― Elder Ermasa. It is time to go hunting.
After I'd lain down and rested for about 2 hours, Parthenon called for me.
“Understood.”
Parthenon accompanied me again this time.
Before long, we met the Count and 2 members of his Guard.
“Let us be off!”
Fortunately, I knew how to ride a horse.
Father had taught me when I was young.
We mounted our horses and headed into the mountains.
“Have you ever hunted before?”
The Count asked.
After thinking for a moment, I decided to answer honestly.
“No. I have never cared much for outdoor activities.”
“It is not particularly difficult. We ride around together, and when you see an animal, you simply pull the trigger of your crossbow.”
True.
And with the 「Expanded Vision」 of the 「All-Seeing Eye」, I could see people scattered here and there.
They were probably beaters driving animals in our direction.
For now, I carefully rode forward beside the Count.
Then some bushes rustled in the distance.
A rabbit.
“There seems to be something over there. Let us take a look.”
The Count raised his crossbow.
TWANG! THUD―
“Haha! Got it!”
I was impressed.
He'd shot a running rabbit through the head in a single shot.
Then he leaped off his horse and lifted the rabbit by its ears like an excited child.
His movements were incredibly free.
Apparently, politics and schemes weren't the only things he'd learned.
He'd also trained in combat and physical skills.
“Impressive.”
“1:0.”
“…….”
It wouldn't be fun if I lost too badly, right?
So afterward, I tried hard too.
TWANG! TWANG! TWANG!
I always spotted them first.
Actually hitting them was another matter.
Rabbits and deer alike dodged my arrows one after another and escaped.
“A shame. That last shot grazed the deer's head.”
“This is not easy.”
“Do your best. It is already 3:0.”
In the end, the hunt concluded as a one-sided defeat.
After killing an eagle as his final prey, the Count smiled awkwardly.
“I am beginning to feel guilty. It seems I am the only one having any fun.”
“It is fine. I enjoyed it in my own―”
That was when it happened.
The eagle, whose belly had been pierced by an arrow, suddenly thrashed and lunged at the Count.
It was the last flare before death.
“Ugh!”
Talons almost as large as daggers raked across the Count's arm.
Blood spurted out, and the Count flinched in surprise.
“Your Excellency!”
Just as the guards behind us began to move, I was a little faster.
I'd already started moving at the same moment the eagle did.
I hurriedly grabbed the eagle.
「 Thorn Binding 」
Mana moved reflexively.
Thorny vines bloomed from my hand and wrapped themselves around the eagle's body.
SCREEEEECH!!
The eagle struggled.
But not for long.
Its body stiffened completely, and it died.
“M-My apologies, Your Excellency!”
“Are you all right?”
While the knights and Parthenon panicked, the Count waved a hand.
“Enough. I am perfectly fine thanks to Elder Ermasa.”
The Count looked at me.
“Wait. You already absorbed the Elixir I gave you yesterday?”
“Was that not all thanks to you, Count?”
Somehow, we had both ended up sitting on the ground.
We looked at each other.
The Count burst into hearty laughter.
“Ermasa. You truly are…….”
The hunt came to an end.
Around sunset, several retainers gathered together to dress the game we'd caught and roast it over a fire.
Meanwhile, the Count called me aside.
Parthenon naturally followed us.
“Parthenon. Would you give us a moment alone? We need some time to speak privately.”
“I cannot, Your Excellency. My calling is to protect the Elder.”
“My friend. Our guards are right over there. It will only be a moment.”
Even then, Parthenon stubbornly refused to move away.
So this time, I ordered him myself.
I told him to step away for a while.
Honestly, I expected him to ignore me too.
But Parthenon bowed his head and retreated about 20 paces.
Watching him walk away, the Count chuckled softly.
“He is an exceedingly rigid and stubborn fellow, is he not?”
“That he is…. Still, he is a good man.”
At the very least, he was the greatest shield protecting me.
Though I had no idea why he was protecting me.
“What is your secret?”
Secret?
“I have given that man quite a lot since becoming his new lord, yet I have not earned even a fragment of his affection. But look at how respectful he is toward you, Elder.”
Is he?
I don't really know.
“The moment you arrived, he moved his quarters to the room beside yours. He casts aside his own work and even his meals to guard your every move.”
I genuinely hadn't known.
Come to think of it, whenever I stepped outside, he somehow knew and appeared like a ghost to guard me.
‘Hmm….’
That only made his intentions more suspicious.
What did he hope to squeeze out of me by watching me so closely?
“Who knows. I doubt there is any particular secret.”
“There isn't?”
“Many things between people simply happen by chance. Relationships too.”
“It is strange hearing that from the Spider Society. I assumed you lived your lives controlling everything in the world.”
The Count laughed heartily.
“The truth is, when that man destroyed his own house and left, many organizations coveted Black Knight Parthenon. Among Regional Public Enemies, he is particularly capable.”
Oh, really?
Well…….
Thinking back to when he fought Yustaf of the Bloodstorm, he had seemed incredibly strong.
“He may be highly capable, but he is still a man who committed insubordination. You would do well to remain cautious too, Elder. Trust is the most important thing between people, is it not?”
I nodded as well.
“Thank you for the advice.”
“Oh, please. What advice could someone like me possibly offer an Elder? Haha.”
After laughing good-naturedly, he handed me another wooden box.
What's this?
I raised my head and looked at him.
The Count was staring at me intensely.
“Could we become friends?”
“Friends?”
“I would like to deepen my relationship with a benefactor who may come only once in a lifetime.”
The wooden box opened.
Inside was a necklace.
A gold necklace that looked expensive at a glance.
At its center was a round ornament shaped like the Count's emblem—
blue wings.
Personally, I was astonished.
Hadn't he just given me an Elixir yesterday?
He was showering me with gifts just to become closer to one person.
Honestly, the pressure made me want to refuse.
But I couldn't.
Doing so would amount to humiliating him.
And if I wanted to survive right now, staying beside the Count was my safest option.
“We can. Friend.”
I accepted the necklace and put it around my neck.
Around then, the meat seemed to have finished cooking.
We gathered together and tore into the roasted meat.
Good God, it was delicious.
My glasses fogged up completely.
Still, I had to keep the food from touching my hood and preserve my dignity, so I suffered through eating slowly.
“Your Excellency. May I ask the Elder something?”
One of the Guard Knights asked the Count for permission.
The Count readily granted it.
“My greetings. I am Holland, a Guard Knight of the glorious Blue Wing. There is something I wish to ask of the wisdom of the great Elder of the Spider Society.”
“Ask.”
He opened his mouth with a nervous expression.
“The Leader of Eden.”
The Leader?
“Do you truly believe he was murdered?”
At those words, the other retainers raised their heads.
Even the Count's eyes widened.
“Oh. Yes. I was curious about that as well.”
Were they asking whether the rumor that the Leader had been murdered was true?
I didn't know.
Song Chien hadn't seemed to know either.
Apparently, being in Spider Society didn't mean knowing absolutely everything.
“We in the north are fighting to restore our honor and territory. But in truth, the southern bastards' invasion began because of the rumor of the Leader's death, did it not?”
“…….”
“Lucif disappeared long ago as well. That became the basis for the Civil War. Yet no one actually knows whether Bael, Lucif's son, is truly dead….”
After saying that much, he watched my reaction.
And it wasn't only him.
The other retainers, the Count, and even Parthenon looked curious.
Of course they did.
The disappearance of Leader ‘Bael’ was what had begun this enormous Civil War.
But I didn't know.
I had no idea whether the Leader was alive or dead.
“Who knows.”
He looked slightly disappointed.
“Hmm…. I am certain he is alive.”
“Why?”
Another retainer asked.
“Who would dare kill Bael? Lucif would never let them get away with it. And if you're asking whether Bael killed himself, I doubt that too. I heard Bael was a cowardly layabout. Bastards like that can't die even when they want to.”
“Oh. An interesting perspective. It is amusing as well that the father is the continent's strongest criminal while the son is weak-hearted.”
Another retainer extended that line of thought.
“Then what if Bael is still alive?”
“Hmm?”
“If he is alive, he will surely return eventually. Would that not completely change the situation?”
Even I had to think about that question.
The current war between northern and southern Gesenna was effectively a proxy war.
Two power brokers of the Republic of Eden—
‘Agares’ and ‘Vassago’—
were supporting the Counts on either side.
That was what had started the war.
The two powerful figures had already poured vast amounts of wealth into the conflict.
The sunk costs were considerable.
What if Leader Bael returned now?
“…Who knows. Wouldn't all hell break loose?”
“Indeed. Those 2 Duke bastards would not stay quiet.”
“But they probably wouldn't have much choice either. Those people in the Republic place enormous importance on bloodline.”
“Hmm…….”
They chatted among themselves.
I merely listened.
Honestly, I didn't care.
Why should I care why 2 whales were fighting?
I was nothing more than a small, weak shrimp who wanted to get away from them somehow.
That was the end of my hunting trip with the Count.
***
Time passed quickly, and the day of the military parade arrived.
I'd even prepared a short but respectable speech.
The thought of speaking before so many people made me nervous, so I'd rehearsed it in my head several times.
First, I tried to wash up.
There was a problem.
‘How the hell do I turn the water on….’
I'd moved into quarters near where the military parade would be held.
An unfamiliar building.
An unfamiliar shower room.
That was because it wasn't built in the Imperial architectural style.
It was built in Eden's style.
In other words, even though this place stood inside the Empire, the building itself had been constructed by the Republic of Eden.
I'd known that the Republic of Evil had planted roots within the Empire.
But I hadn't expected such an enormous building to openly belong to Eden.
‘So how the hell do I turn on the water?’
The strange-looking water lever gave me trouble.
Still, I eventually figured it out and finished showering.
Then I stepped out of the shower room.
There was a mirror in the bathroom.
Being treated like a big shot really was nice.
They had such an expensive object hanging in the bathroom.
Through the fogged-up steam, I saw myself with my hair swept completely back.
Hmm.
This guy….
Maybe he doesn't look half bad….
If I weren't crippled, maybe I'd even have a cat-like girlfriend…?
I stepped outside, dried myself, and got dressed.
As I did, my thoughts grew complicated.
I was thinking about the [Fortune: 9] and [Misfortune: 9] I'd received not long ago.
Looking back, obtaining the 「All-Seeing Eye」 was unquestionably an event worthy of [Fortune: 9].
Conversely, nearly dying over and over before ending up in this ridiculous situation was unquestionably [Misfortune: 9].
‘But I survived.’
Now [Misfortune: 9] is gone too.
‘I won. I beat you. You understand?’
I closed my eyes and imagined the god of fate inside my head.
Since I planned to treat it roughly, it couldn't have a human form.
So I imagined a four-leaf clover and added eyes (^^) and a mouth (ㅁ).
Something roughly like ♣<(^ㅁ^).
Then I grabbed it by the collar and shook it back and forth.
I won.
No matter how hard you tried to fuck me over, I survived.
In the end, victory was mine.
And so on…….
Then I thought I should shave again and headed back to the bathroom.
That was when I unexpectedly realized there was no mirror there.
‘Huh?’
There was no mirror.
What?
Looking more closely, there was only a framed picture hanging there.
It has become extremely familiar to me lately.
Because portraits of Leader Bael hung all over Eden like signboards.
‘?’
I hurriedly pulled on my Spider Society clothes and rushed outside.
“Ah, you're out alrea….”
“A mirror. Where is the mirror?”
“Pardon? A mirror would be….”
The maid's eyes widened as she pointed somewhere.
It was in front of the grand conference hall.
I hurried over and stood before the mirror.
I pushed back my hood.
Then I took off the glasses that had practically become part of my body and swept my hair back.
After first glancing around to make sure no one was watching.
The moment I did—
I nearly screamed inwardly.
“……!!!”
Bael was standing there.
More precisely—
I looked absurdly similar to Leader Bael!
‘Fuck.’
How is this possible?!
Suddenly, 1208's voice flashed through my mind.
‘You greatly resemble one of my own blood.’
Lightning struck my head again.
I hadn't thought much of it!
My mouth fell open before I realized it.
Bael had died, and that had caused the Civil War.
And I looked like Bael?
At the same time, I remembered the words Arman of the Spider Society had spoken as he died.
‘Run away…….’
Ah!
I finally understood why he'd looked at me and told me to run!
Because I looked like Bael!
‘Th-This… this can't be…….’
On the other hand, both Song Chien of the Spider Society and Black Knight Parthenon had seen my bare face, yet neither of them had seen Bael in me.
I had even looked at Bael's portrait several times without realizing we resembled each other.
That was how great a difference my glasses and lowered hair made.
That was when it happened.
Inside my mind, the four-leaf clover with eyes and a mouth appeared and laughed.
‘Heeheehee.’
The bastard raised one leafy hand and slapped me across the face.
Then its mouth split open like a demon's, revealing rows of sharp teeth.
‘Did you think it was over?’
The bastard was right.
It wasn't over yet.
[Misfortune: 9].
EP5
「 Somehow, a Big Shot 」
END