“The winner of this hunting competition is Lady Katiana Yefrin Lyuschino of the Lyuschino family.”

“Wooooow! Amazing, Kasha!”

As soon as Princess Melissa made the announcement, Daril shouted loudly and clapped. Along with him, Margaret cheered with a bright smile, while Leon remained silent. Most people’s reactions were rather lukewarm.

Among them, the noble man whose life was saved earlier thanks to Kasha was loudly talking about the scene he witnessed.

“Well, the bear that was rampaging like mad just collapsed with one shot…!”

Kasha, standing in the midst of chaos, calmly stepped forward. And without hesitation, she climbed onto the platform. At this, some nobles openly jeered.

‘Those bastards?’

Enraged, Daril shot them a murderous glare. The necks of some nobles who met his gaze retracted like turtles.

At that moment, Princess Melissa extended her hand to Kasha for a handshake.

“Lady Lyuschino. Congratulations.”

Princess Melissa calmly congratulated Kasha. The handshake was brief. Kasha could feel the princess’s purple eyes quickly observing her.

“Thank you.”

Kasha expressed her gratitude briefly. However, she couldn’t hide her disappointment inside. She had expected Princess Jasmine to be part of the award ceremony as well.

‘I thought I might find some clues if I saw her up close.’

Having anticipated it all along, she felt a bit deflated.

Moreover, looking down from the platform, the hostile gazes of the nobles made her feel tired.

Her body, already exhausted from intense horseback riding and hunting, felt like it was sinking into the ground.

Perhaps that’s why.

‘Die! Die! Die!’

She had an illusion of hearing the voices of the crowd cursing her in unison as she stood on the guillotine before her regression.

‘My body is getting worse again.’

It was natural since she had overexerted her body that wasn’t used to even light exercise, but she resented her weak physique once again.

She felt even more so because she could see Simon observing her every move with an anxious face at the bottom of the platform.

‘If I collapse here again, it’ll be truly ridiculous.’

Kasha took a deep breath and clenched her fists to hide her trembling hands. She raised her chin even higher to conceal her fatigue and deliberately lifted the corners of her mouth to create a smile.

The nobles murmured in disbelief at her seemingly arrogant attitude, but that was better. Hadn’t she decided to become a villainess rather than a pushover from the beginning?

At that moment, Princess Melissa, who was looking around the noisy venue, opened her mouth towards Kasha.

“By the way. This is out of personal curiosity, but Lady Lyuschino, I heard you haven’t learned any particular martial arts, so how did you manage to catch such a large bear?”

In the direction the princess pointed, there was a slumped gray bear showing off its unrivaled size.

At the princess’s question, the commotion in the venue soon subsided. It directly represented their curiosity.

Kasha took a deep breath and stepped forward.

It was the question she had been waiting for. It was an opportunity. She must answer well. She had to clearly show what she could do in front of them, in front of Simon.

“I, I… th-that b-bear….”

Damn it.

Perhaps because her body wasn’t feeling well, she stammered worse than usual.

“Pfft. How could someone who can’t even speak properly claim to have caught a bear.”

Someone’s mocking voice clearly pierced her ears. Looking in that direction, she saw a group of young ladies, led by Odette, openly laughing at her.

Daril gritted his teeth at them, but with so many people around, it was difficult to pinpoint exactly who had said that.

Kasha clenched her teeth imperceptibly.

You’ve even caught a bear monster, what are you afraid of? Get a grip. How are you going to become a villainess like this?

“S-so…”

But frustratingly, the situation didn’t improve easily.

At that moment, she suddenly felt someone’s intense gaze. It didn’t take long to realize who it was.

A platinum-blond man, a head taller than others. Leon’s purple eyes, with their clear and beautiful gaze, were looking directly at her.

Suddenly, her mind cleared.

‘No one can save another person’s life.’

She remembered what Leon had said just before dying in her previous life.

Right. My life, I have to save it myself.

Remembering clearly what she had decided when returning from that terrible death, Kasha Lyuschino.

“As you all know, I am a novice in hunting.”

She stepped forward again with determination. Strangely, her voice no longer trembled.

“Look at that! But how on earth did you catch the bear?”

“It’s impossible!”

However, Kasha opened her mouth again, regardless of the protests.

“Yet, I, a novice, caught a much larger prey than all of you.”

With a smile at the corners of her mouth, her words suddenly made people freeze.

She didn’t appear to be someone being ridiculed in front of this large crowd of nobles.

Rather, she seemed to be enjoying the situation.

Feeling like they might not even get their money’s worth if they spoke carelessly, people began to close their mouths one by one.

Looking around at them, Kasha slowly opened her mouth.

“How exactly… was that possible?”

Now she even throws questions back at them leisurely.

The strange thing was that even her stammering speech began to sound somewhat intentional.

Only Odette snorted loudly for everyone to hear, but Kasha’s smile didn’t diminish at all.

“No one… seems to have… any idea.”

“Stop beating around the bush and explain!”

Finally, Duke Tyrot, unable to bear it any longer, shouted. And Kasha, as if she had been waiting for this, finally gave her answer.

“While I may be… a novice in hunting, I have… a magical tool.”

A magical tool?

The venue became noisy again.

“But there’s no magical tool good enough to catch a bear!”

“Is she talking about something like a magically charged bow or sword?”

“Since she doesn’t have a proper excuse, she’s talking nonsense. Do we have to keep listening to this nonsense?”

Duchess Odette and Lady Haley, along with other young ladies, laughed out loud. The faces of Daril, Margaret, and Leon became even more grim.

However, Kasha continued speaking, paying no attention.

“The reason I… participated in this competition was to… showcase the magical tool I created… in front of all of you.”

As she continued speaking, she took out the magical tool from the leather case slung over her shoulder.

Suddenly, Simon’s face, standing beside the platform, turned pale and he began to bite his nails. Seeing this, Kasha felt her mood improve even more.

She opened the mana supply valve of the magical tool with familiar hand movements.

Woong-

As a low vibration spread through the air, golden light began to surge inside the glass sphere of the magical tool. At this, people’s expressions became a little more serious.

“You made that yourself?”

“But mana is originally blue… why is that golden?”

Kasha answered their questions loudly.

“This is… holy power. I… created a magical tool… that uses holy power.”

“Holy power?”

At this unexpected statement, people forgot to criticize and looked at each other in puzzlement.

“Holy power… in a magical tool?”

“Is that possible?”

It was then. Someone stepped forward to answer that question instead.

“It is possible.”

People became even quieter when they saw who had stepped forward.

Leon Aranias.

The son of Saint Larisa and the vice-captain of the Holy Knight Order. Could there be a greater authority on utilizing holy power than him?

Leon first asked Princess Melissa for permission to come up to the platform without invitation, then opened his mouth towards the crowd.

“I witnessed it myself. Kasha Lyuschino catching the bear with this magical tool that uses holy power.”

“I saw it too!”

The nobleman who had been chased by the bear also loudly agreed.

People began to murmur in genuine confusion. This situation had shattered their common sense in many ways, so they didn’t even know which part to point out.

“B-but, how can you catch a bear with holy power? Holy power is not meant to be used for attacking in the first place!”

Someone with some rationality bravely raised a question. This time, Kasha answered that question.

“It’s not… attacking.”

People became even more confused.

“If it’s not attacking? How on earth did you catch the bear then?”

At that moment, there was a loud fluttering sound from the pile of hunted animals. A pheasant that someone had caught seemed to have regained consciousness after fainting and was trying to escape, flapping its injured wings.

As someone ran to catch the pheasant, Kasha shouted loudly.

“Wait.”

Kasha shouted loudly. Then, without delay, she raised the magical tool to her shoulder, aimed, and was about to fire. However, her fingers trembled, not out of fear but because her physical condition was not good.

At that moment, Leon approached from behind Kasha and stood very close behind her.

And in that position, he held her hands that were holding the magical tool and slightly adjusted the direction. Although he was wearing gloves, the touch still felt hot.

However, that posture looked somewhat suggestive to the crowd standing in front of the platform.

It looked as if Kasha was fully embraced by Leon, with his imposing physique, and their hands overlapped.

Crunch.

At that moment, the young ladies standing next to Odette were startled by the sound of teeth grinding and shrank back.

“Damn…”

Simon also groaned at the same time. He looked at Kasha, who was almost in the arms of the noble Grand Duke Leon, with a dejected expression.

It was then.

Fwoosh

Finally, Kasha fired the magical tool. Something like a golden arrow stretched out from the magical tool, leaving a long trail.

Thump.

And it accurately struck the pheasant’s body.

Thud.

The pheasant fell over as if dead, without any resistance or scream.

While people watched with surprised faces, at Princess Melissa’s signal, several attendants approached the pheasant to check its condition.

“How is it?”

To the princess’s question, the attendants answered with bewildered faces.

“Well… its injured wing has healed, and it’s sleeping in a very healthy state.”

“Sleeping, you say?”

“Yes. It’s not dead, but it won’t wake up no matter how much we shake it.”

The attendants shook the pheasant upside down. Regardless, the pheasant swayed with a peaceful posture, eyes closed.

The astonished gazes of the people gradually focused on Kasha.

‘It worked.’

Kasha smiled again.

Everyone stared at her as if enchanted. This was true even for Leon, who slowly moved away from her.