The Peaceful Life Of A Maid Who Hides Her Power And Enjoys It - Chapter 137

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 137

An unexpected situation.

‘Seeing that Lu gave a similar warning… there must be something going on.’

I observed the Swordmaster. I wondered if the Emperor and that man had some scheme I didn’t know about, but it was hard to find any noticeable changes.

“Sir Liwein. If something unexpected happens during the competition, don’t worry about me and go straight to Raphael or Count Rosebel.”

“Why are you suddenly saying such things?”

“To make you stay alert. You’re still in 4th place, aren’t you? Want to become my husband?”

Liwein obediently shut his mouth.

Not long after, the chamberlain who appeared on the dais announced to us.

“Hunters and assistants, please collect your supplies. If you’ve brought personal weapons, you may use them as they are.”

A servant cautiously approached and offered me a sword, bow, and spear.

I briefly fingered my pearl earrings before taking the sword the servant handed me. Lu’s sword would be too precious to use for something like this. Especially since these aren’t even real demons but fakes.

“In the second day’s hunt, 44 teams will depart first, followed by an additional 6 teams departing 15 minutes later. Furthermore, this year’s hunting competition prize will be revealed at the banquet, so please keep that in mind.”

What’s that about? You need to know the prize to feel motivated to hunt, don’t you?

‘But is that it?’

Not a single word about traps and demons?

“The hunting festival. Are the explanations always this lacking?”

“The hunting festival originated from monarchs providing food to serfs before winter. This tradition later became an obligation for nobles and officials with estates, developing into the current hunting festival. Since only noble families have participated for generations, at most a new face appears every generation or so. That’s why there’s no need to explain the competition format.”

In other words, since it was their exclusive competition, everyone already knew the format without explanation.

‘So that’s why newcomers’ hunting partners are decided before the banquet.’

It was an arrogant method befitting nobles, but in some ways it was also the most efficient method, so I roughly understood.

Clang.

As soon as the competition start bell rang, the 44 teams scattered in all directions like scattered sand.

The rules for the second day’s hunt were simple.

『First, points are only earned by dismantling non-living ‘magic traps.’

Second, ‘magic traps’ can only be dismantled by hunting the demons generated within the trap.

Third, mid-way withdrawal and calls for help in emergencies are possible, in which case you throw the single-use fireworks distributed to each team into the sky.』

Liwein seemed quite worried about me becoming the hunter for the second day’s hunt, sticking close behind me and reciting demon hunting tips.

“The demons that appear in traps are different from the actual demons that appeared in the Magical War. They’re incomparably weaker in all aspects – strength, speed, intelligence. However, those seeing demons for the first time might faint from their terrible appearance and foul smell. Women usually hunt using bows, but swords are far superior in terms of hunting speed…”

Listen, Liwein.

I appreciate the thought, but I’ve been cutting down demons for 10 years.

I’ve even cooked stew next to demons and taken 4-hour naps.

What would you know…

Just when I was starting to worry my ears might get calluses. As if night had suddenly fallen half a day early, starting from behind us, the surroundings quickly darkened.

“Be careful, Baroness! We’re caught in a trap!”

“Oh.”

It really is a mental trap, isn’t it?

I’m getting quite excited. I felt the rising exhilaration and fixed my gaze on the unknown entity that appeared in the darkness.

A demon.

The monster that first revealed itself in the Magical War.

Various rumors circulate – that they’re chimeras created through biological experiments, or alien life forms that crossed the continent – but their exact origin hasn’t been revealed yet.

What’s certain is that they’re intelligent creatures that act in groups and only obey Grand Sorcerer Mephistopheles’ commands.

Their appearance is large and grotesque.

Real demons are exactly 6 times larger than the trap demon visible before my eyes, with hind legs spread like a spider’s and front limbs with spear-sharp ends that could pierce through anything in one strike.

A terrible stench emanates from skin that clings in tatters. The nose is flat like a pig’s, but they have long, large mouths perfect for chewing prey.

In short, their basic form was closest to human.

“Oh.”

Pretty convincing, isn’t it?

First, appearance. Pass.

Though it looked much more docile than the demons in my memory, this level of restoration wasn’t bad.

[Kiiiiiiaaaaaak!]

Scream. Pass.

At this point, I became curious.

‘Will the cutting sensation be the same too?’

The demon’s two legs, which had been bent for propulsion, shot toward me. Liwein shouted in a more tense voice than I, who was the demon’s target.

“Baroness! You must act calmly. I know you’re an excellent swordsman, but your opponent is different from ordinary prey! As I told you, at first…”

At first, grab the sword.

Next, thrust below the chest and cut.

[Kiiiiiik… Kiik!]

As a result, the demon dies.

“Don’t tell me that’s it?”

I quietly looked down at the demon that had collapsed with its chest split in two.

Sensation. Fail.

I licked the corner of my mouth out of habit.

Whenever I thrust inside the body to cut the upper torso, blood always splattered on my face. And I always tasted that blood. It was my own trick to avoid becoming completely absorbed.

Because demon blood has a terrible stench.

But the fake was different. I could feel the sticky texture characteristic of black blood, but I couldn’t taste it.

‘Well, I suppose that’s natural.’

I stabbed my sword into the crown of the demon’s head as it lay on the ground, creaking.

Hunting pleasure. Complete fail.

Overall score: fail.

Thank you for your hard work.

Once the prey’s breath was completely cut off, the surrounding darkness lifted and a clear blue sky was revealed. In the spot where the demon’s head had been, a small box-shaped magical device was pierced by my sword.

Is the hunt complete?

“Hmm.”

Unlike real demons, it’s endlessly weak. Like a wildflower.

The excitement that had dominated my entire body fizzled out.

Can this even be called a demon? What’s the reason for specifically making the second day’s hunt about hunting fake demons instead of living creatures?

‘To remember the horrors of the Magical War and practice preparatory measures… that would be the reason.’

Though I wondered if it was too shoddy to serve as preparation. Considering the weak like women and elderly, it was probably the best they could do.

I approached the dazed Liwein and tossed the collected trap to him.

“You’re lucky.”

“Pardon?”

“Traps are light, aren’t they? Easy to carry around. I should have been a second day assistant too.”

Traps don’t even need rough processing. Moreover, while living prey gives the satisfaction of filling the orphanage children’s bellies, hunting fake demons didn’t even feel like hunting.

“…I didn’t know you could take them down so cleanly, Baroness.”

“Now you know, so that’s enough.”

Liwein nodded with an embarrassed expression.

“Come to think of it, you subdued me with one hand during the interrogation too. I guess I worried for nothing. I’m embarrassed by my fuss.”

“Why be embarrassed about that? You were trying to help me. In other words, it was goodwill. If it had been a different hunter instead of me, they would have treasured your advice like flesh and bone. Right?”

He looked at me with slightly surprised eyes, then scratched the back of his neck and averted his gaze. He looked bashfully embarrassed.

“Yes, you’re right, Baroness.”

After that, we set out on demon – no, trap hunting without rest.

Perhaps because our team’s hunting speed was particularly fast, we kept running into traps as we moved forward, dismantling them, getting caught again, and dismantling them in endless repetition.

Occasionally traps with two or more demons appeared, but they only delayed the dismantling by a bit of time.

It was boring as hell.

“Sir, is demon hunting originally this boring? I feel like I’ve become a trap collector right now.”

Liwein handed me a canteen filled with cool water and answered.

“It’s because you hunt too skillfully, Baroness. Demons’ behavior patterns change every year, but since you charge straight in and cut them down in one stroke, there’s no opportunity to memorize and analyze those patterns.”

“How many have we collected?”

“Eight of them.”

“Do you know how many traps were scattered in total?”

“The number isn’t disclosed. But if you collected 8 in less than an hour, you can definitely expect a 3rd place, or even a 2nd place finish.”

Liwein’s face held a faint excitement as he said this. Top 2, huh. That’s quite a motivating driving force for hunting.

Just as we were about to fill the first hour of hunting time.

“Kiiiiiiaaaaaak!”

The trap I stepped on this time was a little different from before.

Usually when caught in a trap, you’d be surrounded by darkness on all sides, but this time a demon appeared from between the trees.

‘The trap earlier with two demons was like that too. They must have planted some unique traps here and there.’

Moreover, this demon was much sturdier and stronger than the previous ones, making it difficult to cut down in one strike.

Does the difficulty of traps increase the deeper you go into the forest? The anticipation I had set aside began to creep back up.

“Kiii… Kiiiik…”

And when I habitually licked the corner of my mouth.

“…”

“My lady?”

This is.

“…Lord Liwein. Can the hunting festival traps possibly recreate the ‘taste’ of demons?”

“Pardon? Taste… you say?”

Liwein approached closer and answered my question with puzzled eyes.

“I’m not sure what taste you’re referring to, but at most it would be the smell…”

I wiped the black blood from my cheek with my fingertip, then shoved my finger between Liwein’s lips.

Liwein’s bewildered expression violently contorted shortly after.

“Urgh!”

“How is it? Can you feel it too?”

Instead of answering, Liwein dry-heaved and staggered backward. He stood bent over for a long while with an expression of absolute revulsion.

If it had been a hallucination, he could never have shown such a reaction.

“What on earth is that? How can there be such a disgusting smell…!”

“The taste of a demon.”

The sky I looked up at was still blue.

The black blood splattered on my clothes showed no signs of disappearing.

The demon’s corpse that should have transformed into a trap magic tool was still in the form of a corpse.

Moreover, this terrible stench rising from my mouth through my nose was definitely…

“This castle has a very unpleasant energy flowing through it. Something might happen, so please be careful.”

『Always stay alert to your surroundings in preparation for any emergency』

“This isn’t fake.”

Liwein’s complexion was pale as he stared at me.

Having participated in the Mage War, he would have immediately remembered.

This vivid stench that true demons emit. And…

“A true demon has appeared. Go to Hunting Headquarters and Raphael and report this fact. Time is of the essence, so go right now!”

The intense anxiety that makes your heart race.

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