Chapter 152 – Chapter 29: War Destruction #3
“9th Prince is headed to Curtis. He is going there to support the 3rd Prince and 4th Princess.”
Henry completed his short oral report regarding the new information which had just arrived from the Demon King’s Palace.
Instead of reaching for the report, Richard, the draconian captain, just simply stared at his nephew’s—at Henry’s face. Henry was hiding it with a solemn expression, but there was a deep feeling of relief and pleasure.
The plan to measure the 9th Prince’s strength using Jiks had failed. Henry was delighted about this fact, while Richard felt somewhat confused.
It was due to the fact that the 9th Prince had won against Jiks.
‘I still can’t imagine it.’
He didn’t know how the 9th Prince had won against Jiks. Had the 8th Princess helped him or had she simply watched from behind?
Richard didn’t consider the possibility that Jiks wouldn’t have managed to escape after losing. He could find out information from Jiks’ scattered subordinates, but that was too cumbersome and time-consuming. Apart from Jiks, Richard’s arm had no reach in Evian.
Richard was even more puzzled about the 9th Prince’s consequent successes.
He had taken all the bases with a stormy approach and rescued the senior general, Vandal. That alone was amazing, but the 9th Prince had even led the troops directly into a massive fight against the barbarian king and his army.
It was already at a standard of being an active leader. He could even believe that ‘9th Prince’ had been written mistakenly in the report, instead of ‘1st Prince’ or ‘2nd Prince’.
The 9th Prince’s growth went against common sense. Although he had played a prominent role at Enger Plains, there was a huge difference between what he had done at Enger Plains and what he had done at Evian.
How had he become stronger so suddenly?
When one considered the situation with common sense, this was simply impossible. The 2nd Prince had been born with a monstrous talent, but even he wasn’t at this level. In just half a year, an incompetent prince had been reborn as an advanced general.
‘He was hiding his skills.’
Richard could only think of that. However, even so, this wasn’t a perfect answer.
‘Too strong.’
Right now, the 9th Prince was only 14 or 15 years old. Compared to his age, he was excessively strong. Even when it was taken into account that the report had been inflated, the 9th Prince was at least at the level of an intermediate general.
‘There is a reason why the sword duke has shown interest in him.’
The 9th Prince’s activities weren’t things he could do simply because he was strong. It was clear he had considerable talent in military matters as well.
Many people thought the 9th Prince was borrowing the power of the 6th and 8th Princesses, but Richard didn’t think so. The 6th and 8th Princesses didn’t have such talent. Their talents stood out in their respective fields, but they weren’t all-rounders. In fact, until now, the two people hadn’t been involved in such activities.
There was the possibility that 9th Prince’s aide had this power, but that was a useless story. The 9th Prince’s aide was an orc—a soldier he had met on his first mission outside. Given the average intellect of the orcs, the possibility that the 9th Prince’s aide had military talent was close to zero.
The 9th Prince’s achievements were completely due to the 9th Prince’s power. Not only did the 9th Prince have considerable individual abilities, he had strong military capabilities as well.
It was huge. The 9th Prince had suddenly become prominent in a very short amount of time. There wasn’t even a chance to step on that growing bud. By the time Richard had realized it, the 9th Prince had already obtained the power to turn the three factions into four.
All the children who weren’t interested in the position of the demon king were in his faction. The most surprising thing was the support behind the 9th Prince. Why did the 3rd and 4th Queens give their support to the 9th Prince instead of their own children?
Richard became more stimulated the more he thought about it.
‘Amazing, amazing.’
Richard was interested in the 9th Prince and really wanted to observe him.
Richard’s gaze glided over the short sentences in the report. Then he stared at Henry, his nephew who had a strong loyalty toward the demon king, and thought carefully before opening his mouth.
“Captain, if we observe Curtis, then we will be able to gauge 9th Prince’s ability.”
Everything at Evian had been too sudden. Moreover, Jiks had been smashed at the beginning, so there was no way for them to observe the 9th Prince. However, this time was different. Richard could send some people to keep a watch on the 9th Prince.
Therefore, Henry’s words were quite valid. He didn’t need to use radical measures like a surprise attack to explore the 9th Prince’s capabilities.
However, Richard shook his head slowly.
“Well, I wonder if that will happen.”
“Captain?”
“4th Princess is responsible for Curtis. It is doubtful she will give any opportunities to 9th Prince.”
This situation was different from what had happened at Enger Plains and Evian. The 9th Prince was being dispatched as support for the 4th Princess, so there was a limit to how big of a role he could play.
Henry’s eyes widened as he realized this. Rather than scolding his honest nephew, Richard turned his gaze toward the map of the Demon World on his desk.
On the eastern front where Evian was located, there was a major uproar due to the barbarian king. How about the western front? Would something also happen in Curtis?
Richard’s gaze moved further on the map to beyond the Western Limit Line.
&
As always, the transportation was successful. In-gong opened his eyes at Curtis’ transportation formation and saw a guide soldier standing before them.
After standing for a moment to ease through the transition, the guide soldier came up to In-gong and Felicia and bowed.
“It is a pleasure to meet 9th Prince and 6th Princess.”
The guide soldier was a black-haired young man, who was very handsome and tall. Both of his eyes were moist, which could confuse people. He wasn’t a local soldier but an incubus, who was one of Anastasia’s subordinates.
“Your Highnesses, I am Carlos, and I will guide you around Curtis.”
‘He is a watchdog.’
The reason why an incubus, and not a local soldier, was sent was obvious. Felicia narrowed her eyes and asked Carlos,
“Where is Unni right now?”
“There are some suspicious movements near the limit line, so she is going to the front.”
According to the additional information gathered from the Demon King’s Palace, there had already been several small encounters at the Western Limit Line. There were no full-scale engagements, but both sides scouted each other’s power repeatedly.
“Then are we going to the front?”
Carlos frowned slightly at Carack’s question. He acted restrained in front of In-gong and Felicia, but he seemed displeased. He went on to ignore Carack, who was an orc.
‘You shouldn’t ignore the orc.’
While In-gong was thinking this, Carlos corrected his expression and told In-gong and Felicia in a polite tone,
“4th Princess has specifically assigned a defenseless area to 9th Prince and 6th Princess. I will take you there.”
At the special request, In-gong and Felicia looked at each other. The two of them shared the same thoughts.
“As expected, it is a bad area. Are we going to be kept in the rear?”
Just like Evian, Curtis wasn’t the name of a city but the name for the entire western front.
The transportation formation connected to the Demon King’s Palace was located to the east end of Curtis. Currently, Anastasia and Victor had arrived earlier and were able to move to the northwest using the transportation formations.
However, In-gong’s party was now moving in a carriage toward the southwest, rather than the northwest. It was still the west, but the south-west area wasn’t connected to the Western Limit Line. In other words, it was a quiet area with a low chance of an enemy attacking.
This was because Anastasia hadn’t accomplished any great merits since being sent to Curtis. Now that In-gong had appeared, it was inevitable that Anastasia would feel displeased. It was natural for her to put In-gong in the rear, so that he couldn’t build up any merits.
From Enger Plains to Evian, In-gong had always been in charge. However, this time, he was just a helper. It was Anastasia’s role to oversee the royal children dispatched to Curtis, so she had the choice of whether or not to ask In-gong for help.
“Well, I guess it is hard to go against Anastasia in this.”
Felicia said with a frown. Carack smiled from opposite her and said,
“But if you’re going to be safe, the rear doesn’t seem that bad. Especially when looking at Prince’s state right now.”
Carack said, and all eyes in the carriage turned toward In-gong.
In-gong was fitting a bracelet onto Felicia’s wrist. As one of the items collected during his tour of the Demon King’s Palace, it was a one time charm to defend against physical attacks.
“Now, the last one.”
Next to the blue bracelet was a red bracelet. To be exact, it was the 12th magic item. In addition to Felicia’s arms, several magic items of various colours were hanging around her neck, from her ears, waist and so on. All of them had belonged to In-gong.
“Prince, isn’t this a little too much? There should be a harmony, harmony.”
Not only were there too many, the colours didn’t match each other. It was a natural result of equipping the magic items randomly.
“Uhh, is that so?”
In-gong shrugged as he looked at Felicia. She was still pretty, but that was because Felicia was so beautiful that her beauty outshone everything else.
There were two different coloured necklaces and six different coloured bracelets on both of her arms. Additionally, she wore earrings, ankle bracelets and other accessories which created a bizarre image. To be honest, Felicia’s beauty wasn’t enough to cover everything.
As In-gong stared at Felicia with narrow eyes, Delia said with a smile,
“It shows how much 9th Prince values 6th Princess.”
This was because the accessories were all defensive magic items. After the fight against the Famine Knight, In-gong was interested in Felicia’s defense.
Carack nodded and said,
“Delia, you should tell Prince bluntly.”
In-gong looked like he didn’t understand. Delia hesitated a bit before smiling awkwardly.
“For Her Highness’ reputation, it is a little…”
It was obvious that she would be called a fashion terrorist. Felicia laughed. So far, she had been standing still like a doll, but she spoke at this moment,
“Well, I am a little unbalanced. Still, Shutra prepared these for me, so shouldn’t I wear them?”
Her voice and eyes weren’t lifeless. She was looking at In-gong with a touched exprssion, like she was about to say Caitlin’s ‘amazing’.
Carack looked at her appearance and shook his head.
“If Prince Silvan were here, he would be wailing.”
Silvan would be filled with envy, then Felicia would hit him on the head with a fan.
In-gong laughed and scratched his jaw.
“Uhh, I guess I should make some adjustments. I think it is a good idea to commission Amita to modify it.”
“Will Amita do it?”
Felicia asked In-gong with a gentle smile.
“Their tail will pound on the floor. They will grunt but wouldn’t they agree in the end?”
In-gong’s gaze turned back to Felicia, and Carack interrupted again.
“Prince, if Prince asks, then even Princess will agree. You are correct.”
It was like that. Felicia blushed and refuted,
“I-it isn’t like that. Don’t you think, Delia?”
“Uh, um, yes. That’s right. If Princess says so, it is the case.”
“Delia!”
Delia’s tone was inconsistent with her words. In-gong smiled as he saw the grouchy Felicia and said,
“Anyway, I’ll ask Amita.”
“Um, I feel like that raccoon is somewhat pitiful.”
“It’s okay, I think they are adapting to it these days. There isn’t as much resistance as there used to be.”
Animals were creatures of adaptation, and a raccoon was like that as well.
Unlike Evian, which was a wasteland, Curtis was a land of rain and greenery. After studying the scenery outside the window for a while, Felicia asked In-gong,
“It will be two days until the reinforcements arrive… Until then, we have no strength, so we just need to stay in the rear. Shutra, do you know anything about the place we’re going to?”
Felicia had wandered all over the Demon World, but this was her first visit to Curtis. Moreover, the place where the party was headed was the fringe of Curtis.
It was the same for In-gong. However, In-gong had intelligence from Knight Saga. To the southwest of Curtis was the land of giants with a huge forest. So, there was a reason why In-gong could remain cheerful despite being sent to the rear.
“It is a fairly interesting place.”
As he stared out the window, In-gong searched through his memories. The surrounding landscape was changing bit by bit.