I Mistook The Genre And Became A Tyrant

✦  Chapter 12 –  The One Called a Legend (1) ✦

「Translator – Creator」

After Somnia personally intervened to prohibit duels and conflicts, Avalam enjoyed relatively peaceful days. There were minor issues, but compared to Galakrod’s rampage, they were mere trifles.

Del and I parted ways briefly after the day of the duel, each attending to our own affairs. I appreciated the time to write a letter to my sister and send another to Dimensia at the imperial palace.

‘I wonder why Galakrod of the Ascension Knights came all the way to the North. And that false death technique shown by both Knights and Parthian concerns me. What’s really happening across this continent?’

It felt as though events unknown to me were unfolding throughout the empire while I had been suppressed by long, tedious boredom, neglecting to observe the political climate.

Flap— Flap—

“Has Dimensia’s reply arrived already?”

━Hoo, hoooo…!

“Dimensia’s delivery owl. Could you perhaps be a Hel by chance? I remember getting a Hel sticker that looked like you from Hel bread once. It’s been so long, I can’t quite recall.”

━Hoo, hoooo…!

Flap— Flap—

The contents of Secretary Dimensia’s letter were brief and concise:

「Your Majesty, we received intelligence that the House of Agareth is planning something suspicious in the North. We’ve dispatched several Ascension Knights, including Galakrod. If you happen to be traveling to the North, please be wary of Agareth’s schemes.」

“That Agareth, huh? I hope they can make things interesting for me.”

And so, the time passed, and the day of the hunting competition finally arrived.

I reunited with Del in front of the snow-capped Frost Reach mountain.

“Del! Oh?”

I waved reflexively but was a bit surprised. Del’s eyes were darkened, reminiscent of a panda bear.

At first, I thought he might have bruises, but they appeared to be severe dark circles.

“What happened to your face? Haven’t you slept?”

“I told you before. I suffer from insomnia and only sleep for an hour a week. I haven’t slept at all these past few days. Ah, don’t worry. This is normal for me.”

Del’s voice was gloomy and subdued.

I wondered if he’d be alright for the hunting competition in this state.

“Daniel, don’t worry. I won’t hold you back.”

Despite his appearance, Del’s fighting spirit was more intense than ever. Objectively speaking, Del and I might end up as rivals competing for victory.

I stretched my shoulders, considering whether I should get a bit serious too.

‘Two days should be enough to win the competition.’

Murmur, murmur.

I had been lost in thought for a while when the murmur of the crowd brought me back to my senses. Many people had gathered under the snowy Frost Reach as the hunting competition was about to begin.

“Del, speed is crucial in this hunting competition. The first to hunt the legendary Hel wins, so we need to move faster than others.”

I looked at the two hiking trails at the mountain’s entrance. One was for beginners, with endless gentle steps stretching upwards.

“They say those stairs are called the ‘Path of Tranquility.’ It’s less dangerous if you go that way, but it takes several days to get to the top of the mountain.”

The second trail was called the ‘Path of Challenge.‘ It was for intermediate climbers, with extremely steep stairs resembling a rock climbing course.

Del and I had used this path when descending the mountain earlier. It was so steep and treacherous that ordinary people wouldn’t dare attempt it.

“Del, we should take the Path of Challenge, right?”

“Huh? I…”

“Del, are you okay? You don’t look well.”

“I’m fine. I was just thinking for a moment. I was considering whether it might be better to take the third path. To climb faster than others, it seems wise to go where others don’t.”

The third path.

It wasn’t really a path but rather a “Demon’s Realm.”

It was a place where cliffs that repelled human footsteps were carved out, with a biting cold wind that seemed to cut into the flesh and icicles like swords that attacked climbers from time to time.

But this raised a question in my mind.

“Del, didn’t we agree not to even consider the advanced path? You said only two people in the world have ever conquered it.”

“That’s right. But there seem to be a lot of strong contestants. If I want to beat them and win the competition, I think I need to take a gamble too. Daniel, I’m not going to ask you to come with me.”

“Hmm…”

“They say that climbing the mountain through the third path was dangerous even for Imseti Paimon, the ancestor of House Paimon. I’ll have to be prepared to die.”

Someone who had been standing next to us with his arms crossed snorted derisively.

It was the elven swordsman, Anistia Barbatos.

“There was a time when Emperor Bael once scaled the ‘Demon’s Realm’ barehanded and backwards, single-handedly conquering Avalam. The North fell that day, never expecting an attack through such treacherous terrain.”

Shing—

Anistia unsheathed his sword, examining its blade. He added quietly, “What that emperor could do, I can do too. I, Anistia, descendant of the Elf King, will shatter the facade of the so-called ‘Demon’s Realm’ today. The ‘Legendary Hel’ will be mine.”

The elven swordsman Anistia seemed intent on climbing that sheer cliff backwards. Just as I was thinking how confident he must be in his abilities, a loud bang echoed—the sound of fireworks.

Taaaang—!

The hunting competition had begun.

“Woah!”

“Don’t push! Move aside! Out of the way!”

People who wanted to have everything of Paimon, one of the twelve Zodiac families of the empire, rushed towards the mountain in an instant, and Del also hit my shoulder and shouted, “Let’s go too!”

“Right.”

Pababat—!

The elven swordsman Anistia was the first to take the lead. He ran like an arrow cutting through the wind, and soon he was climbing the steep cliff as fast as if he was running on flat ground.

“Impressive. At this rate, he might really become the third person to conquer the Demon’s Realm.”

Just as I was expressing genuine admiration, Del, who had been running alongside me, stumbled and fell.

“…Huh?”

“Del, what’s wrong? Is it because you haven’t slept?”

It was obvious that in this state, Del would struggle to attempt the “Demon’s Realm course.” Of course, I could carry Del up the cliff, but scaling a course that’s challenging even alone while carrying someone would be tantamount to advertising my true identity to everyone.

The capable Somnia would likely interrogate me about my identity and immediately halt the competition or take similar measures. That would complicate the completion of my tutorial quest.

‘It’s advantageous to keep Del with me. He seems to know this mountain unusually well. What should I do?’

I thought about it for a while and made a decision.

“Del, let’s take the beginner’s course for now.”

⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆

“I’m sorry, Daniel. I’ve become a hindrance to you.”

Del seemed to be in much better shape as we walked up the beginner’s course. However, he seemed to be very upset that he thought things had gone wrong because of him.

“I hate my own weakness. Now I understand how Galakrod felt when he cried in frustration. To think my condition would worsen on such a crucial day…” Del bit his lip hard.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. The competition isn’t over yet, you know?”

“But at this rate, we’ll barely even catch a glimpse of the summit.”

We must have climbed several thousand steps by now.

Yet the mountain still towered into the sky as if it would touch the heavens.

Half of those who had started on the beginner’s course with us had already voluntarily dropped out. I found myself wondering where the elven swordsman Anistia, who had taken the Demon’s Realm course, might be now.

‘Somnia is nowhere to be seen either. They must all be high up by now.’

“We’ll be too late to reach the summit.”

Daladal—

Del’s hands and feet began to tremble, likely from the aftereffects of sleeplessness and anxiety. As I was considering whether to increase our pace, the man walking ahead of us suddenly stopped.

“You fellows seem to be under some misapprehension.”

It was the famous Hel hunter, Findman.

He was also the one who had given us two [Hel dumplings] earlier.

“This competition isn’t about who reaches the harsh summit first, but about who captures the rarest and most valuable Hel. Getting to the top first means nothing if you don’t catch a Hel.”

In response to the bearded hunter’s words, Del expressed his impatience, “But don’t Hels usually inhabit rugged, rarely-visited places? Isn’t the chance of encountering Hels higher at the mountain peak or on the Demon’s Realm course?”

“That’s precisely where you’re wrong. Hels living in rarely-visited, treacherous places? That’s a misconception. Hels exist everywhere. Let me show you proof. Pochita!”

━Woof! Woof!

At the cry of Hel hunter Findman, an animal emerged quickly digging through the snow. As everyone must have guessed from the barking sound just now, Pochita was a squirrel.

A dog-squirrel that barked like a dog, to be precise.

A dog-squirrel with black and white fur like a husky.

“This is my partner, Pochita. Dog-squirrels have excellent noses. We’ve been together for a long time and have caught many Hels. Pochita, have you found something?”

━Woof! Woof!

The husky-like dog-squirrel scampered ahead. As I watched him, I thought of the first Hel I had met a while ago while climbing the Demon’s Realm.

I had met Del while following that dog-squirrel.

“So that was you.”

The dog-squirrel I first met on the snow-capped mountain was actually Pochita, Findman’s Hel partner. As I was thinking about this curious connection, Del spoke up.

“…I’ve never seen a dog-squirrel before. It’s cute!”

Honestly, it was cute.

If such an animal had existed in the 21st century, everyone would have been clamoring to keep one as a pet. In fact, 「Hel World」was a game famous for its cute Hel designs.

━Woof! Woof!

“Looks like Pochita has found traces of a Hel! Come on, let’s go see!”

We quickly ascended the beginner’s stairs. However, no matter how far we climbed, the end of the staircase remained out of sight, and before we knew it, evening had fallen. If not for the brilliant light of the full moon, climbing the mountain would have been nearly impossible.

“The full moon is the moon of the hunt. Hels appear more frequently on nights like this.”

So the probability of Hel appearances increases during a full moon.

I should remember that.

As we continued to climb the stairs…

On the ice-carved steps, we discovered something that could only be described as an enormous scar or wound. It looked as if the stairs had been torn and ripped by massive claws.

“Look at this, everyone. What a terrifying scar. It’s fresh, too. I don’t know of any being that can leave such a strong scar on the mountain ice that is said to be as hard as blue stone.”

“The Legendary Hel!”

Del shouted with joy, his voice cracking with excitement.

His vigor seemed to have returned, as if his earlier suffering from insomnia had been a lie. In fact, as Del’s physical condition worsened, his spirit or fighting will—whatever you might call it—seemed to sharpen twofold. You could say his mana was being amplified.

Even I, typically insensitive to mana, could feel it.

“Are these really claw marks?”

While I was lost in thought for a moment, Findman looked around and then carefully opened his lips, as if about to share a long-held secret.

“For many years, I’ve continued to hunt Hels that are called legends. And once, long ago, I encountered the legendary Hel known as the 「Claw of Silence」 on this very snow-capped mountain.”

— End of Chapter —

⚘ ⚘ ⚘

Translator’s Notes :-

Don’t forget to RATE and REVIEW the Novel on NOVEL UPDATES