559 – Mandragora Growing in Hell – 3

She walked around the hunting ground, stopping the blood flowing from her left shoulder.

‘I avoided fatal injuries.’

I bit her lip and woke her up.

It’s ridiculous to talk about being fatally injured when one arm is broken, but considering the size of the beast, it was just luck that it ended with just one arm. If the giant thing had jumped and been hit directly by the attack, he would have died.

“Tina, are you okay?”

– Purung!

I let out a small sigh and checked Tina’s condition her her her her. Fortunately, I received a loud answer.

It’s okay if one of my arms is broken. If you can get out of this situation safely, you can heal as much as you want.

But if anything goes wrong with Tina, both I and I will die here. Now I have to protect Tina even if I get hurt more.

‘…How?’

But how? How can I, who can’t use one arm, protect Tina from that magical beast?

First of all, it is impossible to subdue the magical beast alone. Even if your limbs are intact, you cannot deal with a magical beast that you were unable to catch while in a state of serious injury.

But you can’t run away either. Running away from a demon who is already excited by the scent of blood? A demon beast that misses its prey will become even more angry and will start raiding the area, and other citizens or the marquis may suffer damage in the process.

‘What should I do…?’

I felt like crying in a situation where I couldn’t fight or run away.

If I had been a little stronger, I wouldn’t have had to worry about this. They would quickly subdued any demonic beasts that suddenly appeared and turned them into prey.

It all happened because I wasn’t good enough. If I were strong, I would have been able to catch the demon beast. If I were strong, I wouldn’t have insisted on hunting. If I were strong… I wouldn’t have to worry about Yeongmin and the Marquis.

─Tsk!

“aah!”

– Puhi hing!

However, that magical beast seemed not to give its prey time to feel guilty, so it went beyond simply chasing them and even started throwing stones.

Now my teeth are shaking. A big guy is fast, can he jump, and can he use tools? Where on earth is a guy like that hiding and now he’s coming out?

“Huh!”

I fell from my horse due to the dull impact I felt on my back.

“Tina, you go first! Go to your father!”

As soon as I hit the floor, I shouted to Tina. It’s not good for me to get on top of Tina again, so it’s right for her to run away.

And if Tina returns alone without me, her father will notice the change, and she will control the entire hunting ground and subdue that crazy beast. It can prevent damage from spreading.

But rather than running away, Tina hovered near me.

“Go quickly! If you do this, you’ll all be caught!”

– Purr…

Tina’s eyes suddenly became moist and she let out a pitiful cry, not knowing what to do in response to my yelling at her.

You idiot! If you’d rather both die, it’s better to live at least one!

“Hey! Don’t you have to do as I say!”

She screamed out of sudden sadness.

Yes, at least Tina has to do as I want. His father encourages him to marry against his will, he loses to the unlucky Marquis Idrafen, and this happens in the hunting competition he chose to win. Nothing really happened. So Tina, you can listen to me.

─Tsk tsk tsk tsk!

But Tina didn’t leave until the moment her demon came upon us.

I feel really stupid. Who do you resemble that makes you so stubborn?

“If you die with me, I will ride on you in the afterlife as well.”

When I finally got up and raised my sword, Tina licked my cheek.

Although I was embarrassed, I felt reassured by Tina’s warm body temperature. Although she is selfish, it makes you laugh at the fact that her childhood partner is still with her after death.

‘If I had known it would be like this, I would have fought head on from the beginning.’

It’s a little disappointing. I went around trying to find a better way, but the result was that I was fighting with one arm. If you were going to die fighting anyway, you had to fight when you were in perfect condition.

But what can I do? It’s all because of my immaturity.

‘Let’s just aim for the ankles.’

That’s why I made a promise. If you can’t kill it, you must at least inflict a fatal blow. He jumps here and there with both feet, so if he injures his ankle, his mobility his his will drop drastically.

If that happens, you can die with peace of mind. No matter how strong a guy is, if he has poor mobility, he’s just a slow target.

‘…No matter how inexperienced you are at horseback riding, you can probably avoid it.’

I gritted my teeth, thinking of the Marquis somewhere in the hunting field. The best thing to do is not to encounter this beast at all, but even if you do, you should be able to avoid it if it’s a beast with a severed ankle.

Since you came to this hunting ground because of me, it is right for you to be as safe as possible. No matter how obnoxious a person may be, he or she is not someone you hate so much that you can die. What a shame it would be if a guest who came to our died territory in the first place.

“Come on! You don’t have your own head so you put someone else’s head on!”

─Tsk!

I took a few deep breaths and shouted at the demon beast.

A strange guy with the body of a bear but the head of a lion. That must have come from being beaten by someone else in a strict place. So you don’t have your own head.

But how about this? This time, my ankle will be blown off.

“Be prepared to walk around with chicken feet from now on!”

I don’t know if provocation will work on the demon beast, but I shouted, thinking of the most insignificant animal as possible.

Eventually, I looked at the hand the witch was swinging and bowed down—

“Chicken feet are such an awkward combination for this size.”

Along with a familiar voice, something jumped out from near the demon beast’s neck.

“Of course, since he is the one who hurt the lady, the chicken feet are undeserved.”

As the demonic beast, blood pouring from its neck, slowly collapsed, the Marquis, who had been hidden by the demonic beast, was seen.

“I’m sorry for taking away your game, young lady. I haven’t caught a single one yet, so I guess I got greedy.”

Instead of his usual sly smile, the Marquis was breathing heavily.

***

The white horse started running, ignoring its rider, and stopped only when it reached the lady.

‘Huh.’

And as soon as I saw the young lady confronting a strange-looking demon beast, I burst into laughter.

There really is no such thing as a famous horse. Are all northern horses like this?

‘I didn’t bring a knife.’

However, despite the white horse’s great performance, the problem is that I, the rider, do not have proper armament. They said it was hunting, so I just brought a bow and arrows.

‘If anything happens, you will be treated as a young lady.’

Unfortunately, I know my archery skills well. No matter how large the target is, if you are unlucky, the lady or the horse next to her may be hit.

However, you can’t hit a magical beast of that size with your bare fists.

‘Ah.’

Suddenly, I remembered something my advisor who became my teacher told me before I graduated from the academy, and I hastily split the bow.

“Among the guys I met in the north, there was one who used both a sword and a bow. He shot arrows with an iron bow from a distance, but when the imperial army approached, he split the bow in half and used it as There was no such thing as a crazy person.”

“You are a unique person. What is your name?”

“There is a thesis destroyer called Udesr Zairug.”

I still don’t know what the thesis destroyer means, but it is a story worth mentioning that he split the bow and used it as a close-range weapon.

So he quickly inserted the sharp fragment of the bow into the back of the beast’s neck,

“I’m sorry for taking away your game, young lady. I haven’t caught a single one yet, so I guess I got greedy.”

He naturally comforted the surprised daughter.

To be honest, I was quite surprised, but I had more peace of mind than the young lady who almost died. In that case, it is right for those who can afford it to be considered.

“Lady?”

But strangely, the lady said nothing. He just looked at me blankly with his mouth open.

“…Ugh!”

Then he lowered his head and made a cute grumbling noise.

I was relieved because it was the same lady I always saw. I think I was in a state of surprise just now so I reacted late.

The hunt ended in vain. The only crazy person who would go on a hunt even when people were almost killed is my dead brother.

“Young lady, is there anything uncomfortable?”

“Oh, no. It’s okay.”

And the Lady’s horse was tired from chasing the demon beast, so I returned with the Lady sitting in front of me.

‘It’s difficult.’

He smiled bitterly as he looked at the lady’s still bowed head.

A daughter with strong pride was in danger in front of me, and that crisis was averted thanks to me. For a young lady who even resorted to hunting to build up her pride, even the word humiliation would not be enough.

I am worried that Young lady will become depressed because of this. Once an active and strong personality like Youngae’s is broken, it lasts for a long time.

“Now that I think about it, I looked at the game the lady caught, and it was so much that I couldn’t even compare it to mine. If the witch hadn’t intervened, I would have lost.”

“…”

Even when I consoled her, the lady did not raise her head.

Hmm, was it too blatant a consolidation?

“Yes, actually.”

‘Oh.’

While I was wondering what to say to ease the young lady’s feelings her, the young lady broke the silence first.

“In the North, it is often considered that the person who catches a large game wins over the person who catches a lot of game.”

“Is that so?”

It was a bit of a twist, but it wasn’t shocking. No matter which one I used as the standard, I would have lost.

“So… The Marquis won. I can’t catch such a big animal by myself.”

The lady’s shoulders trembled slightly as she declared defeat in a trembling voice.

He is such an amazing person. He has a strong sense of pride and desires losing, but he admits it when his opponent wins. Even though he is so embarrassed, he accepts his defeat.

He is such a fun person, how can I dislike him?

***

I didn’t have the confidence to look at the marquis’ face, so I just kept lowering my head.

Now I have no choice but to admit it. The Marquis is stronger than me. He is ahead of me in every way.

And after acknowledging it, I realized the things I had been trying to ignore.

“I’m not interested in weak men. I’m going to be the leader of the tribe, and I can’t have a weak man next to me!”

“Physical strength is not everything. Intelligence and manners are also part of strength!”

All the things he said to his father his. Everything I did as a condition for a partner.

Surprisingly, the Marquis had it all. I didn’t acknowledge it because I pushed the Marquis away, but the person I wanted had already come to be my prospective husband.

Yes, I admit it. I admit it…

‘Now how dare you act so kindly out of shame.’

I feel resentful of myself in the past. I feel stupid for always ticking. I hate myself for blatantly showing my dislike.

‘If I suddenly approach you… You’ll look at me as a strange person, right?’

I feel like tears come out in a different way than when dealing with a magical beast.