A/N: Here's another chapter! Enjoy reading!

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Goose bumps spread all over his body.

Astana took a backward step.

Although he was wandering through the forest with terrifying monsters, the monster he feared the most was Perez and not the monsters he had never seen.

The red protective gear covered with green blood shone eerily.

Woosh!

As Perez stared at Astana, he slightly swung the sword that made a horrifying sound.

Green fluid buried on the blade was scattered on the floor.

"I warned you." Perez said in a low voice.

"Keep out of my sight."

"Wha--Wait a second!" Astana shouted, but it was too late.

Perez with a sword was moving towards Astana.

"Stop it!" Astana cried out late.

"Your Highness!"

"Stop!"

The henchmen, who were hesitant to move rushed in at once.

"Hey, Your Highness!"

"Be patient! Don't act rashly!"

"If you kill someone easily here, you'll regret it later!"

The Academy trio, who had been guarding Perez's back also quickly approached and stopped him.

Astana trembled.

It was because Perez's red eyes felt as if they were squeezing the back of his neck.

Even though he was reluctant to look straight ahead, something was different today.

The dark energy of the forest seemed to fluctuate in the eyes of Astana without blinking.

"Your Highness!" Lignite shouted, grabbing Perez by the shoulder.

Only then did Perez stop walking.

However, the eyes looking down at Astana were still there.

"Here, drink this."

Tedro bought something from the waist of the loaded horse.

It was a canteen made of black leather.

A few more canteens of the same shape were attached to the horse to which Perez's party was bound.

"It's because of the magic! You're going crazy because of the magic!"

Everyone heard Tedro's words.

"It's safe to drink a little bit of this medicine."

Tedro grabbed the water and passed it to Perez's hand.

Perez took a sip of the liquid in the tub and wiped his mouth roughly with his sleeves.

The red eyes were still the same, but the murderous glint was gone.

"Magic must be driving people crazy..."

"It wasn't called a madman's forest for nothing."

Astana's aides murmured in fear.

Then a loud noise broke out one after another.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In the end, three people set off the signal.

When Perez stepped back, Astana, who had felt a little alive again glared at them.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. But this forest is too dangerous..."

"That's right, Your highness the First Prince, we think you should return to a safe place with us."

They hurriedly made excuses.

But Astana unexpectedly didn't yell at them.

He was rather frustrated momentarily.

'Shall I go out with them too?"

That felt like a million gold question.

Unconsciously, his hand was on its way to grab the flare.

"The owner and the dogs." Perez laughed coldly.

"What?"

"That kind of monster would have been enough to get rid off if all of you had come at it."

Perez said, pointing to the body of the monster that fell to the ground with the tip of his chin.

At the same time, everyone's eyes were directed there.

"That's ridiculous."

"Is it that small?"

It was definitely a huge monster.

The sound of walking makes the ground shake.

However, the size of the monster lying on the floor was only as big as an adult human male.

The muscular appearance they saw was terrifying, but as Perez said.

It was enough to get rid of if everyone came at it.

"Ha! I can't believe you're all so scared of that."

"Aren't the nobles living in the Ecliptic look so pathetic?"

"Any man who holds a sword would have cut it! Tss."

All three members of the Academy giggled and talked loudly, intentionally letting the others hear of them.

"Let's go." Perez said as he turned back.

"Even if I don't handle it, he will die in the forest."

Having said that, Perez looked back and checked the waist of his horse.

At the same time, a satisfying smile lightly passed over his face.

****

It's sunset.

Those who finished hunting were returning one by one to the entrance of the forest.

"Oh, there are three of them!"

"There were five over there!"

"Ah, aren't they little ones? Big monsters have higher scores!"

The nobles who were struggling with playing card games put their horses on the participants' hunting results.

At that time, the Second Prince, Perez appeared.

"Wow! Seven!"

"No. 1 so far!"

The reaction of the nobles was hot.

On the other hand, Astana, the First Prince.

"Well, He's empty-handed."

"Wasn't he fighting the Second Prince?"

Astana's poor performance kept everyone from laughing.

Most of them closed their lips not to spit out mocking words without realizing it.

"No, who is that?"

Someone pointed to a man who had just come out of the entrance.

"It's Sir Ramona Brown!"

It was Ramona who appeared in blue armor which contrasts with her red hair.

A large thing was hanging from Ramona's luggage, which walked in with a slightly exhausted step.

"A monster's head?"

"I can't believe it, she caught such a big monster."

"Isn't it harder than ten small ones?"

Unlike others who usually cut off one ear or arm of a monster, Ramona cut off the monster's neck.

Ramona, who inadvertently cut her hair because there were no set rules, looked a little sad when she saw other participants.

"Huh, that's Brown!"

There were also frequent mentions of the Brown family.

"In the end, it's a battle between His Majesty the Second Prince and Lord Brown?"

"Still, the Second Prince will win!"

No one was referring to Astana.

Astana's existence was completely forgotten in the competition.

"Damn it."

Astana felt it.

The hunting battle between the First and Second Princes has already gone haywire.

Astana could feel the eyes of Emperor Yovanes staring at him from afar.

And the disapproval that's mixed in there and the look that says, 'That's why you're like that.'

Eventually, Yovanes opened his mouth to only one of the two approaching Princes, Perez.

"Second Prince."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Good job. You look great."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

But Astana had no complacency.

It was just a twitching, tongue-tapping sound.

"Uhm, Your Highness."

Then Bellesac slipped something out of the back.

"Tomorrow, let's have a drink of this before the hunt."

"What's this?"

"When I ran into the group of the Second Prince in the forest, I swiped one of the canteens they had drank while talking about magic."

"What is it?"

Astana's eyes sparkled.

"I'd like to steal more, but I'm afraid I'll get caught."

"If there was such a thing, you should have told me earlier!"

Astana quickly took away the canteen.

"Yes, with this..."

The forest monsters weren't very scary.

Looking at the monsters Perez killed with a single sword, there was nothing he could not catch if about 10 people attacked him at once.

However, he was still afraid of going into the forest because it made people crazy.

"Isn't it that there will be no more hallucinations or visions?"

Astana laughed.

He seemed as if he had won thousands of horses.

"Well done, Bellesac."

Astana's hand touched Bellesac's shoulder.

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Astana gave him a short compliment.

"Let's go back into the forest."

Astana said after giving Perez a last look.

"Y--Your Highness!"

Bellesac was embarrassed and followed Astana behind his back.

"It's too dangerous at night."

"Who's gonna stay there until the night? There are still an hour or two left before the sun sets completely, so I will hunt more. Everyone, follow me."

Eventually, the people who had suffered grimaces slowly headed back to the forest.

"Uh, I think I should try stopping them!"

Today, Lord Sloan, who was escorting the emperor, cried out in embarrassment.