The strange beings lunged at them, claws bared, their appearances no longer fitting any description of ordinary folk. The massacre of their own kind was unforgivable—let alone the fact that they had already shed their human disguises to reveal the ugliness beneath.
So Lyle In Harut—a young man from the economic hub of Malletts, an honorary knight personally appointed by the Clover royal family, and the rising star who would make the Harut family shine once more in the annals of history—could not tolerate such atrocities.
He drew the elegant sword at his side. The pure silver blade gleamed with a brilliant, deadly crimson luster, as if telling the tale of its glorious past.
This wasn’t just a sword for show—after all, it was wielded by an honorary knight.
Lyle took a deep breath, settled into his stance, and alongside his good friend Winter Riftwind, threw himself into the fray.
“Lyle! Behind you!” The moment the warning came, Lyle leaped high into the air. A flintlock bullet whizzed past and struck another monster that had been about to ambush him.
In this line of work, you strive for perfection—that was Winter Riftwind’s motto. Holding fast to that belief, he had passed the professional evolution trial and received the secret realm’s legacy—a flintlock rifle.
Unlike ordinary people, Winter’s body stored a large amount of sustainable holy power that repelled mana, which prevented him from using conventional spells to aid himself. To compensate for this gap, he gave up on trying to resolve the conflict between mana and holy power, and instead focused on channeling holy power into a weapon for combat.
He figured out that he could use holy power’s adhesive property and coat his bullets with it—and thus, his one-of-a-kind technique, Enchanted Bullet, was born.
Now then, enough talk.
“Tch, what’s with these things?!”
“They’re probably monsters disguised as humans. Benjamin, how’s it going over there?”
“Your Highness, I’m fine on my end! But these monsters are different from the usual ones. Based on my analysis, they can mimic the faces of the victims they’ve devoured, and gradually gain their abilities and intelligence—”
“What do you mean?!”
“Your Highness, they evolve by consuming living beings, which allows them to reproduce more easily!”
“Lyle, I’ve noticed—some of them move clumsily and slow, while others are nimble and quick. They can even use crossbows and magic. They’re not just mindlessly attacking; they actually coordinate tactics.”
“If these monsters ever spread, Winter.”
“Yeah! They definitely will!”
“This country will be destroyed… but even so, no matter how dangerous these creatures are, we have to make it through! She’s here. They’re here. The entire city’s residents are here too!”
“Your Highness! The guards of Feltro are already suppressing the creatures in every district! Our soldiers have also acquired basic weapons and can join the fight!”
“Good! Have them rescue civilians in each area first—and tell them not to get hurt… make sure they judge carefully who’s human and who’s a monster. These things might be disguised as old folks, women, even children… Unfortunately, my soul detection can only give me a rough idea.”
“Lyle! Look, it’s the patrol squad!”
“Great, let’s keep pushing forward. Earth Shatter!”
“Your Highness, still the same as always… then I suppose I should carry out the tasks you assigned as well. That girl you’re so concerned about—you really are lucky, aren’t you—hmm? That blue figure…”
After confirming Lyle was safe, Benjamin ran toward the other end of the plaza. He stopped at the entrance of an alley and found the ground littered with the remains of those creatures—
“Mom! Let me go! I want to find Dad!”
“He’s not your father anymore! He’s a monster!”
“That’s not true! He, he promised me! He hugged me, he kissed me… but why did that sister have to take him away! I hate that mean sister!”
“Sister?” (Benjamin)
“That sister is really strong—she knows magic. She helped us, and you need to understand that. You’re young and don’t get it yet… once this disaster is over, we’ll go find your father and give him a proper burial. Be good now.”
After the woman led her child away from the alley, Benjamin examined the scene carefully, then clapped his hands together. He started walking slowly, deeper into the alley. When he heard a faint sound of breathing, a small smile crossed his face. He tilted his head and spoke softly toward the wall, from which the sound came but which held no one in sight—
“Miss Hatsuki, it’s me—Benjamin Listaer, His Highness Lyle’s attendant.”
…
I thought I’d hidden myself well enough, but I didn’t expect someone to find my trail—and of all people, it had to be Lyle’s attendant… Well, Benjamin had been a bit annoying when we first met, but he’d turned out to be a decent guy. And since he served Lyle, I figured he was trustworthy.
Lyle, oh Lyle, my dear young master—why did you follow me this far? Why go to such lengths for us?
I noticed Benjamin had no intention of leaving, and I had to admit he was pretty sharp—but at the end of the day, he was still just an ordinary person. I dispelled my Concealment and stepped forward, planting my foot right on Benjamin’s ankle.
“Oww! Ugh… Miss Hatsuki, could you please let go?”
“Heh, Benjamin. Looks like your ears aren’t so sharp after all—you didn’t even realize you got it backwards.”
That’s right. Even though he’d sensed I was hiding here, that earlier question had been a gamble at best—more like a shot in the dark.
I moved my leg away. Benjamin rubbed his ankle to ease the pain, then stood up as well once he saw I was still on my feet… Hmm, he’s tall. I guess that’s what adults are like? Compared to our first meeting, he seemed even taller.
What am I even thinking? The real ridiculous part is that I’ve shrunk…
I shook my head and cleared my throat a couple of times to get myself in the right frame of mind.
“Allow me to explain the situation, Miss Hatsuki,” Benjamin said, and without waiting for my response, launched into the next part of his story. I didn’t want to interrupt, so I just stood there silently and listened.
The gist of it was… uh… Lyle had left Malletts, met up with Winter Riftwind in Part, and then continued on to Gail to look for clues about me. I’d left around that time, so I missed them… He didn’t find me, so he pushed on to Feltro—
That’s about the shape of it, I think.
I listened blankly, zoning out until the ever-chattering Benjamin finally stopped, which snapped me back to reality.
“Oh! It’s the big brother who helped us before!”
Big brother? Helped you? Hmph… looks like Benjamin has a bit of a past he doesn’t talk about.
I smiled bitterly and shook my head. As I looked up, I caught Benjamin staring at me with a puzzled expression.
“Hm? That voice. Could it be a minor spirit?” Damn, how could he hear that? Could it be because he helped them before that he can sense them?
Benjamin gave me a curious up-and-down look, rubbing his chin as he thought in silence for a moment, then relaxed his furrowed brow.
Seems like he knew when to hold his tongue—fitting for an attendant to someone like that.
I let out a quiet sigh of admiration, then dropped my smile. Ever since I got separated from Alek and the others back in Malletts, I’d already made up my mind—I wouldn’t ask Lyle for help anymore, to avoid dragging him into this mess. That was true then, and it still held now.
I told Benjamin my decision was final—
“Miss Hatsuki, His Highness Lyle ordered me to either gather information about you all, or find you directly. To receive such favor and trust from His Highness, you’re certainly no ordinary people.”
“But I don’t want to be treated as someone special in his eyes—nor do I want to become someone who gets preferential treatment in the public eye—”
Before I could finish, Benjamin’s expression shifted. His warm look turned stern. He adjusted the glasses he wasn’t actually wearing, and said without a trace of kindness:
“Please don’t use that as an excuse to think of yourself as so superior, Miss Hatsuki Tōryō. Your actions are hardly noble—in fact, they’ve already crossed the line of both law and morality. I must remind you: His Highness Lyle would never sacrifice his own interests to this extent for just one person or a single group. You, too, are helping Miss Elf achieve her goal of returning to the Elven Forest for your own reasons, aren’t you?”
Benjamin’s words struck harder with each sentence, growing heavier and colder, stabbing into my heart and sobering me up, bit by bit.
I wanted so badly to refute every one of his unreasonable claims—but when I thought about it, wasn’t I the one who’d been unreasonable all along?
My mind went fuzzy. A chill swept across my forehead. I couldn’t bear the crushing pressure and swallowed hard.
“No… that’s not it…” Even my final rebuttal barely came out as a whisper, even though what I was about to say was the truth…
Why…? Am I really that ridiculous?
Benjamin let out a deep sigh and looked at me. I imagined I must’ve seemed utterly pathetic to him… But what could I do? This world had changed me so much—how could I argue back? Back then, I could even trade blows with my teacher in a debate—
My legs began to tremble from the pressure. Tears pooled in my eyes but wouldn’t fall. My chest felt like an elephant had stomped on it…
“Please stop—hmm? Miss Hatsuki?”
My nose was clogged with snot. I didn’t care how gross it was—I just wanted to wipe it away—then noticed Benjamin offering me a handkerchief. I nodded in thanks, slammed it over my face, and rubbed furiously. In the end, I couldn’t tell if the wet mess on it was snot or tears—either way, the handkerchief was in rough shape.
My eyes were probably red by now, and my whole face must’ve looked absolutely ridiculous… Ugh, no, no—I have to hold back the tears…
“Miss Hatsuki, you—”
“No, it’s nothing. I just suddenly felt a bit unwell… sniff… just don’t worry about it.”
“Miss Hatsuki, if you’ll allow me one more word… please stop pretending you’re strong. You’re already full of wounds, yet you still try to block the arrows. You can barely speak your pain, yet you still want to bear everything alone… You’re still just a child. You have more important things to do.”
I kept sighing, trying to calm myself, but those worries still clung to my heart…
“Besides, you’re not alone. His Highness Lyle has already volunteered to help you. You can trust us.”
I turned my head and looked through the straight line of the alley to the other end of the city—the residents were going about their lives as usual, seemingly unaware of what was happening here.
“I do trust you. But I can’t let you get any more involved. I’m sorry. Truly sorry. I’ve thought a lot about what you just said—about my own problems, Lyle’s problems, public opinion… Heh. For you to give up your reputation just for us—it’s not worth it. Unless… he needs something…”
I pretended to ponder, but I was actually closing the distance with Benjamin on purpose. Before he could react, I swept his legs out from under him and sent him crashing to the ground, then pressed him with a harsh tone:
“Lyle In Harut—is his true purpose in helping us to get the exact coordinates of the Elven Forest?!”
