Chapter 48: Hunting In The Mountains
There are still a few days until going to Madam Fran’s place to tend the flower field.
Another afternoon, Xilutiya finished tutoring Mike, Karen, and the others, then picked up bow and arrow to practice herself.
In the situation where she couldn’t show sword technique, practicing bow and arrow seemed like a good choice. After this month’s intermittent practice, her bow and arrow level had slowly reached a very good standard.
『Basic Archery Lv.3』: Basic skills for using bow and arrow, one of the remote combat skills. （Progress 342/900）
Whoosh, another arrow shot out, accurately hitting the bullseye 60 meters away. （‘Basic Archery’ proficiency +1）
Unlike sword technique, bow and arrow seemed to rely more on some kind of muscle reaction and intuition; her growth speed was relatively slow.
“So amazing, Tiya’s archery is now almost catching up to Karen.” Komiya clapped.
“Still not as good as Karen sister.” Xilutiya responded humbly.
“This level of archery is indeed very good, but Tiya can go on the mountain to try shooting moving rabbits or birds when free; that way progress will be faster.” Karen suggested.
“I see.” Xilutiya thought about it; not only bow and arrow, her sword technique also needed real combat to train.
“Tomorrow is a holiday; can Karen go with me?”
“Of course.” Karen nodded; she had similar plans anyway.
“Then I want to go too.” Komiya didn’t want to be left out.
“Me too.” Mike overheard and walked over.
“In case you run into danger, I can help a lot.” He felt it was too dangerous for several girls to go out alone.
“Me too.” Lei walked over at this moment.
“Alright.”
It seemed unavoidable for the five to go together. Xilutiya thought about it; there was no need to keep hiding forever. Moreover, they were all trustworthy friends, so she could just ask them to keep it secret then.
Currently, her various skills were roughly at 『Basic Sword Technique Lv.4』『Military Sword Technique Lv.4』『Basic Archery Lv.3』『Basic Spear Technique Lv.4』『Secret History Knowledge Lv.5』『Gardening Technique Lv.4』; among them, the combat-related skills all needed real combat to break through.
After agreeing on tomorrow’s joint action, everyone looked forward to it. Komiya chattered about what things to bring tomorrow.
“Picnic basket, water, food, gauze medicine for emergencies.” She listed them.
“No need to be so troublesome, right?” Karen couldn’t help interrupting; they were going hunting, not picnicking. Bringing too many things would slow them down.
“Aww, no way.” Komiya was disappointed.
“I, carry.” Lei knocked his fist on his chest, producing a thick sound.
“See, Lei agreed to help us carry; no problem.” Komiya raised her hand.
In response, Karen could only shake her head helplessly and agree.
……
The next morning, the prepared group gathered at the gate of Jiaoshi City.
“Tiya brought quite a few things too.” Komiya curiously looked at this black-haired maiden.
Xilutiya was wearing a short black dress convenient for action today, revealing a bit of healthy white thigh; below were over-the-knee black stockings that could resist the deep autumn chill. As for the upper body, it was a fitted long-sleeved hunting outfit with a cinched leather armor waistband at the waist and abdomen, which could hold arrow quiver and short sword while providing some protection.
She held the longbow in one hand, black hair flowing, posture light and agile, like an elf walking out of the forest.
“Wow, today’s Tiya has charm off the charts.” Komiya exclaimed in delight; the others also looked at her with eyes full of surprise.
This gathering of gazes made Xilutiya a bit embarrassed, especially since she was wearing a short skirt today, somewhat cool.
“Let’s go, let’s go; stop looking.” In response, she could only helplessly urge everyone to start moving.
‘Okay, hee hee hee; if we keep staring at Tiya, she’ll get shy.’ Komiya covered her mouth and chuckled lightly, knowing this maiden’s embarrassment.
Leaving Jiaoshi City and arriving at the mountain forest several li outside the city, the grass here still had morning dew, and the air was refreshing.
At this moment, Karen walked at the front, Mike second; both had rich hunting experience. The other three followed behind. Xilutiya held the bow for vigilance, Lei carried a large amount of luggage, and Komiya bounced around observing, livening up the atmosphere.
The five’s journey was not boring; along the way, everyone talked about recent interesting stories. Occasionally, Xilutiya stopped to pick roadside herbs and mushrooms, putting them into the basket Komiya was carrying.
There were few large wild beasts around Jiaoshi City; even if there were, they would generally be cleared by hunters in the city to ensure the safety of merchants and travelers.
Along the way, they didn’t spot any large live creatures, but did encounter some small rabbits and forest falcons.
“There’s a rabbit there, Tiya~” Komiya reminded softly.
“Mm.” At this time, Xilutiya had already nocked the bow and arrow. Her posture was standard, expression serious; almost as soon as she drew the bow, the arrow flew out, nailing the rabbit rapidly running in the grass.
（‘Basic Archery’ proficiency +6）
“Hit on the first try, amazing!” Komiya turned into a fangirl, praising loudly. Karen, who had been ready to follow up beside her, also lowered her bow.
In case Xilutiya hadn’t hit just now, she would shoot the second arrow to prevent the prey from escaping; this was also the practice of covering for each other among hunters.
Mike stepped through the grass reaching his ankles, picked up the rabbit and arrow, and brought them back.
“Not bad; we can eat meat tonight.” He shook the gray rabbit, showing a smile.
“Let’s go; we’ll continue and find more prey for Tiya to practice on.”
Though it was the five acting together, everyone intentionally or unintentionally let Xilutiya practice bow and arrow more, also protecting and reminding her to prevent accidents. This feeling of being cared for and pampered by everyone made Xilutiya a bit unaccustomed for a moment, but also felt faintly warm.
Mike and Karen didn’t lack hunting experience at all, nor did they need today’s training; it was just Xilutiya, who might be entering the mountain to hunt for the first time, so they naturally took more care.
Usually it was Xilutiya tutoring their lessons; today was a rare chance to return the favor, making them quite happy.
The five gradually entered the deep forest along the mountain path. Along the way, Xilutiya became more proficient with the bow and arrow, and pairing it with breathing technique adjustments kept her stamina in a good state. This real combat training gave her many new insights into bow and arrow, breathing technique, and field hunting.
As expected, real combat was the fastest way to improve, and her ‘Basic Archery’ was gradually reaching the breakthrough edge.
In the afternoon, the group found a clearing in the forest and rested temporarily.
“Finally can rest a bit.” Komiya plopped down on a stone, legs sore and weak, not wanting to move at all.
Among the five, only she didn’t know breathing technique; her stamina and endurance were at the bottom, and being able to walk this far was thanks to her usual liveliness and activity.
Seeing this, the others couldn’t help but smile; they no longer urged her to get up, but first patrolled the surroundings before returning here to sit.
“I remember there’s animal hide cloth in the bag; we can use it as a mat.” Karen mentioned.
There were limited stones in the forest; sitting directly on the ground would inevitably have many insects and ants. Besides, they were also preparing to eat something.
“Okay.” Lei put down the large backpack on his back, then Karen opened it, found the rolled animal hide cloth, spread it out, and the group sat around, easing their fatigue.
“Tiya not tired?”
Karen was quite curious; this black-haired maiden’s stamina seemed better than hers, with no sign of sweating at all, movements still as light as when they entered the mountain.
Could Tiya really have elf bloodline? Karen suddenly thought of this, but unfortunately Xilutiya didn’t have the pointed ears characteristic of elves.
“Not tired for now.” The maiden set down the longbow and knelt on the mat temporarily, movements elegant.
After thinking a bit, Xilutiya also temporarily removed the glasses she had been wearing and placed them aside. At this moment, not only did she have a good figure, her attractive appearance was also revealed, surprising the others again.
“I feel like Tiya is getting prettier and prettier.” Komiya voiced everyone’s thoughts.
Everyone nodded in agreement, but seeing this maiden’s embarrassed look, they felt she was a bit cute and interesting, so they temporarily stopped teasing her.
“What food is there? I’m hungry.” Mike looked at the picnic basket covered with cloth.
“Yeah, food.” Komiya lifted the meal cloth, revealing the contents inside.
The picnic food was prepared by Komiya’s mother, including pie, bread, smoked sausage, and two bottles of beer.
Clean clear water was hard to get in the wild; alcohol was easier to preserve and cleaner. （The fermentation process of alcohol kills bacteria）
“Thank.” Mike muttered first, then took a piece of pie and put it in his mouth, eagerly gnawing.
The pie had a small amount of dried fruit and vegetable chunks, paired with the dough for balanced nutrients.
The group ate food while talking about the mountain situation.
“No wolf tracks seen along the way.” Xilutiya recalled.
“Because the hunter guild in the city regularly sweeps them.” Karen explained while biting bread.
“Jiaoshi City is Lord Xue Feng’s direct territory and residence, a place for surrounding villages and towns to communicate and trade; safety is very important, so the local hunter guild must assist in clearing the surrounding environment. If done well, they don’t have to pay extra taxes to the lord.” She was experienced in hunting.
“Ah, that makes it a bit boring.” Mike had been hoping to hunt a larger prey later to test his recent training results.
Just like Xilutiya, he had been staying with Scholar Heide this month to study and train, with no chance to join adventure tasks or properly test his progress.
“Isn’t being safe good?” Komiya expressed incomprehension.
After eating, Komiya took out five wooden cups and poured beer into each one by one.
“Whew, this taste is really good.” Mike took a big gulp, nearly emptying the cup.
On the other side, Xilutiya drank more slowly, savoring the faint beer flavor on her tongue.
The mountain birdsong was clear and pleasant, the deep autumn cool breeze blew, making people comfortable. Even without hunting, picnicking here was a delight.
