Surviving As The 5Th Prince Of Hellman Kingdom [EN]: Chapter 168

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Fran’s direct disciple, Alice.

She was looking at her reflection in the mirror. Around her, there was a pile of clothes she had tried on and taken off.

“Umm…”

The Alice in the mirror was completely different from her usual self, who casually wore a loose robe.

A pure white blouse, a skirt that slightly went above the knees, and black stockings that accentuated her slender, long legs.

It was an appearance that could shake the hearts of many young boys, but her expression was not pleased.

‘I don’t like it.’

As a Toin [a race with animal-like features], Alice had large, fluffy ears like cotton candy.

Unlike other Toins who proudly showed them off, she felt a terrible fear when her ears caught people’s attention.

She didn’t know why.

Her master, Fran, seemed to know, but he wouldn’t tell her.

Anyway.

For that reason, she had to wear a hat…

But the old witch’s hat she had been wearing since childhood didn’t suit her current fashion at all.

Alice took the hat off and put it on again repeatedly, eventually pulling it down low.

Alice’s accommodation was a single room in the Royal Academy of Magic Engineering Department’s dormitory. She cautiously opened the door and peered down the hallway.

No one was there.

‘Well, it’s the final exam period.’

Everyone was busy studying at their desks. With a smile, she quickly left the building…

“Assistant Alice! You look so pretty!”

“Are you going on a date!”

“With whom? He, perhaps…”

…She ended up running into the three mischievous girls from the Magic Engineering Department.

“N-no, it’s not that!”

Actually, it was.

The tutoring sessions where she taught Zaryan the basics of magic engineering had ended this week. She was going out to commemorate it.

Eating, going to a cafe, and taking a walk, wouldn’t that be a date?

“Yes, it is!”

“It’s a date!”

“I’m so jealous! We’ll probably be up all night studying for the exam this weekend!”

“I-it’s really not like that!”

Alice’s face turned red as she shouted and ran away from the spot.

As a Toin, she had strong legs. Although she looked delicate, her muscle density was different from that of humans.

Holding her hat with both hands to prevent it from flying off, she disappeared from the three girls’ sight at a terrifying speed.

“Good luck, Assistant!”

“We’re rooting for you!”

“We won’t spread rumors!”

Alice bit her lip as she heard their laughter behind her.

‘Of all people, I had to be caught by those girls!’

They barely managed to avoid failing last semester because they were always together studying. Studying is originally done alone.

There was no way she could believe they wouldn’t spread rumors.

She was sure that every student she met next week would ask her if her date went well. She blamed herself for not leaving 10 minutes earlier.

Leaving the Royal Academy, she headed to Barona Square.

“You must stand in line properly!”

“Hey, kid! If you cut in line, you’ll get nothing!”

On the way, she saw priests and believers giving out free meals to people in the slums.

It was the Yulia Order and the Danar Order.

She recognized which order it was at a glance. A little girl who looked no more than 10 years old was wearing a priest’s robe and walking around with a donation box.

It was Mari, the Saintess of the Danar Order.

Four months ago, there was a commotion about her saving a dying child in the middle of the market.

The number of residents in the royal capital who believed in Danar, the god who made himself known as an apostle and divine beast in the Western Expedition, exploded as a result of that incident.

Alice took out a crumpled bill from her pocket and approached Mari, who was holding the donation box.

“You’re working hard, Saintess Mari.”

“Thank you! Danar will always be watching over you, sister! If there’s something you’re working hard on, you’ll have a wonderful… wonderful… what was it again…?”

Mari looked like she was about to cry because she couldn’t remember the words she had memorized. Alice quickly opened her mouth.

“Yes. I’ll definitely see a wonderful result.”

“Ah! That’s right. Result, result, result…”

Mari repeated the word to herself so she wouldn’t forget it. Alice somehow wanted to pinch her cheek.

At that moment.

“Wow! Stop right there!”

“It’s going that way!”

“Don’t move!”

Suddenly, children burst out of the alley.

“Meow! Meow! Meow!”

A cat running away caught Alice’s eye.

It wasn’t an ordinary cat.

It was about twice as big and had six legs.

‘Divine Beast Harrion.’

Alice immediately recognized its identity.

Two divine beasts lived in the Danar Temple, which was completed about two months ago.

Harrion and Jirong.

Jirong created exciting play facilities for the children with its body, and Harrion was rumored to be cute.

The garden of the Danar Temple was always crowded with children visiting to play with them.

It seemed that only Harrion had come to the free meal service.

“Meow!”

“Sisters! Brothers! You mustn’t bully Harrion!”

Mari rushed over at Harrion’s cry for help. Alice watched the scene with a smile on her face.

Ding~ Ding~ Ding~

The bell rang, announcing noon.

‘Ah!’

Alice suddenly came to her senses. This was not the time to be doing this. She was late for her appointment. She hurried her steps.

Arriving at Barona Square, Alice approached the fountain, which was the meeting place.

The boy she was looking for was there.

Zaryan.

The younger brother of the Second Queen, who had recently held her wedding.

Alice knew that his uncle, Shurgal, and Annette Lionel, Evan’s sister, were in a relationship. She had accidentally overheard Fran and Evan talking.

Fran had strictly told her not to go around gossiping. She was confident that she could keep her mouth shut without being told.

‘Master still treats me like a child.’

Alice imagined Fran’s stern face and shook her head to erase it, then looked at Zaryan.

He was engrossed in his own world, reading a thick book. Alice felt a little annoyed at the sight of him, as if it wouldn’t have mattered if she had been two or three hours late.

But that was also Zaryan’s charm.

‘Zaryan is a genius.’

Alice knew many geniuses.

Evan, Fran, the Red Tower Master, Isabel…

Alice didn’t admit it, but others saw her as a genius too.

Anyway.

Alice, who had directly taught Zaryan, thought that he might be a genius who surpassed them.

‘If only his mana sensitivity wasn’t so terrible.’

If Zaryan’s mana sensitivity had been excellent, the history of magic might have changed.

“Hey!”

Alice smacked Zaryan on the back to let him know she was there.

“Ah! You came?”

“I was a little late. Sorry.”

“Really?”

Zaryan didn’t seem to have been waiting at all.

“Didn’t you hear the bell a while ago?”

“Ah, I was reading this.”

Alice examined the cover of the book he was reading.

『Introduction to New Materials – Isabel Ronelli』

Fifteen days ago.

Something happened that surprised the world.

At the World Magic Superconductor Association seminar, a magic superconductor comparable to iron, Lac K, was announced.

Alice knew why K was attached.

It was Isabel’s mark to commemorate her father, Cameo, who first created Lac [a magical metal].

Anyway.

The versatility of Lac K was endless.

Even with trains, replacing some parts with Lac K would dramatically increase the maximum speed. Not to mention airships.

Among the examples of Lac K’s use that Isabel presented at the seminar, the one that turned the world powers’ eyes upside down was the magic cannon.

Even before Lac K appeared in the world, there had been attempts to use magic cannons using magic superconductors, but the magic superconductors could not withstand the explosion.

But then Lac K appeared.

The magic cannon demonstrated at the seminar had nearly doubled both the range and explosive power compared to the existing ones.

Those who watched the demonstration of the magic cannon all knew how much power it would exert on the battlefield, especially in situations where knights had difficulty moving, such as naval battles.

Just as the Bronze Age gave way to the Iron Age, the Iron Age was giving way to the Age of Magic Superconductors.

“Isabel is coming to the Magic Engineering Department as a professor soon. She sent the textbook she’ll be using yesterday, so I was reading it in advance.”

“Wow… When did Isabel make the textbook while researching Lac K?”

“I know. I’m worried about whether I can do well under such a great person.”

“Don’t worry! You can do it. I, who taught you, guarantee it.”

“Thanks, Alice.”

“I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.”

“Ah, okay.”

Alice grabbed Zaryan’s hand and headed to the restaurant she had been planning to go to with him. There was a rumor that if you ate there, you would definitely end up together.

Alice, who was called the Witch of Lightning in the ‘future’ and fell on the battlefield.

On a summer day when Ian Lionel, the prince of the Lionel Kingdom, succeeded in his comeback, her first love also began.

Alice was one of those who lived a completely different fate because of Evan.

***

South of the Arya Kingdom.

A deep sea, a huge cave.

The thing that was crouching its huge body opened its eyes.

It was the fourth head of Etrim [a multi-headed monster], which had the power to foresee the future.

Blink, blink.

The thing recalled the dream it had just had in its hazy mind.

A sea stained with blood and a sky full of human screams. Tremendous roars were heard from all directions. That was…

‘A magic cannon, huh.’

The thing tilted its head. Because the sound of the magic cannon in the dream was much louder than it knew.

‘How long have I been asleep?’

It could figure out how long it had been asleep from its seat. The eyes of the fourth head, which had been repeatedly closing and opening, gradually cleared.

‘Has it only been 4 years and 2 months?’

It was a strange thing.

Foresight was extremely burdensome even for Etrim. Therefore, it does not do it without offerings.

It had done such a thing unconsciously.

‘Why?’

No matter how much it thought about it, it didn’t know the reason.

It immediately wanted to receive the blood and flesh of the priestesses and peek further into the future it had seen in its dream.

The fourth head closed its eyes and quickly scanned the seven heads that were sleeping.

They were all fast asleep.

‘Is it the price for peeking into the future?’

The heads that should have woken up at the same time. Only it had woken up.

If it woke them up rashly, they would surely attack. Especially the violent second head would bite it in its sleep.

The fourth head had been eaten by the second head twice in its memory. No matter how much it regenerated, it doubted whether the newly sprouting head could be called the same as itself.

The thing gave up waking up the other heads and closed its eyes. It decided to figure out what had happened while it was sleeping.

The place it was most concerned about was the Lionel Kingdom.

Before falling asleep, it had seen a shooting star that had broken a jewel in the west and was holding onto a falling star in the sky, brightly illuminating the Arya Kingdom.

That was clearly an ominous sign for the Arya Kingdom.

It couldn’t help but wonder how the Arya Kingdom had reacted to its revelation after it fell asleep.

Evan Lionel.

The death of Amika Arya.

The division between the royalist and aristocratic factions.

The appearance of a royal serial killer.

Numerous pieces of information permeated the thing’s head. The fourth head found it difficult to suppress its rising anger.

The decline of the Arya Kingdom meant that its power was decreasing.

Just as it was about to devour the head of the foolish Arya king, a few more pieces of information entered the thing’s head.

Danar, the god of fate and time.

The divine beasts Harrion and Jirong.

Flinch.