Chapter 138 - Damn Reincarnation

The Hunt

A raw, familiar smell drifted through the darkened forest. At some point, Ciel had vanished from behind him, and he could no longer see the backs of those who had entered ahead of him either.

Eugene glanced around. Had it been about ten minutes since he passed Red Rock and entered the forest? The trees around him were so dense that it was hard to believe. They gave him the illusion that he had been traveling deep into the forest for ages.

In a forest like this, he had to guard against such disorientation. With every breath, Eugene felt something alien in the air, something that seemed to cling stickily to his airways. It was neither mana nor primal spirits.

"... Brings back memories."

Helmuth had been a terrible place three hundred years ago.

Yet most of Hamel's memories had been made in that terrible hell.

He had spent nearly half his previous life in Helmuth. Before that, he had been a survivor of a monster attack, a boy who recklessly vowed revenge and lived as a mercenary.

From those wandering mercenary days... little remained that he could call memories worth cherishing. If he had to pick something, there was his first kill... or the first commission he had completed alone.

'... Not exactly fond memories.'

Eugene chuckled and stepped forward.

Something sprang out from beneath his foot as though it had been waiting. The ambush was sudden, but the warning signs had been blatant. Anyone who failed to dodge an ambush this obvious had a problem.

THUD!

Eugene turned his outstretched foot into a kick. What had tried to seize his ankle and drag him into the shadows was a skeletal black hand.

"Wow..."

He smiled and crouched. The hand scrambled to retreat into the darkness, but Eugene reached out far faster than it could escape.

"This really takes me back."

Once he had pulled it all the way out, the demonic beast looked nothing like a beast at all. Nothing but a lumpy mass of flesh hung from the end of its scrawny arm. When he held it up and gave it a shake, the flesh split open, revealing sharp teeth.

"Blech."

Mer poked her head out of his cloak. At the sight of the disorienter dangling and shaking in Eugene's hand, her face crumpled.

"It looks disgusting. How can you hold that thing in your bare hand and shake it around?"

"It's like catching a cockroach."

"Do you honestly think that comparison helps? Why on earth would you catch a cockroach with your bare hands? You could use a tool, or magic. No, the very idea of a cockroach appearing in front of you is wrong to begin with."

Mer shook her head in revulsion. A dislike of creepy things was natural given her appearance and mental age, but her current disgust was directed not just at its looks, but at demonic beasts themselves.

"... You're not going to eat it, are you?"

"Why would I?"

"You said the hunt would last four days."

"Even if it lasted months instead of four days, I wouldn't eat demonic beasts. Their meat is poison. You can't even touch it without a high-ranking cleric."

Grumbling, Eugene fed mana into the disorienter.

CRACK!

There was no need to cast a spell or summon sword force. Simply sending his lightning-infused mana through it was enough to kill the disorienter and contort its body.

"Besides, there's more than enough food in the cloak. There's no reason to eat demonic-beast meat when it tastes like shit, too."

"... That's a relief, then. I simply cannot tolerate the thought of this repulsive... hateful, grotesque piece of garbage that I don't even want to call a living creature passing through your mouth into your stomach and becoming part of you."

Mer's clenched fists trembled as she spoke. ... Did her hatred of demonic beasts come from Senya's personality? Or did she hate creatures composed of demonic energy because she was a familiar made by magic and composed of mana?

"The latter."

When he asked her directly, Mer answered with a grimace.

"Yes, my personality is based on Lady Senya's childhood personality, but that doesn't mean we share memories. Of course... of course, it's not just an instinctive aversion. I hate them for other reasons, too. Demonic beasts—no, beings born of demonic power—made Lady Senya suffer."

With every sentence, Mer drew her protruding head a little farther back. Normally, she struggled to get out of the cloak at every opportunity. Now, even when Eugene opened it for her, she refused to emerge.

"... I hate this forest."

"So do I."

Eugene chuckled and closed the cloak for her.

"Just because it feels familiar and reminds me of the old days doesn't mean I like it."

Four days.

They had been given bracelets as if to encourage them to kill as many demonic beasts as possible, but survival took precedence over everything else.

Demonic-beast meat was poison, something to avoid unless circumstances were truly desperate. To last four days in the forest, they would have to find uncontaminated food for themselves.

Anyone without ambition had no need to venture deep into the forest. Naturally, the farther one stayed from its heart, the thinner the demonic energy and the easier it was to find food.

'Of course they're ambitious.'

They had volunteered for the hunt, so they would want respectable results. A heap of insignificant small fry was nothing to boast about. They would want to venture deeper and bring back meaningful achievements.

'... They would, but... '

Eugene frowned, rubbing his fingertips together.

Demonic beasts at this level posed no threat to Eugene, even if they came in swarms. An ambush? A little attention would prevent that, and even if one caught him, he would suffer no harm. The Cloak of Darkness alone could block most attacks.

A hunt? No, this was simply a stroll. Eugene wasn't pursuing prey. He merely walked wherever his feet took him. As he did, the demonic beasts hiding throughout the forest approached him.

They approached, and they died.

"An excellent Divine Aura of Destruction."

"Shut up."

Mer giggled inside the cloak, and Eugene snapped back in disgust.

... It was, admittedly, Divine Aura of Destruction. He raised his mana and wrapped it around his body, keeping it too faint to see. That allowed him to intercept approaching demonic beasts without even striking at them.

'... She went in ahead of me. Why is she still around here?'

He didn't look her way, unwilling to give her any attention. Yet no matter how hard he tried to ignore her, her stare was far too blatant.

Genia Lionheart.

She was suppressing her presence as much as she could while glaring at Eugene's back.

She had indeed entered the forest first. The darkness where the disorienters lurked led people astray from the very entrance. As a result, people entering at different times scattered in entirely different directions.

The forest was vast, and with the disorienters' tricks added to it, meeting another person was difficult. Eventually, after wandering until they were too exhausted to resist, people were eaten...

That was true of ordinary people, but not Genia. She had found her bearings as soon as she entered and cut down dozens of demonic beasts. To her, it was nothing but tedious labor devoid of tension.

She had intended to head straight for the forest's heart.

'... Why is Father... only staying near him?'

Four captains had entered after the young lions to protect them. Each was to exercise their own judgment in protecting the nine young lions from the forest's threats.

Yet Genos, captain of the Second Division, went nowhere else, maintaining a fixed distance from Eugene. Far enough not to disrupt Eugene's hunt or provoke the beasts... but close enough to intervene before it was too late if danger arose.

It was blatant favoritism. As his daughter, Genia simply couldn't accept it. If anyone deserved Genos's special attention during this hunt, it should have been his own daughter.

That resentment had driven her to follow Eugene. It was her own way of protesting to Genos, but he never left Eugene to go elsewhere. He couldn't. Genos was on guard against the possibility of the Council head's dagger targeting Eugene. Having heard the circumstances, he couldn't leave Eugene and allow danger to arise.

'... That is... '

She couldn't help feeling envy and jealousy. As a Black Lion, Genos lived away from home at Black Lion Castle. Of course, he had returned home on leave many times, but Genia had devoted the past seven years to training in Shimuin.

In other words, she had reunited with her father for the first time in five years. Naturally, Genia had assumed he would want to follow her and see the results of her training.

She swallowed.

The shape of mana was invisible. With concentration, however, she could visualize its unseen flow. Genia sensed the flames surrounding Eugene's body. No, they felt more like jagged thorns than flames.

He was merely walking along defenselessly. Yet those protruding thorns crept outward, spreading into his surroundings. The moment a demonic beast approached, mistaking him for prey, and touched a thorn, its poison killed it...

'... No, it isn't poison.'

Unbelievable as it was...

'That's... Divine Aura of Destruction.'

Her family's secret art, passed down for three hundred years. The technique of Hamel, a Great Hero deserving of reverence.

'... That is...?'

She recognized it, but she still couldn't believe it. Genia could use Divine Aura of Destruction herself, but hers wasn't transparent like that.

'It isn't sword force... He's holding his mana just below the threshold. ... How can that alone kill demonic beasts?'

At first, she had thought he was using poison, a contemptible trick. After following and observing him, she was certain it wasn't poison. Yet she couldn't understand how mana that wasn't even sword force could kill demonic beasts.

So she decided to find out for herself.

Genia straightened from her crouch and gauged the distance between them. She could close that gap in a single burst. Her father? He was far away, but he would be watching.

Would he intervene if she attacked?

'Of course not.'

Hunting demonic beasts. That was the objective, but no one had warned them not to fight one another. It was an utterly pigheaded interpretation, but that was how Genia saw it. In a way, it was inevitable: in Shimuin, where she had trained for seven years, duels between knights were perfectly natural.

She gauged the distance once more.

Then she kicked off the ground. The gap closed rapidly. The back of Eugene's head, distant a moment ago, grew steadily larger. Should she draw her sword? No, that would be excessive. Rather than actually attacking, simply slipping neatly behind him would be enough...

"Eek..."

?

Her lips trembled of their own accord.

"Eeeeeek...!"

Ordinary mana wouldn't have caused this, but Eugene had responded quite straightforwardly to the attack rushing at him from behind.

The mana, previously too thin to see, became flames.

CRACKLE!

The lightning mingled with those flames struck Genia.

"Eee... Eeek! Eek...!"

Her hair stood on end. Her body twisted involuntarily. It stopped at that only because Eugene had limited the lightning's output and because Genia's own mana rose to protect her.

"... Eek!"

Mana surging from her core shook off the lightning. Genia hastily gathered her wits and leaped backward. She had thrown it off, but the aftereffects of the shock lingered in her body. She forced strength into her tingling hands and feet and panted.

"J-just... What?"

Her tongue wouldn't move properly. Unwilling to make herself sound ridiculous with slurred speech, Genia kept her question as short as possible.

"... I'm the one who should be asking questions. What was that? Why did you attack me?"

"... Mm... Ahem. Ahem..."

Genia avoided answering and kept clearing her throat. Ah, ah. Only after she had steadied her voice and her tongue began moving properly did she fix Eugene with a fierce glare.

"... I thought you were a demonic beast."

"What?"

"... You may not know this, but some demonic beasts in this forest imitate human appearances."

It was an absurd excuse.

"... So I merely approached to check. I had no intention of attacking. In fact, I didn't even draw my sword. I simply came closer."

"Why are you following me?"

"... Following you... That's an inaccurate statement. I have never followed you."

"You were in plain sight. At least try to make your lies believable."

"... You saw me? Nonsense. I had concealed my presence perfectly—"

"See? So you were following me."

Her eyes quivered at his taunt. She glared at Eugene for a moment, then tossed her braid back and spoke.

"... I believe I told you earlier. I will not lose to you."

"Yes, and I'm asking why you're following me."

"... Eugene. You are an unknown opponent to me."

Genia desperately squeezed out an excuse.

"To compete against you and seize victory, I must learn what I do not know about you. Reconnaissance is fundamental to strategy. In your ignorance, you seem to have mistaken my reconnaissance for stalking."

"..."

"And what exactly are you doing here? Several hours have passed since the hunt began. Why are you still loitering near the entrance? Surely... you don't intend to avoid danger and spend the entire time somewhere 'safe'?"

Genia narrowed her eyes at Eugene.

"Eugene...! I know you enjoy my father's favor. I've also heard the rumors that your talent is unprecedented in the main family's—no, in all of Lionheart's history, comparable to the founder himself. But! As an inheritor of Hamel Style, I have no intention of losing to you. All the more so if you're a coward concerned only with avoiding danger...!"

"I'm Hamel."

"What kind of ridiculous joke is that?"

She seemed so proud of being an inheritor of Hamel Style that he had casually tried saying it. Naturally, Genia didn't believe him. Instead, she stared at him with something like contempt.

"... I can manage on my own. Don't worry about me. Let's go our separate ways."

Eugene waved a hand and turned away.

"... Do you know how to survive in a forest?"

"You said you've heard the rumors about me. Until recently, I was traveling through the Great Forest of Samar."

"That is a dangerous place, yes, but it isn't a forest contaminated by demonic energy. It may only be four days, but ordinary knowledge will hardly suffice to survive while hunting demonic beasts in this forest."

Inside the cloak, Mer stifled her giggles.

"... If you ask for help, I won't refuse. My chivalry will not allow me to abandon my duty, even toward someone I dislike."

"In that case, would you grant me a request?"

"I'll hear it, at least."

"I'm genuinely fine, so please stop bothering me and go away."

Having said that, Eugene bent his knees. ... Stop bothering him? After she had gone out of her way to offer out of consideration? As those thoughts ran through Genia's head, her brows twisted fiercely.

"What did you just..."

CRACKLE!

Pure white lightning sparked. Having already been shocked for approaching recklessly, Genia flinched and stepped back.

She had only retreated a few steps when a sudden gust sent her hair flying. Genia stared wide-eyed at what unfolded before her.

The instant the wind pushed against his back, lightning shot forward.

That was how it looked. Watching Eugene's back recede in a flash, Genia's mouth fell half open.

"... What was that?"

Magic? No, she couldn't tell. Was there a spell that allowed someone to move that fast? The fastest person Genia knew was Ramjure the Swift, one of Shimuin's Twelve Champions.

'... That speed just now... Even faster than Sir Ramjure... '

He could reach that speed instantly, without accelerating? Genia stood dumbfounded before belatedly coming to her senses and chasing after Eugene.

* * *

"What about Hector?"

["He's still moving with that dead weight in tow. Should I call him brave, or say it's just like him...? Does he intend to go all the way to the heart? It's not as though he's desperate for honor."]

"Haha... Hector is driven more by... interest than honor. He was the same before, wasn't he?"

Dominic shook his head with a low laugh.

"When we approached him about joining the Black Lions, he refused, saying he wasn't interested, then left for Ruhar as though he were running away."

["Had he joined then, he would probably be a captain by now."]

"Well, it isn't too late even now. Once the hunt ends safely, we can take our time persuading him."

["... Provided he hasn't turned traitor."]

Turned traitor. Hearing the Council head's voice in his ear, Dominic scratched his chin.

"... Is anyone else listening right now?"

["No. Just me."]

"Grandfather. I don't believe Hector has turned traitor."

["... As you said, Hector is a man who follows his own interests above all else. For someone with that disposition, even betrayal is a trivial matter. No, he might not even recognize it as betrayal."]

"... But he takes pride in being a Lionheart."

["Is that pride in the main family and its legitimate bloodline? Or in the Lionheart name...? There is no way to know. Of course, I am not suspecting Hector without reservation either."]

The Council head fell silent for a moment.

Dominic looked ahead without urging him to continue.

["... Ruhar, where Hector trained... is too close to Helmuth. In particular, five years ago, the royal family finally abandoned its stubborn stance and opened the borders to demons."]

"... Hmm..."

["Hector isn't the only one I suspect. I suspect everyone. I must, given my position. Everyone except Cyan and Ciel, the main family's rightful heirs."]

He didn't bother mentioning Eward.

Eward wasn't worth it.

["... So, Dominic. Suspect and watch everyone, as I do. Someday... you, too, will have to occupy the seat I hold now."]

"You've told me that so often, Grandfather, my ears are practically calloused."

Dominic shook his head.

"... But... that young master... Haha. I wonder if he's even worth suspecting."

["... The boy has a history."]

"I know, but this isn't his bedroom... This place is full of lions who could take his head in an instant if they wanted to. I can't imagine he'd try anything here."

["I would rather he did try something."]

The Council head's voice turned cold.

["The family head happens to be absent. If Eward does anything now, there will be no problem executing him immediately."]

He wasn't joking. The Council head sincerely meant it.

"... He doesn't seem to have the nerve."

Dominic looked ahead as he spoke.

"... I'm sure you're aware of this, Grandfather, but the young master is avoiding fights with demonic beasts as much as possible. He is barely managing to bring down the ones he encounters with magic, and frankly, his technique isn't smooth."

["Only a little over ten so far..."]

"I'm watching him because you told me to be suspicious... but wouldn't it be better for me to go to Hector instead?"

["Harris is watching him already."]

"Or... what about Young Master Eugene?"

["... Genos is keeping an eye on that boy. Dominic. I understand you're bored, but continue watching Eward. If he does anything suspicious, kill him immediately."]

That was why he had assigned his grandson to Eward. The Council head had yet to forgive Eward for disgracing the Lionheart name.

Thus, if the opportunity arose, he wanted to make Eward pay for that sin with his life.

"Yes."

Dominic nodded as he answered. With that, communication with the camp ended. Smacking his lips, he watched Eward moving in the distance.

"... It really is boring."

Dominic yawned and shook his head.

"So easy it's boring."