Hidden Under the Shadows (3)

Titan’s turning point.

The hunter’s guild master qualification verification began.

The test was conducted like a show in an arena similar to the one we saw in Arcanum.

Of course, this was after completing the written test, personality evaluation, and verification of achievements.

In reality, this event is a show demonstrating how strong the guild masters and those challenging for master rank are.

After all, this makes it easier for clients to judge how far they can trust their requests.

“Welcome, hunters and business owners from various fields. I’m Rohan, representative of the hunter’s guild and War Mage! Today at this venue…”

“How do you feel watching him act like that, Duke Forys?”

After briefly observing the man who skillfully drew people’s attention like some venue bard, I asked Duke Edge Forys sitting beside me.

That undignified man playing the role of MC is the hunter’s guild headquarters master.

In other words, the leader of this organization.

“Irritating from the start. He’s a man with no sense of dignity befitting his position.”

I asked Edge Forys who calmly approached and took the seat next to me.

Naturally, Allen Wise whom he had been keeping as a guard recently was nowhere to be seen. He must already be down at the stage rather than in the audience seats.

I look forward to seeing his reaction when he faces Titan.

“If he had just a bit more dignity, Allen wouldn’t have had to run away from home.”

That clownish way of deprecating himself and making people laugh.

Though not bad as a person, he’s somewhat lacking as the head of an organization.

As Edge Forys said, when you’re in such a position, there isn’t much benefit in showing such a submissive attitude to people.

Though gentle and friendly, he should still maintain strength.

That approach would have been perfect.

But Rohan is just frivolous.

“With proper handling, he could have elevated hunters’ social status by several levels. What a shame.”

War Mage Rohan. I know his existence raised the perception of the hunter profession by several levels.

His elegant hunting style using bow and magic changed the perception of hunters as mere thugs.

If he had just acted with a bit more dignity in that state, he might have even gained a voice in the empire’s key personnel meetings.

“Especially since he even managed to defeat you, it’s more regrettable.”

“It was just poor compatibility, I’m not inferior to that fellow.”

Edge Forys mainly uses earth-attribute magic focusing on soil and rock. That attribute probably best expressed his solid personality.

If Ilina Crowley is a master of fire-attribute magic, then Edge Forys is a master of earth-attribute magic.

And the hunter’s guild headquarters master Rohan, who’s still rambling and drawing laughs from the audience, is a magician who mainly uses water-attribute magic.

The compatibility was bound to be disadvantageous.

Of course, even so…

“You’re being petty, Duke.”

“…”

Edge Forys’s desperate insistence that he held the upper hand was certainly quite petty.

For someone with power and intelligence, wouldn’t it be better to gracefully acknowledge it?

Or perhaps the very fact of losing to such a clownish man was what displeased him?

Aside from his position as head of an organization, you couldn’t find someone more likable than that.

“…By the way, boy.”

“Changing the subject, I see. Very well.”

“Did you perhaps spout that nonsense you told me in front of him too?”

“Who… Ah, you mean him.”

“Just because I called him that doesn’t mean you should… No, never mind. They say even emperors get cursed behind their backs, so what does it matter.”

There was a familiar face where Edge Forys gestured with his chin.

Wallace Hope. The demon who declared war on me a few days ago.

“I did meet and talk with him directly a few days ago.”

“Did he get angry? Or laugh it off?”

“He explicitly said he would thoroughly crush me and cut off all my limbs before killing me.”

“Every word out of your mouth is a lie.”

Though it’s not a lie, I suppose it would naturally sound that way.

Considering how Wallace Hope has built his image and power, there’s no way anyone would believe such words.

“Oh my, the demon is looking this way? How frightening.”

“…You’re being childish.”

“I’ve known him since he was young. This is the right way to deal with such a fellow.”

“Are you trying to say Wallace Hope isn’t a half-demon?”

What other reason could there be for mentioning childhood connections?

He’s essentially saying my words must be lies since he knows Wallace Hope best.

“He’s the type to die before submitting to another’s dominion.”

“Well, you’re not wrong.”

If he were a half-demon, that is.

Half-demons are subordinate to demons, and demons are subordinate to devils. They become puppets that must follow orders at any time.

Someone in Wallace Hope’s position of power wouldn’t accept such a position.

Until recently, I thought the same. When I saw Wallace Hope and Belial’s appearance before my regression, actions like blocking out the very sky itself seemed to show that arrogance.

He didn’t seem like someone who would submit to anyone. Though I thought that…

“However, the ambition buried deep in his heart might be different.”

Even if Wallace Hope weren’t a demon. If submitting to someone was necessary to achieve humanity’s extinction, he’s the type who would do it.

He showed me that side. The madness of being willing to lick a beggar’s shoes to achieve his goal.

“By the way, what brings him here?”

He wouldn’t have come to see me. Meeting in a place like this would be meaningless.

If he wanted to find me, it would have to be somewhere away from people’s eyes or somewhere he could kill me.

This place is neither.

“Probably came to watch his grandson.”

“You mean Another Hope?”

“Come to think of it, didn’t you say you met him? I heard you thoroughly trounced him, was that what you asked about then…”

“Ah, that’s a bit different.”

When we were in Arcanum, Allen Wise stopped me when I went to find Edge Forys, saying he was in conversation with Another Hope.

I asked if I could possibly meet him then, but the opportunity was lost when I was told he had already left for the capital…

It seems Another Hope also planned to attend the hunter’s guild master qualification verification.

“Did Another Hope have hunter qualifications?”

“He earned them saying it was training. He lived because Wallace is less stubborn than that Count Wise.”

“What would you do if Siris said she wanted to become a hunter?”

“…Who are you to casually call my granddaughter by name?”

“So that’s what you focus on first. Honestly, I’m a bit surprised.”

Was that more important than whether she becomes a hunter or not?

“Absolutely not.”

“You’re just as stubborn.”

“Is a grown man the same as a granddaughter who’s not even old enough for marriage?”

“Ah, yes.”

From a family’s perspective it’s natural, but… still feels conservative. Though with such a strict impression, what else could we expect?

“Looks like it’s about to start.”

“That War Mage really…”

While we were having friendly conversation exchanging small talk and gossip, the branch masters finally appeared.

Following that, War Mage Rohan’s explanation heated up the stage even more.

The stage filled with faces I knew well and people I had never even heard of before.

Among them, seven had reached the level of master.

“The empire is truly vast.”

“Indeed.”

They say there are over 100 hunter’s guild branches. Moreover, these 100 or so people were filtered multiple times.

Guild masters who couldn’t prove themselves in the written test and achievements would have already been eliminated.

Of course, they still have chances. There are many positions, but few people with the strength to match them.

They’ll take the second test.

The same goes for those who lose to challengers here.

Most will succeed in keeping their positions.

“Ah, he’s looking this way.”

“Hehe, look at that fellow’s expression.”

Allen Wise, who had entered with a handsome face and calm demeanor, stiffens upon seeing me and Edge Forys together.

That’s because he knows Edge Forys’s personality well.

He must know some tricks were played and noticed something was off when Titan wasn’t visible in the audience.

Allen Wise releases all his worries and pain in one sigh.

“Now then, challengers with challenge rights and representatives from each group, please designate your opponents!”

One by one, challengers selected from each group begin battles by designating branch masters as their opponents.

Hunters’ actual work consists of voluntary gathering and hunting, and subjugation requested through commissions.

And challenge rights go to groups that request such subjugations.

That includes merchant guilds and production guilds like blacksmiths and tanners.

Challenge rights are distributed to groups and guilds that show some capability there.

They can be transferred, and if you win using those challenge rights, you can apply for the hunter’s guild master qualification test.

For groups with challenge rights, it’s convenient to gauge the skill level of branch masters they’ll commission in the future, and challengers they nominate gain wider options.

Masters who lose here can maintain their positions just by passing a simple additional test, so this system is surprisingly advantageous for the hunter’s guild.

Of course, other groups could plant spies, but they would still have to take the previous tests.

Could there be an easier way to separate the wheat from the chaff?

“Yes! Well done! That challenger was really close! If they had pushed a bit harder in that exchange… But unfortunately, their opponent was a hunter who prefers maintaining advantage by accurately gauging normal capacity and distance! It was naturally difficult to find an opening!”

He praises the challenger while simultaneously elevating the status of hunters as a whole.

Though his mind works well, watching him act like this makes it hard to think of him as a master.

“Well, he does his job properly.”

“If he didn’t, he would have been the first to need qualification verification.”

While nodding along to Rohan’s rapid-fire commentary, Edge Forys beside me grumbles again.

Is it that hard for him to acknowledge it?

“Now! Let’s see what opponent our next challenger will choose and what kind of fight they’ll show us! Come on, challenger, please appear on stage quickly!”

While the audience bursts into laughter at his cheerful gestures and voice reminiscent of a carnival barker, a new challenger climbs onto the stage.

“…”

Unfortunately, this challenger wasn’t Titan either. But it was someone I knew.

If Edge Forys hadn’t told me in advance, I would have been quite surprised.

“Lo and behold! Lo and behold! Lo and behold behold behoooold!! House Hope’s youngest! Young Master Another Hope himself has come to grace us with his preseeeence!”

I was starting to suspect Rohan might be getting paid by someone to act like this.

While smirking at that exaggerated attitude for a moment.

“Watch carefully.”

Thud!

In that moment, the world stopped. No, in an illusion where time seemed to slow, I felt the world being dyed in darkness.

A space where everyone froze – from Rohan who was praising Another Hope with spittle flying to Edge Forys clicking his tongue beside me at such a sight.

No, the opponent’s killing intent was dense enough to feel that way.

I quietly rolled my eyes to look at the owner of that voice.

“The nightmare I’m about to show you.”

Massive wings, red eyes.

A form of darkness so eerie it seemed wrapped in shadows.

King of Darkness, Belial. He had shed Wallace Hope’s appearance and was looking at me with a grotesque smile.

Yes, I thought he hadn’t come to see me. But it was related to me. What Belial came to see was his grandson Another Hope.

“Has been prepared solely for you.”

The stretched time instantly returns to normal and Belial’s eerie voice disappears mixed with the audience’s cheers.

His form vanishes into the crowd as if I had seen an illusion.

As if no one had seen his wings, as if no one had met those eerie eyes,

Yes, just as one’s gaze naturally passes over shadows in a crowd.

The moment he disappeared like that.

“What is this…”

Another Hope’s shadow rippled and blocked out the nearby sky.