Chapter 55: Chapter 55

“I think it was a lethal hit. As long as we follow the trail, we should be able to claim the prize. While I don’t want it to be too early… Congratulations, my queen.”

Watching the trajectory of the arrow with his entire attention, Saulus was completely sure that his opinion was right. Struck right in the middle of its stomach, the deer wouldn’t fall down anytime soon… But given how it instantly jumped into a frantic escape, the bolt stuck in its insides would quickly make its demise certain.

“You said it yourself. Don’t offer your congratulations before we confirm the kill. But if I did it… Oh Firstborns, I can’t wait to taste how a game I hunted myself would taste!”

Listening to Venna’s words as his eyes trickled over the forest vegetation in search of tracking clues, Saulus stopped in his tracks. Turning his head to the queen, he smiled gently yet with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

“My queen, if that was indeed a kill, I would recommend using a portion of the meat to reward the most loyal nobles and retainers. It would be a great honor for them to receive a gift like that.”

In the end, even this leisure activity ended up getting influenced by damned politics. While it was already pulling Saulus’ mood down, seeing how Venna’s face instantly soured when he brought the topic to the surface didn’t improve his morale either.

If only we had more time… If only there was another choice…Still unable to come to terms with the decision he made about the hunt, Saulus had to constantly face both his worries and his feeling of guilt. Because there was a reason why he took twenty veterans for the mission that would require two or maybe three at most.

“We will think about it once we catch it. Let’s go.”

Venna pulled herself up and started walking towards the spot where the deer was hit. By the time she arrived, Kerek was already down on his knees, inspecting every last trace that the wildly escaping animal left in its dash.

“What does it look like?”

Not having that much hunting or tracking experience as his own men, Saulus didn’t bother to pretend otherwise. Rather than sabotaging their efforts for the sake of some childish pride, asking an expert was simply a better option.

“Seems like its wound is quite painful, meaning it will lose its strength faster. While it’s only a rough guess, we should be able to catch up to it in about five to ten minutes.”

Taking a look around the area where the deer used to feast on the grass, Saulus attempted to locate hints that gave so much information to Kerek. But the general was simply clueless about what he was supposed to look for.

“Good. Lead the way then.”

Taking his subordinate’s word, Saulus didn’t bother to pretend that he knew how the man managed to deduce the distance said deer could cover or how long it would take them to get there. Doing so would not only put him in a tough spot if anyone were to seek his help with hunting, but it would also be easily taken as an attempt to claim Kerek’s discoveries for himself.

And that was something that no sensible general would ever do to his soldiers, not to mention the most loyal group of veteran bodyguards!

From then on, the entire group picked the pace up once again. Without any intention to hide their approach as they already had the prey on the track, there was no point in wasting a lot of time trying to act silently. Right now, being loud worked in their favor, as it could easily scare off most of the predators who may want to drag the wounded deer off on their own.

“Hey, I can see it!”

One of the soldiers shouted to the rest. Using the nearby tree as a ladder, the man climbed several meters up before straining his eyes, pointing his hand in a certain direction.

“There is a deer’s body over there!”

With his head moving towards the direction the man pointed, Saulus’ face suddenly darkened. Instead of rushing towards the site right away and enjoying the moment of victory with his queen, he stood frozen in place. Even when Venna attempted to pull him forward, she found with surprise that her old friend didn’t budge even a tiny bit!

“Saulus? What’s wrong?”

Since her forceful measures failed to achieve any effect, Venna attempted sounding him off.

“Ah, sorry. I got lost in thought. Let’s go!”

Raising the corners of his mouth in a false smile, Saulus replied before finally moving from his spot. Yet, though his lips were smiling, there was no joy behind his eyes.

“Oh, I can see it! Look!”

Soon, Venna brought her arm forward, pointing towards a certain place in the forest. Following her lead, Saulus looked in the direction she pointed at. And just like she said, a corpse of a deer with a long arrow protruding from its side was waiting for someone to claim it.

“So… Is it the right time to openly congratulate you, now?”

For a moment, seeing the deer’s corpse seemed to slightly improve Saulus’ mood. But just as he was about to repeat his earlier words of encouragement, his face suddenly tensed up.

“NOW!”

Lunging forward, Saulus leapt directly at Venna, pushing her down and pinning her to the ground.

“Ughh.”

Moaning from the pain of a wound that suddenly pierced his back, Saulus could only tighten his teeth, while still holding Venna tightly against the ground. Turning his head around, he could see the entire forest exploding in flashes of light, only for the sound of metal hitting against metal to vibrate through the moist air within the forest the moment later.

“What? What… What’s going on?”

Pinned underneath her old friend, Venna’s face was filled with surprise, shock and… happiness?