Chapter 40
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Monster Parade (1)
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As evening fell, the triplet princes flung themselves onto the beds in the rooms prepared at the mansion and rolled around laughing uproariously.
"Hehehe."
"Today was seriously so much fun!"
"Yeah, yeah!"
Right up until they arrived at the mansion, the triplets had figured they'd just goof around near Aren while he read his books, something they hadn't done in ages.
Of course, eventually they'd summon spirits and drag him outside to play, but even just hanging out with Aren after so long would be fun, they'd thought.
But what they actually experienced upon arriving at Aren's mansion was something entirely different from their expectations—immense fun in a direction they never imagined.
Aren, the former weakling, had undergone a dramatic transformation.
His muscles were bulging, and he'd become ridiculously strong not just in magic but in hand-to-hand combat as well.
After Aren's spar with Hulan ended, Hulan went on to face Kirigumo, Aren's servant, and Gillek, the knight captain, while the triplets got to experience riding the griffon Mikel.
Flying around in circles above the mansion skies on the massive magical beast had the triplets wildly excited.
After joyriding on the griffon, they played hide-and-seek with Aren inside the mansion for the first time in ages.
Normally, they'd have to go easy on Aren because of his stamina issues, but having seen his skills, the triplets unleashed their spirits and went all out.
And even with spirits in play, Aren's overflowing stamina allowed him to match them evenly in hide-and-seek, thrilling the triplets even more at the chance to play at full throttle with their brother.
"What should we do tomorrow?"
"How about monster hunting with big bro?"
"That sounds fun!"
The triplets were certain that even monster hunting, which they'd grown bored of after doing it several times in the capital, would be a blast with the powered-up Aren.
Having decided on tomorrow's plans without consulting him, the triplets moved on to the next topic.
"So... those big-chested ladies other than Ridel? They were totally eyeing big bro, right?"
"The one in blue looked like she'd hand over her liver and gallbladder without a second thought."
"The red one seemed super conscious of the status difference, but she'd get ready in a flash if big bro ordered her to."
The new topic was the women around Aren and potential romance.
"Big bro's a guy, after all. Gathering all these pretty ladies."
"I thought he only had eyes for books and Ridel."
"But Ridel's still got that confidence."
"She seemed the most prim and proper. Is big bro gonna end up like Grandpa?"
Sun-Seon-Dae the Emperor.
The triplets' and other royals' grandfather had taken an empress and multiple concubines.
In stark contrast, the current king, William Eldiad, had only his empress, Alicia Eldiad, as his wife.
"But big bro's gotten kinda weird, hasn't he?"
"Yeah. Back in the day, he'd blush if Ridel even teased him a little."
"Not anymore! It's like... his mind's somewhere else."
"Right? Even with those busty ladies around, his face doesn't turn red at all!"
"It would've before."
"You know? Maybe when his talents awakened, women just stopped fazing him?"
"Could be."
"But he didn't seem totally uninterested!"
"What could it be?"
"Hmmmmm~."
The triplets pondered for a moment.
But their deliberation didn't last long.
"Who cares!"
"No point overthinking someone else's love life!"
"Big bro'll handle it fine!"
They quickly decided it was foolish to fret over someone else's romance, even if they were curious.
After playing with the triplets, I practiced Seonghwi's afterimage on my own and showed it off to Hulan the next day.
His shocked reaction confirmed I'd nailed it.
"Whoa."
"Big bro, did you just perfectly mimic Hulan's move?"
"How'd you copy it in just one day? Isn't that cheating?"
My brothers were stunned to see me master Hulan's secret technique in a single day.
Of course, if it had been my first secret technique ever, it would've taken days longer, but picking up Gillek's and Kirigumo's had given me a feel for replicating them.
'That's what let me roughly mimic Trond's technique even on first sight.'
I'd even stashed a dagger in my inventory for later use with secret techniques.
After getting Hulan's official stamp of approval, I was about to request a spar for evaluation when my brothers beat me to it, begging to head out and play.
And not just any outing.
"Let's go monster hunting, big bro!"
"Hunt monsters together!"
"Whoosh! Zip-zip-whoosh! Let's catch 'em!"
My spirited little brothers were pleading to go monster hunting.
I couldn't refuse their request when they'd be leaving in six days.
Besides, I wanted to test my new secret techniques on real monsters too.
"Alright, but you guys have to show off your spirit battles properly too!"
"Obviously!"
"We're spirit arts experts; of course we'll use spirits."
"But why?"
I glanced at Honeyball nestled in Tenka's arms and explained.
"We don't know how Honeyball will grow, but seeing the spirits' cool moves firsthand should help a ton."
Even if Honeyball could absorb magic, direct examples might lead to more diverse growth.
Better than vague notions—concrete demos would pay off long-term.
[Honey!]
"Honeyball says it'll watch and learn hard."
"Got it!"
"Okay!"
"We'll show Honeyball how spirits fight!"
Taking my brothers along with Hulan, Gillek, Ridel, Amelin, and Tenka, we headed down to the village.
The brothers were too distinctive, so I had them wear robes.
"Gonna take a guild request, big bro?"
"Feels more legit that way, right?"
"You care about stuff like that too?"
"Was it annoying?"
"No! Awesome!"
"We're gonna play hunter!"
With my excited brothers, we entered the guild.
But the guild, usually buzzing with energy, felt somber and stifling.
'What's going on?'
"Whoa, why's it so gloomy in here?"
"Something happen?"
"The atmosphere is definitely off."
We headed to the counter to find out.
"What happened?"
"Ah... well..."
The receptionist recognized me, looked shocked, and trailed off.
"Is it something I can't know?"
"N-no! Nothing like that. Actually..."
Her explanation revealed the grim mood.
A massive monster outbreak and migration nearby.
A Monster Parade had occurred.
And it was heading toward Durka village, a bit away from our Dandelrion village.
Fortunately, Dandelrion wasn't in its path, but if left unchecked, Durka would be swept up for sure.
That's why a rescue request to stop the Monster Parade had just come into the Dandelrion Hunter Guild.
But a Monster Parade was a deluge of massive magical beasts.
At least a hundred monsters charging en masse.
Durka had no proper guild, just a handful of village militia for defense.
Even mobilizing every hunter from Dandelrion might not be enough.
With no solid walls, they couldn't hole up and pick off monsters calmly; the best they had was wooden fencing.
A horde could smash through and surround them in no time.
Dangerous even all-out, a few volunteers would just die pointlessly.
They had no choice but to abandon Durka.
A few hunters had already left to guide the villagers to evacuate.
"How far is that village?"
"Half a day's ride west on horseback."
"Thanks for the info."
I left the guild after that.
My brothers immediately asked as we stepped out.
"Big bro! No request?"
"Why just ask about the village and leave?"
"Was the vibe too bad for hunting?"
If it were just me, I'd have to weigh if I could handle a Monster Parade alone.
No matter how fast my perks let me grow, numerical inferiority on that scale wasn't something I could fully overturn solo.
But.
Now I had a mage capable of wide-area spells and a reliable summoned familiar.
A knight order always ready for me, Kirigumo with veteran hunter skills, and Tenka, whom Kirigumo swore was a rising star.
Above all.
"Guys."
I had three spirit arts users, perfect for handling crowds.
"Since we're hunting anyway, wouldn't it be better to go wild to our hearts' content?"
Riki, Ruki, and Raki grinned ear-to-ear, teeth flashing, and chorused back.
""Yeah!""
As royals, the time had come to save our imperiled people.