CH 24

Samuel held onto the horse’s reins like a lifeline, refusing to be easily thrown off despite the horse’s thrashing. In fact, due to the horse’s struggle, Riett almost lost her balance. In this state, it was difficult for them to even shoot an arrow toward the bear.

‘No good.’

Riett dismounted from the horse.

“If we go back, you know we’ll die.”

Riett swiftly pushed aside Samuel, who pretended to look pitiful and drew out an arrow. She aimed at the charging bear.

Whooosh!

The arrow flew and struck the bear’s leg. The bear, which had been running at high speed, stumbled and fell.

It was a perfect opportunity. They had to hit the vulnerable spot when the bear was down.

Riett reached back and grabbed the quiver.

‘Just one, no… maybe two.’

There weren’t many arrows left. Riett took out an arrow and aimed at the bear once again.

As soon as the arrowhead pointed toward the bear’s head,

‘Now.’

She released the bowstring.

However, the arrow narrowly missed the bear, which had risen faster than expected. The only fortunate thing was that the bear’s speed had significantly slowed down.

‘Huh?’

Turning back to mount the horse again, Riett could not help but be taken aback. The horse, which had been dismounted, was running away upon seeing the bear.

Riett reluctantly turned and ran after the horse. Seeing Riett disappearing, Samuel quickly stood up from his position.

“Riett! Let’s go!”

The two of them ran wildly until their breaths were almost completely exhausted.

Only the sound of their footsteps echoed through the quiet forest. In the distance, the thumping sound could be heard, indicating that the bear had not given up on its prey.

However, Riett soon had to stop.

“Heh… Riett, I feel like I’m going to die from exhaustion…”

Samuel gasped for breath, expressing his pain. But there was no response from Riett. It seemed that Riett had not stopped due to being out of breath.

“Riett…?”

“It’s a dead-end.”

They had reached a dead-end.

Riett seemed to have a parched mouth due to the desperate situation. Moreover, there was only one arrow left.

Restlessly, Riett called out to Samuel.

“Samuel.”

“What… what?”

“Where is your quiver?”

“… I dropped it when I fell off the horse earlier.”

Really, this useless kid. Another stream of curses flowed from Riett’s mouth.

Thump, thump. The sound of the bear’s footsteps was getting closer.

The wound on Riett’s side was growing worse due to today’s reckless actions. Blood was slowly seeping out, and the pain became more intense. As a result, concentration started to fade.

Moreover, there was only one arrow left. They had to be extremely cautious.

It seemed that they needed bait to increase accuracy.

“Samuel, you attract its attention.”

“What?!”

Samuel exclaimed in fear as he looked at Riett. Her gaze was chilling.

“It’s worth the hefty price.”

“I’m going to die, but I’m going to care about the price!”

The bear revealed its fierce nature and showed itself. Considering it chased them this far even after being hit by two arrows, it must have been starving for quite a while. The gray bear approached, drooling.

“Hurry!”

Riett smacked Samuel’s buttocks. Disoriented, Samuel stumbled and fell in front of the bear.

“Yikes!”

When Riett saw that the decoy was only trembling with its head wrapped, she let out a loud yell.

“What are you doing? Get up and run! The bear is slower than you right now!”

In response to Riett’s shout, Samuel staggered to his feet like a newborn deer. Then he started darting around the edge of the cliff, attracting the bear’s attention.

Riett watched from a distance, reaching into the quiver to shoot her last arrow.

But when she pulled out the arrow…

‘Oh…’

The arrowhead was missing.

Seeing only a long, useless shaft in her hand, Riett’s face turned pale in an instant.

“Ah!”

At that moment, Samuel stumbled over a rock while trying to escape, hitting his head and losing consciousness.

The bear growled and approached its fallen prey. It seemed like Samuel would be torn apart soon.

‘Ugh, this is not helpful.’

Riett looked at her arrow without a tip and adjusted her stance. Without a tip, she couldn’t deliver a fatal blow, but since it had already been hit twice, she didn’t know if she could injure the bear with just the shaft.

Taking a deep breath, Riett pulled the bowstring with all her strength. When her arm trembled on the taut bowstring, she let the arrow fly.

Thunk!

“Got it…!”

She hit the bear right around the heart. The bear writhed in agony and let out a painful roar.

However, Riett soon realized that her actions were wrong.

She couldn’t inflict a significant injury with just the shaft. Instead, the bear’s target shifted from Samuel to herself.

Now, with only evil intentions left, the bear stared at Riett as if it would make her its final opponent. Riett’s hand holding the bow was sweaty.

‘Darn it.’

Roar!

The bear attacked Riett, pouncing on top of her. The enormous gray bear’s teeth loomed in front of her. Faced with the fear of death, Riett swallowed her saliva.

‘Is this how I die?’

It was her second brush with death.

Even though she was hit again, death remained unfamiliar. And she despised this unfamiliar feeling, which sent shivers down her spine.

In an instant, many things seeped into her vision as if in slow motion.

Why was the sky so brilliantly blue today? She envies the birds flying busily.

If she could only fly like that… If she had some special power… she could escape this situation right now.

‘I don’t want to die, after all.’

Riett tightly grasped the bow.

‘I’ll do whatever I can.’

In the end, to make one final effort, she tightly held the bow.

But the bear was faster. Its enormous teeth approached Riett’s face as if about to devour her. There was no way out anymore.

At the fleeting moment on the brink of death, the wind blew fiercely. As a gust swept through the tranquil forest, a bear, unable to withstand the strong wind, halted and closed its eyes. 

Seizing the opportunity, Riett didn’t miss a beat and exclaimed,

‘Now!’

Swish! She swiftly pierced the bear’s side with an arrow. The bear let out a pained roar. In agony, it eventually collapsed with a thud.

Gazing at the motionless bear, Riett murmured, 

“…We won.” 

Taking a moment to catch her breath, Riett slowly rose to her feet. Reflecting on what had just happened, it felt as though all her strength had drained away. She had come dangerously close to losing her life. 

If the gust of wind hadn’t blown at that precise moment if the bear hadn’t closed its eyes, it wouldn’t have been the bear, but Riett herself who would have ceased to breathe.

‘Come to think of it, what was that wind earlier?’ 

Even after wandering through the forest for hours, the wind had never blown so forcefully before. It had only been a gentle breeze that barely rustled the leaves, but at the crucial moment, a strong wind suddenly swept through.

‘Could it be… me?’

Riett looked down at her own hands. 

“Am I able to use magic?” 

Otherwise, there was no way such an unnatural wind could have blown. As they say, in the face of a crisis, an opportunity arises. The dizzying situation of discovering a hidden ability quickly evaporated from her mind.

“Ah… my head.” 

At that moment, Samuel’s voice came from behind. Samuel groaned and opened his eyes. 

“Riett… we’re alive… aaah!” 

As Samuel spoke, he noticed the enormous gray bear lying motionless and screamed, 

“Did… did you bring it down, Riett?”

Riett didn’t say a word, but her arrow lodged in the bear’s flank served as a silent answer. She had taken care of everything while he was unconscious. It was unbelievable. Just facing that monster-like bear made his legs tremble, yet Riett had dealt with it all by herself.

Riett casually wiped the blood from her hands, and for a moment, it seemed as if a halo of light illuminated her from behind. Overwhelmed by awe, Samuel found himself unable to react for a moment. Riett was the one who broke the silence first.

“Haah.” 

Riett ran her hand through her hair and let out a sigh. 

“I almost died because of you.” 

Her self-blaming tone made Samuel’s head droop as if it would sink into the ground. 

“I’m sorry, Riett.” 

It was completely different from the apology at the lakeside. This time, it carried genuine sincerity that came from the depths of his heart. 

“I truly have no excuse.”

“…” 

“If your anger doesn’t subside, you can hit me.” 

Before Samuel could finish his sentence, Riett’s fist moved. Filled with all the frustration she had endured, Riett struck Samuel’s face. Samuel clutched his stinging cheek. Indeed, her punch wasn’t just hot; it was scorching like lava.

However, he didn’t feel bad about it. Instead, he thought, 

‘…Why does it feel exhilarating?’ 

Samuel was momentarily mesmerized, unable to take his eyes off Riett as she coolly turned around and walked away.

* * *

After the incident of Riett’s giant bear hunt, a few days later, the school buzzed with excitement again. At the center of the discussion were, as expected, Riett and Samuel. Their changed relationship sparked curiosity among the children. While it was true that Samuel remained the leader of the troublemakers, there was a significant change in one aspect.

“Riett…!”

Samuel, who had been sitting and fooling around with the troublemaker kids at the schoolyard, quickly stood up as Riett passed by. He meticulously wiped the seat with his sleeve.

“Sit here…!”

Riett, who was looking for a sunny spot to eat lunch, casually nodded her head.

“Oh, thanks. Samuel.”

When Riett lightly tapped Samuel’s back, Samuel’s expression became ecstatic as if he had received a commendation. Feeling uncomfortable with his reaction, Riett paused and gestured.

“Go now.”

Samuel nodded his head with a subdued expression. Without saying more or less, he disappeared cleanly according to Riett’s command.

Then the surroundings became quiet. Satisfied, Riett sat down and took out her lunchbox. Today, Lucas wasn’t there, so it was an unexpectedly peaceful day.

“Oh, Riett, right?”

“Yeah, Riett.”

…If only the murmuring voices were absent.

“Wow, did you see it earlier? Samuel’s attitude completely changed.”

“Did you hear about the hunting lesson? Riett caught a gray bear.”

“They say that gray bear is a monster that has eaten fifty people so far.”

Like the conversations of these kids, Riett’s heroic tale spread through the school as if it had sprouted wings. Now, her story could be heard from all directions.

“Don’t talk. Riett defeated that monster bear alone. Samuel fainted.”

“Wow, she’s amazing.”

It wasn’t bad. Now, there was no one to pick a fight with her unnecessarily.

However, there was one problem.

“But how did she catch it?”

“They said it happened during archery class. She shot it with an arrow.”

“No, they said she caught it with a sword. Or was it magic?”

The original story gradually gained weight and spread strangely. Eventually…

“They found the bear’s body torn to shreds!”

“What? Did Riett do that to the bear…?”

Riett’s expression crumpled as she silently listened to the conversation.

No! That’s not true!

She wanted to deny every exaggeration that was whispered into her ears. However, the exaggerated story had already spread through the mouths of the children, seeming like the truth.

“They said Riett defeated Samuel?”

“Is that the only thing?”

It went as far as this.

“Riett… tore the bear apart.”