CH 23

At the sound of an arrow flying, Samuel quickly turned his head.

Thunk!

The arrow landed not far from a nearby tree.

A voice echoed through the densely packed trees in the forest.

“Sorry, Samuel. I mistook you for prey because I couldn’t see well.”

Riett offered an apology smoothly.

The exact location of the voice was unclear, but it was quite far away.

‘This…!’

Samuel tightened his grip on his bow, wary of the invisible Riett.

It was already the third time.

Although it felt intentionally targeted, there wasn’t much he could say since he hadn’t been directly hit by an arrow.

But he had a hunch. Riett intended for this situation from the beginning.

The feeling of strangeness started when they chose their partners before the hunt.

* * *

The hunt was conducted with pairs of students. The forest was vast, and getting lost or encountering dangerous animals was a possibility.

It was when the teacher was looking around to find Samuel’s partner.

“Samuel…”

“Me!”

Riett quickly raised their hand. Everyone looked at Riett with surprised faces, including the teacher who was aware of yesterday’s incident.

“Riett…?”

“I want to be with Samuel.”

“But you two…”

The teacher pondered while recalling yesterday’s incident during the swordsmanship class.

“I know what you’re worried about. Yes, I got hurt during the sparring with Samuel yesterday, but it was an accident. Samuel even apologized in the morning.”

Riett smiled and looked at Samuel.

“Right, Samuel?”

“Huh? Uh… Yeah, that’s right.”

“See, teacher! There’s no reason why we can’t do it, right?”

Unconsciously, Samuel nodded in response to Riett’s gentle question.

The sudden change in Riett’s attitude felt very strange in this situation, but on the other hand, he couldn’t help but think it might be a signal.

‘Maybe because of what happened yesterday, Riett feels the need to show deference to me.’

Thinking that way, he didn’t feel bad. Instead, his lips subtly curled up.

“Well then, I’ll pair Riett and Samuel together. Head to the forest east of the hunting ground.”

“Yes.”

“Oh, and I heard there’s been a sighting of a giant gray bear recently, so be extra cautious.”

With the teacher’s final words, the two of them rode horses prepared by the school and headed toward the eastern forest.

Tak-tak- As the sound of horse hooves echoed through the quiet forest path, Samuel glanced at Riett. Her fiery red hair fluttered in sync with the horse’s footsteps.

Her face looked a little tired, but it wasn’t significantly different from usual.

After getting injured in the side by a sword yesterday and pale-faced, he thought Riett would take some time to recover. But here she was, leaving for school the very next day.

“Riett, don’t be stubborn.”

“……”

“Stay behind me and I’ll protect you.”

In an instant, Riett’s contemptuous gaze reached him.

His attitude was different from earlier when they were in front of the teacher. He thought he had changed her mind and would act meekly.

“I’ll turn this way, you turn that way.”

When they arrived at the forest, Riett spoke in a commanding tone.

Before Samuel could say no, Riett had already distanced herself and quickly concealed her presence among the dense trees.

“Why did you agree to team up with me if you were going to do this?”

Samuel muttered in frustration, slowly pacing his words.

Had she been searching for prey all this time?

“It won’t work.”

Perhaps due to the eerily quiet forest, the prey didn’t reveal itself easily.

Samuel decided to tie his horse by the lake and search on foot.

Before long, he spotted a rabbit.

‘Ah, finally.’

Approaching stealthily, just as he was about to pull the bowstring,

Snap!

An arrow flew and struck the ground right beneath his foot. It wasn’t his arrow.

Samuel looked around with a puzzled expression. Riett stood far away, holding a bow.

When Samuel made eye contact with her, Riett waved her hand frantically.

“I aimed wrong! Sorry!”

While Samuel was taken aback, the rabbit naturally fled. Samuel grabbed a tuft of grass and scattered it in the air in frustration.

“Awww, c’mon!”

They had finally found prey, and now they were empty-handed. Samuel glared at the spot where Riett had been standing, then changed his direction.

Fortunately, not far away, they encountered a deer. This was their chance. Samuel lowered his footsteps, crouched down, and slowly pulled the bowstring.

But suddenly,

Whoosh!

He hurriedly lowered his head, feeling something flying from behind. Looking up, he saw an arrow stuck right above his head.

A shiver ran down his spine.

Sure enough, Riett’s voice echoed from a distance.

“It was Samuel! I mistook him for a deer since I saw from afar!”

Samuel clenched his teeth.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?”

Despite his anger, there was no response as to where she had disappeared.

And this spine-chilling situation didn’t end there. He narrowly avoided getting hit by arrows three more times. Each time, the arrows grazed by, leaving him unharmed, but now he grew nervous with every step he took.

It felt like he was walking through a maze with booby traps.

If she appeared nearby, he would definitely yell at her, asking what she was up to, but Riett, like a ghost, hid far away and repeated only one thing: that it was a “mistake.”

Honestly, he felt like running away from this wretched forest right away, but if he did, he would end up looking foolish again.

Fine, it’s better to stay still.

If he did nothing and didn’t target any prey, she wouldn’t bother him.

Samuel lowered his waist by the lake, trying to suppress his dry throat.

But at that moment,

Whoosh!

Startled by an unexpected ambush, Samuel, in an attempt to evade it, ended up falling into the water.

“Ugh.”

Struggling in the water like a drowning mouse, Samuel barely managed to reach his hand out and pull himself up onto the ground. The arrow was indeed lodged right in front of where he had been standing. Moreover, it was right between the shoulder blades.

If he had deviated even slightly or if it had hit him there…

Overwhelmed by a chilling thought, Samuel shivered. It was not about his pride or anything like that. First of all, he had to stop this madness.

“Riett!”

Samuel’s voice echoed loudly through the serene forest.

“I’m sorry! I don’t know what I was thinking!”

Samuel shouted, indicating surrender.

“Let’s talk, Riett, please.”

At that moment, a voice came from afar, like a hallucination.

“Then apologize properly.”

“What?”

Samuel turned around, looking around to locate the source of the sound, but, as expected, there was no sign of anyone hiding.

“For making such a trashy proposal to me.”

His past words brushed through his mind.

“In return, help me become third. Then I’ll protect you so that you can be as beautiful and noble as this flower.” 

No matter how upset she felt, he couldn’t believe she had done such a thing. He knew Riett was different from other girls, but he never expected it to be this extreme.

However, for now, he had to cater to Riett’s whims. If he made a slip of the tongue, he didn’t know where an arrow might come from.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you well and spoke out of line.“

Apologizing in a meek voice, Samuel saw Riett emerge from behind a distant tree.

However, she still had her bow drawn, ready to shoot at any moment.

Riett seemed exhausted from the whole day’s ordeal, and he could sense the sweat dripping off her, but she forced herself to endure.

“And the despicable things you did yesterday.”

Riett stared at Samuel with her crimson eyes, as if passing judgment.

From today onward, Samuel finally realized that Riett hadn’t simply achieved second place for no reason. Riett’s arrows had struck him with almost mechanical precision. She could have hit him properly at any time if she had wanted to.

Samuel swallowed his saliva and looked at Riett.

Though he wanted to rush at her immediately upon seeing her true form, he couldn’t. Riett’s arrow would find its mark in his body faster than he could reach her.

Silently apologizing, Samuel handed over his apology.

“I’m sorry, it was my mistake.”

However, even with the apology, Riett’s merciless arrow grazed Samuel’s cheek.

Blood trickled down his cheek.

“Blood, blood…”

“Sorry, I made a mistake too.”

Riett spoke as she put away her bow.

Samuel used his sleeve to wipe the blood flowing from his cheek. Then, looking at Riett, he shouted.

“Why did you shoot? I apologized!”

“Because it was a mistake.”

“A mistake? No, it was clearly intentional…”

“Samuel.”

Riett called his name sternly, causing Samuel to flinch for a moment.

Riett’s harsh voice continued.

“Like when you mistakenly drew your sword and aimed for my waist, this is also a ‘mistake’.” 

Samuel fell silent for a moment. 

‘Wow, this is insane…’

“You think I’ve completely lost it.”

“…”

“I can do worse, so don’t you dare touch me from now on.”

Samuel managed to stop himself from nodding. It was his last shred of dignity. And at that moment, he felt a certain thought arise. 

No matter how superior his swordsmanship and archery skills were compared to other men, Riett was a delicate woman. Now that she wasn’t pulling the bowstring, perhaps he could take advantage of this opportunity and rid himself of this humiliation.

As he slowly assessed the situation, expecting a counterattack, Riett swiftly retrieved an arrow from her quiver and readied her stance. Samuel’s pupils trembled in astonishment. 

‘She can even read my inner thoughts?’

“Shut your mouth and lower your stance slowly,” 

Riett said quietly, her gaze fixed somewhere behind Samuel’s back.

Perplexed by her authoritative attitude without even looking at him, Samuel asked, 

“What are you looking at?”

“I told you to shut your mouth.” 

Riett’s commanding tone made Samuel flinch.

“Hey! Tell me what’s going on…”

Before Samuel could finish his sentence, Riett released an arrow. Samuel, regretting his misplaced taunting, closed his eyes, expecting the arrow to once again strike his mouth.

But he felt no pain. Before he could comprehend the situation, a chilling cry of an animal came from behind.

Samuel turned around and lost his composure upon discovering a roaring, massive bear. Riett quickly mounted the horse she had positioned nearby and struck Samuel’s head.

“If you don’t want to die, run!”

Samuel blinked his eyes a few times. A gray bear, struck by an arrow, was approaching him. The problem was that the bear was unbelievably huge and fast.

In a hurry, Samuel also mounted the horse. 

“W-What is that?”

“It’s a bear that found its prey thanks to your stupidity!”

Ah, so that’s why she told him to be quiet and lower his stance earlier. However, there was no time for peaceful reflection. As Samuel glanced back, he saw the monstrous gray bear rapidly closing in on them.

“Riett, do something! You’re skilled with a bow…”

“Look ahead!”

While looking at Riett, Samuel’s face collided with a low-hanging branch, causing him to fall off the horse. His words were already far away, escaping on their own. The gray bear, not far behind, drooled as it closed the distance.

Startled by his fall, Samuel hurriedly approached Riett, who had stopped in surprise. 

“R-Riett, please save me.”

In a panicked state, Samuel grasped the horse’s leg that Riett was riding. An alarmed Riett pushed Samuel’s head away.

“What are you doing? If you want to die, die alone!”

In the meantime, the gray bear revealed itself, approaching dangerously close.