Surviving As The 5Th Prince Of Hellman Kingdom [EN]: Chapter 107

107

I want to live.

That thought filled Julian’s mind throughout his conversation with Evan.

– I am worth more than an 8-star knight.

Julian swallowed those words that had risen to his throat without him realizing it and looked into Evan’s eyes.

Eyes that, as always, were impossible to read.

He had no idea what answer he wanted from him.

However, one thing was clear.

‘The Prince knows how to avoid the destiny Heaven has given me!’

What could it be?

The stories Julian had heard and read as a Teller quickly flashed through his mind.

He quickly found the answer.

8-star knight, life extension.

Among the things that could satisfy those two keywords at the same time, there was only one thing Evan could realistically obtain.

‘The World Tree Fruit!’

When did Evan get it?

‘Ah! Was it then?’

A question he hadn’t been able to solve was answered.

How did Evan bring Fran in when he eliminated 7-star Summoner Amika Arya and 7-star Knight Duke Weiss?

He must have traded with her using the World Tree Fruit.

If so, how?

This is easy.

Immediately after that, he developed a drug that could cure the side effect of the Red Star Fever, ‘aging,’ which had terrified the elves.

The elves had announced that they had created the drug with their own power. A naturalist elf who is reluctant to use medicine develops a drug? Julian had suspected that Evan might have played a crucial role in the process.

Now he was sure that Evan was involved.

He must have received the World Tree Fruit from the elves in return.

Then how many?

‘One, it’s hard to get more than that.’

The World Tree Fruit is the core of nurturing Elven Gard [powerful elven guardians], which handles eight stars. Honestly, getting one is close to a miracle.

Then······.

.

.

.

Julian learned one of the missing puzzle pieces and inferred the whole story related to the World Tree Fruit, close to the truth.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

He slowly opened his mouth.

“I think you asked the wrong question.”

“Wrong question?”

“There is no guarantee that you will create an 8-star knight, is there? The World Tree Fruit you have is not intact, is it? For example… something Fran-nim [honorific title] used and left over.”

Now Julian could read the emotion in Evan’s eyes.

It was clearly ‘admiration’ and ‘interest.’

But only for a moment.

Evan quickly erased the emotion he had shown.

“About half of your thoughts are correct. What I have is not a complete World Tree Fruit. It’s a little more than a third. But I guarantee I can raise an 8-star knight with it. That means I didn’t ask you the wrong question.”

It is a famous story that you can raise one Elven Gard with one World Tree Fruit.

But now Evan was saying that he could raise an 8-star knight using less than half of the fruit.

Words that Julian could not understand with his common sense.

But.

It must not be a lie. There is no reason to lie in the first place.

‘What answer do you want?’

He wouldn’t have called him just to tease him.

There was definitely an answer to escape destiny.

Julian’s mind, yearning for life, became unusually busy trying to find that answer.

***

Julian’s expression changed from moment to moment as he was deep in thought. He frowned, widened his eyes, and then shook his head.

How long has it been?

“I······.”

Finally, his mouth opened.

“I may be less than a mere soldier, or I may be a human being worth more than an 8-star knight.”

“Why do you think so?”

“It is known that an 8-star knight can massacre more than 10,000 soldiers alone. If there is someone who can catch an 8-star knight with 5,000 soldiers, wouldn’t he be worth more than an 8-star knight?”

“Is that you?”

“Wouldn’t it depend on how the Prince uses me?”

Julian smiled, a smile of relief, after answering.

I chuckled and leaned my chin on my hand, lost in thought.

The World Tree Fruit has been used to make elixirs of immortality, although it failed.

If an ordinary person takes it, they can have an experience close to rebirth. That should be enough to blind the eyes of the Grim Reaper, who is right in front of Julian.

“You must have heard from Schutz how long you can last, right?”

“I heard it was about two months… a week ago.”

I straightened my posture, which had been leaning on my chin, and put my hand on the pile of documents piled up on the desk.

“As you know, I’m very busy. I have to host the 500th Anniversary New Year’s Party and hold my Crown Prince Inauguration Ceremony together. Ah! That doesn’t mean I can skip training.”

“You won’t even have time to sleep if you want to keep your promise with the Southerners.”

“I’m thinking of holding the New Year’s party in the spring when the new sprouts come out. I hope the South will be cleaned up neatly before that. I’ll give you a month. Prove it in the meantime. Prove that I’m right to save you.”

A month is a long time.

It took less than a month for Akad’s exile to be decided in the royal trial and for Beorto to be called the witch of the South at the hearing.

“If you need anything, tell Cliang and Miloa. I’ll tell them to give you everything except what they can’t.”

“Thank you.”

7-star wizard Moria Runtia and other gnats.

If he cleans them up neatly without me stepping in, it is worth saving him.

Of course, I won’t leave it completely unattended.

I will receive progress reports from time to time, and if it doesn’t work out, I plan to postpone the New Year’s party, which I am planning for mid-March, and take action myself.

***

A week later.

I started the day by sweating profusely from early morning training. After a quick shower, I went straight to my office.

I was reading the newspaper on my desk, waiting for Alphonso to bring breakfast.

『Prince Evan promises once again to hold the lords of the areas where the riots occurred strictly accountable.』

『“Those who have forgotten the duties of the nobility should not be called nobles.” What are the duties of the nobility that Prince Evan mentioned?』

.

.

.

There were articles full of chills running down the spines of the southern nobles.

The contents I mentioned directly are correct.

I interviewed a little strongly at Julian’s request.

– Prince, shouldn’t we incinerate the garbage all at once?

Operation name, Incineration.

Since receiving the opportunity from me, Julian has been constantly visiting Cliang and Miloa, harassing them. That’s the operation name he gave to his busy plan.

The point is simple.

First, stimulate a sense of crisis and make the garbage in the South dream of rebellion.

Second, gather them in one place.

Third, raid the scene where they resolve to betray the kingdom and wipe them out.

It’s easy to say, but the process will definitely be very difficult.

In order to incinerate the gathered garbage, including 7-star wizard Moria, without much damage, two 7-star knights are needed.

But Fran won’t move.

There is only one way.

I remembered what Julian said while explaining the incineration operation.

– Former 2nd Knights Commander in Seokhamdo. I will persuade him.

When I asked him how he was going to persuade him, he said he would have to meet him in person and talk to him. I am looking forward to hearing the afterword after he succeeds.

‘He’ll do well on his own. It’s a matter of life and death.’

I thought that far and brought a chicken breast sandwich to take a bite. While chewing, I took one of the documents piled up on the desk with my remaining hand.

It was a list of foreign envoys to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the founding and my Crown Prince’s accession.

I glanced over it and there was a name that caught my eye.

‘Yandersia Arya?’

A princess one year younger than me. The first daughter of the King of Arya.

I immediately took a pen and put a star on the name.

A woman who secretly kidnapped her crush cousin, cut his Achilles tendon, made him unable to walk, and locked him in the basement.

I don’t want to run into her if possible.

Alphonso, who was watching from the front, asked with a puzzled expression.

“Prince, why are you putting a star on that princess’s name? She’s the eldest daughter of the King of Arya, right? I heard she’s quite a beauty….”

“I don’t like the name.”

“Yes?”

Alphonso looked embarrassed.

I smiled and moved on, looking for names I knew.

Then his gaze was fixed on one name.

‘Charles Hahn Hamel.’

He was a direct descendant of the Hamel Empire.

The current emperor’s 19th son.

He was known as the Red Emperor in the ‘future.’

Outwardly, he is known as a 6-star knight, but I am convinced that he is currently an 8-star knight.

He is hiding his fangs.

The moment the emperor dies, he plans to bite the necks of unsuspecting competitors with those hidden fangs.

Such a human suddenly in the delegation?

I stared at the name intently.

Why is a human being who is busy massacring ethnic minorities who hate the Empire as the vice-commander of the Black Knights?

I had a lot of thoughts because of the unexpected situation.

“… Prince? Prince!”

Alphonso called me, perhaps because I was standing still for a long time with a sandwich in my left hand.

Only then did I take my eyes off the document and put the sandwich in my mouth.

“It’s nothing. I was just thinking a lot because the Prince of the Hamel Empire is also coming.”

“Really?”

Alphonso leaned slightly towards the document I was looking at.

“Charles Hahn Hamel? The Red Wolf of the Black Knights!”

There was a murderous aura in the eyes of the squinting guy.

During the Hamel Empire’s invasion of the North, the Empire’s Black Knights were always at the forefront.

The unspeakable infamy of those guys spread at that time. Anyone who belonged to the Northern Liberation Army would grind their teeth at them.

“Why is that guy included in the congratulatory delegation?”

I don’t know either.

So I asked the guy who seemed to know.

┕ Genie, do you know why Charles Hahn Hamel joined the delegation?

「So far, it is known as personal interest.」

A not-so-great answer came back.

But when I thought about it, it wasn’t a strange answer either.

If the prince of a neighboring country, where even surviving was desperate, became the crown prince in just over two years, I would want to see his face.

“Don’t you refuse?”

“What?”

“I think you’re uncomfortable too, so why don’t you tell them not to come? Just tell all the delegations that the Hamel Empire is sending not to come.”

“Do you think it’s a birthday party? To refuse the delegation they are sending.”

He wasn’t wrong.

But that doesn’t mean I can refuse the delegation as Alphonso said.

“If they are rejected after saying they will congratulate us with care, they will understand. It could become a diplomatic dispute. It’s the kingdom’s first event that I’m leading for the first time. I don’t want to create an unpleasant incident.”

“It would be more of a problem if the guys who came as a delegation caused trouble in the kingdom, wouldn’t it? How arrogant was that fat guy last time? This time, he’s accompanied by a direct line… Ugh, it’s terrible just thinking about it.”

Alphonso’s words were all right.

Honestly, I was a little tempted.

I pondered for a moment, stroking my chin, and then shook my head. No matter how I thought about it, it wasn’t right to refuse the delegation.

‘Ah!’

Suddenly, an interesting idea came to mind.

Originally, the Red Wolf would reveal his fangs and slaughter his competitors in an instant.

If he reveals some of his secrets when he comes as the kingdom’s delegation, what will happen to the Empire?

Will he be able to clean up his rivals in an instant and become an ‘emperor’ from a ‘wolf’ as in the ‘future’?

“Alphonso.”

“Yes.”

“Wouldn’t it be fun if the kingdom’s knights and foreign knights had a friendly sparring match?”

“… It would be fun if we won. If our knights lose, the atmosphere will be very cold, right? It feels like the inauguration ceremony will be a funeral.”

I smiled.

Sometimes in the world, there are times when you lose but get applauded for fighting well.