The Princess's Request
Contrary to my worries, those of us who had been taken into custody arrived not at a prison or an interrogation room, but before the royal palace.
I wondered why we had stopped here, only for the guards to suddenly bow their heads toward us. More precisely, they were greeting Adelaide.
"Your Highness, we shall take our leave now."
"Very well. Good work."
"It was nothing, Your Highness."
Had Adelaide even co-opted the guards?
The guards who had dragged us here released the princess and us in a place free of onlookers, then slipped away without a sound.
"Huh? The guards are leaving?"
"They're all people I've already brought over to my side. When staging a planned disturbance like this, one must arrange every detail carefully. It also serves to show the citizens that this city's public order is perfectly intact."
Judging by how they released us without a single question, Adelaide had prepared even the final cleanup with meticulous care.
Watching her handle everything so cleanly, I realized anew that this woman was no mere careless, eccentric princess.
With someone like her, she could obtain anything she set her heart on.
Perfection disguised as carelessness. What lay hidden within it, I still could not tell.
Adelaide pulled back her hood. Hair black as ebony, embroidered with threads of gold, spilled free in a cascade. Her languid crimson eyes flicked over me and Pina, then curved into a smile.
It was the innocent expression of someone asking, So? How do you like my handiwork?
I shook my head in mild exasperation, while Pina gazed at Adelaide with sparkling eyes.
Adelaide truly was the sort of person who could captivate others, both outwardly and inwardly.
Just as she had with her attendants and soldiers, she made people follow her into even her most foolish schemes. A strange charm of hers shook them to their core.
Was this the charisma of someone who aimed to become king?
"I promised you a proper meal, did I not? I've already spoken to the court chefs. Once we go inside, you may dine at once."
Moreover, she had believed from the start that I would succeed.
Adelaide was a cunning and thoroughly strange princess.
The meal was a banquet in the truest sense. The court chef's cooking surpassed anything I could compare it to. The dishes arrived still warm, never allowed to cool, which made them all the better.
"Whoa…"
Pina stared at foods she had never tasted in her entire life, utterly at a loss for what to do.
No one was going to snatch them away, so we could take our time. I took up my fork and knife and set my hands to work.
We were in a royal reception room, and thanks to Adelaide dismissing her escorts, only the three of us remained.
I wondered whether two ordinary civilians could simply walk into the palace without any formalities, but with Princess Adelaide herself vouching for us, such procedures had apparently been waived.
We had been her clients from the beginning, after all; the arrangement might well have been agreed upon in advance.
"Is the meal to your liking?"
Having shed her robe, Adelaide was dressed in a splendid uniform.
The navy jacket bore a gold-and-white epaulette on the right shoulder—a luxury piece fashioned from white-serpent scales and finished with gold leaf. Chains dangled from it in lavish loops.
The black belt cinched at her waist gleamed as if brand-new. Drawn so tightly, it made plain just how slender her waist was.
In contrast to that narrow waist, the uniform's chest swelled prominently forward, and the sight stirred an inexplicable sense of emptiness in me.
…It's fine. I used to be a man!
At any rate, a full uniform seemed rather formal for a meal, yet it did not look out of place on her.
Adelaide wore the uniform as easily as everyday clothes; she was elegant, refined, and beautiful.
"Yes, it's amazing!"
"…It's good."
At Pina's pure, unguarded reply, I gave a small nod of my own.
The dishes themselves were not especially spicy, yet each one was distinct in flavor and rich in depth.
Calling them truly luxurious cuisine would be no exaggeration. Did the royal family eat like this every day?
For someone who usually made do with simple meals or ate out, I could only feel envy.
"So then, Hunter. Your name is Alice, correct?"
"That's right."
"And the little lady beside you must be Pina, who assists Alice."
"Mmmph…"
"I only asked to confirm. Don't force yourself to swallow just to answer. Simply keep eating while you listen."
Pina nodded, cheeks stuffed full as she chewed.
She looked just like a squirrel.
"The knights' attack on you was not by my design, you know. They merely wished to test your skill for themselves. And you handled them perfectly."
"…Yeah. Well, it wasn't hard."
It had felt more like a sparring match where both sides held back a little, had it not?
Most of them had been knocked senseless by a single table parry, though…
Still, the fight had taught me something. The experience I had built fighting monsters did not vanish when I faced humans.
The only differences were strength and size. Stay calm and respond properly, and monster or human made little difference.
"I summoned you for this matter because I have a request. If things go well, I may well ask for any number of favors in the future."
"…A hunt?"
"Exactly. What I want is for you to slay a monster."
Adelaide's words stirred a small whirlpool in my chest.
A request from a princess would certainly involve something difficult. Entrusting it to someone of only Rank 40 was almost laughable, yet even in the game I had handled most things at that level.
In truth, a rank like mine already placed me among the mid-tier hunters.
Reaching Rank 40 in less than a year meant I had been slaughtering monsters left and right.
Adelaide held expectations of me for that very reason.
"If you fail, I will be in endless trouble. If you wish to see me flustered and on the verge of tears, then by all means fail."
That might actually be a rare sight.
"But if you succeed, the standing of hunters within the royal court will improve. The royal family regards hunters like you as little more than butchers, you see."
"B-butchers?"
"Yes. Butchers who slaughter monsters—and dangerous ones who carry weapons, at that. That is why Father wishes to replace hunters with the power of the state. There is also the thought of strengthening national might. In my view, however, the Hunter Association is already part of Cartadia's strength. There is no need to meddle with it, nor any reason to suppress it."
Adelaide speared a piece of finely sliced meat with her fork.
"Father has yet to realize how natural the present state of affairs truly is. Hunters should do the work of hunters, and we should do ours. We are not rivals; we are partners who ought to cooperate."
Carefully lifting the meat so the sauce would not drip, Adelaide savored the taste.
"Have you ever been to Ampianura?"
Still enjoying the flavor, she suddenly asked.
"No. We've both only ever been in Antico."
"Is that so? Antico and Ampianura are not so far apart. There are times I wish to leave the palace and wander here and there, and Ampianura is one such place. When I look out over its vast plains, I wonder if they might ease the stifling feeling of being trapped inside this palace."
As Adelaide said, Ampianura was a land famous for its broad, green plains.
The plain city of Ampianura.
In contrast to Antico, with its many towering trees, Ampianura was a place of truly open, beautiful vistas.
"A monster has appeared that is disturbing those plains."
"…Is that so?"
At her words I searched my old memories.
If she was asking this of me, it was no ordinary monster that ordinary hunters had failed to take down.
It had to be an Elder Species. Among Adelaide's commissions, there was one monster connected to Ampianura.
"I would like it dealt with before the day comes when I can visit the plains again. The creature is a Kespiraos—one that, unusually, bears a broken horn."
The Elder Species Kespiraos. The Broken-Horned Kespiraos.
Originally, Kespiraos were gentle Low-grade monsters that grazed on the grasses of the plains.
The three horns on their heads served as both weapon and defense against predators, yet after living long enough to drink blood, they became lancers that charged with those horns leveled at their enemies.
The horn had been broken so that it would sever the windpipe completely; a single stab left any monster with a grievous wound it could not escape.
It had become a bizarre creature that had broken free of the mold of a Low-grade monster.
It was the same as when the mid-tier Luga-lac of the flooded lands, after countless battles, became the One-Eyed Luga-lac that never retreated from any fight and thereby transcended its mid-tier status.
That was what an Elder Species was—a being that had overcome every hardship within the cruel food chain.
"Though it is still called a Low-grade monster, that Kespiraos is strangely aggressive, I am told. It is dangerous enough that an access ban has been issued for the area. My brother intends to dispatch the army to Ampianura to bring it down, but… well. That would be a pointless waste of manpower."
The brother she spoke of would be the First Prince.
He, too, was apparently striving to become the next king, and Adelaide clearly found the idea displeasing.
"Dealing with monsters is the domain of hunters, is it not? The army protects the nation; hunters slay monsters. That is how I see it. Moving the army for a mere monster hunt only throws the country into unnecessary turmoil."
"Th-then… couldn't you just have a Master Hunter handle it?"
"Are they not all busy at present? Besides, I prefer this approach. I like beautiful things whenever possible. By that standard, you pass."
"Ah… right."
Adelaide suddenly dropped a remark that soured the mood.
"You will surely bring down a mere Kespiraos with ease. Everything of mine hinges on the success of this task. The reason my brother's army has not yet departed is solely because of my stubbornness. I need a clear result."
"And if I fail to bring it down?"
"Well, if you fail, I will lose everything as well. I suppose I would end up as a tool for a political marriage to forge ties with some other kingdom, and finish my life in misery. But that will not happen, will it? My client could never fail."
Adelaide spoke with complete confidence.
I frowned at her words.
"…That's a nasty hobby."
Adelaide met my gaze.
Her crimson eyes curved prettily.
"Heh. If you pity me, then put in the effort. I shall work hard in my own way here for your sake as well. Now, there is still plenty of food left, so take your time. I will prepare a carriage for Ampianura."
With that kind of nerve and shamelessness, she might have been better suited as a hunter than a princess, I thought.
After that we exchanged idle conversation.
Until we finished eating, Adelaide asked about every aspect of a hunter's life. She seemed more genuinely interested in hunters than I had expected.
Fortunately we were able to sleep in a guest chamber Adelaide provided. I set down the luggage I had been carrying until my shoulders nearly gave out and left it in the room for a while.
Inside the palace, no one except Adelaide paid us any attention. The occasional cold glances that came our way were far from kind.
Just as Adelaide had said, to the people of the palace we were butchers—nothing more, nothing less.
In the end I would rise to a position they could no longer ignore, so I paid those looks little mind.
What mattered to me now was not their gazes, but the Kespiraos hunt that awaited tomorrow.
Once again, the time for the hunt had come without fail.
An Elder Species would surely yield an essence as well.
My hands itched; my heart pounded.
Only a blood-soaked battle against a monster could ever excite me like this.