Dark Fantasy’s Extra Chapter 54

After walking from Vinears to a nearby village, I rented a carriage and returned to the Order.

It took exactly 4 days from when I first left the Order until returning.

As soon as I returned, I went back to the hospital and took a detoxifying medicine to purge all remaining traces of the drug.

In a world where syringes haven’t been invented yet, medicine can only be ingested or applied topically, so the effects aren’t fast.

Though the side effects had certainly been immediate.

After finally unpacking in my quarters and returning from washing up in the shower room, I saw the room lights were off, suggesting Hilde hadn’t returned yet, so I just threw myself onto the bed.

“Ugh!?”

I rolled off the bed in shock.

But it seemed the other person was just as startled.

“Wh-wh-who’s there!?”

Hilde sat up from the opposite side of the bed asking.

“That’s my line…”

I managed to climb back onto the bed and said.

“Se…nior?”

“Yeah. It’s me.”

“You’re back!”

Hilde grabbed my hand.

“Yeah. I’m back…”

Perhaps because we were meeting after 4 days, she was showing clear signs of being delighted to see me, but unfortunately I wasn’t in any state to reciprocate.

“Sorry, but could you let me rest a bit? I’m really tired right now.”

My body was suddenly starting to feel extremely drowsy as the detox medicine’s effects began kicking in.

My eyes felt like they would close at any moment.

“What? Oh, aah. Yes…”

Hilde must have noticed something was off about my condition, as she let go of my hand and backed away slightly.

“Thanks…”

And I collapsed onto the bed like a falling tree.

But what had Hilde been doing here?

…Don’t know.

I’m tired so I’ll just sleep…

*    *    *

“…”

Eugene fell asleep instantly after lying on the bed.

Hilde quietly watched him for a moment before carefully reaching out her hand.

The moment her fingers lightly touched his cheek, she jerked her hand back as if shocked by electricity.

Hilde paced around the room restlessly by herself before going outside.

She had a lot of free time today.

For the past week, Latina had been in charge of her training, putting her through physical conditioning at levels she’d never imagined before, but on this final day, she just gave Hilde a massage saying to rest.

Thanks to that, she had time to spare and out of partial curiosity had lain down on Eugene’s bed, but perhaps due to the effects of Latina’s massage, she’d instantly relaxed and fallen asleep.

But who could have expected Eugene would return right at that moment…

Hilde shook her head and steadied her breathing.

Though she was now a hunter who had transcended class boundaries, she hadn’t forgotten the control of atmosphere, breathing, and posture she’d learned in her days as a noble lady.

Though her senior and others occasionally teased her saying she still hadn’t fully shed her noble air, that didn’t mean she wanted to completely abandon all manners and etiquette.

After calming down, Hilde considered going back to the room but decided to let Eugene sleep in peace.

However, she didn’t really have anywhere else to go.

She wondered if she should train, but Latina had told her to rest so that wasn’t an option.

“~♬”

Hera approached while softly humming.

“Hello, Ms. Hera.”

Hilde greeted her.

“Hello, Miss Hilde. What are you doing here?”

“Nothing really… Senior Eugene just returned. He seemed really tired so I came out to let him sleep quietly alone.”

“Oh my, Mr. Eugene came back? I was worried since he went north alone, but that’s a relief. Thank you too, Miss Hilde. I wish Mr. Eugene would work more safely.”

“Yes… Um, Ms. Hera.”

“Yes?”

“You’ve known Mr. Eugene for a long time, right?”

“Even if you say long time, it’s only been 3 years.”

“Was Mr. Eugene like this back then too?”

“Like this… Yes. He was. He was probably that kind of person even long before I joined.”

“I wonder what happened.”

“It’s probably related to the incident from 7 years ago.”

“7 years ago?”

“I wasn’t directly involved and there aren’t many detailed records, but you should be able to find records in the library.”

After parting with Hera, Hilde went straight to the library.

The thick scent of old wood and paper wafted over her as soon as she entered.

It was a massive and dignified space reminiscent of a grand mansion.

Bookshelves stood in orderly rows everywhere like lined-up servants.

Though it was her first time visiting the Order’s library, she was amazed by its overwhelming scale.

While there was a study in the Grimm family mansion, comparing that to this would fall short even calling it the difference between adult and child.

However, finding the book she wanted became difficult.

At a desk right next to the entrance sat an elderly man with gray hair and glasses writing something.

“Excuse me.”

Hilde spoke to him in a small voice.

“Hmm, are you a hunter?”

The old man looked up at her while adjusting his glasses.

“Looking for a book?”

“Yes. Well… I was wondering if I could see any books or records about an old mission.”

“Did someone ask you to get it?”

“No. I just wanted to know something. I heard there was a big incident 7 years ago…”

“Ah, that incident. If you’re talking about 7 years ago, there’s only that one. Go to shelf 2–8 upstairs. You’ll find what you need in The Order’s Incident Records Volume 37 and Revised Edition 12.”

“Thank you.”

Hilde bowed her head to him.

“One moment. If you don’t mind, could you tell me why you want to know about that incident?”

“Well…”

“You don’t have to tell me. It’s just an old man’s curiosity.”

“…My Senior was involved in that incident.”

“Could it be Eugene?”

“Oh, you know him?”

“I know him well. He’s been coming to the library from when he was a small child 15 years ago until now, so I couldn’t not know him.”

“15 years…”

“Hoho, back then I thought it was just a child’s curiosity, but I never imagined he would even learn to read and write by himself. A child who seemed to have no noble background or anything.”

“Co-could you tell me more?”

Hilde’s eyes lit up.

All she knew about Eugene’s personal history was that he had worked as a hunter for about 10 years.

He rarely tells stories about himself.

Though he doesn’t say it, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was still putting up a wall between them.

“Well, I don’t have many stories I can tell. I work here in the library, and you all are hunters. Rather, I find myself wanting to ask. What is your relationship with Eugene, young lady?”

“I’m his junior.”

“I see. His junior…”

The old man’s eyes seemed to gaze somewhere far away.

“So that fellow has a junior following him now… Time really has flown by. That incident was already 7 years ago too…”

“That incident?”

“Go to shelf 2-8 like I mentioned earlier and you’ll find out.”

Hilde thanked him and went up to the library’s second floor to find shelf 2-8.

There were thick books densely recording incidents from past to present.

She found The Order’s Incident Records Volume 37 and Revised Edition 12 that the old man had mentioned.

While other books had comparatively more dust gathered, strangely that book alone showed traces of being handled multiple times.

Hilde first opened the lighter Revised Edition 12 and looked through incidents from 7 years ago one by one.

What she was looking for appeared quickly.

Large-scale Beast attack during lower-ranked hunters’ mountain training.

Estimated Beast numbers: 800 low-tier, 30 mid-tier, 1 high-tier.

Deaths: 158

Missing: 352

Severely injured: 1

Minor injuries: 1

Seeing those numbers, Hilde froze.

That was all that was in the revised edition.

Then she opened The Order’s Incident Records Volume 37 and found the section covering the same incident.

There were more detailed contents written there.

There had been large-scale training led by 8th-rank hunters.

The moment they entered the mountain, Beasts appearing through tunnels surrounded the mountain.

Being in training, they were severely lacking proper weapons, and the hunters were helplessly overwhelmed by Beast numbers more than double their own.

Fortunately one person had been waiting outside the mountain due to a minor injury right before training, and as soon as the Beasts swarmed in, they went to Order headquarters to report the situation.

The hunters remaining on the mountain made their final stand holed up in some cave at the end, but fortunately there was a small escape route on the opposite side of the cave allowing just one person to escape despite being severely injured.

Except for those two survivors, all the hunters died.

The reason for the high number of missing persons was likely because they were eaten, leaving no remains behind.

And in the final line appeared the name of that hunter who escaped from the cave.

9th-rank hunter Eugene.

*    *    *

Though the Grand Conference was over, Marquis Bluebeard still remained at Order headquarters.

This was a golden opportunity to meet influential figures from various regions all at once, especially core executives and officials active at headquarters, or to check records that only exist at headquarters.

The first topic that came up at the Grand Conference was naturally the attack on Cranion.

The city was completely defenseless and ravaged by an organized attack from Deep Sea Folk, which are rarely seen even once or twice a year.

The Order’s executives were troubled by this unprecedented situation.

And the two hunters who distinguished themselves amidst that chaos couldn’t help but become subjects of debate.

Hilde, judged to have talent equal to Sephira who had reached higher-ranked hunter in record time.

And Eugene, the lower-ranked hunter entrusted with full authority over her training.

The debate was split between those asking why such a talented seed was entrusted to a mere lower-ranked hunter, and those saying to trust him since despite being a lower-ranked hunter he had impressive achievements and was simultaneously recommended by both Crowty and Sephira.

Though there had been much discussion about Eugene then too, the Marquis’s current investigation into that hunter was for a more personal reason.

“…To be honest.”

The Marquis said to his son Jarkoff.

“Considering Eugene’s career and character, it’s hard to think he would do anything inappropriate to Hilde.”

“But Father! No matter what, having a man and woman of different status living in the same place…”

Jarkoff said.

“Hilde is now a hunter, not a noble.”

The Marquis cut off his words.

“If we remove status and gender from consideration, there is nothing contradictory or unreasonable about the situation. It’s common for a specially designated instructor to teach a talented hunter closely. This time it just became an issue because of Eugene’s rank.”

“But, still…”

Jarkoff trailed off.

“…However, I somewhat understand why you’re like this. I don’t think your worry is entirely pointless.”

“What?”

“In my view, there’s no problem with Eugene as a hunter. But there could be a problem with Hilde.”

“With Hilde…? What do you mean…”

“I’m saying it’s entirely possible for Hilde to develop inappropriate feelings for Eugene.”

“…!!”

Jarkoff flinched greatly.

“Th-that’s impossible. Surely that Eugene fellow…”

“We can’t know that without looking into it thoroughly. Well, don’t worry too much. I don’t intend to just let this matter slide either. After all, it would be best for Hilde to marry into our family.”