episode_0370

***

“Agnes.”

Anna came out of the tent and called her friend’s name.

Agnes was playing her lute where the bonfire had been lit yesterday.

A song that suited her laid-back personality spread like fog over the campground.

“Why?”

Without stopping her tearing hands, Agnes just turned her head and looked at Anna.

Several crew members sat around her and listened to the song, and half of them seemed to be more interested in Agnes than in her performance.

“Do you want to go hunting?”

“Hunting? suddenly? The sun will set soon.”

“So yes. If I had more time, I would have gone alone.”

Anna shrugged her shoulders.

“Hmm….”

Agnes’ hands stopped playing the leurtle, and her eyes narrowed.

“Why, why?”

Anna unconsciously took a step back as her eyes tried to see right through the other person.

“No, I was wondering why our unit commander wanted to go hunting.”

“Your diet wasn’t good. You have to eat well to gain strength.”

When Anna spoke, avoiding eye contact, Agnes made a nasal noise.

“I don’t know who eats well and who has strength, but I get it.”

Agnes stood up, giggling.

As she put the lute up, the spectators who had gathered in groups of twos and threes dispersed.

“So, you two are going?”

Agnes asked, pointing her finger alternately at herself and Anna.

“I think it would be good to have one more person. Since we don’t have much time, it would be better to bring an expert.”

“John? He said he was going that way to kick the ball.”

Haha, Anna let out a deep sigh at Agnes’ words.

“No matter how much the captain told me to rest, it’s a bit awkward to play ball in this situation…”

“They live and die by the ball. Men don’t understand. What kind of ball game is that?”

Anna’s friend nodded, probably thinking the same thing.

The two women turned to Johan, who was kicking the ball passionately.

Whether he knew they were approaching or not, the pleasant man, who was popular for his cool smile, was sweating profusely.

“John.”

Upon arriving at the location where the sound reached, Anna called out her colleague’s name.

But John’s eyes were still focused on the ball.

“John. Wait a minute.”

Anna called again, but John still remained silent.

“…Hey, I guess you were completely engrossed?”

Concentration that is not broken by any interruption. If you want to lead the cavalry, you have to do something like that.

Agnes muttered.

Anna, being very patient, did not call John again.

He simply pulled out the dagger from his waistband and threw it with a flick of his wrist.

Pop!

It flew around and hit the ball, and soon it was crushed and stuck to the ground with a sound of deflation.

“Ah! what! I was completely winning!! I’m going crazy!!”

Yohan was unable to accept the sudden change in circumstances and turned into the protagonist of a violent game.

“John. Let’s go hunting.”

Eventually, he confirmed who the main character who ruined the game was, made a fist potato and waved it at Anna.

“What kind of hunting is this? Did you get hit in the head with an arrow? Even if it does, it will fall soon.”

“So I need you. If you hunt, you’re Yohan.”

While Agnes smiled and lightened the mood, Anna retrieved the dagger stuck in the ball.

The sight of the limp ball was quite funny.

“No, that is. Why are you suddenly asking me to go hunting? Have you thought about what to catch?”

“Anything.”

Anna answered briefly.

“Hey, why is he like that?”

“You can’t tell just by looking at it, right? They’re doing that to make a special meal for the boss.”

As John whispered to Agnes, Agnes lowered her voice further.

“Oh… Why is he spinning around like that? Just huh? Just go in. Take off your clothes. [Captain, are you very cold? It’s easy to say, “I’ll at least warm the captain’s stick.””

Yohan frowned as if he was frustrated.

“I can hear everything.”

Anna’s voice fell.

An ordinary person would have been frightened by that swarthy appearance, but the vanguard of the cavalry was different.

“I told you to listen, right? You idiot.”

Anna’s knee kick comes as soon as she finishes speaking. John, who easily avoided it, shouted.

“Where are you attacking? That’s my afterimage, right?”

John swayed his waist from side to side and flicked his tongue.

The veins on Anna’s forehead appeared as if she was shaking her head like a snake coming out of a gourd.

“Fuck you.”

It was the moment when Anna’s true nature, which used to rob merchants’ pockets all those years ago, was awakened.

“Guys… I have to go hunting….”

Looking at the image of the man and woman fighting while holding each other by the collar, Agnes muttered as if she felt sorry.

***

After fighting for about 10 minutes, we succeeded in recruiting Johan.

If you ask me if the process was peaceful, I would have to say no, but after a long negotiation (10 minutes), John also gained something.

Three people leave the camp and run through the forest.

Each carrying a bow, they were observing the forest in a low posture.

“Are you sure to do it?”

“Ah! Stop! How many times are you asking?”

When John spoke, Anna got angry as if she was scolding him.

“You’re saying that because you’re not trustworthy. If you go back this time, are you sure to join Kate at the bakery?”

“Yes, I will push both Kate and Caitlin hard. Have fun hunting. Because the captain is going to eat it.”

“Fish oil, the utmost sincerity. The utmost sincerity. Can’t we be a little more proactive in front of the captain too? It’s my lifelong wish.”

“Shut up.”

“Okay~ Please shut up and go out with me. Just a little!”

Anna, moved by John’s earnest request, was about to hit him on the head with a bow, when Agnes leaned down and put her finger to her mouth.

“Shhh.”

At Agnes’s signal, Anna and Johan also bowed as if they had growled.

“What is it?”

Anna asked.

“Looks like a wild pig…”

Johan, who had extensive hunting experience, narrowed his eyes and identified a target.

“The leather looks pretty thick, can I catch it with this?”

Agnes was concerned.

“You can aim for the area between the eyebrows, but it doesn’t seem possible at this distance… I think you’ll get caught if you get closer…”

Anna trailed off.

“You can shoot from here. All together.”

John said it as if it was no big deal.

“Is it possible?”

Anna looked at him with suspicion.

“Well, if it’s impossible, you won’t shoot? Let’s shoot quickly and go back. I’m having a hard time.”

Seeing Yohan’s attitude of speaking as if he was annoyed, the two women were skeptical and hung their arrows on the string.

“If you say three, you shoot. One, two, three!”

With John’s shout, three arrows were fired.

“Kook!”

All three arrows hit the wild pig.

A pig with arrows stuck in its neck, stomach, and eyes struggled.

“Hey, grab that!”

With John’s voice, three people jumped out and were soon able to catch the pig.

The hunt ended with Anna sticking a dagger into the pig’s neck.

***

On the way back to camp after killing a pig.

“Anna, what’s going on?”

Anna’s expression was not good.

“Um….”

“What else are you dissatisfied with?”

John helped out.

“A letter said to have been sent by the emperor. You said you were hanging from an arrow, right?”

“Uh.”

John answered.

“Where did you find it?”

“Near the campsite. I found it while on patrol and brought it back.”

“How far into the forest did the imperial army enter in order to send arrows close to the camp?”

“Hmm… Since it’s a forest, I think you’ll have to get quite close. No matter how good you are at shooting, you can’t avoid dense trees.”

Agnes said.

“Then, if the imperial army had arrived within an arrow’s reach of the camp, wouldn’t we have known?”

Agnes and John remained silent in response to Anna’s question.

“…….”

“…….”

Johan lifted the pig and saw Anna.

“Anna. What you are trying to say now…”

“I was just talking about one possibility.”

The captain was sure, but Anna did not tell it to her colleagues.

For now.