As I walked, searching for prey, I let out yet another yawn.
My heavy head was filled with a foggy haze.
Pressing my dry eyes with my hands, Walton sighed heavily.
“Your Majesty, when was the last time you slept?”
“Unfortunately, I can’t quite remember.”
During the war, I could sleep after exhausting my body or when seriously injured.
But recently, even the suppression drugs had stopped working, and my body was constantly boiling, making it hard to endure even the most mundane parts of daily life.
What was worse was that just seeing that foolish sheep-faced man made the lower half of my body feel stiff.
The scent of honey seemed to pour from her body even when she was just near, and her innocent golden eyes were perfectly suited to provoke the deep-seated, ugly desires that had been buried in my heart.
The curse was this severe.
So much so that even if it called for a curse, I wouldn’t mind.
Thankfully, I could still control it for now, but if it progressed into madness, I was ready to sacrifice my life without hesitation.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake with heavy thuds.
A massive rumble grew louder, approaching us from ahead.
“Something’s coming this way.”
“No need to search. The prey is walking right into us.”
Birds flew off in the distance, and the trees began to shake restlessly.
A huge stag, with magnificent antlers, pricked up its ears and hurriedly fled.
“Just to be safe, please come behind me!”
“I’ve never put anyone in front of me, even on the battlefield. If you’re my subordinate, your place should be beside me, not behind. Have you forgotten in your peace?”
Walton, who had been momentarily stunned, broke into a faint smile and bowed his head to me.
“…I see. I was mistaken for a moment.”
A little later, the massive bear appeared.
Its hands and mouth were already soaked in blood.
If anyone had encountered it first, they would have been eaten by now.
“Looks like the boastful words weren’t in vain.”
“It’s not the time to be speaking so casually. That bear’s condition is odd.”
As Walton had said, the bear was filled with rage.
When it swung its arm, the trees were torn to shreds as if they were paper.
“Roarrrr!”
After the mighty roar, the bear charged toward us.
I quickly dodged in the direction of its attack.
However, the pitiful boar doll, which had been tied to my scabbard, was unable to avoid the blow.
It was cut by the bear’s sharp claws with a loud crack, flying through the air before falling straight to the ground.
It landed beneath the bear’s foot.
The once white doll was now covered in dirt from the bear’s paw.
I stared at the scene blankly, and Walton immediately drew his sword and stood in front of the charging bear.
“Why are you doing this…!”
That wasn’t a sheep.
It was a hideous boar doll.
Yet, there was a strange, unsettling feeling as if that doll had been crushed by the bear’s paw.
“Why? What is it about that doll?”
As I was caught in this bewildering emotion, Walton, while evading the bear’s swings, stepped backward, stomping on the doll that had fallen again.
In that short time, the paw prints grew from one to two.
“How dare you crush my pitiful boar doll…!”
Finally, I understood everything.
The reason it felt so unpleasant was because the doll was so grotesquely ugly.
It was poorly made, the kind no one would buy even if placed on the street.
But now, after being crushed by the bear, it had even paw prints on it, making it look even worse.
“Walton, I’ll handle this one on my own from here.”
“…What? Suddenly?”
“I’ve got a debt to pay back.”
I unsheathed my sword and approached the roaring bear.
Slowly, I drove it into a corner, seeking revenge for the boar doll.
I couldn’t kill it too easily. If I did, the sorrow of that ugly boar doll wouldn’t be alleviated.
Before long, deep wounds covered the bear’s body from my sword.
But usually, an animal in this much pain would retreat out of instinct.
The bear, however, continued charging at me, dripping blood, as if it felt no pain at all.
“ROAARR!”
But it couldn’t hold on much longer.
Eventually, when its heart was pierced by my blade, the bear stopped moving.
I gave its lifeless body a kick with my foot, then picked up the ugly boar doll that had fallen to the ground.
During the fight with the bear, the doll had been stomped on a few more times, and now it was unrecognizable, completely covered in dirt.
‘It’s become even more pitifully ugly.’
Walton, who had been watching from behind, approached with a look of admiration.
“Your skill remains as sharp as ever, Your Majesty. But this beast… it had wounds that should’ve killed it long ago. Why did it keep charging?”
I had a theory, though still uncertain.
It reminded me of when the former Emperor, who had been consumed by war, faced off against the Teser in battle.
Back then, the soldiers who were pushing forward, despite their fatal injuries, were like this bear. Even when fatally wounded, they kept charging forward as if transcending pain itself.
“If they were using cursed drugs, this might be possible.”
“Cursed drugs?” Walton asked, his eyes wide with surprise.
“I heard they were used during the war with Teser. It’s a drug that heightens excitement to such an extent that it makes people forget about death, turning them into living weapons in an instant.”
Walton looked at me with wide eyes.
“That existed? I had no idea…”
“After that battle, they vanished without a trace. I haven’t heard anything about it since.”
If my theory was correct, why was something so dangerous in Hamilon? And why was it in the forest where the hunting competition was being held?
Suddenly, the leaves rustled, and the howls of beasts echoed from all directions. When I turned around, I saw that the animals in the forest had gathered. Dozens of glowing eyes pierced the darkness.
A wild boar, blood on its tusks, and a tiger holding what seemed to be a human body in its mouth.
And the wild dogs growling loudly.
The forest was filled with the most ferocious beasts.
They growled, scraping their paws on the ground.
They were clearly ready to charge at us at any moment.
“It seems we’ve been too noisy,” Walton remarked.
“If this is all there is, it’ll be boring,” I responded.
Walton smiled faintly and spoke in a nostalgic tone.
“Come to think of it, this situation reminds me of the battle at the ant hill, doesn’t it?”
“We were surrounded by enemies just like this back then,” I said.
If I imagined the surrounding creatures to be humans, the situation was almost the same.
The dangerous, life-threatening circumstances once again brought that familiar thrill of anticipation rising in my chest.
“How about we have a bet on who can take down the most of them this time?”
“That sounds fun. Just to let you know, I won’t lose on purpose.”
A while later, the situation was settled when I killed the last tiger that had been struggling.
The bodies of the beasts lay around, their forms utterly mangled.
Simply cutting them down with a sword wouldn’t stop them, so I had no choice but to end their lives.
This was no longer an ordinary hunting ground.
It had become the perfect place for slaughter.
After killing someone with a personal vendetta, one could easily make it look like the beasts were the culprits, and it would be hard to find any evidence.
“I suppose I should search the forest.”
“Aren’t you going back?”
“Yeah, I’ll check this place a bit more. Walton, you head back to the palace and inform them of the situation. Bring the knights to protect the nobles scattered in the forest.”
Walton’s face grew tense, and suddenly he shouted loudly.
“I can’t let you do that. It’s too dangerous for Your Majesty to stay here alone!”
“It’s an order. Do as I say.”
“I’ll disobey. If that displeases you, then just strike me down.”
He had no intention of leaving.
I had been too tired to sleep, and I didn’t want to waste time arguing.
I suppressed my rising anger and gave Walton a cold stare.
“Staying by my side with that body of yours means you’re willing to become a burden, doesn’t it?”
Walton looked surprised.
He must have been trying to hide that he had been injured during the battle.
But his movements were noticeably unnatural.
After spending so much time together, did he really think I wouldn’t notice something like that?
“If you want to be of any help, you need to leave quickly, inform others of the situation, and bring back those who can actually help. Got it?”
Walton bit his lip.
Whether he liked it or not, he understood that the wisest course of action was to follow my instructions.
Soon after, Walton knelt on the ground and lowered his head.
“I’ll inform them as quickly as I can and bring the knights back. Please stay safe until then.”
After Walton left, not long passed before I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my chest.
“Ugh…!”
It was one of the side effects from the suppressant I had taken.
I hadn’t done much physical activity lately, so it had been manageable, but now that I exerted myself, the pain came rushing back.
I remembered something Harpone had once told me.
“It’s the side effects from the drug overload. Your heart can’t function properly because of it. If you stop taking the drug and help your circulation, you should be fine soon.”
“Circulation? Isn’t moving my body enough?”
“This is a side effect from the suppressant. To fully cleanse the drug from your body, you’ll need to embrace a woman.”
“Hah, if that’s what I need to do to survive, I’d rather die.”
“I thought you’d say that. And just so you know… if you push yourself after the warning, your heart might burst. Please, keep that in mind!”
But this wasn’t bad enough to cause any real issues yet.
What I needed to do now was quickly figure out where the source of the problem was.
‘Where are those wild beasts getting the drug from?’
The lake seemed to be the most likely source.
After all, no beast would avoid drinking water.
I didn’t want to miss any other possible clues, so I followed the traces left behind.
Then, not far off, I heard the sound of footsteps.
I hurried to check and found a beastkin (Yang Suin).
‘What’s he doing here…?’
The beastkin flinched, as though about to run, but then recognized me.
His eyes widened, and he looked at me with a face full of relief and sorrow.
Large droplets of tears fell from his wide eyes.
“Y-Your Majesty…?”
His voice trembled uncontrollably.
Despite the rain falling from the sky, the tears rolling down his cheeks stood out clearly.
For some reason, I couldn’t look away from that expression.
Eventually, a tear fell down his cheek and landed on my heart with a disturbing beat.