Chapter 150
Chapter 150
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 150
Chapter Title: New Phase #3
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To be honest, I never liked the words "fate" or "inevitability."
That included things like horoscopes or fortunes too.
To me, the world wasn't something that flowed along predetermined paths or rails. It was just a product of changes based on my choices.
Choices and results stemming from free will.
A continuous chain of unexpected coincidences.
That was my definition of the future.
If I started believing in something like fate, then being abandoned by my mother from childhood and left alone would become "fate"—something inevitable.
Who gets abandoned inevitably?
Because of that, I thought my values, formed this way, wouldn't change unless something enormous happened.
And then.
The recent events in my life had been a series of incidents grand enough to be called major events.
"Lady Aira, are you alright?"
I hurriedly ran toward Queen Aira. I could see the mana barrier around her crackling and shattering from the crossbow bolt.
A bolt that pierced through the mana barrier in one strike—something that hadn't even been scratched or broken by Ark's Three Stars, Verdonas's barrage.
"Hmm."
Aira let out an intrigued hum as she looked at the black cloak visible atop a distant tree. Then, with a snap of her fingers, the bolt flew back exactly the way it came.
*Whoosh.*
*Crunch.*
The shadow atop the tree dodged the attack and leaped lightly into the air. It landed softly on the ground soon after, with no sense of weight at all.
Like a black panther alighting gracefully from a high wall into the bushes.
━That guy's a hunter.
━A hunter attacked the Queen?
━Y-yeah, h-he's coming this way…!
Pushing through the murmuring crowd, the man in the black cloak approached the Queen.
When the bandages wrapped tightly around him and his cloak fluttered ominously, and his black eyes met Aira's black eyes—.
For the first time, I thought that maybe fate really did exist.
Hero and Demon King.
Villain Hunter and Villain—were they destined to meet no matter what?
"Who are you?"
Aira asked the hunter first, with leisure.
It was hard to believe she was looking up at a man two heads taller than her, her poise was so commanding.
No, perhaps the hunter was the impressive one, standing tall without cowering before Queen Aira.
"……."
The hunter was taciturn.
He didn't open his bandage-wrapped lips, simply looking down at Aira.
I instinctively realized he was gauging whether he could kill Aira or if he shouldn't.
Because in the story, the protagonist hunter was that kind of man.
A psychopath who killed villains solely for the readers' entertainment.
That thought made my hair stand on end. My mind filled with the need to protect Aira somehow.
If Aira were assassinated here, everything would fall into uncontrollable chaos, I thought.
The thought that everything I'd protected might shatter made me angry too.
So, I aimed my wand at the hunter and yelled.
"You there, you rude bastard!"
Then, I saw those black eyes turn toward me.
Both Aira and the hunter were looking at me. My vision spun for a moment, but it wasn't unbearable.
Amid the focused gazes, I shouted vigorously.
"Do you know who you just shot at!!! This is a blatant, treasonous provocation against the Angmar Royal Family!!!"
Yelling loudly strangely gave me courage. Using the bubbling will rising from my gut as fuel, I added a few more words.
"You'd better drop your weapon and bow your head to Her Majesty the Queen in apology…!!!"
*Whoooosh.*
At my words, the surroundings fell into momentary silence.
No one was whispering; they just blinked, watching to see where this would go. Unexpectedly, Aira spoke first.
"That's enough, Theo."
"Pardon? Enough?"
"Hide behind me."
Aira tried to pull me behind her. Then she asked the hunter.
"What is your name?"
"……."
The hunter didn't open his mouth. But his black eyes, visible beneath the bandages, burned fiercely as if speaking volumes.
"W-wait! Excuse me, coming through! Just a moment-. What do you think you're doing right now!"
Then someone parted the crowd and appeared. She wore the navy robes typical of a capital monk, a beauty with long blonde hair and blue eyes.
Miriam, the priestess of the hunter's party.
She was yelling as if she knew the whole situation.
"Mr. Hunter, how can you act on your own like this! Oh no, what do we do. I'm truly sorry."
Aira let out a somewhat listless "Hmm…" as if her interest had vanished, watching Miriam bow repeatedly toward us.
"How boring."
* * *
People chattered all day about what had happened.
Whispers spread nonstop that a bounty hunter from outside Ark had attacked Queen Aira.
"Extra, extra! Get your papers here! Extra!"
"Here's one, Hoe-noi."
"Theo Gospel, always so kind. Extra…!"
The freshly printed newspaper had the Queen Aira assassination attempt splashed across the front page.
「Queen Aira von Tarantara of Angmar Shot At-!」
「The perpetrator is a bounty hunter hired by Professor Stella Velhok; the Church and Ark authorities are investigating any connections— .」
「Velhok family spokesperson Irna claims no involvement in the incident— .」
If this were between nations, it could spark a diplomatic crisis leading to war—a massive issue.
An attempt on the Queen's life was a historic event worthy of the annals, so of course it was. The world buzzing was inevitable.
"Theo, look, there's a mandarin duck over there."
But the target herself was scattering feed toward the pond fish as if nothing had happened.
On the leisurely artificial pond. Standing on the bridge, gazing at the shimmering surface. Then Aira furrowed her brow deeply.
Was she upset about the earlier attack?
"No, on closer look, it's not a mandarin duck—it's a duck. A thunder duck."
"A mallard?"
"No, thunder duck. Their call sounds like thunder."
━Krrrng.
"See?"
To Aira, whether that swimming bird was a mandarin duck or a duck seemed more important than what happened earlier.
As I watched massive fish flap and snatch feed, I couldn't hold back my curiosity any longer.
"You're just letting it slide like nothing happened. Are you really okay with that?"
"What do you mean?"
"The hunter. He attacked you, Queen Aira."
"Ah. Yes, that happened."
Aira spoke as if reminiscing about ancient history. It felt like the hunter incident had been erased from her mind.
But I was different.
I'd kept my distance from the protagonist's party, monitoring them appropriately. But they'd crossed the line first.
If things stayed like this, not just Aira but my own safety and the world itself might plunge into chaos. I had to take measures.
There was no guarantee it wouldn't happen again.
Yet Aira just kept tossing feed to the fish.
"Theo, we can't let something like that ruin our rare day off."
"Something like that?"
"No one got hurt, did they?"
That was true, but.
Seeing my dissatisfied expression, Aira dumped all the feed from her hand into the pond. The fish below the bridge went wild.
*Flap, flap.*
After watching for a while, Aira spoke.
"Theo, a while back, when you and I got caught in the rain. Did you protest to the sky that soaked your clothes and my shoes, or demand compensation?"
"No. But why bring that up now?"
"Hehe-."
Aira laughed as if she'd heard something amusing. Then she stroked my head with the hand that had just been holding fish feed.
"Theo, it's surprising that there's something you don't know. The man we met earlier is like rain falling from the sky. A natural disaster that's hard for human reason to comprehend."
"A natural disaster?"
"Yes. No one demands explanations or protests from falling rain, shaking earth, or erupting volcanoes. It's pointless. That man is a calamity in human form."
Aira's words pierced to the core.
A calamity in human form.
But suddenly, I recalled that back home, Aira herself had been called something similar by others.
"Your face looks dissatisfied. You don't like me petting your head with fish-feed hands?"
"No, that's not it. Even so, is it right to let it end without proper punishment?"
"The board of directors at Ark will decide on punishment. Old man Hynax vouched for their identities."
"That's true."
Aira was strangely calm.
Maybe living leisurely at Ark lately had broadened her mind. At this rate, she could return home.
I'd come to Ark to turn Aira into a wise queen—or at least a normal person….
But setting aside her queenly role and enjoying a relaxed holiday abroad seemed to have a huge effect on her.
"……."
My plan worked; Aira was making calm judgments. So why did I feel so uneasy? Maybe because she was calmer than I'd expected.
As I pondered, Aira added more.
"And that man had no intention of killing me. The bolt's tip was blunt. A non-lethal round."
"Is that true?"
"Yes. Even if he did intend to kill, he couldn't have scratched me alone."
No intention to kill.
It might just be Aira's view.
But in truth, after facing Aira, the hunter had just stared. Thinking back, in the original episode, he hadn't killed Aira either.
After subduing her.
He hadn't killed or injured Aira directly; he'd just left her be. It was the enraged populace's fury that ultimately killed her—not the villain hunter.
Come to think of it, that raised questions.
Why hadn't the hunter killed Aira?
A boss like her should give substantial experience points.
Maybe the exp was less than expected?
Or perhaps Aira wasn't as villainous as I thought. The idea crossed my mind. It was the only way to explain the hunter's actions.
Or there was some other reason he couldn't kill her, but nothing like that was described. At least, not that I remembered.
"Then why shoot a crossbow at you, Your Majesty?"
"He wanted to test it, probably."
"Test?"
"Like Verdonas, the Knight of Black Tea who wanted to test his strength against me. Maybe he was curious how far his own power reached."
Verdonas was the Knight of the Windmill, not Black Tea. Guess that's the impression he left on Aira.
"Theo."
Then Aira called me. She'd somehow gotten a bird to perch on her hand and was stroking its chin with her finger.
─Pirrruk.
I had no idea why animals liked her so much.
"Do you have something to say?"
"Now that I think about it, you've been getting close to my cousin Elga lately."
"…Yes. Less 'close' and more like Lady Elga is training me."
"Last night, Elga actually knocked on my door. We had a long talk. Want to hear what about?"
"……."
*Thwack.*
It felt like a crossbow bolt had shot straight into my heart.
Tension surged more than at any moment today; sweat drenched my clenched palms.
"…What did you talk about?"