The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#Chapter 276 Mercenary Owen (4) - Racing Through Chaos The girl named Ophelia Hydrain belonged to the category of outstanding talent when viewed objectively. Her academic performance was excellent, and even in terms of physical fitness, which young ladies from noble families are often lacking, she was not lacking in training. She hadn't particularly learned swordmanship or magic, but setting aside such supernatural abilities and considering purely human specifications, she would be in the upper ranks among her peers. Unlike most runaway youth who usually leave home without any concrete plan, just running away haphazardly, the fact that she had planned a travel itinerary and thought about problems that might arise during travel and countermeasures for them was also a manifestation of such excellence. However, what was unfortunate for her was. The fact that sometimes in the world, there exists irrationality that completely blows away such "common-sense responses." "...Hmm, this seems more screwed than expected." "Yes?" How long had they been walking through Goden Forest? At Owen's words, suddenly frowning, Ophelia couldn't help but feel puzzled. Screwed? From her perspective, there was no problem with their current journey. The path was sufficient for riding horses even if not for carriages to pass through, the air was extremely refreshing, and even the weather was clear. In an environment where they could enjoy a picnic if they had the leisure, what exactly was screwed? "What do you mean by that?" To her repeated question, Owen stared intently at one side of the bushes instead of answering. Wondering what on earth was happening, as Ophelia also looked at that spot, suddenly something poked its head out from the bushes. Brown fur. Two elongated egg-shaped ears. Black eyes. "Roe deer?" The moment she spoke the name of an animal that could occasionally be seen in the forests around Ophelia's house, the roe deer emerged further out of the bushes. And all three heads of the roe deer revealed themselves. Huh? Ophelia, who unconsciously made a dumbfounded sound, couldn't be blamed. Well, since it's a forest, wild roe deer could naturally pop out. Let's say its tremendously large build and body full of writhing muscles could be from eating well and exercising a lot. But having three heads was a separate issue. No, why? How exactly? Ophelia blankly made eye contact with the three-headed roe deer. The first head glanced at Ophelia, then soon turned its head as if uninterested. The second head made eye contact with Ophelia while blinking its innocent eyes. Honestly, it was rather cute. The third head seemed to puff out its chest greatly toward Ophelia, then what? Swoop! Having approached at some point, Owen covered both of Ophelia's ears with his hands. It was when Ophelia was about to panic and struggle at the touch of large hands full of calluses characteristic of someone who had handled weapons for many years. ──■■■■■■■■■!! That was a sound that would be better described as "the collapse sound of a massive building crumbling" or "the explosion sound of tremendous high-level magic bursting" rather than a cry. Her eyes involuntarily closed at the trembling of air that struck her entire body, and her back reflexively hunched up slightly. The next moment her entire body swayed and almost fell, but fortunately Owen pulled her toward himself, preventing her from rolling on the ground. When she checked her horse that had fallen to the ground, she was horrified. Blood was leaking from its ears, its eyes were rolled back, it was foaming at the mouth and its body was convulsing. There was no need to analyze what the cause was. At the thought that if she had been a step later, she would have ended up in that state too, Ophelia felt as if cold ice had been driven into her spine. "I'm saying this in advance, but I did what I could, miss. So don't blame me too much for not being able to save that horse too." "I-is that what's important right now!?" "I'll take that as meaning you won't file for damages. Heave!" "Kyaa!?" Due to Owen suddenly making the horse run, Ophelia reflexively clung to his body to not lose her balance. "What are you doing all of a sudden!!" "What do you mean what, we're running away. Monster extermination isn't a mercenary's main business." "Even so..." "Besides, if we stayed there, it seemed like we'd see something nasty." Ophelia understood Owen's mention of "something nasty" to mean they would have to fight the three-headed roe deer, but she soon realized that was a misconception. Roar!! A wolf that was brilliant as if its entire body was plated with silver bit and crushed one of the roe deer's necks in an instant. Caaaaw! A black crow with three legs breathed fire from its mouth and burned the wolf. Guooooo! A green giant with a build larger than most trees swung the club in its hand and struck down the crow. Ophelia muttered with a bewildered face. "Ogre?" A high-ranking monster that is evaluated as among the highest of all monsters, known to act as the boss of an entire area when one individual is present. It was already absurd that a creature she had only seen in books suddenly appeared, but the sight of that ogre being attacked by another monster and struggling for its life was even more ridiculous. "It must be because of the commotion that roe deer just caused. That fellow also did something stupid. Sound-based attacks are quite powerful since they're difficult to defend against, but using it in a place full of creatures equal to or stronger than yourself only shortens your lifespan." "No, that's not the problem right now! What is that monster parade?!" No matter how close to the border this frontier was, this Goden Forest was strictly part of the Empire. If such powerful monsters had been forming an ecosystem in a place like this, the surrounding cities and villages couldn't have been intact. When she was shocked at an environment completely different from her preliminary investigation, Owen said calmly. "Well. How would a mercenary like me know something that even a well-educated miss like you doesn't know? Let's save such contemplation for after we get out of this situation first." Ophelia couldn't voice any counterargument. Not because she acknowledged Owen's words as justified, but because another monster popped out from inside the bushes and attacked them. A beast that probably belonged to the feline family with spotted patterns all over its body. Just before that beast's front paw pushed against the horse's side and pressed down, Owen's spear, which had somehow finished assembly, traced a mystical trajectory. The spear blade precisely pierced between the neck and collarbone, making it into a skewer, and in that state threw it to the opposite side while drawing a large circle. It was unbelievable monstrous strength, and also a deflection close to divine skill. If the deflection of force had gone wrong even slightly, the shock of receiving the beast's attack would have been transmitted to the horse carrying both people, causing it to collapse. The crisis didn't end there. All sorts of bizarre monsters that she hadn't even seen in dictionaries kept attacking them - wolves dyed blood-red all over, lions with wings and snake tails, swarms of hornets with heads the size of Ophelia's fist. Ophelia wanted to deny the scene before her eyes. 'This doesn't make any sense!' The beings that humans call monsters are also, when you think about it, living creatures. Each has its own territory, habits, and also possesses self-restraint that tries to avoid unnecessary fights. However, the monsters before her eyes were completely denying such things. No matter how vast Goden Forest was, there was no way such different species could live gathered in one place, and even if they somehow lived gathered here, there would be no reason to attack surrounding creatures indiscriminately in such an all-or-nothing manner. This way, wasn't it like they had been suddenly thrown into an unfamiliar place and fallen into confusion and fear? Even while she was thinking about the meaning of that, the monsters relentlessly attacked Owen and Ophelia. And. Whoosh! Crack! Crunch! All of them, without a single exception, were destroyed before Owen's spear. Although it was only at the level of self-defense techniques that didn't use mana, Ophelia was also learning martial arts. That's why she could tell how absurd what Owen was doing right now was. First, since he was holding the reins with one hand, he could only use one hand for fighting. Since Ophelia was held in his arms, he couldn't excessively twist his body or make violent movements. Most importantly, the horse they were riding now, while reasonably high quality, wasn't a proper warhorse that knights ride. With all sorts of penalties stacked on, it goes without saying how difficult it would be to break through monsters attacking like ambushes from all directions. Yet that difficult task, Owen was accomplishing as if it were nothing, continuing his exhilarating charge. She already knew he was skilled, but didn't this easily surpass that level? 'This man, what exactly is his identity?' *** After running and breaking through the path amidst the monster chaos for some time. The two people who barely found a place where they could rest while avoiding attacks stopped moving for now. Below a massive rock cliff, a rock cave that was hollowed out as if someone had carved it out with a sword. The entrance was densely blocked by short shrubs so the inside was completely invisible from outside, and when they entered inside, a reasonably spacious area revealed itself. The fact that the cave split into two branches near the entrance, with a separate space where the horse could rest, was also excellent. Owen looked around the interior here and there, then soon showed a satisfied smile. "Usually places like this are often used as bases by wild animals, but fortunately there are no such traces here. It should be fine to rest at ease." At Owen's words, Ophelia, who had been keeping her body rigid with tension the whole time, sat down with a thud as if collapsing. Clear water drops were dripping from the deepest ceiling crevice of the cave, forming small rock mounds, and when Owen filled a leather pouch with water and brought it to the horse, the horse drank the water eagerly. The horse, spotted with the blood of monsters, trembled as if it could finally live and regained its composure. Ophelia, who was similarly thirsty, looked at that scene with a slightly displeased expression. "...Shouldn't you take care of the lady first here?" "Hahaha. That's the finest joke I've heard today. The horse that ran hard to save us and the miss who just sat on that horse. It seems obvious which one is the hero." Whinny! The horse snorted loudly and shook its head vigorously. At that shameless momentum as if agreeing "That's right!", Ophelia was dumbfounded and let out a hollow laugh. "Yes, yes, I'm terribly sorry for being baggage that's of no help at all. What, should I carry you on my back next time?" "That would certainly be an experience I've never had in my life. Come on, don't sulk and drink this at least." Ophelia, who caught another leather pouch that Owen threw, grumbled "Who says I'm sulking" while still bringing her mouth to the leather pouch. Normally she would have filtered it once using a purification magic tool, but right now her thirst was urgent. Was it because she drank water and caught her breath for a moment? Ophelia, who had regained some composure, asked. "...Do you think this is something that mage or whatever you mentioned did?" "I can't be certain, but there's nothing else that particularly comes to mind. No matter how you look at it, this isn't a natural situation, is it?" "That's right. If this forest was always like this, there's no way rumors wouldn't have spread." They knew the cause, but the problem was the solution. "I know it's shameless to say this after ignoring your advice at first, but should we go back now and look for another route?" "I wouldn't really recommend that. Time waste aside, because of that earlier commotion, the path we already came through likely has monsters swarming all over it. And those would be the exceptionally strong ones who could survive this brutal melee." "So it's better to keep going forward. Considering that we have one less horse and need to ride together, it would take about two days to get out of the forest... Hm?" Ophelia frowned. For some reason, Owen was staring at her intently. And with a face as if looking at something quite mystical. "What's with that look?" "No, usually when sheltered young ladies have experiences like this, they would cry or throw tantrums, but you don't do any of that and are quick-witted. That's quite admirable." One, two, three. After a very brief silence, Ophelia's face turned red in an instant. "Shut up!? A mercenary is evaluating their employer right now!?" "No, isn't there something wrong with that statement? Rather, because I'm a mercenary, I should evaluate my employer even more─" "Shut up!!"