Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Chapter 7: Hunting and Negotiation
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The rattling carriage was filled with silence.
Five people were riding in a six-seater carriage, but there was hardly any conversation between them. With such a mismatched group, it was probably hard to strike up a chat.
For starters, I was the prince, the highest-ranking person in the empire aside from the emperor himself.
I was sixteen years old, but my height was under 150 cm, my skin was so pale it made people wonder if I had some illness, and there were always dark circles under my eyes.
....
I’d only just introduced myself. So why were my eyes getting misty?
Anyway, most people who didn’t know the inside story were probably bewildered by the recent changes in this prince.
Just a month ago, I’d been infamous as a troublemaking villain, and now I was suddenly revered as a war hero blessed by the five gods. No wonder everyone was at a loss for how to treat me.
Sitting to my left was Meredes, the maid from the mansion.
At sixteen, she was already near the top rank as an elixir master, with boundless potential ahead of her—a true prodigy among prodigies.
Of course, to others, she just looked like a tall, stoic maid.
Across from her sat Kyle, a senior at the Imperial Officer Academy, lost in thought with a complicated expression.
At eighteen, he had an average height and a slightly lean build. Aside from his sharp eyes, he had no standout physical features—an utterly ordinary appearance.
But this guy’s true value came from inside his skull, not outside.
He had excellent memory and calculation skills, outstanding command of troops, and top-tier merchant abilities when it came to buying and selling goods.
Factor in his considerable potential as a knight with proper training, and he was a perfect all-rounder, excelling in both civil and military arts. Plus, our working styles meshed well.
Next to Kyle sat Didi, the twelve-year-old boy I’d met yesterday and hired for three gold coins.
His height and build were similar to mine. But at a glance, you could tell his body was sturdy and agile, and his deep brown skin—rare in the empire—was striking.
Even I, who’d regressed ten times, had never seen anyone with his unparalleled talent in ‘beast affinity,’ a field I hadn’t even known existed. With proper raising, he had the potential to reach the third knight rank: ‘Knight Expert.’
For now, since he was a complete unknown until the last regression, I had no idea how he’d grow. I’d just take him everywhere and give him varied experiences.
And beside him sat Trimum, the leader of the sealed priests, another existence I hadn’t known about until the previous regression.
At thirty-six, he was the oldest here. But as a peculiar case with zero worldly experience since becoming a priest, he’d been smiling nonstop and even humming a tune since earlier.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been outside Emperlord, hasn’t it?”
The imperial capital was called Emperlord. Trimum clapped lightly and replied in a bright voice.
“Yes, Your Highness. After leaving my hometown as a child and coming to Emperlord, I’ve lived only near the grand temple.”
“Your hometown is Yoton, right? How does it feel to return after so long?”
“It feels great. It’s been almost twenty-five years since I’ve gone back home.”
“You’re from Yoton too, Priest? My hometown is Yoton as well.”
Kyle finally found a common topic and chimed in smoothly. Trimum nodded with a gentle smile.
“That’s right. Though there’s no family waiting to welcome me back, of course. I’m from the temple orphanage in southern Yoton.”
“Ah.... I see. I’ve been near there a few times myself. It’s a place with a great view overlooking Yoton Bay.”
“You know it well. The sea there is truly beautiful.”
“Our house is just a short distance from that orphanage. Once we arrive, we were planning to accommodate everyone there, but....”
Kyle turned to me and got to the main point.
“If I may overstep, it’s hard to set a schedule without knowing the overall plan. What do you intend to do once we reach Yoton?”
“First, pay off the debts.”
I tapped the large chest sitting on the empty seat to my right.
“Aren’t you ultimately the Guspf Trading Company? We’ll settle their most urgent debts first, then hop on a ship and head straight out to Yoton Bay.”
“Right upon arrival?”
“Yeah. We’ve got to deal with the sea serpents first.”
“To be precise, there are at least a hundred sea serpents stationed at the entrance to Yoton Bay.”
“Yeah, so I’ve heard.”
“Did you bring the other priests for that?”
Right now, three carriages carrying a total of thirty-two priests were following behind us. Thanks, High Priest Esix. I shook my head, thinking of the grand priest who’d loaned them so readily without needing an explanation.
“I didn’t bring them for the sea serpents. They have work to do after that.”
“I heard you requested priests who can use Anti-Corruption.”
At that, Trimum, being a priest himself, activated a transparent orb of light in his palm and joined in.
That was Anti-Corruption, which halted a target’s decay for a set time.
It was a holy spell typically used only at funerals, but against undead monsters like zombies or corpse giants, it could serve as an attack.
“Is the Necromancer Legion involved in this incident? I can use Anti-Corruption myself, you know.”
“No, the Necromancer Legion isn’t here.”
I reached out and pressed Trimum’s palm downward firmly.
“More importantly, don’t waste mana. We’ll have a lot to do right after we arrive.”
I’d also brought two extra sealed priests in the rear carriage besides Trimum. He quickly dispelled the spell and bowed his head.
“My apologies, Your Highness. It seems being out and active has me a bit excited.”
“I know you’re on close terms with the temple, and that you’ve personally reached the pinnacle of holy magic. But....”
Kyle swallowed hard and unleashed his questions.
“I don’t see how that helps drive off the sea serpents. And Your Highness’s position from the imperial government is commander of the Necromancer Legion task force—doesn’t it raise questions using us for something else instead?”
“Why? Don’t want to save your hometown?”
“Absolutely not. I just think we should separate official duties from personal ones.”
“The Necromancer Legion is on hiatus for the time being.”
More like completely shut down, but.... whatever.
“I’ve bought us plenty of time. So let’s use the extra time and resources to tackle other problems cropping up across the empire.”
“As expected of Your Highness!”
Trimum suddenly clenched his fist and shouted.
“What a splendid idea! As one blessed by the five gods, it’s our duty to ceaselessly serve so the innocent populace suffers no more!”
“Of course it’s a noble endeavor. But without permission from the regent—er, the imperial government—won’t there be repercussions?”
Ugh, there it is. Kyle always nails the core issue.
His point just now was basic common sense, nothing tricky.
But from raising countless others in past lives, almost no one analyzed situations like this and voiced straight talk without hesitation. That’s why I always scouted and recruited him first.
“Obviously there will be. But if we rack up merits big enough to overturn that, it won’t matter.”
“Exterminating the sea serpents would certainly count as a major achievement. The imperial government hasn’t been able to touch them for years. But why do we need so many priests for that, and why bring along....”
Kyle trailed off and stared at Didi beside him.
“....why bring Didi? I just can’t figure it out.”
Didi himself looked equally baffled about why he was here.
He was the quiet type anyway, and since boarding the carriage, he hadn’t said a word, just watching everyone warily.
“Were you close with Didi at the academy?”
Of course not. If so, he would’ve mentioned Didi at least once in the last regression.
“No. Aside from seeing him a few times at the stables, our only meeting was yesterday when he came to the dorms to relay the headmaster’s orders.”
He’d at least learned the kid’s name, then. I nodded casually, as if it were no big deal.
“He’s been on the Necromancer Legion task force since yesterday too. Same team, so get along.”
“I see. Understood.”
Kyle surely knew Didi was from the slums, but he nodded without a care.
Kyle himself wasn’t from nobility, and he judged people more by ability than background anyway. Though he had questions since he didn’t know Didi’s talents yet.... Honestly, I didn’t know either, so I had nothing to say.
“Your Highness, time for your elixirs.”
That’s when Meredes, who’d been silent beside me, pulled out the elixir basket and held up two vials. I poured the detoxification elixir—reeking horribly—down my throat, followed by the growth elixir with an even worse stench, and let out a yell.
“Gah! This tastes even weirder now!”
“It’s proof the head maid’s elixir-making skills are improving. She knew that and packed these separately as palate cleansers.”
Meredes offered a sugar bar from the basket. I broke off a piece, popped it in my mouth, and finally sighed in relief before asking her.
“How many did you bring?”
“If you mean the sugar bars, the head maid packed a total of twenty.”
“Then take out four more and pass them around, one each. Everyone should try them.”
“Understood.”
Meredes distributed sugar bars to the others. I broke mine in half, ate it, and addressed the group.
“Alright, listen up while you eat. I’m about to explain the full plan for this operation. To start with....”
* * *
“These ships are huge.”
It was a sight I’d seen repeated in every regression, but the vessels mobilized by the Guspf Trading Company never failed to stir the heart with their grandeur.
“The Guspf Trading Company traded as far as the Karim Kingdom on the opposite side of the continent, even to the Ragran Continent in the far east. At their peak, they operated ten of these large ships at a time.”
Kyle explained calmly. They’d only managed to muster two large merchant ships on short notice, and even those had been requisitioned until Kyle paid gold to release them on-site.
Thank goodness his father had good connections. They’d quickly gathered sailors to crew the ships, and secured four of Yoton Bay’s largest fishing boats to boot.
“We’ll reach the outlet of Yoton Bay soon. Should I order the fleet to halt?”
Kyle pointed ahead and asked. I glanced around and shook my head.
“Not yet. We can get closer.”
Yoton Bay resembled a massive crescent moon cradling the inlet when viewed from above.
And at the outlet where the crescent’s tips nearly met, the largest fishery for ‘Crown Black Fish,’ commonly called ‘rockfish,’ had formed.
The sea serpent pack had settled here specifically to easily prey on the abundant rockfish. Leave them be for another four years, and the rockfish fishery would vanish completely, prompting the serpents to move on without regret.
Of course, letting it drag on that long would irreparably destroy the local economy and trigger endless negative butterfly effects afterward.
Like my subordinate Kyle losing confidence and failing to perform at full potential, or derailing the proper progression of the nearby ‘Ogre Rebellion’ route. Losses like that were immense.
“There’s the sea serpent pack!”
A sailor at the bow shot his hand up high.
Good. Showtime. Sea serpents were ocean snakes with fins sprouting all over their bodies, as the sailor said, and adults grew up to ten meters—an enormous size.
But they had no other special abilities.
No fire-breathing, no venom spit, no paralyzing roars or blinding flashes.
If they were land monsters, a single decent knight order could’ve wiped them out.
But these were sea monsters.
Knights couldn’t plunge into the ocean in their heavy magic armor, and even mages struggled to land proper hits against the vast barrier of seawater.
“We can’t just shove a Tempest into the sea either....”
“Pardon? What was that?”
Kyle reacted tensely beside me. I stepped toward the bow and said.
“We’re starting now, so tell them to stop the ships.”
“Alert the fleet!”
In an instant, an unbelievable volume exploded from Kyle’s throat.
“Stop the ships immediately! It’s His Highness’s command! Halt and hold position now!”
That natural lung power. Combined with his commander instincts, it created insane synergy on the battlefield.
“Good. Now then....”
I closed my eyes and focused on the life force pulsing from the ocean depths.
‘Life Detection.’
This holy spell detected life within a set range.
Typically used at disaster sites or battlefields to find survivors, but with imagination, it enabled unique applications like this.
“....They’re coming.”