Knights Who Hunt Monsters (1)
“A matter of great importance has arisen.”
The headquarters of the Imperial Knight Order.
It had once been the home of the Empire's knights, possessed of brilliant glory and honor.
But now, only the traditionalist knights remained, their glory in danger of being taken away by the modernized forces.
While they struggled to somehow restore the Knight Order's status as it declined with each passing day, a good opportunity came to them one day.
“Ian Maxwell has decided to make another new game.”
“Another one after Age of Great Voyages? That is incredibly fast.”
“Tsk. It will be even more troublesome if something like Honorlord comes out again.”
“Now, now. We enjoy Honorlord ourselves, do we not? The game itself has committed no sin.”
To the traditionalist knights, Ian Maxwell was someone they both loved and hated.
He was unquestionably the man who had brought about their decline and downfall, yet they couldn't bring themselves to hate him.
Because the games he made were simply too entertaining.
Even they, who had suffered because of Honorlord, still enjoyed playing Honorlord.
If Honorlord hadn't incorporated firearms tactics, the traditionalist knights might even have granted Ian honorary membership in the Knight Order.
“Ahem. In any case, what does that have to do with us?”
“He says he wants to use us as the ‘protagonists’ of his new game.”
“Protagonists? You mean the protagonists of the story inside the game?”
“That is correct.”
At the Knight Commander's words, everyone began murmuring.
Their reactions were split between positive and negative.
“This is good. If things go well, it may be an opportunity to restore the Knight Order's popularity.”
“Now, now. We may have fallen far, but must we stoop to playing clowns? I believe we should refuse.”
“Should we not think a little more flexibly? The number of people volunteering for the Knight Order is already decreasing. Everyone is joining the modernized forces instead.”
“Ahem… Even so, we are knights, not actors or clowns…….”
Opinions were sharply divided between those who believed they should accept the invitation for the sake of the Knight Order's declining status and those who insisted that, no matter what, knights could not engage in clownish performances.
As the two sides continued arguing fiercely, the Knight Commander, who had been watching them, finally spoke.
“Whether we like it or not, we have no choice. It was a request from His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“That… changes matters. Then we have no choice.”
“We owe His Highness a great deal as well. We cannot refuse him.”
Even after the traditionalist knights had fallen from prominence, the Crown Prince remained their greatest patron.
Knights who regarded loyalty as a virtue could not refuse his request.
“There is no need to view it only negatively. His Highness said that what they are making this time might actually help us.”
“Help us? How?”
“I do not know. But when you think about it, is it not possible? Ian Maxwell's games always cause tremendous ripples. Perhaps this time, we may be the ones to benefit.”
“That… may indeed be possible. Then what exactly is this new game about?”
At someone's question, the Knight Commander repeated what he'd heard from the Crown Prince.
“From what I was told… it is the story of a monster hunter who was raised under brutal training from childhood.”
“A monster hunter? Is there actually such a profession?”
“No. Mercenaries deal with monsters as necessary.”
This was a world where dangerous monsters commonly appeared even around villages, but there was no separate organization dedicated specifically to hunting them.
“Besides, it is hardly an honorable occupation. Monster hunting is difficult, filthy… and considered lowly work.”
Monster hunting was dangerous and difficult, but it wasn't regarded as particularly honorable.
Shameful as it was, knights wanted to display their martial prowess on battlefields. They had little desire to use it killing monsters when hardly anyone would even recognize their deeds.
As a result, monsters were mainly hunted by mercenaries who accepted payment for extermination requests or sought the magic stones monsters yielded.
Mercenaries were hardly known for their refinement, either. They often used monster extermination as an excuse to commit all sorts of abuses, so monster hunting inevitably came to be regarded as ‘dirty work done by lowly people.’
“Then that does not sound particularly good for us.”
“I believe it is still too early to judge. His Highness personally entrusted Ian Maxwell with this matter, so perhaps Maxwell intends to take our circumstances into consideration this time.”
“Hmm… Then we can only hope so.”
Holding both anticipation and concern, the traditionalist knights went to see Ian some time later.
And their hopes were fulfilled in a completely unexpected direction.
***
“It is an honor to meet you, Lord Maxwell. At last, I get to see the ‘Sage of Games’ I have heard so much about.”
As promised, Crown Prince Kyle sent experts from various fields.
Far too many of them, in fact.
Scholars from the Imperial Academy, chief mages from the Magic Tower, renowned literary figures, and even the traditionalist knights, with whom my relationship had recently become somewhat awkward.
Originally, I hadn't needed this much support.
But when I'd shown the Crown Prince part of the original Witch Hunter as a test version, he'd gotten excited and summoned a whole crowd of people.
Thanks to that, I was incredibly nervous.
The knights and writers were one thing, but the scholars and mages were genuinely intimidating.
“The Sage of Games? What does that mean?”
“Hmm, you did not know? These days, that is what they call you in academic and magical circles. Admittedly, the name is half mocking… but we do not mean it that way. The concepts you presented in ‘Civilization Development’ were extremely interesting. The steam engine in particular is currently the subject of intensive research.”
“I-Is that so…….”
Damn.
Just as expected, they're looking at me with enormous expectations.
If I show them anything unimpressive, those expectant looks are going to turn ice-cold with disappointment.
The mages, meanwhile, had a somewhat different attitude.
“I will be frank. Even if we came under His Highness the Crown Prince's orders, we have no intention of assisting with work beneath our level.”
Unlike the scholars, the mages of the Magic Tower were exceptionally proud and seemed displeased by the very fact that the Crown Prince had ordered them to come here.
Well, I could understand it.
They were the sort of people who normally wouldn't even speak with someone they considered beneath their standing.
“If you truly dislike working with me, you're free to leave.”
“We received His Highness's request, so we cannot do that. At the very least, we will see what sort of work this is. But understand this clearly. The ‘games’ you have created so far may be impressive, but magically speaking, they are not particularly advanced.”
As expected, the mages of the Magic Tower were unbelievably difficult.
Maybe they felt a bit of rivalry toward me because I'd joined the Development Department instead of entering the Magic Tower after graduating from the Academy.
The Imperial Magic Development Department was normally looked down upon by those from the Magic Tower.
Well, considering how severely incompetent the Magic Development Department had been, that was understandable……
But I had something to say about them too.
The Magic Tower wasn't exactly all that impressive either.
The Magic Development Department had been cursed as a bunch of tax thieves for failing to create any useful new magic for years, but at least we tried new things.
The Magic Tower didn't even do that.
They stubbornly clung to old methods to a suffocating degree.
Rather than developing new approaches or founding new schools, they merely followed the research traditions of existing schools.
Their magical mastery was high, but when it came to change, they moved incredibly slowly.
That rigidity had driven some magic engineers to abandon them for the Magic Development Department or the Technology Department, while minority schools like my Illusion School tended to establish themselves more firmly at the Academy than at the Magic Tower.
To be honest, they were an unbearably stuffy bunch of magical old-timers……
But it was also true that they were authorities when it came to magic.
Getting on their bad side could make life troublesome.
Of course, the opposite was also true. If they took a liking to me, things would become much easier.
“Well… fine. Then I'll show you what you'll be doing right away. Your job is to adapt what I'm about to show you.”
“Adapt it? Does that mean there is an original version?”
The representative of the literary figures asked the final question.
I nodded.
“Yes. Think of it as a kind of rough draft I made. First, I'd like each of you to use your respective expertise to point out and correct any setting details that feel incongruous or any errors in the story's development.”
It wasn't a difficult explanation, so everyone understood.
The mages looked as though they thought the work sounded trivial, though.
Ignoring that, I showed them the same kind of gameplay footage from the original ‘Witch Hunter’ that I'd shown the Crown Prince.
It had been recreated through my memory magic.
“This is… remarkable.”
“I have never seen illusion magic this vivid. It is almost as though you are showing us a memory you witnessed personally.”
“H-Hmph… You are more capable than you look.”
“…Hmm. Is that white-haired man the protagonist?”
Everyone marveled at the magic that recreated my memories with even greater realism than a 4D movie.
I was considered something of an authority in illusion magic myself, so even the mages couldn't find fault with that part.
If anything, as time passed, all of them became visibly absorbed in the footage.
“Remarkable. I have never seen an illusion made this well. It is beautiful and romantic… and the female mages appearing as the heroines are particularly beautiful. If this becomes a game, I believe people will become deeply immersed in it.”
The literary figures praised it almost excessively.
They particularly complimented its visual presentation, and Witch Hunter had indeed been highly acclaimed for its cinematography.
The scholars and mages, in contrast, focused on matters of authenticity.
“Magic that causes permanent mutations in the body… Does the Dark School not have something similar?”
“Hmm, so I have heard. But that research was branded black magic in the past, so almost all of it was discontinued and the lineage was largely lost… Still, if we searched, reproducing it to some extent should be possible. Assuming we could find someone willing to volunteer for human experimentation.”
“Those monster hunters also use some unusual magic. Could those spells be recreated as well?”
“To some extent, I believe so.”
The mages, who had initially grumbled that the work was beneath them, began showing great interest once they saw the unusual magic and magical concepts that appeared in Witch Hunter.
Surprisingly, it seemed that a few of them could actually be recreated.
I was a mage myself, but anything outside my specialty was beyond me, so I couldn't really say.
But for a while now, the traditionalist knights hadn't said a word.
Was the action not good enough for them?
“Huh?”
When I turned toward them with that thought, I couldn't help being startled.
The knights watching the footage had tears running down their faces, as though they were overwhelmed with emotion.
“This is… an astonishingly stirring tale.”
“Which is the true monster? The hunter who kills monsters, or those who despise such a hunter?”
“…We had forgotten something important. We thought only of glory on the battlefield and forgot that there are still places where our swords are needed.”
Unlike the others, who remained relatively composed, the traditionalist knights were so immersed that they were actually shedding tears.
They were especially enthralled by scenes where the protagonist and other characters sacrificed themselves devotedly, loved passionately, or fought with grim resolve.
Come to think of it, aren't these people basically intoxicated by the romance of chivalry to begin with?
Strictly speaking, Witch Hunter wasn't a story about a knight.
But from their perspective, I suppose the protagonist didn't look all that different from one.
If anything, he fit the romance of chivalry surprisingly well.
After all……
He killed monsters for a meager amount of money, protected the weak for little reason, fought evildoers, and pursued romances with women.
Of course, it was slightly different from orthodox chivalry……
But when you thought about it, Don Quixote, regarded as one of the greatest works of modern literature, had also emerged by subverting the chivalric literature that came before it.
Perhaps to these men, Witch Hunter looked similar to Don Quixote.
“Lord Ian! I beg you! Allow us to help complete this game!”
“Thanks to you, we have discovered the path we must walk!”
“All this time, we lived after forgetting why we began. To think we forgot even our duty to protect the weak and sought only the easy path… It truly shames me.”
“We must return to the traditions of old. Riding a single horse, carrying only a silver sword and a steel sword, and traveling the land slaying monsters.”
And with almost frightening passion, they tried to throw themselves into helping me.
No matter how I looked at it, they were way too immersed……
But there was no way I could tell them that.
Well, if they're this happy about it themselves, maybe there isn't a problem.
Probably……?