I raised my two hands up high and looked at the white deer king with its s.h.i.+ning horn pointed downwards, as it kicked its hooves like it was about to charge an enemy and shouted: "Umm… Umm… I don"t know if you can understand me, but I don"t have any ulterior motives. Remove your horn and we can even be friends. Honest!"
I realise I"m being stupid, but I don"t intend to just kill it right now, and I don"t know what to do when I"ve got a horn pointed at me. If it charged me from such a close distance, I"d probably be dead before I could draw my sword…. Wait, no, I"d have a hole in me.
The white deer king looked at me mockingly and snorted. It then raised its head and shot me a gaze of mockery. I paused and then pointed to myself and said: "Do you understand me? I… I came to partic.i.p.ate in the deer hunting festival… But I don"t want to kill you using this sort of method…. It"s not fair, so… So go ahead and run. Leave this place… It"d be too unfair and immoral if I killed you like this."
If I whipped out my gun and opened fire before it could react, I"d have pierced its skull at such a close distance and the deer hunting festival would be over. I reacted faster than the white deer king back there, but I gave up when my hand touched my gun. I can"t kill it by relying on cheat methods. It"d be too unfair, and too fake. What would I say? I got teleported behind a white deer king, so I just shot it dead?
I can explain these potions and whatnot since others brought animal traps and the sort, so it"s normal for me to bring some support potions, right? But mom teleporting me behind a white deer king makes me feel bad. I may be powerless but my pride won"t let me accept such a shady victory. And that"s why I didn"t draw my gun. The white deer king who didn"t react in time didn"t run either. Instead, it was revving to charge me….
The white deer king kicked its hooves and slowly trotted over to me. I was so frightened I didn"t dare to move. I don"t know why. It"s just an animal, but its gaze froze me in place. I think it"s got more of a ruler"s aura more than I do. It may be just a king of a group of deer, but it was still domineering. It walked up to my side and I could feel the heat expelled from its snort. It was just a deer, and yet it resembled a horse so much. I think it"d be a chollima if I attached reins to it. It"s tall and domineering appearance and its singular horn girls loved don"t have any correlation with each other….
If it didn"t have gra.s.s in its mouth, I"d mistake it for a carnivore….
It made a few sounds which sounded like a laugh and then brushed its head against my face gently. I retreated a few steps from fear. It too, retreated two steps before bowing its head to me, turning away and running off. A strong gust of wind blew against me. Its running speed is honestly far too fast. It only left a few white after images behind. Its running speed was like seeing an F1 race car accelerate before you.
I let out a heavy sigh after watching its back disappear. I have no idea when I"ll see it again. The next time I see it might be on somebody"s shoulder or in a well for all I know. However, I feel like that white deer king was no simpleton. It stuck its horn out and was ready to fight to the death instead of running when it faced me. It was even able to understand me. The animals here in the elf kingdom truly do have characteristics of the elves. I think it"s probably due to them possessing similar magic.
I"m such a contradictory person. I"m powerless, yet I pursue fairness, not realising that being powerless as I am is in itself unfair on me. Miss Mera was right. This is the type of person I am. I pursue freedom while I don"t have the necessary a.s.sets to have freedom. I"m innately kind, and yet I must continually face endless killing. I pursue fairness when I"m unable to protect myself.
Simply put, perhaps it"s because I lack strength and the courage to use strength.
Miss Mera was spot on.
I realise that I have the power to take the life of any other of my choice. However, I don"t really want to use that power. But I won"t hesitate to use if when I want to.
I picked up the coat of arms in my hands. Alright, I surrendered the opportunity to end the contest in an instant, so I now need to search for Lucia, and then we"ll go search for the white deer king I let go.
"Ah, your highness."
As soon as I picked up the coat of arms, a voice came towards me from behind. I spun my head around and saw Lucia look at me with a smile. She said: "Her highness teleported us within close proximity to each other."
"Ah……"
She cheated this part too…?
I nodded. Lucia looked at me and asked: "Have you discovered the tracks of a white deer king, your highness"
I replied honestly: "Yeah."
"Oh?"
Lucia was surprised. She then took her bow off her back happily and said: "Where is it? Is it close or is it hiding somewhere?"
"It was just here a moment ago."
"Ah……"
Lucia strapped her bow back on disappointedly and then said: "Do you know which direction it ran off in then, your highness?"
I pointed in the direction the white deer king vanished and said: "That way."
"How do you know so much, your highness? You didn"t engage it before it ran off, did you?" Lucia looked at me a little surprised, and then said in a tone of admiration: "You really live up to your t.i.tle, your highness. You found a white deer king on the first day and engaged it. Your performance is more superior compared to the previous king!"
"No… The white deer king just happened to appear before me where I landed…." I smiled bitterly as I rubbed my head and continued, "And then I let it go."
"Why?! That was such a good opportunity! That"s a one-in-a-thousand coincidence!"
"That"s why it"s not a coincidence…." I covered my face. Lucia wouldn"t believe me if I told her it was the queen"s handiwork, would she? Yes, she"s a fair and just queen before others, but she"s never had any considerations for fairness when it comes to me. She"s been cheating ever since she gave me these items!
"Mom deliberately arranged it. She wanted me to kill a white deer king and then return, but I don"t want to. It"s too unfair. The other partic.i.p.ants must"ve prepared for an extensive period of time too. I don"t want to give you a wedding ceremony that"s fraudulent either. The best case scenario would be for us to kill a white deer king together, and then enjoy the wedding ceremony of a true hero."
I looked at Lucia and said in a serious tone: "Of course, if you"re tired or something unexpected happens, I"ll use the potions mom gave me and then we"ll kill a white deer king and return to get married. Just consider it as us coming here to nurture our feelings. I trust you Lucia. The Lucia I know is the strongest. And hence, I want to kill a white deer king with you using our own powers and not rely on cheating."
Lucia looked at me and revealed a slight smile. She then let out a helpless sigh, grabbed hold of my hand and said: "I"m very happy to be acknowledged by you, your highness. It"s just that I feel pressured like this…. But never mind. Let"s just do as you suggested, your highness. You truly are a kind person. n.o.body can see us here, but I trust that the G.o.ds are watching us."
"I hope they approve of my decision."
"They definitely will! So let"s go look for traces of a white deer king now!"
"Alright!"
We held hands and went in the direction the white deer king disappeared in as we happily chatted and giggled.
Lucia was right. n.o.body will see us here. Even if I had shot the white deer king dead back there, n.o.body would"ve known what had happened.
However, my conscience wouldn"t allow me to do that.
I don"t seek the approval of the G.o.ds. It"s just that I don"t want to torture myself.
At the same time that was happening.
A few sharp daggers were drawn from a place in the forest that n.o.body could see….
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