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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: The Hunt
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"Delicious, so delicious!"
"*Cough*, to think I'd get to eat such a delicacy before I die…"
"*Sniff*, is this sauce made from a wine reduction? Maybe I can try making it when I get back…"
Nom, nom, munch, munch.
The slaves rushed the tables, greedily devouring all the food laid out in the banquet hall.
But the girl from the hunter tribe, who had been the first to move, was different.
Orr Kai didn't eat.
Instead, she picked up the entire platter from the center of the table, the one holding a whole, perfectly roasted piglet.
Then she scurried back to her master.
"Is this for me?"
Nod, nod.
"Hmm, you're a good girl. My little lucky charm."
Dion chuckled as he watched Orr Kai proudly present the platter of roasted pig, as if showing off her prize.
He used his fork to pick off a piece of crispy pork skin and ate it.
Then, he stroked Orr Kai's head and said.
"Alright, now the rest is for you to eat."
A tilt of the head…?
"I'm fine."
Nod, nod!
Perhaps because she really was hungry.
A bright smile spread across Orr Kai's face as she grabbed the roasted piglet with both hands and began to tear into it with gusto.
The other participants grimaced at the sight.
Sensing their stares, Arsha wore a troubled expression and bowed her head deeply.
"…I have no excuse for the slaves' lack of etiquette training."
"Don't worry about it. I like that they look so energetic."
"However…"
"More importantly, I know better than anyone how hard you've worked, Arsha."
"…"
He had been the one to prioritize job education and training for the slaves, so she had no reason to feel sorry.
Dion said this in a leisurely tone.
Then he whispered softly into the ear of the conflicted-looking Arsha.
"Besides, Arsha, aren't you thirsty?"
"…!!!"
"I know I am."
"D-do you mean…"
"In that case, shall we have a glass of wine?"
"…Ah."
For some reason.
A slight blush crept onto Arsha's cheeks, and Dion gave her a playful smile.
He beckoned to a passing servant, took two wine glasses from the tray, and handed one to her.
While Arsha quenched her thirst with fragrant wine alongside Dion, and Orr Kai devoured the roasted piglet until only bones remained.
And as Naru subtly distanced himself, pretending to be a passing minstrel rather than part of their group.
A booming voice echoed from one side of the banquet hall.
"The Lord of the Grotesque Ranch and his family are arriving!"
At the butler's cry.
The servants and maids lined up in formation.
Appearing in the banquet hall were figures with beastly ears and limbs covered in fur.
Though their human features were more pronounced than those of lower species, they still bore a much stronger resemblance to dogs than beastkin did. It was a family of Kobold Leaders, a variant of the Kobold race.
And at the head of the family.
A gaunt old man leaning on a staff stepped onto the dais in the center of the hall.
He remained unfazed by the sight of the slaves overturning the food on the tables and opened his mouth to speak.
"I am Las Hara."
"First, as the Lord of the Grotesque Ranch and the head of the Hara family, I welcome you all."
"I promise to treat all of you participating in the Hunt as esteemed guests of the Grotesque Ranch."
Las Hara.
The first lord and founder of this Grotesque Ranch.
His name carried some weight among the many nobles of the Deformed City, and the reactions to his declaration were varied.
Some trusted him and were reassured.
Some ignored him, seemingly indifferent.
And some even scoffed outright.
But displaying his long years of experience, Las Hara took their reactions in stride and continued.
"Of course, I understand some of you may be worried."
"The Hunt is a dangerous event where casualties can occur, no matter how carefully we prepare."
"But you may rest assured."
"To guarantee your safety, we have invited a special guest this year."
"…?"
*Thump.*
Just who had they invited to make such a bold claim?
As the guests in the hall watched with a mixture of doubt and curiosity.
Las struck the dais with his staff, and the servants, who had been waiting, opened a door on one side of the hall.
And then…
*Creeeak.*
"!"
A silent.
Natural.
Heavy presence descended, settling the atmosphere of the banquet hall.
As everyone held their breath at the appearance of a woman, ominous yet beautiful as a crow in a graveyard, whose presence alone overwhelmed the hundreds gathered in the hall.
She started to step onto the dais…
And stopped dead in her tracks.
But it was only for a moment.
The woman resumed her steps, and only after she had reached his side did Las continue speaking.
"I'm sure you all know her, but allow me to make a formal introduction."
"…"
"The prodigy of the Cortell family, known as the Calamity Princess of the Paljongyungma, Lady Pandora."
And so, while most in the hall were shocked and bewildered by this unexpected encounter.
The beautiful woman in a black dress, her eyes covered by a blindfold.
Pandora could only fall into silence as she looked at the white-masked boy waving a hand at her with a grin.
And at the dark elf next to him, bowing her head respectfully.
***
"Hello, Pandora."
"…"
"Fancy meeting you in a place like this. What a coincidence, right?"
"…Indeed, Your Grace. It reminds me how vast, yet small, Odobaekryeong is."
After the brief introduction.
Once the banquet had officially begun.
While everyone else was cautiously observing, a boy had approached her and spoken with nonchalant ease.
Pandora gazed at Dion from behind her blindfold and asked in a low, somber voice.
"What brings you to a place like this, Your Grace?"
"Hm? Isn't it obvious?"
"…Are you saying that someone like you came to participate in the Hunt, Your Grace?"
"I'm still in my growth phase. And I have a lot of kids to train."
"Is that so…?"
The Hunt was, after all, an event that was only really beneficial to low-level Awakened Ones of the 1st or 2nd star.
Unless one was a complete novice, it wasn't worth it for a high-level Awakened One to pay to participate.
Just why would someone like Dion take part in the Hunt?
Having voiced her honest question, Pandora nodded as she glanced at the slaves sweeping through the banquet's food.
"To bring them all the way to the Hunt for the sake of training… you must truly cherish your slaves, Your Grace."
"Of course. Talented assets must be cherished accordingly, don't you think?"
"…"
"What is it?"
"If you truly think so, then I implore you to be careful."
"Careful?"
"As the Lord of the Grotesque Ranch said, the Hunt is always fraught with danger."
It was common for casualties to occur during the Hunt.
While the Grotesque Ranch's Hunt was safer than most, there were no absolutes in this world.
It might be one thing if Dion were alone, but ensuring the safety of all his slaves would be difficult.
Pandora warned him calmly, but…
"Well, that can't be helped."
"…Are you saying you don't care if your slaves die?"
"There's no such thing as a reward without a price in this world."
Survival of the fittest was the law of Odobaekryeong.
The strong gain everything.
The weak have everything taken from them.
It was only natural to risk any danger to become stronger.
In fact, the slaves should be grateful to him for spending a fortune to give them such an opportunity.
It was a cruel, yet all the more logical and common-sense answer.
Dion smiled warmly.
"Besides, as long as you're here, Pandora, I doubt the worst-case scenario will happen."
"…"
"In that sense, I am a bit surprised."
"That I am here, Your Grace?"
"Even if you were invited, this isn't the sort of event you'd participate in yourself, is it, Pandora?"
"…It is thanks to the Lord of the Grotesque Ranch having ties with my family."
"Hoh, to send even you over for a minor connection. That Orc mister sure is generous."
The Paljongyungma were the greatest prodigies in the Demonic Realm.
One would be hard-pressed to hire her for even a day, no matter the fortune offered, so for Urk to dispatch her for a mere Hunt proved he was a man of great character.
As Dion muttered in admiration, Pandora watched him with an inscrutable, placid expression.
And in that moment.
Pandora wasn't the only one watching Dion.
From all corners of the banquet hall, eyes were furtively glancing at Dion… no, to be precise, at the two of them.
It was only natural.
Pandora alone was an object of everyone's attention, but now the Baekmyeongongja, who had gained fame by passing her bridal contest, was here as well.
Whether due to ambition.
Or curiosity.
They naturally drew interest.
But among them were those who watched the pair for reasons beyond simple curiosity.
The Kobold Leaders, stealing glances from a distance.
The minstrel who had, at some point, blended in naturally with the musicians.
And…
…the dark elf, a complex expression on her face from behind her veil.
'The Baekmyeongongja, is it.'
The old Kobold Leader, whose eyes were particularly deep.
Las Hara watched the two of them before gripping his staff tightly.
'…It can't be a coincidence.'
He would have had to question the Baekmyeongongja's intentions even if he had come alone, but to bring over thirty slave soldiers with him…
It was so blatant that it was almost brazen. Las narrowed his eyes.
Whether they had been in contact from the start.
Or had made a separate deal.
It was clear who had orchestrated this.
'The Lord of Nangrangseong, that cunning Orc.'
He had reigned as a lord in this harsh Odobaekryeong for a hundred years.
Yet even he was being played like a child by that old monster, who was over two hundred years old. As he trembled at the fearsomeness of it all.
A middle-aged Kobold Leader approached him.
"My lord, we have confirmed everyone's attendance."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
"I see. Then it is time to prepare."
Las shook his head, clearing his complicated thoughts.
Whatever happened later, his priority now was to see the Hunt through to a safe conclusion.
And so, he once again ascended the dais.
Las shouted in a loud voice.
"Now that we have confirmed the arrival of all participants for this year's Hunt, we will be moving to the hunting grounds."
"…"
"Therefore, everyone, please brace for the tremors."
Hearing his shout, the participants in the hall showed little reaction.
They simply set down the plates and glasses they were holding.
Instead, it was the outside that began to bustle with activity.
*Krrrr-keeeek.*
Long legs were raised.
Chains hanging in the middle were released.
And the outer gates, which had been open in various places, were closed.
Once he confirmed that all connections to the Deformed City had been severed, Las struck the dais with his staff.
"—Awaken, Daedalus."
*Ruuuuuumble!*
With a quiet vibration.
The Grotesque Ranch began to change.
The spiral-shaped Grotesque Ranch, which had sat empty like a hollowed-out shell next to the Deformed City.
A tremor wriggled from within it, and a giant, soft mass pushed its way out.
It was…
…a giant snail that used the entire Grotesque Ranch as its shell.
No, it wasn't a snail.
It was a being that had received the goddess's final blessing upon a world on the brink of ruin, gaining the power to create purifying water that cleansed the tainted magic of the Labyrinth.
It was a Sinsu.
And so Daedalus, the Sinsu that was the core and entirety of the Grotesque Ranch, extended its long antennae and wriggled.
Carrying the entire ranch on its back, it began to move away from the Deformed City.
Towards the destination of the Hunt.
Towards the place that, despite being the worst demonic realm that had made Odobaekryeong so dreadful, was also overflowing with everything from the most precious artifacts to the fiercest monsters.
—Towards the inside of the Migung.