Chapter 15: Hunting Competition: Becoming Friend Instead of Enemy
Owen's group then moved a little further into the central area, slightly deeper in. As expected, demons poured out.
In response, each of them began to sweep away the monsters with their respective powers.
There was no room for hesitation.
Hesitation could lead to injury.
Naturally, Owen also had to kill the monsters.
Once, twice.
Repeating the act of killing monsters, Owen gradually became indifferent to taking lives.
Before coming to the hunting grounds, he had wondered if he could really kill the monsters properly. Even if the target to kill is a monster, it would be difficult for him, who had lived in the 21st century society, to accept it nonchalantly. So he was worried about not being able to do his job like Owen.
Even though the opponent was a monster, he had never killed a living being before. How did he become so natural and nonchalant in his actions?
'Is it Owen's influence? Or is it me being strange?'
Lost in thought for a moment, Owen exhaled and gripped his sword. Rather than pondering such thoughts, it seemed better to catch one more monster.
How much time had passed?
The surroundings seemed to have quieted down after all the monsters had been defeated. Only then did Owen catch his breath and observed his companions one by one. Most of them seemed unaffected, except for Richard, who seemed a bit tired as it was his first hunting competition.
"There are many monsters. As the protector of the North, It must be tiring for you."
As Richard spoke, Count Caleb shook his head and replied, "No, Your Highness. It is my duty as the guardian of the far north."
As the two once again tried to show a model relationship between the Lord and his vassal, Owen quietly slipped away from between them.
Kyle found Owen's attitude intriguing. It was surprising to Kyle that a nobleman like Owen was not interested in such matters.
"It seems that the Duke is not accustomed to such things."
When Kyle spoke, Owen turned his head to look at him. To avoid drawing attention to it, Owen casually replied, "Hm? To be precise, I'm not interested."
He was well aware of how the royal family behaved through the novel and what 'Owen' thought of the royal family.
Owen easily mimicked 'Owen' with an indifferent voice.
"I'm not a royalist, so there's no reason for me to boot-lick."
Perhaps thanks to his skillful imitation of 'Owen,' Kyle looked at Owen with a curious gaze. It was quite intriguing how indifferent Owen was to the royal family.
"I've heard you're sharp and cold, but it seems you're even more so than I thought."
In response to the intriguing tone, Owen lightly replied, "You don't seem much different from me."
In novel, event though Kyle was the leader of the Imperial Knight, but he had also stated that he had little to no interest in the royal family.
"I'm just doing my job to protect them. The other things? I'm not interested."
As depicted in the novel, the royal family had many enemies.
More precisely, they were so fearful that they made many enemies.
Especially.
Edelt and Verdin.
The only dukedoms in the whole Empire.
While, the Edelt was well versed in military.
The Verdin held controls of the money's circulation in the whole Empire.
Perhaps because both sides were powerful, the royal family easily became afraid of them. As the result, despite being a Duke, they could not attend the grand council.
It had been ongoing since the founding of the empire, making it difficult to criticize. With absurd claims like "Are you now ambitious for politics?" or "Are you trying to swallow the royal family," the royal family were on guard.
As a result, both of Duke Edelt and Duke Verdin gave up on entering politics.
Their alternative choice was to strengthen the foundation of military power and to control the businesses in the capital.
"...There seem to be more similarities between us than I thought. Interesting."
Kyle muttered softly, as if finding it intriguing. At his reaction, Owen's eyes twinkled. It didn't seem like the other party disliked him as much as he had thought.
'Maybe if we get to know each other, we can become friends.'
In the original work, Owen and Kyle often clashed due to their respective positions, but that was all within the original story. But now, since Owen had no intention to be with Bella, there was no reason for the two to fight anymore.
So, becoming friends wouldn't be a bad idea. Since 'Owen' had no friends, making one like this would be good for my social life as well.
"Kyle, do you have someone you're close to?"
"Hm? Someone I'm close to, you say?"
At Owen's sudden question, Kyle responded with a puzzled expression.
To which Owen nodded and added, "Like a friend."
"Well..."
Kyle seemed lost in thought for a moment, then spoke up again.
"I tend to be closer to sword and magic rather than people."
Listening to Kyle's words, Owen thought the original author was truly harsh. How did the main characters end up with such weird personality?
Owen sighed and blurted out a question.
"So, do you have an interest?"
"What do you mean?"
"Interest to be a friend, I mean."
As embarrassed as he was to blurt out these words endlessly, there was no helping it. Unless it was a hunting competition, Kyle would always be holed up in the training ground. As abrupt as it was, if he didn't speak up now, they might never become friends.
Owen took a short breath and boldly spoke up, "If you're interested too, I'd like to be friends."
"...Sure. Let's do that. However..."
Prepared to hear some nonsense, Kyle nodded easily.
Instead, he added a condition.
"Commoners speak freely among friends. If you agree to abide by that rule, I'll do the same."
If other nobles heard this, they might think he was joking.
Nobles often spoke formally even among friends. There were exceptions, but unless at a young age, generally they didn't speak informally from the start. Unfortunately, what was inside Owen wasn't someone who had lived as a noble all his life.
"Agreed."
As Owen easily agreed, Kyle's eyes widened in surprise, then he let out a small laugh.
"You're less noble-like than I thought. I thought you'd be angry."
When Kyle spoke informally, Owen replied with an indifferent expression.
"There's no reason to be."
"Hm, fascinating."
With an intrigued expression, Kyle nodded and then asked Owen another question.
"Since we agreed to speak informally, I'll ask, what's your name?"
At Kyle's question, Owen was slightly surprised.
As the only duke in the empire, Owen Verdin was a famous man.
To not know the name of such person...
"You don't know my name?"
When Owen asked in surprise, Kyle chuckled and smiled.
"Eh? You're quite full of yourself. Well, being a duke like Verdin, that's understandable."
As if understanding enough, Kyle nodded his head and then spoke again.
"But I'm not interested in nobles or people's gossip. All I've heard is people calling you the Duke of Verdin."
"That makes sense. I'm Owen, that's my name."
"Owen. It's a nice name."
"Kyle also is a good name."
As the two conversed amicably like that, Louis, standing alone behind them, kept silent as he muttered to himself.
'...What is this.'
For some reason, Owen and Kyle had quickly become friendly, while the haughty Count Caleb got along quite well with the Crown Prince Richard. Feeling somewhat isolated among the group, Louis narrowed his eyes and let out a nervous sigh quietly.
'Damn.'
A sense of being alone and isolated brought up an uneasy feeling within him.
Feeling like he might be overwhelmed by emotions, he clenched his lower lip tightly.
'I should probably tell Father in advance.'
Louis thought he should relay the unbelievable words he had heard from Owen earlier to Duke Edelt. He didn't want to believe it, but anyway, since it was said that Lucia and Owen were lovers, there would be no reason for them to reject marriage. Duke Edelt would even consider it a good thing that a relationship could develop between Owen and his daughter.
Also he thought,
'If Lucia gets married, she won't carry the Edelt name anymore.'
There was no need to worry anymore.
'Then I will be the only Edelt who stayed.'
He no longer needed to fret over the possibility of losing his chance to be the heir of the Edelt.
He knows well that even if his father dotes on him, but the power over the Edelt's Dukedom wasn't in his hands. The direct proof of inheritance, Edelt's Insignia, was given to Lucia as the first-born daughter of Duke Edelt and his wife, Duchess Edelt, who was the youngest daughter of Marquis Loivre.
It was a prenuptial agreement made between Duke Edelt and Marquis Loivre. Duke Edelt will give the Edelt's Insignia to the children born between them. And vice versa, Marquis Loivre, as the general of the Empire, will give Duke Edelt a part of his territory and the power over his personal army.
'Damn.'
Thinking of Lucia's haughty red eyes, Louis gritted his teeth.
'If only I was born from a noble's womb.'
Louis thought if it's not because of her poor lineage from his mother, he would be the one who hold that insignia.
He understand that apart from his appearance and the Edelt name, he had nothing. And no matter how excellent he is, his father will never consider him as his heir. It was because his father was someone who held the Edelt's insignia she possessed in high regard.
'...Once Lucia is no longer an Edelt, everything will be resolved'
As he pondered this, Louis slowly exhaled. With determination in his brown eyes, Louis adjusted the reins and held them firmly.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
littleheaven
littleheaven I saw one of the comment who find it intriguing to see about the Duke of Edelt who held the Empire's military power, while Duke of Verdin was in charge of the Empire's economy. So basically, Edelt was a military-based family, that's why the Duke actually wanted his son, Louis to be the heir of the family, but since Lucia holds the insignia, he couldn't do anything about it. Meanwhile, Verdin family's ancestor was originally a finance minister of the empire. Their family kinda had mysterious power that has been passed down generation by generation. But somehow, except for his briliant brain, Owen is the only descendant who is excellent in both swords and magic.
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