"Damn, you almost scratched me from above." Sein spoke as she slowly picked herself up.
Seconds later, the stag slowly staggered itself to the ground. Although the sword was pierced all the way through its heart from the impact of falling down and the force she exerted on the sword, two of her five fingers in her right hand were bleeding after she accidentally slid her fingers on the blade.
When the stag was no longer moving, she picked up a rock and threw it. Lorelai quickly went near the stag to get the other sword she left. After picking it up, she then went to face the dead fox-like stag. She didn't waste time anymore and climbed up the dead stag to grab the sword. Using her left hand, Lorelai pulled the sword as hard as she could.
"Did you just kill the demonic fox?"
Sein Hiraeth's POV
I turned to see who had just been talking as I pulled the sword out. I know that I have completely concealed my identity, but considering that this is a hunting competition, it means that the people behind me are either noble knights-or merchants. The fact that they knew what this creature meant, they also aimed for this fellow stag. My body went into survival mode and pointed both of my swords at the approaching, familiar knights. The man who spoke quickly took off his headgear, revealing a familiar face. It was Duke Carlisle.
"How did you kill that demonic beast?" Duke Carlisle asked once again.
He jumped off of his horse. Duke Carlisle lowered his body a bit and gestured with his hands to lower my weapon. He was slowly walking closer to me, which alerted my entire system even more.
"Easy now. I am not here to steal that from you nor arrest you. We, I mean, I just want to know how you managed to kill that stag. We've been hunting that ancient beast to kill it and prevent more people from being eaten alive. So, we just wanted to know how you did it?" Calmly, he asked.
Although, there's no point in me being on guard for the captain of the blessed knights, based on my instinct, there's gotta be someone behind me, perhaps somewhere in those trees hiding and is directly aiming at my head right now. One wrong move, and it's over for me. Thanks to my hardships in life back in my world, even my strong instinct, which I call my sixth sense, I am able to use it here. It may sound silly to call it a sixth sense, but this strong and annoying instinct saved my life multiple times. Perhaps the real Sein Lorelai also has a strong instinct. This is probably due to the simultaneous assassinations that she had to force herself to develop a sharp sense and instinct to avoid danger as quickly as possible.
"Command him."
"Come again?"
"I said, order them to go down. Tell those assassins behind me to come down, and I'll answer your question!" I blurted it out. The fact that I had just faced an ancient beast, my entire body was getting more sensitive to danger. This only made me realize how dangerous my life would be like from now on.
"How did? No—fiine, I'll order him to do so." Duke Carlisle spoke up, and quickly he gestured his hand in the air. I felt relieved as soon as the assassins' presence disappeared behind him. My body slowly started to relax while I was still on guard. I lowered my other sword and pointed it at the chest of the stag, which was still bleeding.
"I simply pierced its heart," I answered, and jumped away from the stag. Duke Carlisle stepped closer to look. My eyes quickly glanced at the knights behind him. Unlike the Duke, who is obviously lowering his guard as if trying to tame me, the knights who were with him are on guard and are piercing me with their intense glare. But one of them gives off a different vibe. I couldn't help but feel intimidated by it. As much as I want to stop those glares, I just don't know which one of the knights is giving off that energy, since I can't get closer to them.
"I mean, of course, we witnessed how you easily pulled the sword out of its chest. However, how did you manage to get away from its hallucinations?"
"Hallucinations?" I tilted my head in confusion. I did not see or feel any hallucinations when I was hunting the stag. Was I just lucky enough that the stag forgot to make me hallucinate?
"Yes, this ancient beast or to be more precise, an ancient demonic beast, also known as Folhath, seduces its prey by making them hallucinate."
"I didn't hallucinate, though." I said flatly. Duke Carlisle's face looked confused as he glanced back and forth between the stag and me. So this was a demonic beast all along. I glanced at the beast for a second and went back to the Duke.
"You killed it?" He asked.
"Yes."
"How old are you?"
"Fifteen." As much as I wanted to answer him with politeness, I had to even conceal my voice. I can't really control my voice to sound manly, so I'll have no choice but to answer him very short.
"To what kingdom do you belong?"
"This kingdom."
"What about your guild?"
"I am from--." I paused, looking at the mischievous Duke, who was walking closer in my direction without me realizing it. I almost told him my secret. I diverted my sword toward the Duke to stop him from getting too close to me and stepped myself backwards.
"You're only fifteen, and yet, you are already skilled at wielding a sword. Who is your mentor?" He paused.
"No more." As I took out the magical pouch and hid the guild's sword, I said. If they see the familiar emblem, they'll definitely interrogate the guild. According to Captain Rowena, the magical pouch will be my storage bag for all of my hunts. I hope this gigantic fox will fit into this small pouch.
"Wait, have you ever heard about the blessed knight of the Queen?"
Automatically, my head turned to look at the Duke for an instant, then went back to putting the fox inside the pouch. How could I not realize it? Those knights with him must be blessed knights. I could literally answer them and even recite their bow of loyalty, but I had to be very careful since one of those knights behind him could be the Queen of this empire. Wait a minute, did he just reveal that the blessed knights were the Queen's knights? Isn't it a secret that even the King herself did not know?
I just came here to hunt and sneakily watch them, the blessed knights. I was curious how the Queen handles his knights, because it won't be long before he realizes the twins', my siblings' potential as swordsmen. I still have to train the twins and awaken them in the most natural way possible.
"I know you are very wary of us, but I want to give this badge to you. This is a badge of invitation to those women who are given the opportunity to be part of the blessed knights, and as the second in command of the Holy Knight Battalion of Deborah Kingdom, I ought to give you a reward for helping us eliminate that beast."
"Please, take this with you and find me at the House of the Knights." He continued, gradually putting the badge on the ground. Duke Carlisle went back to his horse and bid farewell. As soon as they were gone, I quickly went to grab the badge. Unlike the badges I have touched, this badge in my hand is too luxurious and heavy. I can sell this badge for a high price, but this will be beneficial to me and my family in the future though.
I went back to the dead stag. I still have to hunt more to cover this up. I'm afraid the guild will be suspicious of me. A rookie in hunting manages to pull off the best prey to hunt. Though I know I was granted a badge to join the blessed knights, I am not certain whether this assassin is aiming at my head right here and now or will it follow me. I tried to be as calm as possible and activated the pouch per Captain Rowena's instruction. After putting the stag in this magical pouch, which surprisingly fits it in easily, the pouch does not seem to change its volume or get heavy at all. Fortunately, the assassin behind me decided to leave when I was done packing up the stag.