With a sharp sound, a not-so-large beast fell with a thud beyond the bushes.

Even though the dagger had already left her hand, Stella vividly felt the sensation of its tip piercing through something neither hard nor solid. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant feeling.

She hadn’t really aimed to hit it; she had acted instinctively out of concern that the purple-horned lizard might harm the earth fairies. Only after the dagger left her hand did she realize that the creature probably couldn’t even see the fairies.

“Stella! You hit it! You caught the purple-horned lizard!”

Excited, Esta dashed into the bushes and tugged at the fallen lizard’s tail. However, the lizard was much larger than him and wouldn’t budge easily.

“What are you doing? Come help! It’s Stella’s first catch!”

While the frightened Ark hesitated, Oton strode confidently toward the lizard. Surprised by Oton overtaking him, Ark quickly followed suit. Eventually, both reached the purple-horned lizard almost simultaneously.

“Pull! Hold it tight!”

“What if it’s not dead? The tail is scary and gross!”

As Esta shouted loudly, Ark clasped his hands together like he was praying, whining. Oton, who had been looking at Ark with disdain, shouted in annoyance.

“It’s definitely dead! So shut up and pull!”

The purple-horned lizard was as big as a hunting dog. Even though she had hit it by chance, Stella really didn’t want to touch the lizard’s corpse.

But watching the little ones struggle and whine, she felt compelled to help. Reluctantly, she grabbed the lizard’s tail and pulled.

Ugh. The sensation in her hand was so strange.

“Wow! It’s moving!”

“Stella is strong!”

With the enthusiastic cheers of the earth fairies, Stella managed to drag the purple-horned lizard completely out of the bushes. Only then did she realize that her dagger had pierced the lizard’s neck perfectly.

“Oh my goodness…”

She had never hunted before or even properly held a sword. And yet, she had hit it in one shot? As Stella stared blankly at her hand, Ark grinned and said,

“Stella, since you’re the owner of the Noble Pickaxe, you’re good with other metals too.”

“What do you mean?”

Even before she held the dagger, her palm had tingled, and goosebumps had risen on her arm, which she found odd.

Although it wasn’t as intense as when she held the pickaxe, she felt her grip was much stronger than usual. After throwing the dagger, she was certain of this feeling, but she hadn’t thought it was because of the pickaxe.

“The steel used in the Noble Pickaxe is forged with the blessing of Terra, the goddess of the earth. It’s fundamentally different from what a blacksmith makes.”

Even mischievous Esta spoke with genuine pride when discussing the goddess Terra.

“So?”

“It means that as long as the pickaxe acknowledges you as its owner, other metals will also obey you.”

She didn’t fully understand, but it seemed to mean that even metals bow to powerful beings.

“Does that mean I can handle swords well too?”

Stella asked with wide eyes, and Esta gave a slightly awkward smile.

“You can’t handle anything bigger than the pickaxe.”

Come to think of it, the dagger and throwing stars were much smaller than the pickaxe’s steel.

Although it was disappointing that she couldn’t wield weapons like swords, the idea of being able to handle hidden weapons like daggers and throwing stars seemed quite impressive.

Suddenly, Stella felt a surge of confidence. She felt like she could do anything.

“Oh, Princess Stella. There you are.”

Her excitement quickly faded at the sound of a familiar yet not entirely welcome voice. Stella turned around with an awkward smile.

As expected. Just as she had anticipated, Princess Annette stood there with two other princesses from the Plant District.

As Stella turned, the princesses behind Annette giggled.

“Princess Stella really looks like a hunter.”

“The outfit suits you very well.”

Ah, it was about the clothes.

The reason for their mocking laughter was that, unlike them, Stella’s hunting outfit was a simple design without any decorations or fancy patterns.

When Stella first saw the hunting outfit Milla had bought, she laughed for a long time. Not because she disliked it, but because it was so obviously chosen by Milla.

Made from expensive and sturdy leather, the practical hunting outfit with minimal unnecessary embellishments was exactly to Stella’s liking.

“Thank you. Well, then.”

As Stella was about to leave, Esta called out urgently.

“Stella! You need to take the lizard’s horn!”

Horn?

Reflecting on it, the horn on the dead lizard shimmered with a purple glow, sparkling like a crystal and resembling an uncut gemstone.

Ignoring the three people standing behind her with disapproving expressions, Stella defiantly pulled the dagger from the lizard’s neck.

Warm blood spurted from the freshly dead lizard’s neck. Despite being startled by the blood splattering on her face, she held back and didn’t scream, mainly because of the princesses standing behind her like dolls.

The princesses, dressed in hunting outfits adorned with fluttering lace and sparkling brooches, were appalled as Stella wiped the blood off her face with her sleeve as if it were nothing.

One of them even stepped back hurriedly, gagging.

Hearing the retching sounds slightly lifted Stella’s spirits.

Then, she defiantly plunged the dagger into the center of the lizard’s forehead. It was a somewhat impulsive act. The princesses recoiled, turning their heads in shock.

“My goodness!”

“How horrifying.”

“How can she touch a creature directly?”

“So vulgar!”

The more horrified the princesses became, the more strangely empowered Stella felt. If Milla saw this, she would be as shocked as the princesses, but Stella couldn’t help it.

Surprisingly, the purple horn fell from the lizard’s forehead like a ripe fruit.

“It’s because the lizard’s dead. It never falls off when it’s alive,” Esta laughed and explained as Stella looked at the easily removed purple horn in bewilderment.

Stella stuffed the horn deep into her pants pocket and turned to the princesses with a wide grin, deliberately showing her neatly arranged teeth.

The princesses, all dolled up, looked at Stella, who was smiling broadly with blood on her face, as if she were some repulsive creature. It was then that Stella quickly wiped the fierce smile from her lips and hurled the bloodied dagger toward Princess Annette with all her might.

“Eeek!”

“Aaah!”

The princesses shrieked, clutching their heads with both hands and crouched down. Princess Margaret’s pristine white hunting outfit was ruined in an instant.

“What are you doing?!”

As Annette jumped up, fuming with anger, Stella pointed behind her with her finger.

Annette, who had been glaring at Stella as if she wanted to kill her, turned around with a frown and screamed again, collapsing.

“Eeeeek!”

Not far from the princesses, a purple-horned lizard, impaled through the neck by a dagger, was trembling. Stella shrugged as if it were no big deal and walked past them to stand before the lizard.

Fortunately, by the time Stella arrived, the lizard had gone limp and died.

Relieved that she didn’t have to stab it deeper, Stella collected the second purple horn. Interestingly, there wasn’t a drop of blood where the horn had been removed.

“Well, happy hunting, ladies.”

Stella offered an exaggeratedly polite bow and moved away from them.

The princesses, pale and trembling, watched Stella’s retreating figure for a while.

“Are you okay, Princess?”

“Oh no, my hunting outfit is ruined. It’s made of silk. Oh my! It’s torn here!”

To think of making a hunting outfit out of silk. Annette frowned as she looked at Margaret, who was sitting and whining. Caitlin, observing Annette’s reaction, helped Margaret up.

Annette, displeased with the two, turned her gaze back to Stella’s retreating figure. Her eyes, examining everything about Stella as if studying her, gleamed with a menacing light.

* * *

Outside the high fence surrounding the hunting grounds, there were tiered spectator seats offering a clear view of the hunting area.

The closer the seats were to the Emperor’s position, the more expensive they were. The section right next to the Emperor was so popular that it required reservations months in advance, despite its exorbitant price.

This year, the seat next to the Emperor was occupied by Marchioness Melissa, who had captured the most creatures in this year’s hunting competition, second only to the Emperor.

Young nobles of marriageable age tried in vain to engage Melissa in conversation, but she wasn’t interested in any of them. No other man caught her eye.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

Kai hadn’t taken his eyes off his telescope for a while. Though he watched the princesses’ hunting antics every year, he’d never been this engrossed, even using a telescope.

Melissa’s lips trembled slightly from the forced smile she wore.

“Purple-horned lizard.”

“What?”

A purple-horned lizard wasn’t something Kai would usually pay attention to.

It was one of the most common creatures in these mountains, and many traders even bred them like livestock for their purple horns. They were as common as crows in this region.

Melissa’s gaze at Kai was tinged with unease. As she reached out, a waiting maid quickly placed a telescope in her hand.

Even as she held the telescope, Melissa couldn’t take her eyes off Kai. She slowly lifted the telescope in the direction he was watching.

There were already two dead purple-horned lizards and three princesses in hunting outfits as flashy as dresses.

Melissa wondered if one of those three had captured Kai’s interest and scrutinized each of them meticulously.

But none seemed like someone Kai would be interested in. He wouldn’t be attracted to a foolish girl who wore a sparkling hunting outfit to a creature-infested hunting ground.

Was he really looking at the lizard?

As she lowered the telescope in relief, Melissa suddenly realized something and quickly brought the telescope back to her eyes.

Where did the horn go?

No matter how much she looked, none of those three had taken the horn. There was no way their foolish weapons could have cut the horn so cleanly.

Who could it be?

Melissa’s cold eyes darted around, searching for someone who wasn’t there.