62 – Southern Hunting Tournament (1)

southern part of the empire.

With the exception of Luden, which is protected by the main god thanks to its stable climate and fertile land, it is regarded as the most beautiful land in the empire along with the eastern part.

However, as the saying goes, God is fair, this southern area also had one trouble like the northern climate, and that was the Runproud Mountains surrounding the southern area. It is said to be the place where the evil dragon from the legend of the old Krause family lived. It is the continent’s largest monster habitat and one of the demonic realms that have not yet been clearly investigated.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that fierce battles with demons and demons always happen in that interview area, but the fact that it’s a dangerous place hasn’t changed.

The season when monsters descend in earnest is winter, when the whole world is dyed white. The monsters come down from the mountain range every winter, as if they had run out of food in that vast mountain range.

For some reason, even I, who read the book that is thought to be the foundation of this world, do not know.

All that the book told me was that there was a setting that said so, so I, like the others, only vaguely guessed that it was because there was not enough food inside the mountain range, but I couldn’t give an answer.

Anyway, when winter approaches, cities in the south, including Sarham, announce the arrival of winter by holding large-scale subjugation of monsters. As long as the subjugation was successfully completed, the winter worries in the south would have disappeared.

The southern spring hunting competition was also held with a similar purpose.

It is said that once winter passes, the risk of encountering monsters will disappear unless you enter the center of the mountain range, but it is not only the monsters that are dangerous to the territories along the mountain range.

Unlike other places, the concentration of mana in the air is high in the Rune Proud Mountains.

I don’t know if it was related to the ecology of the monsters living in the mountain range or if it was caused by something else, but the magic power that was so strong that it interfered with the manifestation of magic affected not only the monsters but also the animals and plants living in the mountain range.

Animals and plants that live in mountain ranges, compared to animals and plants in other regions, have all their abilities developed to the extreme.

As the ecosystem inside the mountain range was so diverse, the types of beasts that inhabited it were also diverse, and the danger of beasts raised with magical powers was comparable to that of quite a few monsters. Once upon a time, when a tiger came down to the village, it was said to be a disaster, and it was considered a kind of disaster.

There was also a hunting competition to compete in martial arts between each family, but the essential meaning was to subdue the sea beasts to protect the safety of the territory, such as subjugating monsters.

Compared to monsters, it was relatively less dangerous, so it was called a tournament. Well, in the territory ruled by the family that won the contest, a festival is held to celebrate the victory. Broadly speaking, it can be said that it is an annual event that strengthens friendship between southern families and boosts the excitement of the residents who have overcome the difficult winter.

I think the reason why Orcus wants to participate in the competition with energy is related to this.

I wonder if they are trying to participate with the idea of doing some kind of image-making. It was because the southern families tended to focus on martial arts rather than magic.

Even if Noel is there, it would be good for him to leave a good impression on the nobles of the south as he is aiming for the throne.

“Oh, it’s raining.”

As usual, when I woke up early in the morning and went outside to swing my sword, a drop of water fell from the sky and touched my cheek. I looked up to see what was going on, and there were hazy dark clouds instead of where the sun should have been.

The raindrops, which had been falling drop by drop and making dots on the soil, suddenly became heavy and began to soak the ground.

For some reason, the bed the night before was a bit damp.

I went straight into the tent and looked around outside.

Due to the increasingly strong rain, people hurriedly began to bring their luggage inside. Did he realize that it wasn’t a passing shower?

The movement of the soldiers became faster as the raindrops got stronger. After a short time passed, all the people who filled the outside disappeared, and again there was no sound except for the sound of rain.

It was raining enough to make the ground muddy, so no matter how much I was, I couldn’t tell the only prince of the empire to practice until a day like this. I don’t know if he voluntarily went out on his own.

It wasn’t a very unlikely story, considering how happy he was at the successful hunting in the forest yesterday, but no matter how much he thought about it, that small possibility didn’t seem to lead to the choice of going out through the rain now.

Of course, if that tiny possibility worked, and Orcus wanted me to go outside, I would go against Orcus’s words this time. No matter how much this place was the beginning, the name of Rune Proud was not going anywhere. If I went out to hunt on a day like this for no reason, the same thing as last year might happen.

Orcus and Noel.

It’s already been a week since the two siblings have been living in Sarham. There was a little time left of four days until the hunting competition. However, there was no longer a need to increase Orcus’s practice as unreasonably as before.

If asked to pick the person who changed the most during the week, of course I would pick Noel without hesitation, but apart from that, Orcus’ skills also developed to a considerable level. It’s not to the extent of aiming to win the tournament, but I think it’s good enough to receive praise from others.

There is no ambiguous feeling to me, but it will be okay if the person himself is satisfied.

I looked in the direction of the tent where the two of them were staying, but like the other places, it is also quiet. Noel, I thought she would run out into the woods in this kind of weather, but did Orcus stop it?

“Then, is today a day off…”

I muttered that and sat down on the cot prepared in the tent. It was a little harder than the one in the castle room, but it was too much to use for camping outside like this.

Perhaps because of the humidity, waking up a little earlier than usual and going back to sleep was not a bad choice, but maybe because of the sound of rain hitting the tent, I didn’t feel like going to sleep.

After all, unable to find anything to do, I looked up at the ceiling of the tent shaking in the raindrops. With my head gradually emptying at some point, I thought that this was okay, but the feeling of boredom soon took its place.

Then, someone’s face starts to come to mind.

I jumped out of bed and looked for my raincoat.

“You must be sleeping now.”

Even though he had already said with his mouth that it was too early to meet her, his body was preparing to meet Elena. I put on a raincoat hanging in the corner of the room and look outside where it is still raining.

Contrary to the previous action of trying to go outside with great energy, I stopped walking when I saw the scenery outside through the gap in the tent. The rain was stronger than before, but that was no reason to stop my feet. It was just that there was no reason to leave the tent now.

I stood there without touching my feet at the human figure visible through the tent and looked at someone approaching me.

chapak-

With the sound of splashing water, at the end of my gaze, a person wearing a black raincoat like me entered the tent. Water-soaked white hair protruded from the black fabric of the raincoat. I approached carrying the cloth I had left on the chair next to me, lifted my raincoat, and gently placed the cloth on top of her head.

Still, the raincoat did its job, so only a small part of it got wet, but I wrapped the cloth over her head as if covering her head, and slowly swept it down.

The touch of soft hair came through the thin cloth. She would have been embarrassed if a cloth was suddenly thrown over her head, but her face was calm. Quietly putting her head in my hands, it felt like I was looking at a well-behaved puppy, so I silently looked at her with a smile on my eyes.

For a while, he was looking at me with a relaxed expression, so he must have noticed the meaning in my eyes. Elena opened her eyes sharply and looked at me. However, even if I looked at her like that, her eyes already overlapped with the associations in my head, and contrary to Elena’s will, I did not pose a threat and only raised the corner of my mouth.

As I continue to smile, only her face turns red.

Elena starts to lower her head again. I continued to brush her hair without saying anything. It was closer to petting than brushing. Although it has been degenerated for a purpose other than wiping dry. What is it?

Elena started rolling her eyes back and forth as if she was still trying to avoid my eyes. Then, as if she had discovered something, she suddenly smiled a little and met my eyes again with a smile on her face.

“Where were you trying to go?”

A raincoat that doesn’t get wet in the rain. Regardless of what I said, she already seemed to know why I was wearing this raincoat. I replied with a nod of my head without denying her words.

“I did, but I don’t think we need to leave anymore.”

I replied and spread Elena’s wet raincoat along with the cloth on the chair. She naturally went to the bed and I took off my raincoat and sat next to her.