Chapter 36
At this, the hunters cautiously offered their opinions.
“The bad smell will keep it away for a while. However…”
As he took a breath, another hunter continued.
“It’s angry, so it will definitely come back.”
“If we’re going to move, it has to be now, but…”
As yet another hunter trailed off, the others just exchanged glances.
Riina summarized succinctly:
“So, it has to be now, but even if we move now, it’s not safe.”
Unlike the hunters’ hesitation, Riina’s decision was quick.
Standing here deliberating would only increase the chances of being attacked by the black tiger again before coming up with a good plan.
“Start preparing to move. As quickly as possible. Take care of the injured first. Abandon anything that becomes a burden.”
After saying this, Riina’s gaze turned to the trophies Smith had caught.
The hunters couldn’t hide their troubled expressions.
For Riina, one word to ‘abandon’ would settle it.
But if the Third Prince were to ask for the trophies after reaching safety, the hunters who discarded them would bear the blame.
However, the hunters’ faces brightened at Riina’s next words.
“I’ll take full responsibility.”
As Riina waved her hand, the hunters bowed deeply before dispersing.
“Hey, check over there!”
“We need to mask the blood smell, so for now…”
“Urgh…”
“Hey, don’t lose consciousness!”
From those severely injured, trampled by the black tiger’s paw or hit by stray arrows…
“Can you stand?”
“It’s torn, but not too deep…”
To those with minor injuries.
Groans of the injured and voices of those tending to them echoed here and there, but they were close to whispers.
Although the black tiger had disappeared from sight, they couldn’t risk provoking it with loud noises.
“My lady, here’s some medicine. I got it while wandering around, and they say it’s very effective.”
Becky had somehow managed to weave through the unfamiliar hunters and even received some of their secret remedies.
Riina stayed still as Becky applied the slippery medicine that ran down her cheek, not bothering to wipe it off. Suddenly, she took a step forward.
“Huh? My lady, my lady?”
As her hand with the ointment sliced through the air, Becky hurriedly followed behind Riina, but soon the ointment ended up in the guard captain’s hands.
“Thank you.”
“They say it’s effective, so if we run out, I’ll try to get more. How’s the condition?”
Riina asked, looking down at the guard who seemed to have lost consciousness.
“It appears he lost consciousness from the shock of losing the use of his leg. The bone is definitely broken, but we’ll need a doctor to know the details.”
“I see. When we return to the family, assign him the best.”
Since Riina herself mentioned assigning ‘the best’, this guard would fully recover unless his leg was amputated.
Riina’s voice fell on the deeply bowing head of the guard captain.
“Thanks to you, I’ve completed what I needed to do.”
Although it wasn’t particularly high praise or commendation, a faint sense of pride appeared on the faces of the guard captain and the guards.
Even Becky, who had been pouting after having the supposedly most effective medicine taken away, felt a sense of pride.
Riina surveyed them with indifferent eyes and ordered:
“Everyone, prepare to move.”
Amidst the dispersing crowd, Riina searched for Jane, but she was nowhere to be seen.
Had she slipped away somewhere in the meantime?
Riina had managed to confirm what Jane was doing, at least.
But she couldn’t confirm exactly what she was doing.
It was contradictory, but that was the only way to explain it.
Riina soon shook her head.
The top priority now was to get out of this place.
As everyone found their task and performed their roles…
There was someone standing idly by, neither completely drained like the First Prince nor too injured to move.
“Your Highness, it’s dangerous to stay here.”
Smith didn’t even brush off the arm of the hunter who dared to roughly pull his arm, as he followed Riina’s empty trajectory with hollow eyes.
Clearly, if he had taken just a couple more steps and reached out his hand, he could have grasped her.
Crisis was supposed to be an opportunity… but.
His gaze persistently and tenaciously followed Riina.
At that level of intensity, she should have turned around at least once, but Riina was perfectly ignoring Smith.
At this rate, he might soon end up like those fools who kneel before her, begging for just one glance.
Smith shook his head roughly.
There was still, still a chance left.
Until they left this place and reached the safe zone.
No… was there?
Being the black tiger’s territory, no other beasts that could threaten them would appear.
But he had no intention of doing something as crazy as seeking out the black tiger on his own.
He knew that great danger brought great rewards, but if he couldn’t properly fend off the black tiger…
While the Third Prince was still lost in useless thoughts, preparations for moving progressed smoothly.
“Is this the end?”
With someone’s murmur, people’s movements almost simultaneously stopped.
Following Riina’s order to take care of the injured first, people carried those who couldn’t walk on their backs, while those who could walk on their own were supported by those with free hands.
Eventually, the gazes of the prepared people turned to one place, one by one.
Amidst the faint dust swirling, vibrant red hair shimmered in the sunlight.
Soon, a voice so calm and composed that it was hard to believe she had just faced off alone against the black tiger, rang out.
“We’re going back.”
* * *
With the guidance of experienced hunters and the careful vigilance of those following them…
As Riina had guessed, even without Einar’s visible presence, his luck seemed to have some influence. Fortunately, they were able to return to the starting point without encountering the black tiger or other beasts.
“Oh my, Your Highness!”
“Quickly, this way!”
Those who saw the nearly collapsed state of the First Prince fussed as they moved him, while others approached with faces full of confusion and bewilderment.
With the hunting competition in full swing, almost all those with actual combat abilities had left their posts, but there were people to tend to the injured and comfort the exhausted.
“Phew.”
The shoulders of those who had been on edge gradually began to relax.
As the aftermath was being handled properly without the need for individual orders, Riina surveyed the surroundings broadly.
“So you’re back.”
Somehow, Jane was briefly visible among the busy servants before disappearing again.
“My lady!”
Becky, who had been doing who-knows-what somewhere, was again carrying an armful of something.
But soon she put those things down and fumbled at her own chest as she began to speak.
“Whew, it should be fine now. I found this…”
She couldn’t finish her sentence.
-Crack!
Because with the sound of breaking wood, a black beast dropped right in the middle of the clearing.
“ROAR!”
The beast, as soon as its feet touched the ground, lowered its body and then immediately arched its back, letting out a long roar.
The black tiger, despite being the focus of everyone’s attention, just flared its nostrils without blinking.
“Gasp!”
“Ky-kyaaah!”
-Clang!
-Thud.
The sound of breaking teacups, along with uncontrollable screams and the sound of someone collapsing, rang out one after another.
Naturally, the black tiger’s ears twitched greatly, and its whiskers stood on end.
As the black tiger puffed up its body and bared its teeth, a mixture of shock and dismay leaked from those who saw it.
“This… this can’t be.”
“Here, all of a sudden?”
“What on earth is this?”
Even the hunters who had come to this safe zone to escape the black tiger couldn’t hide their bewilderment.
If there had been any sign of the black tiger following, they wouldn’t have leisurely come here without a thought.
Hadn’t more than ten hunters constantly monitored the surroundings, confirming that the black tiger wasn’t following?
But what is this?
“If… if it’s a coincidence, it’s too unlucky…”
Someone’s words burst out along with a sigh.
Yes, as someone muttered, wasn’t this an incredibly unlucky event?
Why on earth was the fiercest and most dangerous beast, which should have been lurking somewhere on the opposite side of the forest by now, here?
It was a mystery when and how it had come here.
“Surely no one shot an arrow…”
They recalled the single arrow that had first provoked the black tiger’s rampage, but soon shook their heads.
If someone had drawn a bow and shot during their careful movement, it couldn’t have gone unnoticed.
Faced with the pitch-black tiger, those who had turned pale searched for a reason for this incomprehensible event, but no one could provide a satisfactory answer.
A few minutes after Riina and the others had left for the safe zone.
The black tiger, which had leaped at the stench that assaulted its nose, returned to its spot to smell the ‘good’ scent that was different from the terrible one, after the smell had somewhat subsided.
‘Grr.’
But the grass that had given off the good smell had long since been dug up by Jane.
‘Grrrrr!’
Frustrated, the black tiger had followed the ‘scent’ invisible to human eyes, but how could people know about a scent that only beasts could smell?
Especially if that ‘scent’ only occurred in this forest where the hunting competition was held, at precisely this time.
So from their perspective, they could only think that the black tiger had coincidentally burst in here, of all places, at this time.
The gaze of the black tiger, which had been flaring its nostrils, turned in two directions.
