Chapter 67. The Start of the Hunting Competition
The Emperor's short commemorative speech ended.
It was about celebrating the Founding Festival and starting the Imperial Hunting Competition.
Soon, the sound of a horn was heard.
Puuuu!
The person who caught the largest prey before the horn blew again at sunset would be the winner.
The participants checked their weapons and then left the banquet tent. Radel was also about to check his sword and staff and leave the tent.
"Your Highness."
Someone approached Radel.
It was Edward, who was among the nobles.
"Edward? You were here too."
"Of course. Since Your Highness is participating."
Is this what it means to be a follower?
Radel was a little surprised by Edward's attitude, which seemed to take it for granted.
Looking around, the 3rd Imperial Consort and other royals were also naturally conversing with the nobles.
Most of them seemed to be their followers.
As he was talking to Edward, his friends gathered around.
They were faces he had often seen at the academy.
"Your Highness! Can we expect a deer today?"
"What are you talking about? He's someone who has caught a monster bigger than that. Isn't that right, Edward?"
A big monster?
Radel realized that they were talking about the Swamp Serpent or the hidden boss of the academy dungeon.
Since they couldn't disclose the contents of the academy's classes, they were all trying to speak in roundabout ways.
"I believe that Your Highness will win."
"You bet on His Highness!"
It seemed they had also made a bet among themselves on who would win.
Still, it felt nice to meet them outside as fellow academy students.
"Your Highness, please praise Edward. He's been telling many of your good stories today."
"Shut up! Why are you telling His Highness that!"
Edward turned pale and desperately tried to cover his friends' mouths.
Radel recalled Edward's trait.
The social butterfly of the social circles.
'Well, this is also a social circle.'
Wasn't it a place where nobles gathered to critique the royals?
It was clear that Edward had tried to raise Radel's reputation.
"So that's what happened. Thank you."
"N-no, it's just that everyone was curious about Your Highness..."
Edward seemed embarrassed and then held something out to Radel.
"This is?"
"It's a bag made by a magical tool artisan. It also has a space expansion spell on it. My father asked me to be sure to convey his gratitude to Your Highness."
"From Earl Paradik?"
It seemed that Earl Paradik had sent a gift in gratitude after learning that he had saved Edward's life in the dungeon.
"Yes. My father also wanted to see Your Highness, but he had to leave first due to an urgent matter."
"Thank you, I'll use it well. Please convey my thanks to Earl Paradik."
He just needed a sturdy backpack.
Edward whispered as he handed over the bag.
"It will be useful when you're collecting byproducts from dungeons or gathering herbs."
Look at this guy.
Radel looked at Edward with surprised eyes and then grinned.
He was truly a commendable follower.
* * *
Inette was dumbfounded to see Radel wearing a backpack.
"Are you going on a picnic?"
"Why?"
"I mean, who wears a bag to a hunting competition?"
"I was going to put my prey in it."
"You really don't know anything. If you shoot a magic bullet after you catch it, the attendants will come."
At the entrance of the hunting ground, imperial attendants were waiting with carts to carry the prey.
The participants could be seen approaching the attendants and receiving magic bullets.
Thanks to Inette, Radel was also able to get a magic bullet without forgetting.
Inette shook her head.
"See, you can't do without me."
Gusto was right.
If she, his older sister by a few months, hadn't watched over him, this guy would have come out with prey slung over his shoulder without even a magic bullet.
A hunting competition was a place where unexpected accidents could happen at any time.
He should be lightening his body to prepare for battle with monsters, yet he came with a large backpack.
Inette was not at all confident in Radel, who was participating in the Imperial Hunting Competition for the first time.
Hearing her words, Radel sighed and muttered.
"Sigh. Inette is worried about me... Have I really hit rock bottom?"
"Hey! Even when I'm worried about you!"
"Just kidding. I'll do well."
Radel, who had teased Inette for a moment, spoke seriously as if nothing had happened.
Inette reluctantly nodded.
Since it was an individual competition anyway, there was nothing she could do even if she didn't trust Radel.
"Alright, let's go in too."
Just then, the participants were scattering and entering the hunting ground.
"Huh?"
In a flash, Radel's eyes lit up.
He quickly approached the base of a tree in the hunting ground before Inette could stop him and began to feel the ground with his hands.
"There it is!"
As expected, the sparkling thing under the tree was bell moss, an ingredient for magic power recovery potions.
A rumor was circulating that the beginner magic power recovery potion they were learning in the alchemy class was the assignment for the upcoming midterm exam.
'I had almost given up on this.'
Although Radel had been collecting alchemy ingredients from time to time, bell moss was difficult to obtain.
Places where bell moss grew naturally were rare, and it could mostly be found in dungeons.
However, due to the recent incident, most of the dungeons in the academy were being controlled so that students could not enter.
'I had no choice but to visit Marcellent during this holiday to buy it.'
But if he dug it up here, it was free.
This was the imperial northern hunting ground.
Since it was imperial property, no one would say anything if a royal collected some ingredients here.
Radel put the backpack he was carrying on his back on the ground.
Then, he naturally took out a hoe and began to collect the bell moss one by one.
"What are you doing...?"
Inette was speechless at Radel's action of suddenly picking moss instead of entering the hunting ground.
At the same time, she realized how futile it was to have worried about Radel earlier.
She had wondered why he had brought a backpack, but to think he had even packed a hoe.
"You're really amazing."
"Thanks for the compliment, Inette. Do you want to come and dig too?"
"I'll go in first. You're going to sell this later too, right? I'll buy it for 1 gold each, so set mine aside first."
"Alright."
There was also someone who was staring coldly at the two of them.
It was Leon.
However, Leon's followers were swayed after hearing the conversation between Radel and Inette.
"Should I go and make a reservation now too?"
"Are you crazy? You can just go to Marcellent and buy it!"
"It's tiring to have to bargain every time I go to the material store."
"That's right. I went to the 8th Prince's stall last time, and if you bought two, he gave you one more. If you think about it that way, it's not more expensive than the material store."
At the followers' thoughtless words, Leon's gaze became even colder.
"...He thinks he's a merchant. A disgrace to the royal family."
When Leon spoke coldly, Leon's followers, who had come to their senses, awkwardly chimed in.
"H-haha! That's right!"
"How dare he do business with his noble status!"
But Leon had been displeased for a long time.
Strangely, when he saw Radel's actions, an unknown anger welled up.
It was especially so when he saw him laughing and chatting with others without a care in the world.
'Has that guy forgotten everything?'
He had lived thinking only of revenge after his mother's death in his childhood.
Bianca Silvert Cretian, the mother of Leon and Radel, and the 5th Imperial Consort.
She had passed away in a sudden accident, but there were many suspicious points for it to be an accident.
The 5th Imperial Consort had lost her life in a hunting competition held over a decade ago.
It was an incident caused by a monster's rampage.
Leon remembered that day clearly.
The monster that had chased Radel with unusual persistence.
Radel, who had frozen in fear.
And his mother, who had shielded Radel without hesitation.
What if it had been him instead of Radel?
What if he, who had manifested the 'Dragon's Blessing', had been there instead of Radel?
Couldn't he have saved his mother with magic somehow?
But that pathetic fool hadn't even manifested an ability by the time he was 17.
Leon was angry at that fact.
If only that guy had been a little stronger.
If only he had manifested an ability quickly like a royal, everything could have been different.
'Maybe I could have solved the mystery surrounding my mother's death...'
Leon soon shook off such thoughts.
He was pathetic for having held out hope for the guy who had recently become the 1st-year representative at the academy.
To be sitting on the ground and digging up moss like that.
Seeing Radel's pathetic state, anger naturally welled up.
Leon simultaneously summoned fire magic, freezing magic, and wind magic and floated them in the air.
"Prince Leon is using magic in triplicate?"
"Oh my, how sharp and precise he is!"
Leon's followers were moved by his clean and swift chanting.
Deploying magic so quickly without the help of a magic circle was difficult even for a skilled magician.
Leon walked into the hunting ground, clad in the elements.
He saw Radel doing something with a hoe, but he soon turned his head and erased him from his sight.
He didn't need that guy's clumsy power.
It was better for the guy who was messing with his head to disappear.
Yes, if the opportunity arose, he would get rid of him himself.
"He's quite determined."
Radel, who was putting moss into his backpack, found Leon entering the hunting ground.
The sight of him clad in the three elements was impressive.
It was certainly an overwhelming magical skill.
"He must be serious about hunting."
However, unlike the other participants, Radel was not very interested in the hunting competition.
The same went for the wish voucher, the prize for winning. It was because he had been thinking of something else since he heard that he had to participate in the hunting competition.
The reason Radel participated in the hunting competition was to find out the identity of the assassin.
Had the assassin really followed him all the way here from the academy?
He hadn't seen a shadow of the assassin in the academy with its tight security, but here, there was a possibility that they would show themselves.
For that, it was advantageous to keep a distance from the other participants.
Radel, after confirming that the participants were entering the hunting ground, belatedly made his move.
* * *
The 3rd Princess Shartea was moving forward at a fast pace.
At the academy, she had to use magic, so she had few opportunities to wield a sword, but here, she could display her swordsmanship to her heart's content.
'Something is following me from behind.'
As she was running, she felt a presence and stopped.
Ready to draw her sword at any time, Shartea opened her mouth.
"Who is it? Come out. Before I cut you down."
Then, the 2nd Prince Arteo appeared from the bushes.
Shartea, after confirming it was him, took her hand off her scabbard.
"What is it, brother? The principle of this hunting competition is individual participation."
"I saw earlier that you seem to have become quite close with the 8th Prince, haven't you?"
"Are you now worried about my friendships? I will take care of it myself."
What was he talking about?
Shartea turned her body, not hiding her annoyance.
At that, Arteo's expression hardened.
His sister's reaction was not at all what he had expected.
Had she taken a liking to the 8th Prince more than he thought?
As expected, he didn't seem to be an ordinary guy.
But that was only until today.
Because he had come here today with the Black Fang.
The 8th Prince would disappear from the world today.
Arteo smiled slyly.