[Cozy Fantasy] [Farming LitRPG] The Chronicles of Emberstone Farm

Chapter 78 - A hunter's snare-vival in the wilderness

🙞❤︎🙜

[Side Quest: Hunt Prairie Elk

Prairie Elk: 2/3

Reward: Hunting Exp]

I yawned as I got up from my comfortable bed. Though I could have just ignored the notification if this was still the game, I felt that I should take care of the elk as soon as possible. In Adventure Incarnate, meat never spoiled. Nevertheless, I thought it was best to collect the body right away and store it in my inventory.

Come to think of it, the items inside my inventory were always kept fresh. Did it have a time stop feature?

Since it was the middle of the night, I put on the first robe I could find and went out to collect my catch. The nights in the desert were not too dark, unlike the forest where the sky was covered by tall trees. It was the night of a full moon, and there was plenty of light. I paused at the gate for a few minutes to let my eyes adjust to the relative darkness of the outdoors.

Though the desert was hot during the day, at night it was quite cold, and I regretted putting on a thin robe. The air was still, and the sky was cloudless, revealing countless twinkling stars that looked almost close enough to touch. I made a mental note to put a telescope in the garden for everyone to enjoy.

Using the System map, I selected the location of the trap and then chose [Guide Mode]. Yellow dots then appeared on the ground in front of me, indicating the path to the target.

Just as I started walking, I heard someone coughing behind me.

“Kyaa~!” I was so surprised that I tripped over a rock when I turned around to see who it was.

Thankfully, someone caught me in his arms before I fell to the ground.

The voice of an unknown person sounded in my ear. “My lady, be careful.”

For a moment there, the others’ tales of bloodthirsty ghosts that roamed the cursed lands had scared me stiff. This person, however, was warm and definitely real though his face was in shadow, so I couldn’t see it. Phew!

“Sorry, my eyes haven’t adjusted to the darkness yet.” I righted myself and pulled away from his helpful grip.

“May I ask what you’re doing outside this late at night?” he asked.

“Just wanted to check out my [Pit Trap].”

“Ah, yes. An elk just got caught in it. I wonder how the Baroness found out about it?”

“Women’s intuition.” I waited a bit more until I could see my surroundings better then I walked in the direction of the trap. “I’ll get going then.”

“The night is dark. Please allow me to escort you.”

“Sure, why not? Um, who are you again?” There were half a dozen White Tiger clan members around, and I hadn’t talked with all of them enough for me to identify everyone just by their voice.

“I’m one of the observers. I just arrived-”

Argh, I tripped again!

“Thank you for catching me again. Maybe I should get a lamp. I thought it was bright enough to see, but it seems I was wrong,” I said.

“That would be wise.”

“Okay, give me a moment.” I took out a handheld paper lantern from my inventory, the cute one that had a rabbit drawn on it. The light it gave off wasn’t much, but it was enough to allow me to see the ground in front of me. The man who was escorting me was quite tall, so I had to lift it to see his face.

My jaw dropped when I saw that he was the most handsome man I had ever seen, with piercing icy blue eyes, short white hair, a strong jawline, and full lips. He had a tall, lean build with broad shoulders.

Prince Baiyu’s beauty was the cold, aloof type while this man exuded a mature, sensual appeal, but they looked quite similar.

“Close your mouth. The night is full of flying insects,” he said, smirking a little at my reaction.

“Pardon my discourtesy, but who are you? You weren’t here earlier.”

“I was on my way back home from the Fall Hunt when I decided to drop by to see how things were going here.”

“Um, why do you look like Prince Baiyu?”

“He’s my son.”

“...” Was it too late to greet him politely? Should I bow? Well, courtesy never hurt anyone. I bowed. “Greetings, Lord Yulin.”

This wasn’t the way I would have preferred to meet my boyfriend’s father.

Well, it could be worse. At least he wasn’t a ghost.

“Greetings, Baroness. I really like what you’ve done here.” He cupped his hands and bowed to me then waved an arm in front of us as though to say “Let’s continue walking.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you visited and saw the trees.” Holding the lantern in front of me, I slowly followed his lead, carefully watching the ground for obstacles. I really didn’t want to trip again. “What will be done with the elk herd?”

“For now, we’ll let the herd do what it wants,” he said. “The clans whose territory the herd is passing through will have to cooperate and share resources.”

He didn’t have to tell me that spirit animals like the elk were valuable for their meat, bones, blood, and so forth. I just hoped that the clans were wise enough not to kill too many of the herd.

I noticed that he was taking a meandering path to the trap. The yellow dot road showed the most direct way to the target location, and he was leading me away from it. Perhaps he was avoiding the sleeping herd?

“The elk have eaten quite a lot of the grass,” he said.

“It should grow back. I think their droppings will be good for the land.”

“Tell me, haven’t you wondered why there is grass here even though people say that this place is cursed and nothing grows in it?”

“Yes. In fact, I thought it was strange that people keep insisting that this is a desert where nothing grows, when it’s actually a grassland.”

“The grass is a result of our hard work.”

“Your clan mates seem to be passionate environmentalists.”

“Ah, ‘environmentalist’ is a good word. Did you coin it?”

“No, I must’ve heard it somewhere.”

“It’s true that nothing grows here naturally…”

“Then why is there grass here?”

“Because we’ve nourished the land with our blood.”

“Huh? How?”

“I meant that literally. Every inch of these grasslands is soaked in our blood.”

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to look at him. “Literally? Are you serious?”

“Quite serious. I’ve offered up my blood to restore these lands every year since I became an adult. So has every adult in the clan.”

“But these lands are vast!” I felt a little queasy when I thought about how much blood must have been shed to grow the scant, brown, brittle grass here.

“We mix our blood with water and sprinkle it on the soil to grow the grass.”

“You’re really dedicated to this…”

“This is a secret, but I told you so that you would understand how important this is to us.”

“...” I didn’t know what to say to that, and we fell silent until I finally caught sight of the trap. “There it is!”

“It’s dark. Be careful.” He must have been worried that I would fall in because he took my hand and tucked it under his arm.

“Okay, I just need to get nearer to collect my catch.” A few minutes later, I put the elk in my inventory and dismantled the trap. “Hmm. Where should I place the trap next?”

I was only thinking out loud, but Lord Yulin offered his help.

“I’ll show you a good place,” he said.

“Thank you, I would be grateful if you did.”

We walked a little way east of the [Nirvana Lotus Ponds] and I set the trap in the place that he indicated.

“That’s it, I’m done for-”

My words were cut off when someone grabbed me by the waist, turned me around, and threw a cloak over my shoulders.

“Kyaa~!” I screamed in surprise for the second time that night.

“What are you wearing?” Prince Baiyu whispered in my ear.

What? I was wearing a robe, the same as always. I tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let go of my waist. “Hey, what is this?”

Behind us, Lord Yulin coughed.

“Father, I’ll escort her back to the house,” said Prince Baiyu. He didn’t wait for permission before lifting me in his arms and running off.

“What’s going on? What is this about?” I asked him.

When we reached the main gate, he put me down and said, “Nothing. I’m just escorting you back to your room.”

“Um, okay. I’m going back to sleep.” I yawned as I entered the house and turned on the lights in the courtyard. “When did you arrive?”

To my surprise, he entered with me. It seemed he was planning to escort me all the way to my door.

“Around two hours ago. I was patrolling and didn’t see you leave the house,” he said.

“Patrolling?”

“Demons don’t venture this far, but everyone is taking turns to stand watch anyway.”

“Mmm.” I yawned again.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yes, good night.”

We reached my room, and he said, “Good night.”

He kissed me on the forehead then left.

I was incredibly sleepy and was about to fall into bed right away when I got another System notification.

[Side Quest: Hunt Prairie Elk

Prairie Elk: 3/3

Reward: Hunting Exp]

This was followed by a series of pop-up boxes and fireworks.

[Sidequest Complete! Reward: Hunting Exp.]

[Congratulations, you just advanced a Hunting level!]

[Congratulations, you just advanced a Hunting level!]

[Congratulations, you just advanced a Hunting level!]

[Your Hunting level is now 6.]

Yes! It was quite late, and it would be inconsiderate of me to make too much noise, so I silently pumped my fists in the air.

[Prairie Elk] was considered “big game,” which meant that it gave more XP compared to the small animals that we had been trapping. Therefore, the elk sidequest also gave more exp.

Now that I had leveled up three times in a row, I suddenly felt wide awake. My brain started working again and I wondered what Prince Baiyu had been babbling about.

I went to my dressing room to look at myself in the full-length mirror. When I caught sight of my reflection, I wished I’d gone straight to bed without checking my appearance.

This was the worst!