Chapter 41: The Hunt

Chapter 41: The Hunt

In the evening, when Little Dragon Rider met with their father as usual, the Dragon Rider Father noticed a change in his daughter. The little girl actually carried a hint of uprightness.

Waving his son away, the Dragon Rider Father decided to have a heart-to-heart talk with his daughter. He asked her to recount everything that happened today, every detail clearly. After his daughter finished, the Dragon Rider Father stroked his chin and asked, “Are you sure a cat with only one eye open made you feel danger?”

“Yes,” Little Dragon Girl nodded.

“It was lying in that Idiot’s arms, didn’t get up, merely opened one eye?”

Little Dragon Girl nodded again in confirmation.

The Dragon Rider Father muttered quietly, “This is strange. Even if he were a Lynx, he shouldn’t be able to threaten you.”

Little Dragon Girl protested unhappily, “You didn’t notice it before either!? You let your beloved daughter stay in danger like that. You only warned me to show respect to his Attendant Danny earlier, and yesterday you said my brother could beat someone to a pulp with just a broom. Yet today, even with a sword, I couldn’t do much to them. With your judgment, how can we trust you?”

The Dragon Rider Father, looking helpless, waved his daughter away…

Watching his daughter’s receding figure, he felt quite satisfied. His daughter’s performance was much stronger than his son’s! Under pressure, it had actually ignited her fighting spirit. But then he thought, everyone says the son takes after him, and the daughter takes after her mother, which made him feel a bit stifled.

…

The weather was good today, a fine day for hunting. Hunting in the Northlands was a highly dangerous activity. When Northlanders walked this land, they had to maintain sufficient vigilance and respect towards dangerous beasts. Northlanders would not casually intrude into the territories of powerful beasts, and these powerful beasts would also avoid Northlander settlements. When the two sides crossed paths, it was mostly about showing teeth to indicate boundaries, then each would step back, pretending nothing happened and going their separate ways. Perhaps such encounters would even become bragging material after a few drinks, like ‘back in the day, I also ran into such and such, but I couldn’t be bothered with that little critter,’ or ‘I was full and too lazy to move at the time’…

Hunting was a matter full of wisdom. A skilled hunter wouldn’t chase prey all over the place or corner it into fighting back desperately. Caution and observation accompanied the entire hunting process.

At this moment, Bran felt some admiration for these Delegation Knights. Many of these knights were not visiting the Northlands for the first time, nor was it their first hunt, yet they still listened carefully to the Northlanders’ warnings without a trace of impatience.

Bran carefully observed the people around him and noticed an interesting phenomenon: even the idle free knights listened very seriously to what seemed like tedious hunting matters. In contrast, a group of frail Nobles, women, and children were mostly eager and restless, their eyes full of impatience. Was this the difference between Guardian and the guarded? Protecting someone required considering every detail, every possible situation, fearing any omission. But were those being guarded truly worth protecting? Watching some of them giving orders, commanding their own knights at this moment, interrupting their listening.

Bran had a bad feeling. There were quite a lot of people this year; trouble might occur. These ‘can’t even tie up a chicken’ types were mostly experts at causing trouble. This was the Northlands. Once they provoked something they shouldn’t, how many knights’ lives would it take to make up for it?

…

Bran saw Eileen riding her pathetic two-legged dragon over, challenging him by riding alongside and giving him a sidelong glance from her mount. Bran was, of course, also on horseback, and on a full-grown Northlands tall horse at that, unlike the other little kids and girls who rode ponies or small horses. However, he was being held in Danny’s arms, and the Black Cat Huahua was squatting on the horse’s rear.

Don’t think about useless details, Bran comforted himself. At least those little kids had to look up to see me. Alright, Bran was now high and mighty like this, facing the various gazes from the little girls and boys.

A hound ran up to Bran’s horse and barked at him. Bran didn’t pay it much mind. Some naughty kid’s pet; once the adults noticed, they’d come out to stop it, and it would be over. But things turned out unexpectedly. After a while, this annoying dog did not leave. Perhaps Bran’s indifference added to its courage, and it began to emit a more threatening growl. The truth was, until now, Bran, Danny, Huahua, and even the horse beneath them hadn’t properly looked at it.

Bran tilted his head, glanced at Eileen beside him, and asked impatiently, “Yours? Or did you purposefully lure it here?”

Eileen showed a mischievous smile. “No.”

Bran ignored her after that, but Eileen wouldn’t let him off. She retorted, “You believe my words just like that?”

“Hmm, a little girl who wasn’t scared to tears by my Huahua is worth trusting.”

Eileen’s face immediately flushed red. Gnashing her teeth, her hand unconsciously moved towards the sword at her waist. Then she felt that danger again. The Black Cat squatting on the horse’s rear opened its previously half-closed eyes and fixed its gaze on her.

Meanwhile, not far away, the Dragon Rider Father was secretly sizing up that Black Cat. Nothing special in appearance, so where was that sense of danger coming from?

Perhaps feeling he had teased the girl enough, Bran closed his eyes and paid no more attention to his surroundings. Almost simultaneously, the Black Cat Huahua also half-closed its eyes. Thus, the pressure on Little Dragon Girl vanished, leaving her with a sense of helplessness. Would she really be afraid of a cat?

…

The barking around him grew more numerous and chaotic. Bran opened his eyes. He found that dozens of hounds had actually surrounded him. Bran let out a helpless, exasperated sigh. The tree may crave calm, but the wind will not drop. Did these people find this amusing? And what was the purpose? What could they possibly achieve? They really had too much time on their hands. Bran was speechless about these idle, wealthy Nobles. They might not harbor much malice, but they were experts at stirring up trouble.

Eileen asked curiously, “What are you sighing about?”

“These hounds, able to follow their owners all the way here, are all quite good. It’s a pity for them to die here.”

“You have really poor social standing. None of those Northlanders stood up for you.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty poor. I won’t help them when they kill people either.”

“Why not?”

“Because there aren’t enough to kill. Step back a bit, save yourself from getting blood splattered on you later.”

“You’re going to kill people? That’s not very good.” Eileen said it wasn’t good, but the gleam in her eyes betrayed her.

She’s a violent girl too, not a good person. Bran made this assessment in his heart.

“Since they are willing to risk their own children, why should I be unwilling?”

“Children? Where?”

“On the ground, this pile of dog things. — None of them are yours, right?”

“No.”

“Good.”

Then, Eileen blinked, feeling something wasn’t quite right.

…

Eileen watched as Bran patted Danny’s hand. Just as she thought Danny was about to go on a rampage, Bran jumped out from Danny’s arms. She saw Bran’s clothes puff out and then shrink while he was in the air, and a pair of Short Blades fell into his hands. Then the blade light scattered, like a river surface in summer, shimmering with points of silver light. Then the points of light dispersed, as if it had all been a dream.

Eileen had never seen such beautiful blade light before, so she became somewhat entranced, even overlooking the pool of dog blood on the ground.

The killing was over in an instant. The women and children around only saw Bran land and a flurry of light and shadows dance out. However, most of the knights knew that after those two Short Blades unfolded, they gradually left his hands. The subsequent movements were all controlled by thin chains connected to the hilts, but that flurry of light and shadows also interfered with their vision, preventing them from seeing too clearly. How did he control it so precisely?

The leading hound that had barked at Bran was still alive, the only survivor. It had injuries on its front and hind legs, howling as it fled into the distance. Bran followed at a leisurely pace, with Danny guiding the horse behind Bran. Under the gaze of almost everyone, this hound ran towards a family. Among this family, Bran saw an old acquaintance — Luo Bo.

Facing the gradually approaching Bran and Danny behind him, Luo Bo was also decisive. He directly pulled his family down to lie on the ground. Even the injured dog imitated its owner and lay down too, leaving Bran utterly speechless…

He heard the onlookers clapping and shouting, “Good hunt!”