I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain [EN]: Chapter 109

It was, quite literally, a complete mess.

In the blink of an eye, the carcass of a massive boar was flung down in front of the Imperial family’s tent.

“Grrr….”

The tiger, having taken down the boar, placed its paw on the boar’s body as if to show off, and raised its head.

The Imperial Knights, who had rushed forward to protect the Emperor in surprise, froze in their tracks.

Though the escort knights were closer, the tiger’s speed was far greater.

The captain of the Imperial Knights, standing right next to the Emperor, broke the silence.

“Your Majesty, are you hurt? That was a close call.”

The Emperor quickly regained his composure and replied,

“Ah, I am fine. Are there any other injuries?”

Meanwhile, Rivena pretended to be startled and quietly poured the champagne she was holding onto the ground. It was a potion she had painstakingly concocted to agitate wounded beasts.

She had told Johan to dispose of all the potions remaining in the temple, claiming she had none left.

That was only half true.

Rivena couldn’t create potions that could manipulate or harm humans on her own. The rare and high-quality ingredients were left in the temple and destroyed.

It would have been a disaster if they had fallen into Roimund’s hands, who was turning the temple upside down under the guise of investigation.

However, potions that dealt with beasts were a different matter.

Rivena had spent her entire life researching the secrets of the Medest family.

In fact, her focus was, to be precise, experiments on the Medest family, who were afflicted with the curse of the beast.

So, she was able to create drugs that affected beasts other than humans to some extent on her own.

‘I must never let that fact be discovered.’

Although she had concealed the evidence, the situation did not go according to Rivena’s plan.

‘Surely… surely, Theodore should have saved the Emperor!’

Since Theodore was the one who had injured the boar, she thought he would be able to eliminate it with magic faster than anyone else.

But suddenly, a tiger? It was an unexpected variable.

‘I knew the Medest family’s beasts had incredible reflexes, but….’

The tiger wagged its tail triumphantly.

And with each movement, the pink ribbon engraved with the Medest seal fluttered.

The captain of the Imperial Knights bowed his head.

“I apologize, Your Majesty. It has been so long since the hunting competition that I failed to consider such variables.”

Rivena’s expectation that the unexpected accident would be glossed over because it was a rare event came true.

It just didn’t necessarily work in her favor, which was the problem.

Wasn’t it the case that Johan didn’t react as expected, and then a random tiger intervened?

“How about we conclude the event here, as everyone has been startled?”

The Empress, who had rushed over from having tea in another noble family’s tent, said in a trembling voice.

“As the captain of the Knights said, it seems the preparations were a bit lacking since it’s been a while since the event.”

The Empress, having witnessed a massive beast charging before her eyes, seemed worried about Roimund.

So, she immediately began urging to end the hunting competition and everything else quickly.

Roimund, after the situation was over, quickly ran over with two deer in his hands. He, too, was surprised and quickly agreed with the Empress’s words.

“Yes, Your Majesty. You must be very surprised, so it would be best to end the event here. The excitement has been spoiled anyway.”

“Let’s do that.”

The Emperor nodded, also greatly startled.

Indeed, the experience of a large boar charging at him must have been quite terrifying.

Rivena sighed inwardly. The hunting competition being called off meant there would be no more opportunities to carry out her plan today.

Unfortunately, she failed to lift Theodore’s confinement, and she had no choice but to wait for the next opportunity.

“I was saved by the tiger that Lady Yurika brought,” the Emperor said with a faint sigh.

It was then.

Meriel, who had been quietly silent, smiled and interjected.

“Didn’t you say there was a clause that you would grant a request if someone saved a member of the Imperial family? I think Prince Theodore mentioned it.”

Rivena’s brow furrowed slightly.

It seemed Theodore had mentioned the clause while she was away.

“Ah… that’s right.”

The Emperor nodded awkwardly.

Having inadvertently said, ‘I was saved by the tiger,’ he couldn’t simply ignore it.

“There was definitely such a clause….”

Roimund, who had been directing the situation, quickly nodded and interjected.

“Ah, that’s right. I believe it was Special Clause 8, Paragraph 10 for the hunting competition.”

Roimund, overflowing with the qualities to become a wise ruler, was unnecessarily competent even in times like these.

“It is true that the tiger saved the entire Imperial family’s tent, so it seems to fall under that clause.”

Meriel clapped and admired Roimund for being so smart, and Roimund smiled proudly.

With Roimund joining in, he could no longer pretend not to know.

The Emperor glanced at the tiger, which was now sitting on top of the boar with a triumphant expression, and said,

“After the event is over, I will bestow the promised reward upon my tiger.”

Of course, it was just a superficial remark.

After all, the tiger couldn’t speak, so there was no way it could make a proper request.

A few days later, he could just send some meat to the Medest estate.

In any case, the hunting competition was immediately called off.

The nobles who had been peacefully spending time in the tents set up in the field were also surprised and wanted to return home quickly.

If even the Emperor’s tent was charged by a boar, there was no way they would be safe.

Roimund’s performance of catching two deer shortly after the hunting competition began was the best.

Although he quickly declared himself the winner, it didn’t leave much of an impression since there weren’t any great achievements.

Rivena sighed as she watched the scene and secretly called a subordinate amidst the chaos, handing them a note.

The subordinate secretly took the note, nodded, and quietly disappeared.

After that, Rivena acted as if nothing had happened and mingled among the quickly dispersing crowd.

Meanwhile, in the carriage returning to the capital, someone was secretly smiling.

‘There’s no way Johan would have missed that moment.’

It was Yurika.

‘It was all planned.’

From the moment Rivena’s minion secretly added the clause that the Emperor could grant someone’s request, Yurika had anticipated this situation.

Even if she didn’t know the exact plan, she knew the Emperor would be in danger.

And she trusted the tiger in that regard.

Oscar Medest was said to have been quick to react and elusive on the battlefield from the start.

So, she thought he would be even faster in the form of a tiger.

So, on the way to the hunting competition, she kept telling the tiger: If the Emperor is in danger, save him no matter what.

The tiger had a nonchalant expression, but after she repeated it about seven times, it nodded as if to say it understood.

‘Now.’

Yurika leaned against Johan’s shoulder with a confident expression.

‘Only one step left.’

She didn’t particularly dislike the Emperor, but she didn’t like him either.

She also found it a bit annoying that he was setting the stage to highlight Roimund more than Johan.

The hunting competition ended so quickly that the Emperor’s goal of openly keeping Johan in check was not achieved. That was a bit satisfying.

Of course, there was something more important than that.

‘See you at the next noble council, Your Majesty.’

The day to embarrass the Emperor, who probably has no idea what’s coming, is approaching.

Originally, Yurika did not attend the noble council. She was not Medest’s representative; usually, Meriel attended.

But she was planning to go in person that day because there was something she wanted to demand from the Emperor.

“Johan, we really don’t have much time left.”

Johan smiled contentedly as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

He looked like everything was fine as long as she was happy.

He also cherished the withering flower bracelet.

Yurika smiled quietly and carefully broached the subject, fidgeting with her fingers.

“Hey, Johan.”

Now that the important things were over, she was about to talk about something trivial.

It was a trivial matter, but it was something that had been bothering her ever since she heard the news.

“Yeah? What is it?”

Johan’s eyes widened as if he noticed that Yurika’s voice was a bit strange.

Yurika hesitated slightly before asking.

“I heard Rivena came to your tent earlier? What did you two talk about?”