Chapter 3 – Omen
If you were to walk around ten belsta south from Silesia, and then head east after leaving the road, you’d arrive at a hilly plain called Śrem. A river gently meandering its way through the undulations, and a small forest could be found there.
This area was a hunting ground of Zhcted’s royal family. And although it was called a hunting ground, it wasn’t as though it was fenced in. However, rangers serving the royal family would regularly patrol the area, punishing anyone who hunted there without permission.
The residents of the neighboring towns and villages knew about this, and didn’t approach Śrem. The only ones getting close were unknowing travelers or poachers.
On a certain day, a big number of people visited Śrem for the first time in a good while. It was a group of approximately forty people, including Ruslan. All of them were mounted. They were noble lords who had followed Ruslan’s invitation, their attendants, and the knights guarding them.
Not only Eugene, but Tigre, Elen, Lim, and Olga were among them as well. In addition, Gaspal, Gerard, and Rurick. All of them clad in thick overcoats.
The number of horses surpassed fifty. Forty to carry the people, and some more to carry various goods such as wine, provisions, and other baggage.
It might be also owed to the season, but not all of the participants looked forward to the hunt. Because of that, some of them didn’t even hold a bow or a spear. Ruslan said that he didn’t mind. After all, the objective of this hunting festival wasn’t just the hunt in itself.
Because they had left the capital early in the morning, the sun still hadn’t reached its zenith when they reached the hunting ground. A middle-aged, plump ranger went on his knees in front of Ruslan beneath the calm, clear winter sky.
“Your Highness, I am deeply honored by your visit today. I have heard about your fortunate recovery, and I am very delighted to see you in such a fine health.”
The ranger wore a leather undergarment, and had a horn hanging at his waist. In his hand he held a bow with the quiver being affixed to his back. An alert, clever-looking hunting dog cowered at his feet.
Ruslan dismounted, grabbed the ranger’s hand, and helped him up.
“Thank you, I appreciate it. But then again, I’m not the one who will play the leading part during today’s hunt.” The blond prince looked back, and beckoned Tigre over.
“His Highness is calling you.” Elen urged Tigre on with a smile, obviously teasing him.
The youth quickly got off his horse, and ran up to Ruslan. The prince introduced Tigre to the ranger with a worry-free smile, “He’s my friend Earl Vorn. He’s a Brunian, but possesses a remarkable skill in archery.”
“Your Excellency, allow me to welcome you. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”
After the greetings were over with, the ranger led the party to a hill allowing for an unobstructed view over the hunting ground. The ranger took the lead, followed by Ruslan and Eugene riding next to each other, and Tigre right behind them.
“Looking at them like this, the mood between the two doesn’t seem bad, but…” Elen brought her horse up on the right of Tigre with a frown on her face. Her eyes pointed at the backs of Ruslan and Eugene. Both were cheerfully chatting about something. “I’m slightly worried about His Highness’ complexion looking to be under the weather, though.”
That was something Tigre had also felt when he saw Ruslan’s face earlier. Compared to their meeting in Sofy’s mansion, exhaustion was now clearly visible on the prince’s face.
“It seems His Highness has been working on governmental affairs without so much as a rest since Valentina was put under house arrest. Sofy told me after having heard from several people.” Olga said so quietly that only Tigre could hear after moving up to his left.
She wore an overcoat with designs characteristic for horse-riding tribes stitched into it. The draconic tool, Muma, hung at her waist. Bow and quiver were affixed to her horse’s saddle.
“I see…” Tigre grimaced.
When Ruslan heard about the noble lords having ordered their private soldiers to the capital, he apparently instructed them to send their soldiers back home right away. However, Tigre had heard that some of the nobles were unwilling to abide while excusing themselves for various reasons. This had increased Ruslan’s workload even further.
I wonder whether I’ve placed an unnecessary burden on him with my request during such a busy time.
“──Tigre.”
The youth returned his focus to reality after being called out to by Elen. Her eyes, tinged with a cheerful radiance, were fixed on him.
“It was Lord Eugene who informed me, but His Highness has apparently been looking forward to today’s hunt very much. It’s because he would be able to take a breather to entertain his friend, despite it being official business. What’s the point in his friend pulling such a sulky face?”
It was just as Elen said. If Tigre looked like he didn’t enjoy himself, it might hurt the kind-hearted prince.
“You’re right. Now that we’ve come this far, we’re going to have some fun with this. ──By the way, are you going to hunt as well, Elen?”
Tigre asked her this because a bow was affixed to Elen’s saddle.
“No, Lim and I will stay at Lord Eugene’s side. I’ve only taken this bow with me since it’s officially a hunt.”
“Really? Too bad. I wanted to watch you use a bow.”
In response to Tigre’s comment, Elen let her eyes wander through the air, as if brooding about his words. However, a moment later she shook her head, letting her silver hair fly, “Cut it out. I can use a bow, but it’s not like I’m good at it. I don’t really want to show this embarrassing side of me to you.”
At that moment, Olga pulled the hem of Tigre’s coat. When he looked in her direction, he was met with two big eyes, reminiscent of black pearls, looking up to him.
“I’m confident.” Olga said while puffing up in pride to her very limit.
Her objective was pretty evident. She tried to cheer up Tigre, whom she believed to be depressed, with her words.
“Thanks, Olga.” Tigre gently stroked her head.
The pink-haired Vanadis squinted her eyes as if feeling ticklish, and revealed a smile after relaxing a bit. Tigre knew her skill in hunting quite well. Back when the two traveled to Asvarre with Matvey, she had displayed her truly skillful abilities in hunting and preparing game for cooking.
“Alright, Olga, you come with me then. First we’ll go around the hunting ground.”
It’s probably going to be alright if we leave Eugene and Ruslan in Elen and Lim’s hands.
Soon after, the party arrived on the hill. Just as the ranger had mentioned, they could take an extensive look over the entire hunting ground from atop the hill. Because it was winter, the plains were dyed in a dull yellow, but the forest, visible in the distance, and the river, cutting through the plain, caused Tigre’s eyes to sparkle.
“I’d have loved to bring Sofy and Mila along as well.”
Those two should currently be wrestling with mountains of books in the archive of the royal palace. Sofy had been given permission by Ruslan to access the archive. However, since the permit only allowed for Vanadis to enter the place, Mila, Sofy, and Liza had to handle it.
──At long last I feel like everything is moving in the right direction.
Tigre spurred his horse on after checking the condition of his bow. At that moment, he spotted a wild bird soaring across the azure sky. The others also looked up after noticing it, but not one of them nocked an arrow. They had judged that the bird was too high up for their arrows to reach. Tigre tightly grasped his Black Bow, and nocked an arrow onto it. Leaning his body back in the saddle, he drew the bowstring to the limit. Some of those seeing him frowned, and some even snickered at him.
With a trembling of the string, the arrow sharply cut through the air. The arrow continued to fly as if being drawn towards the sky, and stabbed through the bird which was about to pass above the humans high up in the sky. The bird fell down in the distance while rotating and being carried by the wind.
“Magnificent, Lord Tigrevurmud! The first game of this hunt is yours!” Rurick yelled with a smile plastered across his whole face alongside a loud clapping.
Probably because of the chilly air, the radiance of his bald head looked dull, but his eyes gleamed with admiration towards Tigre.
Elen and Lim didn’t clap their hands, but both smiled proudly. As if not wanting to lose to Rurick, Gerard, and then Gaspal clapped as well. Eugene, Ruslan and some Zhcteds followed their example, but the rest stared at Tigre with dumbstruck looks. The ranger as well.
As might be expected, Tigre got embarrassed, quickly mumbled, “I’m going to check out the place a bit while picking up the game,” and made his horse gallop downhill. Olga silently chased after the youth.
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Lim didn’t miss the look full of envy and jealousy Elen sent towards the pink-haired Vanadis around the time when Tigre and Olga raced down the hill together.
“Eleonora-sama, I will keep an eye on Lord Eugene, so…”
“Thanks, Lim.” Elen shook her head, despite thanking her friend. “His Highness Ruslan mentioned it earlier, didn’t he? That Tigre would play the leading part in today’s hunt. My duty is to make sure that he can hunt without any worries. Don’t worry, there will be plenty of opportunities for me to hunt with him in the future.”
Immediately following, Elen called Rurick over.
“Lim and I can’t leave Lord Eugene’s side. Make the name of Leitmeritz known to the lords in our stead.”
“As you command!”
Possibly having waited for that very order, Rurick saluted, immediately turned the neck of his horse around, and galloped downhill. And, seemingly incited by Tigre’s previous display of exquisite skill, several of the noble lords took up their bows, pinned their quivers to their waists, and disappeared off the hill after spurring on their horses. The only ones left were those who didn’t have any interest in hunting from the very start. They spread carpets out on the ground and began playing chess, or strummed the harps they had brought with them after flopping down on the spot.
Ruslan and Eugene got off their horses, and chatted leisurely while gazing out over the hunting ground.
“At any rate, that was a truly superb shot.”
“Indeed, my friend had also praised that youth’s talent in archery, but…even as someone not knowing much about martial arts, I can easily tell of his amazing skill.”
“I’m happy to see that I was able to grant him a great present. Come to think of it, I heard that my father was also fond of archery in his youth, but I wonder whether he’d be able to pull off something like Earl Vorn did just now.”
The way of Ruslan’s topic shift might have been somewhat forced, but Eugene didn’t point it out. After all, both understood that the late King Viktor served as a link tying them together.
“When I started to serve His Majesty, he had already stopped hunting with bow, falcons, and hounds. And thus I can only guess, but I don’t think that his skill was up to the level of Earl Vorn.”
“Hoh,” Ruslan’s blue eyes lit up. “Why do you think so?”
“That’s simple. If a king of a country or a prince, who was supposed to become the next king, were to be such a master archer, his fame would have spread among the surrounding countries.”
After fixedly staring at Eugene for a moment, Ruslan laughed, answering, “No doubt.” Being infected by it, Eugene’s stiff expression loosened up as well. Next the blond prince asked, “Earl Pardu, no, Lord Eugene, what would you have done if I had gotten angry, blaming you for insulting my father?”
“I’d taken my time to explain to you that it wasn’t that much of an issue for His Majesty whether he excelled in martial arts or not. If you allow me to add one more thing: His Majesty had many flaws, but he was also endowed with many virtues.”
“──Finally you’re acting like yourself..” Ruslan fully turned around to Eugene.
The cold winter wind blowing above the hill stirred their hair and the hems of their coats.
“Eight years ago, your and my thoughts were similar. We approved of His Majesty’s wish to make this country flourish abundantly, and to protect its peace and stability. We were willing to serve His Majesty until death.”
Eugene nodded at Ruslan’s statement. At that time, King Viktor was healthy, and Ruslan piled up achievements, albeit plain ones, as next king. Eugene ruled over Pardu, and while giving his love to his wife and daughter, he gladly put in any effort if King Viktor ordered it.
“Now His Majesty isn’t of this world anymore. Our positions have changed quite a bit as well. However, our wish from back then shouldn’t have changed. To succeed His Majesty’s will, protecting the peace and stability of this country.” A powerful gleam appeared in Ruslan’s eyes, and his voice teemed with passion.
Eugene widened his eyes. The prince’s sincerity and passion reminded the gray-haired Earl of the King Viktor of 20 years ago. Just as Eugene had said himself, King Viktor had many flaws, but there was no doubt that he always kept thinking how to make his country prosper as king. Eugene tightened his expression, and bowed his head.
“I’m terribly sorry for having acted so pathetically in front of you, Your Highness.”
“The same can be said about me.” Ruslan stepped up to Eugene with an apologetic smile, clapping his shoulder. “Even though I was finally able to come back to the palace, I failed to notice many things while being swamped with governmental duties. I must fix this from now on. Can I count on your help?”
The elderly Earl bowed even deeper than before in response to the prince’s plea, “I shall offer you my full assistance, as humble as it might be.”
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—————- End of Part 1 —————-
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