Surviving As The 5Th Prince Of Hellman Kingdom [EN]: Chapter 164

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Freed from Inquisitor Lawrence, Rico sighed.

“Haa······.”

He took a deep breath, watching the busy street.

The moment he received the summons from the Pantheon flashed through his mind again.

His heart pounded.

He spent sleepless nights worrying if there was anything problematic in the eyewitness account he submitted to the Pantheon.

-If you want to get ahead, become an Inquisitor. If you can’t? No matter what, don’t get involved with them.

That’s a famous saying in the Holy City of Bartia.

After the religious war, the Inquisitors held such power that even flying birds would fall.

In the internal competition within the Pantheon, gods of defeated orders were branded as evil gods, and innocent widows were often burned at the stake as witches.

Unofficially, that is.

Now, such things ‘almost’ never happen.

‘Lawrence Firenze, was it?’

Rico recalled the Inquisitor he had met. He was a man with sharp eyes, but he didn’t seem to be the corrupt Inquisitor he had only heard about in rumors.

Well, the authority of the Pantheon isn’t what it used to be.

The corruption of the Pantheon led to a decline in religious authority, and the kings of each country seized the opportunity to strengthen their royal power. Recognizing this, a reform movement arose within the Pantheon.

The times have changed a lot.

We hear news from across the continent in a day, trains run across the continent, and airships fly in the sky.

Still.

‘If possible, I don’t want to get involved with Inquisitors.’

That was Rico’s honest feeling.

He glanced at the Pantheon branch building one last time and then moved on.

The sun was warm, and the spring breeze was cool. People’s faces were bright. Walking through such a street, Rico felt the fatigue from staying up all night melt away.

“Extra! Extra! A civil war has broken out in the Hamel Empire!”

A boy selling newspapers shouted loudly.

People’s heads turned. Rico’s gaze naturally turned to the boy as well.

Clatter, clatter.

A coachman slowly driving a carriage stopped the horse.

“Hey! Which newspaper is it?”

The boy ran over quickly.

“It’s Blue Moon!”

“It’s Blue Moon, sir. Ah, yes. I understand. Hey, give me a copy.”

The coachman, who was talking to the owner of the carriage through the front window, rummaged through his pockets and tossed a coin to the boy.

The boy snatched it up and handed the newspaper to the coachman with a delighted expression.

“Here you go.”

“Keep the change as a tip.”

“Thank you!”

The coachman was the first.

“Hey! Give me a copy here too.”

“Over here!”

Literate people called out to the boy from here and there. Rico also bought a copy of the newspaper.

The newspaper was an important teaching material that could also be used to teach the children in the orphanage how to read. Of course, he was most curious about today’s scoop.

『Alliance between the 7th Prince and the 11th Princess. What is the fate of the 1st Prince cornered?』

After seeing the headline, Rico opened his eyes wide and read the article in detail.

The content was simple to summarize.

Until recently, the 11th Princess and the 7th Prince seemed like they were about to fight, but in an instant, they joined hands and hit the 1st Prince in the back of the head.

‘Was the relationship between the two, who seemed like they would devour each other, all an act?’

A civil war in the kingdom would have been a concern, but since it was happening in the Hamel Empire, which treated the Lionel Kingdom like a vassal state, it was just thrilling.

‘Only the suffering of the innocent people will increase.’

He hated the country, but he didn’t hate the people.

Rico recalled the priests from the Hamel Empire with excellent character whom he had met while studying in the Holy City of Bartia······.

He couldn’t quite recall them.

He only remembered the people who subtly harassed him for being from the Lionel Kingdom. Those so-called priests.

‘Surely there are good people in the Hamel Empire too.’

Rico shook off the bad memories from the Holy City of Bartia and continued reading the newspaper.

‘How long will the chaos in the Hamel Empire last······.’

The situation in the Hamel Empire was changing rapidly day by day. At this rate, a new emperor might appear sooner than expected.

Rico recalled Evan during the Western Expedition.

He would go around the military camps at every opportunity to encourage the soldiers. Rico also had the experience of talking with him, who was concerned about the well-being of the wounded soldiers.

It was a short time, but it was hard to believe that he was only 18 years old.

He naturally felt the dignity of a king.

He also felt a bit like he was talking to an old priest. It was like facing a virtuous soldier who had been with the kingdom his whole life.

‘If it’s His Majesty the King, he will be able to handle the rapidly changing situation well, right?’

Rico tucked the newspaper he had finished reading under his arm and started moving again.

As he entered the market.

“Rico! Rico!”

Ralph’s voice was heard.

Rico turned his head in the direction he heard his name being called.

Ralph, with his shaggy beard, was waving his hand and calling him. He was in casual clothes, so it must have been his day off.

‘Huh? Who’s next to him?’

There was a beautiful young woman with him who didn’t suit him at all.

Suddenly, he remembered that Ralph had been incredibly excited recently.

‘He said he was introduced to his junior colleague’s younger sister, right?’

Anyway, he has no sense.

If you’re on a date, shouldn’t you just go even if you find a friend?

While Rico was clicking his tongue inwardly, Ralph exchanged a few words with the woman. Then she nodded and turned away.

Rico asked Ralph, who had approached him.

“Isn’t that the woman you were introduced to?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you breaking up already? Isn’t it almost lunchtime?”

“She said that her mother wasn’t feeling well today, so she had to go back early. We just had tea and were about to leave.”

Rico looked into Ralph’s eyes.

He seemed to believe it completely.

‘What a clueless guy.’

Rico couldn’t bring himself to tell Ralph that he seemed to have been rejected. He was still glancing in the direction the woman had gone.

“I even made a lunch reservation at a fancy restaurant, but I was so glad to see you. I almost had to go alone and eat for two.”

“Yeah······ that’s a relief.”

Did she not even want to have a meal facing him?

Rico recalled the woman’s face he had seen earlier and made a pitiful expression.

“You haven’t had lunch yet, have you? Let’s go together. This older brother will treat you today!”

“Okay, thanks.”

He was just about to make do with street food because lunchtime would be over by the time he returned to the orphanage.

Rico headed to the restaurant with Ralph.

It was a place full of couples.

Most of those sitting at the tables were busy talking while looking at each other’s faces.

“There’s a rumor that men and women who eat together here are bound to be together. I had a hard time making a reservation······.”

Rico looked at Ralph with affectionate eyes as he sat down.

As a reserved seat, the tableware was prepared in advance, and the waiter quickly brought the food. The two filled their stomachs and chatted.

The topic was mostly about what happened during the Western Expedition.

The stories about the things they experienced on the battlefield, where their lives were in danger, never got old, no matter how many times they told them.

“Ah! That’s right. Do you remember my junior colleague that you saved on the first day the Red Moon rose?”

“Yeah.”

“The woman I met earlier is that junior colleague’s younger sister.”

“Really?”

Rico inwardly thought that she was a woman with a lacking personality. Even if she didn’t like Ralph, he was the benefactor who saved her brother’s life, so she should have at least had a meal with him at the restaurant he had reserved.

Ah, so is that why she’s meeting him a few times?

Ralph’s eyes narrowed at Rico’s expression.

“You, don’t you think I got rejected? As I said before, her mother’s health is not good, so she left.”

“Ah······ is that so?”

“Ha, you don’t seem to believe me. It’s true, okay? My junior colleague’s mother originally had a chronic illness.”

He was saying it with such sincere eyes that Rico decided that he was wrong.

“I stopped by the orphanage briefly this morning. You left early this morning? What happened?”

“Ah, it was nothing.”

Rico briefly told him about receiving a summons from the Inquisitor and going there.

“No, there were so many witnesses, what is there to investigate? It’s obvious that it’s a god who appeared after hearing the wishes of the kingdom’s people who were eagerly seeking a guardian deity.”

“It’s not that simple of a problem.”

Rico didn’t even know where to start explaining to the ignorant Ralph. He decided to just say whatever came out of his mouth.

“You also heard what the apostle of God said. He said he was the God of Time and Destiny. It doesn’t make sense that a god who governs the great concepts of time and destiny suddenly appeared out of nowhere.”

“Is that so strange?”

“The fact that a god who deals with such great concepts has not been known until now is not common sense.”

Ralph suddenly chuckled.

“Didn’t you and the deceased priest often say that to the children? That we shouldn’t understand God based on our standards. Isn’t it that we can’t confine the existence of God within the framework of common sense?”

Rico felt like he had been hit on the head with a hammer at Ralph’s words.

That’s right.

Many people, including himself, were trying to understand the appearance of Danar, the God of Time and Destiny, within the bounds of common sense.

Rico looked at Ralph.

It was to confirm if he was the Ralph he knew.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something strange?”

“No. You’re right.”

“Silly.”

Ralph, who had finished eating the steak, wiped his mouth with a napkin and asked.

“But, Rico, you’re not going to follow Danar, are you?”

Rico flinched.

“How did you know?”

“When you were talking about Danar, your eyes were somewhat similar to the way you looked at the priest when you were young. It was like looking at someone you admire.”

It seemed that the woman who had only had tea with Ralph and broke up with him really had a sick mother.

There was no way that Ralph, who was so observant, would not have noticed the signs of someone who was avoiding him.

“That’s right. The moment I heard his name, I knew it right away. The divine power bestowed upon me must be used for him.”

Ralph scratched his beard.

It was a part he couldn’t understand. How could he know that he was the god he should follow just by hearing the name of the god?

As an ordinary human being, priests were as incomprehensible as gods.

After the meal, the two parted ways to take care of their own business.

Rico headed to the orphanage where the children were waiting.

When he arrived at the end of the market.

A smell that stimulated Rico’s appetite wafted through the air. He had eaten so much for lunch, but it was a strange thing.

‘Is it over there?’

He looked at the sign of the bakery visible in front of him.

『Perijur』

A bakery famous for its chocolate cookies. He had only heard of it, but he had never eaten it before.

-Me too! I want to try Perijur’s chocolate cookies too!

-Me too! Me too! Chocolate cookies!

-Shut up! Just be grateful that you’re not starving! If you say that to Priest Rico, you’ll be in big trouble!

-That’s too much!

-That’s right, what else would you expect from a witch.

-What did you say!

-I didn’t say anything!

He had overheard the children complaining to Jani at the orphanage.

Rico put his hand in his pocket and struggled for a long time.

He was quite well-off right now, not long after returning from the Western Expedition. Enough to buy each of the children a chocolate cookie.

One of his childhood memories flashed through his mind.

A piece of candy that the old priest had secretly given him, who couldn’t fit in and was playing alone not long after coming to the orphanage.

He can’t forget it for the rest of his life.

Perhaps the chocolate cookies he bought could remain a precious memory for the children at the orphanage for the rest of their lives.

Rico, who had made up his mind, entered the bakery.

Rico, who had chosen chocolate cookies for the number of children and paid for them, was about to go out again.

Clang.

A small girl came in.

Rico momentarily made eye contact with the child.

“Marie! You came again today.”

“Hello! Please give me two giant chocolate cookies!”

“Haha, okay. Just wait a moment.”

The girl passed by him, seemingly not interested in him. But for some reason, Rico couldn’t take his eyes off the child.