Aiden Flameheart
"You left that pretty slave of yours somewhere and came alone."
I was still reeling from the realization that Aiden was the same man who'd smashed that freeloading bastard over the head for me at the pier — the one I hadn't even bothered identifying with my Status Window — when his words, which seemed to know exactly who Selena was, threw me into a panic. I averted my eyes and opened my mouth.
"S-slave? W-what are you talking about…"
"I'm not looking to mess with you, so relax. By the way, that slave brand on the ship was pretty interesting. The records I read said they brand them with a magically charged iron, but no matter how I looked at it, that didn't seem like an iron brand. Yaaawn…"
Hearing him pinpoint the slave brand with such accuracy left me no room to keep playing dumb. I stared at Aiden with wary eyes as he yawned again, still looking half-asleep, and asked:
"How did you know?"
Aiden wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and answered.
"Figuring out the slave brand? Eh, just chalk it up to me being sensitive. Anyway, I already said I'm not gonna mess with you. I'm actually trying to help you out. So quit glaring at me."
Even if he claimed he wouldn't harm me and wanted to help, he still wouldn't explain how he'd spotted the slave brand. I couldn't take his word at face value that easily.
When I refused to drop my guard, Aiden shrugged.
"Look. I know you've had it rough because of your job, but try trusting me a little. I'll stake the name Aiden Flameheart on it."
Staking a name…
Watching Aiden ask for my trust while spouting something that sounded uncomfortably close to what a serial killer posing as a detective might yell, I eyed him with open suspicion. That only made Aiden tilt his head.
"What? What's with that face? I said I'm Aiden Flameheart. You don't know me?"
Am I supposed to know you?
I stared at Aiden with an incredulous expression as he spoke as if it were only natural that I should recognize him.
"Wait, how do you not know me? The Crown Prince of the Empire? Fine, maybe you wouldn't know my face, but not even my name? Are you from another world or something?"
?! Wh-what?! Crown Prince?!
My eyes flew wide at the absurd rank, and Aiden looked equally dumbfounded.
"You really didn't know, huh."
How the hell would I know?! Why is the Crown Prince here?! Wait a second. The Empire… the ones who hunt down and kill every last slave merchant…
The moment I realized the man standing in front of me was the heir to the imperial throne of the Empire that had wiped out every slave merchant on the continent — and still refused to tolerate them — a cold sweat ran down my spine.
Wh-what do I do? Why does everything keep getting more complicated?!
I'd thought I'd finally found a way to smuggle Selena out and escape, only to land myself in an even more dangerous situation. Regretting that I'd mindlessly followed the priestess here, I started edging backward.
"Haa… I already told you I'm not gonna mess with you."
The tail end of Aiden's muttered sigh reached me from behind my back.
"Ah…?"
"Tsk. I couldn't care less about the First Emperor's dying wish that every slave merchant be hunted down and killed. So stop freaking out and go sit over there. Let's have a constructive little chat."
Before I could even blink, Aiden had taken my back. Realizing escape was impossible, I swallowed hard and carefully sat down in the chair.
Once he saw me seated, Aiden straddled the chair across from me backward and spoke.
"I said don't be so tense. Like I told you, I'm trying to help you out. Specifically, so you don't have to keep suffering because of your job."
Having the problems caused by my job resolved was something I desperately wanted — but I still couldn't take the Crown Prince of the Empire that had massacred slave merchants at his word. I looked at him with eyes full of suspicion.
Meeting my gaze, Aiden smiled and added:
"Of course, not for free. You'll help me with something first. It's nothing too hard. With that pretty slave of yours, it should be solved pretty quick. There's one other thing, but that can't be done right away, so just promising to do it later is fine. How about it?"
Remembering that he'd just arranged a secret rendezvous with the priestess called Seli, I eyed him doubtfully and asked:
"Why do you need Selena?"
"Ah. Don't worry. I don't have a taste for touching other men's women. I just want her to find someone with that magic skill she showed at the city gates. That's all."
"Find who…?"
"Count Hamel."
…?
I tilted my head at the mention of finding the count who'd held our lives in his hands and made that black proposal. Aiden elaborated.
"The count you met is a fake. Not sure since when."
"Huh?"
So that's why the count's name felt off… why Ron said he'd been eating here for four years…
Only then did I understand the strange sense of disconnect I'd felt. I let out a dazed sound, but Aiden paid it no mind and continued.
"The moment I arrived in Hamel, I went to see the count to claim the toy I'd been promised — and he didn't recognize me. There was some kind of magic wrapped around his body, purpose unknown."
Wait a second.
"You went to claim what?"
I asked in a flustered voice at the word that really shouldn't be coming out of a crown prince's mouth. Aiden answered as if it were nothing.
"My toy. Five years ago at the Academy, I saw the count's daughter and took a real liking to her. So I told him I'd take her once she came of age. He held out saying not until dirt filled his eyes, so I made him grab a handful of dirt and threatened him into agreeing. But today some other guy is sitting there calling himself the count."
Coming of age… five years ago…? Well… Aiden would've been young then too… uh… is this even okay?
"It's ridiculous, right? I snuck out without a word just to claim my toy, and the count isn't even the count. The problem is, I'm pretty good at reading the flow of magic right in front of me, but I can't search a wide area.
"I was fretting over what to do when you — the slave merchant with the wildly circulating rumor of owning a slave who displayed incredible magic at the city gates — walked into the temple.
"I don't know why you, who should be in the detention center, showed up here, but it was perfect. So I told my usual toy I use whenever I come to Hamel to bring you to me. With the skill your slave showed, a search should be easy."
I blinked at the absurd reason, then tilted my head and asked:
"But… isn't it possible the real count is already dead?"
"No. He's alive. When a vassal who's sworn a loyalty oath dies, the king or emperor who received that oath can sense it. And vice versa — if the king or emperor who received the oath dies, the vassal who swore it can tell.
"So if Count Hamel had died, this country's king would've sent an envoy here. Telling the new count to crawl over and swear loyalty ASAP. And the new count would've gone to the king to re-swear the oath.
"But apparently, over the past few years, no royal envoy has come, and Count Hamel has never left his territory."
"Ah. So there's a system like that."
I nodded, fascinated by this system I was learning about for the first time, and Aiden continued.
"Right. So Count Hamel is definitely somewhere. I need to meet him to claim my toy. So lend me your slave. I'll return her once we find Count Hamel."
Helping the future emperor — a tyrant, sure, but still — and solving my damn job problem. It was a great deal.
Except for the part where Selena was currently being held by that damn underworld boss posing as the count.
"I'd love nothing more than to help, but Selena is… uh… currently being held hostage by the count…"
When I explained the problem, Aiden's face twisted with incredulity.
"Huh? Why? Didn't you come here from the detention center?"
If the count hadn't come looking to exploit my job, that would've been the case…
"So basically, what happened is…"
I explained everything — how Chief of Security Ronald had believed my truthful account, how right as we were about to leave for the temple the count's sudden orders had thrown me in jail, how I'd been dragged to the mansion and forced into a black contract, and how I'd ended up here trying not to sell Selena. Aiden furrowed his brow.
"So. Can you get your slave out?"
"Probably… I think it might be possible…"
When I told him I planned to smuggle her out under the pretext of sending Selena on assignment to increase the number of slaves I could manage, Aiden clicked his tongue.
"So in the end, you won't know until you try. Haa… I didn't bring anyone so I wouldn't get caught by that old fogey, and now everything's going sideways."
Old fogey? Could that mean…
While I wondered who a crown prince would call an old fogey, Aiden let out a deep sigh.
"Haa… Maybe I should just take the hit and call the kids to handle this… But if I do that, that damn woman will seize the chance and go wild…"
"Kids…?"
"Ah? The Slave Merchant Tracking Squad. Their purpose is to track down and eliminate 'slave merchants' like you, but since actual slave merchants are basically extinct, they mostly hunt down bastards who make and sell slaves — like the guy who made you that offer. They're under the Emperor's direct command, and the Crown Prince serves as the squad's commander. It's a boring post with nothing but hassle and no payoff. So I try to stay as inactive as possible…"
Aiden muttered as if he couldn't care less about the victims suffering under unjust violence, then thought for a moment before speaking.
"You. If you just get that slave out, can you handle this whole thing yourself?"
…What?