The Predator’s Contract Partner

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‘I hope they’re not overdoing the hunt because of me.’

Even ladies who enjoy hunting went into the hunting grounds lightly. Other knights also started hunting busily.

All the rest of the people who didn’t participate, like Elisha, occupied themselves with tea. Then, finally, she sat down with Ilione at a table under a tree.

“I heard that there are monsters in the forest.”

Illione nodded her head at Elisha’s question.

“That’s right.”

“Lucerne has a guardian, so he’ll be fine, right?”

“Oh, don’t you know? Magic and other powers are prohibited.”

Elisha was worried about him. But, even though she knew that worrying about him was futile, she was strangely anxious.

‘Could Lucerne get hurt while hunting?’

She bit her lip.

“Are you okay, Elisha?”

“Yes? Of course, I’m fine.”

Elisha suppressed her agitation and took a sip of her tea. Her hands quivered.

‘What am I thinking? What happened in my previous life and the current situation are obviously different.’

Later, that day’s hunting festival was cut ridiculously short.

People stood up in amazement when a cart loaded with the prey of the Black Lion Knights appeared from the forest.

“Was there that much to hunt?”

“So much prey in such a short amount of time?”

Countless prey piled up in front of Elisha. There were too many rabbits to count, and among the wild beasts, there were wild cats, silver foxes, red foxes, and even monsters with terrible appearances.

“All for you madam!”

The knights rushed forward.

“As you know, monsters are recognized with double the points measured by their weight… … . There’s no point in measuring the score.”

The prey piled up in front of Elisha was so great that a general in charge of refereeing gave up on scoring.

“Since the Black Lion Knights monopolized over 80% of the game, this can hardly be called a competition.”

“Is there a problem? We only used bows and swords as per regulations. Besides, those of the level of master swordsmen or higher sealed their auras.”

Someone muttered in a sardonic, dissatisfied voice, but when Lapis snapped back, he couldn’t say a word.

‘Looks like things have gotten bigger.’

Elisha had a headache.

“Oh, that’s great. As expected, the momentum of the Black Lion Knights is extraordinary. To hunt all these high-scoring demons,”

The emperor remarked with satisfaction. The Black Lion Knights were a symbolic order of imperial knights who had defended the empire several times. So it was natural for the emperor to be delighted.

“Are you done already?”

Then Lucerne walked out of the woods. Behind him were the servants pulling the cart. Elisha was horrified to see a giant tiger lying on top of the massive cart.

The tiger was a creature that even the most educated and well-traveled knew through books. However, when inspected closely at the tiger, the fur between the patterns on the body was not yellow but gold.

‘Is that a monster and not a tiger?’

Besides, the body was two or three times bigger than the one she had read about. The large cart, drawn by six horses, by comparison, seemed small.

“It’s really amazing that he caught that tiger demon.”

“There was a prey like that today?”

People rushed over to watch the game. Others shouted excitedly and pointed their fingers at the prey.

“Surely that beast is the prey with the highest score in today’s hunting competition, right?”

the empress asked. The emperor was very fond of hunting and knew all about the characteristics of prey and how to catch it. So, from monsters to small rabbits, he knew how to score each one.

“No, that’s not it. It seems the general couldn’t find it either.”

Lucerne narrowed his eyes at the emperor’s words. He put his palms over his eyes like a sunshade and looked up at the sky. Then there was a loud flapping of wings in the sky.

“Bring my crossbow.”

“Yes.”

Ian and Nora grunted and hurriedly fetched his crossbow. Lucerne’s bow was twice the size of a standard one. He drew his bow and aimed it at the sky.

“Oops, he found the demon with the highest score. The general’s eyes cannot be fooled.”

The emperor’s mouth overflowed with joy.

Woosh—

A crossbow was fired. The noise of the wind was so loud that some noble ladies were frightened and hid behind the knights. Soon there was the sound of something falling from the sky.

“Hit!”

one of the imperial servants exclaimed. Cheers spread among the people. The emperor rose from his seat and approached.

“How did you know?”

“There was the remains of a big fish in the spring water in the forest, dried up. A characteristic of the thunder kingfisher is that it catches the big fish first. In addition, some fish died from having their heads crushed. When that bird catches a fish, it kills it by striking its head against a rock.”

“Great, very good!”

The emperor rose from his seat and was generous with his praise. Soon after, servants, accompanied by hounds, hurriedly ran to pick up the bird that had fallen in the woods.

“It is very beautiful.”

The bird was astonishingly beautiful even to Elisha. Blue feathers of the like that she had never seen before in both of her lives donned the massive body.

‘A turquoise bird. It’s the first time I’ve seen anything like this.’

Turquoise jewels were also seen only once in her previous life. However, the color of the bird was richer than that. It was a brighter and lighter blue than sapphire, but it was so beautifully exquisite that it made her eyes glisten.