n

n

nEon stood up and looked at us,

"Wait, who killed it?

"

nLuther and Conrad perked up from his question and were now silently anticipating our answers.

n

"It was Nadia,

" Ezekiel stated.

nAll of us, and I meant all of us, turned to him in shock. Except for Nathan and Bea of course...

n

"What?!

" was our reaction.

n

"Why are you shocked too!

" Eon pointed out to me.

n'Because I am?! What he said was pretty shocking after all..'

n

"But what? Really? How did that happen?!

" he then added.

n

"Nadia killed it?

" Luther joins.

nThe three were gobsmacked, and so am I. Well, maybe I did the final blow but I was not the one who injured it, right? There's also that possibility that it was actually killed from that bump or from being crushed by the tree, who knows…

n

"Yes, she did. And she killed it with this sword,

" Ezekiel said and pointed to Bea's sword with his index finger.

nEon was still looking unbelieving as his eyes fell on that sword lodged in the boar's neck.

n'I feel you, Eon, I feel you.'

n

"But how…

"

n

"You wouldn't get it so don't think about it anymore,

" Nathaniel suddenly uttered at my side.

n

"But…

"

n

"Uhh, guys? What happened?

" a voice says from the right. It was Noah who was carrying two blood hares in his hand.

nHe then caught sight of the dead animal which was being surrounded by us.

n

"Holy shi-- Is that the boar?! I heard it trampling around earlier and I got scared so I hid,

" Noah explains--

"And when I did not hear it anymore, I had thought it went away so I came out and went back here.

"

n'It's okay Noah. No one's blaming you here. You don't have to explain yourself…'

nHe walked right next to us and looked at it.

n

"It's… dead…?

"

n

"Yep,

" Conrad uttered.

n

"And apparently, Nadia killed it,

" Luther added.

n'Wait, is it really that big of a deal?'

n

"No… Brother and Prince Ezekiel helped me with it, so the credit is not entirely on me,

" I voiced out.

nIt is true though. If not for the two's perseverance and efforts, it wouldn't die from that. So yeah…

n

"You also helped us by blinding it and you were still the one who had given the last blow,

" Ezekiel said.

n

"So technically, you finished it off,

" Nathan chimes in.

n

"Mmm. I agree,

" Bea nodded, agreeing to them.

n'Ehh?'

n

"If not for you, we wouldn't even harm it,

" Ezekiel

n'Well... I'm just helping...'

n

"Then this means Nadia wins The Hunt, right?

" Eon mouthed after a while.

nThe others started nodding their heads while I stood there, getting dizzy from all these talks.

n

"Nice. Her first hunt ever and she won it,

" Conrad mentions, grinning like a cat.

nNow that you say that, you are making me feel shy. They have seriously decided that I was the one to take this in the bag. Not that I am complaining, it just feels kind of burdensome because as I've said, I was not the one who had severely injured it. I am not that shameless…

n

"Congratulations, Nadia!

" Noah declared and beamed at me.

n'Oh, guys come on. Stop it, jeez… You're all making me blush here!'

n

"Are you guys done hunting now? We can head back to the grounds then,

" Ezekiel remarked then looked up at the already darkening sky.

nIt seems that it would rain later this day.

n

"Oh yeah, we kind of have hunted a few. What about you guys, I don't seem to see anything else except this big thing,

" Conrad uttered.

n

"Do you want to hunt for more? There's still time anyway,

" Ezekiel asked us.

n'Err, I don't think I want to do that, cousin. I kind of just finished a bloody battle a while ago. My energy is gone now….'

nEzekiel turned to Nathan who shakes his head and glances at me, then to Noah.

n

"These are fine for me. And you all might be exhausted from the fight anyway,

" the latter shrugs.

nBea doesn't seem to want to either, given that she almost just got skewered. The girl is still shaken from it. I hope it won't traumatize her though…

nSpeaking of her, she was still holding that baby fox I had shoved to her. I thought it would leave and scamper away but surprisingly, it was still here. The fox saw me looking at it and it immediately jumped down Bea's hold.

nIt then swiftly crawled in my direction and stopped at my feet. The little fox looked up and whimpered, licking my boots.

n'Huh, so you do recognize me…'

n

"Awwww, aren't you cute? Come!

" I said and carried it up. It obediently stayed in my arms before it crawled up my shoulders and rested there. It looked like I am wearing a furry shawl now.

n

"Is that a fox? Why do you have a fox?

" Eon voiced out.

nThe others looked at me as well, curiously staring at the animal wrapped around my shoulders.

nMy eyes looked at the side, avoiding their questioning look.

n

"It got lost and went to us…

"

n'I lied. But I won't just say that I left the clearing to look for it right? And that's why this wild boar pestered us.'

nNathan would choke me.

n

"Is it part of your hunt spoils too?

" Luther asked.

n

"What? No!

" I uttered in vehemence.

nThe little fox became alert after hearing his words. It seemed to be an intelligent creature.

n

"I will bring this home,

" I said.

n

"You're bringing a wild fox home,

" Eon remarked, blankly gaping at me.

n

"What's wrong with that?

"

nNathan shakes his head,

"If it went wild and harmed you, I will exterminate it.

"

n'Exterminate?!'

nThe fox whimpered.

n

"Brother, it's only a baby. I will train it, I promise!

"

n'And don't casually say you're going to exterminate it!'

nThe poor little fox was still whining so I patted its head, trying to appease it. The fox then snuggled around my neck like it understood what I was trying to do.

nConrad rubbed his chin--

"Now, how are you all going to bring this back?

"

nAll of us went silent. We never expected to actually stumble with it so we never brought anything with us except a few sacks and weapons.

n

"Okay then, let's go back to the grounds. But first--

" Ezekiel looked at the fallen tree and to the boar--

"let's figure out how to bring this back.

"

nAll of us stared at the body of the boar and internally sighed. I could already see how troublesome it would be.

n