Dark Fantasy’s Extra

Hilde took her stance with her axe.

“Hmm.”

Blanc looked at Hilde with half-closed eyes.

Her body blurred, and suddenly she appeared right in front of Hilde.

“…?!”

Hilde tried to push Blanc away in surprise.

But the moment her weapon made contact, she knew.

This wasn’t a fight she could win.

Like trying to push a massive castle wall with bare hands, she felt an overwhelming difference in presence.

“Where have I seen you before?”

Blanc instantly removed Hilde’s hat and mask.

The movement was so quick and natural that Hilde couldn’t even react.

“…Ah, you’re that noble young lady from back then?”

“You, you know me?”

“Of course I do. You’re the one who abandoned Eugene and left.”

“…!?!?”

Hilde’s body shook violently as she stumbled backward.

“Heh, after abandoning him, now you’re following him around?”

“No, no, I…”

Her shoulders trembled uncontrollably.

“Eugene risked his life to protect all of you, but you all left him to die and ran away. Isn’t that right?”

“Ah, aah…”

“Perhaps you wanted to make up for that? So… how did it go this time? Were you able to properly help and protect your Senior?”

Hilde collapsed to the ground.

Blanc looked down at her with cold eyes.

“You couldn’t do anything.”

Hilde hadn’t been able to do anything.

No, that wasn’t true.

She had surely done many things.

She had fought alongside Eugene all this time, and even bought time so he could duel the enemy commander one-on-one.

But none of that felt like anything but excuses to Hilde herself.

In the end, until the very last moment, Eugene fought alone.

She couldn’t do anything at the end.

“…As expected, you’re boring. Just having talent means nothing.”

“Ah… aah…!!”

At those emotionless words, Hilde clutched her head and screamed.

Blanc, who understood humans well, instantly grasped Hilde’s talent.

Though she had been just an ordinary person when seen recently, she was already able to keep up with Eugene, a veteran hunter. Her growth rate was faster than any human Blanc had seen before.

But that was all.

Just seeing her crumble at mere words showed it.

This lady lacked the large, solid core that Eugene had.

Even if she had a good heart, if she broke and stopped when struck, it meant nothing.

That’s what Blanc thought.

“Sigh, truly useless. It would have been much better to give even a bit of your talent to Eugene. Well… he’s wonderful even with that lack of talent.”

She turned her back.

Though she wanted to watch over Eugene until he regained consciousness, it was about time for hunters from the Order to arrive.

“Well then, farewell. My hunter.”

Blanc’s words were directed solely at Eugene.

She had completely lost what little interest she had in Hilde’s existence.

A human with talent but no core.

Such things only grew tiresome to keep watching.

Blanc disappeared somewhere too.

The war ended with Hilde’s despair.

*    *    *

The first to arrive in Cranion were Great Mage Ozwald and his apprentice Oscar.

Though they had no duty to head to the battlefield, the master who valued real combat above all had used magic to bring his apprentice at top speed.

Just days ago when they visited, they could feel the city’s vibrant life force before even entering the gates.

But now an awkward and bizarre silence enveloped the city, and just walking the streets brought an indescribable sense of unease pressing on their chests.

It was as if this living being called a city had died.

And this distortion grew stronger as they went deeper into the city.

The residential area built with solid bricks had collapsed, and uncollected corpses occasionally lay in the streets.

The bakery that once gave off a savory aroma now reeked of dry, fishy stench, and on the vendor’s stand where pork used to hang, now lay a small arm of unknown origin.

Oscar tried not to look at such things, but as they went deeper inside, it became impossible not to.

“Tsk, why be so surprised at this level?”

Ozwald said to his apprentice.

“Don’t… don’t joke around. This level…?”

Oscar said with a pale face.

“This… this can’t be real…”

Corpses were everywhere.

Not just humans, but entrails of strange-looking monsters were scattered all around.

Creatures neither human nor fish with their heads punctured created pools of brain matter and sticky blood.

The roads had turned into small streams flowing with red blood, impossible to avoid getting your feet wet.

Even breathing brought the nauseating stench flooding from nose to lungs.

“This is war. War is inherently absurd. But it’s reality. Though I am a bit surprised. The damage is less than expected.”

“What?”

“From what we heard, there were supposed to be hundreds of Beasts, but for something rampaging in the city center, the smell of blood is faint. Perhaps the guards exaggerated their count.”

People who see crisis firsthand often struggle to view things objectively.

“Or… perhaps we were lucky and someone was here to protect the city.”

“Old man, how can you be so calm?! So many people died here?!”

“I’m not being calm, I’m being composed. A magician’s mind must always stay cool.”

“Tch…”

They went toward the city center, following the increasing number of corpses.

What they found there was the lingering trace of a strange cold, countless Beast corpses, and two hunters.

One lay collapsed as if dead, but one sat slumped over in a daze.

“Are you alive over there?!”

Oscar ran toward them.

“Good grief, that boy is so hasty.”

Ozwald sighed.

It was foolish to approach carelessly – they could be Beasts disguised as humans, or transformed into living bombs.

But his apprentice’s passionate heart was also worth valuing.

After all, it was that kind of heart that made him take on one last apprentice in his later years.

“Hey! You’re alive, right?”

Oscar grabbed the shoulders of the one sitting slumped over and asked.

“Are you hurt somewhere… eh!?”

Oscar fell back on his behind in shock when he saw the hunter’s face.

“What’s wrong… ah?”

When Ozwald approached and saw the hunter’s face, his eyebrow twitched.

“Well, this is unexpected.”

It was the trainee hunter they had met just days ago.

He remembered her clearly because of her extraordinary talent, beautiful face, and noble background.

Hilde sat there covered in blood and dust, in a complete mess.

Though she had clearly suffered serious injuries, the atmosphere felt even more worrying than that.

“W-why are you here?!”

Oscar approached again and asked.

“…”

But Hilde gave no answer.

Her eyes were open but unfocused.

“Are you hurting somewhere? Are you injured?”

“…”

Oscar asked again while examining her, but she showed no reaction at all.

Ozwald looked around the area.

Seeing the countless Beast corpses, there must have been a battle here.

Could this young lady really have achieved such results?

He turned his head to look at the other side.

The collapsed hunter.

Though not dead yet, his injuries were worse than Hilde’s.

He was completely battered.

Ozwald carefully examined him and lifted his hat to check his face.

“So it’s you.”

As he had guessed from seeing Hilde, it was Eugene.

He was undoubtedly a veteran among veterans and must have performed well if he fought.

But even considering Eugene’s presence, the city’s damage was too light.

If he could handle this many Beasts, that would far exceed the limits of a lower-ranked hunter.

This would be difficult even for a mid-ranked hunter.

And all the higher-ranked hunters with capacity to spare were assigned to guard the Grand Conference, so none could be here.

Something had been in this city.

Some very powerful something.

Normally one would think whoever helped must be good, but somehow an ominous feeling stirred in the corner of his mind.

“Old man! This guy seems to have a head injury, please take a look!”

Oscar shouted loudly as if to shake off that ominous feeling.

“You’ll burst my eardrums, boy… Sigh. What in the world happened here…”

Ozwald crushed a small pill from his pocket and gave it to Eugene with water.

Made from natural herbs that reduce inflammation in wounds, it should help somewhat.

After examining Eugene, he approached Hilde.

“Miss.”

“…”

“Your Senior, Eugene seems to be in a lot of pain.”

“…ah.”

Only then did Hilde raise her head and look at Ozwald and Eugene with empty eyes.

Light returned to Hilde’s eyes.

“Ah, aah! Senior! Senior is…!”

She suddenly jumped up and clung to Ozwald.

“Whoa, calm down. He’s alive. What happened here… no, treatment comes first.”

“Please, treat Senior first! Please!”

“Hey, calm down! You’re not in great shape yourself!”

Oscar tried to hold her shoulders back to stop her.

“Let go!”

Hilde shook off Oscar’s arm.

Oscar tumbled at the unexpected tremendous force.

“Ow!? Y-you…!”

Oscar froze the moment his eyes met Hilde’s as he was about to get angry.

Oscar had never met anyone in his life who made such an expression.

It was a face mixed with indescribable sadness, despair, and desperation.

It was such a dramatic change that he could hardly believe it was the same person who had stood up to him proudly just days ago.

“Soon the relief team will arrive too, so wait quietly. They’ll treat Eugene well.”

Ozwald said to Hilde.

“So until then, would you tell us what happened? What happened here, what your Senior did.”

“Senior…”

And Hilde sat back down crying.

“Senior… Senior alone… I… nothing…”

“…impossible.”

Oscar muttered.

He remembered Eugene in his own way too.

As someone who did trivial magic like erasing footsteps.

“What do you know?!”

Hilde glared at Oscar, shouting.

It was the same scolding as last time, but the atmosphere was completely different.

“What would someone like you know?! Until the very end Senior fought alone! He fought alone! I, I did n-nothing…!”

“No, I didn’t mean it like…”

Oscar tried to explain but his master stopped him with a look.

In the end, Ozwald had to soothe Hilde himself while asking about the situation.

Oscar could only quietly step back.

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