An Unexpected Commission
I asked the woman standing before me, only half believing my own voice.
"Could you perhaps be Sir Erzsébet Weiss...?"
Erzsébet Weiss.
One of only ten Grand Masters in the entire Rewen Empire.
The empire's rising star, who at the mere age of twenty had single-handedly hunted down the progenitor of the werewolves.
One look at the silver morningstar at her waist and there could be no mistake. They said her whereabouts had been unclear since the subjugation campaign three years ago — so why on earth was someone of this caliber sitting in my eviction carriage?
"You know me well, it seems."
Erzsébet replied with perfect composure, and I couldn't keep the absurdity off my face.
"Well, of course... You're the empire's hero. The whole country spent three years ago tripping over itself to sing your praises. How could I not know you?"
"That is embarrassing to hear. I only did what was asked of me, or so I believe."
Watching her shrug off the compliment, I found myself unable to continue. It wasn't false modesty or anything of the sort. She genuinely had no concept of how remarkable she was.
A Grand Master sat at the very summit of all Aura-wielding knights. It was a rank that guaranteed a seat shoulder to shoulder with the commanders of the imperial orders, or above them. Individually, their martial power rivaled an entire army, and as such they were treated as each nation's ultimate weapons. One of the reasons the Rewen Empire was hailed as the strongest power on the continent was precisely that it possessed as many as ten of them.
And someone of that caliber — far from pulling rank — was this humble before a nobody anomaly hunter like me. We'd known each other for all of a few seconds, but even that was enough to tell she was not a normal person.
"Forgive me for startling you, Lord Lehin. The truth is, I have come to ask a favor of you."
"You know who I am?"
"Yes. I hear you are quite renowned in this field. They call you Lehin of the Black Blade, Excellent Hunter Lehin, Lehin the One Whom Death Avoids..."
Only then did I realize what a foolish question I'd asked. It felt odd to say it about myself, but I was a top-ten name in this industry. If she'd come seeking a commission, she'd naturally heard of my reputation. Never in a thousand years did I expect to run into a Grand Master in a place like this, so the nonsense had slipped out on its own.
"Ah, well... yes, that is what they call me. More importantly — is this favor an anomaly hunt?"
"It is. Are you familiar with Lanancia Territory?"
"I've heard of it. It's about three days' travel from here, isn't it?"
In truth, I knew Lanancia Territory very well. It was ruled by the young marquis Kailun Lanancia, who had recently inherited the title after laying his father to rest. Since Kailun Lanancia appeared as one of the sub-male leads, the region received considerable attention in the original novel as well.
"Has an anomaly manifested in Lanancia Territory?"
"Regrettably, yes. And from what we understand, the Marquis himself has been caught up in the incident."
"The Marquis himself? Don't tell me it happened inside the lord's castle?"
"To be precise, it occurred at the villa where the Marquis's birthday banquet was being held — quite some distance from the castle proper."
"And the Marquis's condition? Has there been any confirmation?"
"He is confirmed alive for now, but every moment counts. According to the reports, he could lose his life at any time without it coming as a surprise."
A marquis entangled in an anomaly incident. Anomalies cared nothing for who or where their victims were, so it was hardly shocking — but it had been a long while since anyone of noble rank above even a count had come asking for my services. And Kailun was one of the original novel's key characters, which made it all the more surreal.
"But why would you entrust the commission to me, Sir Weiss? Have you joined House Lanancia?"
"No. I act on the orders of my mistress, Lady Henrietta Cloichern, daughter of the Cloichern Marquisate."
"Lady Henrietta...?"
"Lady Henrietta and Marquis Kailun have been exceptionally close since childhood. To save her dear friend's life, she sent me to hire you, a hunter of great renown... Why do you look at me that way?"
Henrietta Cloichern. A name I knew incomparably better than Lanancia's. Of course I did — Henrietta was the protagonist of the romance fantasy I'd transmigrated into. The Marquis's Daughter Becomes a Genius Because She Wants to Live told the story of Henrietta honing herself into a genius of both pen and sword in order to survive the endless schemes aimed at her. Along the way she gathered allies among the nobility and found herself surrounded by male leads in a full-tilt romance.
"You've got to be kidding me..."
I muttered it before remembering Erzsébet was right there. After realizing the true nature of this world, I had vaguely assumed Henrietta must exist somewhere in it too. But never had I imagined I'd become directly entangled with her, ten years after my transmigration. Taking a commission from the girl who would one day be Empress of the empire — the sheer weight of it left me reeling.
While I was still absorbing the shock, Erzsébet continued in her level, measured way.
"I did not intend to eavesdrop, but I overheard your conversation with Count Belpheart earlier. It sounded as though you had certain... regrets."
Her voice, cool yet gentle, brought me back to my senses. I understood instinctively why she was bringing this up.
"My lady desperately wishes to see the Marquis saved. Should your commission prove a success, Lord Lehin, she is prepared to reward you handsomely."
"You don't mean..."
"Say, for instance, that she hires you as her personal hunter."
Something flashed through my mind in that instant. This was it. This was the opportunity.
If this world followed the original story to its end, Henrietta would join with the Crown Prince and become Empress of the Rewen Empire. Becoming her personal hunter was as good as becoming the hunter of the imperial family itself. And even in the unlikely event Henrietta never ended up with the Crown Prince, the Cloichern Marquisate was still one of the most illustrious houses on the continent. An employee of theirs would receive treatment on an entirely different plane from that of your average anomaly hunter.
It was the commission I had been waiting for all this time — the one with no possible reason to refuse.
"I'll take it. Let's depart at once."
Ten long years since I'd transmigrated into what I'd assumed was a romance fantasy, only to find a ghost story. At last, the chance to quit this miserable anomaly-hunting racket had arrived.
The moment I accepted without hesitation, Erzsébet took up the reins.
"Thank you, Lord Lehin. Might I guide us to Lanancia Territory myself?"
"You're coming along too, Sir Weiss?"
"Yes, by Lady Henrietta's command. She has instructed me to attend to you and ensure the Marquis is rescued without fail."
Had Henrietta and Kailun really been that close? The original novel had certainly portrayed them as acquainted, so I hadn't given it much thought. Erzsébet was neither arrogant like the Belpheart knights nor likely to pull anything reckless, so bringing her along could hardly hurt.
"Very well. In exchange, you follow my orders to the letter when we subjugate the anomaly."
"You need not worry on that account. Following your instructions is part of my lady's command as well."
Showing a reaction entirely unlike the Belpheart knights, Erzsébet set the carriage in motion. I couldn't remember the last time I'd met such an agreeable knight. She was obedient to the point of being a little strange, but then — a good thing is a good thing.
For three days and nights on the road, I made a point of digging into everything I could learn about Lanancia Territory.
Kailun had been unable to leave his villa since May 21st, roughly a week ago. That day had been his birthday, marked with a lavish celebration in honor of the young marquis. A great many nobles had come to the villa for the occasion, and they, too, had been unable to move so much as a step beyond its walls — for some unspecified reason.
"And you don't know what that reason is?"
"No. Even the soldiers sent in to investigate have failed to come back out. Carrier pigeons and magical communication devices have been equally useless."
The Marquis and a crowd of nobles trapped in that villa for over a week, and nobody knew why. I'd made inquiries at the inns we stopped at along the way, but the root cause remained beyond anyone's reach. A shame, but there was nothing to be done about it. I'd never entertained the notion that information about an anomaly would come easily in the first place. Most ordinary people who witness one can't properly describe what they saw. In the end, I — the hunter — would have to find out for myself.
So this job won't be a simple one either, I thought, letting my body sink into the carriage seat. It was the night of the third day of travel. As Erzsébet and I cut through a stretch of forest road, a scene of pure nightmare rose up to block our path.
"Lord Lehin, these are..."
Erzsébet, who had apparently spotted something from the driver's box, reined in the carriage, her voice tinged with disbelief. I climbed down immediately and raised my lantern. What met my eyes were sculpted figures radiating a thick stench of unnatural energy.
"These... they're not ordinary mannequins, are they?"
"No. Closer to taxidermy than mannequins, I'd say. Surely not..."
What blocked the road was a group of five or six people, frozen stiff as if preserved. All of them held their arms up in a defensive posture, as though they'd been caught mid-assault by something. At a glance they resembled mannequins, but the texture of their skin — and their eyes, replaced with glass — suggested these really were people who had been stuffed and mounted. The lantern light lent them a colorless stillness that somehow promised they might move at any moment. It was deeply, profoundly unsettling.
"Is this also the work of an anomaly?"
"It appears so. More importantly — look around you."
"...!"
When I turned the lantern toward the trees, Erzsébet's eyes went wide. Strung through the branches were entrails, hung out as casually as laundry. Whose they were, there was no need to ask.
"Given that they've been displayed so deliberately, I'd say this is a declaration of territory."
"Territory?"
"In plain terms, it means: come any farther and we kill you. Among anomalies, there are always a few with a strong territorial instinct."
I turned my gaze back to the frozen figures as I explained.
"From now on, don't move and don't turn your back on them until I give the word. There's no telling what could happen if you do."
"And by what could happen, you mean..."
"Those things could spring into motion at any moment — or you might end up stuffed just like they are. Either way, you won't enjoy the outcome."
Anomalies were beings whose very existence was calamity and confusion incarnate — and yet, paradoxically, each and every one of them had its own rules. One would snap your neck from behind if you weren't watching it; another, conversely, would chase you to the ends of the earth and kill you the moment you saw its face. They set down rules no human being could possibly comprehend, and acted only within them.
To humans, such rules were an incomprehensible horror — but they were by no means purely a bad thing. Where there was a rule, there was a surefire countermeasure to be found. The foundation of anomaly hunting was this: identify those rules as quickly as possible, and devise a way to exploit them.
"This anomaly doesn't want us reaching the villa. Given how loudly it's warning us off, it clearly intends to let no one inside."
"Then we have no choice but to subjugate it. Is there nothing I can do to help?"
"Not yet. This anomaly will have a rule — some specific condition that, once satisfied, turns living things into taxidermy. Until we know that condition, Sir Weiss, you will not move. Stay exactly where you are."
As I answered her, I drew a paper doll from my coat. The thing immediately began to move on its own, hopped down from my hand, and toddled toward the preserved figures.
"What is that...?"
"A decoy made through ritual. It fools the anomaly into believing it's me. I'll use it to learn the conditions that turn things into taxidermy."