Two days later, dawn found most people in the Black Lion castle getting busy.

Monster hunting was just an annual task, not much of a special event at all. However, this hunt was rather different from the previous ones. Not only were there people participating who were not members of the Black Lion Knights, but there were even two young lions who hadn’t even had their Coming-Of-Age ceremony.

“The Council of Elders will stay at the Red Boulder.” 

Genos visited Eugene before the crack of dawn to tell him about the hunt.

“It is unprecedented for the Council of the Elders to leave the castle during demonic beast hunting. The Council of Elders has never been involved in the hunt, at least, not after I joined the Black Lion Knights.” 

“But they are not going to run around and hunt demonic beasts themselves, right?”

“You are right.” Genos nodded and pointed to a map he had brought.

“Unlike last year’s hunt, this hunt also serves as a test for the young Lionhearts.”

The Uklas Mountains were vast, but demonic beast habitats throughout the mountain range were thoroughly restricted. This was only natural; just as Ciel had said, demonic beasts were not like average monsters at all.

The origin of monsters had been explained by wizards long ago, but it was still a regular topic of conversation.

Monsters were originally normal animals that were affected by mana and ended up mutating. It wasn’t difficult to figure out which monster was related to which animal. In other words, a pet dog, a wild wolf, and a Monsterwolf weren’t so different in nature.

It also applied to human-type monsters—orcs, goblins, ogres, and trolls. Although countries like the Holy Empire would never admit it, the Magic Society of Aroth claimed that humans and human-type monsters had the same ancestors.

Still, the Magic Society only consisted of a few thousands...