A Hunter Before the Throne
Cespiratos are four-legged ceratopsian monsters that live on the plains, quietly grazing on grass.
They are gentle creatures, but their wariness for survival runs high. The three horns crowning their heads serve as weapons to protect their bodies from predators. They form herds and fight to overcome the carnivorous monsters that hunt them.
And so, stabbing and stabbing and stabbing monsters with those horns to defend themselves…
At some point, their place in the food chain reverses.
The horns of the Cespiratos that survive to the end grow increasingly warped, soaked in monster blood, transforming to inflict ever greater wounds. Those twisted horns become weapons meant only to kill.
That is what the Broken-Horned Cespiratos has become.
Perhaps it evolved through grim, desperate struggle simply to survive, or to protect its young, or for some other reason entirely.
But if the blade it honed turns not on monsters but on humans, then as a hunter, there is no choice but to kill it.
Because that is what hunters are.
The next morning.
Under the pretext of hunting the Cespiratos in place of the army, Pina and I were granted an audience with the King of Cartadia.
Having been practically confined to our guest chambers all day yesterday, only today were we free to walk about the royal palace as if touring it.
Stepping out of our chambers in the farthest corner of the palace, the central garden came into view. The meticulously arranged grounds possessed an artificial beauty. Being the palace garden, one might call it more beautiful than any other. It was autumn now, so the colors had faded somewhat, but the leaves turning red offered a different kind of pleasure.
The palace roofs were blue—a color matched to the navy uniforms worn by the Cartadian royal family. The buildings themselves were mostly pure white, carrying a refined, clean elegance.
"Ahem, this way…"
It wasn't Adelaide guiding us now. The man before us was a palace butler—likely from one of the noble houses beneath the king. His eyes on us were less than approving, but he maintained courtesy as we were guests.
We followed the butler toward the main palace building, where the king resided. Ornate decorations designed to project the king's majesty lined the way. They might have seemed wasteful, but such ostentation held the power to cow those granted an audience with the king. It was an indirect way of showing that we were of a different class.
"Waaah…"
Pina was gaping in wonder at all the glittering things. Having lived her whole life in Antico, everything in the capital was fascinating to her. That she would react this way touring the palace interior—the main building, no less—was only natural.
Seeing her free to marvel like that, I was glad she seemed to have found some ease around people.
Of course, I had little interest in any of this. Rather than all this pomp, I just wanted to leave and hunt the Cespiratos already.
As I stared ahead with a listless expression, I spotted Adelaide speaking with someone before the audience chamber doors. Gone was her usual composed demeanor; her delicate brow was faintly furrowed.
Her conversation partner was… someone I'd never seen before. But wearing a navy uniform like Adelaide's, they were clearly royalty.
At some point Adelaide's eyes met mine. She stopped mid-conversation and approached.
"…This way, Brother."
Then she planted herself right beside me and addressed the man in the uniform. With a smile curling her lips, Adelaide brought her mouth to my ear and whispered softly.
"That's my older brother—"
I nodded at her words.
So that man was the First Prince who had intended to lead the army to hunt the Cespiratos. The prince was an NPC who only ever appeared by name in the game—never once showing his face.
Seeing the First Prince in person, to put it briefly: he was a sharp-featured, handsome man. Like Adelaide, he had golden streaks in his hair—I'd thought it was a fashion choice, but it seemed to be genetic—and his crimson eyes were like finely honed blades. He resembled Adelaide somewhat, but Adelaide's presence was clearly softer. The shape of the eyes, the curve of the lips, that sort of thing.
"…So you are that hunter I've heard of?"
The speech pattern was the same, but the prince's carried a more authoritative charisma.
"…"
I decided to say nothing at all. My mouth was a loose cannon—I was certain I'd spit out casual speech. Instead, I answered with a slight nod of my head.
"Hmph. Quiet, unlike your appearance. Sister, is this woman truly the one?"
"She is. This hunter even beat down the royal knights. Had you not heard, Brother?"
"…I heard. Well, the knights must have gone easy on her. Hard to believe. With a body like that, she beat down knights?"
The prince strode firmly toward me. Standing a full head taller, he looked down at me with fierce eyes.
"…You and that little servant girl—can you truly do it?"
Pina had been standing still at little servant girl, then bristled when she realized it meant her. But she only clenched her fists, unable to say anything to the prince.
"Yeah."
"…Yeah?"
"How dare you address His Highness so casually!"
The prince's eyelids lifted slightly at my curt reply. The shift in emotion was subtle, but he seemed surprised. Suddenly the butler who had guided us here flared up in anger at my words.
Speaking casually to royalty was excessive, but I couldn't stand him dismissing Pina. I stared hard at the prince.
"How dare you not bow your head this instant…"
"Enough."
It was the prince who stopped the butler. Looking at me, he tilted his head.
"Are you confident? Confident that you can fell that monster so no more casualties arise. Alone, no less."
"That's a hunter's job."
"So you have spirit, is that it?"
Whether he found me interesting for talking back so steadily before him, the prince simply smiled without further comment.
"Fine. If you fail, all the better for me. I'll look forward to it."
The prince's looking forward was not meant kindly. He hoped I would fail. He must have known his sister was aiming for the throne.
The prince shot a glance at Adelaide, then turned his back.
"…Let us enter."
Adelaide gestured to us.
The doors to the audience chamber opened, and at its center sat the king upon his throne. A dignified face. His crimson eyes held a keen light. His swept-back black hair was shot through with gray.
The audience chamber was conspicuously lavish with decorations. These cumbersome ornaments, beginning from the main building's entrance, indeed inspired awe. There was even a mural covering the entire wall behind him—that said enough.
Pina and I did nothing in that place. We simply bowed our heads and faced the king. All the conversation was between Adelaide and the prince.
The prince's mission was officially transferred to Adelaide, and Adelaide was to take responsibility for exterminating the Cespiratos of Ampianura. The hunters she appointed were none other than Pina and me.
We had been entrusted with a weighty mission.
In the game, it had simply been accepting a princess's request—I'd never imagined there would be a process like this. My shoulders felt heavier than expected… or rather, they didn't.
For me, killing monsters was a matter of course. I felt no pressure from this task. That the Cespiratos I'd marked as my target would die was inevitable, and additional compensation would simply follow.
I'll bring you news of victory."
The prince sat at his desk and took up his pen. Moving his right hand, he rolled the pen across the letter paper. And first, he wrote his own name.
Principe Melchior Giovanni de Brillante Cartadia
Having written his name, Melchior stopped his pen there.
"……"
Melchior set down the pen and spun his chair around. He gazed at the garden landscape beyond the window.
Of his two younger siblings, the ambitious Second Princess Adelaide was a truly troublesome opponent. A sister who was not merely friendly toward hunters but bold as a hunter herself. Melchior smirked as he thought of her. He had never imagined Adelaide would snatch his mission out from under him like this.
Of course, Melchior had had a plan at first. It wasn't that he was such a good-natured older brother that he'd given his cute little sister a gift out of fondness.
He would give her this mission, then interfere midway to sabotage the hunter and make her fail. He had intended to show his sister that the king's seat was not so easily taken.
"…Hmph."
Melchior recalled the hunter who had spoken so insolently to him. Looking like a white rabbit one might find in the north, yet never bowing her head, staring straight back at him—it was curious.
In Melchior's mind, hunters were like butchers who indiscriminately slaughtered monsters. Throwing themselves into dangerous environments, their natures naturally grew rough and vulgar. Melchior was the type to detest such things. That was why he had never thought favorably of hunters.
But facing a hunter directly today, he wondered if his thinking had been wrong.
What Melchior had seen in Alice's eyes through their conversation was not baseless arrogance, but confidence forged through long experience. And the way she casually spat out informal speech without a shred of hesitation before a prince—it had startled and flustered him. Somehow it even seemed to suit her.
If that hunter succeeded, it would be no small matter for the prince. If more such incidents arose going forward, Father would surely continue entrusting commissions to hunters, who were far more advantageous than mobilizing the army in both cost and manpower. If that cooperative relationship formed, Adelaide's standing would only grow broader.
Adelaide, to think you'd make this interesting for me.
Melchior found it enjoyable that something he hadn't anticipated was unfolding.
"…I wonder how it will go."
From what Adelaide had said, she was a rising hunter these days, so there shouldn't be any flaw in her skill. And she'd somehow managed to defeat knights as well. Above all, knowing his sister as he did, she would certainly have chosen a proper hunter.
Melchior picked up the letter paper sitting alone on the desk. And he crumpled it tightly into a ball.
In the end, Melchior decided to do nothing at all.
It was an impulsive decision. He wanted to watch and see whether that hunter who had spoken so confidently could truly succeed. He had a feeling that hunter was going to do something remarkable. That was a prince's intuition. Perhaps it might even become the catalyst for gradually yielding the throne to his sister.
If that happened, Melchior himself would gladly surrender the seat without regret.
Melchior flung the crumpled letter paper toward the trash bin in the corner of the room.
"Oh—"
Watching the paper drop cleanly in without catching on the rim, a satisfied Melchior slowly tidied his desk.