Chapter 109
Boom!
Bang!
As celebratory fireworks shot up from the imperial palace, people outside the palace cheered. Two volleys of palace fireworks signaled the beginning of the Crown Prince Selection.
This year’s selection period would last one week.
Since the Emperor was bedridden, the temple and the Noble Council had agreed on this schedule. The location chosen was the Lekan Forest, where Arendtert had previously gone on expedition.
This was because reports had recently come in that monsters were appearing there again after his return.
In truth, Euclid had been destroying every Maw the moment it appeared, so there were no suitable alternatives other than the Lekan Forest. After much deliberation, the temple and the Noble Council designated it as the competition site.
“Sylaria, are you ready?”
At the entrance of the First Prince’s Palace, Euclid sat atop a pure white horse accompanied by the Order of Holy Knights under his command. As he looked for her, the sound of running footsteps grew louder, and Sylaria appeared with her brown hair tied high.
“I’m ready.”
Sylaria, dressed in riding clothes for the hunt, smiled brightly. She wore a red riding jacket, the color representing Euclid in this competition.
Euclid also wore red. His fitted dark crimson jacket was embroidered with golden thread in the same shade as his hair.
Mounted on a massive white horse, he already carried the dignity of an Emperor commanding the Empire.
“Young Miss, please mount.”
Sylaria stared at him blankly for a moment, then climbed onto her saddle with Morris’s help.
The horse she would ride was a brown mount Euclid had carefully chosen. Gentle and quick-footed, it snorted softly when Sylaria climbed onto its back.
“Let me ask one last time. Will you really come with me?”
“Then I will also say it one last time. I’m your Purifier, Euclid. I’ll go wherever you go.”
Sylaria gave him a bright smile as he looked at her with worried eyes. At her unwavering answer, he gave a faint smile that admitted defeat.
“Then, let us depart.”
After confirming Sylaria had taken hold of her reins, Euclid nudged his horse forward. Following him, the First Prince’s Holy Knights swiftly exited the palace.
Sylaria also urged her horse on, keeping pace with them. The wind brushed her cheeks with a whistling sound as she focused ahead with a tense expression.
If the Crown Prince Selection was a monster hunt, the use of divine power was inevitable. She would need to purify him and support him.
Of course, monsters could be defeated with swordsmanship alone. But this was the Crown Prince Selection. With only one week, the more monsters they could take down, the better, and divine power would be necessary.
Sylaria lowered her body to reduce wind resistance. In Gideon, where she had lived, her home had been in such a remote area that life without a horse had been impossible. The nearest town took two full days on foot. So despite her poor circumstances, she had always kept a horse and rode it everywhere.
However, after coming to the palace she rarely had reason to ride, so before this expedition she had practiced intensely.
Thanks to that, she could run without burdening Euclid or the Holy Knights.
‘Lekan Forest.’
After riding nonstop, Sylaria soon reached the mist-laden forest. They had arrived even sooner than she expected.
‘It was the right choice to ride.’
When she had insisted on accompanying him, Euclid had told her to take a carriage. But Sylaria insisted on horseback.
Carriages had more limitations than horses. In particular, Lekan Forest was full of marshland, with many paths inaccessible to carriages.
And above all, horses were faster. If she had used a carriage, it would have taken her an entire day just to reach the forest.
“Whoa. Whoa.”
Once they had entered deep into the forest, Euclid pulled on his reins to stop his horse. He took out his bow first and shot an arrow toward the sky. The arrow, decorated with a bright red ribbon, rose and burst into a small red flare in the sky.
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