The first thing Heinz noticed was the golden light creating patterns on the ground through the dazzlingly bright green leaves.
Next he realized—
Huh, there's... no pain?
No, it's not just no pain.
His body felt light, his mind was clear, and breathing was super easy.
It felt like waking up from the world's best nap.
"...Nngh."
Groaning, he slowly sat up.
Where was this?
Just a little while ago, he was definitely at the palace—
No, wait. Explosion. Yeah, that.
...Which would explain the headache.
Heinz pressed his temple and sighed.
"...Liam's gonna kill me for this."
Well, Liam's epic scolding could wait.
For now... he needed to figure out what to do about this jungle-looking place.
I mean, come on, I've spent eighteen years living pretty much exclusively in the palace!?
Even when I did go outside, it was just boring political visits.
And in our country, you're not even allowed to go out alone until you're officially recognized as an adult at twenty!
—And the problem was.
Where the hell was this?
While he was thinking that—
"Grrrrr..."
A low growl reached his ears.
Heinz froze.
Slowly, very slowly, he turned his head.
There it was—
A monstrous wolf-like creature, huge beyond reason, with jet-black fur gleaming under the light.
Its tail was covered with crystal-like spikes, and its glowing red eyes locked right onto him.
"...Yeah, no thanks."
He muttered quietly and slowly reached for the short sword at his waist.
Sure, he'd been trained, but look at this thing!?
Before anyone asked about his chances of winning, he'd already made up his mind: run.
But the beast—no, probably a magical beast—
didn't attack right away.
Instead, it started circling Heinz, inching around him in a slow spiral.
If I move wrong now, I'm dead.
He carefully regulated his breathing, keeping his body loose.
The plan: counter the moment it pounced—
Thud.
...Huh?
Something fell from the tree.
Heinz blinked.
There, lying on the ground, was a boy.
Blue hair.
Golden eyes.
Probably about the same age as Heinz.
...What the hell is going on?
Before he could even process it, the beast lunged straight at the boy.
"Tch!"
His body moved on instinct. Heinz sprinted forward and swung his short sword.
Slash!!
The blade pierced right through the beast's neck.
The beast—or rather, a manticore—
convulsed for a moment before collapsing onto the ground.
"...Phew."
That was way too close. Seriously.
While Heinz was catching his breath,
the boy under the tree got up smoothly.
Then, he looked at the beast's corpse,
looked at Heinz,
looked at the beast again—
"...Oh, you killed it."
He said it in a totally flat voice.
"...No 'thank you' or anything?"
Heinz said, exasperated.
The boy gave a small nod.
"Thanks."
...So casual!!
As Heinz screamed internally,
the boy pulled a small knife from inside his coat.
And then—
without hesitation, he started slicing open the beast's chest.
"...Wait. Am I supposed to be worried right now?"
Heinz asked hesitantly.
The boy answered without even pausing his movements.
"It's fine."
"That sounds extremely unconvincing..."
After a bit, the boy pulled something out from inside the beast.
—A translucent crystal.
Heinz frowned.
"What's that?"
"A core."
"Huh?"
"It's the nucleus that stores mana inside magical beasts.
Some people use it for crafting, others... eat it."
"...Eat it!?"
"Yeah. But you shouldn't. It'll explode."
"EXPLODE!? WHAT!?"
Heinz barely managed not to yell.
This guy had definitely screwed up before...!
The boy, totally unconcerned, casually introduced himself.
"I'm Lancer.
Kind of a collector."
Half in disbelief, Heinz looked between the boy—Lancer—and the dead manticore lying next to him.
"...Seriously?"
Then, Lancer crouched down by the blood-soaked ground
and started carefully cutting off the crystal spikes on the tail one by one with his knife.
"...What are you doing?"
Heinz asked, just in case.
Lancer answered without even looking up.
"These sell for a good price."
"Huh... wait, why were you up in the tree in the first place?
Were you seriously planning to die fighting that thing?"
"I was waiting.
For it to die."
"...Way too optimistic, man."
Finally, Lancer looked up at Heinz.
Those golden eyes were calm to the point of being unreadable.
"But it died."
"...Yeah, well, true."
He couldn't argue with that.
Heinz took another closer look at Lancer.
Shoulder-length blue hair, shimmering slightly under the light.
And more than anything—
this boy wasn't flustered at all.
His eyes, his voice, everything about him felt oddly detached.
Like he was always seeing the world from a step away.
"...Are you always like this?"
Heinz muttered.
Lancer tilted his head slightly.
"I only talk when it's necessary."
"You don't seem like you're enjoying life, buddy."
Lancer thought about it for a moment, then quietly said:
"...Probably not."
Heinz let out a big sigh.