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We chose a training bow at the shooting range.

Bows that were mass-produced to match the number of soldiers. All of them were plain, lacking any adornments, and their quality was quite average.

Just bare bows with nothing attached. A bare bow and a recurve bow with a bent bowstring.

Despite their poor quality, the bows remained faithful to their fundamental role as archery equipment.

“Okay, let’s take turns and shoot briefly,” Friel said with a sweet smile, already strapped with a quiver.

Friel gripped the bow for a moment to get a feel for it and then nocked an arrow onto the string.

Her shooting style was a pinch style. She pinched the string and arrow tightly between her thumb and index finger. With no hesitation, she drew the string back, bending the bow’s limbs.

“…….”

Swoosh─!

It seemed she had chosen the bow with the strongest tension among them; the sound the string made was quite resonant.

Yet even so, her slender arms easily harnessed the recoil, releasing a stable shot.

“……!”

Whoosh!!

The little sound of metal slicing through the air resonated as she practiced, remarkably clear compared to any archer here.

Wham!

And the hidden strength within that clarity was astounding. The arrow firmly embedded itself in the center of the wooden target.

A clean and skillful performance.

As she executed a sliding release, there wasn’t a hint of disarray in the process.

Just the right amount of power and aim went into her technique.

With her pointed ears reading the wind’s direction and speed, those turquoise eyes devoured her target like a predator. Yet, she maintained a small smile, as if to imply she wouldn’t lose her composure.

Her perfect elven demeanor left those at the shooting range momentarily gaping.

‘How ordinary.’

Unfortunately, it didn’t provoke much of a reaction from me.

She just stuck to the basics. Nothing special about it.

I could do something like that with ease, like eating rice.

‘Well, this isn’t the forest after all.’

Shooting arrows freely in the woods, discovering perfect gaps in the enemy’s defenses, launching attacks imbued with the fury of spirits.

It’d be hard to witness the elven hallmark of swiftness, ambush, and destructive qualities in a simple shooting range with just a few targets set up.

In this training arena, her archery, unaffected by spirits, was not particularly impressive.

I began to gaze at Shione, who was practicing as usual.

“Haah…”

Shione gathered herself with a breath.

Feet spread wide in a “V” stance, Mediterranean-style shooting. She nocked the arrow with her middle and ring fingers.

Then came the sliding release.

Shione narrowed her left eye, while her right eye widened round.

The moment her heterochromatic eyes sparkled, the back of her right hand drew to her chin as she pulled back the string.

Boom!

Whack!!

The arrow shot forth with remarkable sharpness.

‘…Impressive.’

A strike stronger than I could have imagined.

Her arrows had grown significantly as she dealt with many monsters while traversing the castle walls.

‘Indeed, there’s no better way to hone your skills than through actual combat.’

Thanks to acquiring the methods of imbuing her shots with lethal intent and delivering them with greater accuracy and power during the recent war.

She could now unleash a more destructive attack than when she took down an orc in a blizzard.

And there, Friel Arielte and Elisa simply watched Shione Shianella.

“Oho.”

Friel seemed surprised by Shione’s better-than-expected archery skill.

*

“Oho.”

It exceeded my expectations.

Was it due to the experience of war, or was she naturally talented in archery?

For someone who had only held a bow for a little over a year, her skill level was surprisingly high.

Before heading to the Great Forest, I brought her to the shooting range just to gauge her simple skills.

The young lady showed a performance far beyond what I had anticipated.

‘How amusing.’

I was starting to find interest in this human named Shione Shianella.

‘She certainly seemed like a worthless, unimpressive human.’

That day when the kingdom’s coming-of-age ceremony was thrown into chaos.

The Shione Shianella I saw back then was truly a pitiful sight.

Her attempt to protect the princess amid a sudden attack from remnants of evil. That courage and effort were admirable, but…

All she had was that, along with a rather excessive male companion. Just that, and nothing more.

‘She couldn’t even wield a sword properly. A weak-hearted human.’

She hesitated even to strike down a cultist, who bore a grudge against her and the princess. Struggling alone with the guilt of murder in circumstances void of morality. She appeared utterly indecisive and foolish.

From our renowned family of human swordmasters in the Great Forest, the second daughter of the Shianella count family couldn’t even handle a dagger competently, solidifying my judgment of her as utterly lackluster.

Hence, my interest had been solely directed toward her amusing slave.

‘…Amusing.’

Watching her shoot arrows now was finally starting to bring me some entertainment.

It felt right to say that she was gradually beginning to appear as a unique entity, rather than merely a transport target meant to be taken to the World Tree by order of the Grand Elder.

‘An archer sprung from the sword mastery—’

I lowered my bow and slowly approached Shione.

As soon as she felt my presence, the young lady slightly turned her head and quietly looked at me.

After shooting her arrow, a calmness fell over her monochrome emotions. A dry gaze enveloped me.

I responded to her with a beaming elf’s smile.

“Young lady, would you like to pull the string back again?”

She only possessed impressive archery skills considering she’d only trained for a year.

She was still light years away from catching up to elves, who had dedicated decades to archery.

I merely intended to offer her a subtle favor, as promised.

To win her favor.

“You’re currently exerting unnecessary tension in your arm. You can loosen up a bit; you’ll find it easier to draw the string back.”

“Like this?”

“Yes, and then…”

“And shall we try to move as I guide you?”

To make it more comfortable for her.

*

Elisa and I casually handled our bows, watching Shione and Friel.

Friel ended up giving Shione quite some good advice beyond my expectations, sometimes even demonstrating by shooting the bow herself.

Although it largely revolved around stance and power distribution, those foundational discussions were all the more crucial and deserving of attention.

Given Shione’s serious expression, it seemed she found Friel’s advice rather compelling.

As I stood there quietly, I noticed Elisa subtly sending me glances.

Sneaking peeks in my direction. Covering her intentions, but unfortunately, I caught her rolling her eyes.

I couldn’t help but be conscious of her.

“…….”

“…….”

“Do you have something you want to say?”

“…….”

Only then did Elisa turn her body and face me directly.

“I heard that you annihilated a low-class demon’s body with a single arrow.”

Ah, that.

“If it was an annihilation, it must have been magic…”

Sniff, sniff.

Elisa’s nose twitched.

She was reacting to the scent of my spirit.

“I suspect you pierced the demon using spirit magic. Is that true?”

Without hesitation, I nodded at her inquiry.

The act of blasting off that disgusting demon’s grotesque torso and head in one fell swoop was purely my own ability—an achievement realized through my spirit magic.

There was no need for hesitation.

“Then, may I see the magic you used back then?”

“That might be a bit difficult.”

However, unfortunately, that was during a battle.

When my potential was significantly unlocked to defend Shione while standing on the battlefield with Siabel.

With my current amount of mana, it would undoubtedly be tough. If I properly tapped into it, the drain would be significant.

I might end up staggering back like I did before while being carried by Shione. It’s pretty embarrassing for a grown adult to get carried in front of others, so maybe it wouldn’t be realistic to recreate that scene.

“But—”

“……?”

“I believe I can show you something quite interesting.”

“Interesting? What do you—”

“That’s a bit later.”

I glanced at Shione and Friel.

They were deeply engaged in a heated discussion about each of their techniques.

Most of the questions came from Shione. And the clear answers came from that senile old man with toad ears.

I interjected, overhearing their endless conversation.

“I’ll show you after Lady Friel and Lady Shione finish their discussion about archery.”

Elisa nodded slightly.

I dared to engage with the elf and—

“My spirit magic will surely be—”

I declared with utmost arrogance for a human.

“Something that the elves of the Great Forest will find entertaining as well.”

It seemed my deed of taking down a demon had spread far enough to reach the ears of the elves.

What would hiding my abilities achieve now?

Soon, the elves would lose their facade of charming smiles in the presence of a K-hunter.

“You can look forward to it.”

They would kneel in astonishment, falling backward while exclaiming in awe.

 

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