Chapter 10 :

Episode 10 - The Hunting Tournament(5)

The feeling of my legs kicking off the ground was new.

Steam seemed to be rising from the muscles of my entire body, which were burning hot.

—Prrrrr.

Blowing air through my nose, I kicked against the ground with my limbs.

It was not that I had lost my reason from sheer despair and started running on all fours like a dog.

It was just....

I had become a horse.

Haha, good heavens.

I looked down at the black legs running powerfully.

They were unmistakably the hooves and legs of a black horse.

Well, thinking about it, it was not that strange.

If birds were possible, it would actually be stranger if mammals were not.

At first, I was flustered, but now, rather than the facts that "my ability was not actually transforming into a crow, but transforming into animals" and that "it took me about two months to realize that", what mattered was that I could now stop the duke.

I pounded my feet as hard as I could.

The more deeply I inhaled, the more my lungs expanded, generating energy as though an engine were turning.

So this is what it feels like when a horse runs.

Even though I was the one running, I could see from the corners of my eyes that the surrounding scenery was changing rapidly, as if I were riding in a carriage.

If I had been human, I would have crashed into trees and small thorny vines here and there, getting scratched and injured, but after turning into a horse, I merely bumped into things here and there.

But because my opponent was who he was, even though it was a horse carrying a person, the distance did not easily shrink.

Worried that if we went any farther, we might reach the large-animal zone where there were many people, I grew anxious.

As the situation had become very different from my original plan, I muttered a small curse.

Neigh!!

Instead of my voice, the sound of a horse’s cry rang through the forest.

I thought I had already grown used to it when I transformed into a crow, but having the sound coming from my vocal cords become the cry of another beast made me truly feel that I had become a real animal.

Perhaps it was the price I paid for losing the last bit of human dignity, but the duke ahead seemed to slowly reduce his speed.

"Whoa, whoa."

Fortunately, he stopped his horse completely and soothed his snorting brown horse.

I also slowed down and approached beside his horse.

I hoped I was not drooling or foaming at the mouth from running so urgently like that brown horse.

A large-framed old veteran with silver hair mixed here and there with white strands looked this way from the saddle with a straight posture.

His sharp gray eyes scanned me.

Agony Feedus.

He was a character who played an important role in this story, and originally, even a scene where he directly encountered me was not described.

Because I had found the duke quite impressive as a character, after I first possessed the seventh prince in the world inside the book, I had imagined several times whether I would ever get a chance to meet him.

Though I never dreamed I would meet him not as person to person, but as person to beast.

In any case, if I had transformed like last time, he would have noticed that I was the seventh prince’s horse.

To begin with, people tended to avoid riding horses that had the same color as the imperial family, so among the nobles who participated in the hunting tournament, there was no one riding a horse like ours.

As proof, among the participants in the hunting tournament, not a single person who was not a member of the imperial family could be seen riding a white horse with a golden mane.

Well, the reason no one rode a black horse like mine was a little different.

Because there was no noble who wanted to participate in the hunting tournament riding a horse with the same coat color as the one the fourth prince had given me to mock me.

Duke Feedus looked at me, slowly approached, and jumped down from the brown horse he had been riding.

"Why is the seventh prince’s horse here..."

He muttered and examined me with a somewhat displeased expression.

Perhaps he found it strange that I had no saddle, stirrups, or even reins, and only had a bag hanging around my neck, because the duke circled around me, then sighed and rummaged through the bag tied beside his horse’s saddle.

I felt relieved.

As expected, it seemed he was not thinking of simply leaving me behind.

Now the problem was getting him to the lakeside where Tollin had fainted, wait, what are you doing?

The duke made knots here and there with a long, sturdy rope he had taken out of his luggage, then approached me.

Judging by the shape, it seemed he was hurriedly making a makeshift bridle out of the rope to put on me.

As expected of a battle-hardened veteran, he was good with his hands too.

Prrr!

I shook my head and backed away.

Well, if he insisted on putting it on me, I might not be able to avoid it in the end, but I did not think I would be able to deal with it when I turned back into a human.

To express my refusal strongly, I shook my head a few more times, then bit down on the end of the rope he was holding.

"Shh..... I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m just trying to take you back to where you’re supposed to be."

Perhaps he thought I was excited, because he did not try to forcibly snatch the rope away and instead tried to calm me.

But he was not the type to waste mercy beyond a certain level, so if it seemed I really would not listen, he would grab my face and force the knot on me.

To directly express what I wanted, I looked at the duke once, then lightly pulled the rope with my teeth.

At the not-strong force, the duke wore a slightly puzzled expression, but still moved his feet.

After confirming that he was willing to follow me, I stopped for a moment, turned my head slightly, and pointed with the end of my muzzle toward the horse he had ridden here.

The duke’s eyes widened slightly, but surprisingly, he obediently took the brown horse’s reins in hand and followed me.

I had been prepared to at least let him tie reins on me if he really would not listen, so I felt relieved and led the two of them.

A strange procession was completed, with a black horse leading one person and one brown horse, but well, after all the twists and turns, it finally seemed the situation was being resolved, so I felt relieved.

* * *

Duke Feedus watched the back of the black horse’s head as it retraced the path that had led him here, and wondered what exactly he was doing.

In other words…..he was being led by a horse.

And in a fairly active posture at that.

Because of this creature that had suddenly appeared behind him while he was chasing the golden fox, the hunt had been completely ruined, but he could not just leave the prince’s horse alone.

Seeing it wandering around like this without even a saddle, something might have happened to the seventh prince.

The duke thought of the seventh prince.

The black-haired prince whose face he had barely encountered a few times.

At first, the nobles had not known what to do because of the appearance of the black-haired prince, but soon, after seeing the imperial family’s attitude toward him, they settled on their stance.

In the imperial family, he was the same as air. He clearly existed, yet they treated him as though he did not.

No matter what he did.

Even if he shouted and threw things. Even if he threatened and hit people..... Even if he killed people.

He was not punished. All his actions were merely quietly buried.

It was frightening when the other party paid no price no matter what they did to this side.

Because of that, even if they did not respect him, no one deliberately stepped forward to create trouble.

The duke, too, had seen him beating servants nearly to death several times.

Each time, he could not dare to stop the actions of an imperial family member, so he simply passed by.

Because Duke Feedus was loyal to the imperial family, he tried to fulfill his role as a subject even toward the seventh prince, but before long, he had no choice but to admit it.

From him, there was none of the divinity he felt when looking at the emperor or the seventh prince’s other siblings.

There was no wonder that made one bow their head on their own, nor any overwhelming charisma that made one kneel.

There was only violence that made one’s face twist.

That was why he found himself a little ridiculous for now mechanically moving to help the seventh prince.

He had taken pride in his loyalty to the imperial family.

Now, even without certainty about it, when it came to matters of the imperial family, even if it was something involving the seventh prince that he had pretended not to know, he stepped forward unconsciously like this.

Even while worrying that he might injure even the horse raised by the seventh prince.

The duke gave a wry laugh, thinking that this situation of being led by a horse seemed to represent his life up until now.

He looked at the black horse walking with its tail held stiffly low for a horse.

"You seem similar to me too."

Duke Feedus muttered.

It did not seem likely that the violent seventh prince would treat a beast he raised kindly or pay attention to it.

Judging from his usual behavior, he might have roughly handled the black horse sent by the fourth prince because he found it humiliating.

Even so, this horse was now retracing the path it had come from.

It was probably doing what it had been trained to do.

To find its master even if separated from him, or to return to its original place.

Therefore, at the end of this guidance, the seventh prince would probably be there, or the place it had been taught to return to when it got lost would be waiting.

That was how one returned.

Because that was all one knew, and once one ate and slept, yesterday’s violence would fade.

Though he did not understand why it was trying to take him along.

Well, how many thoughts would a horse live with anyway?

Thinking so, the duke spoke again to the seventh prince’s black horse.

"Yes, you too should simply live without thinking about anything, without worrying, and as you are ordered. There is probably no happiness greater than ignorance and oblivion. If you do that, you will not starve to death."

Originally, the duke was not a man this talkative, but the forest was quiet, and there was no one listening.

There were only two horses matching their strides, one in front and one behind.

The duke vaguely thought that the reason he had become a little more honest than usual was because the eyes of the black horse among them looked strangely upright.

Even a veteran knight commander over sixty years old could never have imagined that the seventh prince, transformed into a horse, was right beside him, listening to every word of his self-mocking monologue without missing a single syllable.

* * *

Not everyone enjoys hunting.

In other words, there are also those who enjoy the cool autumn wind more than cutting through the wind, chasing after beasts, and tightening the grip on their breath.

Of course, to dare to enjoy such leisure at a hunting tournament hosted by the imperial family, one had to possess status and power worthy of it.

Like someone strolling leisurely through the grass with wheat-gold blonde hair hanging loose, followed not by an aide but by a servant.

What interrupted the leisurely idleness of that someone, who had been enjoying the leisure granted to them with wheat-gold blonde hair hanging loose, was the appearance of a certain black beast that had likewise forgotten its own duty.

—Prrrrr…..!

A black horse snorting and pawing at the ground entered their field of vision.

"......A black horse. Not a common horse."

At the imperial family member’s mutter, the servant hurriedly bowed his head.

"The only one who came riding a black horse is the seventh prince."

At that answer, the imperial family member’s lips curled upward.

"The seventh prince…..how convenient. I happened to have business with him."

It was the moment when one more disturbance was added to Ran Abiran’s already tight fate.

* * *

Kraaaagh!!

First Prince Rasia, who had been staring with a bored expression at a bear the size of a carriage collapsing with a painful scream after its heart was pierced through, flicked his hand and ordered the servants and hunters he had brought to take care of the corpse.

"Brother, you truly are amazing."

The third prince, who had stopped his horse beside him, smiled brightly and offered praise, but the first prince did not even look that way.

The third prince hovered around him while watching the first prince’s reaction.

The way he was carefully watching his mood and moving his lips made it obvious that, after confirming through this hunting ceremony that his ability was the same as before, he wanted to say that the rumor claiming the third prince would seize imperial authority had nothing to do with him.

For someone who was the source of the rumor, he had little nerve.

If he was going to do it, he should have acted a little more boldly.

It would have been nice if he had openly picked a childish fight right in front of me, saying that Brother’s era was over.

If he had, then the one lying there with his heart pierced would not be that insignificant bear, but this detestable bastard.

"The one who will shoulder Abiran’s future is indeed no one but you, Brother."

"I think so too."

Seeing the third prince’s face brighten at the first positive answer he had received, Rasia continued with a sneer.

"And my younger brother must protect the empire from a suitable position."

The third prince’s face immediately stiffened.

Once the crown prince was decided and the crown prince became emperor, the remaining siblings could either stay in the capital, or they could be exiled far away.

Under the pretext of protecting Abiran in the name of God.

The first prince had just confirmed the third prince’s future exile.

Leaving the third prince standing there as he tried to stammer out more words, Rasia drove his horse away.

From the beginning, he had no intention of leaving his siblings in the capital.

He intended to either kill them all, or make them live miserably far away for the rest of their lives, chewing over the glory of their youth.

Except for one person.

"Did you catch anything?"

Rasia playfully spoke to the second prince, who was burning the eyes of a gray wolf nearby.

"Of course. I may have caught something bigger than yours, Brother."

At his younger brother, who responded with an equally mischievous expression, Rasia laughed loudly and tapped the top of his head.

Second Prince, Dito Abiran.

He was the only one among his siblings that he cherished.

His clever and cheerful younger brother was very useful and did not watch his mood, so he could treat him comfortably.

He was the younger brother he trusted more than anyone.

When he became emperor, he intended to have him remain by his side and assist him.

Every time he said that, this fellow would grumble that he was very good at dressing up his intention to exploit him for labor for the rest of his life.

"Do not laugh at me. This time, it is true."

Seeing his younger brother pout again, perhaps annoyed at his brother only laughing, Rasia teased him.

"Well, I’m strangely in good condition these days. I think I will win the hunting tournament this time too."

In a cheerful mood, Rasia patted his younger brother’s shoulder, then rode off to begin hunting again.

Because of that, he did not hear it.

"Indeed. It is strange."

The second prince’s voice, muttering with a mischievous smile tugging at the corners of his lips.