Chapter 81
As I gazed at Rainer warmly, he kept biting his lip and avoiding my eyes. It was something I always thought about—he had that utterly impassive expression, yet he got so shy in front of me.
"......You're too kind."
"It's the truth."
I loosened my grip on the reins and leaned slightly against the saddle, looking up at the sky. The clouds had gathered a bit, hinting at possible rain, but it still looked mostly clear. Amid the familiar scent of the forest, I took a deep breath, catching the heavy yet fragrant aroma of rosewood mixed in.
"Most men in that situation would have boasted about their chivalry. They'd have used me to show off how strong and righteous they were. But you didn't try to flaunt yourself—you supported me instead."
I predicted that if it had been any other noble in Rainer's place, that guy would have pretended to get angry for my sake, flaunting his sense of justice to the hilt. As a gentleman, he might have offered to hunt in my stead, turning himself into the hero under all the social scrutiny of this bet. But Rainer had gotten truly angry for me, naturally making me the center of attention instead of himself. He had stepped up purely for my sake, without a shred of selfish desire.
"Thank you for taking my side."
I whispered softly and flashed him a bright smile. I was thrilled to have someone like him around me.
"Meeting you must be one of the greatest strokes of luck in my life."
Rainer's face, which had been watching me, flushed red in an instant. His ears and the back of his neck turned scarlet as he whipped his head away. The usually impassive face twisted into an expression of utter bewilderment.
He can make that kind of face too, huh.
I side-eyed him with a touch of curiosity at this rare change in his expression. Rainer, looking like a shy boy, involuntarily brought fragments of my past to mind.
Cartel.
Short-cropped black hair. A slender, skinny frame. A pale face marked by illness. Emotionless blue eyes so empty they sent chills down my spine. Rainer's past self—the boy who had been my friend in childhood.
Come to think of it, this situation is similar to when I first met Cartel.
Suddenly struck by a sense of déjà vu, I glanced around. The season was autumn back then and spring now, and we'd both grown a lot since, but it was a forest, just the two of us—eerily similar.
My encounter with Cartel had happened unexpectedly. In the fall of the year I turned fourteen, while out on a magic beast subjugation request in some forest, I'd stumbled upon him surrounded by beasts purely by chance.
'I seem to be a burden to everyone, whether here or in my daily life.'
I remembered how his utterly emotionless face had been tinged with melancholy. The fifteen-year-old boy had been ill in body and soul.
That kid has become today's Rainer...... He's really...... grown so much.
Half proud, half amazed, I observed Rainer anew. His height, stunted by illness and once level with mine, now towered over me—I had to look up to meet his eyes. His fragile, sickly face had become robust and full of life; his severely emaciated body had grown large and sturdy. The pretty boy with a childish air had matured into a strikingly handsome man.
Above all, the most striking change was in his eyes. Those chillingly empty blue ones now gleamed golden—still impassive, but at least able to hold ripples of emotion.
The hollow boy I'd met in a forest teeming with magic beasts had grown into a solid knight.
He's not in pain anymore, right?
At the sudden thought, I stared right through Rainer. After a long moment of avoiding my gaze and sweating coldly, he slowly turned back to face me. His face took on a soft red hue, mirroring the blue sky above.
"You said I was kind," he whispered softly.
"Do you like kind people, my lady?"
His low question came with eyes that burned blindly into me—eyes like those of a loyal dog gazing at its master. I blinked slowly and gave a small smile.
Fashions came and went in cycles. People now romanticized vice, coldness, and cruelty as cool. But I still preferred kind and gentle souls. Those who didn't mock earnest struggles, who quietly supported lonely paths.
"Yes. I like kind people."
I liked people like Rainer.
Rainer smiled. He shed his stoic mask and bloomed like a flower in full display.
"Then I'll make an effort to be kind only to Lady Crisis."
The smile gracing his red face, backed by the sun, was so beautiful it seemed unforgettable.
But then—Lady Crisis?
"Pardon?"
"We, uh—all this prey...... Shwick!"
With a sharp sound slicing through the air, a deer drinking at the lakeside collapsed with a thud. I admired the black arrow that had pierced its heart dead-center, then turned to Rainer. This special bow, powered by my aura rather than a regular arrow, never missed as long as the target was in my sight.
"Sorry. Could you repeat that?"
Rainer, who had slightly parted his lips at the sight of the instantly slain deer, closed his mouth at my question. His throat bobbed.
"Can we...... take all this game back with us?"
His question carried exhaustion and dismay. As I gathered the mana from the bow, I side-eyed the pile of game under the tree.
Not bad for three hours' work.
I appraised the haul indifferently, then dashed to the lakeside in one burst of mana, retrieving the deer. I tossed it atop the pile and brushed back the bangs tickling my eyes. My hair, tied with a blue ribbon, swayed in the wind.
"Don't worry. I have a way."
I grinned confidently at Rainer, who stared at the stacked game with weary eyes, and pulled a small stone from my pocket.
"What's that?"
"A magic tool Kal made for me at my request."
I tossed it onto the pile of game with a curt reply.
Flash!
A burst of light spread from where the stone landed, and the game vanished. I beamed proudly at Rainer's mildly surprised expression.
"It transfers targets to an infinite subspatial storage vault. Kal prepared it specially for me. This is our first base camp."
"First...... base camp? You don't plan to head back yet?"
Rainer, who had been nodding in understanding, suddenly asked again. I flashed a toothy grin at his blinking eyes.
"Of course not. I brought about twenty stones, to be safe."
The hunting contest ran until noon tomorrow, and as I'd vowed, I planned to dominate it completely. Rainer, slightly sweaty from tailing a Sword Master for two hours, looked at me with awe and admiration mingled in his expression.
"Are you tired? If so, you can head back first. I'll keep hunting."
I side-eyed Rainer as he brushed back his sweat-dampened bangs and coated my feet with mana. My heightened instincts told me beasts were nearby.
Hunting's pretty fun.
I'd spent nearly my whole life swinging a sword to survive massive magic beasts, but wielding it for sport felt different. It started as a way to humiliate Audi, but now I was enjoying it.
"No, I'm not tired at all."
Rainer denied it vehemently and coated his own feet with mana. The rippling golden mana looked like swirling gold dust—gorgeously pretty.
"Good. As planned, let's head to the badger den next."
"Yes."
"Tracks were left to the right of the forest, so first, follow the footprints—thud."
My heart dropped. I froze mid-sentence, rigid. My heart pounded like a drum, every hair on my body standing on end. A stabbing pain rang in my head as I reached a certain conclusion.
A massive threat nearby.
A danger so huge even I, a Sword Master, felt tense. Face set hard, I focused every nerve on the direction my instincts warned.
"......My lady?"
Rainer eyed my sudden silence in confusion. It was no wonder he hadn't sensed it—this presence was so faint even I struggled to pinpoint it.
I scanned the surroundings rapidly without answering, eyes narrowed.
Where? What is it?
I sharpened my instincts like a blade. My senses, honed rolling among magic beasts, were far keener than other Sword Masters'. A few months off subjugations wouldn't dull them. My beast-sharper instincts pointed clearly.
"Rainer!"
Rawr!
Without a second thought, I shoved Rainer roughly aside on pure instinct. As his body flew toward the trees, a massive roar erupted, and a gigantic maw appeared from thin air where he'd stood. Rainer was safe, but I'd taken his place—and my situation was different.
Crunch.
"Kashmir!"
A gruesome tearing of flesh, and pale blood trickled from my shoulder where fangs had sunk in. Rainer's face went deathly white.
Dizzy.
I hastily coated my shoulder with mana to prevent broken bones, but perfect defense in that instant was impossible. Feeling the poison from the fangs soak in, I drew my sword in a flash.
Slash!
A silver line streaked long, the flashing blade slicing through the magic beast's torso.
Kraaa!
An ear-piercing, unwelcome screech. A nauseating stench of blood assaulting my nose. Black blood splattering my face. All familiar to me.
I've gone soft, Kashmir Crisis.
I narrowed my eyes coldly. Even if this beast could hide its presence like a ghost, for someone with my sharp instincts to sense it so late and offer up my shoulder was embarrassing.
Tension dominated my body for the first time in ages. Amid my screaming instincts, I stepped in front of Rainer, who stared white-faced at my shoulder.
"Fall back behind me, Sir Rainer."
Grrrrr......
Hearing the wounded magic beast growl savagely, I raised my sword. Black blood dripped from the gleaming blade, staining my hand. Hook-like claws and thick green fur-covered hide. Fangs dripping venom. A body shimmering like cloaked in transparent magic.
The so-called "Harabana," silent predator of the deep woods.
Facing off against its bulk several times my size, I spoke to Rainer.
"This great magic beast is under control."
Its mindless eyes. Reckless charge against a Sword Master's killing intent. The faint, chilling aura of black magic wafting from it.
A magic beast controlled by the northerners had appeared smack in the middle of the forest hosting the hunting contest.