「くっくっく。思いのほか上手くいったものだな」
馬に乗り道を進みながらドゲウは笑みを浮かべていた。
「それにしても、ちょっとあいつに恥をかかせようと思っただけなのに、まさかイルクーツの王女までついてくるとは思いませんでしたね」
「その上馬鹿な賭けにまで乗ってきたからな。あの生意気な顔が歪むのを見るのが楽しみだ」
ドゲウはいやらしい笑みを浮かべると取り巻きたちに笑うように合図をする。
元々今回の狩猟祭りは複数の王国によって仕組まれていた。
英雄であるエルトをよく思わない人間は多く、その内の一部がエルトに恥を掻かせるために行動をした。
「邪神の討伐だって本当のところはどうだか? 神殿が御輿に担ぎ上げているだけだろ」
「まったくです。みたところ、全然強そうじゃないですからね。恐らくたまたま邪神が寿命で死ぬところにいたんでしょう」
真実のオーブによる審議があったとはいえ、それを信じない人間もいる。神殿が民衆を制御するためにエルトを担ぎ上げていると考えている。
「とにかく、この狩りであいつの化けの皮を剥いでやるからな。そのためにこうして宝弓を持ちだしたんだから」
ドゲウは自身の手にある美しい弓をうっとりと見た。風の精霊の加護を受けた弓は矢を放てば風の精霊が威力を上げ、向かう方向を制御して獲物へと突き刺さる。
これまで何度か狩りに出た際に使ってみたが、その百発百中の精度に感嘆したものだ。
「あとは獲物さえ見つかれば......」
ドゲウが早く弓を試したくてうずうずしていると、
「ドゲウ王子。獲物を見つけました」
従者の一人が戻ってきてある方向を指差した。
取り巻き立ちは口をつぐみ、ドゲウはその方向へと目を凝らす。
すると、数百メートル先に中型のモンスターがいた。
「ビッグボアか。良く見つけた」
直線上には木や葉が生い茂っている。その隙間からビッグボアが時々見える程度なので、通常ならば簡単に仕留めることはできない。
ドゲウは矢を番えて引き絞ると狙いをつけて放った。
「お見事っ!」
矢はまるで草木を避けるように飛び、加速したかと思うとビッグボアへと突き刺さった。
「このぐらい造作もないさ」
取り巻き立ちにおだてられ、ドゲウは満更でもない表情を浮かべる。
「獲物さえいれば数百メートル内はすべて射程内だ。この調子でどんどん見つけてきてくれよ」
弓を握りしめるとドゲウは従者に指示を出すのだった。
「なんで勝負を受けたんだよ?」
あれからルールをいくつか決めた。
狩猟祭にはドゲウだけではなく、各国の歳が近い王族貴族も参加している。
ドゲウは取り巻きの数人と一緒に狩りをするらしく、狩った獲物はそれぞれのチームで共有すると宣言した。
そもそも、こういった狩りは仲間内で役割分担をしてやるものらしく、索敵や追立役などがいた方が断然やりやすいらしい。狩猟祭ではチームで動くのが基本だとか。
対して俺の方は俺とローラだけ。数の面でも不利となっているので思わず溜息が出た。
「本人が了承しているので良いのでは?」
俺の抗議にたいしてローラは首を傾げる。了承も何もこの場にアリスはいないのだ。
「それに負けなければいいだけかと」
後でアリスに謝ろうと考えているとローラが繋げて発言する。
「何か策があると?」
俺の問いにローラは首を縦に振る。
彼女は手に持っている杖を突き出すと言った。
「狩猟の際最も重要なのは獲物を発見できるかどうかです。私は【サーチ】の魔法を使えるので、森にいる獲物の場所を割り出すのは造作もありません」
どうりであっさりと勝負を受けるわけだ。自分の魔法にそれだけ自信があるのだろう。
「とにかく、一度やってみるか」
俺はそう言うと弓を担いで森へと入っていくのだった。
「そちらに野兎がいますね」
ローラが杖を向けた先の草が揺れる。
草の隙間から白い何かが存在しているのが解った。
俺は背中の筒から矢を取り出すと、弓に番えて引き絞る。
市販の弓は頼りなく、俺の力を受けて形を変える。
俺は狙いを定めると、視界にチラつく野兎に向けて矢を放った。
――ヒュッ――
風切り音とともに矢が進む。目標の野兎は数十メートル先にいるのだが、
――ガサササササッ――
「外れましたね」
俺の放った矢は野兎の横を掠めて奥へと飛んでいった。
その際、狙われていると気付いた野兎は草むらに身をひそめると逃げ出した。
「まあいいです。次の獲物を探します」
獲物を仕留められなかったせいか、ローラは一度溜息を吐くと森の奥を見た。
何か気になるのか森をじっと見ていたローラだったが、やがて杖を掲げて魔法を使い始めた。
目を閉じて魔法を展開する。サーチの魔法を使っているので、近隣にいる生物はすべて彼女に捕捉されている。
獲物を探す時間が極力まで抑えられているので、これならば数をこなすことができるだろう。
「問題は俺の方か」
市販の弓を見る。
ちょっと力を入れて引いただけで引っ張られてくる感覚がある。これでは力を入れたら壊れてしまいそうで頼りない。
いくら獲物を見つけられるとはいえ、狩ることができなければ勝負に負けてしまう。俺が悩んでいると......。
「この矢を放ったのはどいつだっ!!!」
森の奥から一人の男が姿を現した。
"Kukuku. That went better than I expected."
Dogeu smiled as he rode his horse down the road.
"I was just trying to humiliate him, but I didn't expect to be able to get the Ilkut's Princess."
"Besides, he has taken a fool's bet. I can't wait to see his cocky face contort."
Dogeu smiled disgustingly and motioned for his cronies to laugh.
Originally, this hunting festival was set up by several kingdoms.
There are many people who do not like the hero Elt, and some of them acted to humiliate him.
"Did you really think he defeated the Evil God? Isn't it just something that the temple made up?"
"Not at all. He doesn't look very strong at all. Perhaps he just happened to be in the place where the Evil God died of age."
Even though there has been deliberation by the Orb of Truth, some people do not believe it. They believe that the Temple is using Elt to control the people.
"Anyway, I'm going to beat him with this hunt. That's why I brought out my treasure bow."
Dogeu looked at the beautiful bow in his hand with fascination. The bow was blessed by the spirit of the wind, and when the arrow was released, the spirit of the wind increased its power and controlled the direction in which it went to pierce the prey.
I have used it on several hunting trips and have been amazed at its accuracy.
"All we need now is to find our prey..."
Dogeu was itching to try out the bow as soon as possible.
"Prince Dogeu. We have found our prey."
One of his followers came back and pointed in a certain direction.
His cronies kept their mouths shut, and Dogeu looked in that direction.
Then, a few hundred meters away, he saw a medium-sized monster.
"Big Boa. Good find."
There were trees and leaves growing along the straight line, and since the Big Boa could only occasionally be seen through the gaps, it was usually not easy to kill it.
Dogeu guarded the arrow and squeezed it, then aimed and released it.
"Brilliant!"
The arrow flew as if it were dodging plants and trees, and as soon as it accelerated, it plunged into the big boar.
"It's no problem."
Flattered by his cronies, Dogeu looked pleased with himself.
"As long as there's prey, I can kill everything within a few hundred meters that is in range. Keep finding them at this rate."
Clenching his bow, Dogeu gave instructions to his followers.
"Why did you accept the match?"
Since then, I've set some rules.
The hunting festival is attended not only by Dogeu, but also by royalty and nobility close in age to each country.
Dogeu seemed to be hunting with a few of his cronies and declared that each team would share the prey they hunted.
In the first palace, this kind of hunting is supposed to be done by dividing the roles among friends, and it is much easier to do it if there is someone to look out for the enemy and track them down. I heard that at hunting festivals, you basically have to work as a team.
On the other hand, it was just me and Laura. It's also a disadvantage in terms of numbers, so I let out a sigh.
"I think it's fine since he's agreed to it?"
Laura nodded her head in response to my protest. I don't know whether to agree or not, since Alice is not here,
"I guess we just need to not let it get the best of us."
I'm thinking about apologizing to Alice later, and Laura makes the connection.
"Do you have a plan?"
Laura shakes her head at my question.
She said as she held out the cane in her hand.
"The most important thing when hunting is to be able to find your prey. I can use Search magic, so it's not a problem for me to locate prey in the forest."
No wonder she accepted the challenge so easily. She must be that confident in her own magic.
"Anyway, let's give it a try."
I said, and carried my bow into the forest.
"There's a rabbit over there."
The grass swayed where Laura had pointed her staff.
I could see that something white was through the grass.
I took out an arrow from the tube on my back, placed it in my bow and pulled it out.
The commercially available bow is unreliable and changes shape as it receives my power.
I take aim and shoot the arrow at the wild rabbit that flickers in my vision.
-Whoosh-
The arrow moves forward with the sound. My target, a wild rabbit, is only a few dozen meters away.
-Gasasasassaa-
"You missed."
The arrow I shot snatched the rabbit's side and flew to the back.
At that moment, the wild rabbit, realizing that it was being targeted, cowered in the grass and ran away.
"It's okay. I'll look for the next one."
Perhaps because I hadn't been able to kill the prey, Laura let out a sigh and looked deep into the forest.
She was staring at the forest as if something was bothering her, but then she raised her wand and began to use magic.
She closed her eyes and let the magic unfold. Since she is using search magic, all creatures in the vicinity are captured by her.
The time spent searching for prey is reduced to a minimum, so this will allow her to find a few more.
"I guess the problem is me."
I looked at the commercial bow.
There is a sensation of being pulled just by putting a little effort. This makes it unreliable and likely to break if I put too much force on it.
No matter how well you can find your prey, if you can't hunt it, you lose the game. If I'm struggling.......
"Who fired this arrow!!"
A man emerged from the depths of the forest.
I, the Sacrifice, Somehow Killed the Evil God (WN)
【書籍化】生贄になった俺が、なぜか邪神を滅ぼしてしまった件【コミカライズ】
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/i-the-sacrifice-somehow-killed-the-evil-god/
Action Adventure Fantasy Harem Romance Shounen
Adapted to Manga Charming Protagonist Childhood Friends Dense Protagonist Depictions of Cruelty Different Social Status Dragons Elves Evil Gods Eye Powers Fantasy Creatures Fantasy World Fast Learner Game Elements Gods Hard-Working Protagonist Hated Protagonist Healers Kind Love Interests Lack of Common Sense Level System Love Interest Falls in Love First Lucky Protagonist Magic Magic Formations Male Protagonist Monsters Multiple POV Nobles Overpowered Protagonist Polygamy Popular Love Interests R-15 Royalty Spirit Users Spirits Strong Love Interests Strong to Stronger Sudden Strength Gain Sword And Magic Sword Wielder Underestimated Protagonist Unique Weapon User Unique Weapons Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7677gq/
まるせい