Chapter 49
“You’re awake. There’s somewhere we need to hurry to.”
Aaron explained the situation to her and suggested she come along. It seemed her testimony was needed for the investigation.
When Roni arrived at the scene, she couldn’t help but be appalled. Before her, the wizard was pleading desperately, his face covered in blood.
“L-Lady!”
The wizard, upon seeing her, began begging again. He insisted that, just as Prince Kansio had requested, he had cast the highest-grade protection spell—one that even a high-level monster shouldn’t have been able to break easily. In short, he claimed he was being treated unfairly.
But the protection spell had been broken, and had Allen been even a little later, Roni might have become a monster’s meal. Because of that, no one was inclined to believe him.
To verify the wizard’s words, Freddy had called Roni to check the flow of mana—there should still be traces of magic lingering on her.
When Roni gave permission, Freddy began to read the mana flow around her.
The result confirmed the wizard’s claim. Yet, how could such magic have been broken? Freddy felt a surge of alarm at the thought that such a powerful monster existed in the Crimson Forest.
“What kind of monster was it? Describe its appearance in detail.”
“At a glance… it looked like a Rakan.”
Jack spoke with a pale face.
“I’ve never heard of a Rakan being able to breathe fire.”
In response to Freddy’s question, Aaron relayed the knights’ testimonies. The conclusion: it was a kind they had never seen before.
“We can’t fully determine its identity, but the knights said its appearance closely resembled a Rakan. Given that it breathed fire, I suspect it might have been a mutated variant.”
“Did you confirm the corpse?”
“We tried, but Sir Allen shattered it completely. It’s impossible to tell exactly what kind of monster it was.”
Aaron shot a glance at Allen—blaming him for derailing the investigation—but Allen’s expression seemed to say, ‘I did nothing wrong.’
Freddy sighed at the sight. Meanwhile, Roni couldn’t help but feel pity for the weeping wizard. As he had said, the situation truly was unfair to him.
“You call this interrogation? Look at his face—it’s torture! Is this how the Imperial family conducts investigations?”
“Ah, no, that wasn’t us… it was Allen—”
Aaron started to explain but quickly shut his mouth after sensing Allen’s chilling aura. Still, since Allen’s name had been mentioned, Roni quickly understood the situation.
She whipped her head toward Allen, glaring sharply. Allen, under her burning stare, looked away, pretending to be distracted by nothing in particular.
“Stop hitting people.”
“Sorry. I just lost my temper.”
Allen apologized immediately, leaving Roni speechless. She had expected him to brazen it out, but his quick apology caught her off guard.
Was Allen always like this? She thought he’d brush off hitting someone as nothing, yet he apologized so easily that it was hard to even scold him further. But his next reaction showed she had been mistaken.
As soon as he saw her anger soften, Allen grinned. He knew pretending to repent would calm her down.
“Are you really sorry?”
“Yes. I was wrong, Roni.”
Allen, wearing a dejected expression, clutched at her sleeve. Roni eyed him suspiciously, but he feigned ignorance.
Freddy spoke.
“Without a corpse, the investigation can’t proceed. For now, let’s close off this area. There may be other creatures.”
With no progress to be made, Freddy dismissed the wizard. There was no point in interrogating him further.
After officially closing the case, Freddy approached Roni.
“There’s no helping it. For the time being, you’ll accompany me, my lady.”
“Huh? What about Kan?”
Roni looked at him in confusion. Freddy replied casually,
“Kan is still too young. Protecting himself would be difficult. It’s better if I guard you for now.”
“No. I’ll stay with Roni and protect her.”
Just then, Allen stepped between Roni and Freddy. Freddy chuckled knowingly, as if he had expected it. Allen’s face hardened immediately, realizing Freddy’s intent.
Roni, too, grasped the situation at once. As she had predicted, Freddy smiled brightly.
“In that case, Sir Allen, why not join me as well? Having you in my camp would be most reassuring.”
“I only protect Roni. Guard your own body, Your Highness.”
“Quite disrespectful, but I’ll overlook it.”
Freddy tapped Allen’s shoulder lightly, then laughed heartily as if to brush it off.
Roni sighed deeply at the prince’s reaction. It was clear he planned to use her as bait to draw Allen to his side.
So that’s why he keeps trying to escalate things…
She realized she was the lure, and Allen the fish that had bitten.
When Freddy walked ahead, Roni whispered to Allen,
“If you stick around here, what about Gale?”
“Don’t worry. We’ve already hunted enough that we could disband. I’ll tell them to head back first.”
“So that’s why there haven’t been any monsters around lately. That was you, wasn’t it?”
“Who knows?”
Allen avoided the question with a sly grin. The lack of denial was proof enough.
When they returned to the quarters, Allen grasped Roni’s hand tightly.
“Sorry I was late. You must have been terrified.”
“No, you came in time after all.”
Roni smiled as if it were nothing. Allen let out a heavy sigh and rested his head on her shoulder—a sign he had been just as shaken as she.
“Your presence suddenly scattered in all directions, so it took me longer to find you. For a moment, I thought you’d learned clone techniques.”
“As if. You know I’m hopelessly weak. It must have been because my mana is so faint—especially with all the miasma nearby.”
“Maybe so…”
This place was heavy with miasma. No wonder someone weak like her would fade so easily.
Allen soon returned to the Crown Prince’s camp. Despite his curt words, he seemed intent on fulfilling his duty.
Roni stepped to the window and watched Allen retreat into the distance. Though she had nearly died, she found herself feeling strangely at ease—the tension between them had softened.
The relief unsettled her.
Wait, am I actually relieved right now?
Her heart swayed like a reed.
Just then—
“Sis!”
Kan rushed in, frantic, tears glimmering in his eyes. He was shaken that she had nearly met with disaster after he had dragged her along.
Seeing him like a child, Roni stroked his head gently.
“You came because you were worried about me. What a sweet boy.”
“Why don’t we just rest and go home, sis? It’s fine. Don’t push yourself.”
Kan spoke earnestly, as if ready to give up the entire Hunt Festival.
“No. I didn’t come here to play. I came to draw. I don’t want people saying I ran away in fear.”
“But still…”
Kan faltered. He didn’t want to return without even sketching a scene.
After much effort, Roni persuaded him to return to his quarters.
Alone in bed again, thoughts flooded her mind. She hadn’t been unshaken. At death’s door, she had felt powerless and terrified.
And she had thought of Allen—of that festival night when he had walked away, hurt. The memory made her chest ache.
When Allen saved her, she had felt not just relief, but joy.
Was that just admiration? Was the pounding in her chest truly just friendship? How could her emotions swing so wildly whenever she saw him?
“Why am I like this…”
Realizing her feelings were changing made her uneasy. Yet she couldn’t clearly define them.
Closing her eyes with a troubled heart, she found herself unable to sleep, Allen’s image surfacing again and again.
Strange events continued to unfold afterward. Unknown monsters kept attacking Roni, forcing Allen to remain by her side without pause.
She was sick of seeing monster corpses. Perhaps Kan had been right—they should have just rested.
Allen, too, seemed tired, yet he never left her side, sensing something was off.
Roni wiped the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. Allen bent slightly, letting her fuss over him.
Why are monsters targeting me? Do I somehow attract them?
It made no sense—she had never encountered a monster before. Roni felt guilty watching Allen struggle because of her. With a downcast face, she murmured,
“Allen, I don’t know why, but… it feels like I must be giving off some strange scent that draws monsters to me. Otherwise this wouldn’t be happening.”
