Ch.36When Eyes Turn Red (2)

The trumpet’s blare stirred something in my chest, making it flutter with anticipation.

I found myself looking up instinctively.

After gazing at the sun hanging in the cloudless sky, I lowered my head to see hundreds of flags densely packed around me. Knights stood in formation, each holding banners emblazoned with their family crests. I couldn’t help but smile at their elaborate armor, worn to represent their houses.

“That must be uncomfortable to wear.”

“You’re the strange one, Sir Knight. Everyone else is desperate to look impressive at events like this, but you insist on wearing your regular uniform.”

“It’s uncomfortable. I could never wear armor like that.”

Ropena pouted at my comment about wearing my usual uniform. Then she suddenly giggled, leaned close, and whispered in my ear.

“Don’t you think everyone’s staring at you, Sir Knight?”

“…I’m aware. Just don’t make it obvious. I’m slowly getting used to this kind of attention.”

“Must be nice being so popular. You haven’t been getting many letters lately, but that’s about to change.”

It might seem nice, but honestly, it was just burdensome. I had no interest in courting any of them, and whenever Airine discovered the pile of accumulated letters, her expression would sour.

She’d tell me not to get distracted by such letters and focus on my guard duties. It felt unfair since I barely even read their contents.

The hunting festival wasn’t just for knights. The daughters of noble families had also come along, including Airine, so most of the five great houses would be present. The most prominent flags belonged to those five houses, and most of the glances were directed either at those flags or at me.

Of course, not all those looks were filled with burning passion. Some were simply curious about the 16-year-old knight representing House Yuris, while others wondered about the skills of Evan Fried, the so-called genius knight making his first appearance at the hunting festival. Though how much skill one could display while merely hunting animals was questionable.

After checking the handle of the sword in my coat, I patted Ropena’s head and gave her a slight smile. The signal fire would soon be lit to mark the beginning of the festival, so Ropena should be heading back.

“…Stop patting my head. I’m not a child.”

“You are a child at 15. How is the lady doing?”

“She’s in the separate building prepared for her. And why am I a child at 15?”

“Because I’m 16.”

I grinned as I said this, causing Ropena to furrow her brow before pouting and starting to grumble. She complained that I was making too much of just a one-year age difference, and that she’d be 16 after her birthday too. She probably felt comfortable enough with me to act this way, unlike with other knights.

After watching her for a moment, I heard another trumpet blast and pushed her back. In five minutes, the trumpet would sound once more, and the signal fire would be lit to mark the start of the hunting festival.

“Good luck. And don’t come back injured again.”

“You make it sound like I always return injured.”

“You did come back injured. Consider it karma.”

“…Thanks, I guess.”

Come to think of it, I did seem to get injured every time I wielded a sword. But when I encountered the assassin, it was my first time using a sword, and with the dark mage, I was caught by a surprise attack.

Honestly, if I got injured this time too, I might need to seriously question my abilities. Talent is one thing, but ultimately it’s up to the wielder to make use of it.

Shortly after Ropena left, the third trumpet sounded. As everyone lowered their flags and drew their prepared swords, a resonant voice echoed from the distance.

“Welcome, everyone! I’m truly delighted that Roman is hosting this year’s winter hunting festival.”

A young man ascended the platform, looking to be only a year or two older than me. Applause erupted as the handsome youth appeared. With deep teal hair and violet eyes—symbols of House Roman—he represented one of the empire’s five great houses, the House of the Sword that claimed the legendary Seren Roman as its founder.

My brow furrowed. The young man on the platform was Adel Roman, Airine’s fiancé. Though he smiled freely now, he would later turn his back on Airine, becoming the decisive factor in her downfall.

“This hunting festival is held to eliminate the monsters and beasts that threaten the empire’s peace, and to restore tranquility. Now, I will light the sacred fire.”

Whoosh—

As the signal fire began to blaze, knights raised their swords toward the sky in unison. This was a ritual symbolizing their pledge to bring peace to the empire’s symbol, the sun. I too raised my sword, and then Adel Roman pointed his blade toward Mount Verdeng.

His sword gleamed with a brilliant white light, disappearing against the snow-covered mountain. Then Adel Roman shouted loudly:

“Glory to Evangelium!”

Thud—

The knights stepped forward in perfect unison, making the ground tremble. Knights from the empire’s five great houses and dozens of other famous noble families, all clad in star-like brilliant armor, began running toward Mount Verdeng. After watching them for a moment, I too began to move forward slowly.

“She told me not to soil her handkerchief.”

I carefully tucked the handkerchief on my wrist into my sleeve.

#

Crunch—

The sound of each footstep in the snow should have been pleasing to the ear. This refreshing sound unique to winter—despite the occasional annoyance of snow reaching up to my knees—actually put me in a good mood. It reminded me of childhood memories and snowball fights with Ropena, making the corners of my mouth twitch upward.

Yes, I would have certainly felt that way if I had been alone. If only it weren’t for this one knight who had somehow appeared beside me and was now chattering away.

“Sir Evan, I’ve heard much about you. I understand you defeated a dark mage recently. Truly, the empire and House Roman owe you a great debt.”

“Is that so.”

“Indeed. They say strong knights are often taciturn. Every movement of yours seems measured and disciplined. May I ask how you train normally?”

The solemn dignity he had displayed on the platform earlier had completely vanished. I glanced sideways at this irritating knight who had sidled up to me and was talking incessantly, then sighed and stopped walking. I had hoped to avoid meeting him, but somehow he had found me.

“Lord Roman.”

“You may call me Lord Adel.”

“…Would you mind leaving now?”

My voice was quite cold. I had absolutely no desire to travel together. If we continued like this, we would end up competing for the same prey. I had been deliberately circling this area to get away from him, but he had been following me for a full 20 minutes, causing the beasts to scatter and my patience to wear thin.

If I didn’t get rid of him soon, I would end up embarrassing myself for no reason.

To be honest, I felt slightly irritated every time I looked at his face. After all, wasn’t Adel Roman the one who abandoned Airine in the novel, becoming the decisive factor in her downfall? I neither trusted such a person nor wanted to waste time traveling with him.

Despite my thorny attitude, Adel’s expression remained unchanged. He simply smiled as naturally as when we first met.

Was he here for the hunting festival, or did he have some other purpose? I couldn’t help but frown slightly at his continued foolish smile, unable to read his true intentions.

Was this why Airine had expressed discomfort about her fiancé? Well, I hadn’t expected the heir of one of the five great houses to be ordinary. I wanted to chase him away with my sword, but he hadn’t shown any hostility toward me, so I couldn’t justify such action.

Perhaps sensing that my attitude toward him wasn’t particularly friendly, Adel Roman smiled bitterly and sighed before speaking.

“I thought Sir Evan could easily win even while sparing time for conversation with me, but it seems I’m being a nuisance. How should I apologize? If necessary, our house could offer you some gift.”

“I don’t need gifts. Let’s part ways at the fork ahead.”

“If that’s what you wish…of course.”

No further conversation followed. Only the sound of footsteps in the snow and the occasional snap of branches brushing against us could be heard. Whenever his teal hair fluttered in the wind, I found myself frowning with inexplicable displeasure.

You know how sometimes you meet someone and, despite never having spoken with them before, you just can’t form a good impression? Although this wasn’t my first time seeing Adel Roman, that’s exactly how I felt. No matter how friendly he tried to be, it all seemed like an act.

The twilight reflected in his occasionally sparkling violet eyes was puzzling. What was he looking at in this bright daylight? Reading Adel Roman’s thoughts was no easy task, making Airine’s attempts to hide her emotions seem clumsy in comparison.

-It’s highly likely that one of the five great houses has colluded with the dark mage. Or perhaps all of them except Yuris have.

The Duke’s words echoed in my mind. His warning about the hunting festival and the connection between the five great houses and the dark mage. If Roman was related to the dark mage…

Zing—

When Adel’s sword before me began to emit a blue light, I instinctively reached for the sword at my waist. Perhaps I had been focusing more on his movements than on the presence of beasts ahead. Seeing my sudden alertness, Adel Roman smiled slightly and looked at me.

“Why so startled?”

“…It seems to be a wolf. I’ll cut it down.”

“Since you’ve already drawn your sword, please allow me. I’m still unskilled and can only handle beasts for now.”

After staring at his still-smiling face for a moment, I nodded. Adel then swung his sword, cutting down the wolf that had approached. The wolf, its waist cleanly severed in one strike, tumbled onto the snow. After wiping the blood from his sword with a cloth, Adel proudly pointed to the wolf with his chest puffed out.

“How was that? Not bad, right?”

“Worthy of a Roman scion.”

Had he not noticed my wariness of him? He continued to treat me with the same unchanged attitude. If he hadn’t seen that I was startled not by the wolf’s presence but by his drawing of the sword…

Well, perhaps that was for the best. There was no reason for our relationship to sour right now.

While I personally thought it would be better to dissolve his engagement with Airine, without a valid reason, the possibility of that happening was extremely slim. If he was connected to dark magic, that would be a different story, but there was no evidence of that at present.

Seemingly delighted by my compliment, Adel beamed as he sheathed his sword and gave me a thumbs up.

“I may not be as good as Sir Evan, but as a member of House Roman, this much is basic.”

“…I see.”

Thinking he was quite a carefree person, we walked for some time until we reached the only fork in the mountain path, which split into three directions. Since this was where we had agreed to part ways, Adel smiled faintly, seemingly disappointed that our time together was ending.

“What a shame. I had so much more I wanted to discuss.”

“……”

“Well, until next time. When you visit Airine, would you be willing to cross swords with me?”

“Sure.”

After my brief reply, Adel nodded and turned to follow one of the paths. As I sent him off and was about to head toward the beasts I had previously located for the hunting festival—

Boom—

A sudden thunderous noise erupted from the mountain peak, not far from where we stood. The sound of trees breaking and shattering, rocks splitting and crumbling. My face contorted when I heard human screams mixed among those sounds.

“Sir Evan, did you hear that?!”

Though Adel came running back from the other path, my gaze remained fixed on the mountain peak. The snow was still piled high, and the summit, where it met the sky, still appeared serene in its pristine whiteness.

Yet why did I sense the energy of dark magic?

I gripped the sword at my waist. Mana began flowing through my heart, spreading throughout my body according to my will. As white flames ignited, melting the surrounding snow, I kicked off the ground and shot forward like an arrow.

Was this the darkness the Duke had warned me about?

It seemed I needed to investigate.

#

“He comes.”

A rough, coarse voice, as deep as if traversing through thick darkness, echoed through the space. The area was filled with human skulls, animal bones, and fresh blood pooling on the ground. The dim forest shadows devoured the light.

Light was no longer visible. Obscured by trees, by darkness, by shadows—all that remained was a faint death rattle.

Boom—

The ring in the snorting nose trembled slightly. Breath entered through the nose and then escaped, creating white mist that scattered into the darkness, enveloping the surroundings with a chill. The white breath began to glow blue as it touched the darkness.

Like phosphorescence, the breath glowing even in darkness eventually touched a flickering light nearby.

It looked like a candle flame.

That purple flame.

In this shadowy spectacle, covered like a curtain of darkness, the solitary violet flame slowly began to grow. Like smoke, like fire, like flames engulfing everything around.

The small flickering flame in the darkness eventually devoured the shadows and became an inferno.

Growl—

Fangs burning like yellow hellfire pointed toward the sky. The roar from the open mouth was a bellow, a heaven-piercing howl. An axe gripped in a hand strong enough to crush a human head in one go scraped the ground, making an eerie sound that startled nearby beasts into fleeing downhill.

Small footsteps gathered to create vibrations, which in turn shook the snow covering the mountain. Small snowballs rolled down, becoming an avalanche. Just as a butterfly’s tiny wing beat can sometimes cause a typhoon, these minute movements collectively grew to sweep through the surroundings.

Darkness swirled.

Colder than the north wind, darker than the night shade, darkness wrapped around, devouring light.

Purple death rippled. It signified the end of life, the extinction of hope.

Soon, the sun was obscured by the moon, and the blue sky began to be covered in darkness.