“I was expecting a day like today to come.”
“Are you happy that it went as you expected?”
Lucas, who was listening quietly next to her, jumped up at Hestia’s words. Hestia, however, lightly ignored Lucas’ sarcasm.
“Now, you’re going to hunt with this.”
“Yes!”
“Shoot the First Prince if you can. Since humans are animals, too. He’s quite big, isn’t he?”
“Hestia!”
I nodded while listening to Hestia’s tip but then Lucas yelled suddenly. Why is the person who would normally say “Applause” so serious? Hestia also turned to Lucas as if she didn’t understand him.
“You teach her good things.”
“I’m flattered.”
“It’s not a compliment.”
“Why did you come here when you’re dissatisfied with everything?”
“I want to see you train.”
“Didn’t you come here to distract us?”
“Do you think I’m distracting you?”
“Yes.”
“Then it’s a success.”
Lucas said emphatically. So, Lucas is here to interrupt my training. This is… because he doesn’t want me to go hunting. I went and stood in front of Lucas.
“Lucas.”
“Do you really have to go?”
“I know you’re worried, but I really want to beat Cameron Arstans. Not because I’m a Conler but because I’m Mary.”
“…Miss Mary.”
“And since I was little, I’ve been playing on the mountain, so I’m much healthier than Lucas thinks. I know what I can do.”
“Ha, really…. Do you really want to go?”
“I want to go even more after hearing my mother’s story. I’m Helena’s daughter after all.”
At my words Lucas covered his face with his hands with a wistful look and made a grunting noise.
I was relieved at his playful cry. Lucas, who took his hands off his face, said.
“It’s okay to lose the bet, so you have to take care of yourself.”
“Yes, yes.”
“That’s right. Don’t force yourself to catch a bear.”
“If I see a bear, I’ll pretend to be dead.”
“Do you pretend to be dead when you see a bear?”
Hestia’s question made me think that in this world, the story about pretending to be dead when you see bears is nonsense. I had nothing to say, so I just laughed. Hestia suddenly said, “Oh, I know.”
“It’s similar to going to war and pretending to be dead and getting the blood of the person next to you.”
“Hestia, were you such a coward? Was that your secret to survival method?”
“Lucas, what’s your secret survival method? Do you live that long because of your mouth?”
Well, I’m curious about that, too.
“Well, anyway, Hestia. Please take care of Mary for two days.”
“I’m going to train you very hard, so follow me well.”
“Yes!”
I answered as bravely as I could. Hestia smiled contentedly.
________________________________________
Carol kept thinking about what he could do for Mary since Mary did so much for her. It was unclear whether she could pay her back within her lifetime.
Carol, who was looking at Mary holding a bow from a distance, thought of a good idea.
Fortunately, these days, Carol has received a lot of outside errands to keep her out of Cameron Arstans’ sight. It was because of Bonita’s consideration. Carol thought she had an overflowing blessing. Thinking that it was all because of Mary’s grace, she felt like crying again.
Today she was told to go to Giefroy and buy bedding for Cameron. Cameron felt like the beddings in the Grand duchy is too heavy, he felt like he was being pressed down.
‘Why does he think the cozy blankets are heavy? Maybe a vengeful ghost is pressing him down.’
Such thoughts crossed her mind, but she quickly erased them from her head, thinking she dared to think profanity to the imperial family. She went to the most famous bedding store in Giefroy and bought the lightest blanket.
After completing her errands, Carol headed to Giefroy Guild, the largest craft guild in Giefroy, not to the Conler’s castle. It was a guild named after Giefroy. It is a place where various craftsmen gathered, and although it is called the largest in Giefroy, it was said to be the best in the continent for metal work or weaponry.
The Giefroy Guild was where Carol’s father worked during his lifetime. Carol’s father was not so famous when he worked, but Carol’s father worked quite diligently and had a good reputation in the Giefroy Guild.
Fortunately, Carol was able to save money after getting a job at Conler’ castle. She came to the Giefroy Guild with the money.
“Isn’t that Carol?”
“Mister!”
Carol ran to Jack as soon as she found him. Jack was a close friend of Carol’s father, now the greatest blacksmith in the Giefroy Guild. He always asked Carol to come to him when she needed help, but she couldn’t ask him more shamelessly because she had already received a lot of financial help.
But this time…….
“I have a favor to ask of you.”
“What kind of request?”
“Can you make a very small and sharp arrow? So even if a very young child shoots, for example, it’s going to be powerful.”
“Why do you need it?”
Jack looked at Carol suspiciously. Carol explained the situation as detailed as possible. Starting from the fact that she started working at the Grand Duchy of Conler with the help of the Conler’s youngest daughter, up to the part where the youngest daughter made a hunting bet with the first Prince because of her.
Jack murmured, touching his beard with a pretty interesting expression.
“So, the youngest girl of Conler is like that….”
“She was trying to help me, and that’s what happened. Please make sure to make a good weapon.”
“I know the story of the First Prince very well.”
Not long ago, he remembered the second prince who stopped by the guild. He remembered that he had taken a long way to give his mother accessories. He went there twice.
During his revisit that day, he laughed and told the story about how the First Prince broke his present when he was caught buying his mother’s birthday present in the capital last year.
He remembered that Liz, who was in charge of jewelry crafting, worked harder on the second accessory.
“Trust me.”
“Thank you, mister!”
Carol put her hands together to express her gratitude. She was a little worried because she heard that Jack, who was such a great blacksmith, doesn’t accept work easily, so she was very happy that he accepted it so willingly.
“Twenty would be enough.”
“Ah, then how much is the price…….”
“It’s fine.”
“But I can’t just take it. You already helped me enough…….”
“I’m not giving it to you.”
“What?”
“Think of it as a victory gift to Conler’s youngest girl.”
Jack smiled kindly.
________________________________________
“You have to spread your shoulder-width apart.”
“Yes.”
“Watch out.”
“Yes.”
“And the bowstring is on the cheek.”
I focused on the red part of the target as much as I could. My arms trembled, but Hestia did not tell me to let go of the bow. I tried my best not to hurt my concentration until I was told to let go of the bow. The moment the wind stopped and become silent,
“Now, let go.”
At Hestia’s words, I let go of the bow I held with my index and middle fingers. The arrow flew off in a flash and didn’t stick to the target.
“Oh, you’re good at putting things on the floor.”
There were already several arrows in front of the target. You damn gravity……. I couldn’t get it stuck on the target plate, it just went near the target, got stuck on the floor, or just flew away.
I’m glad it’s a forest back there.….
“It’s okay.”
“Phew….”
“You’re very good for a beginner.”
Hestia’s consolation did not cheer me up. I trudged back with my shoulders drooping, picking up arrows stuck in the floor. It’s like this because it’s a bow with magic on it, but if it was just a bow, it would have been a mess.
And I was also concerned about the eyes of the members of the Knights Corps looking at me secretly while training behind me. They’re probably thinking I’m pathetic, right?
I dropped the arrows I had picked up on the floor. And sighed quietly. Hestia, who looked at me like that, said in a friendly voice.
“Helena told me, “
“What?”
“They thought that bows were used by cowardly people.”
“Really?”
“Because you can shoot from a blind spot. For those who thought it was an honor to fight with a knife at close range, the bow felt cowardly.”
“Ah….”
Hestia’s words were quite plausible. I fiddled with the bow.
“So, why doesn’t it fit with Miss Mary?”
“What?”
“Helena said it’s important to win even if you use cowardly tactics. You have to win, right?”
Hestia said with a smile. I laughed a little, the tension I felt the whole time was relieved a little. I picked up my bow again and put an arrow in it.
Thank you for the update ❤️