Just as I suspected, Yvonne brought all of her tribesmen with her. They gathered in a large force, trailing behind her as she rode a horse toward the forest nearest to Gallagher Town. Most of them had their own mounts, but since I was a prisoner, I was tied up and dragged along the ground.
I put up with the indignity for now because it was all part of the plan. I had to suppress my laughter when she did exactly what I wanted her to do – empty out her fortress in Gallagher Town and bring her whole tribe with her.
From previous investigations, as well as being in the same party for a couple of years, I had known what kind of person Yvonne was. She loved to show off. She loved making a spectacle out of her hunting expeditions, to prove her superiority in hunting skills to her tribe. Therefore I was banking on this for her to bring her whole tribe so that she could show off to them.
That was why I offered myself, quite like a reverse Trojan horse. Instead of sneaking into their fortress and tunnels to let my own army to slip in when they weren't vigilant, I would rather lure all of them outside to a battlefield of my own choosing.
Not only that, I had selected the forest specifically. Even though I knew the hunters and huntresses would feel right at home in the forest, blending into the verdant environment and conducting guerilla strikes, I had prepared a nasty surprise for them.
There was no greater humiliation for an enemy than to deceive them into thinking they held the advantage, only to yank the rug out from under their feet by beating them in an area they had great pride in.
For now, though, I couldn't afford to give anything away. So I remained silent and put up with the indignity.
Yvonne pulled her horse to a stop. My body continued hurtling forward for half a meter, my momentum carrying me onward despite the abrupt halt. I acted like a fool, cursing and moaning in pain despite not receiving any injuries whatsoever.
A vampire's physical constitution was really tough. Such a rough treatment wouldn't be able to put a single scratch on me. I had to cast blood magic to fake my injuries. Thankfully, because Yvonne and her hunters weren't mages or priests, they had no way of detecting my mana or being aware that I was casting a spell. Even if they did, they would probably think I was trying to cast a physical enhancement spell on myself to mitigate my injuries, only to fail spectacularly. Thus reinforcing their impression of me as trash in their eyes.
Funnily enough, none of them questioned why a powerful ice mage like me, who had once been in the strongest Hero party, was allowing myself to be dragged around without fighting back. They clearly thought I had been intimidated by Yvonne and didn't dare to fight back.
What fools.
At first, I thought they would suspect something, but the hunters were idiots. Being a tribe isolated from most national matters throughout the Havan Kingdom, it turned out they didn't even know who I was. Yvonne didn't tell them about me, evidently. No wonder the guards didn't recognize me.
"How weak."
"Mages are trash."
"I didn't think they would be so physically weak."
"Just look at how frail and skinny he is. How do they expect mages to fight on the frontlines?"
"All those stories about mages must be false. This guy got caught so easily. I guess they aren't a big deal after all."
From overhearing their conversations, I could tell that they had no real encounters with skilled mages and thus underestimated them. It made sense. Hunter tribes tended to focus on physical strength and dexterity. To them, mages who trained their magic instead of body were people to look down upon. This misconception was reinforced further by their isolation and ignorance, with none of them ever meeting a real mage.
No wonder Yvonne looked down on me so much, especially when we first met. I tried not to chuckle when I remembered how I intimidated her after she pulled the stunt with the ants and the dragonfly. Right, back then she mentioned something about the strong could do whatever they wanted, and how weaklings like me should submit and all that nonsense.
It was the culture of her hunter tribe. The strong was respected and the weak trodden on.
However, Yvonne should be aware of my strength, so why was she going along with this farce?
"You've gotten weaker," Yvonne sneered as she hauled me up by the rope. "I knew there was a reason why you didn't show your face until now. Even though you escaped with your life from the lord of vampires somehow, you must have suffered a life-threatening injury that you can't recover from. That explains why your magic is so much weaker."
I feigned shock and horror.
"How did you know?!" I exclaimed dramatically. "That's…that's not true! I can still…!"
"Do you think I'm stupid?" Yvonne laughed. She leaned forward, her hands on her hips. "You are no match for me now. Perhaps in the past, you were superior because of your magic. But now your magic has considerably weakened and I've gotten stronger."
"You did?" I acted horrified.
"Of course. Did you think things stood still after we left you for dead? I continued improving my skills. Herman too, he had gotten a lot stronger. Thanks to your sacrifice, he gained the powers of light and was able to defeat the Demonic Emperor."
She then paused and frowned.
"No, wait. Miranda said back then that the ritual failed. Then it must be that time, in the church that powered him up." She shook her head and shrugged indifferently. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that he's a lot stronger than before."
And most likely dead at this point, or close to it. Not that I was going to inform Yvonne about that. She really didn't know anything, did she? She was always a self-absorbed person. I couldn't believe she held a complete lack of interest in news outside her southern province. Her apathy was going to be the death of her.
"But it'll be a pity to let Herman kill you. I want to have some fun with you." she cut the ropes before kicking me into the forest. "I've already told you the rules, so start running. I'll come after you in an hour. If you survive until tomorrow, then I'll let you go. I'll even give you territory. Otherwise, your life is forfeit."
She smiled deviously.
"But make sure you do your best to struggle…to entertain me."
"I actually have another proposal." I raised a hand. "You want entertainment, right? How about we raise the stakes further. If you don't complete your hunt in twelve hours, your tribesmen should join in."
"Huh?" Yvonne looked at me as if I was crazy. I shrugged and continued.
"Since you have staked your territory on this, I thought it's only fair." I turned my gaze on the assembled hunters. "If you don't complete the hunt in twelve hours – in other words, if you don't leave the forest in twelve hours, all these other hunters deserve a chance to hunt as well. Let them join in the fun. Otherwise it'll be boring for them to just watch."
I pretended to ponder for a moment, and then snapped my fingers.
"Even better. How about…the territory you supposedly promised to give me if I survive, you use that as a prize to award the hunter who successfully hunts me before the twenty-four hours are up?"
"Ho…intriguing." I could tell from Yvonne's expression that I had indeed piqued her interest. "That does sound like an entertaining idea."
Her hunters and huntresses fidgeted restlessly, staying silent. But I could tell that they desired this territory, or perhaps they really wanted nothing more than to participate in the hunt and show off their skills.
"Fine. Let's do it. But I'll be participating for all twenty-four hours." Yvonne cast her tribesmen a challenging stare. "You'll still have to compete against me, my brethren. I'm not going to give up, even after twelve hours."
"Yeah. If you don't exit the forest after twelve hours, then all the hunters should enter the forest and start." I flipped my hands so that my palms were facing up. "You shouldn't have a problem with that, right? You have twelve hours' head start. If you fail to successfully hunt me by then, you can only blame your ability."
"Agreed." Yvonne licked her lips. "But I'll hunt you down within twelve hours, easy."
Given her skills, she should be able to effortlessly track me down within half an hour, never mind one…never mind twelve. Knowing her, she would find that too boring and unentertaining. She was deliberately dragging this out so as to stretch her enjoyment for as long as possible.
What awful taste. Then again, I recalled that Yvonne always loved to torment her victims, slowly chipping away at them before drowning them in despair. Whether it was the poor dragonfly or the poor civilians of her provinces that she hunted in the forest…she hadn't really changed from back then.
I was going to make her pay.
Yvonne turned to her tribesmen with a cocky grin. "Sorry to disappoint you, brethren, but don't hold your hopes too high on getting that territory."
Her fellow hunters shrugged in what they hoped was an indifferent display, but none of them dared to refute her. Yvonne had easily proven herself to be the strongest among them, and thus she commanded the most authority. None of them had the courage or strength to challenge her. They could only pray to their gods and hope that I was as good as my boast.
Fortunately for them, I was probably better than that. I would ensure that they would get their chance at the hunt.
"All right, now that it's decided, you can go now."
Yvonne kicked me, but I easily dodged it. A flash of annoyance crossed her pretty face, but she didn't say anything. In contrast, the hunters and huntresses behind her murmured excitedly. They were hoping that this was a sign that I might be able to survive the hunt for more than twelve hours.
Oh, I wasn't just going to survive. I was going to do something far more than that.
In this game of hunters and hunted, I wondered just who was going to be the hunted?
Yvonne glared at me and I got the hint. Without waiting for her to attempt a second kick, I dove into the forest. Shaking my head, I began jogging toward the heart of the forest, bashing aside foliage and swatting away bugs as I did so. Using ice magic, I conjured a sword made out of frost and hacked away at the branches and shrubs barring my way.
I missed my weapons, but I had left Nocturne, Night Fang and Blood Angel with Stella for now. In order to get Yvonne to lower her guard, I didn't bring my usual arsenal of weapons along. It would have put her on high alert, and I didn't want her to confiscate them. They were my weapons, and I didn't want them to fall into the hands of one of my most hated enemies.
For half an hour, I bashed my way deep into the forest until I reached a large, open clearing. Glancing around, I nodded to myself in satisfaction.
"This place looks great."
Having chosen my battlefield, I then sat down on a fallen log and waited. No point wasting my strength. I was going to conserve my energy for the next phase of my plan.
Yvonne didn't disappoint me. In less than an hour, she appeared in front of me. The first sign of her presence was a shrieking arrow aimed for my shoulder, but I conjured an ice shield to block it.
"So you do know I'm here." Yvonne stepped out, notching another arrow to her bow. "I'm surprised, though. You didn't even bother to hide. It's almost like you're waiting for me."
"I was waiting for you," I affirmed with a smile and rose to my feet. Yvonne frowned.
"So much for surviving for twelve hours. How lame. I didn't think this would end in less than two hours."
"On the other hand, the whole thing is playing out according to my expectations." I laughed. Yvonne's scowl deepened.
"Huh? You never expected to survive beyond the first two hours? Then what was all that boasting to my tribesmen about?"
"Oh, it seems you're mistaken about something." I shook my head and snapped my fingers, casting my spell. "But I can't blame you. You were always under the impression that you are the hunter and I'm the hunted."
Yvonne's eyes widened when she caught sight of the monstrous shape manifesting behind me. I grinned and continued gleefully.
"You never realized that in reality, the roles have been reversed right from the start, did you?"