Hunter and Prey

The Forbidden Forest at night was quiet in a way that sent a chill down your spine.

A gentle breeze swept through, and the leaves rustled, making the forest seem even quieter.

There wasn't a single birdcall or insect chirp in the entire forest. It was nothing like the Forbidden Forest described by the students, full of dangerous creatures and the howls of Werewolves in the middle of the night.

At the forest's edge, a narrow path wound into the dark woods, but Harley didn't choose to take it.

She dispelled her invisibility, dressed in a snug, lightweight outfit, and grabbed a protruding knot on a large tree. Then she swiftly climbed up.

Next, Harley used the abilities her Assassin role had given her to move swiftly and soundlessly through the forest, making use of vines and crisscrossing branches.

Harley's goal was to find a Unicorn. However, she knew the odds of succeeding this time were low.

As an Assassin, how could she expect to complete a mission without gathering information beforehand?

But Harley was patient. If she failed this time, she'd wait until the next. She could afford to wait.

Harley kept leaping forward, heading deeper into the Forbidden Forest. First, she wanted to find the lake.

There were never any signs of Magical Creatures from the Forbidden Forest coming to drink by the Black Lake. At most, ordinary animals went there.

So the Unicorn Herds that needed water would definitely drink at the lake inside the Forbidden Forest. Using the lake as a starting point would make it easier to find a Unicorn Herd.

Fortunately, when she'd visited Hagrid before, Harley had managed to get him to reveal the lake's approximate location in the Forbidden Forest. That saved her quite a bit of time.

Halfway there, Harley abruptly stopped. She slid silently down the tree trunk and landed steadily on the ground.

Harley looked at a patch of silvery-blue blood shimmering on the ground beside her feet.

Almost all the Spirituality in the blood had faded, but it was clear that it had come from a powerful Magical Creature.

"Could it be a Unicorn?" Harley murmured. She'd asked Professor Snape about it during a small lesson and learned that Unicorn Blood was a shimmering silver-blue.

Harley changed her plans. She took a small shovel and a hollow crystal ball from her bag, scooped up a little of the congealed blood, and put it inside the crystal ball.

Then she added several other ingredients to the crystal ball and used them as a medium to cast a curse.

The curse pointed toward the Unicorn that had bled, but it could only guide Harley to its location.

The liquid in the crystal ball quickly gathered into a small sphere, which clung tightly to the inner wall.

Harley glanced in the direction it pointed and took off at a run without hesitation.

Inside the crystal ball, the liquid sphere kept changing direction, as if the Unicorn were constantly on the move.

That made Harley increasingly alert.

According to the textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Unicorns lived in herds. At night, all the Unicorns except those keeping watch were supposed to be resting.

But now it—or perhaps they—were moving frantically.

Unicorns were unlikely to be hunting for a midnight snack, considering their mostly plant-based diet.

That left one possibility: someone, or some other creature, was hunting Unicorns.

Unicorns possessed great magical power and were certainly no pushovers. Anyone capable of hunting one couldn't be weak.

Alarm bells rang in Harley's mind. She shifted her bag to hang across her side, so she could quickly pull out anything she might need.

Several small knives and her wand slid from her sleeves into her hands.

She hadn't been able to get her hands on any quality daggers, given her circumstances, so she'd simply swiped a few dinner knives.

But after sharpening them, coating them with various essential oils and floral waters, and adding ritual enchantments, the knives could cut through iron as if it were mud—and carried curses, too.

At the same time, Harley vanished into thin air again. Instead of moving swiftly among the branches, she began to creep slowly through the shadows.

At last, the liquid sphere inside the crystal ball stopped changing direction and pointed steadily toward a single spot.

A thought suddenly flashed through Harley's mind: The hunter had succeeded.

Even so, she didn't grow impatient. There was more than one Unicorn in the Forbidden Forest, and Harley didn't believe the unknown hunter could wipe out the entire Unicorn Herd.

More importantly, Harley had the patience of a former Assassin.

But Harley didn't have to sneak for long. After a journey of barely five minutes, she spotted a white corpse in a clearing.

It was a Unicorn. Its long legs were still stiffly extended in the unnatural position they'd taken when it fell.

Its white mane spread across the fallen leaves, reflecting the moonlight with a silvery glow.

But the Unicorn's corpse was missing its head.

Where its head should have been, a figure wrapped in a black cloak was bent over its throat, gulping down its blood.

The moment Harley saw the figure, her Spirituality flared with warning.

That's a demigod-level powerhouse! Harley's eyes widened, and she became even more careful to conceal her presence.

No! Harley quickly thought it through. He isn't a complete demigod. He's definitely been badly wounded.

If he were in his prime, my Spirituality wouldn't be giving me a simple warning like this. It would be sounding the alarm nonstop.

Right. Unicorn Blood carries a powerful curse, but drinking it can prolong your life.

He's been badly wounded, so he needs Unicorn Blood to restore his vitality...

Harley carefully scanned the surroundings and spotted the Unicorn's missing head in the grass not far away.

The wound is smooth. It looks like some unknown spell killed it instantly. Harley recalled what she'd learned recently.

It wasn't the Severing Charm. The Severing Charm can hardly hurt powerful Magical Creatures like Unicorns. The books have records of that.

It must be some kind of unknown Dark Magic. If he discovers me, I need to be ready for that.

Then again, perhaps a demigod can wound a Unicorn. Even though he's badly injured, he still has his former status...

As Harley continued gathering information about her enemy, a cold, hoarse voice filled with madness rang out. "Idiot, someone's watching you! There's someone to your left!"

The figure immediately stopped drinking and stood up, looking toward Harley's position.

Every muscle in Harley's body tensed, but she didn't immediately flee.

Judging by the voice and the way they spoke, there were two of them, one of whom was a severely wounded demigod.

By then, the other person had reacted and focused their attention on Harley.

Although Harley was confident she could escape at once, it would cost her dearly.

It would be better to use the boost in intelligence the Instigator had given her to distract her enemies, then leave at the smallest possible cost.

With that in mind, Harley reached into the bag slung across her body and pulled out a mask. She'd gotten it from a wizard's cracker at Christmas.

Harley put on the mask, which covered only the upper half of her face, then stepped out of the shadows and bowed gracefully.

"Good evening, Mr. Hunter!"