Chapter 68. Hunting Competition (1)
‘Just when is he coming?’
The successor of the assassin's guild ‘Black Fang’, Tunia Fiore, was hiding in the hunting ground.
It had already been over an hour since the hunting competition started.
She had confirmed that other royals and nobles had passed by.
However, her target was nowhere to be seen.
Tunia, who had been lying in wait for several hours, was starting to have doubts.
‘Did he even participate in the hunting competition?’
Upon hearing the news that the imperial-hosted hunting competition was being held, she had considered this a golden opportunity.
The security at the academy was too tight.
It wasn't easy to infiltrate in the first place, but once inside, it was even more like a fortress.
Completing her mission while avoiding the eyes of the patrolling flying golems was not easy even for her, a first-class assassin.
Countless assassination attempts.
However, the number of attempts that actually posed a threat to the 8th Prince was small enough to be counted on one hand.
She readily admitted her limitations.
It was time to change the stage.
‘It’s possible here.’
A secluded hunting ground, cut off from people.
The area of the hunting ground was so vast that it was difficult to report the situation immediately even if something dangerous happened.
At best, one could reveal their location by shooting a magic bullet, but it would take time for the attendants waiting outside to get here.
Her usual method was to attempt an assassination secretly from a place where the target's sight did not reach, but now was not the time to be picky about such things.
The 8th Prince already knew her identity.
She didn't want to be played by the vicious 8th Prince anymore.
‘I’ll take him out one-on-one.’
Tunia was also confident in close combat.
Although the 8th Prince was rumored to be a skilled person, it would not be easy for him to defeat her, who had been trained as an assassin since childhood.
Tunia tried to regain her lost confidence as she made her plan.
The plan was to wait in advance and take out the 8th Prince when he was alone.
First, she climbed a tree where she could survey a wide area and lay in wait.
However, no matter how long she waited, the 8th Prince, her assassination target, did not appear.
‘What on earth is he doing instead of hunting as he’s supposed to?’
Tunia had no idea that the 8th Prince was collecting alchemy ingredients…
* * *
“Here’s some too.”
Radel took a few more steps, found some herbs, and stopped.
Perhaps because people usually didn't enter the imperial hunting ground, they were in good condition.
“If I had more time, I’d look around properly.”
Radel lamented as he put the collected herbs into his bag.
It was a shame that this was a hunting competition.
Still, he hadn't expected to be able to collect this much.
The backpack Edward had given him had a space expansion spell on it, so he could put in more herbs than he thought.
‘He said it would be useful, and indeed.’
It was truly useful, just as Edward had said.
Even Radel, who had no interest in artifacts or items, thought it was useful. It even had a function where you could put your hand in the backpack, think of the item you wanted, and it would immediately be in your grasp.
Space expansion magic.
It was a tricky magic that few magicians could use.
Applying it permanently to an item was much more difficult than just using the magic.
It must not have been easy for Earl Paradik to obtain this bag either.
According to Inette, it was an item that was hard to buy even with money, and there were only a few artisans in the empire who could make such items.
If one had the ability to make something like this, it wouldn't be that difficult to earn an astronomical amount of money.
“I should take a magical tool class too.”
However, there were no magical tool classes that could be taken in the first semester of the first year.
According to the seniors, you had to master magic circles, alchemy, and transformation magic to be able to take a magical tool class.
As expected, the path to making money was not easy.
Radel decided to focus on alchemy first and squatted down again, holding his hoe.
Radel, who was diligently collecting ingredients, stopped as if he had realized something.
“Oops, it’s still a hunting competition, so I should at least catch a few monsters.”
He remembered Senior Shartea’s words that she was looking forward to his performance in the hunting competition. He also remembered the faces of Seniors Pasion and Anesha, who had told him to be sure to come back alive.
Even if it wasn't a great performance, he needed to catch a monster.
But strangely, he couldn't see any monsters.
Not even a rabbit, let alone a monster, was in sight.
It could be like that at the entrance of the hunting ground.
The participants who had entered before Radel would have caught them.
But even after entering the inner part of the hunting ground, he still couldn't see any monsters.
“Come to think of it, where am I?”
It seemed he had gone deeper while digging for herbs, but in any case, seeing that there were no people around, he had succeeded in his first goal of getting away from the other participants.
Now it was time to move on to the next goal of attracting the assassin's attention.
Radel deliberately sat on the side of the road to rest and even climbed a tree for no reason, trying to show a gap.
It was to make it easy for the assassin to appear if they were nearby.
“...Not yet.”
But no matter how long he waited, there was no news.
He thought that it might have been too much to ask for them to follow him all the way to the imperial hunting ground.
‘No. They might be looking for me but haven’t found me.’
It might have been a complacent thought that the assassin would come to him if he just stayed still.
It seemed he had to change his method.
Fighting a monster was also a good way. If he caused a big commotion, he would surely stand out.
For that, fighting a large and strong monster was the best.
Just then, Radel saw a trail of something that had passed through the bushes. Looking at its size and shape, it wasn't an animal.
“A monster?”
He had a feeling.
He couldn't just pass by.
A trail of something large that had dragged its body along.
It was also understandable that there were no monsters or animals in this area. They would have moved to another place to avoid it.
Radel used the knowledge he had learned in his Cryptozoology class to track the monster's trail.
Soon, a cave that looked like a large monster lived in it appeared before his eyes.
“This one must be huge.”
Looking at the cave, he could guess the size of the monster.
Is it right to lure this one out?
Radel hesitated for a moment.
“If you’re going to cause trouble, you might as well go big.”
It was a decision he had already made.
If he didn't catch the assassin's tail here, he would have to go back to the academy and endure a tedious fight.
Hadn't he decided to take on not only the assassin but also the organization behind them?
For that, it was important to accurately identify the enemy. That way, things would be easier later.
“Let’s lure it out.”
Radel examined the cave.
The remains of half-eaten monsters were rolling around at the entrance. Looking at the traces, it was likely that it didn't eat its prey whole but had poisonous fangs and consumed only its bodily fluids.
There were scorched marks on the ground nearby.
It was highly likely that it was a fire-attribute monster.
‘Cryptozoology is helpful at times like this.’
He remembered climbing and descending the mountain several times with Professor Donton, looking for traces or droppings of magical beasts.
What he had learned back then was a great help now.
Radel slowly circled the cave as he had learned from Professor Donton, checking if there were any other entrances.
There were monsters that made two or three entrances. They were usually passages made to escape to another place when attacked by an enemy.
However, this cave had only one entrance. It meant that a retreat route was unnecessary.
The one living here was undoubtedly the absolute predator of this area.
If there was only one entrance, the preparations were easy.
Radel went around and collected dry branches.
“Ignite!”
With a sizzling sound, fire spewed out from the tip of his staff and spread to the branches.
Radel also picked a handful of the herbs he had seen earlier.
It was the blue sow thistle he had learned about from Professor Donton in his Cryptozoology class.
Burning this would produce a smoke that magical beasts disliked, so it was said to be good to burn this grass and make smoke when passing through monster-infested areas.
When he threw the blue sow thistle into the bonfire, a pungent smoke soon rose.
Now it was time to send the smoke towards the cave.
Radel quickly took out his staff and chanted a spell.
“Wind!”
The wind wrapped around the smoke from the bonfire and entered the cave.
Making a bonfire like this, it felt like he was at a campsite rather than a hunting competition.
Well, he had never participated in another hunting competition, so he had no experience to compare it with.
‘No. Haven’t I been to a hunting competition once before?’
A memory from his childhood came to Radel’s mind.
The memory that had tormented him until he remembered his past life.
It was the incident where his mother had shielded him and lost her life.
He couldn't remember the detailed situation, but he remembered a large monster rushing towards him.
‘That was also a hunting competition.’
And it was a hunting competition hosted by the imperial family.
Looking back, it was strange.
The tent where the royals and nobles had gathered.
It wasn't a place where a monster that had run out of the hunting ground would suddenly attack.
There would have been knights and guards.
Besides, no matter how strong a monster was, it wouldn't just attack a place with many people. It might have been possible if it was in a confused state...
Bang!
Just then, a tremendous roar was heard from inside the cave.
Radel stopped thinking and looked towards the cave.
- Kkieek!
It was a loud sound that made his ears ring.
As expected, it didn't seem to be an ordinary monster.
Radel was rather relieved.
If he was going to lure it out, the bigger the better.
Rumble!
Finally, struggling against the pungent smoke, the monster revealed itself.
It was bumping its body and head inside the cave, as if the smell of the blue sow thistle was tormenting it.
Shashak!
What finally appeared outside the cave was a red-headed fire centipede.
Its long body was pitch black, its head was red, and it had a pair of legs on each segment of its body.
Above all, its huge poisonous fangs were impressive.
“You’re finally out.”
Its appearance was overwhelming, but its size was even more so.
When it raised its body, its head was about to break through the forest.
It was a monster Radel had seen before.
It was a tricky one to catch because it could even use fire attacks.
With this, it would be easy to fake a story of dying while catching a monster, right?
It was a situation that an assassin would love.
Radel felt satisfied and drew his sword.
And he shouted at the centipede that had not yet discovered him.
“Over here!”
The red-headed fire centipede, which had been struggling in the smoke, discovered Radel, writhed, and opened its mouth.
Whoosh!
Its poisonous fangs opened, and flames spewed out from between them.
Radel threw himself to avoid the flames.
The fire attack grazed past Radel's front.
It was a close call, but he was also proud of himself for luring out such a monster.
If he fought hard here, the assassin would definitely appear.
No, they would definitely appear.
This was a conviction.
But there was something Radel hadn't thought of.
The more he rampaged, the more he would stand out not only to the assassin but also to others.
And the fact that there was more than one person targeting Radel right now.