CH 48

Meanwhile, Iris, who went to the terrace, could see a giant pigling that was nearly 30 meters tall.

The pigling had a pure white pink skin with large brown spots. It was tied with a purple ribbon around its neck and four legs, rendering it immobile.

Between the ribbon around the pigling’s neck, Iris noticed a letter tucked in.

Using her silver aura, Iris retrieved the letter and read it.

“Birthday present. It’s a shame I can’t see your surprised expression. Hestia.”

Iris raised her head and looked at the pigling again.

“It’s definitely an astonishing size. Normal piglings are not this big.”

On average, a pigling’s size is about 1.5 times larger than a regular pig, roughly the size of a human.

However, the pigling in front of her now was approaching 30 meters in height, making it an astonishing size.

“If we were to slaughter it, how much meat would we get? A thousand pounds? Even if all three knight divisions gathered for a month of daily meat parties, there would still be leftovers.”

The pigling sniffled, seemingly unaware of how eerie the words of its guardian in front of it were.

Iris pondered about what to do with the pigling and turned back toward the banquet hall. Everyone’s attention was focused on the pigling.

“Is there anyone here willing to try subduing that pigling? Excluding the knights, anyone without magical powers can give it a shot.”

One of the guests near the terrace trembled and asked hesitantly, pointing at the pigling, “That pigling…?”

“Don’t worry. If it seems dangerous, I’ll rescue you right away. But if you manage to subdue it without my help, I’ll consider your candidacy for the knights.”

Some people were hesitating, their lips trembling, seemingly wanting to take on the challenge, but when it came time to actually subdue the pigling, its enormous size made them lose their courage.

Even if its legs were bound by ribbons, rendering it immobile, the fact that it was a monster, a pigling, remained.

No one dared to step forward, and the same went for Virta, who was eager to become a knight.

“How can we kill that giant…?”

“If we try without success, it will be embarrassing.”

Amidst everyone’s hesitation, there was one person who confidently raised their hand.

“I will do it! I’ll try to subdue it!”

It was May. As May spoke loudly, she captured the attention of everyone in the banquet hall.

“Okay, shall we let May give it a try?”

“Yes!”

Just as May was about to move toward Iris, Floa grabbed her shoulder.

“May, are you really considering doing this?”

“But it’s a monster, right?”

May confidently replied, “Yes, I will definitely subdue it.”

At that moment, Clovin greeted Jed with a nod.

“Master, have you arrived?”

Zed nodded and went to Diego’s side.

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

“You’re late. You should give Iris a gift.”

“It has already been sent by our family.”

“Fast, aren’t they?”

While holding a champagne glass, Diego glanced at someone.

“Do you know who that child is?”

The person Diego pointed at was a boy who raised his hand and walked toward the terrace. To be more precise, it wasn’t a boy but a girl.

“He must be the successor to the Flotina Ducal House.”

“Right, Flotina’s successor. Doesn’t he look interesting?”

“…What do you mean?”

“That being favored by the guardian deity.”

Galley informed Jed that May had a strong bond with the guardian deity and revealed that they would select a minor as a knight this year. May was still a minor herself.

Diego spoke.

“Flotina doesn’t need to become a guardian knight just because of his family’s power.”

“…Is that so.”

Jed knew that it was not a good thing for Diego to take an interest in someone. Diego’s interest in people was like being interested in toys.

Of course, it had nothing to do with Jed  himself.

“After this incident, there will be rumors that the successor of the Flotina family cannot use the family’s power.”

Clovin agreed, sneering.

“Because May Flotina is nothing like Persis Flotina, such rumors will circulate.”

It was evident to anyone that May Flotina was nothing like Persis Flotina.

“Not only that, but the answer is clear when you see how she tries to impress the leaders to that extent.”

May Flotina tries to become a guardian knight because he is not the biological son of the Flotina family and cannot use their power. That’s the answer.

“How amusing.”

Diego chuckled and raised the corner of his mouth on the right while looking at the small stature of the Flotina family’s successor.

Jed didn’t say anything in response.

* * *

When Floa relieved me, I walked towards the terrace where Iris was standing. Everyone was focused on me, but I wasn’t trembling.

I had to appeal that I should become a guardian knight this year by defeating the giant Pigling.

“The ring floating above its tailbone is the Pigling’s heart. Break the ring.”

“If it’s dangerous, we’ll save you.”

“Yes.”

Leaving Iris and Cassius behind, I leaped off the terrace railing and landed on the ground. Since the banquet hall was on the first floor, the landing was easy.

“Wow… It’s really huge…”

As I looked up for a long time, I could sense the size of the Pigling. It was an obvious fact that seeing it up close was much bigger than looking at it through the window from inside the banquet hall. It seemed like I would die instantly if I stepped on it.

But the Pigling was a monster that even ordinary people could defeat. So I wasn’t afraid.

Just in case, if the ribbon holding it were to come loose and the Pigling started moving, I quickly ran towards the back of the Pigling with the intention of knocking it down.

As I went around to the back, I saw the ring. The ring was slightly larger than a hula hoop.

Do I just need to break this?

The location of the heart varies for each monster. Some monsters have their hearts in the upper body, like humans, but there are also monsters with hearts in unusual places, such as the head, arms, or legs.

The Pigling’s heart is the ring hanging above its buttocks, near its tailbone.

It’s simple.

I drew the sword I had strapped to my waist and aimed it at the ring. Thanks to the sword training I received from Floa my posture was steady.

Before I knew it, all the guests were now watching my Pigling hunt.

Among them, Virta  jeered as if I had no luck.

“Look at his posing, trying so hard to look good. Pathetic.”

“It would be laughable if he can’t break it with that pose.”

Galley laughed, as if hoping for my humiliation. It was a pitiful sight to anyone.

Without delay, I swung the sword held tightly in both hands from top to bottom.

Clang, crunch― 

Then, the ring split in half and at the same time, hidden purple energy flowed out.

“Uh…?”

Boom―!

An explosion occurred in an instant.

On the ring, right in front of me.

“Baby!!!”

“May!!!”

“Master May!!!”

Everyone was astonished by the unexpected explosion. Black smoke rose from the spot of the explosion.

Due to the smoke, everything was obscured, and it became pitch black in front of me.

“Are you okay…!”

Floa teleported to me in an instant. Iris and Cassius did the same.

“Baby, are you okay? What should we do…?”

“Say something, May…!”

Their widened eyes and trembling lips showed just how surprised they were.

“I’m… fine.”

Fortunately, I had flattened myself on the ground at the moment of the explosion, so I wasn’t hurt.

The smoke dissipated. After confirming with my own eyes that I wasn’t injured, they breathed a sigh of relief. Flora even hugged me tightly.

“That was a close call. You were so startled… It’s a relief that you’re not hurt.”

“I’m glad, Baby.”

Iris, while relieved, seemed puzzled and ran her fingers through her hair as if in an awkward situation.

“Hestia… So you wanted to see my surprised expression and that’s why you did this?”

[Birthday present. It’s a shame I couldn’t see your surprised expression. Hestia.]

Hestia’s voice sounded rough as if she was angry at herself for not expecting the dangerous situation she caused.

She sincerely apologized to me.

“May, I’m sorry. I should have checked if everything was alright first… I didn’t expect Hestia to cause such a dangerous incident.”

“I’m okay. As you can see, I’m not hurt, right?”

“But still, I’m sorry…”

As I stepped out of Floa’s embrace, this time Iris hugged me. Her embrace was warm.

Cassius levitated in the air to check if there were any other places with explosive magic. He carefully examined the ring, but there were no other places with magic.

He landed on the ground and picked up a stone.

“Magic is only here.”

Cassius threw the stone at the ring, and this time the explosion was smaller, occurring about 5 seconds later.

“Surprise…!”

Startled by the sound of the explosion, Iris let go of me and turned her body towards Cassius.

She gave him a look as if to say, “Why did you make it explode again so dangerously? What if May gets hurt?”

“Sorry, I was trying to confirm if the explosions were one-time occurrences.”

And as he said, the explosions were not one-time occurrences. Every time an impact was applied to the ring, an explosion occurred.

Huh…?

At that moment, I noticed something.

Just now… Didn’t the explosion happen a little later? When I applied the impact to the ring, the explosion occurred immediately, but…

Cassius threw another stone at the ring. This time the explosion occurred 7 seconds later.

Cassius expressed his annoyance.

“Explosions keep happening. It seems impossible for an ordinary person to bring down the pig ring like this.”

However, without hesitation, I grabbed my sword and leaped onto the ring.

“There’s a gap until the next explosion!”

By utilizing that gap, I can break the ring without getting hurt and bring down the pig ring!

“What are you doing right now…!”

“Baby!!!”

“May, it’s dangerous!!!”

Seeing this, Floa, Iris, and Cassius were greatly surprised and tried to hold me back, but it was in vain.

Because I had already reached the ring.