TPCF 98

CHAPTER 98………………………..

The reason Rutger was standing so close to her was a little different from what she had imagined.
For example, maybe it was because he was cold — though that didn’t make much sense, since it was the middle of summer and the sun was blazing.

Or maybe…

Wait. I decided not to think about this, but isn’t what I’m doing right now thinking?

Living without thinking at all turned out to be quite difficult. Anita had only just realized that.

“Straighten your shoulders.”

Anita, who had been hunching to reduce even the slightest bit of contact with him, reluctantly straightened her back. It felt unfair. It’s not like she wanted to look pitiful and hunched over. And yet, after stealing away all of her space, he still had the nerve to tell her to straighten up.

As she did, her shoulder brushed against his arm. Rutger, who had slung an arm around her only because she was curled up, suddenly found himself in a position that looked like he was embracing her from behind.

“…It’s cramped,” she muttered under her breath, a timid complaint.

At once, Rutger’s arm dropped away.

“Sorry.”

Now that she thought about it, Rutger always seemed to pick the most awkward things to do. She hadn’t really noticed before, but looking back, that seemed to be the pattern.

While she was lost in thought, he called her name.

“Anita.”

“…Yeah?”

“Keep the stock pressed to your shoulder.”

After thinking about it, she realized it wasn’t that he deliberately did awkward things—it was she who somehow created those situations. That made sense, since she hadn’t known whether he meant her upper shoulder or her side, and while she fumbled to figure it out, he’d had to step closer again.

Clearly, this was her karma.

“Keep your breathing steady.”

If he was going to say something like that, couldn’t he have at least stepped back first? Anita pouted. It was her way of showing dissatisfaction, but from where he was standing, he probably didn’t notice.

“Pull the trigger.”

She did as he said. Unlike last time, when she’d fired haphazardly with no training at all, she was expecting better results this time. But reality was far harsher than she’d hoped.

Anita looked at the completely untouched target and gave a hollow laugh.

“Everyone’s like that at first,” Rutger said awkwardly, trying to comfort her.
That somehow made it feel even worse.

Once Anita could handle the shotgun to some extent, the two of them headed into the woods. She kept running her fingers along the cold metal of the gun’s barrel—mostly because there was nothing else to do.

The dirt road connecting the lodge and the forest was completely deserted. The only sounds were the crunch of their boots on the ground and the occasional flutter of birds taking off.

The cold metal had grown lukewarm under her touch. Anita turned her head slightly to glance at her companion walking beside her. He had his hands shoved in his pockets. Maybe, like her, he found the silence hard to bear. Or maybe he simply thought that watching the flock of geese flying across the sky was more meaningful than talking to her.

After walking for a while, they stepped into the edge of the forest. Between the thickly grown trees, they could hear the barking of hounds and the crunch of people’s footsteps.

“So… what do we do now?”

The confidence that had overflowed when she first learned to shoot vanished the moment they entered the forest.

Looking up nervously at the trees that blocked half the sky, Anita failed to notice a tree root underfoot. She stumbled, and Rutger quickly reached out his hand. But when she tried to take it, she froze—the muzzle of the shotgun he was holding was pointed directly in front of her. Of course, he wasn’t trying to shoot her, but the sight of that black barrel still made her body stiffen.

She hesitated and lowered her outstretched hand.

“Ah.”

Rutger’s eyes widened in surprise. Not seeing his expression, Anita spoke carefully.

“Sorry, but… could you maybe move that away?”

“You’re afraid of me?”

He looked genuinely hurt.

“…How could anyone not be afraid of someone holding a gun?”

It wasn’t that she distrusted him. It was just that the shotgun he was holding was fully loaded, and the safety wasn’t even on. Anita knew that even a tiny bit of pressure could pull the trigger, so she was simply being cautious.

But when she saw how shocked he looked, she couldn’t help but feel guilty.

“Of course, I know you’d never actually point it at me on purpose. It’s just… you could make a mistake or something…”

The more she talked, the darker his expression became.

“Are you serious? Is that really all the trust you have in me?”

He raked his fingers through his hair, clearly exasperated.

Woof, woof.

The sound of dogs barking nearby made them both turn their heads.

“Well, well. I came here to hunt foxes, but it looks like I’ve found something more valuable than one,” said Finian, flanked by two greyhounds, with a teasing grin.

“I wonder how much I could get if I sold it.”

Silence followed. Finian Nigel just stood there smiling faintly, while Rutger glared at him coldly.

Did those two fight or something?

Not wanting to get dragged into someone else’s quarrel, Anita began to quietly edge backward—just as Rutger finally spoke.

“I figured I might run into you, but I didn’t think it’d be like this.”

“Hey, look on the bright side. At least you were expecting me. I had no idea you’d be here.”

“…Are you planning to stay long?”

Eventually, Anita couldn’t take it anymore and spoke up. She hadn’t wanted to interrupt, but the two of them looked like they could stand there staring at each other until dawn.

“Let’s go.”

Fortunately, Rutger seemed to have forgotten about what had happened earlier after running into Finian.

“You two are heartless, you know that? Just leaving me behind like this?” Finian complained as he quickly caught up with Anita.

“We’re not leaving you behind,” she said.