Although it was an area where hunting skills were developed, it meant that individuals were exceptionally skilled. There was no such thing as group hunting.

People were preparing for a night of camping. Ines and Charlotte joined because Louis was going. Both of them helped other servants pack.

“Ines.”
Underneath the luggage cart, Charlotte, who was helping Ines load the luggage, called out in a low voice. Then she made a slight gesture. Following her signal, Glen and Hugo were standing. They were diligent knights who came together from Landhill.

“Do you find those knights a bit strange?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it seems like they’ve been avoiding us subtly for a while.”

In fact, Ines had also noticed it to some extent. However, she didn’t pay much attention to it.

“Have we done something wrong?”

“Really?”

But there was no particular sense of dislike from them. Occasionally, when she felt their gaze and looked up, their eyes met. At such times, a slightly awkward smile followed.

Charlotte shrugged as well.

“Well, it can’t be helped. Anyway, I’m so excited.”

Ines meticulously stacked the luggage, fitting them perfectly into every gap, unaware of the assistant intently watching her from the side.

“What’s so exciting?”

“We’re going to cook and eat the game we catch today right there in the mountains. It’s like a festival.”

Ines laughed as she found the perfect fit for a small gap while picking up luggage.

“Right. It doesn’t feel that cold for December.”

“Is that all? The lord apparently opened the food warehouse today. They say he’s bringing a lot of high-quality grains. The head chef said so. Even the grape wine is said to be top-notch.”

Hearing the mention of grape wine, Ines’s mouth watered.

It was certain that it would be a very enjoyable day. She cautiously called the assistant who was organizing luggage from behind. As there was no rule about who to greet first, when she called, the assistant was surprised.

“Why do you call?”

Although he used honorifics, neither the listener nor the speaker felt anything strange.

“I heard that using snares is not prohibited in Monstera. Is that true?”

The entire empire had banned the use of snares. However, Monstera, always entangled in threats of war, didn’t have time to leisurely hunt, and as a result, the use of snares was legal. Although it wasn’t right to kill animals for pleasure, survival was considered acceptable.

“Using snares?”

Charlotte, who heard Ines’s words, asked in surprise.

“Yeah, it’s hard to even spot animals in the winter mountains. Since we’re going, it might be helpful.”

“Right, if it’s dried meat, it gets really boring.”

At that moment, Charlotte tried to lift a seemingly heavy piece of luggage but failed. Ines was about to get off the cart to help, but Glen approached them.

He silently picked up the luggage and brought it into the cart. Then he filled the remaining space efficiently.

“Thank you.”

Charlotte greeted, and he just nodded slightly before leaving his spot. Seeing that, Ines and Charlotte locked eyes and smiled subtly.

It was an unusually warm winter day with sunlight.
As we reached the middle of the mountain, a large camping site appeared. It was spacious enough for dozens of people to easily unpack their belongings. It was said to be a place where knights briefly rested and prepared for ambushes in case of war.

After reaching the mountain, Ines took the opportunity to set up snares in secluded areas.

While not enough to catch a person, the snares were sufficient to capture small animals. Moreover, she made suitable noose snares so that if a young one was caught, it could be easily released or could escape.

Seeing her going deeper into the forest to set up more snares, Glenn quietly followed.

“I’ll help you a bit.”

“Oh, thank you.”

In reality, setting up snares was quite challenging to do alone.

“I’ll set up two more for the future.”

He helped her without saying much. However, Glenn silently observed her setting up the snares. Occasionally, there were small admiration sounds that unintentionally escaped him.

As evening approached and the sun began to set, campfires were lit throughout the camping site.

About forty people gathered, setting up tents and warming themselves by the fire. Even in the winter forest, it didn’t feel that cold.

At that moment, those who had gone deep into the forest for real hunting returned. Naturally, Carson was among them. The knights each carried large game on their backs as they appeared.

“This one was caught by the lord himself.”

Pointing to the largest wild boar among them, a knight shouted, and the people cheered with whistles and excitement.

Although he claimed to have little interest in hunting, Carson had undoubtedly returned with the largest prey.

“Wow, with this, we won’t go hungry in winter.”

People exaggeratedly shouted as they looked at the accumulating game.