How I Ended Up Becoming the Imperial Princess While Trying to Pay Off an Illegal Loan - Chapter 31

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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031.
Leon crawled into the sleeping bag with his fists clenched, wriggling toward Tamia’s side.
He lay flat.
He turned his body slightly to look at her.
“……This won’t do.”
Heat flooded through him, and Leon bolted from the sleeping bag.
He left the barracks entirely and approached one of the Griffin Squad members standing watch.
“You’re not using your sleeping bag right now, are you?”
“Huh? Yes!”
“Give it to me, and you can use the next rotation’s bag.”
Having seized a sleeping bag in this manner, Leon returned to Tamia’s barracks.
“You startled me, running out like that.”
Tamia, spotting Leon, settled back onto her bedroll with visible relief.
Leon set his own sleeping bag down a short distance away and crawled into it.
“You said you had a lot to take care of?”
“I’ve handled everything that needed handling.”
He-he, I’m so glad you came. To be honest, sleeping alone felt a bit lonely.”
“…….”
“Tomorrow I’m going to wipe out all those Jellyfish Monsters, you know? I’ll show you just how good I am then……” She yawned.
Tamia fell asleep before she could even finish her sentence.
Listening to her soft snoring, Leon felt a strange sense of peace wash over him.
“Sleep well, Tamia.”
Soon slumber came for him too.
* * *
The next day.
“Now I’m going to show you exactly how to catch Jellyfish Monsters!”
Tamia’s spectacular display was about to begin.
Staff in hand, Tamia walked unhesitatingly toward the yellow haze.
Then she began wielding the staff with such frenzied speed it became invisible to the eye.
“……!”
“Her hands are too fast……!”
But that was far from the end.
The extraordinarily rapid Staff Technique displaced the air momentarily, clearing the surrounding atmosphere, and in that opening Tamia seized her bow.
Dozens of arrows took flight through the sky in an instant.
Patter-patter—
Like rain during monsoon season, Jellyfish Monsters fell from the sky and piled onto the ground.
As the yellow haze laden with Paralysis Venom surged back, Tamia would swing her staff to push it away; as it dispersed, she would rapidly fire her bow again, repeating this cycle.
After doing so dozens of times over, the surrounding area became completely blanketed with Jellyfish Monsters until there was barely room to set foot.
“Is that…… truly the movement of a human body……”
Clifford stood so astonished his jaw had gone slack, while Fenril sank to his knees and raised both hands to the heavens.
“Ah, it seems I am now in the presence of the goddess of the hunt herself.”
Finally, Tamia took up a sack and dove back into the Paralysis Venom haze. She repeated the motion of swinging her staff with one hand while sweeping Jellyfish Monsters into the sack with the other.
Exactly one hour later.
The sack Tamia emptied contained two hundred Jellyfish Monsters.
Tamia, who had thrashed about in the dense haze for a full hour, bore not a single trace of paralysis on her body.
“Look here.”
She stacked all two hundred of them in a heap like a mountain, then picked them up one by one, as if filleting fish.
Drawing her Short Sword, she sliced precisely through the center of each monster, revealing a core that resembled a pearl.
Though it was bright daylight, the core gleamed with a soft radiance, proclaiming its presence.
“So that’s the jewel that was attached to her dress.”
Leon, who had seen Tamia’s dress up close, let out a whistle.
“So you did all this just to make that dress?”
“My father and the other knights and I turned this place inside out for about a week. He-he, it was fun.”
Tamia laughed softly, her breathing quite composed despite the exertion.
“Did you swing the staff back then too?”
“Yes, I swung the staff while the rest handled the bow. Father can do it too, but lately he lacks the endurance, probably because of his age.”
It was hard to tell whether the Jellyfish Monsters piled on the ground were actual monsters, or whether Tamia—exhibiting such inhuman standards of ability—was the monster.
“There! I’ve shown you the demonstration, so you should be able to do it now, right? Now we do this properly!”
Tamia seized her staff once more.
“I’ll swing this, and you follow behind me and shoot your arrows, understand? Don’t accidentally get hit by the staff. You got that?”
“Yes!”
“Leon, want to join in?”
“Why would I refuse?”
Tamia began twirling her staff slowly. The tempo quickened, and soon it was spinning at a speed ten times faster than before.
The air displaced across a far wider space than when she hunted alone.
“I pride myself on having studied diligently back at the academy, but I’ve never heard of anything like this.”
Fenril followed close behind Tamia, his expression a mixture of shock and wonder.
Twelve arrows launched simultaneously from behind Tamia’s back.
Though the archery rate couldn’t compare to Tamia’s, with twelve archers firing without pause, Jellyfish Monsters cascaded down like a waterfall.
After about thirty minutes, monsters twice as many as before carpeted the ground. When there was nowhere left to stand, it was time for the sacks to come out.
Tamia kept her staff twirling without rest.
“Should we take a break?”
Protecting the squad members laden with dozens of sacks, Tamia slowly backed away.
“Wow, how many is that?”
“At least five hundred, I’d wager!”
The excited squad members gathered the monsters from the sacks in one place, crying out with joy.
“Just ten minutes rest, then we go back in.”
Tamia rolled her shoulders in broad circles, stretching, and Leon immediately stepped in to knead her shoulders.
“Oh, that feels amazing! Leon, where did you learn a massage like that?”
“When you hunt monsters, you get injured often and your muscles take a beating, so I picked it up over time.”
“It really feels wonderful. Ahhhh…….”
“If you’re tired, we can rest longer.”
“Once the sun’s up high, it’ll be too hot. Let’s do one more hour and then eat. Everyone rested? Let’s go!”
Tamia called out in a spirited voice, and the squad members who’d been loosening their arms grabbed their bows and crowded back in.
This time, venturing deeper, they captured six hundred more monsters in thirty minutes.
After another ten-minute rest, the third push began.
This time, Leon tried in earnest to dissuade Tamia.
“The sun’s already burning hot. We should rest thoroughly and start again in the evening…….”
“Just one more batch.”
There was no stopping his stubborn wife. Leon heaved a long sigh, gripped his bow tightly, and followed behind her.
The deeper into the canyon they went, the denser the Jellyfish Monsters became. Naturally, the paralysis venom was more potent too, but Tamia swung her staff forcefully with no thought of retreat.
“This time, seven hundred is our goal! Everyone, forward!!”
“Yaaaaaaah!”
The squad members, their spirits soaring, let out a battle cry and began hunting.
About thirty minutes had passed in this way.
“Tamia, really, we should stop now…….”
Just as Leon was about to dissuade her.
“……Huh?”
A Queen Jellyfish Monster appeared before Tamia’s eyes.
“We have to catch that one.”
Tamia’s eyes shone with an almost mesmerized gleam.
“When you catch that Queen Jellyfish, it drops a core the size of a baby’s fist. We absolutely have to get it!”
“Tamia, we agreed to rest first. It’s already midday, and you’re burning through stamina fast.”
Though Leon earnestly tried to persuade her, Tamia would hear none of it.
“I’ll go alone. Griffin Squad, stand by in a safe location!”
Tamia withdrew, leading the squad members to a place where the air was still clean.
Then, just as she grabbed her staff again and was about to dash back in, Leon caught her.
“Just five minutes rest, then we go. Okay? Tamia.”
“No, I can’t! The Queen appears briefly and then vanishes. Wait, where is it? Stop!!”
True to Tamia’s words, the Queen Jellyfish Monster was retreating back into the depths of the canyon.
In the end, she gripped her staff and plunged straight in. Leon, having failed to stop her, followed close at her heels.
“P-please be careful!”
“We’ll keep processing the jellyfish!”
With the squad members’ voices—half concern, half cheering—fading behind them, Tamia and Leon ventured deep into the canyon.
The Queen Jellyfish emitted a brilliant glow as it drifted gently at the highest point.
“I’ll take the shot.”
Leon nocked his bow. He fired the arrow almost vertically, but with so many Jellyfish Monsters packed densely together, the arrow struck a different monster instead.
“……! Damn.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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