Rather than a gentle crackling, the flames roared with vigorous, booming energy.
Night had deepened and a large moon shone in the sky, yet the lakeside was as bright as daytime.
The makeshift campfire, built from firewood the guards had gathered, had been stoked even stronger by the potions Citry poured into it, and it continued to burn steadily even as strong winds blew.
The arrangement of the fires was exactly as Citry had proposed — lined up to form the shape of a smile. Up close you couldn't tell, but seen from above on the Garrest Mountain Range, it must have been quite conspicuous.
It was already the active hours for nocturnal Monsters, yet there was no sign of any appearing. That was probably because Riz had enthusiastically gone after big game for dinner, leaving none nearby.
Our wild child, when thrown into the ecosystem around this lakeside, apparently still ranked at the top.
A short distance from the campfire lay the massive kills Riz had made, scattered about. Blood splattered from the draining gave the whole area a bizarre, unsettling atmosphere.
Citry was diligently cutting and transporting the edible portions over, but it was obviously far more than this many people could eat — there was simply too much meat.
Of all the campfires I'd experienced, this was, without question, the most "peculiar."
The flames showed no sign of ever dying down, the number and arrangement of fires was excessive for such a small party, skewered chunks of blood-dripping meat roasted over the flames, and a pot bubbled away with a thick, simmering stew.
And above all, the colorless, completely exhausted Cro and the others slumped on the ground, alongside Tino with her tense expression, only added to the bizarre atmosphere.
An outsider might think some sort of strange ritual was being performed — a shady, unspeakable demon feast.
In reality, of course, it was just a fun, fun campfire, but with three people at the point of collapse and Tino on edge, even I couldn't fully enjoy it.
Only Citry and Riz were their usual relaxed selves. Citry calmly cooked over the campfire as if nothing were out of the ordinary, while Riz played in the nighttime lake.
"How does it look, Klye-san? It's perfect...! From the mountaintop, this will definitely look like a smile, no question about it."
Citry puffed out her chest with a hint of pride and gestured toward the campfire.
I didn't dislike that sort of playfulness myself, but what was really bothering me was something else — the three guards who'd been forced to gather enormous amounts of firewood to build all these campfires and now looked like they could drop dead at any moment.
Cro, Shiro, and the rest were clearly no amateurs, but even so, a firewood-gathering march right after a forced march was apparently too much for them. (As a side note, there was also the one who'd been energetically hunting, but you absolutely must not consider that normal.)
All three of them looked like they were about to die. I would have stopped them if I'd noticed sooner, but while I was watching Tino and the others bathe, Citry had been issuing crisp instructions, and by the time my attention finally pulled away from the two bathing and splashing around noisily, it was already too late.
Finding joy in little things is a good thing. Even I might want to build a smile-shaped campfire once in a while, depending on the mood.
But my guiding principle was to avoid troubling those around me as much as possible. Even if Citry's orders were within her rights as an employer — driving the exhausted Cro and the others to the breaking point simply because it was "fun" was far too heartless.
Citry was grilling crocodile skewers for me with a beaming smile. An expression of pure, genuine delight, utterly devoid of malice.
I let out a small sigh and spoke in a low, somewhat gloomy voice.
"Citry, about Cro and the others... aren't you overworking them?"
"Hm? Am I...?"
Citry's eyes went wide.
I'd known from the start that she had no ill intent in pushing Cro and the others so hard.
The problem was probably that Citry simply didn't perceive their situation as dire.
Looking back on it, our adventures had always been life-or-death ordeals. Compared to that, a bit of firewood gathering after a death match was nothing — that was likely how she saw it. She'd been a Hunter so long it had warped her common sense.
It had been a while since we'd traveled together. A short time, perhaps, but I was determined to restore Citry to her former self — the sensible, ordinary person she used to be.
Citry looked troubled as she addressed my indignant self.
"But... they're... well, criminals, aren't they?"
That was an unexpected response.
Criminals... so they were criminals. Now that she mentioned it, Cro and the others did look nothing like ordinary civilians. Hunters tended to have all sorts of rough-looking faces, so that possibility had never even crossed my mind.
But then, why would she be employing criminals? Perhaps this was some kind of rehabilitation program, with the government commissioning the work? I didn't know enough about Citry's connections to say.
Was her brutal overwork of Cro and the others also part of their sentence? Even so, it felt excessively harsh... but then again, if that was the case, my interference would be inappropriate too.
As I furrowed my brow, Citry smiled as if to say there was nothing to worry about.
"However, if Klye-san says so... then I'll stop pushing them so hard."
"...Wait, it wasn't a punishment?"
Was it really okay for her to change course so easily based on just my say-so?
"In a sense, of course it was a punishment. But... over these past few days, I've gotten a fairly good read on their capabilities."
"They're not at the point where I'd swap out their parts, and they're not worth obsessing over either," Citry added with an awkward, bashful smile, tilting her head.
...I wasn't entirely sure what she meant, but I gathered their dedication over the past few days had been sufficient and the punishment could now be considered over.
Maybe their crimes weren't that serious after all. They'd followed Citry's orders properly during the journey too...
"Yeah... if I were to release them, would that be a problem?"
Having learned they were criminals, I hesitated but pressed forward with my original intention.
I'd been targeted by criminals far too many times in the past. I believed every last one of them belonged behind bars, no exceptions — but having watched Cro and the others suffer throughout the journey, I couldn't help but feel some sympathy. For minor offenses, perhaps it was time to let bygones be bygones.
It went without saying that I wasn't really in any position to grant or deny forgiveness — but still.
Citry made a brief contemplative expression, but in the next moment she pulled something from her pocket, grabbed my hand, and squeezed it tight.
"No... their crimes aren't that serious, and I think Klye-san should have free discretion over them. They would be deeply grateful to you as well."
She held my hand for a solid few seconds before gently releasing it. What remained in my palm was a small golden key.
There was no trace of dishonesty in Citry's expression. It was that same warm smile I'd seen many times before.
"It's the key to their collars. Once the collars are off, Cro and the others are free."
That simple, huh... I held the key up to the light.
So they were criminals, after... Hmm. Given how completely exhausted Cro and the others were, I wanted to release them right away — but criminals, huh.
Well, even if I freed them now, in their current state they'd never make it to town. No matter what crimes they'd committed, dumping them in a place teeming with Monsters was simply too cruel. There was still... time to think.
"I'll have to pick the right moment."
At my words, Citry's eyes sparkled brightly and she nodded enthusiastically.
Perhaps she'd been thinking the same thing without me even needing to point it out? Or perhaps she hadn't been able to free Cro and the others because I hadn't said anything yet?
Both Citry and Riz — actually, most of the people around me were like this — had a tendency to defer too much to my opinion, even though I was merely a figurehead leader. It wasn't an impossible theory.
"Either way, I'll take responsibility for Cro and the others. They look pretty tired, so I'd like to let them rest. That's okay?"
"Understood. I'll let my sister know as well — that Cro and the others have been entrusted to Klye-san."
Citry's cheeks flushed, and she answered in a voice warmer and more earnest than usual.
Now then, what should I tell Cro and the others...
§ § § If I'd known this was coming, it would've been better to get captured as a criminal Hunter.
That was the shared understanding among the three of them.
There had been anger the moment the shackles were locked on. When they learned they'd been dragged along as stand-in drivers for a "vacation," they'd planned to remove their collars and rebel the first chance they got. But all that remained now was deep despair and resignation.
Shiro, Cro, and Haishiro had all been Red-rank Hunters, dealing with Hunters and knights for years. They'd been through hell more times than they could count. They couldn't even remember how many people they'd killed, and there had been times they'd cracked open the skulls of screaming, pleading victims while laughing.
But even from that vantage point, the infamously notorious "Mourning Specter" of the imperial capital was out of her mind.
There was no longer any will to resist. The hells they'd been through were on a different level entirely. Now they finally understood why they'd been captured so easily.
Haishiro had been unceremoniously shoved from the carriage, and the shock alone had aged him ten years. Cro and Shiro were somewhat better off — but even so, the constant onslaught of Monsters had pushed them to their physical and mental limits. Their swords were coated in blood and fat, having lost all cutting edge and become nothing more than blunt instruments. Their cloaks were drenched in blood, and even after washing, the smell and stain would probably never come out.
If they ever found themselves in a similar situation again, someone would certainly die. No — it wouldn't be strange if all three of them perished.
And even if Cro and the others died, this carriage would simply roll onward as if nothing had happened. That much they were certain of. And for some reason, that certainty was what terrified them most.
They'd known that Thousand Transformations was a Level 8 Hunter who had resolved numerous major incidents.
The "vacation" Cro and the others had been dragged into was a hellish journey that proved it — plowing through encounters with powerful Monsters and dire trouble at every turn.
Thunder Sprites. Orcs massed in fort-building numbers. The Garrest Mountain roads overrun with an abnormally high number of Monsters, and among them the worst Monster of all — a predator that hunted other Monsters indiscriminately, the Wandering Colossus. Any one of those alone was something the old Cro and the others would have chosen to flee from.
Yet Thousand Transformations, and Peerless Shadow and the others — her party members — had called it a vacation.
Sometimes they dodged trouble, sometimes they dumped it on other Hunters, and sometimes they simply forced their way through. The path that Cro and the others had carved open with their lives on the line, that man walked through with a smile — and had even shamelessly tried to use Haishiro, whom he'd been working to the bone, as bait.
From those actions, Cro sensed an intense familiarity.
Peerless Shadow and the others were accustomed to these hellish battlefields, to fields of death. No — they had probably experienced situations far worse than this.
That was why they smiled. That was why they never stopped. Peerless Shadow's registered level was supposedly 6, but it was obvious that her experience and real power far exceeded that number.
There was no chance of winning. Strength, experience, and even resolve and malice — everything was so far beyond what their appearances would suggest that it was incomprehensible.
No matter how many times he tried to imagine it, Cro couldn't picture a scenario where they stood a chance. There was no path out of this despair. The only light at the end — was to bring about his own death and be done with it.
But would the woman who had put the collars on them — the woman who always wore a smile and didn't show even a trace more guilt than Cro and the others — allow even that mercy?
Hugging his knees, Cro retreated from reality by mumbling and turning thoughts over and over. That was when a voice suddenly called from behind him.
"Um... are you okay?"
"Nn—!?"
His hazy consciousness snapped fully awake, and an involuntary small cry escaped his lips. Shiro, who had been lying motionless as if dead, and Haishiro, whose state of consciousness had been impossible to tell — both sprang up as if called by the grim reaper himself.
A powerless voice. An unauthoritative voice. And yet that voice was the most terrifying of all.
Klye Andrich. Thousand Transformations. The leader of the Mourning Specter, the man whom Peerless Shadow and Worst of the Worst obeyed without question.
He was also the only one during this vacation journey whose strength had never been apparent.
You couldn't see any strength in his appearance. His physique was frail — you could call him virtually untrained for a Hunter — and he lacked the overbearing aura that came with absorbing large amounts of Mana Material.
He carried no weapons, and from his bearing you could spot nothing but openings. If you encountered him in town, you'd immediately write him off as an ordinary citizen with no involvement in anything violent.
And that was precisely why he was so terrifying.
Those black eyes were deep and calm. He didn't raise his voice in anger like Peerless Shadow, nor did he flash a smile at every turn like Worst of the Worst.
Throughout the journey, Cro had watched him. Observed him.
The man did nothing in particular. He showed consideration for his companions without ever charging headlong into a Monster horde, and his actions and emotions never changed noticeably. An utterly unremarkable man.
And yet, it was undoubtedly this man who had decided the destination of this vacation.
Peerless Shadow and Worst of the Worst were his women. The expressions they turned toward him held a luster, and in the details of their actions, you could see the desire not to be disliked.
Cro remembered how he'd nearly been disposed of before anything had even happened. Those two answered to this man — to go against him was beyond unthinkable.
They wouldn't be granted a quick, clean end.
"Wh-what is it... Thousand Transformations-sama?"
Before departure, Haishiro had been so haughty in his demeanor, and now he groveled on the ground before this man.
Come to think of it, the one who had suggested they help when Haishiro was thrown from the carriage had been this man too. But what Haishiro's current behavior conveyed wasn't gratitude — it was profound terror.
Cro understood the feeling. The truly terrifying ones weren't those who exploded into rage at the drop of a hat.
Cro followed Haishiro's lead and lowered his head slightly, the tiniest gesture. To escape that consciousness, even a fraction — so he wouldn't have to meet those eyes.
"...You don't have to be like that — I'll get straight to the point. I've decided to release Cro and the others. Citry has given her permission."
"!?"
He raised his head at the unexpected words. Shiro and Haishiro both stared wide-eyed, stunned, up at Thousand Transformations.
Release? He'd just said — release?
Thousand Transformations twitched his brow for a split second, then narrowed his eyes. A small key rested in his hand. The key to the collars binding Cro and the others.
He was wide open. From Haishiro's position, it would be possible to snatch it away in a single breath. But Haishiro didn't move a muscle.
"Of course, I'm not going to release you right this instant. It's dangerous here — and I've heard, Cro and the others are... criminals, right? If you were freed too easily, you wouldn't be able to atone for your crimes, right?"
Since when does he get to say that... Cro swallowed the words he'd almost blurted out.
They were criminals. They'd violated the Imperial Law more times than they could count, and if every one of their crimes came to light, things wouldn't end well.
But obviously, Riz and Citry were far worse.
Thousand Transformations cracked a slight smile. It didn't look rehearsed at all — a natural, easy smile. He raised the small key and dangled it before their eyes as if showing it off.
"But I know your crimes aren't that serious. Over the past few days, Cro and the others have followed Citry's instructions very well. I believe that means you've atoned sufficiently. So long as you behave and don't cause trouble until we reach a safe place — I'll remove those collars and set you free."
At face value, it was the words of someone far too trusting. But from where Cro sat, he could see the fear that had gone rigid on Shiro's cheek.
Cro and the others were criminal Hunters. They'd committed every crime under the sun and lived by the narrowest of margins, slipping past the law's gaze. They were fully aware that they bore serious guilt. And to declare that — wasn't serious...
How had Thousand Transformations interpreted their silence? He waved his hand in a flustered motion.
"Ah, don't misunderstand. From here on, I don't intend for Cro and the others to fight like before. It's relatively safe from here, and you're all exhausted, so... there's no rush. Take it easy. Well, I will need someone to drive the carriage, I suppose... but it's a vacation, after all. Got it?"
Vacation. That loathsome word made his body shudder involuntarily.
Sweet words. Words that transparently fanned the flames of hope. But Cro and the others had no alternatives to begin with. Like obedient soldiers, they simply nodded.
Shiro and Haishiro both nodded silently, bobbing their heads. Cro followed suit.
Thousand Transformations looked at the three of them and relaxed his shoulders as if reassured.
As if timed to that moment — his field of vision suddenly turned white, and a thunderous roar echoed from the distance.