Surviving As The 5Th Prince Of Hellman Kingdom [EN]: Chapter 59

059

Berok was lying in ambush on a hilly area with a stream, along with the Lionel Guardian Army’s White Squad.

Thanks to the gurgling, strong water sounds, it was a good terrain where even the rustling of leaves couldn’t be easily noticed.

He recalled the face of the Fifth Prince, pointing at the current location on the map and giving instructions.

– The twin pirates’ vice-captain and his direct subordinates will pass through this valley. Lead the White Squad and take care of them.

Everyone in the Third Order of Knights knew that the Fifth Prince was incredibly clever.

There were reserve members who were almost scammed but saved by his casual remarks, senior knights who deserted their solo units after finding good connections, and so on.

At first, the members of the Third Order of Knights desperately avoided getting involved with the Fifth Prince. But at some point, they began to subtly circle around him and wield their swords whenever the Fifth Prince appeared.

‘Will they really come this way?’

Still, Berok was half-doubtful.

He reached for his greatsword.

‘How did he even get this?’

It was a greatsword that the Fifth Prince had given him to use temporarily, apologizing for breaking his beloved sword.

Of course, it wasn’t as good as his broken beloved sword, but it wasn’t something to be used temporarily. It was a proper greatsword.

What surprised Berok the most was.

‘It’s not a greatsword you can get just anywhere.’

It seemed to be a greatsword made in the smithy of the Biden Territory in his hometown, the Northwest. It wasn’t something you could get in the East.

What was even more absurd was that Drake, an executive of the Lionel Guardian Army, had also received an axe of similar design to his broken axe to use temporarily.

As far as Berok knew, that was an axe that could only be obtained in the Northern region.

There was only one thing he could think of.

‘Was he planning this from the start!’

It meant that he had brought his greatsword and Drake’s axe with him when he came to the East, anticipating that they would be broken.

In other words, the two of them at the assembly point were performing tricks that the Fifth Prince wanted, right in the palm of his hand. Just like puppets.

Berok felt a chill down his spine.

He suddenly craved a cigarette.

He often heard that he lacked consideration, but he wasn’t the type to smoke during an operation. He took out magic grass from his pocket, put it in his mouth, and chewed it.

And then.

((A village will appear if we go a little further!))

((Soon, we’ll have tender young girls… Hehehe.))

Arya language, chattering through the strong valley water sounds, was heard.

‘They really came!’

Berok spat out the magic grass he was chewing and reached for his greatsword. The pirates began to cross the valley, unaware that they were sticking their heads into the tiger’s mouth.

***

Among the teams divided for the pirate extermination, the one with the strongest force was naturally the one I belonged to.

Me.

Three escort knights.

Berok.

Three White Squads of the Lionel Guardian Army.

… And Alfonso as a bonus.

Even without me, there were two 5-star knights, two 4-star knights, and three hundred Lionel Guardian soldiers including a mage.

Naturally, I came to deal with the pirates who possessed the strongest force among those whose routes I had identified through [The Library].

The Twin Pirates, numbering over 300.

A pirate group created by twins who had committed violent crimes such as robbery, murder, and arson since childhood, with both the captain and vice-captain being 5-star pirates.

It was a pirate group with the power of a decent baronial family. A head-on collision would inevitably result in significant sacrifices for the Lionel Guardian Army.

But I’m not stupid, and I have no intention of confronting them head-on.

I stared with cold eyes at the pirates, including the captain, who were entering the canyon, and checked the time.

‘Berok must have ambushed the pirates led by the vice-captain by now.’

Berok, with his strong troublemaker tendencies, didn’t have anyone suitable to team up with, so I just brought him along.

Still, I know he’s not the type to harm the Lionel Guardian soldiers. He’s been ordered to ambush with the White Squad and take care of the Twin Pirates’ vice-captain.

After confirming that all the Twin Pirates had entered the canyon, I turned to Alfonso next to me.

“Alfonso, fire the signal flare.”

“Yes, sir!”

Whoosh- Bang!

Towards the guys passing through the canyon, oil drums, fire magic from the mages, and fire arrows rained down.

Swish- Swish- Boom!

Whirr!

((Ugh!))

((Enemy attack! It’s an enemy attack!))

The guys who hadn’t even imagined an ambush and hadn’t even set up scouts were in utter chaos.

((Save me!!))

((Fire! Kuahhh!))

((It’s hot! Keuaaa──!))

A one-sided fire show.

The unpleasant smell of the pirates burning filled the canyon. It was the end of the guys who had always attacked first and never been attacked.

Only after the screams and flames had subsided a bit did I slowly descend into the canyon. The knights protected me on three sides, preparing for any possible attacks.

The captain of the Twin Pirates was alive.

((You guys…))

It must be thanks to blocking the flames using magic. Still, his whole body was scorched, he had severe burns here and there, and an arrow was stuck in his forearm.

Well, it wasn’t enough to kill him.

((How, how did you know we were passing through here. Only my brother knows… Could it be that he betrayed us!))

Arya language, sounding like whining.

He seemed so curious that I answered him in their language.

((Keeping a diary is a great hobby, isn’t it?))

((?))

He had a look of incomprehension.

Well, the only one who can understand what I just said is Barisada, who knows that I can acquire the information he wrote in his diary through [The Library].

The captain seemed to think I was mocking him, and his face, already red from the burns, turned crimson.

((You son of a bitch!!))

He got up and held his glaive [a polearm weapon] in his hand. Reina reflexively tried to jump out. I stopped her.

“Your Highness?”

“I’ll handle it.”

((I’ll drag you to hell with me!))

Whoosh─!

The captain’s glaive, kicking off the ground, emitted a chilling sword cry. I drew [Barisada].

Woo Woong──!!

((!!))

The howling, the song of the sword ringing without being surrounded by swordsmen, dyed his face with astonishment.

((What kind of sorcery is this!!))

The guy who had already rushed right in front of me slashed his glaive diagonally.

Evan-style Lionel Imperial Swordsmanship, Form 2.

‘Sky Cut.’

Sharr─ Swish!

The bisected glaive and the captain’s head flew into the air simultaneously.

Clang, Thud!

「Can’t you use another sword? Make sure to wipe the blade clean. It feels like there’s oil stains on the window.」

Listening to Barisada’s grumbling, I picked up the guy’s head. He was staring with disbelieving eyes.

I threw it to Alfonso like throwing away trash.

“Take good care of it.”

“Ugh!”

I kicked over the headless captain’s body lying sprawled on the ground. A necklace made by piercing human ears appeared.

You could tell just by the shape and color.

All of them belonged to the people of the Lionel Kingdom.

It was the pirates’ hobby to collect as many rare-shaped ears as possible.

I carefully picked it up with both hands and handed it to Alfonso.

“Bury it in a sunny place.”

“Understood.”

He received it as if receiving a precious treasure.

I turned my head and watched the Lionel Guardian Army checking if there were any pirates pretending to be dead.

((… Keueueue))

((I, surrender, sa save… Keok!))

The pirates who committed murder and arson as if breathing.

There was one principle for taking surrendering pirates as prisoners.

Not wearing an ear necklace.

Unfortunately, not a single prisoner was taken.

***

After eliminating another pirate group led by a 4-star mage after the Twin Pirates, I returned to the Godron Territory, which served as a base camp.

I took a bath and then took a nap.

The physical and mental fatigue accumulated on the battlefield where blood and flesh fly is different from usual. There is something that cannot be resolved by mana training alone. Therefore, sometimes it is necessary to recharge the mind and body by simply sleeping.

Knock, knock.

“Your Highness, it’s time to wake up.”

I opened my eyes at Alfonso’s knock, got out of bed, and stretched my stiff body.

Crack, crack.

After finishing stretching with a refreshing sound, I simply washed my face and took off my pajamas to change clothes.

Before putting on my clothes, I briefly looked in the mirror.

About half a year since realizing my past life.

It was the body of a proper knight. In fact, if you press [Stats] on the status screen, it exceeds the level of a decent knight trainee.

Both height and muscles, it was an absurd growth rate. If it were my previous life, I would have been suspected of using drugs.

I chuckled, then finished changing my clothes and went outside. I headed to the conference room with Alfonso, who was waiting, and the escort knight Vernon. The personnel who had completed their assigned missions were already in their seats.

Everyone except the two teams who went to eliminate the pirates whose locations were urgently identified through [The Library] was gathered.

As soon as I appeared in the conference room, everyone’s eyes were on me.

“…”

“…”

A strange silence flowed.

Everyone stared at me like looking at a ghost until I went to the head seat. Eventually, I opened my mouth first.

“Everyone came early. In the process of eliminating the pirates, some of the kingdom’s warriors passed away. Before starting the meeting, let’s take a moment to honor them.”

Only then did everyone straighten their eyes and the commemoration for those who died during the operation began.

Thus began the second operational meeting.

“… So, it seems that the pirate groups, including the 5-star individuals that the Seokham Island Navy handed over, have been eliminated. Now, all that’s left are the small-scale pirate groups…”

It was easier to identify the location or movement route of large-scale pirate groups through [The Library]. Thanks to the ‘navigation logs’ they wrote.

Sometimes there were guys who had a hobby of writing diaries like the captain of the Twin Pirates.

The problem is small-scale pirate groups.

In the data given by the Seokham Island Navy, there were several pirate groups for which they couldn’t even grasp the basics, such as who the captain was or what the pirate group’s name was.

‘It’s hard to pinpoint their location.’

Most of them didn’t even have navigation logs. Well, most of them probably don’t even know how to read. The fatal flaw of [The Library] was that there had to be a ‘record’ to acquire information.

In fact, the achievements made in the past week alone were enough to return to the royal capital.

They quickly eliminated the guys that the lords of the baronies and viscounties had difficulty removing with their military power in just a week.

Now, it has become possible to suppress them with just the lords’ military forces without much damage. But it takes time, and the damage to the kingdom’s people will increase accordingly.

‘There are still about 3 weeks left.’

If possible, I wanted to wipe out even the small-scale pirate groups and return to the royal capital.

“Unfortunately, it is not easy to pinpoint the location of small-scale pirate groups. Therefore, everyone will search their assigned areas and immediately eliminate any pirate groups they discover. First, this area here…”

I pointed to the map with the pointer and told them their respective assigned areas.

The people gathered in the conference room looked at their assigned areas with serious eyes.

“I plan to gradually narrow the net while searching the areas assigned to each of you. I hope the knights and executives in charge of the coastal areas will pay special attention to prevent the guys who landed in the East from going back out to sea.”

There were no other opinions.

Everyone just nodded. It was because everything I had said at the first operational meeting had already come true.

Just as I was about to wrap up the meeting.

Lionel Guardian Army executive, Kaina, raised her hand.

“But Your Highness doesn’t have an area to be in charge of, are you going to command from the rear this time?”

“No. I’m going to Seungjeon Island here.”

I pointed to the large island between the eastern coast and Seokham Island with the pointer.

“Surely there will be pirates who temporarily escape to the sea to avoid us. I plan to sink the pirates who escape here with some of the Seokham Island Navy.”

In addition, I was going to achieve the last purpose of finding the East besides eliminating pirates and healers.

‘Loir Shin.’

The unfortunate admiral who blocked 13 Arya warships with only one ship in his first and last battle as a captain.

He, who has not yet had his coming-of-age ceremony, is on Seungjeon Island.

I couldn’t let him meet such a futile death, sinking into the sea with the island nation guys again this time.