In the depths of the forest.

"Noo! Where are you taking me?"

A young woman screamed as she was being carried by a guard on his shoulder, her legs and arms bound helplessly.

"Quiet, rabbit."

The guard spat.

In that moment, they arrived at the 'finishing line' of the Hunt.

Ahead of them, there lay walls of thorns, vines, and flowers, making a barbed cage of sorts around this part of the forest.

Those walls were high—higher than trees around them.

It was like they were mighty walls of a fortress of sorts. There was no path, no break in that living fortress—save for one place.

An arch had formed there, deliberate as a doorway carved by hand, yet undeniably grown, as though the forest itself had dreamed it into being.

[Forest of Justice]

A word was made of blossoms—white and crimson—and those words curved in an arch above the opening.

"W-What is this place?"

The frightened young woman asked.

The guard didn't bother telling her, and instead, he walked to the entrance and tossed her through.

In that moment, thorns and vines wrapped around her ankles and dragged her inside.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

Her scream vanished into the distance. She disappeared into the thickness of the forest.

"That's one point…"

With a smirk on his face, the guard quickly headed back to his horse and kicked into a gallop as the Hunt was only beginning.

After the guard and the horse left, Aren stepped out from behind the tree and looked at the entrance to the mysterious part of the forest.

"Forest of Justice… I know that the Guild planned an expedition to Perverted Justice's forest, as I happened to read in the newspaper, but I didn't think his forest was here.

"…It definitely wasn't here. Does that mean Perverted Justice can change the location of his forest wherever he wants?"

Aren thought out loud as he looked at the dangerous-looking forest. It was like that part of the forest was alive.

The thorns, vines, and flowers in that barbed wall were definitely alive in a way.

'…Perverted Justice is right there. If I didn't have to save Ashley, I would already be taking my leave out of this wretched place.'

…

"…It's cold."

Ashley shivered inside the cave, trying to warm herself, but the rabbit outfit wasn't doing much to keep her warm.

Even if she were to somehow stay hidden from the hunters for the entire duration of the Hunt, she might not survive the frigid temperatures.

She couldn't start a fire. That was suicide. It would be far too noticeable.

She thought about just making her way to Brackenford Cross, but she was feeling pretty paranoid right now, and she expected everyone there to work with the Hauwnted family.

After all, Brackenford Cross was the Hauwnted family's.

Gallop~ Gallop~

Ashley's blood froze as she heard the frightening sound of a horse heading her way, and in that moment, the horse jumped down the small cliff.

The cave was right under the cliff, slightly inside the rock formation, and Ashley was able to see clearly as the horse came above.

The horse landed on the ground, quite close to the cave, and on horseback, handsome-faced Nike looked around with a sharp gaze.

'It's Nike!'

Ashley's heart raced, and she backed away deeper into the cave, but soon, her back touched the cold stone wall.

The cave wasn't that deep!

Nike left the horseback, his shoes clicking against the hard ground, and he walked to the riverbank before taking a sip of the refreshing water.

"Little piggy, little piggy~ Where could you possibly be hiding, hmm?"

Nike ran his drenched hand down his hair, and slowly, he turned around with his sinister gaze going to the cave.

In the cave, Ashley's heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach, and she immediately took off into a run.

"Neigh~"

In that moment, the horse kicked its legs up, blocking Ashley's path, and she was forced to skid to a stop.

With a sword dragging behind him, Nike approached her from the back, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Little piggy, I found you~"

The mechanical bird was seeing it all.

…

At the Hauwnted family estate.

"Ah, Nike has already found her. It does look like he will be netting those precious Prized Rabbit points!"

A nobleman said with a chuckle.

Athena and Jupiter were smiling. It did look like Nike was again going to win. It was never going to be any doubt either.

"It will be really hard for any guard to win against Nike now that he has gotten his hands on the Prized Rabbit!"

"One of the guards has to capture over ten ordinary rabbits to have a chance, and with so many guards looking for the rabbits, there aren't enough rabbits for everyone!"

The noblemen and noblewomen said.

While happy about her brother's performance, Athena also wondered where her own bodyguard was.

She didn't think he saw him take a horse, and he hadn't shown in any of the holographic screens at all during the Hunt.

It was almost like he had disappeared.

It was quite disappointing to her, as she thought that Beau could challenge Nike, as she was able to see firsthand his skills in battle.

…

With her mouth gagged, her arms tightly bound behind her back, and her legs tightly bound together, Ashley found herself lying on her stomach on top of the horse's back.

Nike mounted the horse as well, then made sure that Ashley was properly mounted, and he then kicked horse into a gallop.

A few cold tears fell down Ashley's eyes. It was over. She was going to die.

The horse kept running wildly through the forest. Nike was pushing his horse to the limit. He kept urging the horse to go faster.

A while later, after an extremely bouncy ride, Nike arrived at the entrance of the Forest of Justice. A finishing line, as they liked to call it.

"We've arrived."

Nike hopped off the horse, took Ashley off the back of the horse, and tossed her on his shoulder.

Because of the tears, Ashley's vision was very hazy, and thus, she couldn't see a figure approaching them from the corner of her eye.

That figure was holding a sword.

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