I’m Hunting My Enemy - Chapter 26
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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26. Ally (2)
Glem, who had escaped from prison so easily it was embarrassing to call it a jailbreak, immediately headed toward the marsh village.
Catsy, who he expected to follow, had completely disappeared.
As he had guessed, she seemed skilled in stealth techniques.
‘She’s probably following from somewhere.’
Glem didn’t worry about it. The priest’s brief pause at the prison door earlier was probably because Catsy had secretly entered using a magical device. Her skills were definitely reliable.
‘Should I get a weapon first?’
He hadn’t been able to retrieve the sword that was taken when he was imprisoned.
‘Never mind. No time.’
It wasn’t that precious a weapon anyway. Being a mercenary, he used whatever he could get, even chipped swords.
Instead, Glem gripped the holy relic tightly in his fist. He had used this holy relic longer than the temple priests. The cloth wrapping the relic was worn enough to fit perfectly in his palm.
Glem ran out, thinking he’d crack someone’s skull with it if necessary.
‘Ryuie must be fighting for sure.’
His intuition was correct.
Though the opponent was somewhat different.
‘What? A monster?’
The closer he got to the village entrance, the more he could see a giant form that was a fluid-type monster, one of the most troublesome to deal with.
A monster that wouldn’t be cut even when slashed with a sword, and quickly recovered even when magic was used. Despite that, it was extremely dangerous because it only took solid form when attacking.
It was a monster that could only be defeated by multiple people attacking simultaneously.
So when Glem saw the figure of a woman standing alone before the giant writhing monster, his heart couldn’t help but sink.
“Ahahaha!”
Black blood splattered to one side.
Ryuie bent her waist and leaped to avoid the monster’s striking attack.
She even struck with her gun after firing one shot and running out of bullets.
Even with such useless attacks, her eyes showed genuine enjoyment, visible even from a hundred meters away.
‘Why is she doing that?’
Glem couldn’t understand for a moment.
Why was she fighting alone? She wasn’t the type to help others.
‘Why isn’t anyone helping her?’
His gaze, which had been focused on Ryuie, finally turned backward.
The ducal house’s knights were quietly surrounding the monster with swords and spears. Like a fence.
They were standing by, ready to join the fight whenever Ryuie was in danger.
But to Glem, that seemed like ridiculous waiting.
She could lose her head in an instant while fighting a monster.
How was this different from playing with her life?
Even though Ryuie wanted to fight, the sense of unease was intense.
Even when she threw away the empty gun and ran to find any randomly loaded gun, she was smiling, but still.
Ryuie, who had been happily fighting the monster, suddenly showed a disinterested expression.
This was because another knight had quickly crushed and eliminated a blob of the monster that she had accidentally missed.
Ryuie, who had been staring at that direction for a moment, stood still until just before Glem was about to shout that it was dangerous.
“I’m bored.”
Ryuie muttered. At the same time, the knights stepped forward as if they had been waiting.
“Formation!”
Thump. Thump.
The trained footsteps sounded orderly, then instantly charged toward the monster.
Though it was difficult to defeat when fighting alone, with multiple opponents, the battle was decided in an instant.
While the knights fought, servants immediately ran over and wiped Ryuie’s wet sweat and dirt with clean towels.
Their skill in moving carefully so the cloth could touch her was practiced.
Unlike usual, Ryuie just let her arms hang with a blunt expression, only receiving their care.
Glem felt strange.
He expected her to rampage more, but it felt like she had suddenly cut off.
“Miss!”
“Oh my~?”
Catsy, who had been following while hidden, couldn’t stand it anymore upon seeing Ryuie and popped out.
He couldn’t guess where she had emerged from.
Catsy cheerfully shouted.
“I brought a gift!”
“My goodness. How admirable.”
Ryuie’s eyes, looking back through the towel, recognized Glem and sparkled mischievously again.
“Isn’t that our little bell?”
Even hearing the old nickname, Glem still had a stern face.
“What are you doing?”
“Auto-hunting?”
Ryuie smiled and gestured with her chin toward the knights finishing off the monster.
“It’s convenient.”
That wasn’t what Glem wanted to ask. But he didn’t know exactly what he should ask either.
Catsy quickly snatched a towel from one of the servants. But Ryuie thought she was sufficiently clean and waved her hand in refusal.
“You escaped after all? You’re a bit later than I thought.”
“He says he didn’t escape himself. A priest gave him a holy relic?”
Catsy quickly tattled.
“The temple and that mercenary must all be on the same side. How perfectly they deceived us.”
“I don’t know why that priest did that either.”
Glem answered belatedly.
“There seems to be one strange priest.”
“Ah! I saw one too. A strange fellow.”
Ryuie unexpectedly agreed.
“His speech is a bit naive, but he’s kind of cute looking. A bold kid. He invited me to his room without Ohen priest knowing? Said he wanted to be alone together.”
“What?”
“Huh?!”
Glem and Catsy exclaimed simultaneously.
That beast-like human took her to his room first?
Ryuie’s expression became sinister as she looked back and forth at their shock.
“What are you thinking right now? Tell me quickly. Specifically, in detail, with descriptions!”
Ignoring Ryuie’s request for lewd talk in broad daylight, Glem shouted.
“You followed him there? Are you sane?”
“When someone seduces you first, why would you refuse? And anyway, because of the engagement vow, he couldn’t even touch a finger.”
Ryuie pretended not to know annoyingly.
Catsy was also restless.
“What did you say? How far did you go?”
“If you mean progress, up to me climbing on top of that priest?”
“Ahhh!”
And the very important story that all humans affected by the Crown Prince’s vow cannot leave far from the swamp.
Ryuie, who was about to say that, had her attention diverted.
This was because another knight came running from a different direction than the knights who had dealt with the monster.
“Miss!”
“What’s wrong?”
The other knight who had rushed over knelt on one knee and reported.
“Someone claiming to be His Highness the Crown Prince has appeared.”
Snap.
Suddenly all chatter stopped and Ryuie’s expression completely changed.
Glem instinctively denied it, somehow finding the mysteriously twisted smile terrifying.
“That’s ridiculous. There’s no way that could be true.”
“You’re certain?”
“A human who didn’t appear despite long searches suddenly steps forward claiming to be the Crown Prince? It doesn’t add up.”
“I came here, didn’t I?”
Ryuie smiled confidently, crushing any contradictions underfoot.
The beauty that was the Ducal House’s greatest treasure radiated forth without reserve.
“Now that his fiancée has appeared, he’d naturally want to reveal himself.”
“No…”
“Even to us, he doesn’t look anything like His Highness the Crown Prince. But he knows His Highness’s exact name, so verification is necessary.”
The Crown Prince’s surname was famous, but his given name was hardly known.
Only those in private circles could know it, and due to the Imperial Court’s oaths and miracles accumulated over long years, merely calling his name risked activating certain oaths. The kind where misfortune befell the caller, not the Crown Prince.
‘A type of defensive prayer.’
It wasn’t for nothing that great punishment fell upon those who dared touch the Imperial Court’s authority. It was a way of handling things lightly before the deity could deliver a curse. The Imperial Court had made its own efforts, one could say.
Ryuie, who casually called out “Yosua, Yosua” without care, was simply an exception.
After all, the two were bound by an engagement oath, so they were free from such dangers.
Thanks to this, Ryuie’s associates also happened to know the Crown Prince’s real name. But they absolutely never spoke it aloud. They knew full well what kind of fate they might suffer.
In any case, in such circumstances, for there to be a human in this remote countryside calling out the Crown Prince’s name.
It was information so difficult to obtain that even someone desperate to die would struggle to learn it, making it reasonable to assume this person was indeed him.
“…Did you really not recognize him? Are you certain that’s Yosua under a curse?”
“It’s possible.”
Ryuie recalled Benito’s words.
Since the Crown Prince had Rkultu’s blood flowing through him, he couldn’t have transformed into an ordinary monster like other people.
Perhaps that might be in human form rather than monster form?
The Imperial citizens under Rkultu’s protection were also his children with his blood flowing through them, albeit very, very faintly.
Ryuie, who had conjured all sorts of terrible monsters in her mind, bit her lip slightly.
“Let’s go.”
The knight guided Ryuie to that place without argument.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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