087. Forest of Mist (5)
The group, having thoroughly surveyed the forest through Kyle’s video, headed into the forest the next day to set up the barrier.
“Wow….”
“Just as Her Holiness the Saint said…”
And just as Bella had mentioned, the group encountered the creatures.
Creatures resembling snakes or serpents emerging from underground were busily chewing on plants and animals.
Upon sensing human presence, they all rushed towards the group.
“Growl, growl!”
“Grrr….”
Although the number of creatures was noticeably fewer compared to during the hunting competition, there were still quite a few of them.
The group drew their weapons and faced the creatures, who were nearing their thirties.
The knights unsheathed their swords or spears, and Owen also drew his sword to strike.
Kyle unleashed magical attacks with his mana, while Bella used her divine power to attack the creatures.
Given the exceptional skills of each knight and the presence of Kyle, Bella, and Owen, the creatures were easily defeated.
So, just as they were about to set up the protective barrier…
“Grrr….”
Once again, a menacing sound echoed.
At a much fiercer and louder sound, Owen turned around.
And there, he came face to face with something that shouldn’t have been seen in the Forest of Mist.
“Why is this….”
As Owen drew his sword again, frozen in fear and shock, the knights behind him reacted with horror and astonishment.
Leaving them frozen in place, Owen stepped forward.
His sword was already covered in a jet-black hue.
Quickly leaping, Owen mounted the creature’s body, aiming for its heart.
With the blackened blade, sharp and violent, he pierced through the thick skin and muscle of the creature’s heart.
Blood gushed out, and the creature’s body crumbled.
Perhaps due to its large size, the surroundings reverberated with a thud.
“As expected from His Majesty….”
“The Swordmaster is indeed impressive.”
Amidst the knights, a voice filled with admiration quickly arose.
Kyle wore a face that suggested he had anticipated this, while Bella fell into a troubled silence.
To think a large demon appeared in the misty forest.
It was a strange occurrence, but just when one thought the situation would resolve.
“Krrr….”
“Krrr!”
The situation took a turn for the worse once again.
Unlike before, multiple large demons came charging at them.
As Owen wielded his sword, he turned to Bella and asked,
“What’s the situation?”
It was an inevitable question, given the circumstances.
Bella, with a bewildered expression, simply trembled.
“I-I don’t know. Surely not because of me again….”
The knights surrounded Bella, as if she was traumatically recalling the incident from the previous hunting competition.
They intended to protect the panicked Bella and take her with them once the situation was over.
“How absurd.”
Owen sighed and gripped his sword once more.
This time, Kyle didn’t stand by and instead used offensive magic.
Under the snowfall, flames were ignited, but they extinguished easily, perhaps due to the snow.
With a grimace, Kyle then conjured lightning.
With a flash, it struck down like a thunderbolt from the sky, piercing the demon’s torso.
The electrocuted demon immediately met its demise.
Crackle.
Not long after the lightning strike, thunder rumbled.
“Still, the number of large demons isn’t that high….”
Kyle, raising his hand to conjure lightning once more, looked up and spoke.
“….Ah.”
However, he soon couldn’t help but wear a bewildered expression.
It was due to Owen’s deteriorating condition.
“Ah, ugh, huff….”
His breathing was irregular.
Not only that, it seemed like he couldn’t catch his breath properly.
“Why are you like this.”
Crackle.
The sound of thunder echoed.
Another large demon fell, yet Kyle couldn’t bring himself to conjure more lightning.
“Are you scared of the thunder?”
Kyle grabbed Owen, throwing the question at him.
It seemed like understanding the reason would help calm him down.
Owen lowered his head.
It wasn’t the thunder that scared him.
It wasn’t fear….
– Suddenly, if it rains heavily, or thunder and lightning strike, or if you’re alone in such weather, it might be tough.
It’s just the body reacting on its own.
Memories resurfacing involuntarily, struggling within them.
– Now, it’s time for you to become the head of the family.
The face of the steward came to mind.
Not the current steward, Logan, but the steward who was present when Owen’s parents were alive in the mansion.
– Do you remember the words of the Duke and Duchess? You must become a perfect head of the family.
Owen wasn’t just physically abused and gaslighted by his parents.
He received similar treatment from all the staff in the mansion.
Since his parents didn’t treat their child any better, the staff, too, handled the naive and clueless child as per his parents’ wishes.
– Since both of them are no longer here, I will assist you now.
Damn it….
Owen cursed internally as he gasped for breath.
Then, he approached Kyle, who was asking for an explanation, grabbed his shoulder, and said,
“It will soon be fine.”
It was all just because of the sudden thunder and lightning.
When you get used to it, it gets better.
As always.
“Just suddenly… suddenly, that’s why.”
Tap, tap.
As they tried to continue the conversation, raindrops started falling from the sky.
What must have been snowflakes began to change as dark clouds gathered.
Perhaps, it seemed like Kyle had moved the clouds to summon thunder and lightning.
“Ah….”
Memories resurfaced once again.
The weak and powerless child sank back into the abyss.
***
“What the….”
Bella, surrounded by knights, looked around with bewildered eyes.
“Hey, snap out of it. Owen!”
Owen was acting strange as soon as the thunder and lightning struck.
His breath became erratic, his pupils dilated, and he grimaced in pain, clutching his chest as if struck all over.
After a while, he seemed to be getting better, but as soon as the rain started, his condition worsened again.
“Damn….”
An expletive finally escaped Kyle’s lips.
Roughly running his hand through his hair, he supported Owen and handed him over to one of the knights.
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“Stay alert. Just protect when the demons come.”
With these words, Kyle created huge spears with a wave of his hand.
And mercilessly, he directed them towards the charging demons’ bodies.
The sharp and massive spears easily overwhelmed the large demons.
In the face of unilateral violence, the fierce and huge demons became corpses, falling to the ground.
It didn’t take long for the large objects to form a pile.
“Milady.”
Kyle’s voice echoed as if sighing.
Cold warning shone in his blue eyes as he turned to look at her.
Bella was taken aback by the seemingly fleeting emotions.
“Will you come closer? I have something to tell you.”
With a chilly gaze, Kyle spoke in a surprisingly kind manner.
Bella gathered her courage internally and slipped away from the knights.
“Speak.”
Approaching Kyle, he erected a barrier with his magic.
“Now they won’t be able to hear our conversation.”
It seemed like a soundproof barrier.
And a very strong one at that.
Bella swallowed nervously with tense eyes.
“So please, speak honestly. What did you do in the forest?”
“…Nothing.”
Bella retorted to the probing question.
After all, the other party wouldn’t be able to know.
Boldly, she came out with it, but Kyle glared at her as if he would kill her.
“I asked you to speak honestly.”
“….”
It sounded like a growling beast.
Surely, it was a threat.
“Otherwise, I will have no choice but to forcibly delve into Milady’s memories.”
“…!”
Bella was shocked and taken aback.
She didn’t know that Kyle could use this kind of magic.
Kyle was stronger than she thought, and his magic was diverse.
The power he possessed was excessively unrealistic.
Startled, Bella stepped back.
But Kyle grabbed her wrist firmly, preventing her from escaping.
“Are you afraid?”
Bella remained silent.
As Kyle had said, she was indeed afraid now.
“If you’re so easily frightened, why did you dare to touch me and Owen?”
He warned coldly.
“Just living like this, being afraid of warnings and magic, what audacity led you to do such things?”
“…I just…”
“Just because of one reason, wanting to see a certain person? Just that nearly led all those people to their deaths.”
Kyle aggressively confronted Bella.
“You almost got all those knights who were trying to protect you killed.”
“…”
“The only ones who can face large demons, who can enter the abyss, are transcendent beings. Owen is not in good shape, and you seem to be acting as if you have trauma. If I hadn’t intervened in this situation.”
Color drained from Bella’s face.
As he said, if the situation had unfolded that way.
“Then all those people would have died.”
“…Yes.”
Bella sighed and belatedly lifted her head.
Kyle was right.
She didn’t expect Owen to react that way suddenly, nor did she know that Kyle would be at a loss and unable to do anything due to Owen’s condition.
So, a few knights were injured.
They didn’t die, but the injuries were quite severe.
“But it’s not my fault that Owen turned out like that.”
“Is that important right now?”
“Yes. I need to understand why Owen is reacting like this.”
The situation was serious.
Although it was what she intended, the direction was wrong.
What Bella wanted was to be caught by the large demons and to pretend to be engulfed in the situation herself, not for Owen to lose control and the knights to get hurt.
“It’s not my fault either.”
Kyle retorted harshly as if irritated.
“Rather, the Saintess probably knows better than me. Didn’t she know something before coming here?”
“That’s about Owen…”
“He is Owen.”
“…”
Bella bit her lip.
Then she turned her head to look back.
She saw Owen in a better condition than before.
His breathing seemed to have stabilized, and he appeared to be breathing normally.
Although his complexion was still not great.
“…He has trauma. Owen does.”
Recalling the setting of ＜The Empire’s Flower＞, Bella inferred the situation.
Owen had trauma.
“When it rained and thundered, his parents all returned as corpses. His parents abused and brainwashed Owen. So, to him, it must have felt like his whole world collapsed.”
“…Look at that.”
As Bella spoke, Kyle sighed and spoke up.
“That trauma belongs to Owen, as the Saintess said. Owen is the one who lost his parents.”
“That’s right.”
“But Owen is responding to that trauma. Don’t you still understand? Are you unwilling to accept it?”
At Kyle’s prodding, Bella bit her lower lip.
It was an unwelcome truth.
However, Owen’s actions kept persuading her against her will.
Despite that, Bella disliked the situation and denied reality as a final rebuttal.
“But during the last hunting competition, there was no such incident. Despite the downpour, Topju didn’t… he was fine.”
“Memories seem to transfer slowly. So, maybe he didn’t have memories related to trauma at that time.”
Ah.
Bella gasped in realization.
“The rain and thunderstorm that the Saintess mentioned, that memory from that day.”
As if giving her assurance, Kyle concluded his words.