...Why Can't I See This Bastard's Future?
...Why Can't I See This Bastard's Future?
Second day of the Subjugation Festival.
The Imperial Household, ceaselessly busy every single day, was unusually quiet today.
The inner chamber of the Second Imperial Princess, a space intimidating by its very presence.
This room perfectly mirrored the Grand Hall of the Imperial Palace, with officials arrayed across a carpet that only the most exalted beings were permitted to tread upon.
The Second Imperial Princess, Aurora, was seated upon her throne.
The reason for today's gathering was simple: the Second Imperial Princess wished to watch the Subjugation Festival together.
Yet even a simple wish became a command the moment Aurora held it. The chamber was silent as everyone studied their record scrolls. Only the Second Imperial Princess occasionally let out sounds of amusement.
The officials were not without enjoyment, of course, but none dared make a sound before Aurora.
Currently, the Second Imperial Princess's retinas reflected the sight of knights scrambling desperately through Berkel.
"What a ridiculous spectacle."
Aurora let out a soft laugh.
"Watching such supposedly noble creatures grovel about like that is delightful. Truly delightful. Does that make me wicked?"
"How could it not be delightful, when future heroes are so generously displaying their martial prowess?"
Aurora's knight, Van, replied.
"Spare me the flattery. What's amusing is watching them run ragged without even rations. That's what I find entertaining."
"The rations for the Subjugation Festival have a short shelf life. And Berkel's regional characteristics cause the body to tire rapidly...."
The fact that combat rations purchasable from the shop had a fixed expiry limit, and that Berkel's environment sapped energy and exhausted the body quickly.
Aurora already knew all of it.
"I know. All of it. I know, but I simply find it amusing."
Van nodded quietly.
"Your Highness."
This time, he extended what looked like a small wooden board. Aurora slowly shifted her gaze, which had been fixed on the record scrolls.
"This is the score standings."
"Leave it."
"I believe you would enjoy viewing them together."
"Is there any need? Just tell me the Magic Department's score. That alone will suffice."
Aurora's primary interest in the Subjugation Festival was the Magic Department. No, to be precise, it was Plan.
The fact that he had exploited the Mist Cliff exemption clause to rack up points, and that he had publicly revealed the phantom map to everyone.
These unpredictable actions were more than enough to capture the Second Imperial Princess's attention.
"Currently, Cheonchuk is in first place. The Magic Department earned almost no points on the first day."
"I see. So that's how it is."
Aurora blinked once.
"My interest grows. Taking one's time should only end up serving others, yet I cannot easily gauge this bastard's thoughts."
"I would imagine no one knows but himself."
The Second Imperial Princess nodded.
"Precisely. That is exactly what makes this interesting."
Aurora was said to possess "divine mystery."
For her, wielding a sword skillfully and mastering magic came as naturally as breathing. But the reason the phrase "possesses divine mystery" rather than merely "has remarkable talent" clung to her was this:
"...Why can't I see this bastard's future? I'm curious about the sharp scheme he must be holding in his head."
She could see the very near future of specific individuals. It was a power impossible to describe with ordinary explanations.
Yet, that power was defiantly blocked when it came to Plan. The same held true when she observed others. Their futures, unfolding minutes later, appeared fragmented — but any future connected to Plan was painted over in black, invisible.
While she was thinking this, the figures of officials holding differently colored slips of paper caught her eye.
Van, following the Princess's gaze, spoke up on his own.
"These are prediction slips."
"Hm."
"It is a method of wagering something and predicting match outcomes, a way to make the Subjugation Festival more entertaining."
"Hm."
"They say commoners quite enjoy this method as well."
"Hm."
"...Would Your Highness the Second Imperial Princess like to try it once?"
"Hmm."
"...."
Teasing her taciturn knight Van was one of Aurora's amusements. Wearing an amused smile, she waved her hand lightly.
"You lot enjoy it. I find it childish and detest it. Such things are to the third sister's taste."
"Her Highness Princess Yushia has already achieved results at 1:96 odds."
"...What?"
A faint intensity crept into Aurora's eyes, which had been steeped in languor. The Second Imperial Princess tilted her head slightly.
Then she extended one hand.
"Hand it over."
"...."
Van silently looked up at Aurora.
Those golden eyes appeared identical to Yushia's, but upon closer inspection, the substance within was utterly different.
A fearsome competitive spirit.
That was the name of the fuel filling those eyes.
◈
Berkel Forest.
"Run, run!"
The knight Vanessa shouted with all her might. Beside her, one of her squadmates was running just as desperately.
"Gyaaahk!"
"No!"
But before long, she clearly saw her squadmate's shoulder get pierced through. Terrified, Vanessa swung her sword wildly.
Shriaaack—!
This time, the result was finally a success.
She had somehow brought down the notoriously difficult demon beast, the Witch's Spirit. Yet despite that, Vanessa felt no joy at all.
With a heavy heart, she surveyed the current state of things.
Regular knights who had appeared from somewhere were collecting her critically wounded squadmates. All were eliminated from the Festival, but that was a hundred times better than forcing things and losing their lives.
"I leave them in your care...."
The regular knights had already vanished without a trace. At the spot where they had just been standing, Vanessa bowed her head deeply.
"How did it come to this?"
She let out a deep sigh. The joy of survival was not great. She was battered all over herself, after all.
"...."
To make matters worse, a growl rumbled from her stomach. Vanessa rummaged through the mostly ruined temporary shelter and pulled out one of the combat rations.
There was no time to sink into gloom. Reduce mealtime to a bare minimum. Find a way somehow.... It was in the midst of those thoughts, while she was examining the combat ration—
"Huh?"
Vanessa's eyes went wide.
The combat ration, which should have held something substantial, was empty. Wondering if she was seeing things, she even turned it upside down and shook it out.
But the result was the same. It was empty.
"Ah...."
Only then did one of the Festival's provisions come to mind.
—Subjugation Festival combat rations automatically expire after 30 hours.
"This is insane!"
Vanessa buried her face in her palms. She understood fairly evaluating the representatives' survival skills, but 30 hours was just too harsh.
The strength of the demon beasts, the strength of the other knights, the food shortage, Berkel's characteristic rapid physical exhaustion.
For Vanessa, who had barely scraped through the preliminaries, these were utterly insurmountable adversities.
"Ugh."
Still, Vanessa steadied her resolve. For the sake of her squadmates. And for her own future self, she needed to do her very best until the end.
So the female knight began to walk. The image of the phantom map she'd memorized was already faint, but she endured, believing the path she was on was correct.
"...!"
Steadfastly walking, she suddenly stopped. At the same time, her eyes shot open and she scanned ahead.
"Uh...!"
It was there.
Ahead lay a box, neatly wrapped with a ribbon. It was clearly a supply package randomly distributed around Berkel by the regular knights.
But that joy was short-lived.
"Where should we head to now?"
"First, this place is dangerous. There's a Witch's Spirit here."
The supplies had already been claimed by other knights.
Vanessa studied their faces. Familiar faces. It was Blue Cloud, the squad led by Kian.
"What, isn't that Vanessa?"
Just then, Kian spotted Vanessa.
"Why are you wandering around alone? It's dangerous."
The faces of the Blue Cloud squad members were full of the joy of having claimed the supplies and a sense of superiority from pulling ahead in the competition.
"Do you have rations... rations, by any chance?"
"Rations? Of course we do. Do you need some?"
Vanessa nodded desperately.
"I'll give you points. In exchange for the rations...."
"Ah, we don't need points."
"It's quite a lot of points. I took down a Witch's Spirit, so...."
At that moment, one of the knights standing beside Kian interjected.
"Enough. Have you seen the Magic Department?"
"The Magic Department...?"
"Cheonchuk is looking for the Magic Department, you know. They said they'd give an insane amount of points if you just share information about a Witch."
"I haven't seen them."
The moment she answered, all interest drained from Blue Cloud's faces. The knight coldly snapped.
"Leave this place within three minutes. After that, we'll ask how you're doing with nothing but our swords. Consider yourself warned."
"...."
Frustrating as it was, Vanessa had no choice but to obey. She couldn't take on four opponents in her current state.
So she walked, and walked again.
"So... thirsty...."
Staggering, she walked on, simply hoping for a miracle.
◈
The morning of the second day of the Subjugation Festival.
From an early hour, we were already moving diligently.
Louis was trimming the ingredients with surprisingly deft skill, while Becky was still sitting in a chair, dozing off.
Trixie volunteered to clean up the surroundings.
Once I set a perimeter for her, she began the work using magic in her own way. Still clumsy, but the nearby space was gradually transforming into a proper campsite.
"That's a bit better."
After clearing away whatever had been Becky's so-called shelter in one sweep, Trixie wore a somewhat proud expression.
I crafted a long wooden dining table. The three of them could eat here.
Trixie asked me,
"We're doing something today, right? Apart from catching a few Mumyeong, we did nothing yesterday."
I nodded.
Today's objective was to head to a danger zone.
The points you could earn in a danger zone were far larger compared to ordinary areas. I had only been waiting until now for the teleportation magic circle to finish forming.
'However....'
I had designed this circle in the format of a problem. The effect would only activate once the three representatives solved it.
And explaining all of that would be a waste of time.
"First, just eat your breakfast quietly."
"You never make it easy to understand."
"You'll know soon enough."
"No, what...."
Right when she was about to press the matter further—
"It's the method Teacher-nim wanted."
"...!"
Trixie's eyebrows twitched wildly once.
A brief silence flowed. Trixie stood still, only rolling her eyes, then let out a few dry coughs.
"Hmm. Is that so? Then you should have said so."
Watching Trixie, who was now even humming a tune as she dropped the matter with startling speed, I found myself with nothing to say.
"You guys~ what are you talking about?"
That voice was Louis's. He approached, his basket full of trimmed ingredients.
Trixie's attention shifted to the basket.
"You already finished trimming?"
"Yep. Deciding the menu was the hardest part. Thanks to the points we first secured, the ingredients are so diverse."
"Yeah, that figures."
A 'desperate struggle to secure food' — that was a story that didn't apply to us at all yet.
We'd started with a large amount of ingredients secured from the shop, and I personally secured the drinking water by purifying the river.
Sizzle—
Louis began grilling vegetables and meat together. He had been up and moving since dawn to hunt a Steel Boar.
"Woooow...."
Like a spontaneously generated entity, Becky revealed herself. Wearing the happiest face in the world, she meticulously inspected each item of food.
And exactly twenty minutes later.
The three were gathered cozily around the table I had made. Meat and vegetables — a common combination, but eating it in Berkel gave it a different significance.
...And in a way, this might be their last supper.
"I'll eat well!"
Becky energetically stabbed a piece of meat with her fork. It vanished into the girl's mouth in the blink of an eye.
Chew, chew.
Every time her jaw moved, Becky's eyes grew wider and wider. Her clenched fist trembled.
"It's so.... sooo delicious...."
"Huh? I set those aside separately because they were burnt."
"...?"
Becky, looking dazed, gulped down what she had been chewing.
Looking at the stunned Becky as if she were pathetic, Trixie picked up a few washed vegetables.
What she now held was a carrot cut into rectangular sticks. Crunch crunch — she chewed exactly like a rabbit.
"...Huh."
But after chewing the carrot a few times, Trixie looked a little surprised and asked Louis,
"Don't tell me you seasoned this? That won't do."
Louis answered with a small laugh.
"I didn't. It seems Plan just touched it up a bit."
"...?"
"Really. All he did was handle them a few times, and that made the vegetables a little fresher."
Raising the level of cleanliness and freshness wasn't difficult. I fixed them up because dealing with an upset stomach would've been an annoyance.
"Must've learned it from Teacher-nim."
Trixie began chewing the carrot again. Moving her jaw much faster than before.
The meal continued like that for a while. As I was inspecting the magic circle on the ground, Becky suddenly called out to me.
"Oh, Plan. Aren't you eating?"
I simply nodded silently.
Eating with others didn't suit my temperament to begin with, and right now, verifying the magic circle was the top priority.
"Hahaha.... You should at least leave something before asking that."
Louis laughed and pointed out to Becky.
Becky had already eaten every last thing on the table that could be called food.
"Ah."
Becky awkwardly scratched her head. Trixie, crunching on a carrot, made a remark.
"This is why you gain weight."
"...."
"Louis is amazing too, you know. I can't believe he hunted a Steel Boar without mistaking Becky for it. And then grilled it."
"Why are you picking on me?"
But right then.
I abruptly sensed a certain energy. It belonged to a knight, faltering and barely able to stand.
"Huh?"
And the next moment.
The three of them voiced their puzzlement simultaneously. Something had emerged, pushing through the underbrush.
"Wh-, wh-, what is that? A ghoul?"
"Is it a ghoul? I think it's a fellow knight."
"It's a ghoul, right? Looks like a corpse...."
While Becky and Louis chattered, I examined its appearance. A knight with brown hair.
Clearly battered all over, she approached unsteadily. It was like watching a sleepwalker.
"Who are you?"
Before my question even finished, she collapsed to the ground.
"Water. Water. Please, just a sip of water...."
I flicked a finger. A canteen full of drinking water appeared before her.
"Water?"
The female knight's eyes flew open and she gulped it down frantically. The sight was so pitiful that I tossed her a leftover combat ration as well. In any case, they were things I needed to dispose of before they expired.
"...!"
Seeing the combat ration, her eyes stretched so wide they looked fit to split.
Still collapsed, she looked back and forth between me and the ration over ten times.
As if being granted a family heirloom, she picked it up and asked,
"Something this precious, to me?"
"Consider it charity. You looked truly pitiful."
"Even so.... something this precious...."
I pointed behind me with my chin.
The knight finally confirmed with her own two eyes the sight of the three figures sitting cozily around the long wooden table, enjoying their feast.
"...?"
Soon after, she stiffened like a stone statue.