Chapter 116

Driving into the restricted southwestern woods, Matthew notes how the ceasefire-era entry ban let the forest evolve its own ecosystem. A falcon perched on Hemlock's head, pecking away at him, turns out to be Matthew's pet Keekee, brought along as an aerial scout. Talk of pets leads Yor to mention Bond's intelligence, and Hemlock sneers that married life has blunted her, an accusation she rejects, insisting the marriage sharpened her commitment to the work. Learning Matthew has a wife, Yor startles both men by asking whether the couple exchange welcome-home kisses; his answer, that they did when younger, leaves her reeling until Hemlock cuts in with a lecture on professionalism.

Keekee's launch from his head signals arrival at the elk habitat and the poachers' hunting territory. Moving on foot through the treetops, the assassins pass a Geschocran that stops Yor in her tracks, and Matthew cautions that venomous wildlife and toxic plants here could hurt even her. Hemlock grumbles that poison-specialist Gympie would have been the better pick, but Matthew counters that she lacks the firepower this job demands. He confirms the ground rules: everyone on the SSS list may die, the Poacher Leader must survive for questioning, and the rest are theirs to use freely, a license that draws an unsettling grin from Hemlock. His proposed kill-count contest with Yor gets declined.

A fallen antler alarms Yor until Matthew identifies it as a shed from a different species, explaining that Miteran elk keep theirs for life, growing ever-larger racks that made the animals a prize driven toward extinction. Following poacher footprints, the trio spots an elk that Hemlock scares away from a hidden snare, then a gunshot rings out. Poachers have wounded another elk, and Yor and Hemlock cut the shooters down, with Matthew deliberately letting one flee to expose the location of the poachers' camp. That leaves the panicked, wounded elk rampaging. Matthew departs with Keekee to trace the runner, ordering Yor and Hemlock to herd the animal toward a river without harming it, on pain of a report to the Shopkeeper. Yor's soothing attempts fail as the elk lashes out at them both, and Hemlock, patience exhausted, springs at Yor with his blade, reasoning that no one forbade him from hurting her.

The Garden trio reaches the Miteran elk habitat and eliminates its first group of poachers, sparing one on purpose to trail him back to the main camp. Mission parameters are set: the Poacher Leader must be taken alive. Matthew's wife and pet falcon Keekee are revealed, and Keekee makes her debut. The chapter ends on a cliffhanger as Hemlock attacks Yor.

The Geschocran's appearance ties this forest to the one Damian and his classmates explored in Chapter 104. Gympie is confirmed to be female here, and the existence of Matthew's marriage and falcon are both firsts for the series. The chapter spans 21 pages of the Poacher Hunting Arc, released May 12, 2025, and appears in Volume 16.