Ring Arcanists were quick when it came to lighting fires and cooking. More than ten minutes later, the campfire had already been built, and the aroma of roasting wild boar filled the entire clearing. Little Mia usually did not care much for meat; she preferred fruit and sweet pastries, so the cat made no sound despite the smell.
The leader of the three hunters introduced himself as Marcus Sturz. After roasting his prey, he rose and offered the wild boar's right hind leg to the ruins. Only then did he use his knife to distribute the rest of the boar among everyone, himself included.
Since the hunters had brought seasonings with them, the food should have tasted quite good. Everyone began eating, and after Miss Olanord counted down three numbers, everyone except the three hunters collapsed beside the campfire.
The hunters did not move immediately. They only rose after finishing the food in their hands. At the same moment they stood, the Eleventh-Ring Professor Hermann Hope also sat up, clutching his waist as he said:
"Did you really have to wait until you finished eating before making your move? I may only be fifty-six this year, but lying on the snow surface is not a very pleasant experience."
In truth, he looked only around forty.
The startled hunters immediately seized their longbows, nocked arrows, and aimed at him. Sturz, their leader, did not forget to explain:
"Finishing one's prey is respect for the prey, and respect for the hunt."
"So you really are believers of this Old God? When you poisoned us just now, I thought you were only pretending."
The professor rose to his feet, though the other members of the Zalas Academy team appeared to be genuinely unconscious:
"In the temple of the Old God you worship, you