Follow Me

Artie's eyes were shining as if they reflected the image of the bow that she could see in her mind. The Aristocracy was a white bow with an aesthetically sleek design. Even if it had blue lines on its body, the amount of white was still something that made Artie want it. It was like gazing at a free five-star weapon she could get in an event after finishing a list of tasks to be done. This time, it was just one quest that she triggered secretly.

[Aristocracy! Type: Divine Bow. Make: Snow. There was a myth in Kaigansa that a god had picked up snow from Galacia to be gifted to a royal princess. However, as regular snow would melt, the god had pressed the snow with his hands and shaped it into a bow as a present. ATK: 20+(12% of Veneration)+(50% of Reverence)]

'Eh? Only 20? Wait, so my Veneration had something to do with my weapons as well? Then, my weapons are weak if I go apostate?' The confusion didn't show on her face as she retracted her gaze on Clarissa's face and then towards the guests. 'Wait, that sounds wrong. Maybe it depends on the weapon. I should work hard to actually own one that relied on Veneration and then another on Apostasy. I wonder what weapon I could get from Larkin.'

Soon enough, a maid had come and whispered something to Miel. Dinner was finally ready, and the seneschal had invited everyone to follow him to the dining hall. At the back of the group, Marissa reached out to hold onto Clarissa's hand. Even without words, the twins seemed to know what each other was concerned about.

…

Plop! Artie landed squarely on the soft bed, somewhat toppling the pillows that were in place. The dinner was a disaster as she felt like dealing with a three-pronged attack. Not only was she being bothered by that unruly Gustova, but the twins were also forcing her to make a fool of herself. Moreover, even Wusso was asking about strange things that she had no answer for. It was so chaotic that she refused to even remember a second of it.

She then moved her legs and pulled herself down, kneeling at the side of her bed while flattening her body against the mattress. She propped her chin on the softness and closed her eyes. Now that her first task was completed, her parameters had all opened. Reviewing the numbers looked so depressing.

"I wonder how fights will proceed now that my parameters are already opened." 

She gathered the blanket to her face and screamed against it. In her mind, she took a look at all her unfinished quests and noticed that she had no idea how to get started with Lupina's quest. Should she casually challenge the Black Kodiak to a race? What if it ignored her? There should at least be something she could do to force it.

Also, there was this scary world quest. Seventeen crowns? Was she supposed to conquer all of it? Artie groaned as she thought about it. Perhaps she unlocked this quest too early? 'Man, I hate open-world games. Why can't this be just like my otome games where I level up my cards?'

Knock, knock.

Artie pulled back from her bed and made sure she was presentable before smiling and greeting the visitor. Surprisingly, Larkin had gone to her room. Her brows lifted in intrigue before she hosted him, letting him in and preparing water for him. She didn't have wine in her room as she would most likely change in this place.

"I don't have anything to serve you actually. Are you going to talk about your matters with that Gustova—I mean Second Lady Miral?" Artie poured water on the cups and joined him on the couch in her room. There was no real table nearby, only a small one to hold the pitcher and cups.

"Hm, ignore her. The second lady hadn't changed her ways for so long." Larkin chose to brush off the topic, seemingly displeased with her behavior towards Artie. The archduchess only shrugged before he turned to her. "I haven't seen you wield a bow. Would you like to learn the basics first before hunting with Clarissa?"

"Oooh, are you going to teach me?" Artie leaned on the chair's armrest, her eyes widening in anticipation. However, she quickly realized that Larkin probably had a 'mage' character class if he was a game character. How would he teach her how to use the bow? She then pulled back with a nervous chuckle. "I just… remembered..."

Larkin only hummed as he got up. He then reached out a hand. "Follow me. I will be hunting with you so I must be able to at least make an attempt without using my magic."

Blink. Artie got to her feet, and they left the room. They walked past the courtyard, but he paused as something seemed to have caught his eye. He turned and saw the soldiers training on the grounds. When Artie joined him, she quickly realized why Larkin was looking.

"Is that… Jillian?"

"Get up! How dare you call yourself knights of the archduchy?!" Jillian was donned in a soldier's uniform, but she seemed to be lecturing the training knights. She was swirling the short sword with her hand as she stood in front of them. "You had the guts to call me just a girl, and yet who's on the ground? Get up!"

Larkin looked down at the knights. He saw them growling and forcing themselves to walk away from this. "The castle had been sending me bad seeds for a long while. My soldiers are more well-trained than them. How pitiful. Perhaps this is for the best." 

Out of nowhere, black lightning whips appeared around the courtyard and cracked against the ground. The knights were shocked, and Jillian twitched. She then looked up from where she could feel a gaze and spotted the archduke and the archduchess peering from the window. Jillian was about to apologize when Artie leaned on the window and beamed at her.

Artie then mouthed: 'Teach them well!'

"The… the archduke..." The soldiers watching were about to panic as well, but they saw Artie's actions. It only seemed that Larkin was disappointed in the quality of the new knights being sent to him. Those whips were clear threats to those who would like to escape.

Artie pulled back from the window and turned to Larkin who was still visibly angry. "I guess Jillian couldn't stop herself from disciplining them as well. How about we designate her as a mentor… or trainer at least?"

The archduke mellowed his gaze and glanced at her before proceeding to walk ahead. "Hm, so shall be it. I'll remind Miel to do it later. Let's continue. However, we can't use the courtyard as it is. We might have to leave the castle. Follow me to the stables."

A twinkle in her appeared, and she smiled mischievously as she caught up with him. "Oh, are we riding horses? Care for a race, Larkin?"