chapter 370
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 370
Chapter Title: The Pheasant Hunt
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I dressed in hunting attire and headed to the hunting grounds with Ismailov.
From the front, Nymphenburg Palace looks like a long manor house facing a lake, but if you go around to the back, there are several pavilions connected by arcades and a park spanning over 200 hectares. The park is divided in two by the Grand Canal, and we'll be playing in the southern woods, where the Amalienburg pavilion—built specifically for hunting—is located.
"You're here at last!"
As we entered the path where Amalienburg came into view, we ran into Elias whistling and shouting. While changing clothes, I'd sent word to my friends through the servants, but it seemed they had arrived even earlier. Sensing people inside the Amalienburg, I asked,
"Everyone else is here besides us?"
"Yeah. What kept you so late?!"
"Who knows."
I brushed it off vaguely, but in truth, it was because of Ismailov. He'd spent ages trying to find the perfect spot in his room to store the book I'd given him as a gift. In the end, I had to snatch it and shove it into a drawer under his desk before he changed and we could head out.
'He put so much care into storing a single book....'
I was grateful he treasured the gift, but this was the first time I'd seen someone like him. Even Haike wasn't this extreme.
Entering the Amalienburg, the room I'd only heard about appeared. More precisely, it was a hall. Every wall was decorated with mirrors and silver, creating an opulent space where the room seemed to stretch on endlessly no matter where you looked. It was quite famous among the palace servants.
I admired the Rococo interior of the Amalienburg and moved on to the next room. The moment I stepped into the yellow room currently used to store hunting gear, my eyes met Leo's as he strapped on his protective gear.
"Your clothes?"
Skipping greetings, he stared at Ismailov beside me and jumped straight to questions. It was obvious he meant how Ismailov could possibly have hunting attire. I ignored him at first but gave a curt reply.
"Gave him mine."
"Why? The length won't match with the height difference."
"It's close enough. Should he hunt in what he was wearing earlier?"
Honestly, to my eyes, both casual clothes and hunting attire were uncomfortable, so it didn't matter what he wore. A shirt, tie, jacket—what made this stuffy getup "hunting" clothes? The only difference was the brown color, wasn't it? I could never shake this doubt. The hunting clothes I knew as a modern person were jumpers made like hiking gear.
That aside, there was something I'd told Leo in advance, but this guy was ignoring our agreement right now. We'd decided not to act friendly in front of Ismailov. I didn't know how much of people's inner thoughts Ismailov could read—could he really read everyone's minds? Even with my status window-reading ability, I couldn't figure it out, so that was a question from the start—but since he couldn't read mine, there was no reason to show closeness on the surface. Even if he could read Leo's, it'd be better to leave him confused.
'Talk to him moderately.'
I signaled Leo with my eyes and turned away. But what could I expect from this stubborn guy? Sure enough, his voice came right after.
"If you'd told me, I could've lent him some."
I closed my eyes and let out a long breath.
"I see. Sir Ismailov, thank Lord Wittelsbach instead of me."
"Thank you."
"......"
Ismailov was oblivious, and thanks to that, Leo looked exasperated as he turned his head away. I grabbed the gun and cartridges he'd prepared and headed back outside.
"You're here~"
Chelingen and Narke were already there at the spot where I'd greeted Elias earlier, having slipped out the back gate. This was the full roster for today's game. Narke had asked me to keep Haike isolated, so I couldn't bring him, but I didn't want to leave him alone bored, so I'd left Ulrike with him.
At their feet, two pointers were scampering about. I waved from a distance to my friends. Chelingen grinned and held up the leashes.
"There were several, but they said these ones catch best. Cute, right?"
"Yeah."
As I answered, Narke chuckled silently behind me.
'At least it wasn't empty flattery.'
The pointers were wagging their tails even at the new arrivals—me and Ismailov—so it wasn't too scary. Plus, my brief experience managing military dogs back in Brandenburg helped. And once I trained with the dogs, there weren't many that charged heedlessly like Lichtofen. Technically, he wasn't a dog, but anyway....
'Humans have the worst attitudes after all.'
These so-called seniors were only interested in teasing—how was that okay? Thinking that, I pulled Ismailov along from behind.
"Yulia, this is Sir Ismailov. You saw him yesterday morning."
Chelingen smiled and extended his hand.
"I'm Yulia Chelingen."
As expected, Ismailov shook it without introducing himself. This time, he let go quickly, and Chelingen seemed about to do the same.
Look at how his words dried up like a ghost. Earlier, I'd had to babble on for what felt like ten sentences just to drag a response out of him, so this reaction wasn't strange. It just made me chuckle wryly. Ismailov shifted his gaze from Chelingen to the dogs.
"Dogs."
"Yeah. Hunting dogs."
"I've seen them in fairy tales. Is a dog necessary here?"
"They compensate for senses humans lack. And they're faster than humans, aren't they?"
"Is that all?"
"Well... if the hunt fails, play with the dog."
"So, psychological therapy."
"Not exactly, but sure."
The differences between him and Ismailov were standing out more and more. He might chatter pointlessly even more than Haike.
Just then, Elias burst out of the Amalienburg, dragging Leo and shouting.
"Let's go! Got your cartridges?"
"Yeah."
I tapped my clutch and replied.
And so, we all left the Amalienburg and headed toward the Grand Canal. Perhaps because of Ismailov, no one opened their mouths despite coming to have fun. Surprisingly, the usually taciturn Ismailov spoke first, maybe because he was somewhat excited.
"Does Lord Ascanien like hunting?"
"From what I said earlier, doesn't it seem like I don't? I figured you'd misunderstood long ago."
"You mean using the term Ancien Régime itself now has a ridiculous connotation?"
"Impressive summary.... As long as there's no misunderstanding, that's fine. It's true it's a hobby enjoyed by many New Humans, but at least this one can be enjoyed regardless of status. I don't have a strong aversion to the hobby itself, but I'm not particularly accustomed to it."
I should've lived hunting to survive.
Ismailov nodded quickly and asked another question.
"What do I hunt in this park?"
"Pheasant hunting is standard. You could get rabbits or deer too, but the dogs we brought are all specialized for pheasants."
"I see."
"Come to think of it, you probably don't know how yet. I've only done it a few times for refinement, so I don't have much to teach, but...."
I raised my hand, waved it around, and continued.
"When the hunting dog finds a pheasant, it'll lift one paw and point. That's when you find the pheasant hidden in the brush and shoot. If you're not used to pheasant hunting or don't sync with the dog, it'll fly off before you shoot. Naturally, you'll miss sometimes, and it'll escape flying away. Even then, it's not too late—shoot it. And."
I picked up a cartridge I'd been about to load into the clutch and squeezed it hard. It turned into red smoke and vanished before our eyes.
"These cartridges are pure mana, so luckily, even if hit, it's not life-threatening. Still, since it's not your mana, it'll hurt. The chance of you getting hit is low, but let's be careful."
"Why say it's no problem if it's for hunting cartridges?"
I just smiled at that and patted his shoulder.
"I'll explain later."
* * *
The Grand Canal appeared soon after. We'd use every section from here to the park's edge for pheasant hunting. Forests, marshes, and lakes spread across it all. The weather was perfect too. Elias clapped his hands and asked,
"What for scoring, guys? Why are we deciding this now?"
"Hmm, what should it be?"
Chelingen rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and Elias thrust his arm up triumphantly.
"Booze!"
"Enough drinking."
Chelingen cut him off with a gentle but firm tone. With no interest in scoring—or none at all—from Leo, Narke, and me, Chelingen smiled and looked back at us.
"Skip deciding and start? Settle it after."
"Loser buys booze."
Maybe thinking his playful tone hadn't landed, Elias replied seriously this time. Chelingen shook his head.
"No can do."
"Why? Then recite poetry."
"Haha, already too boring—motivation gone."
"That's exactly it. So now we have a logical reason to drink."
"Talk after we're done?"
True to form as childhood friends, Chelingen let Elias's words go in one ear and out the other.
Now to divide teams, but random wouldn't do here. We'd planned ahead. Knowing that, Chelingen beckoned me to speak up.
"We'll split in half now. I'll be on a different team from Sir Ismailov."
Ismailov tilted his head, not having expected that, and looked at me.
"Sir Ismailov, team up with Lord Hohenzollern here and Lord Farnese. I'll go with Lord Chelingen. You too, Lord Wittelsbach."
He rolled his eyes. Still expressionless, but seeming a bit flustered, I reassured him.
"This game relies more on luck than anything. We can't control the creatures' movements completely. So don't overthink—just enjoy."
"Yes."
As soon as I finished, Elias grabbed his hand. Now they'd head to the far end of the southern park together. From the park's ends to the center.
Once they were gone, Chelingen clapped to focus us.
"Let's do well, guys."
"......"
Leo nodded and unclipped the leash from the dog he held. Meanwhile, Chelingen scanned around and said cheerfully,
"Lucky us—team's got the host. Big advantage."
"Even hosts aren't always advantageous."
"So prickly."
Chelingen retorted and followed the pointer forward. Almost running, really.
About 10 minutes in. We'd been walking briskly, scanning as we followed Chelingen, when a gunshot rang from the marshy area where he was.
Bang—
The dog was running back with the pheasant Chelingen had shot in its mouth. Chelingen approached from afar, patted the dog's head, and lifted the pheasant's legs. He tilted his head, grinned, and showed it to us.
"Great start."
The ever-silent Leo smiled and praised briefly.
Sometimes you wander hours for one, but nabbing it right away? Only way to describe it was good luck.
"Nice feather color. A cock bird."
Chelingen stroked the green feathers and looked up.
"Elias's side hasn't got any yet?"
* * *
[Nice feather color. A cock bird.]
"Ugh~"
I grimaced and clutched my temple. Yulia's words were coming through the artifact.
[Elias's side hasn't got any yet?]
"Hah! We're about to!"
"Haha, Yulia's spot on."
Narke grinned beside me.
Scowling, I glanced at Narke and Ismailov on either side.
"Ah~ no fair. They're too advantaged! Got the host too! Even his unique ability factors in a bit."
"No pheasants in this zone, huh. Let's head to the canal side."
"Used Insight?"
"Nope. Thought maybe they'd drink now~"
Drink? I tilted my head, then chuckled.
"You saying that feels fresh, Narke. So what're Lucas and the others doing?"
"Why?"
"You're the only one who can read Lucas. Asking what that team is up to."
Precisely, read from this distance. With warp coordinate markers everywhere, if Lucas spotted one, I could pull the panel arbitrarily and warp to snag it.
"Ah.... Can't read now. For a bit."
What did "can't now" mean? Keeping my smile, I stared ahead. Narke went further, grinning.
"Have to rely on you and Ismailov's abilities~"
"Me?! I.... Sir Ismailov. What's your unique ability?"
"......"
Silence. He'd talked properly with Lucas earlier, but back to square one. Couldn't handle him like this.
"I heard you sang Requiem and turned all the rampagers' vitriol to nothing. Anything useful related?"
"......"
Still silent. I chuckled wryly and waved it off.
"Fine, whatever.... We're doomed anyway. If you won't say, can't help it."
Ismailov glanced at me, stared ahead wordlessly, then took a deep breath.
"Oh? What're you doing?"
Teasing like that, Narke grabbed my shoulder and pushed me back. Indiscernible lyrics began flowing from Ismailov's mouth in song.
'...Huh? Why sing suddenly?'
Something felt off since he mentioned handling rampagers with Requiem—maybe his ability....
Rustle—
"......"
"......"
Our eyes met. A rabbit appeared. No way? Song lured the rabbit? I pointed alternately at the distant seated rabbit and Ismailov, then gaped as rat-like things emerged from under the tree.
"What? Is this guy a princess?"
"Huh?"
"No."
His voice itself mana? What spell formula made creatures react? Humans might too? Worth telling Lucas to research. But....
I waved for more. Seeing my expression, Ismailov kept humming. I spotted a grayish fowl waddling in the long brush far off and grinned.
"Ah~ this makes us way too advantaged. What now."
Bang—
I lowered my gun and waved at the dog dashing far away. The pointer returned with the pheasant.
Balance broken. No matter if they controlled plants, distinguishing pheasant weight from rats and rabbits wasn't hard. Unless Leo lived solely for hunting.
[...What? Elias, got one?]
"Hmm~"
Smiling, I rubbed my chin and cut the comms. Then patted Ismailov's shoulder.
"Good. Keep singing till pheasants flock!"