Chapter 46

Talli had made thorough preparations for this year’s hunting season.

Unlike her, the elves around her were full of worry, looking as if they were certain she would never return. Every day, they wore mournful expressions, sighing the moment they saw her.

Talli was carving a mechanical bird at the wooden table when an elf who had come to help with her hair caught sight of her and said, “You’re actually this optimistic? That’s rare.”

Talli turned her head and recognized her—it was the younger one among the elves, known for being blunt and outspoken.

Talli didn’t respond. She put down the powdered brush and picked up the freshly painted little mechanical bird, which was sunbathing at the corner of the table. She wound the key, and the bird’s wings fluttered, its eyes blinking, looking lifelike.

Even the little elf, who had been gloomy every day, couldn’t help but widen her eyes in awe, her gaze sparkling.

“Fun, right?” Talli placed the bird in her palm and held it out to her for a closer look.

The little elf pinched the bird’s tail feathers and lifted it to her eyes. “That’s amazing… How did you do it?”

There weren’t many fun things in this world—especially in such a desolate place. Choosing to leave the Elven territory to serve the deity at the world’s center meant preparing for a life of unchanging monotony for centuries.

Talli didn’t answer her question and instead asked, “Do you like it?”

The little elf blinked, finally snapping out of her amazement. She coughed and forced a stern expression. “It’s cute, sure. And novel. But… it’s not exactly useful.”

Talli said, “Well, since it’s useless anyway, I’ll just give it to you.”

She sat back down at the table, looked at the tools laid out before her, and slowly said:

“…I used to make things much more impressive than this.”

The little elf replied, “No matter how impressive you were before, that was in the past. Now you haven’t even fully recovered. Your body is still healing. Even with half-elven blood, there’s no way you’ll survive in the hunting grounds.”

She fluttered her wings and floated lightly to the doorway, gazing out the window. “…Under the rain of arrows launched by those in power, you’ll be like a fly—head down, scrambling to escape. You won’t even know when one of those arrows might pierce your heart, just for the sake of their twisted amusement.”

Talli asked, “You don’t like the monarch’s rule?”

The little elf turned back, closed the door, and said with a sullen face, “What I don’t like… is this world.”

“I see.”

Talli held out her hands. “Well, either way, I’ll be entering the hunting grounds tomorrow. Help me with my recovery training one more time.”

—

The hunting season began on the first day of autumn.

As a proper piece of prey, Talli wasn’t allowed to carry any offensive weapons when brought into the hunting grounds. She wore only a plain white dress without wide pockets. Her hands were tied with rope—just enough slack to allow movement, but not enough for her to do anything forceful.

Banners snapped in the wind.

Talli was herded into the open-air holding area at the front of the hunting grounds alongside a group of small to medium-sized animals. The creatures looked tired, but a fierce will to survive still burned in their eyes.

Ahead was a mountain, on which a three-tiered tower had been built. The bottom level housed the tower’s low-ranking laborers and servants. The middle level belonged to the tower’s officials—those who managed daily affairs. Some of them didn’t take part in the hunt, while others were enthusiastically testing their bows, eager to aim toward the hunting ground.

At the very top sat a young man whose face Talli couldn’t make out from her position. He wore black, seated at the center, legs crossed, resting his cheek on his hand, gazing into the distance in her direction. The Hunger Knight crouched beside him to the left, while the Plague Knight and the War Knight stood behind his chair on the left and right sides. A few obedient, low-eyed elves floated silently behind them.

Soon, an elf handed him a bow.

Deritz took the bow and tested the draw.

Talli felt as if she could hear the string snapping from such a distance.

He raised his hand, and a streak of blue fire slowly gathered in his palm, forming into an arrow. He gently placed the arrow on the bow, stood up, and stepped onto the Hunger Knight’s back with one foot. Squinting one eye, he aimed at the group of prey in the hunting grounds, preparing to release the first arrow of the hunting season.

Talli bent down.

She’s ready.

—

After Deritz shot the first arrow, the others finally dared to pull their bows.

Talli turned and sprinted, not looking back. She rolled on the ground to avoid the blue arrow, which struck a wolf that had lunged at her, quickly transforming into fire and causing the wolf to howl in agony as it was burned alive.

Talli adjusted her stance and continued running. She needed to go deeper into the hunting grounds to find a blind spot that wouldn’t be visible to them.

She lowered her body, running while picking up a sharp branch from the ground.

A shadow loomed behind her, and Talli crouched, falling backward onto the ground.

She raised her hand high, sending the branch flying. A gray wolf floundered in mid-air, its throat pierced before it could make a sound.

She pulled out the branch and rolled backward, just before the blood splattered all over her, escaping the area.

Most of the prey were too focused on themselves, running forward to avoid the rain of arrows from behind. Only a few aggressive, bloodthirsty animals—or rather, beasts—still found the human scent as interesting as ever.

In fact, under this chaotic, disordered, and bloody scene, they seemed even more intrigued.

They had no sense of being prey. After tearing apart the few humans in the prey group, they charged eagerly toward Talli.

Talli, bound and unarmed, was somewhat overwhelmed.

She had just killed a porcupine with a thick branch when a hyena’s gaping, bloody maw appeared right behind her, ready to bite down.

Talli turned her head slightly.

The blue fire skimmed past her black hair, and she almost smelled the scent of burning flesh. A sharp pain stung her cheek, and the next moment, an arrow pierced through the hyena’s mouth, going straight through its skull. It fell backward.

Talli gasped, slowly realizing what had happened. She took a few steps back and reached up to touch the stinging wound on her cheek.

She instinctively looked toward the hunting platform.

Deritz seemed a little frustrated. “I missed, it was so close.”

Of course, Talli didn’t have much time to catch her breath.

The next wave of battle was about to begin.

The last wolf charged forward. Talli grasped its throat, twisted its body, and used it to block the incoming waves of arrows. As the final arrow passed over her head, she raised both hands.

The rope snapped with a sound.

She stretched her arms, then nimbly leaped deeper into the forest.

—

By evening, she finally had a chance to climb up onto a branch and rest.

One, two…

She counted and realized there were four arrow wounds on her body.

One was in her shoulder. Two were in her calves.

There was another one she had just noticed, lodged in her lower abdomen.

She hadn’t felt it because she had been too tense and exhausted during the chase.

The wound on her shoulder wasn’t deep, nor was it very painful, so her arm still had some mobility. Her calves, however, were almost immobile. She had treated them with a bandage in the afternoon. The wound on her lower abdomen, which she had only just discovered, hurt intensely when she moved.

It was probably almost over. Tomorrow morning, the first autumn hunt would be concluded, and tonight, people would come to the hunting grounds to collect the immobile prey and tally the points based on the arrows.

Talli gathered a few arrows, took out the remaining bandages, bit one end with her teeth, and wrapped it around the wound on her lower abdomen.

Just as she finished wrapping the bandage, she wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and noticed that the torches, from far to near, were lighting up one by one.

Two people collecting the prey passed under the trees.

“I heard the prince is holding an overtime match tonight.”

“But if we light the torches at night… we’ll wake up the magical beasts deep in the hunting grounds.”

Talli gripped the branch, about to lean in closer to listen, when she spotted a small blue figure darting under the nearby torchlight.

Her heart skipped a beat.

She was familiar with that figure, she couldn’t be mistaken.

She grabbed the vine with both hands, lightly flipped over, and landed softly on the ground, rushing toward the figure.

As she got closer, she saw a trail of blood and the small paw prints stepping through it.

Ahead was an area where the torches hadn’t been lit yet. According to what the two people had said, it would be some time before they were lit.

Talli rubbed her eyes.

She clenched the arrow tightly in her hand. After hesitating for just a second, she walked firmly into the dark area.

—

At night, the torches on the hunting platform flickered in the wind, like flying flames. The elves carried wine and moved between the upper and lower platforms, filling empty cups.

“Small animals count for one point, large animals for two, magical beasts for three, mutated magical beasts for four, and humans for five.”

The execution officer, doubling as the scorer, made marks in his notebook.

“How many points did I get?”

A drunken angel stumbled over and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Stay away from me.”

The execution officer pushed him away, glanced at the notebook, and said, “Seventeen points.”

“I heard that Hunger guy has 25 points already.”

Someone leaned in and said, “He killed a few humans right at the start.”

“Smart, huh? There were so many prey at the beginning, I couldn’t even find the humans, and he already killed two.”

“How many humans are left?” someone asked.

The execution officer replied, “I don’t know.”

“Haha,” the angel, now lying on the ground, clapped his wings, “I just went over by the pavilion and counted the prey they brought back. There were twelve humans in total, and they brought back eleven corpses.”

“One left?”

“One left.”

The angel put down his bottle, a dark glint flashing in his eyes.

“That one, is definitely my prey.”

—

Talli watched the massive beast in front of her, pierced by arrows, and couldn’t help but take a step back.

… What is this thing?!

Because it was embedded with phosphorus stones, glowing faintly, Talli could barely make out its shape and position.

It had been struck by an arrow in its back, waking it from its slumber and turning its attention toward Talli.

With a swipe of its claw, it slashed at her with fierce force!

Talli flipped backward and quickly jumped into a tree to avoid its attack.

The trees around her crashed down one after another, and dust filled the air.

Talli had injured her leg, causing her movements to slow. After a brief standoff, she no longer hesitated. She gathered all her strength, leapt onto its head, pulled out an arrow, and thrust it into its eye!

“Roar—”

Talli held tightly onto the arrow, trying to steady herself as the beast howled in pain and rocked its body wildly.

But her injured leg slowly lost sensation, and she missed her footing.

She screamed, gripping the arrow, which only caused the monster more pain. Its heavily armored forepaw slammed toward her.

At that moment, the torches started lighting up, one after another.

This was a mutated ancient creature.

By the time Talli saw the claw swipe coming, it was already too late.

She tensed her body, instinctively curling up, closing her eyes.

At this moment, a small figure darted straight toward her, scratching the monster’s face.

Once the lights came on, the blue light almost blinded Talli, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Her voice was caught in her throat.

The forepaw came down.

An arrow struck the monster, followed quickly by more arrows.

“Four points! Haha!!” someone on the hunting platform shouted.

The giant beast fell to the ground, kicking up dust and scattering birds.

Talli crashed to the ground, and a small figure fell beside her. She coughed a few times, ignoring the blood on her palms, and quickly scrambled to crawl over. When her vision cleared, she saw only the twitching, small blue fox on the ground.

“…”

Talli moved her lips. She quickly picked up the fox, cradling it in her arms, her hands trembling uncontrollably.

“Dusk, Dusk.”

She called out a few times, only to realize she was too panicked to make any sound. Opening her hoarse throat, she spoke, “Dusk… can you hear me?”

The little blue fox had just taken a blow for her, and its internal organs were nearly shattered. Talli only realized it had been struck by an arrow in its back, which explained its slow movements. Otherwise, with its agility, it could have avoided the attack.

It was a blue arrow.

Talli grabbed it before it could burn, pulling it out. She pressed her hand against the wound, listening for its heartbeat, even as the arrow burned in her palm, scalding her skin without her noticing.

The person who was collecting the prey came over, dragging the mutated ancient creature away, and tried to take the little fox from her arms.

“It died when it was hit. Give it to me now, don’t waste our time.”

“The overtime will end in less than five minutes. Why are you still here? Are you waiting to die?”

Talli stood there, her head buzzing for a while, before angrily swatting away the hand that was trying to take the fox. She trembled as she said, “It’s not dead! It’s not dead! I just heard its heartbeat—”

“Right, right…”

Talli frantically pulled out the red rune from her pocket. “I still have this, this thing…”

Tears fell from her eyes in big drops. “What’s going on? Why isn’t it working? Did Deritz lie to me? Did he give me a fake rune…?”

“You… how dare you speak the monarch’s name like that!!”

Several people were shocked, stretching out their hands to try and snatch the cold blue fox from Talli, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t take it from her. The girl tightly held the fox to her chest, as if clutching her last treasure, curling up her body and remaining completely still, refusing to let go despite their shouts and attempts to take it away.

“Enough!! How many times do I have to say it? It’s already dead!”

“This is the first time I’ve seen a human care so much for a beast. How could she have such deep feelings for a magical beast? I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“I just want to go back for the victory feast already, this is so unlucky!”

—

No matter what they said, Talli wouldn’t let go.

She kept her eyes tightly closed, as though she couldn’t hear any of the sounds from the outside world. The voices, the bird calls, the wind—all of it faded away. The pain in her body slowly drifted farther from her.

…Yes. Dusk was the only thing that had tied her to this world, the only thing that connected her to it. It had slowly opened her cold and closed heart, softening the barrier between her and the outside world with its fluffy body and smile.

But now, its body had become cold. Talli couldn’t do anything.

At that moment, she thought she understood Karl’s feelings—how hollow it felt inside, to the point where even the dull pain in her body and the sensory perception were fading away.

From now on, there would never be a little fox named “Dusk” by her side again.

—

“Countdown: thirty seconds!!”

The drunken angel laughed a few times. “I see it!! That human! What’s the highest score now?”

The Judgment Officer replied, “Thirty-seven points.”

The angel pulled out his bow, squinting. “I’m at thirty-three points. Add five, and I’ll have thirty-eight.”

He licked his lips, aiming at the small trembling figure curled up under the torchlight.

“The first place is mine!!—”

Just before the arrow left the bow, at the very moment the final syllable left his lips…

The angel’s arms were severed at the shoulders, falling to the ground.

The hunting platform was silent for three seconds before a piercing scream of pain erupted:

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

The people around him silently put down their bows and arrows, stepping back to avoid the blood splattering onto them.

The now sober angel knelt on the hunting platform, crawling in agony.

On the third floor, Deritz tightened his grip on the railing. He retracted his index finger, not looking down at the floor below, but instead staring in the direction of the hunting ground.

The blue fox was a fragment of his consciousness that he had sent out. Once separated, its actions were no longer under his control. Saving Talli was its own voluntary, even subconscious, action.

It was protecting her.

…Just like he was.

Before danger arrived, his actions made decisions faster than his heart did.

It was almost a terrifying habit.

After the overtime period ended, the surviving prey were brought to the front of the hunting ground. As a reward for surviving, they no longer had to participate in the ongoing hunt.

The pale, unsteady girl was among them. The fox she had been holding was now gone, leaving nothing behind. She dragged herself through a trail of blood, her eyes empty.

Deritz closed his eyes.

He saw the girl’s expression of pain and despair just as he had anticipated.

But he didn’t feel the satisfaction or sense of revenge he had imagined. Instead, his heart twisted along with her pain, a dull ache pulsing in his chest.

He raised a hand to press against his chest.

The blood flowing through that area contained the source of his power, the highest authority.

The Hunger Knight noticed and asked, “Are you feeling unwell, Your Majesty?”

Deritz’s face had turned somewhat pale.

He didn’t answer, only saying, “The hunt is over,” before leaving the hunting platform.

Everyone could see it.

The monarch was in a terrible mood.