016. Hunting Competition (4)
“Oh, don’t come…!”
Upon hearing the scream, the gazes of the group naturally turned towards the source of the sound.
There, they saw a knight, backing away with a dropped sword on the ground.
Several others, seemingly comrades, were also frozen in fear, unable to move a muscle.
Observing their frightened demeanor, Owen narrowed his eyes.
In a place like this, where everyone should be on high alert and act together, their attitude was incomprehensible.
“Why is there a medium-sized monster…?”
While Owen was expressing his confusion, Countess Ceres, who was examining the monster, murmured with a narrowed brow.
Only after she spoke did Owen realize how the situation had unfolded.
Originally, this area was inhabited by small monsters, so knights and mages capable of dealing with them were the main hunters.
However, now a medium-sized monster, twice the size of the usual ones, had appeared. It was natural for panic to ensue among those who were used to dealing with smaller creatures.
Owen silently drew his sword from its scabbard, and the jet-black blade covered the smooth metal in an instant.
“Krrrk!”
Perhaps thanks to the sharp blade, with a single swing, the monster, which was about the size of a lion, was halved.
Casually killing the monster, Owen sheathed his sword and only then became aware of what he had done.
‘Without hesitation…’
Looking at the torn corpse of the monster, Owen bit his lower lip.
‘…I killed it.’
He had killed a living being with his own hands.
Without any hesitation, without any guilt.
The sensation of killing something that had been breathing at the tips of his fingers still felt vivid.
The feeling of cutting through the flesh, penetrating the body of a living being…
“Duke?”
Perhaps perplexed by Owen’s state of standing motionless for a while, Kyle approached.
“Why are you just standing there like that?”
Only after hearing his question did Owen finally come to his senses.
He calmed his trembling fingertips and opened his mouth.
“Nothing, just—”
Owen tried to come up with a plausible excuse from his pale mind.
Struggling to conjure up something believable, he spoke again.
“I was wondering why there’s a medium-sized monster here.”
As Owen mentioned what he had heard from Countess Ceres earlier, Kyle quickly understood.
“Oh, because of that… That does seem a bit strange to me too. Why would a medium-sized monster be here?”
Kyle, expressing his bewilderment, asked with a puzzled look, and Countess Ceres nodded in agreement.
“Indeed, this is the first time for me too, so it’s difficult to provide a clear answer.”
In response to her answer, Kyle squinted his eyes slightly.
“That makes me even more uneasy. If it’s because of some ‘distortion’…”
Distortion.
A term referring to a phenomenon where the existing framework is disrupted.
“Could it be? Distortions usually occur due to some external influence.”
Upon Kyle’s words, Richard voiced his opinion.
“Yes. For example, divine power.”
In response to Richard’s words, Kyle nodded in agreement.
Monsters, being inherently dark-attribute entities, strongly reacted to the light attribute, such as divine power.
If an external force, like divine power, were to infiltrate, they willingly broke their existing framework to confront it.
“Divine power…?”
At the mention of divine power, Owen, who had barely managed to control his emotions, stiffened again.
Divine power.
The only thing Owen could associate with that word was one person—Bella.
The heroine of “Empire’s Flower.”
A saint who appeared once every 200 years, capable of using divine power for a purpose other than healing.
“Your Excellency, do you happen to know anything?”
Interpreting Owen’s reaction as something significant, Countess Ceres immediately inquired.
In response to her question, Owen, after barely adjusting his expression, opened his lips.
“…No, I don’t.”
It was indeed true that Bella awakened while facing monsters in the northern region. However, it was all within the Viscount Taylor’s territory where she was adopted. Moreover, there was still a month left before the original story was set to begin.
‘It must be a coincidence.’
Therefore, Bella had no reason to use her divine power in the “Forest of Eyes” before the original story even began. Owen shook off his thoughts and continued walking.
* * *
The group moved a bit further inward from the central area. Suddenly, as if they had been waiting, monsters poured out. In response, each member of the group began sweeping away the monsters with their respective strengths.
There was no room for hesitation.
Hesitating would likely result in injury.
Naturally, Owen also had to kill the monsters.
Once, twice.
Repeating the process of killing monsters, Owen gradually became indifferent to taking lives.
‘It’s strange to think it’s okay to harm life.’
Even if the targets were monsters, he thought it would be challenging for someone who had lived in the society of the 21st century to accept it so easily. That’s what he believed.
However, as the situation unfolded, and he repeated killing several times, it became less of a concern.
Before coming to the hunting competition venue, he had worried whether he could kill monsters properly.
It wasn’t a problem to be concerned about whether he could fulfill his duty like “Owen” or not.
What bothered him more was how naturally and matter-of-factly he acted in killing.
Was it an influence of Owen’s body, or…
‘Am I the one who’s strange?’
Lost in thought for a moment, Owen exhaled again and readjusted his grip on the sword.
He figured that it might be better to focus on killing one more monster rather than contemplating such thoughts.
How much time had passed in this way?
The surroundings seemed to have calmed down, indicating that all the nearby monsters had been dealt with. It was only then that Owen, catching his breath, scanned the party one by one.
The others appeared unfazed, as if used to the situation. Richard, the only one participating in his first hunting competition, seemed a bit tired.
“There are quite a few monsters. You’ve worked hard,” Richard said, wiping away sweat. However, Countess Ceres raised her head as if to say it wasn’t necessary.
“No, Your Excellency. It is my duty to protect the northernmost region.”
As the two once again demonstrated an exemplary lord and vassal relationship, Owen subtly slipped away between them. Kyle, finding Owen’s attitude intriguing, spoke up.
“Duke, it seems even a person of your stature is not accustomed to this.”
When Kyle initiated the conversation, Owen turned his head to him. It was unusual for a sub-main character to address him.
“It’s not exactly familiar. To be precise, I’m not interested.”
He was well aware of how the imperial family behaved through the content of “The Empire’s Flower.” Also, how “Owen” perceived the imperial family.
Owen nonchalantly imitated “Owen” with an indifferent tone.
“I’m not an imperialist; there’s no reason for me to act like one.”
Perhaps thanks to Owen’s quite accurate portrayal, Kyle looked at Owen with curiosity.
“I’ve heard that you’re a sharp and cold person, but it seems even more so than I thought.”
It was intriguing to see Owen’s indifference towards the imperial family. Perhaps it was because he was different from the nobles he had seen so far.
“It seems you’re avoiding it like it’s not your business.”
In response to the intriguing tone, Owen lightly retorted, “I’m not that concerned. If anything, I have no reason to favor the imperial side, as I’m not a fan of the imperialists.”
Kyle, sounding a bit amazed, said that even though Owen didn’t actively dislike the imperial family, he also didn’t show any interest in them.
“That’s because I’m a tower. Is there any reason for me to support the imperial side when I’m essential for restraining the tower?”
“Same goes for us.”
The imperial family had many enemies.
Roughly, he was more prone to creating enemies due to his excessive fear.
The Tower and Duke Verdun.
Perhaps because both possessed strong power, the imperial family easily succumbed to fear and rejected them.
Thanks to this, Owen, despite being a duke, couldn’t attend important meetings, and the Tower couldn’t build a the Tower in the capital.
It had been ongoing since the founding of the empire, making it difficult to criticize easily.
Some said, ‘Is it now that you desire power in politics?’ Others claimed, ‘It’s an attempt to swallow the imperial family.’
With these absurd arguments, tension rose between the imperial family and the nobles.
As a result, both the Tower and the Duke of Verdun gave up on entering the capital and engaging in politics.
Instead, they chose to strengthen their foundations in military and capital.
“…It seems there are more similarities between us than I thought.”
Kyle murmured lowly, looking intrigued.
Owen’s eyes sparkled at his reaction.
It seemed that the other didn’t dislike him as much as he expected.
‘Well then, maybe we can become friends.’
In the original work, Owen and Kyle often clashed due to their respective positions, but that was all within the confines of the original story.
Since Owen had no intention of being with Bella anyway, there was no longer a reason for them to fight.
If I give up the protagonist’s position, naturally, Kyle and Bella will be together.
“Tower Lord.”
So, becoming friends wouldn’t be a bad idea.
‘Owen’ had no friends, so making one for the sake of my social life would be beneficial.
“Do you have anyone you’re close to?”
“Someone I’m close to? Hmm.”
In response to Owen’s sudden question, Kyle responded with a puzzled expression.
Owen nodded and added, “For example, a close friend.”
“Well, I…”
Kyle seemed lost in thought for a moment before opening his mouth again.
“I’m closer to magic than people.”
Owen thought the author of the original work was really something, hearing Kyle’s words.
How did the main characters’ relationships turn out like this?
A heroine with adoptive parents who see her as a means, a hero abused by his biological parents, a supporting male lead who only knows magic and is estranged from people, and a villainess with a trashy family.
What a terrible harmony.
With a sigh, Owen asked a question.
“So, do you have any interest?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Friend, I mean. I’ve been interested lately.”
It was embarrassing to keep talking like this without an end, but there was no choice.
Unless it was a hunting competition, Kyle was a person who would always be confined to the Tower.
Even if it seemed too sudden, if he didn’t bring up the topic now, they might never become friends.
Owen took a short breath and boldly spoke.
“If you’re interested too, I’d like to be friends.”
“…Sure.”
Although prepared to hear something like ‘What nonsense is this,’ Kyle easily nodded.
“Let’s do that. However.”
Instead, he added a condition.
“Commoners drop the formalities between friends. If you agree to follow that rule, I’ll do the same.”
If other nobles had heard this, it might have sounded like a joke.
Nobles often maintained formality even among friends.
There were exceptions, but in any case, it was rare for them to drop formalities from the beginning, unless they were very young.
Kyle probably expected Owen to be similar to him.
Unfortunately, what was ingrained in Owen wasn’t the life of a noble for a lifetime.
“Let’s do that.”
