Chapter 381

I changed into my hunting clothes and headed for the hunting grounds with Ismailov.

From the front, Nymphenburg Palace looked like a long mansion overlooking a lake. But if you went around to the back, there were various arcaded pavilions and a park spanning more than two hundred hectares. The park was divided in two by the Grand Canal, and we would be spending the day in the southern woods, where the hunting lodge, Amalienburg, was located.

“There you are!”

As soon as we reached the path leading to Amalienburg, Elias greeted us with a whistle and a shout. I’d sent word to the others through a servant while we were changing, so it looked like everyone had arrived ahead of us.

Hearing voices from inside the pavilion, I asked, “Looks like everyone’s here already?”

“Yeah. What took you so long?!”

“Who knows.”

I brushed it off, but the truth was we’d been delayed because of Ismailov. He’d insisted on putting away the book I’d given him and spent an absurd amount of time searching for the “right” place to keep it. In the end, I took it from him, stuffed it into the desk drawer myself, and only then did we finally change and head out.

‘He’s putting an incredible amount of thought into storing a single book…’

I appreciated that he treasured my gift, but I’d never met anyone like him before. Even Heike hadn’t gone this far.

Stepping into Amalienburg, I finally saw the room I’d only ever heard about. Or rather, it was more of a hall. Every wall was covered in mirrors and silver ornamentation, making the room seem to stretch on forever no matter where you looked. It was famous among the palace servants.

After taking a moment to admire Amalienburg’s Rococo interior, I moved into the adjoining room. It was now used to store hunting equipment. The moment I stepped into the yellow room, I locked eyes with Leo, who was fastening on his arm guards.

“Where’d he get the clothes?”

He skipped the greeting entirely and looked straight at Ismailov beside me. There was no way Ismailov owned hunting attire, so naturally he was asking how that had happened. I almost ignored the question, but answered shortly instead.

“I lent him mine.”

“Why? It can’t even fit him properly with the height difference.”

“It’s close enough. And if it didn’t fit, what—was he supposed to go hunting in what he was wearing before?”

Honestly, both everyday clothes and hunting attire looked equally uncomfortable to me, so I didn’t really care what anyone wore. Shirt, tie, jacket—the whole suffocating ensemble. How was this considered hunting clothes? Other than being brown, it wasn’t any different from regular formal wear. I could never understand it. The hunting clothes I knew as a modern person were more like hiking gear.

That reminded me—I had already talked this over with Leo, and right now he was ignoring our agreement.

We’d agreed not to act close in front of Ismailov. I still didn’t know how much of someone’s true thoughts he could read—could he read everyone’s mind? Even my status window ability couldn’t answer that question, so that much remained a mystery. But as long as he couldn’t read my thoughts, there was no reason to let him see how close Leo and I really were. Even if he could read Leo’s mind, it would be better to leave him guessing.

‘Play it cool.’

I shot Leo a look before turning away. But what could I possibly expect from someone this stubborn?

“If you’d told me, I would’ve lent him mine.”

I closed my eyes and let out a long sigh.

“So he says. Sir Ismailov, please thank Lord Wittelsbach instead of me.”

“Thank you.”

“…….”

Ismailov was completely oblivious. As a result, Leo looked utterly dumbfounded and turned his head away. I picked up the rifle and cartridges he’d laid out before heading back outside.

“There you are~”

Sometime in the meantime, Zähringen and Narke had apparently come around through the back entrance and were now waiting where I’d run into Elias earlier. That completed today’s party. We couldn’t bring Heike—Narke had insisted he be kept isolated—but leaving him alone would’ve been too boring, so we’d left Ulrike with him instead.

Anyway, two pointers were wandering around at their feet. I waved to my friends from a distance. Smiling, Zähringen held up their leashes.

“There were a lot to choose from, but I heard these two are the best hunters. Cute, aren’t they?”

“Yeah.”

Narke let out a silent laugh behind me.

‘I wasn’t just saying that to be polite, though.’

The pointers weren’t particularly intimidating, even with me and Ismailov approaching—they were wagging their tails at us. It also helped that I’d briefly been in charge of military dogs back in Brandenburg. And after actually taking care of them, I realized there weren’t many dogs as recklessly eager to pounce as Richthofen. Well… he wasn’t technically a dog, but still.

‘Humans really do have the worst attitudes.’

Every last one of those seniors seemed interested in nothing but teasing people. Was that really okay? Thinking that, I grabbed Ismailov by the arm and pulled him forward.

“Julia, this is Sir Ismailov. You saw him yesterday morning.”

Zähringen smiled and held out his hand.

“Julia Zähringen.”

As expected, Ismailov shook his hand without introducing himself. He let go almost immediately, and it looked like Zähringen had expected as much.

He really goes quiet the instant someone else starts talking to him. Considering it had taken me nearly ten minutes of rambling earlier just to coax a proper response out of him, his reaction wasn’t all that surprising. It only made me chuckle.

Ismailov turned his attention away from Zähringen and looked at the dogs instead.

“Dogs.”

“That’s right. Hunting dogs.”

“I’ve seen them in fairy tales. Are they truly necessary here?”

“They make up for senses humans don’t have. And they’re faster than we are.”

“Is that all?”

“Well… if you don’t catch anything, you can always play with the dogs.”

“So they’re for emotional support.”

“That’s… not what I meant, but sure.”

The differences between him and Heike were becoming more obvious by the minute. In terms of saying bizarre things, Ismailov might even outdo him. Just then, Elias came charging out of Amalienburg with Leo in tow.

“Let’s go! You brought your cartridges?”

“Yeah.”

I answered, tapping the clutch tucked under my arm.

With that, we all left Amalienburg and headed toward the Grand Canal. Maybe it was because Ismailov was with us, but nobody said much despite this supposedly being a fun outing. Strangely enough, perhaps because he was actually looking forward to it, the usually taciturn Ismailov was the first to speak.

“Do you enjoy hunting, Lord Askanien?”

“Doesn’t just hearing what I said earlier make you think the opposite? I thought for sure you would have misunderstood by now.”

“By what you said earlier, do you mean your argument that the very use of the term Ancien Régime has become somewhat ironic?”

“You have quite the knack for summarizing… As long as you didn’t misunderstand me, that’s all that matters. It’s true that it’s a pastime many New Humans enjoy, but at least this is one hobby anyone can take part in regardless of status. I don’t dislike hunting itself, but I’m not particularly familiar with it.”

Not like I grew up hunting, after all.

Ismailov accepted the explanation at once before moving on to another question.

“What am I supposed to hunt in this park?”

“Pheasants, mainly. You could hunt rabbits or roe deer as well, but the dogs we brought today are all trained specifically for pheasant hunting.”

“I see.”

“Come to think of it, you still don’t know how it works, do you? I’ve only done this a handful of times myself, more for the experience than anything, so there isn’t much I can teach you, but…”

I gestured with one hand as I continued.

“Once a hunting dog finds a pheasant, it’ll point like this, lifting one paw. That’s your cue to locate the pheasant hidden in the bushes and shoot. If you’re not used to pheasant hunting—or you and the dog aren’t in sync—the pheasant will fly before you can even shoot. Naturally, if you miss, the pheasant will fly away too. But that’s fine. You can still shoot it while it’s flying. And…”

I picked up one of the cartridges I’d been about to put into my clutch and squeezed it. Before my eyes, it dissolved into a cloud of crimson mist.

“These cartridges are made entirely of mana. Fortunately, even if you’re hit, they won’t seriously endanger your life. It’ll still hurt, though, since it isn’t your mana. The odds of anyone getting hit are low, but let’s be careful anyway.”

“If these cartridges are used for hunting, why do you say they’re harmless?”

I just smiled, then gave his shoulder a light pat.

“I’ll explain that later.”

Before long, we reached the Grand Canal. From here all the way to the edge of the park, the entire area would serve as our pheasant hunting grounds. Forests, marshes, and lakes stretched across the landscape. The weather couldn’t have been better.

Elias clapped his hands together.

“What’re we betting on, guys? Why are we only deciding this now?”

“Hm. What would be good?”

As Zähringen rubbed his chin in thought, Elias threw both hands into the air.

“Alcohol!”

“Let’s not.”

Zähringen cut him off in a gentle but firm tone. Leo, Narke, and I—none of us particularly interested in bets to begin with—offered no reaction. Smiling, Zähringen looked around at us.

“Why don’t we just start? We can decide after we’re done.”

“The losers buy the drinks.”

Apparently thinking the others hadn’t taken him seriously because he’d been joking before, Elias repeated the suggestion in complete earnest. Zähringen shook his head.

“I said no.”

“Why not? Then have the losers recite poetry.”

“Haha. That already makes me lose all motivation.”

“Exactly! Which gives us a perfectly logical reason to drink afterward.”

“Let’s talk about it after we’re finished.”

Being Elias’s childhood friend, Zähringen brushed off Elias’s words with one ear.

It was time to split into teams. Obviously, we couldn’t just randomize it, so I’d arranged everything beforehand. Zähringen, already in on the plan, crooked a finger at me to get on with it.

“We’re splitting into two groups. I’ll be on a different team from Sir Ismailov.”

Apparently he hadn’t expected that. Ismailov tilted his head and looked at me.

“Sir Ismailov, you’ll be with Lord Hohenzollern and Lord Farnese. I’ll be with Lord Zähringen—and Lord Wittelsbach.”

His eyes shifted slightly. His expression remained as unreadable as ever, but he looked at least a little taken aback, so I reassured him.

“More than anything else, this game comes down to luck. We can’t control how animals move. So don’t overthink it—just enjoy yourself.”

“…Understood.”

As soon as I finished, Elias grabbed Ismailov by the hand. The three of them would be heading for the southern edge of the park, while we’d start from the opposite end and work our way toward the center.

Once they disappeared from view, Zähringen clapped his hands to get our attention.

“Let’s do our best, everyone.”

“…….”

Leo gave a small nod and unclipped the dog’s leash. Meanwhile, Zähringen glanced around and said cheerfully,

“Lucky for us, we’ve got the homeowner on our team. That’s a huge advantage.”

“Being the homeowner doesn’t automatically make it an advantage.”

“You’re no fun.”

With that, Zähringen followed after the pointer. No—he was practically running.

About ten minutes later, after we’d been making our way through the woods behind him, carefully scanning our surroundings, a gunshot rang out from the marsh where he’d gone ahead.

Bang—

The pointer came sprinting back with the pheasant Zähringen had just shot clenched in its jaws. As Zähringen approached, he patted the dog’s head, took the pheasant by its legs, then tilted his head with a grin and held it up for us to see.

“That’s a good start.”

Leo, who’d been silent the whole time, smiled and offered a brief word of praise.

Sometimes you could wander around for hours without catching a single bird. To bag one this quickly could only be chalked up to good luck.

“Nice plumage. A cock pheasant.”

Running a hand over its emerald-green feathers, Zähringen looked up.

“Elias’s team still hasn’t gotten one yet, right?”

— [Nice plumage. A cock pheasant.]

“Hmmm~”

Grimacing, Elias rubbed the side of his head. Julia’s voice was coming through the artifact.

— [Elias’s team still hasn’t gotten one yet, right?]

“Hah! We’re about to!”

“Haha. Julia’s got you pegged.”

Narke grinned beside him. Still frowning, Elias glanced between Narke and Ismailov.

“Aw~ Come on. Those guys have too much of an advantage! They’ve even got the homeowner! And that homeowner’s ability has to count for something.”

“Maybe there just aren’t any pheasants in this area. Let’s head toward the canal.”

“You use Insight?”

“No. I was just thinking the pheasants might come down to drink around this time.”

Come down to drink? Elias tilted his head, then let out a chuckle.

“Hearing you say something like that is… refreshing, Narke. So what’s Luka doing right now?”

“Why?”

“Because Luka is the only one you can read. I was asking what their team’s up to.”

More precisely, the only one he could read from this distance. Warp coordinate markers were scattered throughout the grounds. If Luka spotted a pheasant, Elias could just shift a few spaces and warp over to bag it himself.

“Ah… I can’t read him right now. At least not for the moment.”

Can’t read him? What does that mean? Elias kept smiling as he stared ahead. Narke only grinned wider.

“Looks like we’ll have to rely on you and Ismailov’s abilities~”

“Me?! I… Sir Ismailov, what’s your ability?”

“…….”

No response. He’d been talking to Luka just fine, but now he was right back to square one. This wasn’t getting them anywhere.

“I heard you sang a requiem and completely nullified a Rampager’s vitriol. Do you have any abilities related to that?”

“…….”

Ismailov remained silent. Elias let out a dry laugh and waved it off.

“Fine, then… At this rate we’re completely screwed, but if you don’t want to tell us, I guess there’s nothing we can do.”

Ismailov shot him a brief glance. Then he looked forward again without a word and drew in a deep breath.

“Oh? What’s that?”

The moment Elias teased him, Narke grabbed Elias’s shoulder and pulled him back. An indistinct melody began to spill from Ismailov’s lips.

‘…Huh? Why’s he singing all of a sudden?’

Ever since Elias heard he’d put down a rampager with a requiem, something about it had felt off. Could his ability be—

Rustle—

“…….”

“…….”

Elias’s eyes met Narke’s. A rabbit had appeared.

No way. Did he just sing a rabbit into existence?

Elias pointed back and forth between the rabbit sitting in the distance and Ismailov, only for something mouse-sized to scurry out from beneath a nearby tree. Elias stared, dumbfounded.

“What is he? Some kind of princess?”

“Hm?”

“Never mind.”

Is his voice itself imbued with mana? What kind of spell is this, making animals react like that? It must work on people too, right? I should tell Luka to look into it. More importantly…

Elias waved for him to keep going. Seeing his gesture, Ismailov continued humming. Before long, Elias spotted a gray pheasant waddling through the tall bushes in the distance and grinned.

“Ah~ This is almost unfairly advantageous for us.”

Bang!

Lowering his shotgun, Elias waved toward the dog sprinting across the field. Moments later, the pointer came running back with a pheasant clamped in its jaws.

The balance was completely broken. No matter how well the other side could manipulate plants, there was no way they could distinguish the weight of a pheasant perched on the foliage from that of a rabbit or a mouse. Unless Leo had spent every waking day of his life hunting, anyway.

— [What? Elias, did you catch one?]

“Hm~”

Smiling to himself, Elias stroked his chin before cutting off the transmission. Then he patted Ismailov on the shoulder.

“Good. Keep singing until we’ve got pheasants pouring out of the bushes!”