Chapter 92: The game

Hazel watched as a young man walked out of the crowd, his chest puffed out slightly.

Someone whispered beside Hazel, saying, “That seems to be a member of the Red hunting group, I heard that they are all skilled.”

“Yes, he is the one. I'm certain that he will win.”

“Look, that seems to be his lover. He probably wants to win the fox for her.”

Hazel turned towards the direction the young man had emerged from and noticed a young lady cheering for him at the sides.

Hazel chuckled to herself and said nothing, she was eager to watch the spectacle.

The man paid the stall owner without a change in his expression and the stall owner nodded, “You have five chances for the two games. Each chance takes five points, so having ten points makes you eligible for winning the biggest prize. Are you sure you can do this?”

The young man snickered, “Watch me.”

He was an experienced hunter and his weapon was a bow and arrow. So he didn't believe that he wouldn't win such a trivial game that wasn't even worth mentioning.

Though he had never thrown a knife before and had merely focused on using bow and arrow, he was still confident. What was the difference between shooting an arrow and throwing a knife?

Weren't they throwing things at the end?

The stall owner smiled in his heart hearing his statement, he knew people like this and he wanted more of them.

“You must increase the distance between yourself and the board to at least fifteen metres.” The stall owner reminded and the young man, after taking the five knives, began taking multiple steps backward.

When he finally reached the fifteen metres requirement, he frowned.

At such a distance, throwing the knife wasn't going to be easy at all because he was too far from the board.

Hazel smiled inwardly, applauding the stall owner in her mind. The stall owner was someone who wouldn't allow himself to take a loss, so he already had everything planned and even gave a required distance.

The young man stood still for a while.

“Are you ready?” The stall owner asked and the young man nodded after exhaling lightly.

“Of course.”

“Then start.”

The young man retrieved one of the knives and prepared to throw it. The crowd was silent, intently watching the man with excitement.

The market square hasn't been this excited in a long while, more people joined the crowd to watch the show.

The man aimed carefully before throwing the knife, then without wasting any time, he threw the remaining four knives consecutively and the crowd clapped.

The board was checked by the stall owner and he nodded, “Not bad.”

Three of the knives had missed the Red middle completely, the remaining two reaching the edge of the Red circle.

“I will give you two points, please begin the second game.” The stall owner said.

The young man's expression wasn't so good. He had taken the game for a piece of cake and yet, he was unable to hit the Red circle.

He needed ten points and three were already gone.

Even still, he took the bow and arrows that was given to him without a word. As a master of this long-range weapon, he didn't believe that he wouldn't be able to hit the target this time too.

But when he felt how light the arrow was, his visage turned dark. The stall owner saw the change of expression on the young man’s visage and sniggered inwardly.

Do they think that he would allow them to win just like that without earning enough? He didn't get the fox cub so easily, so why would he allow them to win easily?

The cub’s mother was at the verge of death when the stall owner saw it and tried to take its cub, but still the fox was no easy opponent.

It took the stall owner some time just to get the cub and he even got injured, so why should he allow people to win the cub so easily?

Although arrows were meant to be light, the weight of the ones he prepared were almost non-existent.

It could easily be directed by even a small action of the wind and even if you aimed well, there was a high chance that you wouldn't meet your target.

It was all the stall owner's plan.

Regardless of all these factors, the young man still aimed, but as expected, only two arrows met the target and that was even because he had experience with the weapon and he had tried his best.

People with no experience at all stand no chance.

“You got four points. Only those who get five points are eligible to win a gift, but because I like you, I will give you one.” The stall owner spoke with a smile.

Then he took one of the smaller boxes beside him, opened it to reveal a small silver hairpin before giving it to the young man as he returned the bow and arrow.

The young man took the arrow with some regret. He failed to win the cub for his lover, he sure was in for some nagging tonight.

Sure enough, when he turned, the first he saw was her dark face. The young man sighed, he shouldn't have agreed to play the game in the first place, at least that was better than losing.

Since he had lost, the crowd should have lost interest, but it was the opposite. They came forward one by one, each trying to win the ultimate price to impress both their lovers and the crowd.

The stall owner never stopped smiling. The more people joined, the more his gain would be. How couldn't he be happy?

Two of his large pouches were quickly filled up and many people were still waiting to join the game. He had made the right bet this time around.

The situation had reached the climax, so Hazel turned to give Damien a look.

He understood the look in those eyes without having to ask and he chuckled helplessly.

But he didn't hesitate to step forward afterwards.