Deforestation: No One as Important as Her

As Owen joined the knights, the situation quickly began to calm down. The monsters that rushed viciously enough to devour the knights fell easily under his sword.

While he was in the midst of a fierce battle with the monsters, Kyle and his party who had been inside the forest, returned. They immediately joined the knights and continued the battle against the monsters.

"Owen. It seems like this phenomenon won't calm down unless we address the cause."

In the midst of the battle, Kyle approached Owen and spoke.

"Cause?"

"Yeah. I roughly dealt with it inside. I tried to read the flow of magic of those monsters, and weirdly it was all directed towards a certain direction."

"...The headquarter?"

"Yes. The place right where the person who claimed to have awakened her power was standing."

In other words, unless Bella controls her power, the monsters will keep flocking to wherever she was.

Upon this, Owen slowly exhaled.

"The saintess either needs to figure out how to control the her power or we need to call for a high priest. Otherwise, the monsters will keep popping out this way until all the forest monsters are dead."

Listening to Kyle's explanation, Owen furrowed his brow.

It was a dilemma.

There were limits to their stamina to confront all of the monsters. So realistically, it was an impossible task. The only option left was for Bella to control her power herself or they need to call for a high priest as soon as possible.

In the original work, Bella realized how to control her power while facing the monsters . She discovered the method on her own. But for some reason, the original work had already begun to deteriorate, and today was not the day originally scheduled for her awakening.

Regardless of the reason for awakening, there was no guarantee that she would discover the control method today.

"How long would it take for a high priest to arrive if we request one from the nearest church?"

"Well... at least a day?"

"...Seemed so."

At Kyle's answer indicating it would take a full day, Owen spoke slowly.

This meant they would have to wait imprudently to find a solution.

It was not a realistically good solution.

"Well, there is one other way."

While Owen was racking his brain to come up with a solution, Kyle, slashed his sword to a nearby monster and spoke.

"You could just swallow the entire forest with that tremendous ability of yours."

"The entire forest...?"

Owen asked, seeming to not grasp the reality of Kyle's words.

"Yeah."

Whether aware of Owen's baffled state or not, Kyle remained casual. He nodded for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders.

"I saw earlier that you could control it to some extent. If you make up your mind and unleash all your power, wouldn't it be entirely possible?"

Owen found Kyle's simple remark somewhat irritating. He narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke, "If that's the case, then you could do it just as well."

Not being the real 'Owen,' he honestly wasn't sure.

He was able to use his power thanks to the memory that suddenly resurfaced earlier.

But to use his power beyond what was in his memory...

Well, that was hard to guarantee.

Maybe 'Owen's' memory might resurface again.

But at this moment, it didn't seem like he could muster enough aura to swallow the entire forest.

"Well..."

Kyle's was left speechless by Owen's remark. After pondering hard for excuses, Kyle eventually bit his tongue, unable to find a suitable reason.

To Owen, it seemed like Kyle wanted to see his maximum power somehow. The reason was unknown, but it seemed Kyle had found something intriguing in a long time.

Seeing Kyle's regretful expression, Owen raised an eyebrow in bewilderment before turning his gaze straight ahead.

Thud-

At that moment, he swiftly pierced the heart of the charging monster. The swirling black aura enveloped the massive monster's body, bringing it down to the land.

"See. It's not that difficult for you, the esteemed Duke Verdin. You could probably do it in one go, right?"

With a tinge of regret in his heart, Kyle raised a large flame above his hand, then spoke softly. Owen let out a sigh and spoke, "Why are you that interested in me and my power?"

Having hoped to get along well since meeting the sub-male lead. It was quite strange how Kyle suddenly became fixated on his power at some point, constantly asking to see it and clinging to him.

'He should be clinging to the female lead instead of me.'

No matter how you look at it, even if it's before the original story started.

If the female lead Bella appeared, one should naturally shift their attention to her.

But now...

As a sub male lead, there was no clear reason why he was attracted to Owen instead of Bella.

'Among many things, why would he be interested in my abilities?'

It gave Owen a big headache because it wasn't something he could easily handle and control.

"Because it was interesting?"

As if Kyle found Owen's question absurd, Kyle responded as if it was obvious. With a shameless face and a twisted expression in his eyes, he seemed determined to bring out Owen's abilities no matter what.

Owen inwardly sighed deeply.

'...Should I just get rid of him?'

He thought it would be nice to have a friend, but the guy turned out to be not quite normal.

He thought the tension between Kyle and him was just due to fighting over Bella, but now it seemed like their tastes were a bit different.

Maybe Kyle was just deeply into sword and magic?

But maybe he just liked strong guys?

Did he like Bella because of that too?

Since Bella was a very capable character, maybe that's why, Owen thought.

But.

In the original, they said Kyle fell in love 'at first sight' so...

Was it because of appearance, then?

Somehow the sudden thought gave him goosebumps.

'Ah! Let's stop thinking nonsense and think of a reasonable solution.'

Owen, who was lost in thought for a moment, finally organized his thoughts. If he didn't cut it off decisively, Kyle seemed like he would continue questioning and coaxing to get Owen to use his abilities just like what he did back in the depths of the forest.

"Well. But my suggestion is not unreasonable, right? Honestly, in the current situation, it seems like the most ideal solution."

When Owen was pondering, Kyle countered.

"A way to kill all the monsters in the forest in a short time. Eradicating the forest is the only solution."

This time, the words that came out of his mouth were undeniable.

Calling for reinforcements from the church would take a whole day, and by then, the knights would have already fallen, whether it was Owen or Kyle.

If one of them were to eradicate the forest, the monsters would die along with it, making it the most realistic and ideal solution for now.

Owen furrowed his brows and said, "But then the people of the territory would suffer in the winter."

The reason why Kyle and Owen left the northern forest intact, despite having the power to do so, was because the forest was necessary. The forest played a role in blocking some of the fierce winds that hit the villages in the north border.

That's why Owen and Kyle used a cruel ability to take away all life only in the depths of the forest. In other regions, they painstakingly killed each monster, one by one, to protect the trees.

To think of destroying the entire forest...

If all the trees in the forest were to die, this winter would have been extremely difficult. Concerned about this point, when Owen brought it up.

Kyle tilted his head slightly.

"But we can't just let people get hurt by the monsters."

At Kyle's words, Owen couldn't help but agree.

If they couldn't stop the monsters, it would be the nobles in the headquarter who would get hurt. And since Bella was there, it was clear that the monsters would first attack the headquarter.

If that happened, Lucia would be in danger.

Regardless of anything else, they couldn't let that happen.

"Hm... After destroying the forest, what if we pour out magic stones as many as we could, wouldn't that solve it?"

Seeing Owen deeply immersed in thought, Kyle, as he threw a slash at the monster rushing towards them, spoke.

"If we throw a large quantity of magic stones, the recovery process of the forest might speed up a bit. It will still take quite some time though. But with the crown prince in the group, the royal family will probably support us. They should take care of the aftermath as a reward for saving lives, right?"

Kyle's argument was very convincing since the current emperor really cherished his son, Crown Prince Richard.

"Moreover, it seems that the emperor sent his beloved son here to empower him."

Furthermore, this year, the prince participated in this dangerous hunting competition to gain popularity. If they sent the prince, whom they had cherished so much, to a dangerous place, they wouldn't just let the public opinion they had worked so hard to gain to slip away.

If the forest disappeared, those inside the palace would surely hear the complaints of the empire's people living in the north. And before they start complaining, those royalties must find a solution somehow.

"Yes, that's true."

Owen finally nodded at Kyle's explanation.

To him, actually, it didn't matter.

Whether it was about the harsh 'winter' of the territories, the health of the people, or the situation in the north.

They all weren't as important as Lucia.

For him, Lucia was the top priority.

There was no one more important to Owen than Lucia.

Even if the people of the territories had to struggle in winter, he would rather choose Lucia's safety.

It was a selfish thought, but it couldn't be helped.