Chapter 119: Second fall hunting (Season 2)

“Good morning Jasmine!”

Catherine greeted Jasmine with an envious look on her face as she appeared in a full suit of heavy armor. Joonbum frowned, but quickly changed his expression back to normal. She was the daughter of the marquis and a guest with a box full of gold after all.

‘I can’t blame Catherine for envying her.’

Catherine had looked up to Joonbum after he had rescued her from her imprisonment. Joonbum was like a figure of safety and comfort to her and Jasmine was the opposite of that. Her combat skills allowed her to outperform any man and her rough words and behavior made her look very strong. Catherine idolized Jasmine for her pure strength and thought of her as a role model.

‘She is sort of a unique figure in this part of the world.’

“Sir Joonbum. I saw you were training early in the morning. That’s amazing. Isn’t it tiring?”

“I’ve become used to it.”

“Can I join in the sparring?”

“MISS JASMINE!”

James Hollin, a knight in his forties, intervened abruptly. He was a knight with a stout physical appearance and he had various experiences. His broad shoulders, thick arms, and legs made him look very strong.

He glared at Joonbum, signaling to him to decline the offer, although he also seemed apologetic. Joonbum didn’t feel offended as he knew what was going on. He grinned and nodded.

“You can if you want.”

“OH! You sure act like a man!”

“BUT! You should sign an agreement that you will not ask for compensation for any injuries you may sustain during sparring…”

“Sure.”

“MISS!”

Jasmine casually nodded even before Joonbum finished speaking and James jumped in. Joonbum shook his head.

“You need to make an oath on your family’s name. James and the other knights have to agree to it too.”

Jasmine moaned at the request. An oath made on the family’s name was irreversible.

“Hah! Isn’t that too much? Are you trying to kill me or something?” Jasmine blurted out angrily.

Joonbum shook his head. “No.”

“Then why the oath? Isn’t it just sparring?”

“You should know better than anyone that sparring can result in accidents. And I know you don’t mind your name but I or the Ainos can’t ignore the fact that you are the marquis’ daughter. You should understand my position.”

Jasmine seemed to be bothered by that, but she nodded.

“Okay, I will make an oath then.”

“Miss!”

James tried to put a stop to it, but it was too late. He glared at Joonbum.

“Wow! Jasmine, are you really going to do it? It-it looks scary!”

“It’s alright! It looks scary but there are rules. It can be scary at first, but once you try it…”

“S-stop! Miss Jasmine! Miss Catherine is still young! You should not tempt her like that!”

Eina jumped in and Jasmine blushed. She nodded and backed away. Eina was a servant, but she herself was a noble. Furthermore, she was also Catherine’s guardian.

“You should eat and warm up your bodies before joining the sparring.”

Jasmine nodded and turned to the town hall in the center of town.

“Let’s go!”

Joonbum then took Catherine’s hand and moved. There was the good smell of food as they arrived at the town hall. There were Ainos women moving about quickly to put food onto the tables.

“This is amazing! Eating freely with everyone! Right, Jasmine?”

“Yeah. All of this food on the same table! I did hear about it at Khaloda Village but it is amazing to see it myself.”

“I think it’s good that I can eat whatever I want! Oh, and to serve myself the amount I want to eat is brilliant!”

It was an unthinkable way of eating for the nobles. They never had to do anything on their own, but it was different here. There were no ranks in this town and Catherine was extremely intrigued.

“I will do it myself…”

“Miss Catherine!”

“No? I want to try.”

Catherine’s eyes became watery. Eina sighed then nodded.

“Only here. It’s good that you are learning Ainos tradition, but you should remember that we are not the Ainos. You should remember your identity! Is that clear?”

“Okay! Thank you, Eina!”

Catherine began gathering food for herself and Eina followed closely. Jasmine saw them moving away from Joonbum and walked closer to him with a dish. She tapped on it with her finger to make a sound.

“This is a good sound. How do you make this kind of dish?”

It was a clean, white dish. There were no fancy decorations, but it was really clean. It did not have the bad smell of wooden dishes and it was also very easy to clean. It was easy to break, but it was still very popular in the kingdom.

“So many of these dishes…”

Jasmine moved the food around and began filling her dish with food. She then moved over to a table where Catherine was sitting and began gorging down on her food.

“Ugh. I’m sorry, Sir Joonbum.”

James approached and apologized to Joonbum, however, he was not really bothered by Jasmine. Her rough words and careless manner were actually comforting.

“Please, don’t mind me. I know she has no bad intentions so I’m not bothered at all. She can always join to spar during her stay here. She does not need approval from now on.”

James stopped to think about Joonbum’s words, but he soon nodded.

“I will let her know. Thank you.”

James moved away and sat near Jasmine. The other knights and soldiers began sitting down to eat their food as well.

‘It’s too small.’

The town hall was now packed with people that made him feel that it was smaller than it actually was.

‘But we have more manpower.’

Fall was a busy time with the need for more men. He welcomed the fact that they were here.

‘There is no such thing as free food. What work should I assign them?’ Joonbum thought as he looked upon the unsuspecting knights and soldiers. He grinned, then began filling his dish with food.

*

“TIMBER!”

“TIMBER!”

Trees fell down continuously as men chopped them down from all over the place.

“UGH, I thought I could have some rest here!”

“I know, right? Tree chopping all the way here! Are they trying to torture us this way?”

“I don’t think so. They fed us well and let us rest too. It’s good that we get to exercise this way.”

“Yeah. It’s doable.”

“The Ainos never lie. Oh, and I can do anything if she wants me to do it!”

“Stop dreaming.”

“It won’t be a dream if I never wake up from it! Maybe I should move to this place.”

“Are you crazy? This is THE mountain! Didn’t you see those knights coming back from hunting? They were pale! Did you see that Sir Gordon’s arm broke? I heard a Brix charged into him!”

“Oh! I saw that. His shield was crushed!”

“It’s not even funny! Don’t think that you can live here easily. Did you see those Ainos kids moving? They are better warriors than we are!”

“Yeah, I saw them shooting their arrows and it hit their targets no matter how fast they were moving! I think that boy was maybe about ten years old! Can you believe that?”

All the men began thinking of what they had experienced during the past few days.

“Those kids will become the warriors we see now. Now I know why they say not to fight with the Ainos in the forest.”

“They run through the forest like its nothing! Knights can’t keep up with them!”

“They challenge them every day though.”

“Yeah, they run every morning. It kind of feels sad.”

“Sort of.”

“It’s good if they become stronger. Let’s move! We should finish more before the snacks come.”

They began to chop down more trees. Inside the wooden fence, people were also busy preparing snacks for the soldiers chopping down the trees. Fresh fruit and vegetables were being prepared as they were gathered and harvested in abundant amounts.

A bell signaling breaktime rang and the soldiers moved into the town for their snacks. They enjoyed the prepared cheese, bread, fruits, and beer.

“Oh! I would love to live here if I can keep eating these foods!”

“You think it would be easy to live here? We’re only guests here. I think that’s why they bring us these good foods!”

“I agree with him. I don’t think it’s possible to eat like this every day! They probably can do this because of the goods that we and those merchants brought.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Of course!”

“Yeah, I guess so. How can they eat three times a day AND snack too?! It’s too much.”

“Those merchants are busy though.”

They turned to the merchants busily moving about. They were examining the various leathers brought over by the Ainos. It was priced much lower than what it cost in Khaloda Village. It was profitable for both the merchants and the Ainos, as the merchants bought it cheap and the Ainos did not need to travel down to Khaloda Village to sell. They also scored more profits than they expected.

“Oh! Elder Hesgal! Thank you for the potions!”

Ress bowed deeply to the Elder Hesgal. He smiled back.

“It’s a token of gratitude for the visit. You also paid for it, so there’s no need to thank me.”

Ress shook his head. “No, it’s far from enough.”

They only paid half of the current price that they would’ve needed to pay if it was traded at Khaloda Village. It meant huge profits and there were six of such potions. Each merchant group would still have two potions after dividing them into equal numbers.

They kept on trading throughout their stay. The merchants seemed to be happy about all trades and there were visitors from the other tribes trying to sell their gathered goods. Ress and the other merchants moved to Trina Village as the village was the center of the Ainos tribes.

The hunt also began gaining momentum. The Boduas were preparing to go into hibernation and it was the prime time to hunt them.

“Look at all these Boduas! Amazing.”

Jasmine, who joined the hunt in leather armor, shouted in astonishment. Joonbum grinned as Jasmine also showed the same reaction that he did in the previous year.

‘It was more than amazing.’

It was still an amazing sight to behold. There were more Boduas moving in packs.