I was a bit puzzled when I heard the Commander say he would go hunting for something with me.

No matter how much I looked around, there seemed to be only rocks here. Could there really be anything to hunt?

So I followed behind him and quietly asked:

“Are there animals to hunt even in these rocky mountains?”

“There’s prey everywhere. When I was young, I had experience climbing similar mountains like this, and even then I hunted directly to fill my stomach.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, at the time we were short on food and in trouble, but fortunately I was able to find just the right things to eat. For example, if you flip over rocks like this—”

The Commander suddenly flipped over a nearby rock as he was speaking.

A large lizard that had been curled up hiding in the crevice between rocks flailed in surprise.

The Commander quickly snatched up the unfortunate lizard and showed it to me.

“See, we’ve already found some fresh ingredients.”

Most noble ladies might be horrified at the idea of eating a freshly caught, still-warm lizard.

However, as a knight, I had crossed the boundary between life and death countless times, and had eaten all sorts of things to survive.

Thanks to that, instead of being shocked at the sight of the wriggling lizard, I was able to say:

“That one’s nicely plump.”

“Once we have Karl purify the toxins, we’ll be able to eat it right away.”

“Yes, if we find about 5 more, it should be enough for everyone to eat their fill.”

Afterwards, we diligently went around flipping rocks together.

Every time we flipped over large rocks where lizards might be hiding, we were able to find them.

As I put the fifth lizard into the sack, I gave a satisfied smile.

“There are many more than I expected. We could throw a lizard party.”

“Indeed. I didn’t expect to catch this many either.”

“It’s really amazing. I never would have thought of catching lizards. Did you often obtain food this way in the past?”

Hearing my question, the Commander sat down on a nearby rock and let out a heavy sigh.

“Yes. In the past, I didn’t have as solid a foundation as I do now. That meant I lacked all resources, including food. I didn’t receive enough support from the imperial family either.”

He was likely referring to the time just after the previous Emperor and Empress had passed away.

After the previous Emperor’s death, Ernant, who had been the Crown Prince, immediately ascended to the throne, and the Commander, who had been the Second Prince, left for the Rifts.

Contrary to everyone’s concerns, there was no struggle for the throne.

Because the Commander himself rejected the throne, choosing to leave to subjugate monsters.

It couldn’t be helped, as the Empire’s situation was so precarious at the time that they needed to gather every Awakened they could.

Therefore, the Commander willingly gave up the throne in order to fight for the Empire.

Probably until then, he had trusted Ernant.

Having given up the throne first, he likely believed Ernant would hide his ugly feelings of jealousy and provide sufficient support.

But Ernant did not do that.

While outwardly pretending to enthusiastically support the Silver Knights, what he actually sent the Commander was nothing but cold disregard and mockery.

As if recalling that time, the Commander continued in a subdued voice.

“When I first set out to conquer the Rifts at just 16 years old, I lacked everything. Items, food, people… So if I didn’t want to starve to death, I had to learn to eat whatever I could find, whether it was lizards or larvae.”

“I’m sorry. It seems I asked an unnecessary question.”

I apologized, thinking I had made him recall unpleasant memories, but he shook his head as if it was fine.

“No, there’s no need to apologize. I actually think it’s fortunate that Ernant drove me so harshly in the past.”

“Fortunate?”

“Yes. Thanks to going through such experiences, I learned how to survive on my own. I learned how to build my own foundation.”

The Commander stood up, tying the mouth of the sack tightly where several lizards were wriggling.

“There’s no point in resenting the sky for the bitter winter cold. It’s better to spend that time gathering firewood and stockpiling food while waiting for spring.”

“…I see.”

After answering like that, I tried to imagine the Commander at 16 years old.

He probably would have been clutching his hungry stomach, without even a piece of bread for a meal, while subjugating monsters.

Waiting for the peace of the Empire that would someday come, waiting for spring, that young knight must have endured and endured.

“Spring will come soon. Until then, I’ll fight alongside you, Commander.”

The Commander gave a faint smile at the words I blurted out with a sympathetic heart.

“Yes, it seems it will come soon. The wind has gotten gentler.”

I followed behind the Commander, clutching the sack of lizards tightly in my hand.

It was time to throw a lizard party while waiting for the coming spring.

Deep underground in the Imperial Palace.

A secret laboratory of alchemists.

Even more monsters than before were being synthesized and dissected repeatedly by the alchemists’ abilities, being researched.

As always, Ernant was watching the scene with a serious face when an imperial knight approached and informed him.

“The test subject is ready.”

“Bring him in.”

Following Ernant’s order, the knights soon dragged in a tightly bound man into the laboratory.

With his hands and feet tied and a sack over his face, the man shouted vigorously.

“Where is this!! Where have you brought me!!”

Ernant, who had been watching the struggling irritably, suddenly reached out his hand.

Then he swiftly removed the sack that had been covering the test subject’s head.

Finally able to see in front of him, the test subject gasped when he saw Ernant’s face.

“Your, Your Imperial Majesty?”

“Yes. You recognize me, condemned criminal.”

The condemned criminal shuddered at Ernant’s cold gaze.

Ernant continued to look down at the condemned criminal with an icy gaze as he asked.

“Do you know why you were brought here instead of being hanged on the gallows this morning as originally planned?”

“I, I don’t know. I’m not even sure where this place is…”

The condemned criminal looked around as he answered in a small voice.

Grotesque monsters were roaring in iron cages.

Nearby, alchemists dressed in pitch-black clothes were busily recording something.

The condemned criminal, sentenced to death for robbery, had no idea why he had been brought here or where this place was.

Ernant explained to the condemned criminal as if bestowing mercy.

“This is a laboratory. A laboratory for researching and experimenting with monster chimeras.”

“A laboratory?”

“Yes. I’m very interested in ways to efficiently utilize monsters. Do you know what we’ve started researching recently?”

“…I don’t know.”

As soon as he heard the condemned criminal’s answer, Ernant gestured to the alchemists standing behind him.

One of the alchemists brought Ernant a giant worm-shaped monster that had been stored in a water tank.

“This is it. The chimera we’re currently researching.”

“A, a worm…!!”

“It’s not just a simple worm. This is a chimera modified from a monster called a ‘parasitic monster’.”

Ernant continued his explanation while casually stroking the giant worm wriggling in his hand.

“Parasitic monsters, true to their name, parasitize the human body. Then they make the host human stronger and more violent. After absorbing enough nutrients from the host, they lay eggs inside the body to reproduce.”

“Aaagh!! Get it away!! No, please get it away, Your Imperial Majesty!”

“We are looking for ways to safely modify parasitic monsters. For example, if we could safely insert a modified monster into the body to gain strength, and furthermore awaken abilities… Wouldn’t that be quite wonderful?”

Ernant stroked the monster as if it were lovely.

“We’ve actually succeeded in that to some extent. Now all that’s left is to experiment on human bodies to see if it’s really safe. Now, do you understand why you were brought here?”

“Wait, wait, I’d rather be hanged…!”

The condemned criminal, realizing his fate as a test subject, resisted, but the knights standing nearby forcibly opened his mouth.

Ernant took the opportunity to insert the parasitic monster chimera he was holding into the condemned criminal’s open mouth.

The chimera shaped like a giant worm wriggled down the condemned criminal’s throat.

The condemned criminal, who had been struggling as if trying to vomit out the monster, suddenly went quiet.

“…Did it succeed?”

Just as Ernant muttered that while watching.

Dark red blood suddenly gushed from the condemned criminal’s mouth.

The condemned criminal, who had been shuddering while vomiting blood, soon collapsed on the floor and stopped moving.

“He’s dead.”

The alchemist who had checked the condemned criminal’s pulse immediately reported to Ernant.

“Tsk, a failure…”

After clicking his tongue like that, Ernant turned his gaze away from the corpse as if it were nothing.

He had no time or leisure to pay attention to the death of others.

Only this one question was arising in his mind.

Why?

It was already clearly established that parasitizing a body with a parasitic monster would grant strength and abilities.

He thought they just needed to prevent the monster from reproducing inside the body, but as soon as they solved that, another problem arose.

Just like the condemned criminal who just died, for some reason, everyone dies as soon as the modified monster is inserted.

As his head was throbbing, unable to figure out the cause at all, one of the alchemists approached and informed him.

“Your Majesty, I beg your pardon, but… we have run out of test subjects.”

“I’ll have more condemned criminals brought in soon. There are plenty of them around.”

“No, we have enough condemned criminals.”

The alchemist continued.

“What we’ve run out of is monsters. We’ve used up all the monsters. We need more monsters.”