Chapter 35 – Part 1 Hunter – Minerva’s Reminiscence (1)

“…Given a series of evidence, the traitorous behavior of the Red Star Viscounts is clear. The Red Star Viscounts have dedicated themselves to the country for generations and have made many achievements, but the series of acts of mocking the King and betraying the country cannot be forgiven. This is a felony. Therefore, the title of Viscount Red Star is stripped and all property is confiscated…”

“… Viscount Vincent Redstar, executed. Viscount Reminoa Redstar, executed. Eldest son Romano Redstar, executed. Son-in-law Presis Redstar, executed. Eldest daughter, Melissa Redstar, 50 years of criminal slavery.”

“…The unmarried second daughter, Minerva Redstar, and third daughter, Milene Redstar, are released taking into account the fact that they are still young and have no evidence of involvement in a crime. If exposed, they will be subject to aggravated punishment. Also, the servants of the viscount who took part in the traitorous act of the viscount’s family…”

“…The execution of the Red Star family will be carried out in the square in District 3 after 10 days. Since the execution is based on acts of betrayal, the execution method is carried out by guillotine according to custom.”

The judge reads the verdict from a high place in the courtroom.
Deprivation, confiscation, death penalty, slavery, guillotine.
I was listening to the sentence as a criminal, but I could not understand its contents.

Father, mother, older brother and brother-in-law, four people were sentenced to death. And my sister was a criminal slave for 50 years.
Even when he looked at his family with confused eyes, everyone just lowered their heads and remained silent.

“Thank you for your generosity.”

When the judgment was over, my father bowed his head and greeted the judge.
In the courtroom, only the sobbing voices of Mother and Milene echoed.

*

A week ago, my sister Milene and I were arrested at the Royal School by fully armed soldiers. It was an impossible situation in a sacred campus.
I asked why, but no one told me. I just had to believe that there was some misunderstanding and that I would be freed soon.

I found out while being interrogated in solitary confinement. That our Red Star viscounts are suspected of selling the kingdom’s secrets to the neighboring country of Wilheim.
Wilheim is a neighbor, but it was a country that was never on good terms. From time immemorial, whenever there was a justification for each other, they were engaged in war. If the upper state, the Empire, hadn’t been monitoring it, one of the two countries would have already been destroyed.

To think we were handing over secrets to such a country… In return, when Wilheim annexed our kingdom, we agreed to retain our title as viscount. It was an impossible story.

Treason. My body trembled at the heavy guilt. I could only plead that I knew nothing, that my father or brother could not have done such a thing.

The days of praying that someone would help me, that I would only be found guilty.
It was only after 7 days that I was able to meet my family. Everyone in the family was wearing prison uniforms, with both arms tied.

And we ended up with this terrible verdict.

“Father…!”

Milene cried and clung to her father.

“I’m sorry, guys. But this is also the result of losing in politics. The result will not be overturned. You guys should find a way to survive somehow.”
“Minerva and Milene, it will be difficult, but from now on we will live together.”
“Father, Mother…!”

Despite being sentenced to death, my parents maintained aristocratic fortitude.

“Minerva. Take care of Milene.”
“Brother…”

“Minerva, Milene. Think that your sister is dead and forget about it. Don’t think about anything else. No matter how hard it is, just think about surviving somehow. As long as you’re alive, the truth will come out someday.”
“Sister Mel…”

She was our proud older sister who looked more confident and radiant than anyone else. Such an older sister must live her entire life as a slave to crime.

My family, except for Mylene and I, were put back in prison. There are only 10 days left until the execution date. But even for that short time we couldn’t be together.

In one day, everything collapsed. I’d rather I had been executed along with her family… But there was Milene next to me. As for Milene, I have to protect it somehow.

But, but how to…

“Minerva!”
“Emilio…”

As I left the courtroom holding her heavy heart, someone called me.
Emilio Rashat. The third son of Count Rathheart, who was my fiance just a few days ago.

Emilio is two years younger than me. Since her parents are close, she has been with them since she was young, and she naturally became her fiancé. The reason I became Emilio’s fiancé, rather than Milene, her age, was because he confessed that he liked me when deciding on her fiancé.

The person who told me that he loved me, who was not as cute as Milene or as feminine as Melissa. She had no doubt that when she graduated from school, she would start a family with him, but now that I am of the blood of a sinner, I am completely alien to him.

“Sorry. Minerva. If only I had a little more strength…”

Emilio clenched her fists in resentment.
I shook my head.

“No, it’s not something that kids like us can do…”

He is the second son, still young and not the heir to the count’s family. He didn’t think that the result would change just because he worked hard.

“I’d like to help you and Mylene, but… My father said no, so…”

Emilio brought up the story with difficulty. He had nailed it before I could even ask for help first.

I expected it, but it was sad. The Count was probably reluctant to be involved in treason. You can move on by saying that you didn’t know the relationship before, but it could be a problem if you help even if you know that you are from a traitor family.

But even so, I harbored the slightest hope that Emilio might help if I asked. That’s why my heart was even heavier when I heard his rejection. In the future, I really have to live without anyone’s help.

“…It’s okay. I can’t help it.”
“Yeah… But I came all the way here because I wanted to see your face one last time. This came out secretly, so it’s a big deal if anyone finds out.”
“Emilio…”
“I’ll definitely find it later. Please stay safe until then. Bye then.”

Emilio busily left her in a hurry, leaving only her greetings.

“…What kind of fiancé is that. Coward.”

Milene, her face red and swollen from crying so much, said calmly.
I couldn’t say anything.

*

Thrown into a world where there was nothing, Minerva and I had to earn money first. Without money, I couldn’t find food to eat today or a place to sleep at night.
As commoners, we couldn’t go to Districts 1 and 2, so we looked for jobs in District 3. However, there were plenty of people to work everywhere, and there was no place to find workers. Rather, I almost got scammed or almost kidnapped.

A full day of looking for a job without eating a single meal. Mylene, who was weak in her body, eventually gave up and abandoned it.
Do people become so helpless when they escape from the shadow of family and nobility? Milene and I had to spend the night trembling in one corner of a dark alley, hugging each other.

And as soon as the morning dawned, we headed to the Hunter Guild.
Hunter’s position in the country was delicate. To the common people, a hunter is considered a profession that can aim for a life reversal, but among the nobles, it was treated as a rather humble job. Even while devising all sorts of policies to make even one more commoner a Hunter.
Similarly, being a noble, I had no idea that I would become a Hunter. It was the answer that I finally came up with after thinking and thinking all night.

Earn money by hunting low-level monsters using equipment obtained from the first draw. Such a simple task.
However, it was very difficult for Milene and I, who grew up in a greenhouse. Unaccustomed to combat, we had to spend terrible days hurting and suffering every time.

There were people who suggested a party from time to time, but I didn’t know if they were really coming to help us or if they had other purposes, so we went on a quest together. Every day he had to earn pennies, spend the night in the shabby inn, and feed himself with the cheapest bread.

I survived 10 days like that, and it was the day of my family’s execution.

“Die, traitor!”
“Die! Die!”
“The stone I just threw hit me in the head!”
“Oh! Me too!”
“Kill! Kill!”

Milene and I came out to the plaza to see off our family, but we couldn’t stand watching the scene. People in a frenzy hurled curse words and threw stones at those being led to the scaffold, and our families, who were not even wearing decent clothes, had to walk through the plaza to the scaffold, bleeding all over their bodies.

I blindfolded Milene and brought her back to the inn. However, covering her eyes did not make it possible to ignore the cruel reality.

“Sister, why does our family have to suffer like that? We haven’t done anything wrong. We haven’t done anything wrong…!”

I didn’t have anything to say to soothe the sobbing Milene. He just hugs Millene and weeps together.

Next day. There were four heads in the square.

*

Ten days after that. To survive, the same quest was repeated every day.
Mylene stopped talking a lot and her smile stopped.
I wanted to give me strength somehow, but I couldn’t do anything because I was tired of the painful days.

In the meantime, I heard the story of some men talking in the guild.

The daughter of an aristocratic family who had been executed not long ago became a criminal slave.
She says that if you pay the Slave Bureau, she can rent the aristocratic lady for the night.
She’s a crime slave, so as long as she doesn’t die, she doesn’t care what she does.
She is now the plaything of a pervert nobleman and is being tortured every day.

Hearing this, I felt the blood draining from my body.
She thought that her older sister, who was forced to live as a criminal slave, was going through something terrible. However, there was a difference between just thinking about her and actually hearing it with my ears.

“Sister, Melissa’s sister…”

Millene was also listening to the same story with me.
I know what Milene wants to say. Because I’m thinking the same thing.

I want to save my sister. But how?

It was a question that could not be answered no matter how you thought about it. But she couldn’t do anything.

“Millene. Let’s take a higher level quest.”

It was a hasty decision, but it was also an inevitable one. Even if you catch the same monster now, your level won’t go up, and if you keep going like this, you can only see the future of repeating the same life for the rest of your life.

More than anything, I wanted to earn a little money and buy Melissa a day. I wanted to relieve Melissa’s suffering even for a day.

That’s how we received the quest to defeat the named goblins, the higher species of goblins. He thought that since he was the same goblin anyway, he would be able to do anything, even if it was a bit difficult.

But that thought went away.
Unlike the low-ranking monsters, which simply attacked people when they saw them, the higher-level monsters led their subordinates and prepared tactics to fight.
It was rather simple on our side. It was a simple strategy where I blocked the road in front and Milene shot arrows from behind. It worked for normal goblins, but it must have been an easy prey for named goblins.

While some goblins tied my feet, the named goblins ran towards Milene.

“Kyaaaaagh!”

Another goblin appears from behind the panicked Milene and crushes her Milene to the floor. The Named Goblin strikes Mylene’s head with her iron club as she lies on the ground and is unable to move.

“Sister!”
“Mylene!”

Milene’s eyes were terrified. But I couldn’t do anything.
Milene’s head explodes and her blood splatters. A clot of blood splattered and landed on my face.

“Ah…”

And soon, Mylene’s entire body turns to ashes and disperses in her air. Watching it, I collapsed on the spot.
In a situation surrounded by monsters, without any countermeasures.

Yes. Rather, let’s die like this.
Having laid everything down, I also threw away the weapon in my hand. A named goblin approaches me defenseless and wields an iron club.

So I died

But even if you die, this hell doesn’t end. Because when we became hunters, we threw away the blessing of death.

When I woke up in the temple, I looked for Millene, who would have been resurrected first.

“Ahhh…”

Milene, still in fear of her death, was confused. In one corner of her temple she trembled, hugging her own little body.

“Mylene.”
“Uh, sister, sister…”

Milene came to me staggering like a newborn fawn and hugged me.
Poor, pitiful, my very pitiful younger brother.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry for being a helpless sister…”

I cried for a long time as I held Millene in my arms.

*

The experience of her death left a deep scar on Milene. Even if she only entered the guild, her body would tremble and her breath would be short of breath.

In the end, she took a day off that day, but even the next day, Milene showed no signs of getting better.
I wanted to give her a little more rest, but she had very little money left on her hands. Now we are driven to a situation where we might really starve to death.

The next day, I forcibly dragged Milene, who had been fussing about not wanting to go, and went hunting for her. She has to overcome Mylene too. Otherwise we…

Maybe today will be my last day working as a Hunter.
Now all I have left is the body my mother gave me. Chang-gwan in District 3 is cheap, but I heard that they hire you without asking for your identity. The problem is how to bargain and get a little more value.

At the hunting ground we left with such determination, we unfortunately ran into the Named Goblin again. The difference from the last time is that we didn’t find the named goblins, but the goblins came looking for us.

“Hey…”

In a panic, Milene tries to run away, but the goblins were also behind her. Before we knew it, we were besieged by goblins.

“Kiik!”

It was clear that we couldn’t win. But the goblins didn’t attack right away like last time. They deliberately attacked one by one, cutting our lives bit by bit. Like a cat playing with a mouse alive.

When we are tired of despair like that, we meet a man.