Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 428 - 54 - The Noisy Horse Herding Festival_1

Chapter 428: Chapter 54 - The Noisy Horse Herding Festival_1

"Help! Where is it going?" shouted Pannis, whose foolish antics were interrupted by a distant cry. He glanced into the distance and saw a little girl in white leading the pack. To everyone’s astonishment, her horse seemed overly excited, veered off-course on its own, and charged into the depths of the prairie. As a rider, the little girl in white howled in panic on the horse’s back, not knowing how to control the horse at all, letting herself be carried about wildly amidst the laughter.

"She truly can’t ride a horse," Catherine sneered at Pannis, clapping her hands resoundingly and asking, "Does anyone want to join the horse race? You can sign up for the next round."

"Not at all," the ladies shook their heads collectively. Although they could all ride horses, it was merely for transportation during adventure, and none were professionally trained. Compared to the Beastmen, who’d spent their entire lives on horseback, they weren’t even on the same level. Even with professional skills, victory was uncertain, so they didn’t bother to participate in the fun. After all, not everyone was like that shouting kid on the horse neck who could laugh with supreme delight.

"I..." Pannis attempted to raise his hand but was strong-armed by Catherine before he could say a word. "You’re not allowed to participate."

"Why not, that’s unfair," Pannis protested in a loud voice, "Horse racing, it’s a man’s dream and a man’s romance. You can’t deprive me of the right to pursue my dream."

"Heh, heh, heh," Catherine looked at the Rabbit Clan girls on the platform cheering for the riders in the horse race and responded coldly, "You’re capable of all sorts of strange things. If you competed, you might end up winning. If you do end up winning, that will present a problem. It could potentially lead to a race dispute."

"Ha, ha, how could that be possible," Pannis chuckled awkwardly, took two steps back and said gravely, "I suddenly understand that this simple race should be left to ordinary people. As a professional who’s in charge, I can’t rob ordinary people of their fun. So, I’ll just renounce my participation, hahaha."

"Flap-flap-flap," a flock of common prairie birds was spooked and flew frantically into the sky. After ten or so seconds, several arrows shot up from the ground, three accurately hitting the birds in flight, causing them to fall while letting out sorrowful cries. The remaining birds, not caring about their companions, flew faster to escape from that terrifying territory.

"Archery competition," Vivian said, standing on her horse, looking as far as she could, "It seems like there are quite a lot of participants, and they’re pretty packed. Even if we participate, unlike over here, it won’t be easy to be spotted by people that are avoiding me. Should we go and join?"

"Sure," Catherine thought about it and nodded, "Let’s go and check it out together. It seems pretty fun, anyone interested can participate. So, should we go?"

"Let’s go, let’s go." The two previously impatient little undead girls immediately responded, "Let’s get moving."

Catherine laughed, patting their heads, lifting them onto her horse. The two undead girls, Little Deer crawled inside a stuffed teddy bear while Annie was wearing a bunny costume. They were both incredibly thrilled about this rare chance of freedom in front of so many people, constantly calling out and drawing friendly laughter from the people around. If not for Catherine reiterating not to roam freely, these two kids would probably have disappeared somewhere.

Catherine lifted the kids onto the horse, and as she got onto the horse herself, she suddenly felt a gaze upon her. She turned around and saw a distant girl in a black dress and a mysterious figure wrapped in a cloak staring at her. No, more accurately, they were thoughtfully staring at the two undead encased in stuffed toys. The reaction of these two made Catherine tense up. She shielded the kids with her body, breaking their line of sight.

Catherine felt a surge of anxiety. However, the two strangers did not investigate or probe further. The little girl in the black dress even warmly smiled at Catherine and nodded from afar as a greeting. Although the response of the two people was unexpected, Catherine still felt waves of unease. She immediately blended into the crowd of riders and squeezed into the archery competition ground.

In the traditional Horse Herding Festival, horse racing, archery, and combat were the most important competitions, always the most valued activities. Horse racing represented speed, archery represented precision, and combat represented skill. These were not competitions that could be dominated solely by a professional’s strength. In previous Horse Herding Festivals, the results of these competitions often surprised people. It was common for Upper Rank professionals to be eliminated by Lower Rank professionals, and Lower Rank professionals were eliminated by regular humans. Because of this, everybody was very passionate about the festival.

Only when they had mixed into the crowd and the two strange strangers couldn’t be seen did Catherine quietly tell Pannis, "This could be bad. Those two were staring at Annie and Little Deer earlier. Have they already found out about their identities?"

"It’s okay, you don’t have to worry this much. Discovering the identities of Annie and Little Deer is definite, but they won’t interfere," Pannis comforted, "Don’t you remember what I said before? Many of those people adopt an observational attitude, they won’t meddle blindly before they confirm anything. Besides..."

"Besides what?" Catherine asked, feeling slightly relieved.

"I don’t know them at all," Pannis said, "There’s no need to pay attention to some strangers."

"You’re quite annoying indeed," said Catherine rolling her eyes and deciding not to fret further. In a clear voice she announced, "Who else wants to sign up? I’m definitely participating."

"I’ll participate too." Seeing both Lina and Vivian shaking their heads, Indulgence added, "I have a bit of a knack for archery."

"I’m in too," said Pannis stepping forward, "I can win even without using any special skills."

"Okay, let’s compete then." Catherine mustered her spirit, and with a confident tone declared, "Although I’ve seen your archery skills many times, I’m not going to give in easily. I must beat you."

"Beating me would be useless." Pannis responded helplessly, "There might be some archers in a corner who can crush me, especially Elves. Some Elves can shoot down all ten birds just with the bow, without even using arrows."

"I thought Elves didn’t like such boisterous environments." Catherine asked doubtfully, "Also, the Life Deity and War Deity are enemies. For an event held in honor of the War Deity, Elves always refuse to participate, let alone sign up for archery."

"You vastly underestimate Elves - they often join in disguise. They’re not as rigid as you think. Just consider Muir we met earlier." Pannis shook his head, "Quickly go and sign up. If we’re too late, a disguised Elf might sign up, and then we won’t even win the group match."

The archery contest wasn’t just a dull event with a group of people standing in place and shooting at a target - it was far more stimulating. Participants must use the bow and arrow provided by the host, while slowly trotting on their horse in the arena. After a random time decided by the host, ten sparrows would be released from different directions, and competitors had to swiftly shoot as many as possible before they flew out of range. This type of competition not only tested the archery skills of the participants, but also their control and reflexes - those who only knew how to shoot at stationary targets didn’t stand a chance.

As the contest progressed, one participant after another went to the arena, and soon after, the spectators’ cheers filled the air. The audience, comprised of various races, cheered with equal enthusiasm for all participants regardless of their race. In such large-scale festivals, whether humans or Beastmen, Lizardmen or Elves, everyone was treated the same - all to make the festival more joyful and lively.

With successive "swish" sounds as the arrows flew into the sky and the sparrows fell down, the ladies themselves got caught up in the atmosphere. They joined the crowd in clapping and cheering every time a sparrow took flight and an arrow whizzed through the air. Only Lina didn’t get excited with the atmosphere, instead she waited on the sidelines in a melancholy mood.

Vivian, noticing Lina’s low spirits, quietly asked, "What’s the matter? Why are you suddenly unhappy?"

"It’s not that I’m unhappy, I just don’t like such events. Any priest of the Life Deity System would dislike this recreational form of killing" Lina sighed, a flash of displeasure appearing on her expressionless face "Also, I think what Pannis said earlier is wrong. Elves won’t participate in this kind of archery contest, it goes against their deity’s doctrine."

"Perhaps you’re right." Influenced by Lina, Vivian too lost interest in cheering and clapping. She sat down waiting with Lina, "When I think about it, it is indeed quite pitiful for those sparrows. They’re killed not for food or because they’re a threat to others. They’re killed merely for entertainment. Now that you mention it, I too feel a bit dissatisfied."

At the same time, when ten arrows soared into the sky simultaneously, a little girl in a black dress smiled at the sight, "That is your archery skill, right? Hehe, Brother Kyle has used it. Do you want to take part too and teach Brother Kyle a lesson?"

"That is indeed my archery skill, Kyle learned from me." The cloaked figure covered his mouth and chuckled, his voice refined and elegant. "Stately and unimpeachable, I thought. However, I won’t participate in such a contest, killing for sport is not our tradition."

"Ah, I almost forgot." The little girl smacked her forehead, "You still haven’t changed."

"Ha, it has only been a few years, of course I haven’t changed."The cloaked man responded softly, "Let’s go, we’ll meet him tonight."

"Okay." The little girl nodded energetically, and followed the cloaked man as he turned to leave. (To be continued. If you like this work, we cordially invite you to qidian.com to recommend or vote. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)