Chapter 9

Hunting

It was nice to go hunting again.

No need to worry whether the men you sent out are dead or not.

No need to deal with political subterfuge from rival nations masquerading as friendly nations.

And no need for constantly coughing so much due to the unexpectedly large amount of dust from the walls of the castle.

Just some nice, calm, violent hunting of a buck.

Said buck was currently drinking from a pond, completely oblivious to the fact that I was watching it.

Then again, I am hiding in a bush along with wearing green clothing that fits with the leaves.

So I do believe that I have quite the advantage.

It drank from the pond more, filling its belly with water.

I lift my bow, which is made out of Red Oak wood, along with the string made of linen.

I pull out an arrow from my quiver, which unlike other quivers, was hung from my belt for easier access when not standing.

I put my arrow to my bow.

I pull back the string.

The buck suddenly looks up.

Its head turns to where I am hiding.

It seems to be sniffing the air.

I realize the wind is coming from my direction.

It can smell me!

It turns and breaks off into a run.

I fire my arrow.

It narrowly misses my target.

"Dammit!"

I sprint after.

I am not failing here!

I will get you!

You will be my dinner tonight!

It ran past several trees.

Jumping around and past some of them, as if to try to cause me to not be able to follow.

Too bad, buck, I can follow!

I am still on your tail!

I chase after the buck.

I see a broken branch.

I jump over it quickly in pursuit of my target.

I dodge out of the way of a tree.

Strange, it appeared to have been cut a bit.

As if ..

I stop.

I notice a string in front of me.

Made of silk to appear almost invisible.

Right next to it were pieces of grass, which were poorly trying to hide spikes that would hit the poor soul that runs into the string.

Oh my.

Someone is trying to kill me.

That s new.

I duck.

An arrow hits the tree next to me.

I run.

Another arrow whizzes past, hitting the ground near me.

I jump to the nearest tree.

I hide behind it.

I wait.

It seems that the assassin is trying to find me.

It's time to use some tactics.

"You're not a bad shot, all things considering!" I shout to the assassin, waiting for a response.

For several moments there seems to be no reply.

Then, as if magic.

"Thank you for your niceties, King Ozpin, but I am sorry to say that it won't stop me from killing you!" This assassin was determined to end my life.

Well, assassin.

What makes you think I would not go down without a fight?

"You should aim higher, less likely to hit the ground!" I shout to the assassin.

"Thank you for the advice!" He shouts back.

"You would have made a better assassin than the men I sent to kill the Emperor!" I feel like saying that was a bad idea.

Few knew the truth about the assassination.

This man didn't need to know such a thing.

"You tried to have the Emperor assassinated?!"

"Emphasis on tried, good sir!" I shouted back.

"I heard that the current ruler in The Empire is the Emperor s wife, the Empress!" That is an interesting thought.

There is a chance that the actual Emperor is dead and the Empress is ruling in his place and saying that the man killed was just a fake.

It would explain many things, actually.

Like why the Emperor refuses to see me in person.

Why the Emperor refuses to show themselves to their people.

They're dead.

And someone else is in control.

This day is just getting more and more interesting.

I jump from the tree I used for cover to another not far away.

It is in that moment I hear another arrow whizz past my head.

This man is getting better.

"Hey, you nearly hit me that time!" Expressing how impressed I was.

"Thank you!" Another shot grazed the tree I was behind.

Bugger, the arrow nearly hit my shoulder in the process.

This man would have made an excellent hunting partner.

If he wasn't trying to kill me at the moment, of course.

How to deal with this I have an idea.

I pick up a rock nearby me off the ground.

I aim at a fallen tree nearby.

I throw it with as much grace as I can.

An arrow flies at the rock, hitting it with ease.

At that exact moment, I jump out and aim.

I let of the string holding back the arrow into the direction the assassin most likely fired from.

"Oh, bugger." The man was hit in the chest.

He fell down to the grassy ground, dead.

I walk over to the man's corpse.

Poor bastard.

Probably didn't t think he would be killed by the distraction trick.

I look to see any markings, in order to find if this man was part of any group I might know.

As I look closer though, it is very obvious that this isn't a man.

The two big bumps on the assassin s chest are what give it away.

I find this quite surprising, as the assassin did not sound like a woman when they spoke.

Their voice had been very deep.

Almost demonic in tone.

There was definitely some magic used in this situation.

This makes me think about how my brother was killed.

In fact, this was startlingly close to how he was killed.

He had been out hunting and was killed by an animal.

However, pretty much everyone knew that was not the case when they saw his body desecrated at his own funeral by his own mother.

This assassination failed due to the fact that I am not a stranger in any way, shape or form in this world that we live in, to backstabbing others for political gain.

Nevertheless, what would the person who sent this assassin gain from having me killed?

My son Princess Cinder would just take my plac-

Princess Cinder.

My daughter would have the benefit of being the ruler of the whole Kingdom if she had me killed in an accident in the forest.

My daughter is most likely killing all those loyal to me right now.

She probably thinks me dead and is grabbing all the power she can.

I must get back to the Capital.

I need to defend my rule from one who wishes to take it by force from me.

I start walking in the direction of the Capital.

That little bitch will not get my throne!

She will suffer for her attempts at removing me!

She will die a horrible and slow death.

Said death I will make sure to take weeks before she is finally allowed to die.

She will not die with dignity.

She will not die with Valour.

She will die with cowardice.

I have made it back to my horse, which is bright white if a black mane.

She will pay.

I will humiliate him more by making his sister, Princess Bethany my successor.

She would scream in anguish at that.

She will wish she never tried.

There will be no feast of food tonight.

There will only be a feast of blood on those that die to metal.