Raniero smiled joyfully as I had an embarrassed face.

"Why do you have that face?"

"Yo, Your Majesty."

Shocked, I pressed both my cheeks with my palms after processing what he had said and slowly opened my mouth.

"I'm not good enough for hunting. How can a hunter—"

"Can you become a hunter only when you have the upper hand over a prey?"

Well, seeing the men who haven't caught a single minnow in half a day call themselves anglers, there's nothing that makes me not a hunter... However, the preys are assigned weapons as well, right...?

What if I get stabbed to death?

"You have nothing to worry about. Prey cannot harm the hunter. That's the rule."

Lies.

Deer released as prey on the hunting grounds sometimes pummeled the hunter's chest. And, for 『 Flowers Bloom In The Abyss 』 this is the worldview where this happens, as was the case with the human hunting game.

What did His Majesty say then?

"Ah, as expected."

He roughly said something like that, right?

...Did he know about this? Is he expecting this to happen?!

​​

Of course, I could only question Raniero in my mind.

​​

They were destined to die there, anyway.

If they endure for three hours, would they survive? However, the hunter is Raniro, so can they really do that? They may not be able to put their hands on the Emperor, or their family and daughter, Sylvia, though I, the person who is the culprit of everything based on their standards...?

As a last resort, they may try to take me to the next world together.

So, what's the point of setting a rule that prey couldn't kill a hunter?

'Honestly, if I were here, I would make the empress my companion in the afterlife as well.'

There was no way Raniero, who is much smarter than me, couldn't have known what I noticed. Even though he knew everything, he still arranged this rule because 'I thought it would be fun.'

If I'm unlucky, I'll die, and if I'm lucky, I'll be chased badly by the prey...

After all, the life and dignity of the Empress are not at all important to him. In the first place, the Empress hardly contributes to the authority of the Actilus Imperial Family, so whether I collapse or not...

'But, I only have one life... and I won't die like this!'

Still, I was pondering all this with tears internally.

If I were to die, I always thought it would be because I touched Raniero the wrong way, and my neck would fly away. Even though I liked Raniero subtly, I didn't know that the danger of death would come this soon.

"I want you to show me a good performance."

Raniero seems to have a caring voice when he speaks to me. He then kissed my forehead lightly and whispered.

"I'm looking forward to it."

"...Wi, with all due respect, when is the hunt? I haven't heard of the date—"

"Oh, I forgot to mention that."

Raniero laughed as he combed my hair with his fingertips.

"It will be open on the summer solstice. You're going to be very busy."

I got dizzy.

It was only one month in the future...

Moreover, if it was during Haji, many guests would visit the Palace. And, a considerable amount of guests believed that I'm calm and competent!

Plans to tidy up the palace gardens and hold social gatherings have been canceled.

Originally, the purpose was to establish friendships with the nobles before the Haji Festival, though I wouldn't want to lose my life trying to make friends. Next, I gathered the maids and thought about how to convey the words, although in the end, I just opened my mouth plainly.

"I think I'll need to learn how to handle weapons."

At my words, the maids glanced at each other.

There was a significant light in their eyes as if they knew why I was saying this.

"You have been under the protection of the God Actilla since birth. I know you must have cultivated some kind of power."

Everyone in Actilus learns martial arts, even if they don't have money to learn martial arts, they would learn street stoning.

Moreover, given the atmosphere of the kingdom, what nobles learned was not a fancy martial art used for ceremonies or rituals. It was for practical use because the Actilus Empire even allowed women and children to be mobilized for war.

Presumably, I would be weaker than a ten-year-old child of the Actilus Empire...

The civil servant, Marquis Jacques, and the maidservant, the esteemed Madam of Marquis Jacques, were no exceptions.

...Huu— This is complicated.

I tried to calm down my frustration and resumed my words again.

"I would like to ask for a good teacher within two days. Meanwhile, I'll learn from you during the two days of the waiting period."

I sighed as I watched the maids bowing their heads all at once to me.

...I only pray that Angelica's body is good at physical training.

The arrangement of the Empress Actilus' maidservants was very simple.

The number of maids given to me was originally seven. In addition to that, Cisen was added later and it became eight. Then, the esteemed Madam of Marquis Jacques was released so it became seven again.

​​

All but one of the maids are from here. While the handmaiden was Cisen, whom Angelica brought from the Unro Kingdom.

Below Cisen, there was the chief maid, and below her, the rest were just ordinary maids.

The chief maid, Duchess Nerma, was a gentle woman in her thirties who seemed relaxed no matter what she did. Even though she wasn't pretty, she had a graceful dignity. Apparently, she also has a lot of influence on the social world as well.

If it wasn't for the esteemed Madam of Marquis Jacques, I would have loved her. After all, I admired a woman like this.

Oh, I got sidetracked​​—

​​

What I wanted to say was that during the two days I was trying to hire a teacher, Duchess Nerma, who was ranked second after Sithen, decided to teach me. Since Cisen was from the Unro Kingdom like me, she had no knowledge of exercising force.

"You said that prey can only carry one weapon... I think Roberta Jacques would choose a dagger, and Henry Jacques would choose a combat axe."

"I—is that the weapon the two of them are most familiar with...?"

The Duchess of Nerma smiled kindly at my nervous question.

​​

"High-ranking nobles get used to most weapons. As half of them are unarmed, so I'm just guessing."

"Ah—that, yes..."

"Though if I was prey and had only one weapon, I would pick a dagger, too... Huhu."

She looked quite different when she said that. I assumed the shoulders hidden under her silk dress must be firm...

Meanwhile, when I touched my forearm, I was inconspicuously frustrated. It's too soft.

"A dagger is the best weapon in many ways. Because the movement line drawn by the tip of the weapon's end coincides with the trajectory of the wrist, so the movement is cleaner and lighter since it's not being dragged by the weight... Besides, it's double-edged."

"I see... That's right."

"As long as you have good visibility from a high place, a bow isn't bad either. However, the Empress has never used a weapon before, so it would take quite a while just to practice putting the demonstrations at once while looking at the target properly..."

Knowledge in the fields that I don't know a single thing about continues.

Until now, all I said was the three repertoires, "I see," "Is it?" and "Really?" while reflexively rotating them as if pressing hotkeys.

Suddenly, she grinned.

"I forgot the obvious truth for a moment. After all, 'Martial arts are not learned from books.' Shall we go out for a while?"

"We, we're training this fast?"

Of course, it had to be done someday. And, the sooner I start, the better although I couldn't say that I wasn't afraid.

​​

"It's not training."

Saying so, Duchess Nerma shyly dyed her fleshed cheeks before adding her words.

"We can watch how the prey are training, aren't you curious?"

Naturally, I was curious.

I quickly got up from my seat.

"Since it is also the hunter's right to watch the training of the prey."

And so, she took the lead and guided me to the tourney hall.

The training ground for the game was a shabby warehouse next to the tourney hall. To prevent them from escaping, several locks were hung on the door. I could watch how they train through the little window at eye level.

And, I was astonished...

Both of them had their hair cut short like chestnuts.

As Duchess Nerma mentioned, the former esteemed Madam of Marquis Jacques wielded a dagger, and the former Vice Minister exerted an axe.

At that moment, for the first time, I was able to visually see with my own eyes the level of martiality that the people of Actilus were learning through 'refinement.'

'I feel dizzy... The reason why the Vice Minister of protocol and the esteemed Madam of the Marquis were a bit foolish, maybe because they had no talent in any other areas.'

At my current level, I couldn't even properly understand what they were doing. In particular, the tip of Roberta Jacques' sword was almost at a level where afterimages could be seen. Is that person at the age of entering old age? Really?

I'm in trouble.

"It was originally said that she neglected training, although she seems to be working hard now since His Majesty the Emperor visited personally yesterday."

Duchess Nerma's kind explanation frustrates me.

Was it not obvious why Raniero came? I'm certain he must have told them the 'two additional rules.' After hearing his words, they must have been so determined like this... Can't anyone see the thoughts in their eyes declaring, 'I'm going to cut off the Empress's neck'?

"I'm in trouble..."

Muttering softly, I lost strength in my legs and squatted against the wall. Seeing me like that, Duchess Nerma took my hand and lifted me up again.

"I am inquiring about the best teacher."

...Well, that's still not consolidating at all.

A cold feeling of skepticism flew and engulfed me. No matter how good the teacher is, could I reach a point where I can see the attack and avoid it within a month...?

I glanced back at the two of them through the window.

​​

As expected, as fast as the wind.

"Bow..."

"Yes?"

"I need to learn how to bow."

"Oh, but as I said before—"

"If I go within that range, it would be a fight I lose. It has to be far away no matter what... I have to keep it in check from afar!"

"Come to think of it, that's true. If the Empress doesn't intend to attack them and just keep them in check..."

I was so desperate that I forgot my solemn tone and grabbed Duchess Nerma's hand tightly.

"Bow... Teach me how to use a bow. I would like the one who's best at it!"

After a few hours, I would realize how much I regretted this remark to death...