Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: I Will Offer a Small and Cute Animal, Lady Sien
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I could see the hideous men riding black steeds charging out right in front of my eyes.
‘Whoa, their momentum is really scary.’
These brutes, nearly two meters tall and over a hundred kilograms, the kind who could stop a crying child dead in their tracks—the sight of them deploying en masse made my body tremble without me even realizing it.
Even when baking bread in our rural village, Dad would say that even bugs were living beings and pity them for it. That’s why I remember swatting flies with a flyswatter while lying in ambush.
I glanced at Dad, who was checking his attire before heading out.
I couldn’t help but wonder if Dad could even catch a single rabbit.
‘Even if Dad comes back empty-handed without a single rabbit, I’ll have to praise him and say he did great.’
He might get upset otherwise.
“Sien, Dad’s heading out too.”
“Yep, come back safe!”
“Stay out of trouble. No causing accidents.”
Dad always acted like I might get kidnapped or something.
Dad, who had gazed at me with those gentle, ox-like eyes until the very end, soon strapped a massive sword to his waist and descended the platform with heavy steps.
The ladies who had been watching Dad go stood up, clutching the handkerchiefs in their hands.
Come to think of it, there was a tradition at the hunting tournament where participants wished luck to the entrants by tying handkerchiefs to the knights’ swords.
‘Nobody told me, so I didn’t prepare one in advance!’
I was decked out in all sorts of artifacts, so unless a top-tier villain showed up, I wasn’t in any danger. But Dad looked completely defenseless at first glance, so who knew about him.
I stomped my feet in frustration and hurriedly rummaged through the pockets of my dress. Luckily, since it was a casual dress, there was a spare handkerchief inside.
‘Ah, but this is my bib handkerchief...’
I saw the ladies from the VIP seats approaching Dad cautiously, as if to hand over their handkerchiefs. I glanced back and forth between them and the pure white horse that looked just as round-faced and gentle as Dad.
‘Still, I have to give him one!’
I shoved past the ladies and shot out like a bullet.
“Dad!”
Dad looked down at me from atop his horse, as if he’d been waiting.
The moment I arrived, everyone around Dad parted like the Red Sea. A bit embarrassed, I scurried over and stood right in front of Dad’s horse. Then...!
“Here, take this!”
My face flushed bright red with embarrassment as I handed Dad the white bib. Dad, sitting astride his horse, accepted my bib handkerchief with a transparent smile and tied it to his sword.
‘Is it too shabby?’
The ladies’ ones seemed embroidered and all.
“Dad, you can wrap it with handkerchiefs from other people too!”
A bib dangling limply from such a cool sword. Dad’s already shaky dignity seemed to drop even further.
I snapped to my senses belatedly and reached out my hand. But Dad shook his head firmly and replied.
“Dad only needs Sien’s handkerchief. It looks so cool like this.”
As expected, dummy Dad had no sense of aesthetics either. I let out a huge sigh and replied spiritedly.
“Next time, I’ll give you a cooler one!”
It wasn’t a big deal anyway.
“Got it.”
Dad nodded with a beaming smile, like he’d conquered the world.
I waved my hand at Dad.
“Come back safely, okay!”
“I’ll bring back the prettiest animal, Sien.”
“Yep!”
‘But what does Dad think is the prettiest animal?’
A flicker of doubt passed through my mind, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it.
While Dad was off at the hunting tournament, I had to diligently observe his close aides here!
I toddled back up onto the large altar and sat in my seat again. Then, avoiding the eyes of my maid sisters, I secretly pulled out my secret weapon: the small orb-shaped image crystal Grandma had gifted me.
She’d said this image crystal would let me see a rough view of the Rocherne Forest and to deal with any spies immediately, then slipped it into my pocket.
If anyone acted suspiciously, I could rush out and stop them right away.
I clenched my fist tight and began staring into the image crystal.
Inside the image crystal, I started to see Dad’s closest aides, who had ambitiously set off for the hunt first.
But something was off.
They were riding around the forest, wandering aimlessly in confusion.
***
Having become Matthias’s closest aides, they were merely hiding their true natures—they naturally loved showing off their power.
So normally, during hunts, they would slaughter every animal in the forest. It was quite convenient, after all. Capturing alive was a hassle.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t do that today.
It was because of the command from their lord, Sir Matthias.
“What is this? How exactly do you capture something alive?”
Come to think of it, they had never once tried capturing anything alive.
They just killed.
One of the villains furrowed his brow with a troubled expression.
“I grabbed a rabbit with my hand, and it turned to powder and crumbled.”
One warrior shouted roughly while holding back a horse that couldn’t run properly and was whinnying.
“...Hoo, I barely picked up a cute goblin. I’m thinking of roasting it whole to present.”
Admiration swept through the group.
“That fragile goblin... You’re impressive. If she likes small and tiny things, she’ll definitely love it the most. Goblins are so small and cute.”
Continuing their conversation from atop their slowly plodding horses, they sighed deeply all at once, as if it were planned.
Capturing alive was harder than killing, and for these powerful villains with blurry morals...
For the first time in ages, they were struggling with the painful objective: ‘Offer Sien a small and cute animal.’
***
Silently observing the hunting grounds through the soundless image crystal, I grew even more suspicious.
“These uncles are weird.”
“Yes, Lady Sien?”
“They keep chasing only rabbits. Pretty rabbits, too.”
They kept catching rabbits, but just passed by scary monsters and beasts.
They seemed to be talking to each other, but I couldn’t hear it well.
On top of that, they fled from monsters as if even encountering them was horrifying.
‘Could they be scared of monsters? Maybe those guys are weaker than they look? They seemed like total powerhouses, though.’
And Dad seemed to be wandering alone the whole time...
I sniffled and swallowed, staring piercingly at Dad.
The more alone Dad was, the more I had to protect him!
I clenched my fist and narrowed my eyes like a flounder.
‘Fortunately or unfortunately, nothing problematic has happened yet.’
They weren’t doing anything in particular. Normal hunting tournaments were all about showing off prestige, so everyone went all out to catch the coolest, best magical beasts.
I cautiously monitored the situation while thinking to myself.
‘...No way, do I have to protect these uncles too?’
I blinked my confused eyes and swallowed hard.
That’s when a strange feeling hit me.
‘Wait. I think I see someone suspicious... Did I imagine it?’
Even in games, characters decked out in cash items are the strong ones.
Normally I wouldn’t sense a thing, but despite having no mana, wrapped in all sorts of artifacts, I faintly felt some unsettling omen.
My mood turned subtly off.
There was a month until the deadline, but who knew what could happen to my life in that time.
I lifted my eyes from the image crystal and slowly scanned my surroundings. At that moment, the defensive gear Grandma gave me flashed once.
‘Something dangerous must be near me. A traitor? An assassin?’
I began sweeping my sharp gaze over the platform surroundings.
Someone was definitely casting magic aimed at me.
Whoever it was, they seemed to think I was just an ordinary kid.
But I wasn’t an ordinary kid.
Smirking slyly to myself, I patted my shoulders—currently soft like mochi, but in the future, harder than a shield.
I smiled very, very scary and cold, like a potato heart hardened into rice cake from the freezing wind.
The state-of-the-art artifacts equipped on my body flashed green and then went out.
‘Whatever the goal, one thing’s clear: someone’s there. And...’
I extended my foot with a click.
The anklet on my foot, looking like a cute accessory, was actually a fearsome magic tool that could detect enemies.
On the day of training, and before coming to the hunting tournament! I recalled Grandma’s words as she stuffed artifacts into my pockets one by one.
She’d told me, ‘If you handle artifacts well, having no mana means nothing, sweetie!’
Just as she said.
Thanks to learning how to use artifacts from Grandma, even without mana, I could fake being a decent mage.
I grinned slyly and looked down at my anklet.
‘Unless it’s someone on Axel’s level, I can find them with this artifact. It vibrates if dangerous people are nearby.’
Feeling the vibration from my round, rice-cake-like ankle, I looked at my maid sisters.
“There’s a bad person here.”
“Yes?”
The silence was brief.
The maid sisters didn’t dismiss my words as childish nonsense.
Instead, they clenched their fists and scanned the surroundings.
“Finally, the time has come for me to show my power.”
“I’ve been waiting for today.”
“The bad guys all need to die.”
With the most villainous expressions, the maid sisters began radiating murderous intent.
Their killing-intent-laced glares scattered downward from the platform.
It was a ferocious aura that would crush anyone, no matter who.
With their already scary faces plus the killing intent, the surrounding temperature seemed to drop two degrees.
‘...With the sisters glaring down, it looks like people in the VIP seats are vanishing.’
While the sisters exuded their savage aura, I tried activating my earring artifact.
Using an artifact I’d never tried before was a bit tricky, so I fumbled a few times. But soon, my hand found the right activation spot.
‘Press hard on the earring’s needle part.’
When I pressed the needle on my earring with my thumb, it beeped.
It meant it had located the target.
‘If even I, with no mana, can track their position using an artifact, they’re not very dangerous spies. Small fry?’
I narrowed my eyes and gazed toward the forest beyond.
Seeing my gaze head toward the forest, the maid sisters’ eyes flashed.
“It’s the forest. We’ll drag them back alive.”
“Capture them alive!”
“No.”
‘It’s about time to reveal where they are.’
It was right then.
From far away, something went pop! and started sparkling.
I squinted and pulled a gourd-shaped artifact from my pocket.
“Sisters, let’s go down together.”
The forest was where Dad was right now.
The enemy might kidnap me and use me as a hostage to threaten Dad’s soft heart.
‘I need to go save Dad.’
Like a hero from a novel, I descended the platform step by step with dignified strides.
Even then, the magic attacks aimed at me continued nonstop.
Of course, my body, armed with expensive artifacts, was deflecting every attack invincibly.