A Slave Of Rubelfast – R15 - Chapter 25

Slarhan heard a trick from Ellier but had no intention of using it himself. He did not want to win first place, even using sneaky tricks.

 

‘But there’s no need to refuse that the other side laid the stage in advance.’

 

He pulled the string of his bow and fired a series of arrows.

 

The knight who had scattered the tranquilliser around couldn’t match Slarrhan’s speed in shooting arrows.

 

Thanks to that, Slarrhan ended up catching most of the surrounding prey.

 

The knight seemed to be offended by something unfair.

 

“Wh-what’s going on?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“It was the prey I caught!”

 

“Really? The arrows haven’t even hit yet.”

 

“No, I mean, the prey nearby is all mine!”

 

“That’s an interesting story. Did you put name tags on them beforehand?”

 

“Well, it’s not like that…”

 

“If it’s not like that, it won’t be a problem, yes?”

 

The knight hesitated and eventually turned around and disappeared on the other side.

 

But Slarhan kept a distance and followed him secretly.

 

Sure enough, the knight attached an arrowhead identical to the one Ellier had made and shot it upwards from a nearby tree, spreading white powder around him.

 

‘Which family’s knight is this?’

 

Slarhan approached the animal carcass the knight had caught and checked the arrow fletching.

 

In this competition, the owner of the prey was identified by the fletching of the arrow stuck in the carcass. Each participating family had unique fletchings.

 

Slarhan had memorised the fletchings of the Imperial candidates as well.

 

‘It’s a pink goose feather… It must be a knight of Her Highness Princess Ellor…’

 

Among the candidates for the throne, the men participated in the hunt, but the Princesses all sent out their escort knights as substitutes.

 

And this large, splendid pink goose feather undoubtedly belonged to the third Princess Ellor.

 

Slarhan mounted his horse again and chased after Ellor’s knight.

 

Slarrhan knew their secret while they were oblivious to him catching on.

 

It was shaping up to be quite an enjoyable hunt.

 

***

 

After the knights disappeared into the forest, elegant melodies of stringed instruments were heard on the wide lawn at the beginning of the forest.

 

The music flowed, and a delicious smell floated around.

 

Food from the Imperial family also arrived at the tent of the Ventiark family.

 

Freshly baked bread, succulent roasted chicken, compote, and grape wine were among the items.

 

“Hey, kid. Eat some, too.”

 

“Thank you. By the way, where did Vedell go? He should be eating…”

 

“He went out to say hello to the servants he knew and said he’ll be back. He’s probably eating outside. There’s no one here starving today.”

 

“I see. Well then, I’ll enjoy the meal.”

 

After the sparring at the training ground, Tariq had subtly become more kind.

 

One of the knights who came with Tariq today was familiar with her face during training, so he wasn’t too unfamiliar with Ellier.

 

However, since the other knights might not like using the same tables as the sl*ves, Ellier took a small plate, collected some bread, chicken, and compote, then sat a bit away from them on the ground to eat quietly.

 

The memory of this hunting competition was vivid for Ellier, too.

 

In her previous life, Slarhan had been in last place in this hunting competition. He hadn’t caught a single prey, not even one. It was as if he hadn’t even tried.

 

That didn’t mean he didn’t catch it on purpose.

 

But Lilliette knew why he had to return empty-handed.

 

“It’s really bad. Trying to kill animals by tricking a child who has just finished his father’s funeral with the bait of his father’s belongings.”

 

Lilliette remembered how Clyde had gleefully spread the powdered sedative and had witnessed Slarhan being attacked by a group of assailants.

 

At that time, she didn’t know that Clyde’s excuse for why Slarhan had returned empty-handed was that he was after Duke Irdel’s belongings.

 

However, she could see that it was abnormal for several masked people to attack a candidate for the throne.

 

“Hey! Who are you people?”

 

Lilliette drew her sword from her waist and shouted angrily.

 

The unexpected appearance of reinforcements seemed to catch the assassins off guard.

 

And Slarhan took advantage of the situation to injure several more.

 

Lilliette also attacked and drove out the assassin who tried to attack Slarhan.

 

In truth, if there had been more assassins at the time and they had decided to attack, it might have been dangerous. However, they seemed to understand the situation and quickly retreated, wary of each other.

 

Since Slarrhan wasn’t pursuing them, Lilliette didn’t press the issue further.

 

“Are you alright, Duke Ventiark?”

 

  “…Yes. Thank you for your help, Your Highness Lilliette.”

 

“What on earth is going on? Who are they?”

 

“I heard that my father’s belongings were hidden around here, so I came here, but those guys were waiting instead of my father’s belongings.”

 

She hadn’t expected to receive an answer, but surprisingly, he explained the situation. Was it to avoid arousing suspicion?

 

“You’ve been through a lot. Since there isn’t much time left for the hunting competition, you should catch some as soon as possible.”

 

“…You should go first, Your Highness.”

 

“Did you get hurt anywhere?”

 

“No, I didn’t. I just need a moment to think…”

 

Seemingly avoiding further interference, Lilliette couldn’t engage him any longer and turned away.

 

But no matter how much she thought about it, what happened to Slarhan felt unfair.

 

And it was at the celebration of the hunting competition that evening that she learned the mastermind behind the incident was the Empress. That, too, was what Clyde had revealed.

 

At the celebration, there was a lot of talk about Slarhan not catching a single one.

 

The Emperor was upset that Slarhan did not take this hunting contest seriously.

 

However, Slarrhan didn’t offer excuses and simply said, “I apologise.”

 

Lilliette didn’t like that he had to say sorry for nearly dying.

 

So she shouted out loud.

 

“It’s strange. I clearly saw you hunting earlier, but oh! Come to think of it. You weren’t using arrows, but a sword! After you killed, you even left the sword lodged in. Why didn’t you put your arrows in after killing them, Duke Ventiark!”

 

At the sudden noise, everyone turned to Lilliette.

 

Slarhan couldn’t understand why the Princess, who unexpectedly secured first place in the hunting competition, was defending him.

 

However, Lilliette had nothing to do with Slarhan.

 

She just felt that him being ruthlessly attacked without any fault was extremely unfair.

 

“Slarhan was hunting with a sword? Why did you use a sword instead of a bow? I told them to release only small animals into the hunting grounds.”

 

The Emperor looked at Slarhan and Lilliette alternately with a dangerous glint in his eyes. Slarhan was also staring at Lilliette in surprise.

 

“Beasts bigger than a deer, right? There were about ten of them, all focusing their attacks on the Duke. He killed a few. Isn’t that right, Duke?”

 

Lilliette’s revelation caused a stir in the banquet hall. There were no grouped animals on the hunting grounds.

 

Slarhan let out a faint sigh, seemingly regretting his decision.

 

He had wondered if he should have even bothered to speak up, but he didn’t think keeping quiet would be wise. If he kept quiet, someone else might easily frame him for the situation.

 

“Lilliette, are you saying you witnessed the Duke of Ventiark being attacked?”

 

“Yes. When I arrived, they were fleeing while cautiously looking around. Were there any faces I might recognise among them? It was quite deep inside the forest, but there haven’t been any reports of finding their bodies yet, right?”

 

Lilliette’s gaze shifted toward the Empress. The Empress had a stern expression.

 

Only then did the emperor and the nobles seem to realise what the ‘beast’ Lilliette was talking about.

 

“It was dangerous, Slarhan. Do you know who is behind it?”

 

“It was nothing serious. I apologise for causing unnecessary commotion. I don’t wish for things to escalate further.”

 

“Hmm, very well. If that’s your intention, I won’t inquire any further.”

 

In the first place, the Emperor, who was not very interested in the life and death of the Imperial candidates, briefly dealt with matters like this.

 

Instead, people’s eyes changed toward Slarhan, who returned unscathed after facing ten assassins.

 

How amusing it was to see people who hadn’t approached him before now look at him with curious eyes, flocking to ask if he was okay.

 

Anyway, thanks to this, Slarrhan, who everyone had been avoiding, could now draw attention despite being last in the hunting competition.

 

‘Could it be that he’s gone over there again?’

 

After all, he was a Sword Master, so he could easily eliminate those meddlesome troublemakers, but…

 

The problem was an emotional blow.

 

Even in his previous life, if Slarhan had made up his mind, he could have killed them all and hunted them as much as he could in a short time.

 

However, due to the wounds carved into him, he returned without touching his bow, as though he had given up on everything.

 

‘Don’t worry, Slarrhan. You can leave the recovery of those items to this lady.’

 

The belongings of Duke Irdel, which the assassins used as bait, were real. It was just that those were not in that cave in the forest.

 

While Ellier was planning to steal the belongings alone, she heard a familiar voice from somewhere.

 

“Oh! Thanks, Clyde.”

 

Ellier’s hand, eating after wiping the compote from the bottom of the plate with bread, stopped abruptly.

 

Suddenly, her heart started pounding and beating fast.

 

“You’re welcome.”

 

The man’s voice followed, and Ellier’s head slowly turned in the direction of the voices.

 

It was an unforgettable voice. Really, she couldn’t forget those voices.

 

‘Clyde… Ellor…’

 

Ellier’s hands trembled.

 

Clyde was holding Ellor’s hand and helping her walk.

 

Ellor, who utterly despised shooting a bow or wielding her sword herself, sent her escort knight in as a substitute and strutted around, flaunting her beauty and Clyde’s presence by her side.

 

It was more like a promotional activity disguised as a stroll. It was also spying on competitors.

 

“Oh my! Is this the tent of the Duke of Ventiark?”

 

“Yes, it is, Your Highness.”

 

At the Princess’ appearance, the Ventiark family knights stood and bowed.

 

“Even though it’s a family without a hostess, it’s not too barren here, is it? Should I send some flowers?”

 

“Thank you for your consideration, but we, the men of our family, don’t really know how to appreciate flowers. Perhaps the flowers would prefer to be inside Your Highness’s tent.”

 

Ellor laughed at Tariq’s modesty.

 

She was as beautiful as an angel, if not more so.

 

“Well, there are only men around… Oh my! That one looks like a girl, doesn’t she?”

 

Ellor’s fingertips pointed to Ellier.

 

Noticing Ellier trembling on the ground with her forehead pressed against the floor, Tariq, sensing the surprise in the girl’s reaction to the Princess’ entrance, answered on Ellier’s behalf.

 

“That child is a sl*ve. It would be a waste to put flowers for a slave girl.”

 

“Is that so? But then, Duke Ventiark has brought a female sl*ve along? She must be pretty, right?”

 

“No, not at all. She’s just here to do chores.”

 

Although Tariq denied it, Ellor seemed intrigued by Slarhan’s brusque manner of bringing a female sl*ve. Ellor moved closer.

 

“Hey! Stand up and lift your head, will you?”