Chapter 157
Chapter 157
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: Pigeon Carriers
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"......"
"......"
Nihil stood at the entrance of the tent, locking eyes with the stubborn knight captain for a moment.
Of course, with his hood pulled low, the captain probably couldn't see his eyes, but since the man wasn't blinking, it wasn't exactly a one-sided stare-down.
A quick glance inside revealed the deflated dog-man. The kitten was rolling its eyes warily beside him, while Noah just stood there blankly, as if wondering what the problem was.
Walter's gaze shifted to the pigeons clutched tightly in Nihil's hands.
"...Pigeon corps."
Walter let out a hollow chuckle, recalling the pigeon incident that had occurred in the guard post here. It was just too absurd.
The two missing kids and the bear of a man who had vanished without a trace.
Who would've thought the child they couldn't find even after scouring every noble household was hiding in the royal palace... no, in the 2nd Prince's Palace, of all places.
His Majesty had called off the investigation one day, which clearly meant he already knew.
'I figured he wasn't ordinary from what he showed during the knight order training, but still...'
At that moment, the kid roughly tossed the pigeon in his hand toward the tall boy and struck a defiant pose.
"You here to arrest us for impersonating nobles?"
"......"
"What? No!"
The prince jumped in surprise at the mention of impersonating nobles and came dashing over to cling to his thigh.
"S-Sir Ernest, no, you can't, ah, no, you mustn't! Th-that's, no, my brother... F-Fath—no, my father... no, my father isn't..."
The prince even started denying His Majesty's existence.
'...How did you not get caught?'
He looked like the prince no matter how you sliced it... and he was a terrible actor, too. How had the guards not noticed?
"N-Nil..."
"Come here, Ner."
The prince, flustered by his own impiety, scurried over at the kid's call and ducked behind him.
Then, some boy muttered reluctantly to himself.
"...You're really not a noble? How...? No, I guess not."
"Told you."
"...Then... try changing that refined speech of yours."
"......"
Walter's mouth fell open at Nihil's half-hearted reply.
Fine, you're no noble. But one of them is royalty.
He opened his mouth to speak again at the sheer ridiculousness, but felt someone tugging at his clothes from behind.
"M-Master..."
"......!"
"...I'll... explain later."
Evan rolled his eyes nervously. Walter felt a complicated mix of emotions. He tightly pressed his lips to stifle a laugh that threatened to escape, then nodded along with his inclinations.
"Do... as you will."
"Bri! Don't wipe the grease on your clothes! Come here quick. Let's wash your hands."
"Hiiing..."
"You wanna dirty your new clothes?"
"Nooo~"
Bri's clothes were already dirty, but Yvon wiped the boy's hands and face clean before they could get any worse.
Compared to before, they had plenty of water and food now, but soap was still precious, so grease stains were a problem.
Especially since today's dishes were extra oily and needed soap to clean.
"Today's dish duty, hurry up and wash them."
"Hng, the water's cold..."
"Elena, I heated some water with hot stones. No whining."
"Aigoo... when did you even heat that?"
Elena grumbled but obediently took her twin brothers to fetch water.
Yvon gathered the kids, who were all sluggish after dinner. The sun was already setting, but he needed to teach them their letters before it got too dark.
"I'm full and don't wanna use my brain!"
Pan stuck out his lip. Dave responded to him a bit more firmly.
"Then don't."
"Wh-who said I wouldn't?"
Pan grumbled but fetched a stick anyway. Watching Pan complain yet work hard made Dave think he couldn't slack off either.
Of course, not everyone studied diligently, but as more kids started recognizing a few letters from watching others, interest was growing.
Dave tore the newspaper into sheets and passed them out to the kids.
"Em... S? Now hiring servants!"
Pan proudly shouted the end of the ad, having cut off the front somehow.
It seemed like the repetitive phrases in the job listing were all he remembered.
"Pan, the important part is who's hiring. Reading only the end won't do. Give it here."
Dave checked the paper he'd given him upon hearing it was hiring servants.
It was good to learn common requirements early if they wanted to work at Baron Dyne's later.
Maybe the barony was hiring servants too.
"Mm... uhmm..."
But even Dave squinted, unable to read some words.
"What! You can't read it either!"
"Yvon hyung, read this for us."
Ignoring Pan's jutting snout, Dave thrust the paper forward. Yvon, who had been scribbling job applications haphazardly, looked up.
Lately, Yvon and Jane had been desperately job hunting but kept getting rejected at the application stage, tasting life's bitterness.
"Mm, let's see. It's hiring servants in Vernus."
"Vernus?"
"Yeah."
"It really says Vernus? For sure?"
"Yes. Vernus."
Dave jumped up.
"That's like... ah, no, hyung, read it quick."
"Uhm..."
Yvon explained the sentences with difficult words as simply as possible.
"They want upright people, healthy, sound of limb, with an ID... mm, so probably 15 and up. Must read and write. Nothing too fancy, but they want a letter of recommendation."
"Letter of recommendation?"
"Means they're only hiring experienced folks. Oh, one more line. Conditions may be relaxed if they don't fill the quota."
"What does that mean?"
"If fewer people apply than needed, they might hire even if you don't meet the requirements."
Dave yelled once he understood.
"Hyung! Let's apply here too!"
"...?"
Yvon blinked wide-eyed at Dave's words, then burst out laughing at his serious face.
"Ah, don't laugh. Just try it. If we fail, we fail. Jane hyung! You too! Here, here. Fill this out, and this one!"
Dave nagged Jane relentlessly too.
"Hyungs, it's not like we'll get eaten if we fail. We've already been rejected everywhere. Just one more place, okay?"
"《...Therefore, you are... like a waterfall》 Mm, uh, ah, 《cooling the heat of the fruit...?》 What does this mean? Watering fruit with a waterfall? Like, saying their feelings are too intense, like pouring a waterfall on fruit? Ah, I don't get it... Eastern Continent manners are the hardest."
"It's not fruit, it's summer. 《Therefore, you pour down upon me like a waterfall cooling the summer heat.》"
As Nihil kindly explained while refining the mana stone, Lianus's eyes went wide.
"Nil, you know manners too?"
"I know most languages."
"Read the next part too!"
"Peek!"
Evan II chimed in. What had fit in a child's hand was now overflowing an adult's.
Nihil glanced at the book Lianus held out and read slowly, tracing with his finger.
"《Therefore, you pour down upon me like a waterfall cooling the summer heat. My insides twist in that ferocity, yet like a parched beast unable to refuse it, you come rushing so fiercely.》"
Nihil tilted his head after reading. Studying for quarterly evaluations was fine, but he wondered if this would help.
"Rian, isn't this too literary for learning foreign languages?"
"Eh... is it? But Karus always taught manners with these kinds of sentences. They use a lot of metaphors there."
Lianus marked unfamiliar words neatly as he said that.
Nihil stroked the diligently studying Lianus's head and began refining the next mana stone.
"But Nil, what's with those stones?"
"Mana stones. Refining them into mana cores right now."
"...? Where'd you get them?"
"Picked them up."
"Oh... okay..."
Lianus looked puzzled but let it go. It was hard to understand everything his friend did.
Nihil smirked at Lianus, who quickly refocused on studying, and summoned Rima, tossing her an extra mana core as payment.
Rima stared blankly at the mana core, then left only after he said she could go.
"Peek, peek."
"What is it, Evan II."
"Don't call me that!"
Nihil picked up the puppy, ignoring the dog's bark.
It couldn't even open its eyes when he first found it, but now it stared back with round eyes.
"Your father doesn't acknowledge you."
"Ah, it's not my pup! And His Highness gave it a proper name!"
"What?"
Evan froze at the question, visibly racking his brain.
"......Almond?"
"......"
The delayed answer was nonsense.
Nihil pitifully eyed Evan, who had swapped his puppy for a nut. Then Lianus, who had written "summer" about 57 times sloppily, reached 60 and piped up.
"No, Sir Evan. It's Robert Lewis Almond II."
"...I see."
Evan, failing to recall even one of the three words, decided to memorize the short, easy middle name.
Lewis, Lewis, Lewis... This pup's name should stick now.
No need to kill it with his own hands anymore.
Bitterly repeating the puppy's name, he noticed the lynx-like kid tying something to his wrist.
Its presence-concealing skills were always top-notch.
"What's that."
"......"
The kid didn't answer, busily fidgeting with small hands. Evan considered pulling away but let it be, seeing the effort.
But the moment it finished tying it to his wrist,
"......!"
His breath caught.
Evan startled, tried to rip off the bracelet, but small hands blocked him quick.
"Don't remove it. I worked hard on it."
"What... is this."
Evan breathed slowly, eyeing the calm Nihil. His chest felt tight, but breathing was fine.
"A magic tool to suppress mana heart growth. It'll be uncomfortable at first, but endure it."
"......"
His lip jutted out unwittingly. He'd agreed in principle, but not like this—suppressed on a whim.
"...Like a mana controller?"
"No cupium to absorb mana. Accumulating internal mana might be tricky, but it won't hinder Aura use."
Evan lifted his wrist to check the bracelet. Too thin and dainty for his scarred, thick wrist. Even had flower ornaments.
"The design... and color... aren't they a bit flashy?"
"I put special care into it."
Pretty, right? Nihil curved his eyes teasingly. Clearly mocking him.
"You made it like this on purpose."
"Who knows."
"...Do I have to wear it all the time?"
Evan fiddled and grumbled.
It clashed horribly with his rugged wrist. The cute decorations looked comical, not pretty.
Nihil shook his head at the aesthetically challenged dog-man.
"It blocks external magic too."
"...?"
He tilted his head, and the explanation continued.
"It'll stop spells engraved directly on the body. Mental magic attacks or curses, that sort. The caster won't even notice their spell fizzling."
Evan's eyes widened. This was more incredible than he'd thought.
"...Shouldn't you make one for His Highness too?"
At that, the kitten perked up, showed off the bracelet on Evan's wrist, then proudly raised his own.
"I have one too! Bracelet!"
See, pretty? Nihil chuckled at Lianus bragging about the real bracelet he'd made, then listed precautions for the dog-man.
"It blocks 'magic contracts' too. Remove it for any needed contracts."
"...Blocks... magic contracts...?"
"Won't forcibly break existing ones, so don't worry."
"......"
"And it won't come off until you or I remove it ourselves. Keep that in mind."
"...Got it."
"Don't forget."
"......Fine."
Tap, tap, tap...
King Sedes tapped his desk with the unopened fountain pen, staring at the empty seat.
The guy who went out for "a breath of air" hadn't returned after two hours.
He could guess where he'd gone, so part of him wanted to let it slide, but the piled-up documents made neglect impossible.
Sedes glared piercingly at the papers, then parted his lips.
"...Drag him back."