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“Your Highness.”
“Heard. Quite a big one.”
“Yes. Much bigger than this one.”
“Good. Let’s move!”
With swift movements, Smith grasped the reins of his horse and leaped onto it, prompting the crowd behind him to follow suit.
-Clip-clop, clip-clop!
How long had they been riding, accompanied by the horse’s labored breaths?
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hush.”
Everyone stopped in unison at the voice of the person standing at the front, searching for prey.
The person, crouching low to the ground, cautiously advanced through the bushes toward a specific destination, and Smith’s gaze trailed after him.
Finally, Smith caught sight of the target, which gradually filled his field of vision.
It was substantial, far surpassing the small one they had captured earlier.
Although it wouldn’t be sufficient to redeem himself in front of Ainar, there was still time to seize this opportunity, so they had to capture this one first.
The prince and his group advanced cautiously, driving the prey forward with deliberate steps.
Aware that the slightest sign of movement could startle the prey into fleeing or attacking them head-on.
“Huff.”
A tense breath escaped someone’s lips, causing the prey’s movement to abruptly halt.
In that split second, the prince hastily reached for his bow.
-Squelch!-
A thunderous sound reverberated, as the prey the prince had been targeting fell lifeless on the spot.
“What?”
“What… just happened?”
No one had witnessed or comprehended the events that had unfolded.
It had transpired too swiftly.
However, a few seconds later, their expressions turned to awe as they began to understand.
“My goodness…”
“Unbelievable!”
It had been a single arrow.
That lone arrow had precisely pierced the prey’s aorta, bringing about its immediate demise.
When it comes to hunting, there’s a well-known saying that everyone hears.
– Always strive to bring down your prey with a single shot, but in reality, that’s quite challenging. Instead, aim to inflict a disabling injury.
The larger the prey, the more difficult it becomes to achieve an instant kill, and even causing an injury can prove to be quite a formidable task.
“This is no ordinary rabbit,” someone remarked, and everyone nodded in agreement.
“It’s not even an herbivore.”
As they gazed down at the motionless prey sprawled on the ground, oblivious to its own demise, Smith gripped his bow so tightly it seemed it could shatter.
Though the others hadn’t noticed yet, the feather on the arrow that had brought down the prey was unmistakably…
-Rustle.-
“It should be around here,” a figure emerged, pushing through the dense foliage. It was none other than the Second Prince, Ainar.
The unexpected encounter between the third prince and his group and the second prince and his group left them all momentarily surprised. They exchanged glances and then bowed their heads in acknowledgment. It was only after this silent exchange that the third prince’s group nodded in understanding.
Considering the hunting prowess of the second prince, such an occurrence shouldn’t have been surprising. Smith, who had witnessed everything clearly, felt a knot in his stomach, causing his hands to tremble.
“Excuse me.”
“Oh, of course.”
While the two groups were busy sizing each other up, the hunters accompanying the princes remained composed. For them, unlike those eager to make a name for themselves in the hunting tournament, it was merely a game for the princes. The tournament wasn’t solely about who caught more prey or who failed to catch any; it involved a psychological battle between the princes.
Furthermore…
“Indeed, the second prince is impressive.”
“Haha, we were taken aback too.”
“Take a look at this. A single shot was all it took.”
They all knew it would be foolish to attempt to catch prey in front of Ainar, let alone show off their skills.
As they gathered the fallen prey, Ainar, who had been lagging behind for some time, calmly handled his bow without displaying any particular emotions, despite the praises from the onlookers.
In the meantime, Smith approached Ainar and whispered, “You didn’t have to come this way.”
The forest was vast, with prey scattered all around, so there was no need for Smith and Ainar’s paths to intersect, as Smith pointed out. From the beginning, Smith had purposely chosen a completely different direction to avoid any encounter with Ainar.
To which Ainar replied, equally discreetly, “I had no intention of coming this way.”
Ainar smiled faintly and lightly tapped Smith’s shoulder.
“Well, you were heading this way.”
In other words, Ainar had intentionally trailed Smith, seizing his prey right in front of him.
“You…!”
Just as Smith was about to raise his voice, Ainar’s laughter deepened.
“Ah, planning to announce to everyone that you were afraid of encountering me and took a different path? Feel free, though.”
Ainar’s words struck true, leaving Smith without a retort. He could only clamp his mouth shut, even as his frustration simmered within.
Even without Smith bringing it up, the mere mention of “Why are you here?” would remind everyone of the situation. It was one thing to acknowledge his own inferiority, but accepting it was an entirely different matter.
Smith’s standing had already become uncomfortable due to the public displays involving Lyna and Ainar.
As these thoughts raced through Smith’s mind, a single word involuntarily slipped from his lips.
“What are you plotting?”
“Huh?”
Smith, speaking in an almost hushed tone, inquired as if begrudgingly.
“Don’t tell me you’re harboring ambitions for the Crown Prince’s position now?”
Ainar merely smiled at the remark, offering no response.
Regardless of what he said, Smith would believe what he wanted to believe, so why bother exhausting himself in conversation?
Even if Ainar were to reveal the whole truth to Smith at that moment, Smith would refuse to believe it.
Smith, too, opened his mouth but found himself unable to say anything further.
He couldn’t openly challenge Ainar in this setting.
“I shall pay you a visit soon.”
Ainar replied to Smith’s announcement, his words laced with a grinding determination.
“I’m not certain I can spare the time. You sound like a villain saying, ‘I’ll be back!'”
“Ainar!”
Unable to contain his frustration any longer, Smith erupted in a shout, causing the surrounding bushes and trees to tremble, and a flock of birds took flight in unison.
-Whirrr!-
Naturally, all the nearby prey scattered in fear at the sudden noise.
Observing Smith’s neck muscles reflexively tense, the group of hunters, as if in unison, flinched and bowed their heads.
Ainar, displaying no surprise, simply patted Smith’s shoulder and motioned with a nod of his head.
“Now that it has come to this.”
“What?”
“If you seek a worthy prey, you might want to head in that direction.”
“Ainar.”
“If you intend to present something at Lyna’s feet, it should at least be of respectable stature.”
-Grind.-
Ainar’s mocking words grated on Smith’s nerves, causing his teeth to grind together.
Yet, Ainar showed no sign of fear or intimidation; he calmly continued speaking.
“Interestingly, there doesn’t seem to be any noteworthy prey in that direction, so there’s no need to venture there.”
Ainar pointed towards the path where the first prince had vanished, eliciting an instinctive scowl from Smith.
It was evident that encountering the loquacious prince again would be bothersome, so Smith had no intention of heading in that direction.
However, he had even less desire to follow Ainar’s suggestion.
-Whack!-
Smith forcefully swatted away Ainar’s hand from his shoulder, producing a resounding noise. He then steered his horse in the direction where the first prince had disappeared.
“There’s prey in that direction”
Ainar once again pointed in the same direction, but Smith didn’t even spare a glance in that direction.
He simply tightened his grip on the horse’s reins and departed from that spot.
Ainar watched Smith’s retreating figure and shrugged his shoulders.
“I wasn’t lying.”
As Smith stared at Ainar, his cheeks trembling, an unexpected event unfolded. The first prince, who had been expelled from the safe zone, found himself deep within a dense forest.
“Where in the world am I…?”
Having lost sight of the group that had been accompanying him, the first prince was overcome with anxiety in his solitude. What if something, capable of inflicting harm rather than mere prey like rabbits or deer, were to appear?
-Click.-
He nervously fiddled with the hilt of his nearly ornamental sword and swallowed his dry saliva.
“Haha, that’s highly unlikely.”
He nodded to himself, attempting to maintain his composure.
Whether his efforts were in vain or not, he soon found himself wandering through the forest in a more relaxed manner.
However…
“I can’t even spot a single ant.”
There was an eerie absence of birds chirping along the path he walked. Despite this, he wasn’t particularly concerned about getting lost. After all, if he continued toward the edge of the forest where the competition was taking place, he would eventually encounter the guards stationed there.
While leisurely basking in the warmth of the sun, the first prince abruptly came to a halt.
“Huh? What’s the matter?”
He patted his horse’s neck, which had suddenly stopped moving. However, the horse seemed rooted in place, making no attempt to move forward or backward. Its ears trembled with unease.
No matter how much the first prince tugged on the reins, the horse remained motionless. He hesitated to kick the horse’s belly, as he suddenly recalled the words of the stableman who had provided him with this particular mount.