Special Meal

“Agnes.”

Anna, emerging from the tent, called her friend’s name.

Agnes was plucking at her Lute by the spot where the bonfire had burned the night before.

A tune that suited her easygoing nature drifted like mist through the campsite.

“What?”

Without stopping her playing, Agnes merely turned her head to look at Anna.

Several members of the company sat around her, listening to the music, though half of them seemed more interested in Agnes than her performance.

“Want to go hunting?”

“Hunting? Out of the blue? The sun’s going to set soon.”

“That’s why. If there was more time, I’d go alone.”

Anna shrugged.

“Hmm….”

Agnes’s fingers stilled on the Lute, and her eyes narrowed slightly.

“Why, why?”

Anna involuntarily took a step back, unnerved by the way Agnes seemed to be trying to see through her.

“Oh, I was just wondering what reason our company commander might have for suggesting a hunt.”

“The food’s been bad. We need to eat well to keep our strength up.”

Anna avoided her gaze, and Agnes made a humming sound in her nose.

“I don’t know who needs to eat well or who needs to keep their strength up, but alright.”

Giggling, Agnes rose to her feet.

As she set her Lute down, the onlookers who had gathered in small groups dispersed.

“So, just the two of us?”

Agnes pointed back and forth between herself and Anna.

“It would be good to have one more. Since we don’t have much time, we should bring an expert.”

“Yohan? He went that way to kick a ball.”

“Haa…” Anna sighed deeply at Agnes’s words.

“Even though the commander told him to rest, playing ball in this situation is a bit…”

“They live and die for that ball. I don’t understand men. What’s so great about a ball game?”

Anna’s friend seemed to agree, nodding her head.

The two women headed toward Yohan, who was enthusiastically kicking the ball.

Whether he knew they were approaching or not, the popular, cheerful man was sweating profusely with a bright smile.

“Yohan.”

Reaching a spot where he could hear her, Anna called her comrade’s name.

But Yohan’s eyes remained fixed on the ball.

“Yohan. Just a moment.”

Anna called again, but Yohan remained silent.

“…Wow, he’s completely engrossed, isn’t he?”

Such concentration, unbroken by any disturbance. You’d have to be that focused to lead the cavalry.

Agnes muttered.

The patient Anna didn’t call Yohan again.

Instead, she drew the dagger from her waist and flicked her wrist, throwing it.

Thwack!

The spinning dagger struck the ball, which immediately deflated with a hiss and stuck to the ground.

“Ah! What the! We were about to win! I can’t believe it!”

Yohan, unable to accept the sudden turn of events, transformed into the protagonist of a violent outburst.

“Yohan. Let’s go hunting.”

Finally realizing who had ruined his game, he made a fist and shook it at Anna.

“What hunting? Did you get hit in the head with an arrow? The sun’s about to set.”

“That’s why we need you. You’re the best hunter, Yohan.”

While Agnes flashed a smile, trying to smooth things over, Anna retrieved her dagger from the ball.

The sight of the deflated ball was quite amusing.

“No, I mean, why the sudden urge to go hunting? Did you even think about what we’re going to catch?”

“Anything.”

Anna replied curtly.

“Hey, what’s wrong with her?”

“Can’t you tell? She’s trying to make a special meal for the commander.”

Yohan whispered to Agnes, who lowered her voice even further.

“Ugh… Why does she have to beat around the bush like that? Why doesn’t she just go in there, take off her clothes, and say, ‘Commander, are you cold? Let me warm up at least your stick.'”

Yohan frowned, as if frustrated.

“I can hear you.”

Anna’s voice dropped like a stone.

A normal person would have been intimidated by her fierce tone, but the vanguard of the cavalry was different.

“That’s what I meant for you to hear, you idiot.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Anna launched a Knee kick. Yohan nimbly dodged it and shouted.

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

Yohan wiggled his waist from side to side, sticking out his tongue.

The sight of him shaking his head like a snake emerging from a bottle made a vein throb in Anna’s forehead.

“You little shit.”

In that moment, Anna’s true nature, the one that used to pick the pockets of merchants, awakened.

“Guys… We need to go hunting…”

Agnes muttered sadly, watching the two men grab each other by the collar and fight.

After a ten-minute struggle, they succeeded in recruiting Yohan.

It wouldn’t be accurate to describe the process as peaceful, but after a long negotiation (ten minutes), Yohan also got something out of it.

The three of them left the campsite and crossed the forest.

Each with a bow slung across their back, they scanned the forest with a low posture.

“You’re really going to do it, right?”

“Ugh! Stop it already! How many times are you going to ask?”

Yohan spoke, and Anna snapped back as if she were hissing.

“It’s because I don’t trust you. You’re really going to set me up with Kate from the bakery when we get back, right?”

“Yes, Kate or Kaitlin, I’ll push it as much as I can. So hunt well. It’s for the commander.”

“Oh, you’re so devoted, so devoted. Can’t you be a little more proactive in front of the commander? It’s my lifelong wish.”

“Shut up.”

“Yeah~ Please, just date already! Please!”

Touched by Yohan’s earnest request, Anna was about to hit him over the head with her bow when Agnes lowered her body and put a finger to her lips.

“Shh.”

At Agnes’s signal, Anna and Yohan also lowered their bodies, as if they hadn’t been growling at each other just moments before.

“What is it?”

Anna asked.

“Sounds like a wild boar…”

Yohan, with his extensive hunting experience, narrowed his eyes and identified the target.

“Its hide looks pretty thick. Can we take it down with these?”

Agnes worried.

“We can aim for the space between its eyes, but it seems impossible from this distance… If we get any closer, it might notice us…”

Anna trailed off.

“We can shoot from here. All together.”

Yohan said as if it were nothing.

“Is that possible?”

Anna looked at him with suspicion.

“Well, if it’s impossible, are you not going to shoot? Let’s just shoot quickly and go back. I’m tired.”

At Yohan’s nonchalant attitude, the two women hesitantly nocked their arrows.

“We’ll shoot on three. One, two, three!”

With Yohan’s shout, three arrows were fired.

“Squeal!”

All three arrows hit the wild boar.

The boar, with arrows lodged in its neck, belly, and eye, thrashed about.

“Hey, catch it!”

At Yohan’s voice, the three of them darted out and were soon able to subdue the boar.

The hunt ended with Anna plunging her dagger into the boar’s neck.

On the way back to the campsite with the boar,

“Anna, what’s wrong?”

Anna’s expression wasn’t good.

“Well…”

“What are you complaining about now?”

Yohan chimed in.

“That letter the Emperor sent. You said it was attached to an arrow, right?”

“Yeah.”

Yohan replied.

“Where did you find it?”

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

“If they wanted the arrow to reach near the campsite, how far into the forest would the Imperial Army have had to come?”

“Well… Since it’s a forest, they’d have to get pretty close, I think. No matter how good they are at shooting, they can’t avoid the dense trees.”

Agnes said.

“So, if the Imperial Army came within arrow-shot distance of the campsite, wouldn’t we have noticed?”

At Anna’s question, Agnes and Yohan fell silent.

“……..”

“……..”

Yohan, carrying the boar, looked at Anna.

“Anna. What you’re trying to say is…”

“I’m just talking about one possibility.”

The commander was certain, but Anna didn’t tell her comrades about it.

Not for the time being.