Chapter 74
“…I think it’s a good plan!”
After listening to Luihart’s plan, Jaina thought it over carefully and answered.
Luring the giant Pemos this far wouldn’t be as easy as it sounded, but it seemed far more feasible than charging straight into a fight with the giant monster.
To make the plan work they first had to draw Pemos out properly.
There was a high chance someone would be eaten before they even managed to get the monstrous, savage Pemos to this place.
Those chosen as bait would have to risk their lives and lure Pemos in.
They would lead the giant in the same direction while moving nimbly enough not to be caught.
Luihart decided he would take on that role himself.
For all his faults, Luihart prided himself on being the best rider in the empire—even more so than Zighart, the battlefield hero.
“Jaina, you and the remaining soldiers wait below the cliff and fight the Pemos when it falls.”
He wanted Jaina and the other knights to be ready under the cliff where the giant Pemos would fall.
It would take a little time for the bait—which was Luihart—to get all the way to the bottom of the cliff.
Jaina’s experience as a knight was short, but her martial skill was excellent.
The idea was for the soldiers to attack the Pemos after it fell from the cliff, and for Luihart to come and finish it off.
The Emperor’s order wasn’t only that Pemos be killed—Luihart himself was to personally cut off Pemos’s neck.
Holding a sword was painful enough to make one wish to die, but if he could endure just long enough to decapitate, it wouldn’t be impossible.
Luihart smiled meaningfully.
“We’ll split into a team that lures Pemos and a team that slays it.”
Back at the camp, Jaina and Luihart explained the plan to the soldiers.
The soldiers thought the Crown Prince had obviously given up on slaying the giant monster and was just too embarrassed to admit it.
They were all disappointed—who would have expected the Pemos hunt to be brought up again so abruptly?
On paper it was a plausible plan, but who could predict how that giant monster would behave?
If anyone slipped up and got caught by the monster, they’d immediately become its dinner.
Still, the soldiers could only complain silently.
“And I’ll be the one to lure Pemos all the way to the end.”
“Huh? W-why would Your Highness…?”
“Because me doing it gives this plan the highest chance of success.”
Unlike the other soldiers who might drop out midway through luring Pemos, Luihart would be the one to lead it from start to finish.
He would be chased all the way for a full hour to the cliff.
With the Crown Prince taking the lead like this, the knights and soldiers—who had sworn to protect the empire—couldn’t very well back out.
Some soldiers felt reinvigorated by the prince’s spirit of sacrifice, but among those who still doubted the plan there were even men who wished the prince would just get caught and die quickly.
They reasoned they might be dishonorably dismissed and never return to the royal household, but at least they might keep their lives.
No one knew how things would end, but it seemed inevitable the operation would go ahead.
Around the prince they selected five more riders—the best horsemen in order.
The rest, including Jaina, would wait under the cliff to attack the Pemos after it fell.
To win, it would be vital to strike the fallen Pemos quickly before it regained its senses.
The day of the decisive battle.
Jaina, sleepless with worry through the night, watched the Crown Prince prepare to mount his horse.
He looked as unruffled as ever.
Jaina found it odd that the prince—whose life and death were more uncertain than anyone there—was the calmest of all, and she couldn’t help but ask.
“…Aren’t you worried, Your Highness?”
“If worrying could solve anything, I’d worry—but not worrying increases the chance of success.”
‘I wouldn’t not worry if I could help it.’
Luihart, stepping into the saddle, gave a bitter smile.
If he wasn’t to become Emperor, he had lived as if his fate was to die anyway.
His Majesty, the Sun’s Son, had sent him here to face that fate.
After eighteen years of bearing the crown in his heart, whether he would finally place it upon his head or be crushed by it—only now would the conclusion be known, and the thought gave him a strange lightness.
Still, if he really were to die, he should have properly said goodbye to Angelina.
Luihart pictured Angelina’s face.
‘…If I die, will Angelina be sad?’
Would she then become Zighart’s woman?
The thought made his head spin.
To clear his mind, Luihart shook his head and gripped the reins tightly.
“…Everyone, preparations for battle are complete.”
At Jaina’s words, Luihart turned around.
Knights and soldiers sat their horses in formation.
What he had to protect now—what he had to focus on—were the soldiers before him, including Jaina.
Seeing Jaina’s naive, expectant face waiting for orders made Luihart suddenly feel a flush of heat.
“…Move out!”
At Luihart’s command, the soldiers followed.
After getting a glimpse of Pemos once, finding the beast became easy.
They followed the spots where the ground trembled and the places where the monster’s roars echoed.
The creature’s presence was as overwhelming as its huge body.
The team chosen as bait moved to find Pemos, while Jaina and the rest moved to the bottom of the cliff.
“There—there’s Pemos.”
They spotted Pemos, tearing a deafening roar that could have split eardrums.
Pemos was plucking animals from the forest and enjoying breakfast.
Having just stuffed a deer into its mouth, the monster spat out the bones as if it had stripped them clean—its magical display sent shivers through some of the knights.
Once again the soldiers were gripped by fear.
Shaking hands and feet would be useless in a fight.
‘Damn it…’
Luihart cursed inwardly at the sight of his frightened soldiers.
But he couldn’t give up now.
“I’ll go first!”
To carry out the plan, Luihart tightened his hold on the reins and rode into Pemos’s line of sight.
He fired a crossbow bolt with one hand and struck Pemos squarely in the face.
As Pemos staggered, Luihart shouted to it.
“You ugly bastard!! Over here!!”
Pemos spotted Luihart and began to follow.
As the monster moved, the soldiers started to run too.
Pemos’s huge hand reached out toward Luihart.
This time the second-fastest knight fired a bolt at Pemos’s enormous hand.
The bolt hit the hand and Pemos writhed in pain, unable to extend the limb further.
“Now you’ll chase me!!”
Another knight shot at Pemos.
Pemos, distracted by the new attack, quickly forgot Luihart and reached for the next knight.
Then the next knight fired his bolt into Pemos’s hand.
‘If only Pemos keeps switching targets and keeps following—’
Their plan was to change Pemos’s target repeatedly so no one would be injured and to lead it all the way to the cliff.
But no matter how stupid Pemos was, it could learn.
It might ignore the bolts and kill the knight it was chasing, or it might predict and kill the knight preparing to shoot in advance.
If that happened…
They would have to somehow dodge Pemos’s attacks while still drawing it to the cliff.
Aaaaargh!!!
By now Pemos’s hands were filled with arrows and it was getting irritated.
It had followed them as far as the plan required, but the accumulated anger of the bolts seemed to have built up.
More stupid and savage than expected, Pemos seemed to choose rampage over thought.
It started to swing its fists wherever it saw.
Trees began to topple like dominos under Pemos’s blows.
One knight, almost crushed beneath a falling tree, thought he might rather die under a tree than be eaten by Pemos.
‘Just a little farther…’
Because Pemos was swinging blindly, they were constantly dodging and the path through the forest was becoming harder to follow. Trees were toppling in rows and the way narrowed.
“Argh!”
Eventually one of the knights was pinned and collapsed under a tree.
“Sir Daniel!”
“…W-what do we do now?! Your Highness?”
It was unfortunate for Sir Daniel, but stopping now would undo all the knights’ efforts.
They were so close…
Pemos smashed through the forest recklessly; the falling trees made it feel like an obstacle course.
“The path’s too narrow! From here I’ll go alone! The rest of you head down to the bottom of the cliff and wait!”
“Y-yes!”
The knights separated and spread out.
Fortunately, Pemos seemed to prefer chasing straight ahead rather than turning, so it kept chasing only Luihart instead of the knights who had moved aside.
‘Good. Keep chasing to the very end!’
Luihart increased his speed.
It was the only way to avoid Pemos’s outstretched hand aimed at him.
