Chapter 105: Hunting Competition

[Deon Hart dislikes crowded places.]

[He’ll probably move to a less populated, secluded area during the hunting competition.]

[I’ll set up crossbows. I’ll corner Deon Hart there.]

[Isn’t it time to end his tenacious life?]

Clack. Clack.

Chess pieces moved back and forth. Smooth, thick fingers with prominent knuckles gripped pieces on both sides, moving them in turn.

With the Duke taking such an active role, there was nothing to be done. Better not to dwell on it. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that anyway.

‘More importantly, the Revolutionary Army leader’s mother’s hemoptysis has been happening more frequently, hasn’t it?’

Clack.

The black king appeared before the enemy, guarded by a few escorts.

‘The leader still doesn’t know about it.’

Clack.

The white camp focused on the black king.

‘He’ll find out soon enough. Should I order tighter surveillance?’

Clack. Meanwhile, subtle movements occurred within the black camp.

‘More importantly, hemoptysis. Hemoptysis, huh…’

My brother, Deon Hart, also coughed up blood frequently.

The hand moving a piece stopped abruptly. Seemingly unable to concentrate, Cruel, a black bishop pinched between his fingers, lowered his green eyes as if lost in thought.

‘The Duke knows Deon Hart well.’

He knew him well and had thoroughly prepared for the hunt.

‘On the other hand, Deon Hart doesn’t know the Duke.’

He entered the hunting competition without any preparation, unaware that the Duke was targeting him.

A hunter with thorough preparations, and prey that knew nothing.

The outcome was obvious.

[Can’t you handle one weak person cursed with a disease, so you have to go this far?]

He’d sneered at me and the others setting up the crossbows under the guise of supervision, but they, like the skilled assassins they were, only twitched their eyebrows and proceeded without wavering.

If they got hit by those, they’d become human pincushions.

Sitting in his tent, Cruel heard the announcement that the hunting competition had begun and quietly snapped his fingers. The chess piece pinched between his index and middle finger tapped against the desk at regular intervals, making a clicking sound. His green eyes darkened.

‘There are many of the Duke’s people at the hunting competition. If I use them, I can easily manipulate that kid’s path.’

The assassins’ skills were considerable. Even without the crossbows, Deon could die by their hands, or if Deon survived that, he would be led to the crossbows anyway.

If that happened…

Clack. His fingers stopped.

“……”

Thump. The chess piece rolled haphazardly across the desk.

Cruel grabbed his sword and stood up, throwing on his robe. Senze, his subordinate who had been watching him, asked,

“Where are you going?”

“To the hunting competition. I need to prove my worth myself.”

“……”

“I will dedicate my victory to the Duke, so go and tell him that I’m participating.”

***

I dismounted and deliberately walked towards a less crowded area. It was my own consideration.

Everyone I encountered gasped and glanced at me, which was incredibly uncomfortable. Since I didn’t intend to hunt seriously anyway, I kindly moved aside so we could all be at ease.

And then, I was ambushed.

“Count!”

“Ah… damn it.”

I wriggled, trying to get up from Dan’s embrace.

Damn it. So… what happened? Ah, right. I met the ‘real’ Count Hart. That bastard picked a fight, and even though I kindly tried to avoid him, he stubbornly followed, and then…

I pushed Dan away and rolled to the other side. A dagger embedded itself where I had been, quivering.

“Huck.”

Whether Dan was holding his breath in surprise or not, I scanned my surroundings, muttering inwardly. This is all because I didn’t receive a single handkerchief. Nobody wished for my safe return, did they?

“……damn it.”

I spotted the discarded bag in the corner of my vision.

I hope the flowerpot isn’t broken…? At least the dirt must have spilled. Is it dead? No, if it died that easily, I wouldn’t have bothered bringing it all the way here.

‘The bag seems to be twitching….’

……must be my imagination.

For now, given the situation, I’ll ignore it.

Forcing my gaze away from the bag, I took a step to the left. Another sharp object silently lodged itself in the ground.

More importantly….

“Why are you sticking to me?”

“Y-Your tone is disrespectful!”

The ‘real’ Count Hart was glued to my side and wouldn’t let go.

If he was so scared that he shot a distress flare, he should have stayed put in a corner until help arrived. Why was he sticking to me?

Ugh, annoying.

“If you can’t protect yourself, you shouldn’t have participated in the hunting competition.”

“This isn’t hunting!”

“Someone who’s terrified of mere bugs.”

“You… you…!”

Anyway, you’re putting me in danger of dying! Take responsibility and protect me! the guy shrieked.

I looked down at him with a pathetic gaze, grabbed his collar, shoved him away, and took a couple more steps. Something felt off.

‘It’s like being driven into a corner….’

Ugh.

Before I could fully grasp the situation, my usually sharp mind went blank.

“Uwaaak… cough…!”

The impact from when Dan first rolled me on the ground resurfaced.

Betraying its owner’s attempts to suppress it, the fluid surged up my throat and out of my mouth. Red liquid dripped onto the ground.

The twitching of the bag that lay pathetically on the ground seemed to intensify for a moment.

Of course, my gaze, which had briefly flickered towards it, was drawn away again. The damn attackers had finally revealed themselves and were closing in.

Swords clashed relentlessly. No, they were relentlessly aimed at me.

As expected of people who make a living killing, their attacks targeted only vital spots. To survive, I had to block.

They were too cunning to give me an opening to attack. Each incoming strike I parried reminded me how close I was to death.

‘Damn it, someone save me.’

This is freaking terrifying.

I frantically deflected a thrown weapon aimed at my throat and stumbled back a couple of steps. And then, click—

A small noise reached my ears.

!

“This is the end.”

For a moment, the world slowed down.

I could see numerous arrows flying from where the sound originated. Glancing down again, I saw an assassin aiming his sword at my chin from below.

It was too late to dodge. To avoid one meant sacrificing myself to the other. Either way, my end was death.

To be skewered from the chin to the brain, or to become a hedgehog.

As I hesitated, unable to make a decision, a soft thud echoed.

Thwack!

“……!?”

“…….”

“Ugh, ugh… cough, wait a minute….”

What the hell is going on?

Once again, I was scooped into someone’s arms and rolled across the ground, trying to steady my spinning vision to understand the situation.

In that critical moment, a plant stem burst through the assassin’s chest. Before I could even be astonished by that, someone snatched my body and rolled away from the hail of arrows.

The plant… well, yeah. Let’s just believe it’s not that. Who is this person who saved me? Is it Dan?

‘Just a moment ago, he rolled me around roughly, turning my insides to mush, but this time he carefully caught me without any impact…?!’

It’s not Dan.

When I looked up, my eyes met green eyes beneath a robe. He tried to hide it and immediately turned his head, but I wasn’t going to let that brief moment pass.

I felt my blood run cold.

“You.”

“……”

“What are you plotting?”

I grabbed the collar of the guy trying to retreat silently.

I brought my face close, baring my teeth and growling.

“Did you think I wouldn’t recognize you just because you’re wearing that ridiculous robe?”

Cruel Hart.

Explain why you’re here.

“……”

“……”

Silence fell. Cruel, his lips pressed tightly together, simply looked down at me. His unfathomable gaze met my unwavering stare.

The seemingly eternal silence was broken by another fleshy sound and the urgent footsteps approaching from afar.

“We received the distress signal and came! Are you safe, yiiiiiiik! What is that?!”

“A monster? Is that a monster?! It’s my first time seeing a plant-type monster?!”

A plant-type… monster……?

A chilling premonition ran down my spine, and I quickly turned my head to find the plant-type monster they were talking about. And I was horrified.

‘What the heck is that?!’

That’s the plant Hien gave me, right? It could walk with its roots?!

A creature resembling a black rose was walking on the ground, its roots wriggling! Its stem moved freely, and the attackers were impaled at its ends.

Maybe it was because it fed on blood, but the thing had grown terrifyingly large.

‘It took care of the attackers… yeah… thanks, I guess….’

The life-threatening situation is over, but… why do I feel like I’m in a different kind of danger now?

Please don’t acknowledge me. I silently prayed and turned my head. I was going to question Cruel again, but….

‘He’s gone?’

He ran away! That bastard!

This was annoying enough, but there was a voice that made my blood pressure skyrocket even further.

“That monster belongs to Deon Hart! I saw it! I saw that monster come out of Deon Hart’s bag!”

“……”

I quietly rubbed the back of my neck.

Suspicious gazes turned towards me. Yeah, I guess so. I understand. I am the ‘owner of the killer fiends’ after all.

The truth is I’m a normal person, and the guys working for me are crazy, but to outsiders, their master, me, probably looks just as insane.

“That monster saved Deon Hart from the attackers! Deon Hart must have been controlling it!”

What is this idiot spouting and why is he so confident?

Isn’t he scared of me? Regardless of the truth, my public reputation should be terrifying.

I was speechless at his unbelievably foolish behavior, but I quickly came back to reality.

Either way, the current atmosphere is unfavorable to me. To dispel suspicion, I need to do something….

‘Should I kill that monster?’

I’m not even sure if I can kill it, and even if I do, they might think I’m just cutting my losses.

What should I do……?

As I struggled to find a suitable solution, the creature moved.

‘Why… why is it coming closer?’

Don’t come any closer!

The creature approached, its roots wriggling. It wrapped a root around my ankle, stopping me from backing away, then gently supported my back, preventing me from falling, and proceeded to climb up my leg.

Extreme fear washed over me.

‘Hiiiik, damn it.’

Please save me, hiiik, I’m scared, hiiiiik!

This is why you shouldn’t bring home plants with black heads.

Driven by pure survival instinct, I swung the dagger I was holding. It was easily subdued. Ah, please.

“Gwieeeeek.”

O-okay, okay, good boy? Please let me go? Just not my neck… Hiiiik!

A stem wrapped around my neck. It looked like it was about to choke me to death, but thankfully, its purpose seemed to be to hold me in place, not to exert force. Or… maybe not ‘thankfully’?

“Kurgh!”

A dull impact resonated from my abdomen.

That hurts. What was that? Was my stomach pierced like the attackers? But it wasn’t that kind of pain. If I had to compare it, it felt like someone punched me….

At that moment, another stem lightly pressed down on my chin. As questions filled my mind, the metallic scent of blood surged from my gut.

“Cough.”

Shit… I admire the Emperor’s foresight in sending me red clothes. Blood trickled from my mouth as I gritted my teeth.

Come to think of it, I coughed up blood a little while ago. No wonder my insides felt like this after getting punched when they were already irritated from throwing up blood.

Something hot surged up from my insides again. This time it wasn’t blood.

This… this…….

“You bastard!!”

Thwack!

“……Huh?”

Consumed by anger, I seemed to have forgotten that I was being restrained and flailed my arms. But why is it collapsing? When did my hands get free?

Unable to grasp the situation, I blinked blankly for a moment.

The dying monster slowly crumbled, curling its leaves upwards. The gesture resembled a thumbs-up, and only then could I understand the situation.

‘It did this on purpose.’

Knowing I was in trouble, it did this for my sake.

It deliberately wrapped its stem around my neck and pretended to attack. It hit my abdomen to make me cough up blood and deceive the onlookers. My weak body would easily cough up blood from a small impact, so it wouldn’t have been difficult.

Thus, whether out of survival instinct or anger, the moment I flailed my arms, it released my hands and offered its vital point.

And then, it died.

“Ha…….”

“Are… are you alright?”

“……”

“Count Hart… er, Honorary Count?”

“……”

It was smart.

For some reason, I couldn’t say anything.