The Extra Prince Sets Out To Conquer The World

Vermilion seemed to be in a good mood, humming as he handed us towels.

Although we had come through the storm, we weren’t wet thanks to the power of Navi and Rami, and were only slightly damp.

If we had arrived completely dry and fluffy, it might have seemed strange, so we withdrew the spirits’ power in front of the house and deliberately got a bit wet in the rain.

“The storm was so severe that I thought you wouldn’t be able to come, but you managed to make it?”

“I know how to use a little magic, you see.”

“Aha, so that’s why you were in better shape than I expected. I thought you would arrive looking like a drowned rat.”

At my nonchalant answer, he nodded his head and asked Precia.

“I’m seeing you for the first time, but are you perhaps the guard he mentioned yesterday?”

I nodded at Vermilion’s question.

“That’s right. This is Precia, my guard. And this is the friend I made yesterday.”

At my introduction, Vermilion awkwardly bowed his head in greeting, then put his arm around my shoulder and whispered.

“You didn’t say it was a woman!”

Seeing him flustered, I smirked.

“So what if she’s a woman? As long as the guard knight is strong, what more do you want?”

“No, that’s true, but… how can I cross swords with someone so pretty without my heart pounding!”

It felt refreshing to see someone focusing on Precia’s appearance after only seeing people who were interested in her skills rather than her looks for the past few months.

Well, this is the normal reaction.

Even Gilbert initially blushed, pretending not to, while glancing at Precia.

Now, after receiving Presi’s gril- no, training, it has changed to looking at her with fear and dread.

Those who lacked the discernment to see Precia’s true nature at a glance always focused on her appearance.

That’s why Precia often wore a hood or frequently used Yard’s transformation mask when going out.

“You’ll be lucky if you can even cross swords. She can subdue someone of your level with a single finger without even drawing a sword.”

Vermilion glanced at Precia at my words and blushed again.

“…Is she that strong?”

“Gilbert already said it, didn’t he? That even if he had a unit, he couldn’t win against her.”

At my answer, Vermilion’s eyes looking at Precia turned to fighting spirit, as if he had never been embarrassed.

This guy’s nature is also that of a swordsman.

Taking his arm off my shoulder, he walked ahead into the house with a playful smile.

The place Vermilion guided us to was a wide space that had a fireplace but was desolate for a living room, almost like an indoor training hall.

Vermilion scratched the back of his head as if realizing his mistake after guiding us himself.

“Ah, is it a bit much to directly guide guests to the training hall?”

As expected, it was a physical training room.

Well, even if Frost had semi-retired as a free knight at this point in time, there was no way he would neglect training.

Vermilion probably couldn’t use it much because he had to be mindful of Frost, but today he had the excuse of Gilbert and Precia, so it seemed he could freely use it.

I patted his back as he looked embarrassed, asking if he should bring tea.

“It’s fine. You guided us well to a place to play, so what’s the problem?”

When I signaled to Gilbert with my eyes, Gilbert nodded and took out two blunt iron swords from his bag.

Then Vermilion smiled brightly and accepted one of the swords.

“Then shall we warm up a bit?”

The two distanced themselves like yesterday and faced each other.

Watching the two, I said to Precia,

“Watch his swordsmanship carefully.”

Precia nodded and volunteered to be the referee of the match.

At Precia’s signal, Gilbert and Vermilion clashed swords again.

*********

Numerous men were busily moving by the riverside where the storm was raging.

Most of them were farmers who cultivated orchards or fields and their families.

They busily dug the ground with shovels to fill sacks, and piled soil bags to prevent the river from overflowing.

Then they secured the embankment with stakes and ropes to prevent it from collapsing.

Among the farmers diligently moving soil bags, Frost created a drainage channel in the opposite direction of the orchard with a shovel infused with mana.

The depth and width were enough for a sturdy man to easily fit in, so that if the river swelled and overflowed more than expected, it could flow along the dug path.

The soil dug up by Frost was packed into sacks and moved again.

“Hahaha! You’re doing such a useless thing.”

The man with short brown hair in a black suit, the 6th Apostle of the Morning Star Cult, Ogistrim, mocked Frost, who was diligently making a drainage channel using even sword energy.

He stood out due to his attire that didn’t match the site, but no one around paid any attention to him.

No, they acted as if they couldn’t perceive Ogistrim.

Frost, who sensed the mana emanating from Ogistrim and realized that fact, clicked his tongue.

“Don’t emit that unpleasant mana for no reason.”

Ogistrim had used mental interference magic to make people unable to perceive himself.

This was a different method of invisibility magic than optical magic.

“Oh my, a useless thing, you say. It’s the most necessary thing. You also don’t like me wandering around without restraint, right?”

At those words, Frost clicked his tongue.

“And as I said, the useless thing I’m referring to is not my magic, but the action you’re doing.”

Ogistrim’s words had a point.

“Either way, if we hold the ritual as you wish, there won’t be anyone left to tend to the orchards or fields, right? Not a single person~”

Watching Ogistrim laughing playfully as if mocking, Frost momentarily lost control of his killing intent.

The transcendent’s killing intent that engulfed the area caused those who were piling soil bags to suddenly clutch their chests and collapse, foaming at the mouth.

The unrefined killing intent of a transcendent was a vicious weapon in itself.

Realizing his mistake, Frost quickly withdrew his killing intent.

However, most had already fainted, and even those who didn’t faint sat down roughly, breathing heavily as if having a panic attack.

Seeing that, Ogistrim laughed pleasantly.

“Hahaha! The esteemed free knight shouldn’t do that. The poor people are getting hurt, aren’t they? No, should I say sacrifices? You should cherish those poor sacrifices even for the sake of your son.”

At the continued mockery, Frost was enraged but took a deep breath and kept his head cool.

“What business do you have? Are the preparations you mentioned all finished?”

At Frost’s question, Ogistrim shrugged.

“No. The preparations are proceeding smoothly, but we still need a bit more time to complete them.”

“Then why are you coming to me and blabbering like a fool? Do you want me to cut off your limbs because you’re annoying me? You’ll probably still need your hands or tongue, so legs would be good.”

At the murderous voice, Ogistrim giggled and snapped his fingers.

The staff he was holding in his hand was imbued with black and sticky mana.

It spread in all directions, waking up the unconscious people and calming those who were having a panic attack.

“How could that be? I just came to tell you to be aware and be careful, as there is a subtle and unpleasant discomfort in the city. It might just be a feeling, but just in case.”

Ogistrim sighed playfully, as if his kindness was being misinterpreted, and shook his head.

“…I got it. I’ll be careful. So get out of my sight.”

“Yes, yes. How could I not obey your words?”

Ogistrim, who mocked until the end, disappeared like smoke, just like last time.

“Sir Frost, take a break while doing it! We’re sorry for making you overdo it when it’s our work.”

The people who had collapsed clutching their chests just a moment ago advised Frost to rest, not realizing what had happened.

Seeing them, Frost was at a loss for words for a moment, then gripped the shovel handle.

“No. It’s not a big deal, so I’ll finish quickly. We can’t keep getting rained on.”

His trained body wasn’t so incompetent as to easily weaken in this wind and rain.

He just wanted to finish as quickly as possible and return home.

To the home where his son was.

********

Vermilion, who had sparred with Gilbert and was now facing Precia, stood still without moving, holding his sword.

His expression was full of tension and cold sweat, as if the shyness he had shown towards Precia’s beauty had disappeared somewhere.

“Are you not coming?”

At Precia’s question, Vermilion laughed pleasantly and answered.

“Hahaha, there’s absolutely no opening, so how can I go? Wow, I’ve only felt this kind of feeling when I swung a sword in front of my father when I was young.”

They hadn’t even properly clashed swords.

They had just faced each other and I had shouted for the match to start, but Vermilion couldn’t take a single step.

From my perspective, both Gilbert and Precia seemed to be in a ready stance, but it must have looked completely different in Vermilion’s eyes.

At that moment, Precia’s expression subtly changed.

Suddenly, Vermilion charged forward like lightning and swung his sword.

Clang!

Vermilion aimed for Precia’s left side, and Precia blocked it diagonally with her sword as if she had expected it.

“I watched the previous spars and thought about it, and as expected, your intuition is good.”

Contrary to Precia’s leisurely evaluation, Vermilion lost his composure and drove his sword attacks.

Precia met all of Vermilion’s swordstrikes without taking a single step back.

Gilbert, who was watching the two spar, caught his slightly rough breath and admired.

“As expected, Sir Precia is amazing.”

“Which part is amazing? Tell me so I know too.”

At my grumbling, Gilbert began intermediating the match between the two.

“At the very beginning, Sir Precia deliberately created an opening with her momentum to induce an attack. Of course, since she knew where to aim as much as she induced, she easily blocked it.”

“Oh, and then?”

“After that, Vermilion had no choice. Having already lost the battle of momentum, if he retreated or took a defensive stance, she would immediately chase and finish him off, so he had no option but to attack. Here, Vermilion…”

Listening to Gilbert’s explanation, Precia did seem amazing.

At the same time, I thought Gilbert had also grown a lot.

Perhaps because it was a spar without using mana, the exchange between Precia and Vermilion continued for quite a while.

Is Precia going easy on him?

No, even if she did at first, Vermilion’s movements were gradually changing.

Are those movements copying Precia’s movements?

“Are you not using mana?”

At Precia’s question, Vermilion continued swinging his sword and laughed playfully.

“I have an illness where I die if I use mana. My father would be sad, you know?”

“Is that so? That’s unfortunate.”

Precia slightly shook the tip of her sword to induce Vermilion’s misstep and ended the match.

As the blunt iron sword was held to his neck, Vermilion raised both hands, gasping for breath.

“I lost! Phew! This is the first time I couldn’t do anything even after giving it my all, except for against my father.”

Having surrendered, he lay flat on the floor, seeming exhausted.

I asked Precia, who showed no signs of exhaustion at all.

“How was it?”

At my question, Precia glanced at Vermilion, who was panting while lying down, and whispered in my ear.

“…That can’t be described simply as genius. It transcends the realm of understanding.”

Is that so? As expected, he’s a talent who will reach the level of the Heaven’s Ten Swords in the future.

Of course, if we look closely, Precia had no right to say such things.

It wasn’t an evaluation that should be made by someone who was knocking on the door of transcendents in their mid-teens.

She was also one of the geniuses who transcended the realm of understanding.

Precia seemed to unconsciously know that fact, as she seemed to feel both a sense of superiority and kinship at the same time.

Vermilion, who had caught his breath to some extent, sat up and spoke while looking out the window.

“Hey, if it’s okay with you, do you want to go hunting ruffians in the back alleys with me?”

The raging storm seemed to have lost some of its force, and the rain had weakened. Vermilion’s suggestion sounded very interesting.