The Extra Prince Sets Out To Conquer The World

I thought he might not come today since the clearing was empty, but fortunately he came.

Vermilion Wayben’s appearance was quite similar to the illustrations.

It was fair to say he looked exactly the same, except slightly younger and paler than the illustrations.

Calculating from Vermilion’s first appearance, his current age was roughly in his late teens.

Since not even 10 years had passed, it was only natural he hadn’t changed much.

Vermilion looked at us with a troubled expression and scratched the back of his head, but then showed interest upon seeing the sword Gilbert was holding.

“You guys, I’ve never seen you in this city before. Did you come from elsewhere?”

At Vermilion’s question, I got up from my spot and dusted off my bottom.

“That’s right. Judging from what you said, you must be a native of this area?”

He asked while looking at Gilbert, but when I answered, Vermilion looked slightly embarrassed.

“It’s true I live in this city, but if you ask if I’m a native, I’d say no.”

Well, of course. The boy in front of us had only settled in this city following his father.

“But this is my hideout, so how did you find it?”

I smiled brightly at his question.

This clearing was located in a place that was hard to stumble upon by chance, as the path leading to it was blocked by rocks despite being close to the city.

“I was just climbing the mountain for physical training and found a clearing that seemed good for swinging a sword while being close to the city.”

At my natural lie, Silua and Gilbert looked at me.

“Really? Did you climb Mount Danar too? Isn’t the scenery there great? I also discovered this place while climbing Mount Danar.”

I shrugged at his words.

“I don’t know the name of the mountain. I just arrived in this city today.”

“Oh, really? Why did you come to Bryuta? Travel? Or to settle down?”

Since Bryuta was a fairly large city, it wasn’t like there were no peers his age, but he showed friendly interest in us.

Is he acting out that innocent-looking expression?

Or has he not been corrupted yet?

The Sword Demon in the novel was a psychopath with severe mood swings.

In the novel, he reminisced that his childhood was innocent, but it was uncertain whether to believe it.

“Originally, we were on our way to a relative’s house elsewhere, but our horse slightly sprained its leg, so we decided to rest for a bit. But why do you ask?”

The horse pulling my carriage is a doll anyway.

It wasn’t difficult to make it limp as if its leg was sprained.

At my question, Vermilion looked embarrassed and glanced at Gilbert.

“No, just…”

Indeed, was he friendly because he was interested in Gilbert who was training with a sword?

Sword Demon Vermilion’s talent with the sword was no less than Precia’s.

No, considering his circumstances, it was no exaggeration to say he had even greater talent than Precia.

Precia had received support in a stable environment as a child of a knight family since a young age, and learned swordsmanship from Horazon, one of the Heaven’s Ten Swords.

On the other hand, Vermilion received teachings from his father Frost since he was young, but not long after, he fell seriously ill.

Since then, he was forbidden from training and had to wander around to find someone to cure his illness.

“Why? Do you want to spar with Gilbert?”

Vermilion loved swordsmanship to the extent of arranging a space like this to train while avoiding the eyes of his father who worried about him.

But swordsmanship was meaningless no matter how much one trained alone.

In the end, a sword was a tool to cut and kill something, so proper tempering couldn’t be done alone.

At my question, Vermilion smiled awkwardly as if startled and looked at Gilbert.

“Ehehe, how did you know? Was I that obvious?”

As long as the city was of a certain scale, there was bound to be peers who learned the sword.

However, putting aside getting to know peers around him, if he sparred as he pleased, it was obvious his father would eventually hear about it.

On the other hand, there was no such worry with travelers who were just passing by.

“No, I just have good intuition. The wooden sword you’re holding looked quite old and worn out.”

At my words, Vermilion introduced himself.

“Since we met like this by fate, shall we introduce ourselves? I’m Vermilion.”

Judging from his complexion, it seemed he hadn’t been treated yet.

If it’s now, I could kill him even with my frail hands.

Wouldn’t it be better to kill him here and now if he could interfere with our future journey?

After pondering for a moment, I showed a bright smile.

“I’m Yuan, this child is Silua, and the friend you were staring at is Gilbert. Gilbert is my guard.”

At my introduction, Silua tugged at my sleeve with a dissatisfied expression, saying she wasn’t a child, and Vermilion blushed as if embarrassed and scratched his cheek.

“Haha, was I staring that much?”

Hearing the word ‘guard’, he seemed more interested in Gilbert and glanced at him.

I stroked Silua’s head and said to Vermilion,

“If you want to spar with Gilbert, I’ll allow it, so go ahead.”

At my words, Vermilion’s eyes widened and sparkled.

“Really?! Is it okay to fight?”

To the excited him, I pretended to take it out of my bag while taking out a blunt iron sword from my extra-dimensional space and threw it.

Let’s put killing him on hold for now.

I was reluctant to kill him when I didn’t know the situation yet.

His father Frost was also a burden.

“It’s fine. Instead, if you’re grateful, show us around the city after sparring or something.”

At my request, he smiled brightly.

“Leave that to me! I’ve explored every famous restaurant in the city!”

“That’s great. Don’t use mana. If it gets too intense, I’ll stop you, so fight to your heart’s content.”

When I set the stage, Gilbert and Vermilion distanced themselves, faced each other, and drew their swords.

“Wow, it’s been a while since I held an iron sword.”

Vermilion was excited with joy. On the other hand, Gilbert was calm.

“Young Master, that person’s complexion doesn’t look good. Is it really okay?”

“That’s something for that friend to figure out. It’s not something we need to worry about, right?”

At my words, Vermilion nodded his head excitedly and took a stance.

“That’s right! It’s something for me to figure out, so don’t worry!”

Gilbert also had no choice but to take a stance and wait for my starting signal.

“Ready, begin sparring!”

At my starting signal, the two charged towards each other.

********

Yard exclaimed in admiration.

“My goodness, it’s so convenient. Yuan, you’re amazing.”

The light spirit Eunha was concealing the bodies of Yard and Precia who had come near the lord’s castle.

Its power was so stealthy that even Yard, who prided himself on having mastered magic to a high level, couldn’t detect the mana waves at all.

Not only Eunha, but the wind spirit Navi sitting on Precia’s shoulder also prevented others from hearing even if it made a loud noise.

When hiding, it was important not only to suppress presence and kill signs, but also to disguise oneself by blending in with the surroundings.

However, with the spirits’ power, one only needed to focus on suppressing signs, so it was extremely convenient.

“Is that so?”

When Yuan received praise, Precia smiled joyfully as if in a good mood.

Precia, who was a layman in magic, couldn’t grasp how amazing Yuan’s spirit arts were.

However, she gently stroked the heads of Navi and Eunha with her finger, expressing gratitude.

“Yes, if Yuan properly learns proper concealment techniques, there will be very few people in this world who can catch him.”

Yard said he should teach his concealment techniques if the opportunity arises, and Precia nodded, agreeing it was a good idea.

It was said that even if standing right in front, one couldn’t perceive the other’s existence with extreme concealment techniques.

If Yuan mastered concealment techniques, it seemed he could sufficiently achieve such an effect even without going to the extreme.

Precia resolved to secure the position of Yuan’s concealment technique instructor by asking Horazon to send the best one later.

Right now, Yard was far superior in concealment techniques than her, so she decided to yield despite the regret.

More important than her own desires was Yuan’s safety.

Unaware of Precia’s inner thoughts as she clenched her fist, Yard narrowed his brows and focused on a man coming out of the lord’s castle.

“That person is suspicious.”

The man Yard pointed out was an ordinary man who could be found anywhere.

“What’s suspicious about him?”

Precia tilted her head, not understanding.

“First of all, even though the fabric is thin, he’s wearing long sleeves in this season.”

This area was a basin, so it was uniquely warm.

It was hot and humid in this season as it overlapped with the unique rainy season in the southernmost region, so it couldn’t be because of the sunlight.

Therefore, people rarely wore long sleeves that didn’t ventilate well even if the clothes were thin.

In other words, wearing long sleeves meant he was hiding something, and judging by the natural movement of his arms, it was likely to be something like a tattoo.

“Looking at his appearance, he doesn’t seem to be someone who works in the lord’s castle. But he also doesn’t seem to be an errand boy of a high-ranking person who has business in the lord’s castle.”

The man’s attire was similar to that of ordinary residents.

A noble’s servant wore neat attire because wearing clothes that were improper or excessively worn out was considered damaging to the noble’s honor.

“In that case, outsiders who usually enter the lord’s castle are mostly supply merchants. But even so, he’s not carrying a single money pouch as he leaves. That means he’s not a supply merchant either.”

Precia pointed out Yard’s analysis.

“Could there be a regular payment date?”

“Of course, that’s possible. But judging from his expression, the possibility is low.”

A deal is based on trust.

This city’s lord had a reputation for hanging out with gangsters from the underworld to the point that his quality was not good.

There was no way such a person would have credit.

If he couldn’t exchange goods and payment immediately, the expression of the person leaving couldn’t be so serene.

“Also, seeing how the belt area is unusually thick and the buttocks slightly protrude angularly, he’s hiding something thin. Judging by the size, it seems to be a dagger.”

Unless one was a noble, the soldiers thoroughly body-searched people when entering the lord’s castle.

However, the man’s clothes had no wrinkles as if they hadn’t been searched at all.

“Well, this much is just from his appearance, and his gait and gaze are also suspicious. Shall I explain more why it’s suspicious?”

At Yard’s kind smile, Precia shook her head.

“No. Certainly, now that I’ve heard you say it, he does seem suspicious.”

The two decided to tail the man who had left the lord’s castle.

The man who had left the lord’s castle headed west.

As they went towards the western outskirts of the city, the buildings became dilapidated and gradually turned into slums.

Homeless people laid worn-out blankets on the ground and used moldy wooden boards as roofs to prepare for the unpredictable rain.

Their appearance showed that their homeless life was not just a day or two.

Precia frowned at their appearance.

“It’s severe.”

Although slums inevitably formed even with good security, Bryuta seemed to be too extreme.

“Usually, they covertly support them for the sake of security, but it’s a bit severe here.”

Yard was unfazed as he had seen many unsightly things while traveling the country.

He had seen many cases worse than the homeless people on the street.

Unlike Precia who looked at the entire slum, Yard focused on the expressions and complexions of the homeless.

“But it’s strange. Their expressions are brighter than I thought.”

Considering the circumstances of the homeless, their expressions couldn’t be bright.

Nevertheless, they were bright.

If only one or two people were bright, it could be dismissed, but overall, their expressions were far from worry.

“Their complexions are bad… But it’s also strange that they don’t seem to be doing drugs.”

If their complexions were bad but their expressions were good, it was often the case that they were using illegal drugs.

However, they didn’t show the common symptoms or side effects seen when using such drugs.

“For now, wouldn’t it be better to follow that person first? He just entered that shabby tavern.”

At Precia’s point, Yard, who had been lost in thought, nodded in agreement.

The tavern door had gaps at the top and bottom and was a creaky swinging door, so it wasn’t difficult to sneak in by bending over.

Inside the tavern they had followed the man into, only a hairy man was sitting at the counter with a languid expression, guarding the place.

The man they had been tailing was nowhere to be seen.

The only visible entrance from the outside was the old wooden board door they had just entered through.

Precia was perplexed, but Yard slowly looked around.

In the tavern where dust flew around as it had never been cleaned, he examined the places where dust had not accumulated unusually.

Using the fact that sound wouldn’t leak out thanks to the wind spirit Navi, Yard gently tapped on the walls and floor.

“There’s an empty space here. This seems to be a handle.”

Yard skillfully discovered a secret passage.