71 – Southern Hunting Tournament (10)

“Well, where would you like to go next? Sir Gwen.”

“It seems that there is no seawater left on the outside anymore. All that remains is that it is old.”

“Then let’s go inside a little bit. If you go too deep, the rangers will punish you.”

After Damian said that, he took care of the prey scattered on the ground and moved into the forest. Standing by his side, Sir Gwen grabbed one of the severed heads of Seawater and attached it to a cart to sweep the ground.

If it was dragged around like that, its value as a by-product would greatly decrease, but that was not a problem for them to worry about. There was already a heap of replacement items on the cart, so it wouldn’t be a problem even if one of them was missing.

“Sigh…”

Robin, an apprentice knight who was hired to pull the cart, sighed as she looked at the mountains of monsters that were gradually accumulating on the cart.

He had applied for the same position at the competition last year, but for some reason the situation was going differently from what he had imagined.

“Why is someone who always takes it easy enough, so this year he is so enthusiastic…”

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand. Not only was he late this time, but Damian wouldn’t normally make such a mistake, so the people here had already guessed to some extent what made him run.

“Is this love…”

“Yes?”

“Aww! What a surprise! Lord Soga! Please show some signs!”

“Oh, sorry.”

Suddenly, Damian appeared in front of him, carrying a wolf he had just caught on his shoulder. An arrow that had pierced the middle of his forehead came into sight. It seems that he caught another one while he was distracted for a moment.

When Damian puts the wolf down and leaves the cart again, Robin removes the arrow from the wolf he left behind and cleans it up.

Blood dripping from the top of the cart fills the field of vision. Doing this over and over again seemed like a mental problem for Robin. Even if you look around at the surrounding scenery to soothe your troubled mind, all you see is the scene of the massacre stained with the blood of the seawater.

Originally, it was natural for a person with a good stomach to be chosen for this kind of role, so Robin wasn’t on the weak side, but he didn’t feel tired faster than usual, probably because of the overlap of physical and mental fatigue as he was constantly moving. But now, those in front of Robin’s eyes continue to hunt tirelessly.

Even if you take a little time, if you keep going like this, the championship will be like a certainty. Why are you in such a hurry? If you keep going like this, others will have nothing to hunt, so you will win.

Although Damian arrived in the forest relatively late than the others, it did not take long for him to join the others. However, the fact that they joined late seems to bother them, and they have not taken a break since the tournament began. It just moves forward without hesitation.

For Damian and Gwen, who are no different from mature supermen, this wasn’t too difficult, but Robin still has the status of an apprentice knight. There is a reason why the name Apprentice Knight was attached.

Even though Robin belonged to the special side among apprentice knights enough to join the Black Dragon Knights, even so, it was unreasonable to keep up with the pace of the two. Normally, Damian would have checked the condition of his subordinates and given him time to rest, but today seems to be an exception.

Still, Robin was not dissatisfied because he was still able to afford it.

Thinking that it might be a punishment for trying to enjoy the scenery quietly like last year, I moved my shoulders around to warm up and pulled the cart again, clearing the mountain of seawater that seemed to collapse at any moment.

Not long after, I felt the presence of something not far away.

A sharp gaze filled with raw, unrefined flesh scratches the skin. As soon as he noticed this, Robin hurriedly called Damian.

“Lord Soga over there…!!”

Before he could finish his words, an arrow cut through the forest and disappeared into the darkness.

There was not even a word of hope.

After the sound of something exploding echoed through the forest, I no longer felt the same sense of life as before. Robin got off the cart to retrieve the body, but when he saw that Damian hadn’t retracted his bow, he took out a quiver from the saddle and handed it to Damian.

“Thank you, Sir Robin.”

I can feel the eyes, big and small, from all directions, as if it was worthwhile to drag my head around. Robin let out a deep sigh and hung the sword that was wrapped around his waist on the saddle.

As I continued to carry the corpse of Hae-soo, the knife on my waist only got in the way and I had no time to use it.

Several groups must have come to this place at the same time, and the cries heard in each ear are different.

It was said that so many sea beasts were aiming for this cart, but there was no sign of concern on their faces. Damian and Gwen quietly raised their mouths, while Robin grimaced as he stared at the cart, which was no longer in sight.

“How do I make this place…”

I’ve been forcibly pushing things that have already reached their limits. It is questionable whether all the guests can ride here.

***

“…is my brother okay?”

Alphonse, who was looking down at the place where the competition was being held from the balcony, suddenly said this. For some reason, as she approached Alphonse and looked around, she could see why.

The figures who were running on the trees leave the forest one by one and reveal themselves.

On the backs of the rangers who are in charge of monitoring this competition, there were injured people who were thought to have been hit by sea water. Rangers were placed throughout the forest to prevent any mishaps during the tournament, but since the scale of the event is so large and the location is different, such accidents cannot be completely prevented.

Fortunately, there have been no fatalities yet.

As for monster subjugation, in the case of hunting competitions, it was one of those tournaments where casualties were rare compared to their size.

It is said that the Rune Proud Mountains belong to one of the forbidden places, but that is because countless monsters live in the depths of the forest. It was because it wasn’t necessary.

Still, there were more injuries in this tournament than I thought. Is it because the age of participation is low? Among those who participated, there were also those whose purpose was to meet the imperial family rather than hunting, so it was understandable that there were many wounded.

No matter how smart Alphonse is, he seems to be in a dizzy state when someone gets hurt right in front of his eyes. Even in the lively sparring between him and the knights, the dreamless child begins to worry about his older brother.

Hearing about the story and seeing it in front of your eyes are different from the feeling. It was a moment when I felt that something I hadn’t touched until now was real. Previously, trust in my older brother prevented this kind of heart from popping out, but on the contrary, I realized that he could be hurt like them.

Anxiety, once started, is difficult to end. Didn’t I also lose sleep at night for similar reasons.

There was no need to worry about that now, but you couldn’t tell Alphonse why.

“Prince Damian will be fine.”

It was Louis who spoke first and soothed Alphonse.

His face still had no change in expression, but it was like warm sunlight in the eyes of Alphonse. However, as she spoke very little, I added a little to Louise’s words and brought up a story about when he and Sir Gwen had a sparring match.

“Sir Lewis is right. Alphonse knows best what kind of person Damian is, right?

Besides, the two of them are together now.

Unless a dragon suddenly falls from the sky, there will be no one who can do anything about those two.

Alphonse looked at me with a slight smile as if he had calmed down a bit. It didn’t seem like his worries had completely disappeared, but Alphonse’s face began to brighten again, perhaps better than before.

“…Is that right? Hey, would sea beasts be your opponent?! You must have hunted sea beasts more than anyone else!!”

I looked at Alphonse with a bitter smile as he looked back to the forest with his eyes shining again. Apparently, Alphonse seemed to want him to win as much as he attended the tournament where his older brother participated for the first time, but it was highly likely that he would not win even though he could win due to his cautious personality.

Even before the return, I had seen him avoid positions where he could stand out many times because of his unwillingness to stand out, so I didn’t have any special thoughts about winning this tournament. He was always content to stop at the line of preserving the honor of his family.

Later on, I asked if it was because the higher the reputation, the more troublesome things got involved. It was a funny story for someone who bore the name Krause.

Anyway, he distanced himself from me for that reason in the first place. How could he aim for the championship?

Even if he were aiming for it, I think it was to establish the side of the family after he ascended to the position of head of the family.

But here’s something I didn’t expect. That was Sir Lewis’ remark.

“Of course. When I met him yesterday, Prince Damian was very motivated, unlike usual. I think you can look forward to it this time.”

Louis said while looking at me and Alphonse alternately.

For some reason, it seemed that her eyes were shining enough to overlap Alphonse’s eyes from earlier.

What surprised me was not the fact that she spoke at such length. Contrary to what I thought, Louis affirmed Alphonse’s words. Of course, it could have been lip service, but I knew very well that she wasn’t the type to do that. Her personality was so honest that even though she was in front of Alphonse, he honestly said that he had no intention of winning, so it was surprising that she answered that way.

If Sir Lewis is going to say that, then he really is serious about this tournament…is it because of Noel and Orcus?

So many things have changed from before that it was hard to think what motivated him to compete.

Talking about winning this competition was no longer the same as talking about revealing one’s skills without hiding it. Not a bad story. There was nothing wrong with his growing reputation in a world where there was no threat to him.

But why is it that a corner of my heart hurts at the word that he has changed with enthusiasm?

I don’t know what changed him, but it’s really disheartening to hear that one of the factors that kept him away from me has vanished in such vain.

I don’t know why, but it seems that Sir Louis’ gaze has not left me since earlier.