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Chapter 61




Chapter 61: Stealing Yeuju's First Love
8. Surviving with an Enemy
“Damn.”
Raymond roughly ran his hand through his hair and cursed.
Nothing was going right.
Raymond’s plan was to catch one higher-level and one lower-level demon beast.
Even if he wasn’t exceptionally talented at hunting, he was at least average.
So he intended to give something good to Tatiana and something that Karina wouldn’t even want to keep.
He had prepared well, both his gun and his condition were good.
If there was a problem, it was...
“Crazy emperor’s brat.”
Aster.
Seeing Aster hand flowers to the emperor, trying to create a romantic scene, made his stomach churn.
Unable to hold back, Raymond provoked Aster.
And he had to pay the price on the hunting grounds.
Raymond headed deep into the Golden Forest to catch a higher-level demon beast for Tatiana.
Not many skilled hunters ventured this far in.
At most, it was Wilhelm and the emperor.
For this hunting competition, Raymond had made a special device to gift Tatiana a prey.
It was an artifact made by mixing a seasonal stone that generates mana with a mana stone that stores it.
He got the idea from the bracelet Tatiana always wore.
‘It was quite a hassle to secretly check how it was made.’
It was a rather useful artifact, so he decided to use it here as a demonstration.
To catch a splendid prey.
He held his breath and waited for a good prey to appear.
‘A wolf!’
He wanted to catch that wolf, which had attacked Tatiana.
Just as he was about to pull the trigger, holding his breath.
Bang!
His target fell right in front of him. Raymond scowled and got up, glaring in the direction the bullet came from.
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were aiming at that wolf, Sir Raymond.”
Aster was there, looking relaxed as he slightly nodded his head in apology.
So Raymond thought it was an innocent mistake. But that thought vanished a few hours later.
“Damn brat.”
The sun had already begun to set, but Raymond hadn’t caught a single demon beast.
Aster was still the one catching the prey he aimed for.
No matter where he went, Aster followed him like a hunter chasing prey. What made him even angrier was Aster’s attitude, always apologizing.
‘He’s doing it on purpose, trying to end it with an apology.’
Grinding his teeth, Raymond went deeper into the forest. He just needed to catch one, just one.
Before long, he found traces of a demon beast.
Even if he couldn’t use magic, he was a grand mage and could easily sense the aura of a demon beast, a creature imbued with mana.
‘Not a wolf.’
But he could feel mana comparable to that of a wolf. He crouched down and slowly surveyed the surroundings.
Raymond felt a chill.
The moment he turned around, he met a pair of pitch-black eyes.
It was a bear.
Raymond couldn’t even scream as he collapsed.
With someone watching, he couldn’t use the artifact.
A few gunshots rang out, and the bear staggered before fleeing into the depths of the forest.
“Are you alright, Sir Raymond?”
Aster.
With his pride wounded, Raymond only nodded, lips pressed together.
He looked in the direction the bear had fled, seemingly disappointed, and said to Raymond,
“It seems this place isn’t suitable for you. How about we go to a lower level?”
Aster’s words, which scratched at his pride, made Raymond clench his fists and tremble.
Looking at such a Raymond, Aster whispered,
“Next time, I might just pretend not to notice.”
With those words, Raymond returned to Area B. But most of the prey had already been caught by others, and time was running out.
In the end, he had to return with just one.
Raymond was repulsed by Aster.
‘They really suit each other. Two of a kind.’
Ignoring Wilhelm’s taunts, Raymond prepared to return when he sensed a disturbance from somewhere.
It was Tatiana.
He had given her an artifact modeled after her bracelet, to help her eliminate Karina.
He had assured her that it would completely disappear after use, so there would be no risk of getting caught.
“Damn, damn!”
Nothing was going right.
He had clearly told Tatiana to use it in the hunting grounds.
When Karina was far from the group, to follow her and use the magic.
Using the seasonal stone to generate mana and the magic in the bracelet to control Karina’s mind.
The mind control magic wasn’t perfect.
It would make her movements awkward.
If it activated in a place with many onlookers, someone would surely notice.
If that happened...
‘They would naturally suspect Tatiana, who was with her.’
Raymond ran frantically, hoping Karina would resist the magic.
“Titi!”
He saw her silver hair, gleaming like moonlight through the bushes.
Beyond her, he saw Karina staggering towards the river, looking like a drunk person.
Raymond’s mind raced.
If the people here said Karina had stumbled while drunk, would it be alright?
But contrary to his thoughts, his body was running towards Karina.
“You, you—!”
It was magic.
Karina had used mana to grab Raymond.
She grabbed his collar and laughed mockingly, spitting blood.
“Who said I’d die alone?”
There was no time to curse. The dark river was already in front of him.
Raymond unconsciously wrapped his arms around the unconscious Karina.
The two fell into the river.
With a huge splash.
* * *
When I opened my eyes, my body felt heavy.
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see leaves and the moon.
“Am I dead?”
“You’re alive, so don’t worry.”
Raymond’s annoying voice rang out.
Turning my head, I saw him sitting by a campfire, drenched like a wet rat, unlike his usual neat appearance.
“Lucky. I wouldn’t have been able to close my eyes if I died with a guy like you.”
“You can talk, can’t you?”
I struggled to get up.
My whole body ached as if I had been beaten. My throat stung, and I was cold.
But I was more worried about whether we could survive here.
After some thought, I asked,
“Where do you think we are?”
“It seems to be the center of the forest. I can’t feel any mana at all.”
The closer you get to the center of the Golden Forest, the less mana there is in the air. It seemed we had entered the center following the river, as Raymond said.
“How long has it been since we fell?”
“An hour or two.”
While listening to him, I checked my body. Fortunately, there were no broken bones or injuries.
“Come over here and warm up by the fire...”
I approached the fire Raymond had made and slapped his cheek.
He didn’t say anything.
“Sigh...”
Heaving a long sigh, he brushed his hair back as if annoyed.
His cold golden eyes turned towards me.
I looked straight into them and said,
“You tried to kill me.”
“You should have known better.”
“Known better?”
“Why do you keep provoking Tatiana? Just leave her alone.”
He made it sound like I was the root of all this. I was fed up.
“You guys always do this. As if everything is my fault. Do you really think provoking someone will make them want to kill you? Are you in your right mind?”
Raymond clamped his mouth shut.
I didn’t expect him to feel guilty.
No matter what, it wouldn’t be good for him.
According to my mother, Raymond’s position in the Magic Tower wasn’t good right now.
Due to numerous incidents, the mages’ patience had reached its limit.
While they lacked a sense of belonging, they were proud of being mages.
Raymond’s actions were eroding that pride.
“Do as you please.”
Raymond muttered, avoiding my gaze.
I moved away from him and dried myself by the fire.
‘First, we need to get out of here.’
Since the sun had already set, we had to spend the night here.
Tomorrow, I planned to follow the river upstream.
“Let’s sleep first. I’ve rested a bit, so I’ll be fine.”
“What are you talking about? We should head back once our clothes are dry. It should take about half a day.”
“Don’t be stupid. Without magic or a gun, what will we do if demon beasts attack?”
Raymond shut his mouth after my retort.
If he weren’t a mage, he would have been dead by now.
Seemingly losing confidence, Raymond lay down with his mouth tightly shut.
Soon, he fell asleep, and only his low breathing could be heard.
* * *
“Let’s sleep first. I’ve rested a bit, so I’ll be fine.”
“What are you talking about? We should head back once our clothes are dry. It should take about half a day.”
“Don’t be stupid. Without magic or a gun, what will we do if demon beasts attack?”
After my retort, Raymond shut his mouth.
If he weren’t a mage, he would have been dead by now.
Seemingly losing confidence, Raymond lay down with his mouth tightly shut.
Soon, he fell asleep, and only his low breathing could be heard.