CATB Chapter 20

"The hunt was a complete failure because of me."

As the contest's closing time approached, Belkellion and I were in the middle of exiting the forest to go to the contest grounds. Belkellion's hands were naturally empty, having wasted an enormous amount of time because of me.

'What do we do since he caught nothing? He'll get cursed at again.'

Even now, if any animal appeared, I'd catch it for him, but whether the animals had disappeared or what, not even a mouse tail was visible. I sighed.

"It's fine as long as Alexa is safe."

Judging by how he spoke without any expression, he didn't seem as disappointed as I was, but I still felt sorry.

He had spent almost all his time with me.

"As an apology, would you like to have tea later? Ah... you must be busy..."

'Good, good. This is how you naturally arrange an after-party.'

Since seeing Belkellion's handsome face once more was worth this kind of scheming, I smiled gently.

He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head before nodding again.

'Dork... so cute.'

Chatting pleasantly with him (Belkellion was surprisingly easy to talk to. He'd nod occasionally while listening, make eye contact intermittently, and with his vast knowledge, conversation flowed smoothly no matter what topic came up), before we knew it, the forest entrance came into view. The contest grounds could be seen not far away. The royal red flags fluttered high in the sky.

Swoosh!

Suddenly there was a loud wind sound, and Belkellion's arm swept around my waist.

The peaceful afternoon atmosphere changed instantly.

Swoosh!

Something else flew over. Red? Green? It was some kind of ball-like object with two colors mysteriously mixed together. Belkellion immediately drew his sword from his waist.

The black longsword made a chilling whining sound.

Slash!

His blade quickly cut down whatever was flying toward us. Looking closely, it was something like a ball the size of a child's head, surrounded by a hard membrane, and judging by its flying speed, if it hit, it would deliver an impact like being struck by a shot put.

"Kiiuuuuk!"

A fierce roar came from close by.

They said Alexa's body was optimized for combat, right?

I moved with instinct-like motion, nocking an arrow from my back and shooting it at the unidentified beast charging toward Belkellion.

"Keek!"

The unidentified ball was what the monster was shooting from its mouth.

'What is this, a ball-shooting machine?'

One arrow wasn't enough, so I shot two more in succession, and the enormous green beast, easily three meters tall, fell with labored breathing.

"It's a monster. Alexa, quickly get out of the forest."

Even though the monster had just tried to attack him, Belkellion spoke in such a calm voice that I momentarily thought I'd seen an illusion.

No sooner had his words ended than another monster stepped on the fallen one and charged at Belkellion. He lightly raised his sword and stabbed the monster's throat, then pulled it out. The monster that had barely died from three arrows was killed in one strike.

"Hurry. There are quite a few more than expected."

'No, there are more than expected, but why are you so calm?!'

I aimed my bowstring at another monster charging toward him and said:

"Belkellion, you really don't know my name, do you?"

"Keek!"

"Keeek!"

Kkek-kkeking screams filled the forest. Even though they were the same green, these green objects were extremely different from the forest's green, hideously covering the clear greenery.

Belkellion glanced at the fluttering black hair. After realizing the vital spot was the neck, Alexa had been killing monsters with single shots. Her hand drawing the bowstring was clean without any unnecessary movements. The arrows leaving the string flew toward their targets faster than wind, and sometimes when she put in more force, the arrows would pierce through the monsters' thick necks and protrude out the other side.

Belkellion suddenly recalled her on the balcony.

When gem-like tears slowly flowed from those voluptuous golden eyes, he had been very flustered as his chest tightened without his knowing. When eyes containing unfathomable darkness that he couldn't gauge the depth of turned toward him, his hand moved without his realizing. The soft cheek he felt with his fingers was momentarily unbearably lovely, making him clench his other hand that he hadn't extended.

That night, she had been fragile.

Her cheek that felt against his hand was so, and those golden eyes that seemed like they would spill tears again at any moment were so. Those shoulders that seemed to have placed upon them all the world's unpleasant emotions - loneliness, exhaustion, emptiness - were so.

Belkellion raised his eyebrows as he watched the feast of consecutively falling monsters.

The number of monsters was increasing. Originally, for a hunting contest of this scale, security and countermeasures should have been sufficiently prepared, but the very appearance of monsters was strange, and it was suspicious that even though the situation had progressed this far, no support had come from the contest grounds yet. There was no way the chilling screams wouldn't reach the not-so-distant contest grounds.

And...

"Damn, why are they only going toward the Grand Duke?!"

Alexa complained irritably as she drew her bowstring.

'It's like they're deliberately targeting only Belkellion...'

'Maybe these guys are smelling the beast scent and doing this?'

She pouted her red lips and kept grumbling.

The monsters were charging at him as their target. It was probably because the strong musk smell that had started emanating from his horse when the contest began had also transferred to him. He thought it was unusual since it wasn't ordinary musk but a mixture of various scents, but it was quite unexpected that it was a fragrance that stimulated monsters. From the beginning, he figured it was the doing of the King or someone who disliked him, so he hadn't paid much attention to it. This wasn't the first time, and he hadn't expected today to pass without incident.

Monsters were something he could handle quite cutely.

You see them, you cut them, you kill them. As it had always been.

It was bothersome but not difficult.

If he hadn't come here in the first place, there would have been no need to experience any of this.

But this time, he had stubbornly insisted on participating in the hunt despite his retainers' opposition.

Looking at the fluttering black hair, a faint smile appeared on Belkellion's face.

Though it disappeared instantly.

"Wheeek!"

Belkellion suddenly made a whistling sound.

Alexa, who had been frantically swinging a sword (tired of the bow, she was now stabbing and pulling out a longsword into the throats of approaching monsters), turned her gaze to Belkellion at the whistle.

Soon a black horse with flowing black mane came running to Belkellion. Swift as the wind, he mounted the horse and swept up the waist of Alexa, who was staring blankly at the situation, racing toward the forest entrance. At his lightning-fast movement, becoming one with his horse, the monsters momentarily froze in confusion before crying out again and chasing after them.

"Um... they keep following us, what should we do?"

Alexa, dangling from him while watching the monsters chasing them, said.

"There are too many for just the two of us to handle anyway."

If he had been alone, he certainly could have dealt with them by himself and disappeared, but with Alexa there, Belkellion's nerves were quite sharp. When he noticed Alexa's clothes torn by sharp claws, he called Kuro without delay. He had left Kuro behind during the hunt because of the thick musk smell coming from him, but now, as long as he could just get Alexa out of this place, everything was so irritating to him that nothing mattered. The fact that Alexa seemed to be quite enjoying the current situation, panting and with sparkling eyes, was also something that made him uneasy.

"Still..."

'Well, there are knight orders and many soldiers at the contest grounds, so we don't necessarily need to handle everything ourselves...'

Alexa, who had been trailing off, closed her mouth. Even while carrying Belkellion and Alexa, Kuro instantly exited the forest.

'What the hell were these bastards doing...'

Expecting to see crowds in panic at the sight of the monsters that had followed them, Alexa's eyes took in the contest grounds. Even in that brief moment, her mouth, which had been chattering non-stop, stopped moving.

"Kyaaaak!"

"Kiruuuk, kiuuk!"

"Form ranks to the right!"

"!!!"

"Aaaak!"

"Evacuate the young ladies!"

"Unit fire!"

What wasn't moving was death, and what was thrashing about was life - before long, the contest grounds had transformed into such a hellscape that the boundary between life and death was invisible.

"What in the world..."

The contest grounds were already in a wretched state with corpses that had lost their lives and monsters trampling over them and running about. The nobles' tents had long since been destroyed beyond repair, and nobles and soldiers who couldn't escape in time had to face monsters with bare bodies.

"Do not fear! They are merely barbaric monsters! Those who flee will be punished by national law!"

Alexa's gaze caught the rough voice that burst out from somewhere.

Berford was shouting himself hoarse at fleeing knights. His white uniform had already become covered in blood and dust. The dozen monsters that had taken over the contest grounds had created such a horrific scene that it was enough to instill only the fear of death rather than boost the soldiers' morale. Who could remain normal after seeing comrades slaughtered before their eyes? The number of knights under Berford's command was steadily decreasing. Even to Alexa's eyes, more and more people were fleeing from the hellish scene.

"Where is His Majesty? Where is the King! Where is Prince Wilhelm!"

Someone shouted loudly in the place mixed with dust-colored dirt and screams.

"Where would they be! They already ran off! They were the first to flee!"

When someone answered with an angry voice, sighs burst out from the surrounding soldiers.

"There are the knights! Aren't there knights! What about the Royal Knights!"

"You think those guys would stay to protect common soldiers like us? They already left to escort the royalty!"

"But Knight Captain Berford is right there!"

"If you have eyes, look carefully! Is that the original number of the Royal Knight Order?!"

The number of knights remaining beside Berford was noticeably small. The hundreds of knights who had entered proudly during the hunting contest's opening ceremony had been reduced to dozens. Even among those, more and more were fleeing, leaving only Berford and a few knights around him fighting while coughing up blood.

"Are we common soldiers supposed to die like dogs here?!"

"We're also citizens of Pellipe, so how can we be abandoned like this!"

The morale of the soldiers fighting against the monsters noticeably dropped.

The King's absence had such a significant impact.

"Kiuuk, kiuk, kiuuuuk!"

The horde of monsters that had followed Alexa and Belkellion finally entered the contest grounds.

At the chilling cries, for a moment, everyone's gaze in the chaos fell upon the green objects standing with the forest at their backs.

"Ah, God almighty."

Despair settled on the soldiers' faces.

"Alexa, take this horse to the royal palace. Kuro knows the way, so he'll take you there on his own."

Belkellion, who had been quietly watching the scene of slaughter, finally spoke.

"Kuro?"

"He's a clever one, so you don't need to worry."

Belkellion reached forward and stroked the mane of the black horse they were riding.

'Ah... so his name was Kuro. No, that's not the point...'

As I was inwardly repeating Kuro's name, I grabbed the arm of Belkellion, who was trying to dismount after releasing his arm from around my waist.

"I'm not going."

Belkellion, who had hesitated for a moment, looked down at my face quietly.

"Alexa."

Though it was simply calling my name, his voice contained more than expected. I grinned at him. I raised one hand and lightly cupped his cheek before lowering it.

"Don't worry."

No sooner had the words ended than Alexa leaped down from the horse.

Before Belkellion could stop her, she ran somewhere and caught some fleeing horse, mounting it.

"Neigh!"

The horse, terrified by the fear of the slaughter before its eyes, stamped its feet roughly trying to throw Alexa off.

"Shh... shh... it's okay... it's alright..."

Alexa whispered to the horse while gently stroking its mane. Soon the horse, which had been breathing roughly through its nostrils, calmed down a bit.

"Good boy. Now, let's go slowly. Hiya!"

Encouraging the horse by patting its flanks, she pulled the reins and charged toward the monsters.

"Hiya!"

Belkellion watched the scene quietly, then indifferently cut down a monster charging from behind.

Thinking that his princess didn't listen very well.

Though his heart was already running alongside Alexa, there were still many monsters. And he couldn't be careless about the monsters endlessly following him. It seemed he should clean up a bit before following. Until then, she mustn't get hurt.

Belkellion's sword movements became busy as he briefly gave his gaze to the black hair fluttering in the distance.