Today's Special Day – The White Tiger Cub's Playful Expedition into the Forest
Today was a special day.
I, who always sprawled around inside the imperial palace, must have looked unbearably bored. Princess Kailian decided to go on a hunt and walk with me.
We reached the entrance to the northern forest of the empire.
The long-absent fresh pine scent flooded my nostrils, making my tail wag happily.
“Haa… The air feels so good.”
Kailian wore comfortable hunting clothes, a light bow slung over her back. Her long silver hair, tied up, swayed gracefully in the breeze. She looked stunningly beautiful.
“Kyaa~.”
My butler has become so expressive lately and I love it. The first time I saw her, she had no trace of a demonic aura at all.
“Exactly. I had no idea such a wonderful forest existed right near the imperial capital.”
“Why are you always following me?!”
Right beside Kailian, the saintess who didn’t even need to follow trailed along calmly like a ghost.
Kailian shot a glare at her. I also shot a warning glance at the saintess.
That girl had suddenly started following us without any warning, and now she was just there.
“Kyaa.”
Don’t you have anything better to do, Saintess?
“Master! Your fur’s shine is even more radiant today! You look exactly like the king of the forest!”
“Kyaa~.”
Are you just trying to read my eyes and dodge the question?
The saintess naturally bit a piece of dried meat and placed it in my mouth like a bodyguard, pressing close to my side.
“Blanc, listen carefully.”
Before we stepped deeper into the forest, Kailian stopped, lifted me into her arms, and met my eyes. Her expression turned serious.
“This forest is safe because it’s near the palace, but wild animals are wild animals. Especially the creatures around here carry faint mana, so they’re dangerous.”
“Kyaa!”
I’m the Divine White Tiger, after all.
“That means you must never wander off alone. Stick close to me, or better yet, right beside this suspicious saintess. Understand?”
Kailian gripped my cotton-candy-like front paw tightly and gave another stern warning.
I grinned inwardly.
I’m a White Tiger. If you want to fight me, you’d better bring the Heavenly White Tiger Mother. This paw isn’t showing off at all.
Still, the caring heart of my butler melted me, so I obediently nodded.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness! I will constantly maintain a sacred defensive barrier so not even a single hair of the Master’s fur will be harmed!”
“That glowing shield would make every prey run away, you idiot.”
Her fist clenched, the saintess’s cold words struck like lightning.
Even if she’s a saint, she should at least be a little clever, right?
“Kyaa…”
The real hunt and walk finally began.
Step. Step.
The sound of fallen leaves rustled through the quiet forest.
Kailian was an extremely skilled hunter. She moved silently, reading the wind, leading the way.
I wondered how a princess could learn such techniques, but I remembered that the stress-relieving activity for the half-mad Kailian had always been hunting. It had come naturally to her.
She occasionally leaped out of bushes to shoot dead mana-infused mice and venomous insects cleanly.
“Shhh.”
Kailian raised her hand, stopping us.
About ten meters ahead, a golden-horned deer was grazing.
Thwack!
Kailian’s arrow sliced through the air, grazing the deer’s vital spot. The deer bolted in panic. Kailian clicked her tongue in disappointment.
“Such a pity. If I had been a little calmer, I would have caught it.”
She reached toward her waist pouch, then lowered her hand and moved forward again.
I yawned.
Boring…
Since Kailian handled everything up ahead, I had nothing to do.
The saintess was beside me, whispering “Oh, a bug!” while catching mosquitoes with holy power, and I was just left to wander leisurely.
I thumped my tail on the ground and looked around curiously.
Is there anything fun? Like a moving toy.
Scritch.
My sensitive ears suddenly caught a faint vibration.
Behind the right bush.
Mixed with the wind scent, a rich, warm beast aroma drifted over.
Found it.
My half-dozing eyes snapped open. I crouched low, staring at the bush.
Swoosh!
The bush shook violently, and something leaped out.
A rabbit. But not an ordinary rabbit.
It was twice the size of a normal one, its fur gleaming silver-gray. Most importantly, its forehead sported a small horn crackling with bluish electricity.
“Kyaa?”
A unicorn-hybrid rabbit?
“Eh? That’s…”
While I tilted my head curiously, Kailian also spotted it and shouted.
“Blanc! Back! That’s a Thunder Rabbit! If you get close, you’ll get electrocuted!”
Kailian yanked her bowstring back desperately. But the Thunder Rabbit was lightning-fast. Sensing Kailian’s killing intent, the creature’s red eyes flashed as it turned toward me and the saintess.
“I don’t really want to kill anything, but I have no choice, Master. Hide behind me!”
The saintess tried to shield me. With her, she could probably catch that rabbit like a mosquito.
Instead of hiding behind the saintess’s skirt, I contracted my hind-leg muscles.
My inner beast roared, instincts whispering in my ears.
This isn’t just prey. It’s the perfect toy to liven up my boring walk.
Thud!
I slammed my paws into the ground.
“Blanc!!!”
Kailian’s scream reached me just as my body became a white blur, slicing through the air.
Crash!
A ten-kilogram cotton-candy front paw tackle.
I rammed the Thunder Rabbit at lightning speed on its side.
“Kiiiee?!”
The rabbit didn’t even have time to squeal.
Electricity that sprayed from its body instantly dissipated the moment it touched my fur.
I twisted mid-air, precisely targeting its nape.
Snap.
My fangs pierced the skin, a faint metallic blood taste blooming.
I wouldn’t kill it. Killing would be boring.
I applied just enough pressure to knock it unconscious.
Thud.
The Thunder Rabbit, still spurting blue electricity, went limp.
It happened in an instant.
I landed with a cloud of dust, holding the Thunder Rabbit in my mouth, and lifted my head proudly.
“Kyaaung~.”
Got it? This is the power of the feline beast White Tiger, you idiots.
Silence.
Even the wind seemed to have stopped in the forest.
Kailian stood frozen with her bow raised, while the saintess gaped with her mouth wide open.
“……”
“……”
“Kyaa?”
Don’t you want to pet me…?
Feeling neglected by my quiet butlers, my ears drooped.
Kailian’s eyes trembled in disbelief. What… what was that?
Our little cute Blanc could move that fast?
One shot on a Thunder Rabbit?
I wagged my tail and approached them.
I’m still sulking.
The dragging giant rabbit blocked my steps, but I couldn’t slow down. I marched straight forward stiffly.
I placed the Thunder Rabbit at the feet of Kailian and the saintess with a soft “thump.”
The rabbit’s eyes were rolled back, completely unconscious. A perfect takedown, not a single hair damaged.
I puffed out my chest once more and struck the most majestic, proud expression, shouting:
“Kyaaang!”
Give me compliments already! Quick!
Only then did the saintess snap back, shivering. She opened her mouth.
“O-oh… Oh my… You really are the Divine Beast!”
The saintess knelt, gazing alternately at the unconscious rabbit and me with a voice trembling in ecstasy.
“Did you see, Your Highness? This overwhelming power and mercy!”
“……”
“Mercy?”
Kailian asked in a dazed voice.
“Yes! A normal beast would have torn the throat to kill it instantly! But the Master used his will of non-killing to knock it unconscious in one breath! That noble nature that doesn’t casually harm living beings…!”
The saintess’s eyes welled with tears as she shook my front paw.
“Kyaa.”
Don’t go touching my jelly pads.
“Moreover, she took the Thunder Rabbit’s lightning strike with her bare body! Her ability to purify evil mana is unparalleled!”
Hey, I just knocked it out. It’s not like I ate it.
I felt a little stung by the saintess’s over-interpretation, but I pretended to accept it solemnly.
Kailian lowered her bow, sat down, and hugged me tightly.
“Kyaa…”
Butler is suffocating…
“Is Blanc okay? Didn’t get hit by the electricity? That was scary!”
She checked every corner of my body with an excited voice. Yet in her eyes, along with relief, there was also pride—‘Our kid knows how to do this too.’
“The world… Our Blanc is a hunting genius? I must have underestimated you.”
Kailian rubbed her cheek against mine happily.
“Well done, Blanc! Tonight’s dinner, I’ll make rabbit steak with what you caught.”
“Kyaaang!”
I nestled in Kailian’s arms, stepping on the unconscious rabbit, and sang my victory purr song.
That should count as paying for today’s meal, right?
The king of beasts isn’t a lion. It’s me, Blanc.
“But you could move that fast all the time… Why did you always walk slowly because you felt lazy?”
“Kyaaung?”
What are you talking about? I have no idea what you’re saying!
I tilted my head with a puzzled expression, my eyes sparkling with innocent innocence.
“Hmm… Let’s go hunting together once a week from now on. You’ll like it, right?”
“Kyaaau!”
Hunting is fun, so I’ll allow it. Butler.
Kailian smiled happily when she heard my satisfied sound, then rubbed my cheek again.
“Oh! This glorious hunt will be protected by me for generations to come!!”
Get your hands off my dinner, you!
I gently bit the saintess’s ankle as she lifted the rabbit.