Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Hunting Festival (7)
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“Ha...! Haah..!!”
Sena ran alone through the forest. In the exact opposite direction from where Yujin and Fenrir were fighting.
If she kept running this way, she could reach the starting point of the hunting festival, where everyone was gathered.
Kuoooong—!!!!!!
“Ugh..!”
The aftermath of the battle reached even Sena. She barely kept herself from falling to the ground and started running again.
As she ran, she thought.
'The, the Crown Prince and the Northern Grand Duke...?'
She didn't know.
She had no idea if they were alive or dead.
In her memory, all she recalled was the Crown Prince being flung away by a casual swipe of Fenrir's front paw, and the Northern Grand Duke muttering something incomprehensible like 'Why has it come to this...!' before being sent flying with a single kick.
After that, she had fled without confirming their survival.
Still, she wanted to believe they were alive.
Regardless of how uncomfortable she felt about their courtship, that didn't mean they deserved to die.
So, hoping they were alive, Sena dashed toward the edge.
Turning back now to check on the Crown Prince and the Northern Grand Duke would be utter madness.
She lacked the strength to protect herself, and heading back there would only throw her into danger again, rendering Yujin's efforts to save her from Fenrir meaningless.
As shameful as it was, she knew that.
Kwaaaang—!!!!!!!!!
The distant roar from Yujin and Fenrir's clash slammed into her ears.
“Haah..! Sniff..! Yujin..!”
Suddenly, Yujin's image flashed through her mind.
Right before her eyes, when she thought she was done for, Yujin had appeared like a knight from a fairy tale. He had swept her into his arms and saved her life from Fenrir.
And then, the image from their engagement days resurfaced: Yujin in that alley, having killed a man, wearing a smile that meant nothing to her.
Yujin stood tall amid the corpses of burly adult men, holding a small dagger dripping with blood.
'Ugh...!'
The two opposing images crossed in her mind.
Which one was the real Yujin? The past and present felt too disconnected.
'I don't know...!'
Shamelessly, in the moment she was saved, she had thought Yujin was cool.
Her former fiancé, surrounded by all sorts of bad rumors—even caught meeting other women despite their engagement—and the sight of him killing someone had driven her away.
Yet her heart fluttered for the man whose family she had personally informed of the broken engagement, as if she still harbored feelings for him.
...As if she had committed a forbidden sin.
Her chest grew complicated.
But.
Shake, shake—
She shook her head lightly as she ran.
'No. It was just because I was scared.'
Sena convinced herself that her pounding heart was just from fear.
Thus, she failed to realize it.
That her own emotions were becoming so tangled and complex that even she couldn't recognize them.
That seeing Yujin's undeniably heroic figure now was planting doubts about his rumors and actions from their engagement days deep in her heart.
She was utterly oblivious.
Oblivious to the regret this would bring her in the future, she simply ran through the forest to survive.
Shing—
Click—
Yujin sheathed his sword.
“Hmm...”
He approached the massive wolf that had just met its end, Fenrir. Up close, the sword marks he had carved into Fenrir stood out clearly.
One leg had been cleanly severed by his strike, and a massive hole gaped in its central body from the final blow, leaving Fenrir dead.
Gazing at the wounds, he stroked Fenrir's silver fur. At the same time, he analyzed the mana emanating from Fenrir through his fingertips.
...
“...Demonic Energy is mixed in, as expected.”
The sensation he had felt before the battle wasn't a mistake.
Beyond Fenrir's innate mana, a faint, sticky Demonic Energy could be sensed.
Was this Demonic Energy the reason Fenrir had been weakened?
Honestly, the Fenrir he fought fell far short of a mythical beast. It was just an exceptionally huge and strong wolf.
Of course, the fact that this giant wolf had pushed a Sword Master to that extent was laughable in itself...
But that was that.
'There's no way this thing killed a god.'
The tales of Fenrir might have been exaggerated over generations. Or maybe this wasn't the real Fenrir.
In any case, even without him, a group of upper-level Sword Experts and Graduate knights could have hunted it somehow.
Of course, most of the participating knights would die in the process.
“...Or maybe it was weakened by the Demonic Energy.”
He murmured quietly.
For now, he had no idea why it had Demonic Energy. Creatures called magical beasts or mythical beasts didn't actually possess Demonic Energy despite their names. They felt more like monsters with flawed evolution.
So he didn't know if it was born with it or if someone had implanted it later.
“Or perhaps we can infer that the Demonic Energy weakened Fenrir.”
Like a human growing frail from a congenital illness.
'If not, and it was injected postnatally... then it has to be the cultists.'
Only demon-worshipping cultists handled Demonic Energy.
“Haa.”
How did such a massive wolf enter the imperial forest under the imperial family's management? And why was it even in a forest managed by the imperial family for centuries...?
The issues were piling up.
“Tch.”
In the end, he'd have to leave the details to the mages to investigate...
Just as he pulled his hand away from Fenrir and prepared to wait for the approaching presences,
“...Wait.”
Sensing something, he closed his eyes and focused all his senses on Fenrir.
And—
“...This is.”
Fenrir's mana, the sticky Demonic Energy. Beyond that, very faintly but distinctly, he sensed another person's mana.
...Mana that felt familiar, like he had sensed it from someone before.
While Yujin was lost in thought alone, Lucia and Irene arrived nearby, accompanied by the Royal Guard knights and a few nobles.
They frowned at the traces of battle around Yujin and Fenrir, and the overwhelming residual mana.
“This is...”
Lucia lightly rubbed her arm.
The battle between Yujin and Fenrir had raised the surrounding mana density to an excessive level.
The pressure was suffocating, and the lingering mana pricked at their skin.
“Your Highness, it might be dangerous. Please step back while we check...”
“No.”
Lucia firmly shook her head at the Royal Guard's words.
The battle between Yujin and Fenrir had shaken the earth and sky.
Even from far away, they had felt it vividly. That meant it had been an intensely fierce showdown.
Though they hadn't known each other long, the man she had given her heart to was undoubtedly there at the end of that fight.
So, as his future wife, both Lucia and Irene wanted to check on their husband-to-be's condition themselves.
“Yujin will be fine.”
“...!!!”
Lucia's firm declaration.
Some nobles were shocked that she addressed Yujin by name.
She had been with him at the ball, come as his partner to the hunting festival, and now casually called him by name...
This was practically advertising, 'I'm close to Yujin,' or 'I have feelings for him.'
'...No way?'
The nobles glanced at Irene.
What about the Arkabella Duchess?
She had been with him at the ball and come as his partner to the hunting festival too.
And then, words from her lips that confirmed the nobles' suspicions.
“Let's hurry to Yujin. He's surely waiting for us.”
Unaware of the nobles' thoughts, Lucia and Irene walked toward where Yujin was.
Reaching the center, they discovered a massive Fenrir lying dead, and Yujin standing quietly before the corpse, gazing at it.
Ignoring the stinging residual mana, Lucia and Irene approached him.
““Yujin.””
“...You're here.”
Yujin looked at them.
Irene circled Yujin once, her face filled with worry.
“You're not hurt anywhere, are you?”
“Yeah, Yujin. You're not injured, right?”
Nod.
“Not even a scratch. No need to worry.”
Irene shook her head and hugged his arm between her chest.
“How could I not worry? We felt your battle from way over there.”
“...Was it that noticeable?”
Well, yeah.
It would be weirder if they hadn't noticed a fight like that.
Yujin gave a faint smile.
“Thanks for worrying, Irene.”
He looked at Lucia next.
“Thanks for worrying, Lucia.”
“Hehe, as long as you're fine.”
Lucia approached Fenrir.
“By the way... this is Fenrir, right?”
“Seems like it.”
“How was it?”
“Strong.”
Yujin stated firmly without hesitation.
“If I hadn't stepped in, everyone might have died.”
Not with the forces here.
The Royal Guards were decent, but not Masters. Same for Lucia and Irene not being Archmages.
“I see...”
Lucia murmured softly. Yujin glanced at the Royal Guards and nobles waiting at a distance, not approaching.
“More importantly, I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
“I'd like you to search for the Crown Prince and the Northern Grand Duke. I saved the Marilsian Lady when she was nearly eaten by Fenrir, but I couldn't confirm the other two's status.”
Lucia nodded gravely.
“...Got it, Yujin.”
Soon, they saw Lucia approaching the Royal Guards and nobles, issuing orders.
“Well then...”
Yujin looked at Irene, still holding his arm between her chest.
Their eyes met, and she smiled with her eyes.
'...Pretty.'
...Oops.
Not the time.
“Irene. Will you come with me?”
Irene tilted her head.
“Where to?”
“Deeper in.”
He sensed Fenrir's mana from deeper inside. Maybe that's where it had come from originally.
It wouldn't hurt to check.
“Sure.”
And so, Yujin and Irene headed toward where Fenrir's mana lingered.
And there.
“Kiiing... Ng... Kiing... Heok, heok...”
“...?”
“...A wolf?”
A wolf pup that looked like Fenrir's offspring rubbed against Yujin's leg.
No matter how much he pushed it away, it came right back and rubbed against him again.
“Kiiing...”
...And just like that, he had accidentally adopted a baby wolf.