Deforestation: Not Solved?

As Owen remained silent, Kyle exhaled deeply and conjured a magic from both of his hands, letting a bluish light of magic spread widely in the air.

"Everyone step back. Just in case, please provide some assistance from behind."

Upon Kyle's voice, the knights and mages started to move back hesitantly, including Louis. 

Perhaps everyone sensed it instinctively.

That the persistent confrontation with the monsters happening now couldn't be resolved through normal means. And that there was a need for someone with overwhelming power to suppress the situation, because no matter how many monsters they killed, the new ones kept emerging.

As everyone retreated, Kyle remained at the forefront, with Owen a few steps away from him. Continuing to release magic into the air, Kyle, at the moment when the blue gaseous entities became very clear to the eye, flicked his finger.

Buzz-

With a short sound, the dense bluish gas instantly turned into a bright red blaze.

And the forest began to burn.

"Goodness..."

"What in the world..."

"Oh Holy Lord..."

Amidst the knights who had retreated as the entire vast forest was engulfed in red flames, various reactions like surprise and admiration could be heard. 

Yet, somehow, Kyle showed no reaction and only intensified the raging flames. As if this was all too familiar to him, he seemed indifferent to the current situation.

Owen then turned his gaze towards the knights and spoke.

"Since it's done, return to the barracks and protect the nobles there. Also please summon a high priest from the nearest church as fast as possible. Tell them that the saintess has awakened."

"Understood!"

After Owen took command of the situation, things began to gradually settle.

Most of the knights and mages, who had been so noisy, entered the headquarter, while the rest of them went to contact the nearest church.

Not long after that, the sound of hoofbeats was heard from a distance. The crown prince's entourage seemed to have returned to the headquarter.

"Your Highness Crown Prince."

Owen bowed to greet them. Which Richard then responded with a wave of his hand.

"No need to be so polite, Duke Verdin. You did a great job."

Originally, such leadership should have been carried out by the highest-ranking individual. 

Which is in this case was the Crown Prince, Richard.

But Owen found out that he couldn't bring himself to entrust Richard with all of this mess.

The situation was dangerous.

And Richard himself was still a young boy.

Very inexperienced and naive.

Owen lowered his head humbly and said.

"It was all thanks to Your Highness and all the knights and mages who helped me."

"No. It was because you handles and controlled the situation skillfully. I hope I could be as good as you in the future."

"...No, Your Highness. I believe you will be able to do a much better job than me."

Owen found himself struggled to speak those flattery, because usually, it would have been Count Caleb who responded to such words. Hence, he then turned his gaze towards Louis.

"Please escort His Highness the Crown Prince and his entourage back to the barracks."

"Ah, yes..."

Upon Owen's order, Louis hesitated for a moment, then bowed his head. 

"Your Highness and Count Caleb could follow Sir Edelt back to the barracks first. I will report back as soon as the situation resolves. "

Richard nodded without a word and returned to the barracks with Louis.

Only after everyone had left did Owen turn around.

"...Impressive."

And what he uttered was a voice of admiration.

It was inevitable.

Dark clouds were gathering over the blazing forest.

It seemed as once the forest turned completely into ash, the clouds were ready to pour rain to extinguish the flames.

"Actually, what you showed to me earlier in the abyss was more astonishing."

In response to Owen's admiring figure, Kyle replied sullenly. He felt a little bit disappointed because he couldn't see Owen's abilities for the second time.

"...."

While the forest was engulfed in flames, black smoke billowing into the sky. Kyle looked up to the sky and said.

"This should be enough to kill them all."

Then, he flicked his finger as he did when he lit the fire.

And suddenly, rain started pouring down from the dark clouds above.

Shh-

Owen who witnessed Kyle's ability realized a new about how Kyle was much stronger than what the novel depicted him to be.

He also noticed the similarities between the two of them.

A loner.

Kyle was raised in a common orphanage in West Region of the Empire. 

The west region of the Empire were famous for it's fertile land. That's why people in the western region of the Empire were generally farmers. They could not use swords nor magic. Therefore, imagine how people around Kyle would react to his ability to use magic.

Monster.

Demon.

Cursed kid. 

For those people who wasn't familiar with magic, Kyle is a cursed child.

That's why, Kyle, who had endured terrible looks and voices since childhood, chose to close himself off from human relationships. 

Even after he successfully joined the imperial knight and stood out with his exceptional skills, Kyle had been living alone without family, let alone friends, comrades, or acquaintances.

There was no such existence for him in the first place.

Perhaps that was why he easily fell for Bella's warm attitude when he first met her. And as Owen saw a resemblance between them, it might also explained why the original Owen was so desperate to possess Bella.

Then after some time has passed under the thick raindrops, Kyle stepped back and spoke.

"Seems like it's done, let's go. We need to report back."

"Okay."

***

After sorting out the situation, Owen and Kyle then entered the barrack where they held the meeting.

The two summarized the events, including the awakening of the saintess during the hunting competition, the impacts of the distortion in the forest, and about how they burned the entire forest to deal with the rampaging monsters.

The report was to be swiftly delivered to the palace by the end of the day, and the hunting competition would conclude upon the arrival of the high priest.

As they were about to adjourn the meeting, Count Caleb added as if he had forgotten something.

"Um, excuse me, Your Grace. Did you perhaps burn everything under the forest as well?"

At the sudden question, Kyle looked puzzled and replied.

"Hm? Is there any reason for that question?"

"There are monsters living underground. After the hunting competition, the monsters that come to the village are mainly those, so if they are still alive, they might be coming out from the ground."

In other words, there were monsters living deep underground and merely burning what was visible wouldn't solve everything.

The monsters residing underground would not be affected by the fire.

Realizing this fact, Owen urgently got up.

If that was true, Lucia might be in danger.

If there were still living monsters, they would likely head to where Bella was.

And Lucia would certainly be there with her.

Without explaining anything to those in the meeting room, Owen then rushed out of the meeting place towards where the tea party was being held, fearing for Lucia's safety.

There was no time to look around or ask for more details.

He had to confirm it immediately.

Whether she was safe.

Whether she was unharmed.

Because it couldn't be any other way.

His racing heart bore witness to his anxiety and fear.