The Extra Prince Sets Out To Conquer The World

We took shelter under the eaves of a store from the sudden downpour.

If I used a little bit of the power of Rami, the water spirit, it wouldn’t be difficult to avoid the rain.

However, I obediently waited for the rain to stop.

“Phew, what a crazy weather.”

I squeezed the water out of my completely drenched hair, brushing it back.

At my sigh, Vermilion laughed in amusement.

“Ahahaha! The weather here is like that during this season. Still, in this country, it’s only like this in this area. I heard the duchy below is worse than this entire country during this season?”

The duchy located southwest of the kingdom was a vassal state of the empire ruled by a grand duke, and it was located right in the middle of the rainy season front.

The duchy was a gateway for exchange with the empire, with its border touching the kingdom only as much as a city.

“But it will be warm in winter, right?”

“That’s probably true. I can’t say for sure since I’ve never experienced winter there.”

Vermilion talked about various things as if he had traveled to many countries.

Meanwhile, the store owner who heard us chatting poked his head out the window and recognized Vermilion.

“Oh my, who is this? Isn’t it Vermilion?”

When the store owner acted as if he knew him, Vermilion also greeted him with a big smile.

“Hello, uncle.”

“Are these young people your friends?”

“Yes. I made friends with them today. Is business going well?”

“Ahahaha, the weather is so fickle during this season that we only have flies buzzing around. Well, still, thanks to your father, I can at least make ends meet.”

The store owner answered affably and went back inside the window, then brought out two umbrellas and four sticks of candy.

“This is all the umbrellas I have. It’s not much of a compensation, but at least have these.”

“Oh no, you don’t have to do this.”

When Vermilion declined politely, the store owner smiled and said,

“No. Thanks to your father, the gangs from the west can’t act recklessly, right? I would lose face if I didn’t at least give you these.”

“My father didn’t do that expecting anything in return… But I’ll gratefully accept them.”

“Good. Tell your father to drop by sometime.”

Vermilion thanked the store owner for his kindness and left the eaves.

Since Silua was short, Gilbert carried her on his back and used the umbrella.

I tried to carry Silua, but due to my stamina issues and Gilbert and Vermilion’s sturdy shoulders, I had no choice but to share an umbrella with Vermilion.

Even a child is quite heavy, you know.

“Your father seems to be respected in the city?”

At my question, Vermilion laughed shyly but couldn’t hide the pride in it.

“My father subdued the ruffians of this city when he came here. Well, now it seems he gets along well with those ruffians, but thanks to my father, the city merchants no longer have to pay for their spots.”

It wasn’t difficult to read the admiration and aspiration in his expression and voice.

“Is that so?”

I let out an admiring sound as if I didn’t know who his father was.

Vermilion’s father, Frost, was one of the core executives of the Free Knights Union, a group that revered freedom and justice.

As a man praised as a knight among knights, his skills undoubtedly reached the level of a transcendent.

Considering that in the novel, Frost evenly matched one of the Heaven’s Ten Swords right before his death, he was clearly not someone to be taken lightly.

Vermilion smiled brightly at my gaze.

“What?”

At Vermilion’s question, I shrugged.

“No, it’s nothing.”

Considering that the Heaven’s Ten Swords member who fought Frost last and killed him was none other than Sword Demon Vermilion, his smile felt strange.

In the novel, Vermilion didn’t just dislike Frost, he hated him.

Although there was no description as to why, if there was a keyword that never disappeared in their relationship, it was this city, Bryuta.

I don’t know exactly what happens in this city.

It’s just that the moment his son’s sword pierced his heart, Frost died smiling, saying he was glad he got better even while regretting.

At that moment when my head was filled with idle thoughts, Vermilion waved his hand with a bright expression at a middle-aged man who appeared through the fierce rain.

“Father!”

The sharp-looking man walking without an umbrella even in the heavy downpour smiled softly, not matching his impression.

“Where are you coming from again in this foul weather?”

“Ahaha, I just went for a little walk.”

“You fool, getting rained on is not good for your health.”

Letting out a small sigh, his gaze turned to me and Gilbert who was carrying Silua on his back.

“Ah, these are friends I made today while taking a walk.”

At Vermilion’s introduction, I smiled and lightly bowed my head.

“I’m Yuan.”

At the word ‘friends’, Frost slightly stiffened his expression.

“…I haven’t seen your faces before. Are you immigrants trying to settle down?”

At his question, I shook my head.

“No. Bryuta is a place we’re stopping by for a few days. We’re on our way to meet relatives.”

At my answer, Frost remained expressionless but seemed subtly relieved.

Why is he relieved?

“Is that so? I hope you get along well with Vermilion, even if it’s for a short time.”

“Haha, isn’t the charm of traveling making friends at the place you visit? Sometimes friends made like this become lifelong memorable friends.”

“That’s true too. Don’t play too late and come home early. It’s not good to wander around late while wet.”

Hearing his son’s reply of understanding, Frost took out an allowance from his pocket and handed it to his son.

“Buy something delicious with this.”

“Thank you!”

After Frost left, Vermilion smiled broadly and counted the copper coins he received.

“Hehehe, with this much, we can go to a quite expensive famous restaurant. Let’s go quickly!”

I strolled down the rainy street, guided by Vermilion.

While eating snacks and chatting about this and that, we decided to part ways a bit early due to the still unceasing rain.

Since Vermilion was disappointed that he couldn’t show us more fun places yet, we promised to meet tomorrow.

After parting with Vermilion and returning to the inn, I read a book with the sound of rain as my companion.

It was a research book on spirit arts from the Magic Tower that I had obtained through the Twilight Guild, and it was quite different from Lisbeth’s spirit arts.

That was natural since Lisbeth’s spirit arts were based on the theory of becoming a spirit artist.

However, the basic premise of mages’ spirit arts was to handle the power without making a contract with spirits.

That’s why there was a stark difference in energy efficiency. Still, the way mages handled spirits had quite interesting aspects.

“We’re back. Phew, why is it raining so much?”

Jade and Abasael entered the room, wiping their wet hair with towels.

It seemed they didn’t block the rain with magic due to my instruction to not stand out.

“Good work. Did you get anything?”

Using the power of Rami, the water spirit, I blew away the moisture from the two.

Then I heated the chicken skewers I bought as a snack with the power of Biam, the fire spirit, and handed them over.

Fortunately, even if they got wet in the summer, it wasn’t particularly cold.

“Oh! Thank you for the meal.”

Jade took out a bottle of wine from his extra-dimensional space and opened the cork with a ‘pop-!’ and poured it into a wine glass.

“Would you like a glass, Yuan?”

This guy has completely developed a taste for alcohol.

“Of course.”

Jade poured me a full glass too, as if he had expected it.

Even though it wasn’t decanted with a decanter, the aroma was rich, so it seemed to be an expensive wine.

Hmm, it’s delicious. As expected of an expensive wine.

I hope he didn’t spend all the allowance I gave him for buying magic books or materials on buying alcohol.

Jade pushed the wine bottle towards Abasael as well.

However, Abasael, who didn’t enjoy alcohol, showed his palm, shook his head slightly, and reported to me.

“There wasn’t really anything to gain.”

At Abasael’s words, I stroked my chin and asked,

“Even if it was just a feeling or hunch, was there no sense of discomfort?”

“Hmm, if it’s just a hunch, there was a subtle sense of discomfort.”

At Jade’s answer, Abasael added,

“First, we looked around the orchards on the outskirts of the city, then gradually explored inward. But as we moved into the city, it felt like something was something… if I had to describe it.”

“Oh! That’s an exquisite expression. The feeling that something is something. Something that can only be felt when your senses are on high alert.”

“Right? If it’s just a hunch, we could ignore it, but it’s a subtle feeling of something bothering us!”

The two nodded in agreement with each other. What the heck does that mean?

“So in other words, compared to the outskirts, the further you went into the city, whether it was just a feeling or there was really something, you felt a sense of discomfort?”

“Yes, it’s not accurate, but it feels like that.”

Listening to the two, it was one of two things.

Either it was so stealthy that even two Great Mages couldn’t properly detect it, or the unknown incident that would occur in this city hadn’t even started yet.

“If it were just one person, we could dismiss it, but if both of you felt discomfort, there must really be something…”

If it was the latter, that would be one thing, but if it was the former, in the worst case, we might have to fight monsters on the level of superhumans or Great Mages.

Insurance, we need insurance.

After pondering, I wrote down instructions on a piece of paper and handed it over.

“Tomorrow, while detecting mana like today, also prepare this.”

The two received the paper, slowly looked it over, and were startled.

“A-Are we really doing this?!”

“Isn’t this too dangerous, My Lord?”

At their reactions, I flopped down on the bed.

“It’s just insurance, insurance. There won’t be a need to use it unless something big happens, so don’t worry.”

“No, but if this goes wrong, the damage to the city will be huge.”

I laughed lightly at Jade’s concern.

“It’s better for the city to be destroyed than for people to die. Don’t you think?”

At my playful question, Jade scratched his cheek as if troubled.

“If we compare the two, that’s certainly true, but…”

Abasael seriously looked at my instructions and asked,

“My Lord, what kind of situation do you consider ‘something big’?”

At that question, I pondered for a moment and grinned.

“Well, a situation where people are dying in droves right away… or a situation where you two can’t find anything until we leave this city?”

If they can’t find it until the end, I’ll destroy the city along with the masterminds.

It’s actually burning down the house to catch fleas, but if those fleas aren’t ordinary fleas, the situation changes.

If the ones I suspect are lurking in Bryuta, it’s not a big loss to send along a city as a companion.

In any case, as long as the people are safe and sound, the city can be rebuilt.

At my answer, Jade and Abasael sighed simultaneously.

“If we can’t find it, the city will disappear.”

“We must find the source of the discomfort.”

Abasael, who let out a deep lamentation, looked at me again.

“By the way, according to these instructions, do you think ‘they’ are hiding in this city?”

I nodded at Abasael’s question.

Jade didn’t understand what Abasael meant.

“Who are ‘they’?”

At Jade’s question, Abasael let out a deep sigh and answered with serious eyes.

“The Demon Cult. The parasites of the world who praise and worship demons.”

To be precise, among the Demon Cults, it was the Morning Star Cult.