I’m Hunting My Enemy - Chapter 47

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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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47. Those Who Live in Hiding Have Their Own Hidden Fears (3)

 

“Ginger.”

 

“Yes.”

 

The knight whose name was called looked at Ryuie and bowed his head.

 

“Go down to the village and bring back a man named Marco.”

 

“Understood.”

 

Marco was the mercenary guild employee who had told them the swamp rumors were about the Crown Prince’s ghost and then introduced them to Glem.

 

At the time, he certainly seemed to know nothing.

 

But he needed to be investigated again.

 

“What about Glem?”

 

“He hasn’t been seen since yesterday.”

 

“I don’t think he’d go to a tavern just because he won at gambling.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“Never mind. Bring him if you see him. There’s no need to actively search for him yet.”

 

“Understood.”

 

The two knights who received orders moved out.

 

Ryuie entered the area where the guard knight had stepped aside. Bendam and Catsy followed her. But when it was Benito’s turn to enter, a knight blocked his path again.

 

“Huh?”

 

“You wait there.”

 

“But you said you’d bring me along.”

 

Benito tried speaking sullenly, but it didn’t work.

 

“Being brought this far is already an honor.”

 

Bendam and Catsy shrugged their shoulders smugly as they followed inside.

 

Well, even if he was a Crown Prince candidate, he wouldn’t receive the same treatment as them until it was confirmed. Their loyalty surged.

 

Moreover, Benito served as a decent smokescreen.

 

Seeing Benito left alone from Ryuie’s group, the nobles quietly approached him.

 

Benito, standing there awkwardly, quietly pulled his robe over his head.

 

Meanwhile, Ryuie lifted the tent flap where the Knight Captain was staying and entered.

 

Inside, a mage, priest, and investigator were surrounding a single ring.

 

The Knight Captain saluted when he saw Ryuie.

 

“You’ve arrived.”

 

“How far have you confirmed things?”

 

When Ryuie asked, the people inside each gave their answers.

 

“There’s no magic cast on it, and it shows no signs of becoming a relic.”

 

“It’s definitely an object related to an oath.”

 

The priest covered the ring with his blackened fingertips.

 

Then, crackling like growing thorny vines, black flames climbed up the priest’s fingers.

 

When the priest quickly withdrew his fingers, the ring became quiet as if nothing had happened.

 

“I tried to place a light restriction on it, but as you can see, it’s already bound by a higher-level oath.”

 

The Crown Prince definitely did something before he left.

 

Ryuie asked with cold eyes.

 

“Isn’t there a case where the oath’s subject transfers to the sacrifice after the oath-maker offers a sacrifice?”

 

“There are no such cases.”

 

The investigator who had taken exams memorizing all causes of oath-breaking and types of sacrifices denied it.

 

Those involved in this country’s trials had to memorize all cases of oaths passed down from ancient times, whether through natural intelligence or by making strong oaths themselves.

 

“What about methods of transferring part of an oath?”

 

“Those rarely exist.”

 

Ryuie slowly walked around the area.

 

“There’s a person outside presumed to be the Crown Prince who has lost his memory. If he paid with his memory and appearance as the price to escape from an oath, is it possible the ring was used as a medium?”

 

“…It’s not an impossible story.”

 

The investigators’ reactions were mixed.

 

Cutting hair or offering blood for oaths was so common.

 

So there was plenty of possibility of offering things like memory or appearance.

 

The other reaction was confusion about whether they had really just left a candidate who might be the Crown Prince standing outside.

 

Since Ryuie tended to mix jokes with serious talk, everyone was confused.

 

An investigator who kept trying to look outside spoke up.

 

“But if oaths could be broken that way, why would countless curses exist in this land?”

 

In the end, it meant it wasn’t possible.

 

‘It might be possible if a relic with such abilities assisted.’

 

Ryuie, who refrained from talking about the Relic of the Swamp, gave an order.

 

“Hold out your hand. Leave the ring as it is. Keep praying.”

 

The priest looked like he didn’t understand why she was giving such instructions, but obediently followed the order.

 

Soon Ryuie placed her hand over the black rejection reaction that began rising again.

 

Immediately, what Ryuie had hoped for appeared.

 

“!”

 

“Ah!”

 

“Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

 

As soon as Ryuie placed her hand, Yosua’s apparition appeared once more.

 

This time the impact was much greater than what had appeared in the swamp.

 

It appeared vividly right before their eyes, as if alive.

 

It was like a living ghost.

 

‘Hello, Yosua.’

 

Ryuie carefully examined Yosua’s apparition before her eyes.

 

It was to find even the slightest difference or flaw.

 

But neither his gentle gaze nor his delicately drawn eyebrows revealed any differences. Even his fair, smooth skin despite being an apparition. Even his neatly closed lips were flawless.

 

It just seemed like he might come alive and smile at any moment.

 

‘…’

 

Unfortunately, with Yosua’s apparition appearing over the ring, Ryuie’s hand placement looked as if she was holding hands with Yosua.

 

The people who had been chattering in surprise at the Crown Prince’s appearance gradually fell silent at the solemnity of the scene with Ryuie and Yosua standing together.

 

When Ryuie slowly withdrew her hand, the apparition smoothly disappeared.

 

With a thoroughly indifferent expression, Ryuie spoke.

 

“Seeing how the apparition appears, the oath contained in the ring is still in a state where interference is possible. If we send it to the Cathedral in the Capital, there should be someone who can properly appraise it.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

“The young lady is correct.”

 

Right there, Ryuie selected a suitable box for the ring and decided on appropriate offerings to send to the temple.

 

Even Ryuie couldn’t ask for such a favor for free.

 

After composing a letter in formal tone, Ryuie briefly scratched her head with the tip of her quill.

 

Considering confidentiality and the ability to appraise such objects, the only person who could handle this task was the Saintess.

 

Because of what had happened between them, Ryuie couldn’t write the content carelessly, so she rarely wrote the letter in her own hand.

 

Contacting someone who had already rejected her once, Ryuie felt no hesitation whatsoever.

 

Rather, she was endlessly cheerful and light, as if writing a love letter.

 

‘Hmm. Is this too stiff? Should I add more flowery language?’

 

As Ryuie was about to dip her pen in the inkwell, the Knight Captain’s tent flap fluttered open.

 

“Reporting, Miss.”

 

Ryuie, who had been writing the letter, looked up. It was the knight she had sent to capture Marco, one of the two she had dispatched earlier.

 

‘But why is he alone?’

 

His face clearly showed signs of failure.

 

Most importantly, Marco, who should have been brought along, was nowhere to be seen.

 

Something had definitely gone seriously wrong.

 

“What happened?”

 

“I’m sorry to report, but Marco has been found dead.”

 

Ryuie’s brow furrowed.

 

The corpse was found dead with its mouth open, staring at the sky.

 

His hands clutched his chest as if pointing to his heart, and his wide-open eyes were white with terror.

 

Ryuie looked down at Marco for a long time.

 

After a moment, Catsy, who had examined Marco’s corpse, spoke.

 

“There’s no poison or stab wounds. It’s definitely a heart attack, miss.”

 

“Did he have any chronic illness?”

 

“According to the villagers, he didn’t.”

 

Bendam, who had gone out to investigate, answered.

 

The knights had investigated around Marco’s house, but there were no particular signs of anyone breaking in.

 

From the situation alone, it looked like a natural death.

 

Except for the strange expression and the eerie atmosphere of this situation.

 

‘Of all times, he had to die when I needed him.’

 

Since she had found the Crown Prince’s ring, Ryuie had intended to verify the source of the rumors.

 

Marco, who ran a mercenary agency, was the main figure who collected and spread rumors in this area.

 

But now that the person in question was dead, it became impossible to know exactly who he had heard the Crown Prince’s rumors from or to whom he had spread them.

 

‘There’s only one connection left.’

 

Watching Ryuie’s mood, Catsy carefully broached the subject.

 

“Um… miss.”

 

“Bring Glem here.”

 

“Yes!”

 

Perhaps worried that Ryuie might hesitate, Catsy brightened up and quickly ran out.

 

Shortly after, Glem, who had been urgently summoned, looked somewhat bewildered.

 

“Why did you call for me? Are we going to the swamp now?”

 

“No.”

 

“…Wait, that’s!”

 

Glem, who belatedly discovered Marco’s corpse, flinched.

 

From his unavoidable physical reaction, Ryuie realized that he was genuinely surprised.

 

“Why is he dead? Is it murder?”

 

“No. Not yet.”

 

“Not yet?”

 

Glem, who had been asking back, soon ran his hand over his face and calmed down.

 

Though he was surprised, he was indeed like a mercenary accustomed to death.

 

“Is it silencing?”

 

“I thought so too, but our Catsy says he wasn’t murdered.”

 

“It could be magic or a curse.”

 

“I told you there were no traces left directly on the body. Unless you can kill someone just by startling them.”

 

Glem looked down at Marco’s corpse with a troubled expression.

 

“That’s absolutely not how someone who died naturally looks.”

 

“I think so too.”

 

It wasn’t a curse, so it wasn’t related to an oath, and it wasn’t magic either.

 

Then there’s only one thing left.

 

‘A monster.’

 

It seems there’s one more monster living in this swampland.

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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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