While the vigers initially overlooked the subtle attacks from the other participants, they gradually became aware of their malicious intent, providing further justification for their growing disdain.
Meanwhile, Hera and her team had convened by the river near the vige, apanied by some teenagers, to catch fish for lunch. Despite being excluded from joining the other vigers for a meal, they found alternative ways to enjoy a hearty lunch together.
Just like before, since Xavier already knew how to spearfish in the river, he borrowed Hera’s tactical knife after finding a suitable stick to be made into a spear and he sharpened its end to the way he remembered.
Once prepared, Xavier rolled up his trousers to his knees and proceeded silently and deliberately toward the school of fish. The teenagers observed in silent fascination, intrigued by his unique approach to fishing, finding it both cool and captivating.
As Xavier focused on spearfishing in the river, Hera took charge of preparing the dim sum soup over the fire that Zena and Bry had started. As the soup simmered, Hera’s attention wandered, her gaze drifting absentmindedly across her surroundings.
As Hera scanned her surroundings, she noticed a pheasant on the opposite side of the river, methodically tending to the soil, gently pecking and scratching at it. Her attention then shifted to a group of teenagers nearby, skillfully aiming a slingshot at the birds perched in the trees above them.
It seems like they have yet to spot the pheasant, since Hera doesn’t have anything to do while waiting for the soup to simmer she decides toe forward to the kids. "Hello, could I borrow your slingshot for a bit?" Hera said while her eyes showed genuine interest in the slingshot that the teenager was holding.
"What would I get in return?" the teenager asked smugly, casting a skeptical nce at Hera’s seemingly frail arms, doubting her ability to handle the slingshot properly.
"Hmm... How about I catch one of those birds you’ve been trying to hit all this time?" Hera suggested, scratching her chin thoughtfully.
"That’s no easy feat. If it were, we’d have a dozen of those birds by now," the teenager replied, skepticism still evident in their tone.
"If I can’t manage to catch even a single bird, then I’ll offer you an entire fish instead. How does that sound?" Hera bargained with the kid in front of her, adopting a businesslike demeanor. The cameraman and others present, as well as the viewers, found the exchange intriguing, akin to witnessing two children negotiating over a coveted toy.
The teenager pondered the offer for a few moments, weighing the pros and cons before ultimately agreeing. However, his underlying motivation was to witness Hera fail. He held onto the belief that girls couldn’tpete with boys in such endeavors.
Once Hera took hold of the slingshot, she assessed its rubber’s flexibility and uracy. She conducted a practice shot at branches far from their targets to avoid startling them.
As Hera drew back the slingshot for her first shot, the teenager eagerly anticipated her release, holding his breath in anticipation. However, when Hera finally let go, her aim missed the mark by a wide margin. The teenager burst intoughter, ncing triumphantly at his friends as if to say, <i>’See, I told you so.’</i>
Undeterred by her initial miss, Hera remainedposed, carefully selecting a sharp pebble from the ground for her second attempt. As she released the slingshot once more, her aim still missed, albeit by a slightly narrower margin this time,ing only an inch closer to the branch than before.
Despite Hera’s enthusiasm and improved uracy, the children around her continued to snigger. Though her eyes sparkled with determination, they couldn’t help but find amusement in her missed shots, regardless of their proximity to the target.
Hera opted not to attempt another shot immediately. Instead, she looked down and carefully gathered a few more sharp-edged pebbles from the ground, cing them in herp before taking aim once more.
This time, she adjusted her focus, aiming in a different direction altogether.
Swoosh-
Thud-
"Ah!" The teenager attempted to speak, but his mouth hung open in astonishment as Hera sessfully shot down a bird from the tree. "It must have been a fluke, right?" He nudged his friend standing beside him, their eyes fixed on the bird iling on the ground, its broken wings twitching.
Swoosh-
Thud-
The kid stopped talking after seeing another bird falling from the tree nearby, this time, the bird only iled a little before stopped moving. Hera had managed to shoot it directly in the head, giving it a quick and less painful death than the first one.
Now confident in her aim, Hera silently focused on the unsuspecting peasant across the river, still absorbed in pecking at the ground behind the sparse bush.
Only then did everyone see Hera’s target, everyone held their breath, excitement, and anticipation were visible in everyone’s faces.
Swoosh-
Thud-
"AH!" Bry eximed before he jumped up and down from where he stood after he saw the pheasant jump after being hit and pped around its wings erratically until it stopped. Only then did they know that it died. And everyone else looked at Hera with distinct reverie, even Xavier had the chance to witness what had transpired on the shore.
"Sister, you’re incredible!" Bry eximed, his praise for Hera unrestrained as he eagerly made his way across the river with some other teenagers who were still in disbelief over the precision headshot on a moving target.