Just Trying to Give It a Shot (3)
“I’ll let it live.”
“...Pardon?”
“This thing. I won’t kill it.”
Elijah spoke while gazing at the moon deer. The words were so unbelievable that I found myself asking again like a child.
“For real?”
At my question, Elijah covered her mouth and let out a soft pfft of laughter. It was somehow leisurely, relaxed.
“Why would I lie to you about something like that?”
Well... because she was the kind of person who killed people on a whim, burned them, humiliated them...
A sky scattered with the ashes of those turned to human cinders. Elijah smiling faintly beneath it.
It might not be there yet, but surely the seeds of that madness lingered inside her.
Why, though? Elijah understood ethics and morality in theory, then trampled them with her heart. Why was she now sparing the moon deer out of some whim of mercy?
“You still look like you don’t believe me. Is there some reason you distrust me so?”
“N-no, it’s not that. I just...”
I’ll let you live. It was a phrase that suited Elijah the least—yet somehow fit her perfectly.
She always tricked her foes into believing she’d spare them, only to kill them. To her, promising to let someone live was the same as vowing to kill them.
“I heard you planned to use it as an ingredient at your birthday banquet...”
“That was the original plan.”
Elijah approached slowly. Her gray dress. The color of ashes left from a fire. Or the shade mimicking the moon deer’s horns, which lacked moonlight in the daytime and gleamed merely silver. Which was it?
“But I think showing it off alive will be far more effective.”
“...Pardon?”
“No matter how clever or special the creature, once butchered and cooked, it’s just meat. If meat is what’s needed, livestock raised for food and slaughtered properly has far superior quality.”
Elijah looked up at the moon deer. Its innocent eyes looked back down at her. Without the moon risen, they were simply dark voids.
“But keeping it alive like this? It holds value beyond compare to mere flesh.”
Only then did another facet of Elijah’s thinking click into place for me. Nobility. She killed like an executioner for all the world to see, yet she prized noble ways with obsessive zeal. Pretexts. Reputation. Ostentation. She had calculated it all with thorough aristocratic precision.
Serving a dead moon deer as cuisine. Displaying a living one as her possession. Which benefited her more?
I was the fool for briefly hoping there was kindness in her heart. I should expect what’s to be expected.
“I heard there are no records of anyone ever taming one.”
“Yes. That’s likely.”
“Oh? You answer as if you know the history of bonds between spirit beasts and humans.”
“......”
I’ll admit it. I’m not that smart. More emotional than rational. More impulsive than planned. So it’s no surprise suspicious words slip out unbidden.
‘No way this Judah has some shady background, right?’
There was reason Elijah was so sharp. She was one of the top geniuses in the story. She’d just led me with that question on purpose. Definitely.
“So this would be the first, then? It seems half-tamed to you already. Can it only bond with one person at a time, perhaps?”
Probably not. In the game, multiple characters on the same account could tame the same creature. This moon deer should be no different. In real terms, it could have multiple masters.
But I couldn’t mention the game, and it wasn’t certain, so I held back. Though I was pretty sure it was possible.
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Hiding it on purpose?”
“......”
“So unpredictable at times, yet other times, you’re transparently obvious. You.”
No matter how brilliant Elijah was, or how elite her education from childhood... she was still a kid, wasn’t she? She seemed a bit like me in that way. Was it okay to be this perceptive? Was it fine for a little girl to see right through me like this? My level was pathetic.
The mind is ruled by the body. So let’s blame it on her young age.
“Follow me. Oh, right—Gawain.”
“Yes, miss.”
Gawain, who’d been at her side all along, responded.
“The winner is this one.”
“Understood.”
The hunt ended anticlimactically. The candidate trainees watching nearby were collectively dumbfounded. They’d probably guessed from seeing the moon deer I brought, but no one expected Elijah to declare it outright.
“Let’s go. I’ll give you the prize money later.”
Ignoring the stunned onlookers, Elijah commanded indifferently and strode ahead. With no room to refuse, I followed.
Envious stares poured down on my back all at once. Endorsed by Elijah, winner of the contest— a huge payout was coming my way. Enough to envy, sure.
But I couldn’t rejoice with a clear heart. I knew full well that getting closer to Elijah long-term was nothing but bad news.
*
I rode separately with Elijah in the carriage. The moon deer followed at a run. Good thing it had such stamina. Following me meant it had definitely imprinted me as its master.
‘I wonder if Elijah can pull this off...’
We arrived at Elijah’s mansion. It matched my memory yet felt different. Gray stone walls and sharp iron gates. Past the gate guarded by knights lay the garden—vast enough for a training ground. Barren in winter, the central fountain stood dry.
And atop the hill beyond, a lonely gray manor looked down.
‘It used to be more lavish, I think.’
This was the past, so maybe this was the original? Anyway, the Elijah mansion I’d seen in the future was gaudy. Still gray overall, but the gardens brimmed with pricey jewels, statues, demon spoils. Even in winter, the ostentatious decor persisted. In growing seasons, rare flowers and trees crammed everywhere—flashy, but discordant.
Where Elijah lived felt... ‘Right now, it’s just empty and desolate.’
One corner of the grounds held the stables.
“Of the empty stalls, this one’s the largest.”
Butler Miguel guided us, looking flustered. He hadn’t expected a live moon deer.
“Fine, then. It can stay here.”
Elijah didn’t enter the stable herself. Nobles wouldn’t. The stable hand bowed repeatedly as he emerged, reaching for the moon deer—but it wouldn’t budge.
“Aigoo, come on, listen to me, you...”
He sweated bullets, glancing nervously at Elijah. She eyed the deer curiously, then turned to me—as if I held the answer.
Spot-on intuition.
“...Maybe it doesn’t feel safe here?”
Unable to withstand the pressure of their stares, I ventured a guess.
Elijah smiled faintly. “Then what should we do?”
“Show it this place is safe... I’ll go in with it first.”
“Hm. No—let’s go together.”
“Pardon?!”
I startled. No, the stable hand and Miguel did.
“This is my house. I can’t have you babysitting forever. If I’m to tame it, I need to show it myself.”
Sound logic. I was shocked too—but they were floored that a great noble like Elijah would step into a stable. I was stunned she’d said something so reasonable.
The stable hand opened the massive doors and led us in. His knees knocked pitifully. Elijah showed no reluctance, strolling in casually. High ceilings, spacious—like a giant warehouse. Unused lately, no livestock stench; just faint earth and dry hay.
The moon deer followed me meekly inside.
“You’ll live here from now on.”
I stroked its nape gently as I spoke. Smart enough to understand horses, it’d grasp my intent even if not the exact words.
The moon deer slowly shook its head. As if refusing.
“Hmm.”
Elijah crossed her arms. “How’d you do it?”
“Pardon?”
“How you tamed it. To make it serve me, I just do the same, right?”
“Not wrong, but... use this mushroom for now.”
I pulled a pouch from my pocket. The moon deer sniffed eagerly.
Elijah nodded. “Taming with food, huh. Just like people.”
...Her train of thought was impossible to follow.
“Half right, but this isn’t ordinary—it’s a poison mushroom.”
“Poison?!”
Miguel glared sharply. Fair, with something dangerous near Elijah.
“Not lethal. Yellow umbrella mushroom—causes temporary numbness.”
“May I inspect it?”
I placed one in his gloved hand. His bespectacled eyes examined it closely.
“...We’ll need a doctor to confirm.”
He eyed it knowingly, then admitted ignorance.
The stable hand rushed off for one.
“Feed it that mushroom?” Elijah asked.
“Yes. By hand. That’s how I did it, but I worry even handling it might risk issues... I can’t recommend it rashly, miss.”
“Hmm. Fair enough.”
The doctor arrived promptly. Round glasses, braided black hair, long white coat—a picture of physician or scholar.
After inspecting, she identified it. “Yellow umbrella mushroom, correct. Not widely known that moon deer like them, though...”
She peered at me over her glasses. No retort came, so I just petted the deer.
“So. Can I touch it?”
“No reports of symptoms from contact alone. But untested rigorously... I’d need three days for proper analysis. Best avoid direct contact, just in case.”
“Right. Better safe—I hate pain.”
Elijah, staring intently at the deer, nodded. Her bright red eyes gleamed with resolve.
“Come here for the next three days.”
“...Pardon?”
“With you nearby, I can build some rapport too.”
...Logical?
“So for now—no, a few days. Stay here.”
“...Pardon?”
Same reaction as before. Nothing else came to mind.
“Plenty of rooms.”
True. As far as I knew, Elijah alone occupied this vast manor. The rest were servants: soldiers, knights, maids, butlers, cooks, stable hands, etc.
“Give him a room.”
While I reeled, Elijah ordered Miguel.
“Pardon? But...”
Miguel frowned, glancing my way in distress. This was the residence of a direct Bebel heir. A nobody like me shouldn’t even set foot here. I got his opposition—and rooted for it.
Elijah said nothing, just stared blankly up at him. As if asking if she needed to repeat herself.
“...As you wish, miss.”
My inward cheering deflated like his.
“Pick a carriage and driver for daily trips to and from the training camp, morning and evening. Anything else needed?”
Yes. Let me go. Please.
“No...”
Words betrayed my heart.
Miguel stepped out briefly.
“Um...”
The stable hand ventured cautiously. “If you need an excuse to bond, maybe offer it water?”
“Water?”
“Yes... It ran here, so it must be thirsty. Ah, but wild animals might have parasites...”
“I heard moon deer are special—no parasites.”
In lore, the moon’s power in their veins. I’d been fine close-up since yesterday, so probably true.
“Indeed. Bring some.”
He hurried off, returning with a bucket of cool water.
“......”
Elijah stared blankly at the bucket. Livestock-grade, scrubbed clean but stained. Filthy to her eyes.
As expected. “...You want me to touch that?”
“Eek—! S-sorry! But it’s the cleanest...”
“......”
So this was disdain by gaze. No frown, but contempt dripped from her eyes.
“I’ll do it.”
Feeling suffocated, I stepped up. “Just pet it while it drinks—should help.”
“...Fine. Do that.”
She sighed, reluctant. Understandable. Used to bows at a glance, now effort for rapport?
I carried the bucket to the deer, now wandering freely—accepting this as home.
“There, there.”
Thirsty, it dunked its head right in. Stayed calm as I stroked its head and neck.
The stable hand fetched a stool for Elijah. Standing beside the deer, she hesitated.
“...How?”
Her awkwardness felt strangely alien. She had a childlike side after all. Coughing to hide a laugh, I replied.
“Just stroke the fur naturally. Oh—and avoid the horns; they’re special.”
“...Okay.”
Her small hand touched the deer’s back tentatively. Slow strokes.
Unfamiliar. Elijah petting an animal so gently and carefully.
“...Soft.”
“Pardon? What was that?”
“Nothing.”
Misheard? Good—the deer accepted her touch. Stayed put even after drinking.
Elijah stroked steadily, expression stiff. More like work than bonding.
“...How long?”
“No set time. Stop whenever you like.”
“Hmm...”
She grimaced but didn’t halt. Shouldn’t it be tamed by now? Probably.
But she kept stroking the same spot.
“Don’t just do one area—try others...”
She glanced down, stretched farther. Her effort was childishly cute. And eerie, given it was Elijah.
Did I just call Elijah cute? Am I insane?
Her stretched sleeve revealed a pale, slender wrist. And on it—a red, swollen mark.
What’s that? Come to think, her wrist had a similar mark when we first met...
Late realization hit: a bruise. The kind from being struck.
Dazed, I stared at Elijah diligently petting the deer. Her stiff, shy face. Awkward strokes. And the bruise.
Snapping to, I noticed maid Lia watching me.