The End of the Hunt

Before the shadow of the hood, before the heavy urn, and long before the world knew her current name, there was once a princess blessed with a talent so overwhelming it bordered on a curse.

(...Tap... tap... tap...)

While others spent decades attempting to comprehend the fundamentals of combat, her mind comprehended the essence of weapon handling and martial rhythm at a single glance.

"Is it this way, Pocchi?"

As a result, at the tender age of nine, having surpassed every master in the realm, she forged her own martial discipline: a supreme, lethal art she named the Royal Style.

"Woof! Woof!"

However, in the end, time passed...

"...."

Years went by.

"I'm bored..."

Tragedy struck with relentless force.

"...I want to fight."

The princess died, and from the ashes of her former life, at long last...

(ROAR! ROAR!)

...she was reborn.

"Oh, found you."

There, inside the market, holding fast to the Great Speaker Witch, Scarlet Astrea, sat a colossal phallic entity roaring within the depths of the ruined granary.

"Is that woman... Scarlet Astrea?"

Amidst the swirling dust, a hooded silhouette took a step forward.

"Woof~!"

Slung across her back hung a heavy, ornate urn, and in her hand, she loosely held the iron chain attached to the collar of a voluptuous wolf-kin named Pocchi.

"...I see, so it really is her."

Before them, after having had her mind, pride, and personality utterly drained away like liquid waste, the distant Speaker Witch Scarlet Astrea was finally released by the monster's tendrils.

"Gii~"

However, due to her state, her inert, hollowed body slumped weakly, falling directly into her own expelled residue before the cold, impassive gaze of the hooded woman.

"Too weak...?"

Beside her, Pocchi panted eagerly with her tongue hanging out, while her large, exposed rear and fluffy wolf tail wagged excitedly from side to side.

"Is it really her?"

In response to her owner's doubts, the wolf-kin sniffed the air with her sharp canine senses, nodding affirmatively after confirming the trail they had followed.

"...In that case."

From the exact instant Silvia had set foot in the underground market, twenty-nine days had passed.

"Finally..."

The first five days had been a total disaster.

"I came to claim my exit ticket."

Due to her abysmal, hereditary sense of direction, combined with the market's intricate and labyrinthine runes specifically designed to disorient travelers, she had done nothing but walk in endless circles.

(Gurgle?)

Only after paying a hefty sum to purchase information—buying out Rashia, the former A-rank ogre adventurer whose sealed body she now carried inside the heavy urn upon her back—did Silvia finally uncover the market's hidden trap.

"Pocchi, suspension."

From that point on, her goal was simple: locate the ruling Great Witch, force her to hand over the key, and leave this place behind.

"Awaken... Livisluna."

However, her terrible sense of direction struck once again.

(Fssssssss—CLINC!)

Because of that, Silvia spent the next three days wandering completely lost, until, frustrated and losing her patience, she abandoned all subtle tactics and simply began smashing straight through every wall, structure, and building in her path, hoping to carve a direct line through the complex.

"I have you."

As expected, several high-ranking Great Witches attempted to ambush the intruder during her rampage.

"...Now, you."

Unluckily for them, every single one of them was effortlessly cut down and defeated in seconds.

"Could you let them go?"

With no one capable of opposing her, Silvia continued her destructive march until she stumbled upon the freak show of a shady merchant.

(ROAR!!)

There, she acquired several singular items: an Elven Lantern, the body of the elven scholar Filińska controlled by a pig's brain, and a heavily indebted former novice adventurer with wolf features and an overwhelming sensory talent.

"...As you wish."

Thanks to that, after acquiring the wolf-girl, Silvia spent time training, breaking, and thoroughly domesticating her into a loyal hunting hound...

"I accept your duel."

...who led her straight to this ruined granary.