Chapter 119 …
“Monsters?”
Why did one appear right now of all times?
Just a little farther and we would reach Ferdinand. Our warm home where Father and Grandfather were waiting.
So why did a monster appear now?
After a brief moment of panic, I tried to calm myself and thought it would be fine.
The knights with me right now were the elite among Ferdinand’s elite, and this was practically Ferdinand’s front yard.
Even if something did happen, I had no doubt that Grandfather would come immediately and save me.
But what worried me was something else.
‘X, why aren’t you answering?’
No matter how many times I called, X didn’t respond.
Whether I called in my mind or out loud, there was no reaction.
It felt as if it had stopped being an Ego Sword and had turned into nothing more than a cold iron blade.
At that moment—
Bang!!!!
The carriage slammed into something again. My head struck the carriage wall hard and I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Ugh!”
Then—
Bang!
The carriage door suddenly flew open without a knock. It was Edith, her hair completely disheveled, who opened the door with a tense expression.
“My lady, Your Highness the Prince—please don’t come outside. A monster has appeared, so it’s dangerous right now. But we’re subduing it quickly, so everything should be cleared up soon.”
Even in the chaos, Edith calmly explained the situation before shutting the carriage door again.
Behind her, it looked like there was some kind of black smoke, but once the door closed, it quickly disappeared from view.
“Kyuu…”
Yongyong paced around nervously. I stepped slightly away from the window but still looked outside.
Why didn’t I notice?
X had said that I had grown somewhat stronger now. So why hadn’t I sensed the monster approaching?
However, judging by how startled the knights were by the sudden attack, it seemed they hadn’t sensed its presence either.
Then there were only two possibilities.
Either this monster specialized in hiding its presence and was extremely troublesome to deal with—
Or it was so powerful that people at our level couldn’t detect it at all.
If it was the former, it didn’t matter. Ferdinand’s knights would suppress it quickly.
But if it’s the latter…?
Clutching Excalibur with an anxious expression, I looked outside the carriage.
Lemart seemed to think I might jump out, so he shook his head at me.
“You can’t go out. If the knights told us to stay inside, there must be a reason.”
“I wasn’t planning to go out. I’ll stay inside. Besides… right now X also…”
X isn’t answering.
I couldn’t bring myself to say that.
Because I had realized something—
Without X, I was just an ordinary, insignificant eight-year-old kid.
Excalibur had always been beside me, guiding my path, helping me find solutions, lending me power, and being my friend.
But now that Excalibur said nothing…
…This feels strange.
My heart felt strange and suffocating.
As if I had suddenly become a completely useless little child.
But I shook my head vigorously to drive away those thoughts.
Don’t think like that.
At times like this—especially in dangerous situations—negative thoughts were absolutely no help.
Just then—
Smash!
…Huh?
The wall of the carriage was torn away with a tremendous noise.
Lemart instinctively grabbed me. Yongyong quickly slipped into my pocket, apparently reluctant to reveal himself in front of people.
I hugged Excalibur tightly and squinted.
Boom!
With an explosion, the entire side of the carriage was ripped off, and Lemart and I were thrown out of the carriage.
“My Lady!”
The monster had ripped the carriage door off!
If it had been an ordinary person, they might have been seriously injured the moment the carriage was torn apart.
But we were unharmed.
We had already completed some training, so that level of shock couldn’t easily hurt us—and one of the knights had leapt forward and caught us.
“Whoa! I could’ve landed on my own…!”
“Even so, protecting you both is our duty.”
“Yes, thank you.”
I looked at the carriage, which now looked miserable with one side completely torn off.
Wait… it grabbed the door and tore it off?
It didn’t just attack—it grabbed the door and ripped it away.
As if it wanted to pull us out from inside.
Only then did I finally see the monster clearly.
Something about it was strange.
It was a black monster whose form wasn’t properly shaped. But for some reason, it looked familiar.
Why?
When would I have ever seen a monster before?
As soon as it spotted Lemart and me, the monster went even more berserk.
It was in a state of rampage.
A condition where no one could stop it—and no one could even attempt to stop it.
A monster that entered such a state could only calm down and stop once it died.
Judging by how much the Ferdinand knights were struggling, it seemed to be an incredibly strong monster.
Still hugging the silent X, I stepped back and watched the knights fight the monster.
Then—
“Eve, move!”
The black smoke formed a shape.
In an instant, the smoke hardened. It could become a spear, a sword, or sharp spikes that stabbed toward me.
I had been so focused on the monster that I realized it too late.
“Aah!”
Right before it stabbed me!
Fortunately, I moved in time and dodged—but the monster was still targeting me.
While dodging its attacks, I kept staring at its face.
Why did it seem familiar?
I was sure I had seen it somewhere before, but it was like a black fog clouded my memory.
I couldn’t remember at all.
But then—
“Meow.”
A faint cry flashed through my mind.
At that moment, I realized who the monster was.
And when I had met it.
“A—a cat!”
“…A cat?”
“It’s a cat! I’m sure of it!”
When I raised my head, my eyes met its round eyes.
The monster’s form had collapsed greatly, but its two eyes were still intact.
When it realized that I had recognized it, it narrowed its eyes—then attacked again.
“Ah! Why are you attacking us? Is it because Ezekiel died and your mission ended?”
“I don’t know. But why did it chase us all the way here? Wasn’t it originally a monster living in Courtney?”
“That’s what I mean—ah!”
I dodged its attacks while looking at it.
Was it just my imagination?
Or did those round eyes somehow look… sad?
If X were here, maybe he could have told me why the cat was attacking us.
I glanced down at X, still silent in my arms, then looked back at the monster.
The monster kept looking around as if searching for something, and the knights seized that moment to attack it.
Just then—
“Reinforcements!”
One of the knights shouted loudly.
When I turned my head toward the sound, I saw horses galloping from afar, kicking up clouds of dust.
I immediately recognized whose horse it was.
“Grandfather!”
It was Grandfather’s horse.
After receiving the report that a monster had appeared near Ferdinand’s front grounds, he had rushed here.
The moment he arrived, he stopped his horse and lifted me up into his arms.
“Eve, are you alright?”
“Yes! I’m fine because Grandfather came!”
“Is His Highness the Prince safe as well?”
“Yes, as you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”
After confirming that both of us were safe, Grandfather drew his sword and stepped forward himself.
His sword gleamed in the sunlight.
As if sensing its end, the monster let out a long cry.
The sound was so mournful that some knights even covered their ears while hearing it.
Why did you chase us all the way here?
If it had stayed in Courtney, it would have been safe.
So why did it come here like this?
“Grrrr…”
But there was no way to have a conversation with a monster in a berserk state.
Communication itself was impossible.
