The new year had just passed, and the winter hunt season was about to begin. Many trivial matters were mixed together, and the Mist Kingdom's royal palace and administrative departments were incredibly busy.
Winter hunts were quite common in other countries in the continent. The cold winter made hungry beasts even more aggressive, making it easier for them to appear in front of humans. The cold weather also made it impossible for nobles to engage in other forms of entertainment or activities. And so, the nobles, who always wanted to find something to do when they had nothing better to do, began their winter hunting activities.
A Knight riding on a tall horse and accompanied by a fully-armored entourage would chase down pitiful homeless and hungry beasts amidst the barking of hunting dogs. They would use the beasts' heads to decorate their military achievements, and use the beasts' fur to decorate their rooms. Ahh, those pitiful fellows were met with such misfortune just to find some food for their children. Humans were truly cruel …
"… Glina, if you keep pretending to be a narrator, I'll send you back. Also, isn't the winter hunt here different from the one in other countries? Those beasts and magical beasts aren't pitiful at all. They all eat people! "
I felt rather helpless. Compared to the porcelain doll from back in the day, it was indeed a good thing that Glina had become more human-like. After all, a normal person without any psychological trauma wouldn't become like that.
However, this lass was sometimes a little too lively. Even I couldn't stand her expressionless and serious rambling. I was even starting to sympathize with Sleuweir's administrative officials. With a queen like her around, they must have had a great time being tormented by her every day.
Hearing that I was going to send her back, Glina expressionlessly slapped the gigantic magic puppet she was sitting on. The diamond puppet MK2 that appeared out of nowhere (MK1 had died due to self-destruction) rushed out of the group and chased after the pitiful beasts she was talking about.
Of course, her entourage wouldn't allow the queen to be left alone. Several dozen Knight hurriedly rushed out of the group and chased after her. Did the wry smiles on their faces mean that they were already used to this, or that they enjoyed it? Judging from their heartfelt respect and joy, I felt that it was likely the latter.
"Winter hunt? That's such a distant memory. "
The ground was already covered in frost. Horses' hooves echoed loudly on the ground, and the hot breath they exhaled instantly turned into white mist. The snowfall from earlier had caused the entire world to turn white. A boundless icy plain and snowy mountains were right in front of us. Even a winter hunt team of several thousand people seemed insignificant in comparison.
Our team had set off early in the morning. Most of us were Knight mounts. The scouts and hunting dogs had set off long ago, and the aerial Knight should soon bring news of the beasts.
The Northern Lands' winter hunt is completely different from the other countries' winter hunts. They do it for entertainment, but we do it for survival ….
The living environment in the Northern Lands was extremely harsh, and the thick malice was not only directed at humans. The living environment of wild beasts and magical beasts was equally harsh. Once the mountains were sealed off by heavy snow, the wild beasts would not be able to find food in the mountains and would naturally come out of the mountains to attack humans.
The beasts that could survive in the Northlands had long since mutated into something similar to magical beasts. Under the leadership of their leaders, the beasts would eventually form an unstoppable beast stampede that would attack villages and cities.
In the past few decades and centuries, countless villages had been destroyed by the winter beast stampede. From a certain standpoint, beasts that couldn't find anything to eat would group up and attack humans. This had already become a tradition of the Northlands' beast stampede. Naturally, the Northlanders also formed another tradition. Whenever winter arrived, they would start a winter hunt in order to kill as many threats as possible while they were still in their infancy.
They would attack before the beast stampede formed into a beast stampede. They would do their best to kill the beast stampede's leader and disperse the beast stampede that had just gathered. This would reduce or even destroy the scale of the beast stampede.
History and tradition had proven that this method was much better than waiting in a castle for the beast stampede. Passively defending would only cause the stampede to grow larger and larger. Once all the magical beasts in the snowy mountains came out, it was possible to meet any high-level creature. It was already a historical event that the Northlands' cities would be destroyed.
Most countries in the Northlands had a tradition of winter hunting. However, challenging the beast stampede required more than courage. Even fully armed Knight squadrons wouldn't be able to deal with the sly and vicious beasts. If one didn't have enough power, going on a winter hunt would be the equivalent of delivering food to the beast stampede. The Donglan Principality had long since given up on winter hunting.
During those years, the people of Donglan seemed to have gotten used to bringing their families to a major city like Diffindor the moment winter arrived. They would then hide in wooden houses and tremble as they listened to the beasts' roars outside. They would pray that the beast stampede would pass as soon as possible and that their homes and businesses wouldn't be destroyed too badly.
And this was for the best. Every year, countless residents would be ambushed by beast stampedes while migrating. The Donglan Principality's Knight squadrons weren't enough to protect them at all.
Eight years ago, when we returned to the Northlands, we started organizing winter hunts again. Not only was it to get rid of the beasts and gather food, it was also to boost the people of Donglan's courage and morale, giving them a long-lasting sense of security.
During the past eight years, Donglan and the Mist Alliance had been growing in power. Donglan's military strength had become the most powerful in the Northlands. Naturally, there was no reason to stop the winter hunts.
As the winter hunts continued, the beast stampede's size decreased year after year. The pressure on the cities and villages was also greatly reduced. If it was possible to defeat the beast stampede early, the people of the Mist wouldn't need to carry out such a dangerous winter migration.
Right now, several thousand of us were traveling. Although it seemed like a large scale, this was only the beginning and preparation for the winter hunts. Our main task was to investigate the beast stampede's location and size, so that we could discover high-level and mega magical beasts. If it was a small beast stampede, we could destroy it beforehand. If it was a large beast stampede that numbered in the tens of thousands, we would leave it to the regular army to deal with.
Winter hunts were two completely different concepts in the Northlands compared to the central regions. In warmer regions, winter hunts were an entertainment season for nobles to show off their military strength, as well as a climax season for them to seduce noble ladies. But in the Northlands, winter hunts were war, training for soldiers. Participating in winter hunts was the duty and responsibility of every member of the royal family.
Why didn't Glina return to the Northlands to organize winter hunts? Actually, the other countries in the Northlands held winter hunts every year. After so many years, the beast stampede's size had long since been under control. Winter hunts weren't dangerous at all, and could be carried out normally. However, the Donglan Principality had been weak for far too long, and the number of beast stampedes they had exceeded the total number of all the other countries combined. Controlling the beast stampede's size wouldn't be as simple as killing them all.
She was actually quite happy. Not only could she spend the New Year with her younger sister, but she could also participate in winter hunts to relax. That was why she was adamant about not returning to the Northlands. I asked her retainers and learned that the situation in the Northlands was stable and that everything was fine, so I didn't forcefully chase her away.
On the way back, she was overly active like a little rabbit, constantly causing trouble for the hunting team. Unfortunately, she had a special status, so we had to treat her seriously. But for me …
"… Big Sister Kelly, what do you mean by 'if you want the royal allowance, then do your duty as a royal prince'? I've already done so many winter hunts, and I've long since done my duty. It's so cold here, I just want to lie down on warm blankets and drink hot cocoa while daydreaming …"
We were still enjoying the wind as we waited for the scouts to report back. I got off my horse and rubbed my hands and stomped my feet. I still felt quite cold, and I speechlessly looked at the damned child who was already building a snowman by the roadside. I really wanted to go back to sleep.
"… This damned child is so energetic. Can physical age really affect mental age to such an extent …?"
But soon, I discovered that I was wrong. That three-meter-tall snowman had been made into a magical puppet with obvious joints. Then, the great engineer inserted something into it and said something mysteriously. That snowman actually stood up and started moving with loud rumbling sounds. It was running, it was jumping … it was building an even bigger snowman!
"Is this the advanced version of a damned naughty child playing with snow …?"
Seeing that I was looking in her direction, Glina, who had already jumped onto the snowman's shoulder, waved at me, indicating that I should go over as well … I wasn't an idiot. I already saw that you had added a large amount of explosives into the snowman. Why would I go over? I still hadn't had enough of the MK1 explosion last time, so why would I go over to enjoy the MK3 explosion?
Wait a moment? MK3？ Glina had indeed marked the snowman's head. In that case, the MK2 — the MK2 that Glina had been stepping on — was it possible that it wasn't loaded with explosives … I reflexively moved further away from Glina.
"It's rare for Sister Glina to be so relaxed."
Unlike us, who were all hugging each other like dumplings, Renée was wearing a black, tight-fitting hunting attire that showed off her beautiful curves. I suddenly discovered that she was actually taller than me.
The Nine-headed Dragon leather attire seemed light and thin, but its defensive and cold-resistant properties were both astonishingly high. She seemed even more valiant when she was carrying a hunting bow. The Knight Princess was becoming more and more mature. However, both of my concubines simultaneously rolled their eyes at me because I was standing too close to her …
Renée chuckled when she saw that I was in a daze.
"Sister Glina isn't like this back in our country. She's the core strategist and pillar of the entire Mist Alliance. She's always so confident and dignified. Only in front of you will she truly relax and cast aside all that nonsense. She'll reveal that she's the same age as she appears to be."
I felt rather guilty when I heard this. I had indeed been rather selfish back in the day. I had cast aside everything and just left, leaving the responsibility to two girls who had just reached puberty. They had to work so hard to support their family business on their own. I felt that I should properly compensate them. I would start by giving them more pocket money …
"… Glina, I'm fine with you pretending to be the narrator. I do feel slightly guilty, but I really don't have any pocket money …"
While we were still joking around, two Knight of Ice and Snow appeared in the western sky. The Aurora Knight who had been acting as scouts had returned. In that case, it was time to get down to business.
However, the next instant, I heard a series of exclamations. One of the Aurora Knight had actually fainted on his own steed, while the other was also injured.
There was no need to mention just how powerful an Aurora Knight was. Even a novice Knight who had fainted during a scouting trip would be incomprehensible.
However, this only made me feel more and more uneasy. It would seem that some of my previous guesses were correct. My luck was quite good this time. Not only had I come to the right place, I had even met my target ahead of time.
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