Following the Trail (8)

"By the way, do you always hunt like that?"

Walking along in silence was getting boring, so I suddenly asked Gauba, who was walking beside me.

The man walking ahead frowned and began to say something, but Gauba stopped him with a hand.

"No, that is a special way of hunting great-horned cattle. We need the head of a great-horned bull for a ritual to pray for the safety of the warriors who have gone to battle. Taking one down with nothing but one's own body is part of the ritual as well."

Ah, I see.

I nodded at Gauba's explanation.

If it was an important ritual to the Fang Tribe, or perhaps to the Black Bear clan, I could understand why they would be offended if I called it 'that kind of hunting.'

Clearly, I hadn't been considerate enough.

"I see. Sorry. I suppose I just associate hunting with using a bow. Though it wasn't a monster, hunting prey larger than myself with my bare hands was unusual to me."

While walking, I apologized and bowed my head. The man ahead shook his head, while Gauba grinned...