I saw the sight of hideous men riding black horses rushing out before my eyes.

‘Wow, their momentum is truly terrifying.’

I involuntarily shuddered at the scene of these terrifying villains, nearly two meters tall, weighing over a hundred kilograms, deploying en masse—the kind that could make even a crying child stop their tears instantly.

Even when baking bread in the countryside village, Dad used to say that even flying insects were life and pitiful. Because of that, I remember hiding and swatting insects with a fly swatter.

I glanced at Dad, who was inspecting his ceremonial attire before setting out.

I couldn’t help but wonder if Dad would be able to catch even a single rabbit.

‘If Dad can’t catch even one rabbit, I should still praise him and say he did great.’

He might feel upset otherwise.

“Sien, Dad’s going now too.”

“Mm, come back safely!”

“You need to be careful. Don’t cause any trouble.”

As always, Dad seemed to think I might get kidnapped or something.

Dad, who looked at me with gentle eyes like a cow’s until the very end, soon strapped a large sword to his waist and walked down the platform with heavy steps.

The ladies watching Dad descend raised their handkerchiefs in their hands.

Come to think of it, there was a tradition of praying for the participants’ good fortune in the hunting competition. It was to tie a handkerchief to the knight’s sword as they set out.

‘No one told me, so I couldn’t prepare in advance!’

I, equipped with all sorts of artifacts, wouldn’t get hurt unless a great villain came. But Dad, who looked defenseless even at a glance, I wasn’t sure about.

I stamped my feet anxiously and quickly searched the pockets of my dress. Fortunately, perhaps because it was a casual dress, there was a spare handkerchief in the pocket.

‘Ah, this is my chin-wiping handkerchief…’

I saw the ladies sitting in the guest seats carefully approaching Dad as if to hand him their handkerchiefs. I looked at them once, then at the pure white horse that looked as gentle as Dad, alternating my gaze.

‘I should give it anyway!’

I dashed out like a bullet, cutting in front of the ladies.

“Dad!”

Dad looked at me from atop his horse as if he had been waiting.

As soon as I arrived, everyone around Dad parted like the Red Sea. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I walked quickly and stood right in front of Dad’s horse. And then…!

“Take this!”

With my face flushed red from embarrassment, I handed Dad the white chin-wiping handkerchief. Dad, sitting on his horse, received my chin-wiping handkerchief with a transparent smile and tied it to his sword.

‘Is it too shabby?’

The ladies’ handkerchiefs seemed to have embroidery on them.

“Dad, you can wrap the other ladies’ handkerchiefs around too!”

A chin-wiping handkerchief dangling on the magnificent sword. It seemed to further lower Dad’s already precarious authority.

I belatedly came to my senses and held out my hand. But Dad firmly shook his head and replied,

“Dad only needs Sien’s handkerchief. It’s so wonderful like this.”

As expected, silly Dad seems to have poor aesthetic sense too. I sighed heavily and replied bravely,

“I’ll give you an even better one next time!”

Actually, such things aren’t a big deal.

“Okay, I understand.”

Dad nodded with a bright smile. It was a smile as if he had gained the whole world.

I waved my hand gently at Dad.

“Then, please come back safely!”

“I’ll bring back the prettiest animal, Sien.”

“Mm!”

‘But, what’s the prettiest animal in Dad’s opinion?’

A slight doubt flashed through my mind, but there was no time to dwell on it for long.

While Dad is away at the hunting competition, I have to observe the inner circle diligently here!

Pitter-patter, I walked up to the large altar and sat back in my seat. Then, avoiding the eyes of the maid sisters, I secretly took out my secret weapon, the small marble-shaped video orb that Grandmother had given me as a gift.

She had slipped it into my pocket, saying that with this video orb, I could roughly see the landscape of the Rochern Forest, and if there were any spies, I should deal with them immediately.

If someone acts suspiciously, I can jump out right away and stop them.

I clenched my fist tightly and began to look into the video orb.

In the video orb, I began to see Dad’s closest aides who had ambitiously set out for the hunt first.

However, something was strange.

They were wandering around aimlessly in the forest on horseback.

***

Those who had become Matthias’s closest aides were only hiding their temperament, but originally, they liked to show off their strength.

So when they usually hunted, they would slaughter all the animals in the forest. Because it was quite convenient. Capturing alive is troublesome.

But unfortunately, they couldn’t do that today.

It was because of the order from their lord, Matthias.

“What, how do you even capture something alive?”

Come to think of it, they had never captured anything alive before.

Just kill.

One of the villains furrowed his brow with a perplexed expression.

“I caught a rabbit with my hand, but it crumbled into powder.”

A warrior shouted roughly, preventing his horse from neighing as it couldn’t run properly.

“…Sigh, I barely picked up a cute goblin. I’m thinking of roasting it whole to serve.”

There was a collective gasp of admiration from those around.

“That fragile goblin… You’re amazing. If it’s someone who likes small and tiny things, they’ll surely love it the most. Goblins are so small and cute after all.”

Continuing their conversation on horseback, walking slowly, they all sighed deeply as if they had planned it.

Capturing alive was more difficult than killing, and they were powerful villains with ambiguous morality.

They were struggling with a challenging goal they hadn’t faced in a long time: ‘Offering a small and cute animal to Sien’.

***

As I secretly observed the hunting competition grounds through the silent video orb, I felt even more uneasy.

“These uncles are strange.”

“Yes, Lady Sien?”

“They keep killing rabbits. Such pretty rabbits.”

They keep catching rabbits and just pass by scary monsters and beasts.

They seem to be talking to each other, but I can’t hear their words well.

Moreover, it was strange how they quickly ran away from monsters as if even encountering them was terrible.

‘Could it be that they’re afraid of monsters? Maybe these people are weaker than they look? They seemed like incredibly skilled individuals.’

And our Dad seems to be going around alone all the time…

I sniffled and swallowed my runny nose, staring intently at Dad.

The more Dad is alone, the more I need to protect him!

I clenched my fist and squinted my eyes.

‘Fortunately or unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything problematic yet.’

They weren’t really doing anything in particular. Usually, hunting competitions are to emphasize prestige, so everyone is desperate to catch the most magnificent and best magical beasts.

As I carefully observed the situation, I thought to myself.

‘…Don’t tell me I have to protect these uncles too?’

I blinked my confused eyes and swallowed hard.

Just then, a strange feeling came over me.

‘Wait a minute. I think I see someone suspicious… Or did I see wrong?’

Originally, in games, characters with lots of cash items are strong.

Normally, I wouldn’t have felt anything, but despite having no magical power, I was decked out in all sorts of artifacts, and I felt a subtle, uneasy sign.

My mood became ambiguous.

There was still a month left until the deadline, but you never know how life will turn out within that time.

I lifted my eyes from the video orb and slowly looked around. At that moment, the defensive gear Grandmother had given me flickered once.

‘There must be some dangerous substance around me. A traitor? An assassin?’

I began to scan the platform around me with sharp eyes.

Someone was clearly casting a spell targeting me.

Whoever it was, they seemed to underestimate me as an ordinary child.

But I was no ordinary child.

Inwardly smiling wickedly, I tapped my shoulders, which are soft like rice cakes now but will become harder than shields in the future.

I smiled very frightening and coldly, like a potato dumpling that had hardened after being hit by a very cold wind.

The cutting-edge artifact attached to my body flashed green and then went out.

‘I don’t know what their purpose is, but one thing’s for sure, someone’s here. And…’

I stepped forward with a thud.

The anklet on my foot that looked like an accessory was actually a terrifying magical tool that could identify enemies.

I recalled what Grandmother had said when she was educating me, and before coming to the hunting competition! As she tucked artifacts into my pockets, she told me,

‘If you handle artifacts well, having no magical power means nothing, my dear!’

It was exactly as she said.

After learning how to handle artifacts from Grandmother, I could somewhat pretend to be a magician even without magical power.

I smiled wickedly as I looked down at my anklet.

‘Unless it’s someone as skilled as Axel, I can easily find them with this artifact. It vibrates when dangerous individuals are nearby.’

Feeling the vibration from my round, rice-cake-like ankle, I looked at the maid sisters.

“There’s a bad person here.”

“Pardon?”

The silence was brief.

The maid sisters didn’t dismiss my words as those of a child.

Instead, they clenched their fists and looked around.

“Huh, finally it’s time for me to show my strength.”

“I’ve been waiting for this day.”

“All the bad guys should die.”

The maid sisters began to emit killing intent with the most villainous expressions.

The sisters’ eyes, mixed with killing intent, scattered below the platform.

It was a vicious momentum that would crush anyone, no matter who they were.

With killing intent added to their already scary faces, the surrounding temperature seemed to drop by 2 degrees.

‘…As the sisters look down, it seems like people are disappearing from the guest seats.’

While the sisters were emitting their ferocious aura, I tried activating my earring artifact.

Using an artifact I had never used before was a bit difficult, and I fumbled a few times. But soon my hand was able to find the right position to activate the artifact.

‘She said to press the needle of the earring firmly.’

When I pressed the needle of the earring with my thumb, my earring made a beep sound.

It meant it had found the target.

‘If I, with no magical power, can track the location using artifacts to this extent, I guess they’re not very dangerous spies. Small fry?’

I narrowed my eyes and looked beyond the forest.

The maid sisters’ eyes flashed when they saw my gaze directed towards the forest.

“It’s the forest. I’ll bring them back alive.”

“Catch them alive!”

“No.”

‘It’s about time their location will be revealed.’

At that very moment.

Something began to sparkle with a bang in the distance.

I narrowed my eyes and took out a gourd-shaped artifact from my pocket.

“Sisters, let’s go down together.”

The forest is where our Dad is right now.

The enemy might be trying to kidnap me and use me as a hostage to threaten my weak-hearted Dad.

‘I need to go save Dad.’

I stepped down from the platform with majestic steps, one by one, like a hero in a novel.

Even at that moment, magical attacks aimed at me were constantly coming.

Of course, my body, armed with expensive artifacts, was invincibly deflecting all attacks.