Adelheid 18: The Autumn Hunt

Over a kilomeler away from the capital, a group consisting of several people on horseback and two carriages made their way on the paved road. The group's destination was the Midgard Forest, private hunting grounds of the Vuldar Imperial Family, and their goal was the game that had begun fattening themselves in preparation for the winter months.

The group was naturally Adelheid, Second Prince Albrecht, and their entourage.

Adelheid rode Stahl, her warhorse, and wore her customary knight uniform. In addition, due to the cooling air, she had a fur cape with a rapier and wand sheathed on her waist.

Riding slightly behind her was Matilda wearing leather armor instead of her maid uniform, and beside her was Olga Muller, who had become Adelheid's personal knight in all but name. Trailing behind these three was Herja.

Unlike the previous three, the cat beastkin was noticeably struggling to keep up. Matilda had tried numerous times to convince the younger girl to ride in the carriage with Prince Albrecht's servants numerous times, but Herja refused every time.

And so, all four of Adelheid's followers rode alongside her.

Her father, Albrecht, also rode in lieu of sitting in the carriage. There were two carriages: one for the supplies and servants and the other for the prince and princess. Since neither of the imperials was using the carriage, it turned into the second storage.

Surrounding her father was three grisly men in leather armor armed to the teeth with swords, bow, and knives. Alfred, the butler, stood out like a sore thumb. Like Adelheid, all of them rode warhorses which meant that they were at least aura novices, but she doubted they would only be aura novices.

Just as the sun was starting to dip, the group arrived at the outskirts of the Midgard Forest. To Adelheid's surprise, Albrecht started to teach her survival skills.

"When out in the wilderness, you must remember that you need three critical elements to survive: water, food, and shelter. Of the three, water is most important, but you know water spells, so finding a water source is not as important," Albrecht said while the servants started to set up the tents. "However, that does not mean you should overly rely on your spells as you can run out."

"Father, have you forgotten that I have excess mana that I cannot fully utilize? I do not think running out of mana to conjure water will be an issue for me," Adelheid pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

Albrecht stayed silent for a moment before he continued. "Be that as it may, knowing this will aid you in survival should anything occur. Drinking from water sources such as rivers and lakes is fine, but you must remember that it is not the best solution. You should boil the water to make sure you do not get sick."

Adelheid was surprised to learn that the people of this world knew to sterilize water by boiling it first, but it was likely knowledge born of trial and error. Of course, you need fire to boil water, so the second prince taught Adelheid what kind of wood was needed for a campfire and how to light it with flint and steel.

After learning how to start a fire, Albrecht taught Adelheid how to set up a tent. The servants had set up all the necessary tents, but there was still one extra for her to practice on.

When Adelheid learned that Albrecht wanted to take her hunting, she thought he wanted to see her progress in her aura training and magic, not teach her survival. Still, Adelheid felt it was a valuable lesson, not that she ever wanted to utilize it.

Dinner was a meal consisting of rations and a few rabbits one of Albrecht's guards caught. Adelheid had watched in fascination as Albrecht skillfully butchered the game and proportioned them to be roasted over the fire.

"Observe carefully. Tomorrow, you will also learn this." Albrecht had said.

The rations were… palatable. Despite the rabbit only being seasoned with salt, the taste was something that could only be created over a campfire. Still, she found it lacking. "I will ask to cook tomorrow. I do not want to continue to eat such bland food.'

At least Matilda seemed to find both the ration and rabbit delicious. Just watching her down dinner increased Adelheid's appetite by twofold. What killed her appetite, however, was the tonic she had to drink even while camping.

Since they obviously couldn't bring an alchemist with them to concoct the brew, they had to bring a week's worth with them. The cold purple tonic was even more acrid than usual, even with the copious amounts of honey the princess added.

"Your Highness, do you need to go to the bathroom?" Matilda had asked when she witnessed Adelheid trying her best not to show how much she hated the brew. The maid got kicked out of Adelheid’s tent for that remark.

Adelheid had her own private tent, one not set up by her, and so did Albrecht. Matilda, Herja, and Olga shared one larger tent while the second prince's attendants also shared two tents. The servants following them also had their own tents, but Adelheid was sure that none of them aside from Albrecht had fur lining their bed or was as warm as hers.

Sleeping in the wilderness has its own charms. Unlike the absolute silence that dominated her chambers in the palace, she could hear the crickets chirping in the night, the hoots of the nocturnal owls, and the occasional rustling of the leaves. It was a melody of drowsiness that Adelheid succumbed to.

The following morning, the tents were taken down and stored before breakfast. Afterwards, the group continued deeper into the sea of trees. There was a well-worn dirt path for them to follow. After the sun reached its highest point, the group found a clearing to set up camp. Adelheid set hers up much more skillfully than the previous night.

"Adelheid, are you ready?" Albrecht asked as he jumped onto his horse with a bow in hand and quiver at his side. Beside him was one of his men with the same equipment.

Adelheid nodded and also jumped onto her horse. Olga followed her while Matilda, Herja, and the rest of the attendants remained at the camp. Adelheid didn't carry a bow, nt that it would have mattered since she never learned to use it. Instead, a wand was ready at her side.

The party of five followed the second prince's lead into the forest. Unlike before, there was no dirt path, so maneuvering became difficult, especially with the large stature of Adelheid's steed.

After entering sufficiently through the sea of trees to the point that Adelheid no longer knew the path back, the party stopped and tied their horses. From then on, they would continue on foot.

Along the way, Albrecht taught Adelheid how to mark her trail so that she did not get lost and locate animal tracks. If you discounted the unnecessary people, Adelheid could have mistaken their trip as normal father and daughter bonding. But she knew better.

Albrecht was training her.

"Shh," Albrecht placed a finger over his lips and then pointed at a location several melers away.

In the distance, a shaggy-furred rabbit was chewing grass with its two ears perked up for any sense of danger. Adelheid nodded and readied her wand.

"Gather, essence of water. Condensed into your desired form pierced my enemy! Aqua Arrow!"

An arrow formed of blue water appeared in front of Adelheid's wand and shot forward, rustling the leaves that it passed. The rabbit, seeming to have sensed something, stiffened and then moved to flee, but it was too late. The aqua arrow pierced past its torso and into the ground.

Adelheid had to prevent herself from yelping in joy, but a smile still formed on her lips.

"Come, let us check on Adelheid's catch," Albrecht said.

When the party arrived, a strange silence fell.

"The spell was not an ordinary second circle spell, right?" the second prince asked.

Adelheid nodded. "I modified the magic circle so that I can input more mana and increase its power while shortening the chant. It has the same power as the third circle spell, Aqua Lance."

"You are a genius in magic as Eric has said, but tone it down while hunting. You are trying to hunt the prey, not obliterate it," Albrecht said.

A slight blush formed on Adelheid's cheek as she gazed at the dead rabbit. Only its head and the lower half of its body were left. The chest and front legs had been completely destroyed.

Afterward, Adelheid managed to snipe two rabbits and a small boar while missing at least seven other animals, but three out of ten was not a bad accuracy. In contrast, Albrecht sniped only one animal, but it was the only animal he sniped, and it was a bear.

A bear that stood over three melers tall!

"Father, how strong are you?"

Albrecht shot a questioning look at Adelheid but answered nonetheless. "I am only an aura journeyman."

‘That is the same as Matilda, but I feel that Albrecht is several times stronger than her despite both of them being aura journeymen. Is it because of the difference in aura accumulation or experience? Or perhaps a combination of the two?' Adelheight thought.

Before bringing them back using their horses, the party had to drain the blood of the caught game. Normally, they would hang the animal from a tree by its feet and let the blood drain by slitting its throat. Since Adelheid was present and knew an earth attribute spell to create pillars, they just tied the animal on a branch and hung between the two erected pillars. It was easier than finding tree branches low enough and close enough.

Now that the game was drained of its blood, they were tied to the horses and carried back to camp. Once there, Adelheid's second lesson of the day began: butchering. While surviving in the wilderness, she had to ascertain which part of the animal was edible without much preparation, so it was crucial knowledge to master for any hunter.

The first step was naturally skinning the animal and then dividing it into primal cuts such as the torso, legs, and head for a rabbit. The head had little meat and was difficult to butcher, so it was buried underground to prevent the blood from attracting predators to the camp.

Despite never having butchered an animal before, she took to it like fish to water.

"Have you butchered an animal before? Your knife work is very clean," Albrecht asked.

"No, but I am used to cooking, and knife work is a big part of cooking," Adelheid said. Her knife paused as she realized her misstep.

"I see." Abrecht nodded. "I heard that you created many new dishes, but I did not know you also cooked them. Good work with your business."

After the second prince rationalized her accidental words, Adelheid released an internal sigh of relief. It was true that she was used to cooking, but that was in her previous life. She frowned when she felt a heated gaze staring at her. Looking up, Adelheid saw Matilda looking at her, or rather, the rabbit she had butchered.

"You want to try?" Adelheid asked.

Matilda's reply was immediate.

Adelheid handed her the butcher knives and her second rabbit. Her regret was immediate.

"Oops, I sliced off a lot of the meat with the kin."

"Ah, I used too much strength and sliced through the ribs!"

"Oh no, I pulled the spine out instead of the leg!"

Adelheid took back the knives and banned the aspiring knife from touching them again. After seeing the devastation wrought upon the cutting board, a servant brought her another.

The second animal was far more challenging to butcher than a rabbit. The small boar was slightly less than a meler, and the cutting board was too small. She had to hang the boar by its feet in the air to skin it first. Then after skinning it, Adelheid sliced open the belly to get rid of the internal organs. Some may be edible, but it just wasn't worth it while camping.

After splitting it down the spine to make two large primal cuts, Adelheid further divided it into the shoulder, belly, loin, and leg. Like the rabbit, the boar’s head was discarded and buried. Even with Albrecht's coaching, separating the boar into its different cuts based on muscle texture and location was far more physically demanding than hunting it.

By the time she was done, Adelheid felt like she was drowning in sweat. Were she not an aura novice, she doubted she could have accomplished a tenth of what she did. Because she was drained from butchering, she found herself too tired to cook, once again making do with the salt-grilled meat and rations. However, there was an addition of boar stew.

Dinner was a quiet affair. Aside from Matilda, who was seeking experience from Olga, no one else said anything. Adelheid didn't think anything was wrong when it was just her and Albrecht having dinner within the palace, but none of the guards he brought, Alfred, or servants spoke, creating an eerie atmosphere.

"Father, when was the first time you hunted?" Adelheid asked.

Albrecht stayed silent for a long while before finally speaking. "I was sixteen at the time. I had just become an aura disciple then."

Adelheid blinked. She glanced at Matilda, who was yammering away before focusing back on Albrecht. "Did the emperor take you? I cannot imagine the emperor doing such a thing."

"You would be right. No, my elder brother, Friedrich, took me hunting," he said as he gazed at the rising moons in the sky.

Silence descended once more.

"What kind of person was Uncle Friedrich?"

Again silence.

"Talented. My elder brother was the most talented man I’ve ever known. Born with an excellent body and magic aptitude, he became an aura journeyman at the age of twelve." Albrecht looked away from the moon and at his hands. "Unlike me. He was better than me in every aspect. Even Father found no flaws—except one."

"What was it?" Adelheid asked as she strained her ears.

"He was too softhearted." Albrecht's voice had become so low it was like a whisper. His next words were even lower. "That is why he died..."

Feeling the topic had veered off into a strange spot, Adelheid did her best to steer it back. "Did you ever go hunting with the emperor?"

"No, not even once, but Friedrich…" Albrecht gave a mirthless chuckle. He took a swig from his cup and then looked at Adelheid. "Did you know my father only praised me twice in his entire life?"

Adelheid stayed silent. What could she say? Albrecht had always presented an iron will with no gap in his defenses, but now he appeared so insecure.

"Not even when I completed my Rite-of-Passage did I hear him praise me. But when Friedrich did, Father praised him! Him! But I guess that is only to be expected."

"What is the Rite-of-Passage?" Adelheid asked, having only heard of it in passing.

"It is a trial all members of the Vuldar Imperial Family must undergo in order to gain recognition from the emperor. Your uncle did it. I did it, and William did it when he was thirteen." Albrecht smiled as if recalling a pleasant memory.

"What is the trial, though?" Adelheid asked. Since it was a trial all members of the imperial family underwent, that meant she would undergo it as well.

"It is nothing. You just have to explore as deep as possible into a dungeon. I only got to the thirteenth floor while your uncle made it to the fifteenth at fifteen. I took mine when I was seventeen." Albrecht took another swig before a proud smile appeared on his face. "William made it to the eighteenth floor while he was only fourteen. He is my pride and joy."

"What about Cousin Antonia and Alexander?" Adelheid asked, recalling the glamorous woman she saw at the banquet.

"Friedrich's children? They never took the trials. They do not need to."

"What about me? When will I take it?" Adelheid asked the most important question.

"In a few years, three at most." Albrecht scanned the campgrounds, the flickering campfire, the grazing horses, and the erect tents. "You could say you are already training for it."

Seeing Adelheid's confusion, Albrecht continued. "Why do you think I am taking you hunting? These are all in preparation for your Rite-of-Passage."

Upon learning this fact, Adelheid poured all her effort learning the knowledge bestowed onto her the next day and the day after. Her accomplishments revealed themselves not long after.

On the third day, Adelheid managed to snipe five out of the ten prey that caught her eye.

On the fourth day, Adelheid managed to snipe seven out of ten preys.

On the fifth day, Adelheid only sniped one target, but she tracked it down herself without any aid from Albrecht or Olga.

It was busy yet fulfilling several days for Adelheid. Her only respite was only after the hunt, where she allowed the servants to butcher her game. Albrecht required Adelheid to know how to butcher her game, not master the craft.

Using this brief respite, Adelheid relaxed using a method she had never used in this life: cooking.

When she heard about the hunting trip, she immediately thought of barbeque. Before coming to the Midgard Forest, she had ordered the chefs to prepare barbeque sauce.

The recipe was simple. It was made using soy sauce, honey, and cooking wine simmered until the viscosity increased and the flavor intensified. Soy sauce didn't actually exist in Veles, but soy liquor did.

Soy liquor was exactly as it sounded, alcohol made from fermented soybeans. But because of its pungent and salty flavor, very few were produced, and even less were sold. The additional factor of it having alcohol in it differentiated from soy sauce from Earth, but that was easily solved by boiling away the alcohol, leaving behind a delectable glaze-like sauce.

The specific dish she cooked was called yakitori, which literally meant grilled chicken in Japanese, and the sauce was called tare, which meant sauce, and was served with grilled meats. They didn't catch any bird game, so it couldn't really be called yakitori, but that was just semantics.

First, Adelheid portioned each cut of meat into rectangular cubes. Then, she and the servants skewered them on wooden sticks about fifteen centimelers long that had been soaked in water. Each skewer had meat from the same cut, so each one would have the same cooking time. Otherwise, the skewers would have meat that was overcooked, perfect, or undercooked at the same time.

Just before starting the cooking process, she salted the meat. Then in the specially created grill, a rectangular box created using earth magic, Adelheid placed the skewers atop. The meat's shape prevented the skewer from rolling around, allowing the meat to be evenly grilled, top and bottom.

Ideally, Adelheid would have a spray bottle of cooking sake to spray the meat and prevent them from drying while giving them flavor, but that didn't exist in the world Veles, so she had to make due.

After cooking both sides for a total of six to seven minutes, Adelheid dipped them into her barbeque sauce, placed them back on the grill, and cooked them for at least two minutes more on each side.

Finally, it was done.

”Here you go, Father," Adelheid said as she handed the first finished skewer to Albrecht.

Albrecht gave the skewer a dubious look. The barbeque sauce had become a perfect glaze that covered all the meat, and there were some parts that were slightly burnt. He took a sniff and smelled the sweet aroma of the sauce and slight charring.

Opening his mouth, he took a bite, and his eyes widened in astonishment. "It is good."

Adelheid smiled and distributed the rest of the batch of skewers to Albrecht and his guards.

"Wow, the sauce is delicious! It is perfectly sweet and salty with a depth of flavor that I can't describe. Delicious!" one of Albrecht's guards, a man with a scar over his right eye, shouted as he bit into another piece as the meat juices drizzled down his chin.

"Only a brute like you would focus on the sauce," a second man said. He was just as muscular as the first, but his beard was well-trimmed and his hair neat. "It's obviously about the meat. The meat, you know? Without the meat, the sauce is nothing."

"What did you say, Jorn?" the first man asked and walked straight up to the second man, now named Jorn. They were chest to chest.

"You heard me, Fitz. Or did that injury not only blind your eye but your ears too?" Jorn said, not showing the slightest bit of weakness.

"That is it! I've always hated how you think you're above the rest of us. Tonight, I'm going to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget!" Fitz said as he swallowed the last bit of meat and chucked the skewer on the ground.

"And I'll show you how wrong you are!" Jorn followed Fitz's example and finished the meat before chucking the skewer on the ground.

"Enough. If you two are any louder, you'll attract unwanted beasts," Alfred, Albrecht's loyal butler, said, stopping the two from escalating their conflict.

The two shared a look before diverting their eyes and snorting.

While the two guards were arguing, the third was stuffing himself nonstop. Although he never spoke a single word, his action spoke louder than his words ever could.

It wasn't just the guards. The servants were also stuffing themselves. Adelheid had brought three jars. She left one for her own group, one for Albrecht's, the final was given to the servants. Adelheid also created a grill out of earth magic for both groups. There was no way she was going to cook for them. The first batch was only given due to the second prince.

Due to the larger number of people, the servant group quickly ran out of sauce, causing them to stare at the other two groups enviously. They didn't dare to covet the imperial's food, so they could only stare at the guards and Adelheid's attendant.

"Your Highness, it's reeeealllly delicious." Amazingly, Matilda somehow managed to articulate her words despite stuffing her mouth to the brim with boar meat.

"I agree. It's amazing what a simple sauce could accomplish." Olga wasn't a newcomer to skewers. They were commonly found among food stalls and cooked with wild game when she was still an adventurer, but they paled in comparison to the one she held in her hand. "No, it's not just the sauce. It's the timing of the usage of the sauce. If the sauce were only added at the end, the deliciousness and depth of flavor would not have been so great."

"You mean umami?"

"What is umami, Your Highness?" Olga asked, having never heard of the term.

"Umami is the fifth taste after sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. It describes the depth of flavor or savoriness of the food," Adelheid explained.

"Umami, such a nice word. Heh, I know something Sofia doesn't," Matilda said in a singsong voice, causing Adelheid to roll her eyes involuntarily. Even when one of the two was not present, the other could always find a problem with the other.

That night, many fell asleep with a full stomach. They would need it, because they took everything down, tent and all, the next morning. The group wasn't preparing to return to the imperial capital but to venture deeper into the forest.

The new campsite was only a few melers from a river, so the group could refill their used water. The water fillers just needed to be careful to avoid falling into the rapid stream or risk death.

"Father, how much longer before we return?" Adelheid asked. She used to be a modern person from Earth, so a week in the wilderness was already her limit. Not even cooking could make up for her discomfort.

"In two or three days," Albrecht said as he pulled the string on his bow. "You took down a great boar. As your father, I cannot lag too far behind."

Adelheid nodded. Her current greatest achievement was hunting a boar two melers tall. She couldn’t wait to return and take a nice long bath. However, Adelheid's wish would remain unfulfilled.

"Do you sense anything?" Alfred suddenly asked as he stood up. He glanced cautiously around as if to detect something but never found it.

Albrecht and his three guards also raised their guard. Seeing them tense, Adelheid, Olga, and Matilda also raised their senses to the maximum to detect the anomaly Alfred sensed.

"Does anyone feel the ground shaking?" Matilda asked, causing others to stare at her.

"No," Alfred said as he continued to search for the source of discomfort.

Adelheid frowned. She trusted Matilda's judgment very much and recalled a certain movie she once saw in her past life. She glanced at her cup of water. Due to the three moons, the night rarely became completely dark.

Her eyes widened when she saw the ripples continuously appear on the water's surface. Recalling the source of the tremors in the movie, Adelheid spoke. "Do you think it is some giant beast that is walking near us?"

"Impossible. This is the Midgard Forest. Only normal beasts live here. How can there be a giant monster?" Albrecht said. However, his refutation was soon silenced as the tremor increased. Not only that, but the group heard the distinct sound of trees falling, and the noise was only closing in on them.

"Everyone, gear up and prepare to leave!"

Adelheid didn't hesitate either and immediately moved to mount Stahl, her warhorse. Matilda and Olga were behind her with none of the previous casualness. Time seemed to have slowed, yet the tremors only increased with decreasing intervals.

Riding her horse next to Albrecht and his guards, Adelheid waited for his next orders. She suddenly discovered herself cloaked in darkness and looked up. The tremors stopped, and a scream pierced the quiet forest.

She discovered the source of the tremors.

It was a hulking beast a head and shoulder taller than the trees with fur darker than the night. The monster had oxen horns, a wolf-like head, the chest and legs of a lion, the hoofed hindlegs of a gazelle, and a serpent's tail.

"Oh Iras, why is an A-rank behemoth here?!" Fitz shouted. He was only an aura journeyman, a C-class on the danger ranking and two classes below the behemoth.

"This isn't good, Your Highness," Olga said next to Adelheid, sweat dripping down her forehead.

Even Matilda had a rare serious expression. "Your Highness, my father is an aura grandmaster, which is equivalent to an A-rank. But you need five A-rank aura grandmasters to take down a monster of the same rank."

Adelheid frowned as she felt her heartbeat quicken under the tension. What's worse was that the behemoth was staring at them. She didn't know if it was her imagination, but she felt like the behemoth was staring directly at her!

"Flee!" Albrecht roared and commanded his horse to gallop. His guards followed suit.

Adelheid followed after the second prince with Olga and Matilda hot after her heels. As she fled across the forest, she could hear the screams of the servants left behind in their chaos. Their cries of horror hammered at her heart, but Adelheid didn't have the time to spare any thoughts for their deaths. She could feel the behemoth's footsteps shaking the ground as it closed in on them.

"It must be under someone's control and is aiming for us! Scatter and confuse it!" Albrecht roared as the fleeing group of eight diverged into different directions.

Perhaps it was because Olga and Matilda followed after Adelheid and didn't scatter like Albrecht's group of five, but the behemoth zeroed in on them after a moment of confusion.

The rain splattered onto his skin.

"Princess!"

Olga's words shook Adelheid out of her daze. She glanced behind and saw death nearing her. Gritting her teeth, she repeated Albrecht's order. "Scatter!"

"But!!" Matilda said.

"I SAID SCATTER!" Adelheid roared, cowing Matilda.

The three split into three different directions, but the behemoth still aimed for her.

The smell of gasoline entered his nose.

Adelheid shook her head as if trying to dispel the images appearing in her head. Glancing back, she saw the behemoth still closing in. She searched frantically for a familiar figure. Once she spotted him, she sincerely shouted out a single word for the first and last time. "FATHER!"

His ears were assaulted with intelligible noise. His sight was blurry, only able to discern the blotches of light mixing together.

Albrecht turned towards Adelheid, and for a moment, he stopped. Hope rose in her heart, only for it to be ruthlessly crushed as the second prince turned his head away.

He couldn't feel any pain, but he was sure his ribs had been broken, and maybe his lungs were punctured. He couldn't even move limbs. Maybe they were also shattered by the car.

Adelheid felt as if the world had flipped upside down. No, the world did flip upside down. The behemoth had slashed at her, sending her off her horse and into the air. She sputtered as she felt herself impact the hard ground. The pain awakened her. `If he will not save me, then the only person I can trust is myself!’

Gritting her teeth, Adelheid sprinted in the opposite direction towards the river. She didn't know if the behemoth tracked her by scent or sight or some other mysterious means, but in this situation, she could only take a gamble.

Everything was a blur to Adelheid. It felt like fire coursed through her veins, boulders smashed her bones, and needles pierced her feet with each step she took. But she couldn't stop. If she did, she would die.

Adelheid used everything she had. She couldn't recall any spells that could enhance her speed, nor did she have the time or mentality to chant them, so she could only pump her body with as much aura as possible, hoping to grasp at the slimmest chance of survival.

Adelheid found the river. Her mind was abuzz. 'I made it?'

A terrible roar brought her out of her stupor, and she jumped into the river. Just in time, too, as she barely avoided a claw that passed through where her head used to be. With a "plop," Adelheid was sent careening down the rapid river.

He could only stare in mute horror as he felt his blood slowly trickle out of his mutilated body.

'Why? Why did this happen to me? If only I had another chance! I swear I'll drag down my treacherous uncle! I'll take back everything that was stolen from me and let them taste the same despair! If only I had another chance!'