The afternoon sunlight was not too scorching. Pale golden rays poured down, illuminating the entire forest in a dazzling glow.
Glaint held the golden retriever Hogg, into which he had poured all his effort and care, his spirits high.
Today, he would let everyone know that his Hogg was the best partner, the smartest golden retriever, smarter than Audrey's Susie.
Behind Earl Hall, there were attendants specifically assigned to hold three lean, long-bodied hounds with sleek fur, their eyes sharp and fixed on the depths of the forest.
The price of each of these three hounds was a number that made people flinch just hearing it.
Hastur led a hound that was clearly one or two sizes smaller. Compared with Glaint's Hogg and Earl Hall's three hounds, his hound was obviously not fully grown yet.
Even Audrey, who usually did not care much for hunting, brought along the rather unhappy Susie to join in the fun.
"Susie, we have to do our best. If you lose too badly, I won't give you tasty food when we go back."
Audrey encouraged Susie, who clearly lacked enthusiasm, then looked toward the small hound that Hastur was holding. Its size was only about half that of Glaint's Hogg beside it.
Not to mention encountering a fierce beast like a wild boar, even if it met suitable prey, it would probably be hard for it to catch up, right?
Earl Hall's gaze also fell on the small hound. He examined every detail, its eyes, fur, claws, back and forth, then said with some surprise, "Although this hound is still young, it has quite good potential. If properly trained, it might become an excellent hunting dog."
Hastur smiled. "I'm a complete outsider in this area and not very knowledgeable. If Earl Hall likes it, it would be better for you to train it, so that a good pup doesn't get wasted in my hands."
Earl Hall did not respond, neither refusing nor agreeing.
Hastur guessed that Earl Hall probably wanted to see how well this small hound was trained before making a decision.
The four of them entered the forest together with their hunting dogs. The attendants behind Earl Hall split into two groups, one followed Audrey, the other followed Earl Hall.
Hastur did not really need attendants to help him, so he brought two only as a formality. Glaint brought four.
Once inside the forest, the four each chose a direction and moved forward.
Audrey chose a direction adjacent to Hastur's.
"Hogg, today is the day for you to show your wisdom and skill. Don't embarrass me."
Glaint shouted, then released the leash, letting the golden retriever charge ahead into the dense forest where there were no paths.
Earl Hall also had his men release the leashes, then calmly commanded the three hounds to form a triangular encirclement.
Once one of the hounds discovered prey, it would alert the other two to converge, using the advantage of encirclement to capture it.
If the prey was something troublesome like a wild boar, the hounds would first surround and harass it, slowly exhausting its stamina. Then, once Earl Hall's group caught up, they would cooperate with the people to finish off the prey.
"Today, you're especially lucky." Hastur gave his small hound a brief blessing and let it rush into the depths of the forest.
Its smaller size actually became an advantage when moving through dense brush and thorns.
"Susie, it's your turn to set off."
"Woof woof?"
"Susie, look, they've all gone to look for prey. You should hurry and move too."
"Woof?" Susie tilted her head, not very interested in responding to Audrey. She really didn't have much interest in this sort of thing.
"Alright then, Susie. If you don't work hard and perform well today, I'll keep taking you to see Glaint from now on."
"Woof?!" Finally, under Audrey's cheerleading-style threat, Susie began walking slowly along the forest path with elegant steps.
"..." Audrey felt her cheeks heat up. She could only explain outwardly that Susie was an extraordinary dog that did not follow the usual paths.
Before long, Earl Hall's three well-trained hounds were the first to discover prey. There was no need for encirclement, just the one hound that found it easily dealt with the prey.
A foolish roe deer with brown spots.
Soon after, Hastur's small hound also signaled that it had found prey, which made Glaint, who had been eagerly awaiting Hogg's big performance, feel quite frustrated.
Hastur led the two attendants behind him and quickly followed to the spot where the small hound had discovered the prey.
It was a fierce wild boar, looking to weigh over a hundred jin [~110.2 pounds].
As a non-domesticated pig, a wild boar had lower weight but was even more ferocious.
The small hound only dared to harass it from a distance, not daring to get too close. It was very smart and knew to drive the wild boar toward the direction where Hastur and the others were.
Upon discovering the prey, Hastur took the double-barreled hunting rifle and fired a casual shot.
The bullet passed through the obstructing leaves and accurately struck the boar's right front leg.
The wild boar let out a howl and tumbled into the bushes.
Hastur had the two attendants clear the way in front, while he followed behind. The small hound also circled over, barking toward where the wild boar was hiding.
When the wild boar was found again, Hastur fired another shot, then took out some food to reward the small hound, letting it continue searching for prey ahead.
As for this wild boar, it was enough to note down the approximate location, someone would come to deal with it later.
Perhaps stimulated by Hastur hunting a wild boar right at the start, Earl Hall also developed a desire to compete and commanded the three hounds to keep encircling and killing prey.
An hour passed. Earl Hall had the most results: two roe deer, three foxes, and one wild boar.
Hastur ranked second, with two wild boars and one roe deer.
Glaint did not hunt a single piece of prey.
Audrey was luckier. A panicked white fox blundered straight past her, and after having its spirit disrupted a bit, it foolishly became Audrey's trophy.
"Hogg..."
"Woof!"
Glaint looked dejectedly at the hunting rifle in his hands.
It wasn't that Hogg couldn't find prey, but that he couldn't land the crucial shot, letting the prey slip away calmly every time.
He hadn't specifically practiced marksmanship, nor did he have Audrey's luck, so he could only bring up the rear with honor.
As they went deeper, Hastur arrived at the small wooden hut he had once built by the pond with Maric, planning to take a short rest here.
Audrey, holding the foolish white fox, with Susie following behind, also arrived here at a leisurely pace.
She wasn't far from Hastur, and when she discovered there was a pond and a small wooden hut here, she slightly adjusted her direction and came over.
"This place is really nice." Audrey praised it, then led Susie to the pond to play with the water.
Compared to hunting, she preferred appreciating the beautiful scenery in the forest that was worth stopping for.
The pond, dense woods, wooden hut, withered vines, and other scenery blended together into a scene that was also the kind of forest beauty she had once imagined.
"It's a pity there isn't a little house built with pea vines," Hastur walked over and joked with a smile.
"Mr. Hastur, you're not allowed to poke holes in a young girl's fantasies," Audrey puffed her cheeks slightly and scooped up a handful of clear water, splashing it toward Susie, who was lying by the pond with her eyes closed.
"Woof!" Susie opened her eyes and looked at Audrey, shook off the water droplets from her body, then walked away from Audrey with elegant steps, finding another shaded spot to lie down and rest.
"Audrey, Susie's steps are very elegant. It seems you've done well in leading by example."
"Susie is very smart. She likes imitating the way others walk the most."
Audrey glanced again at Susie lying in the distance. She felt that if this continued, Susie might end up forgetting how to hunt altogether as a dog.
Now it liked learning things related to humans. Mm, it felt that it was equal to her in terms of personality, even though she was the one providing it with food every time.
Hastur smiled and came to rest under the shade by the pond, his gaze falling on Audrey playing with the water.
Today, Audrey was wearing the most popular women's hunting outfit in Backlund, no longer dressed in a traditional long skirt. She also wore far fewer accessories.
A brown double-breasted jacket, coffee-colored short boots, black trousers, and a red felt hat on her head.
She looked more valiant and spirited, her overall image somewhat similar to Bernadette.
But upon careful observation, Audrey's temperament still leaned more toward elegance and grandeur, lacking Bernadette's sense of freedom and ease.
After a while, Glaint appeared, looking gloomy.
He had originally had a chance to catch a roe deer, but at the time he felt that a single roe deer was too small to be worth hunting.
Later, he felt that no matter how small the prey was, it was still better than returning empty-handed.
"Hogg doesn't seem to be in very good condition today?" Hastur gave the embarrassed Glaint a way out.
"Yes, it trained too late last night, so it doesn't have much energy today. Otherwise, it's usually very impressive," Glaint said.
Blaming today's failure on Hogg improved Glaint's mood quite a bit.
After chatting with Hastur for a bit, his gaze shifted toward Susie.
If he remembered correctly, Susie also hadn't hunted a single piece of prey today.
Glaint immediately perked up, walked over to Audrey, chatted with her for a few words, and the two of them looked together at Susie.
Susie, who had been resting with her eyes closed, sensed the ill-intentioned gazes and stood up, looking back at Glaint and Audrey.
Although she couldn't hear clearly what the two of them were saying, it definitely wasn't anything good.
"Susie, come here."
Audrey smiled and beckoned from a distance. Susie couldn't help but shiver.