The Hunt.
Knights have always loved hunting since ancient times.
Even in eras when people starved without a single stalk of wheat, hunting grounds were everywhere, and whether the prey was human or animal, if it was considered game, it was worth catching.
Thanks to that, knights frequently engaged in brawls, knife fights, and local skirmishes over whose hunting grounds extended where. Even in these peaceful times, those instincts hadn't disappeared.
That must have been why Count Roth suddenly released 100 rabbits of unknown origin onto the fields outside the castle.
However, Lancel wasn't sure if this was really an appropriate activity for little children.
"Catch it!"
"Ouch!"
"Aaaah!"
"Rabbit! There's a rabbit!"
"Ugh! My knee!"
The field was suddenly filled with children tumbling, falling, and rolling around.
The rabbits were so energetic that even the supposedly trained Rio Dante and Kyle Dante seemed to have trouble chasing them.
No matter how non-aggressive rabbits might be, they were still quite nimble animals compared to the running speed of small children.
"Catch the rabbit!"
The children were pursuing them in an almost manic chase, without any protective gear and with no regard for their surroundings.
Moreover, there were people nearby encouraging this behavior.
"Grab it quickly! What are you waiting for?"
"Whoever catches the most is the winner!"
"Kyle! Are you just going to keep falling? Watch where you're running!"
"Ha! You can't even catch one rabbit?"
These were the adults from each household at the party venue outside the castle.
With drinks in hand, they kept shouting loudly, continuously whipping the children into a frenzy.
*This seems rather unreasonable, doesn't it?*
Lancel stood motionless in the middle of the field, wooden sword in hand.
A black mane flashed past his line of sight.
"Hyah!"
A wooden spear swept across the field, barely grazing the grass. It scooped up a rabbit that had suddenly jumped up.
"Six!"
Kariel Roth.
It was Kariel Roth, hunting rabbits while mounted on horseback.
"Seven!"
Another rabbit, skewered by his wooden spear, flew into the air.
The children who had been coming up empty-handed could only watch enviously from a distance.
*Is this the medieval version of being a pedestrian?*
Meanwhile, Kariel Roth was already spurring his horse toward his eighth rabbit.
*Isn't this cheating?*
Count Roth's pathological obsession with being first was even more petty than Lancel had thought.
"Isn't riding a horse natural when hunting?"
"W-well, that's true."
In response to the jealous gazes of the young nobles, Kariel merely returned a look that seemed to say, "If you're envious, why don't you ride a horse too?"
In reality, most young nobles at this age couldn't ride horses rather than choosing not to, so they had no proper response to his remark.
*I couldn't ride horses at this age either.*
Viscount Dante was someone who believed that horsemanship was better learned after one's body had grown. Apparently, he had seen too many cases of children getting injured from horsing around at a young age.
Thanks to that, none of the four children—Rio, Kyle, Lala, and Lancel—knew how to ride a horse.
Though they did know how to ride as passengers.
"Eight!"
"As expected of Young Master Kariel!"
"The talk of him being second was nonsense!"
The people of House Roth cheered jubilantly.
With each cheer, the expressions of House Dante grew increasingly sour.
"Kyung!"
Marigold's empty cry echoed right beside him.
She had fallen face-first onto the ground while chasing rabbits with her short legs.
"Are you alright, Lady Marigold?"
"Yes!"
The 1st Princess was looking at Marigold with curiosity from right beside her.
"Lady Marigold, you're not even going to be a knight, so why are you trying to catch rabbits?"
"To give them to Lancel!"
"Heh, that's just like you, Lady Marigold. You're so kind. But does it mean anything here if someone else catches them for him?"
"Someone else is riding a horse, so what does it matter!"
"Then you're like a horse for Lancel?"
"Yes!"
She's not even denying it.
Looking at the young Marigold, Lancel drew his wooden sword again.
There was someone who would be more upset than himself if he lost pathetically empty-handed.
Not family, not a retainer, not a servant, but nonetheless, such a person existed. Surprisingly, even though they had known each other for less than a year in this playthrough, such a person existed.
For some reason, this person right beside him seemed to be dripping with attachment to the title of "first place," which he himself didn't particularly care about.
*Even if first place is difficult, I should at least save face.*
Lancel's mindset changed from just killing time.
Rustle.
A sound from the nearby bushes.
Lancel thrust his sword in at once.
He felt something dull catch on his blade. At the tip of his sword was an unconscious rabbit, lying on its back with its belly exposed.
"Oh! The First Training Knight caught a rabbit!"
"Really?!"
It was the shout of a child nearby. Marigold came running with fire in her eyes.
"Well done, Lancel! I'll cook this for you later."
"Do you know how to cook?"
"I know how to make candy!"
"...Shall we just leave it to the chef?"
"No way. I'm going to make it for you. I'll make it with Lala! She told me she wants to learn cooking from me."
"..."
The result of two noble ladies who had never cooked a single dish in their lives. It didn't seem like normal food would come out of this.
Should he take some stomach-soothing herbs in advance?
"I'll catch one more, so wait for me, Lancel!"
Marigold, having regained her energy, hurried off to where rabbits were moving in the distance.
In this field where the undergrowth reached up to their waists, the places where grass moved were where rabbits could be found. The children were blindly chasing these moving blades of grass.
"Ten!"
"Lord Kariel has caught ten!"
*First place seems out of reach already...*
Lancel heightened all his senses as if he had never been slacking off.
He could feel numerous presences.
The voices of adults watching from afar, running children, the sound of insects, the smell of undergrowth, the cool air, the direction of the wind, Marigold's short tiptoes, and the movement of rabbits crawling on the ground.
*Now.*
As soon as he swung down his wooden sword, another rabbit went limp.
It wasn't a task that required much strength or stamina. What was needed was sensitivity, timing, and a bit of skill.
Fortunately, Lancel had all three.
Rustle.
"There."
After catching his third rabbit, Rio Dante approached with surprised eyes.
"How do you catch them in one go?"
"Just luck, that's all."
"Can luck really do that?"
Rio Dante, who had just proudly caught one rabbit, blinked in disbelief.
"That's my fourth."
"F-four?"
Whenever he calmly walked around and then suddenly pounced, a rabbit would invariably collapse.
Rio Dante, who witnessed this process up close, wore an expression of utter disbelief.
"Young Master Kariel has caught fifteen!"
Of course, it was nothing compared to Kariel Roth's achievements in the distance.
The rabbits he had caught were now so numerous that they had to be laid out on a mat. It was enough to feed all the people of the Count's household and still have leftovers.
"The blood of our family doesn't lie. Viscount Dante, don't be too disheartened. It's not that your children are incapable; it's just that my son's talent is a bit extraordinary."
"He certainly rides well. Ha, haha."
Viscount Dante could only offer a stiff smile to Count Roth, who kept chattering beside him. With his usual temperament, he would have stormed off long ago.
"Sixteen!"
"Seventeen!"
Kariel Roth's face was gradually filled with a smile along with beads of sweat.
"I'm number one, Lancel Dante. You just got lucky and won once."
Was second place that shocking?
That was the only thought in Lancel's mind.
"Lancel!"
Just then.
"Lancel! Look at this! Hehehe!"
In the distance, a dirt-covered Marigold held up a rabbit.
Her determination, crawling on all fours on the ground, had finally borne fruit. And the rabbit was still alive and moving.
"You caught it well."
"I did great, right?"
"Yes. Well done."
"Hehe, so Lancel has five now!"
Marigold's face, her dress, and her tightly tied hair were all covered in dirt as she hugged the trembling rabbit tightly to her chest.
"Hehehe!"
"Ahaha, Lady Marigold, you look a mess. Come here. Let me dust you off."
"Thanks, Violet!"
*Just the usual Marigold.*
In the distance, the retainers of House Marigold wore bitter smiles.
Their lord, the young lady of a Count's family, was running around covered in dirt like some village child, so their feelings must have been complicated.
Charitably speaking, she was unpretentious; less charitably, she lacked dignity. Since this wasn't new behavior, most people just accepted it, but it certainly wasn't how a typical noble lady would act.
"She's... a robust young lady."
"Yes, well, at that age..."
"...I'm sure she'll become more ladylike when she grows up."
No.
Have they half given up?
Lancel smiled wryly.
"Stop right there! Rabbit!"
Watching Marigold somehow made Lancel feel like his depleted reserves of effort were being replenished.
Looking at her seemed to dispel some of the tedium and boredom. A desire to try a little harder sprouted in one corner of his heart.
*Even if the competition is already lost...*
By now, news had spread that Kariel had reached twenty rabbits.
So.
*...Maybe I'll gather some ingredients for cooking.*
Wherever these rabbits had come from, each one was plump and well-fed. They would certainly taste good.
Yes.
Let's catch three or four more.
At the next banquet, rabbit dishes made by Marigold and Lala Dante would be served.
"Hoo."
Lancel closed his eyes.
He heightened all his senses at once.
Rustle.
He slowly opened his eyes to a sensation felt from afar. Dozens of presences were simultaneously approaching the place where the children had gathered to chase rabbits.
Neither slow nor fast.
The movement was subtle yet persistent.
Lancel's eyes narrowed.
*...Not rabbits?*
His sharpened senses detected a dissonance.
He was certain.
This was—
-Grrrr...
*...!*
A low animal growl emerged.
A pack of beasts crawling on the ground.
And Marigold was among those in their path.
"Hey kids! I'll buy that rabbit!"
"Hey, we said trading is against the rules, Lady Marigold."
"Well, isn't it fine if no one finds out?"
"A high-ranking noble shouldn't say such things, Lady Marigold. Should I tell Lord Albert?"
"Ah, no! P-pretend you didn't hear that!"
The movement of grass approaching the noisy group. The swaying of the field.
Between the undulating undergrowth, briefly revealed... a gray mane.
And fangs.
"Ah."
An alarm went off in Lancel's mind.