Surviving As The 5Th Prince Of Hellman Kingdom [EN]: Chapter 61

061

In the Arya Kingdom, there is a shrine dedicated to an eight-headed dragon.

A local god not registered in the Pantheon [a collection of all recognized gods].

Etrimm.

Neighboring countries, except for Arya, call Etrimm a monster that devours divine beasts and demonic creatures, and summons typhoons.

“Your Majesty, the priestesses of Etrimm received a revelation last night.”

“It’s been a while. Tell me.”

The King of Arya sat on the bed, receiving the report from his chief attendant.

“A shooting star that broke through a jewel has caught a falling star, which will soon be your worries. That is all.”

He frowned slightly. Even at first hearing, it was not a pleasant revelation.

“Interpretation?”

“The jewel signifies the palace where the princes of the Lionel Kingdom reside, and the prevailing opinion is that the First Prince, who is on the path to becoming a 6-star knight, or the Fifth Prince, who has recently risen to prominence, is the shooting star.”

“The falling star?”

“Opinions are divided.”

“You mean you don’t know.”

“My apologies.”

The King of Arya was lost in thought for a moment.

He wanted to send assassins to eliminate both the First and Fifth Princes, but if the world were as he wished, he would have already conquered the Hamel Empire, not just the Lionel Kingdom.

After organizing his thoughts, he spoke.

“Has Stone Coffin Island been quiet recently?”

“It is said that there has been no particular movement since Admiral Cho took those useful pirates under his command.”

“The Fifth Prince of Lionel has been active there recently, cleaning up the guys Admiral Cho dismissed as unnecessary.”

“That is correct.”

“Send word to Admiral Cho.”

“Understood.”

He had been the chief attendant serving the King for a long time. There was no need to ask what to convey.

“Oh, and what is the sacrifice of the priestesses this time?”

“It is said that it will be difficult to receive any revelations for the next five years.”

“Tsk.”

***

I bit my lip, watching the six approaching ships gradually get closer.

Cho Bayley.

A 6-star pirate who suddenly appeared as if he fell from the sky or sprang from the ground. He united the pirates and created a massive pirate fleet. The flagship he commands is an ironclad ship made with the latest technology.

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

However, if the Arya Kingdom is backing him, it becomes a plausible story.

That’s right.

The Cho Bayley Pirates are an ‘unofficial’ privateer fleet supported by the Arya royal family.

‘At this time, he should be busy plundering the merchant ships of his own aristocratic faction, so why?’

Lionel Kingdom, which has nothing better than its neighboring countries in terms of technology, food, or resources. On top of that, there is the succession dispute between the First and Second Princes.

Considering the national crisis that will come in the future, it is a desperate situation.

But there was one fortunate thing.

Time.

There was definitely time to spare.

The princes of the Hamel Empire were engaged in a more intense battle for the Emperor’s throne than the kingdom. In addition, minority groups occasionally dreaming of independence would also start rebellions.

The King of Arya was seeking absolute monarchy, facing resistance from the aristocratic faction.

‘It’s not time to provoke the kingdom yet!’

The moment he completely wins over the aristocratic faction is the time when the seeds of the First Lia War sprouted.

It’s because of me.

They’re here to kill me.

I was convinced of that.

Half a year since I became aware of my past life. The flapping of my wings in the meantime had returned as a huge typhoon.

‘The Second Prince? The Second Queen? Or the general of Stone Coffin Island?’

I briefly thought about the culprit who led Cho Bayley here, but soon shook my head. That was not important now.

The first thing was how to escape this crisis.

“Wizard! Wind! Please summon a tailwind!”

“Don’t be so distracting, just wait, I’m doing it.”

The Kaikanic ship with all sails unfurled.

Mana swirled around Lydia, a cadre of the Lionel Guardian Army, and soon a tailwind blew.

Whoosh- Whoooooosh─

‘Weak.’

She was specialized in fire magic.

It was not enough to outrun the Cho Bayley Pirates’ ships, which were equipped with high-output magic engines led by ironclad ships.

I ran to the situation room. Reina and Loire, who were suffering from seasickness, hurriedly followed me.

“Communication from Stone Coffin Island! They are sending support right away!”

“That means they didn’t know at all! Even if they’re fast, it’ll take an hour! By the time they arrive, we’ll already be fish food! Maximize the engine output!”

“It’s already at its limit! It might explode!”

“It won’t explode!”

The captain was urging the crew. I approached him, who was shouting.

“Captain, if we engage in combat, how long can we hold out?”

“The Cho Bayley Pirates’ flagship is 50m wide and 13m wide, equipped with 64 Heiberon magic cannons…”

“I didn’t ask for the specifications. How long can we hold out?”

I frowned and interrupted him. If I had left him alone, he would have listed even the smallest devices that I didn’t even know about.

“… Less than 10 minutes. That’s only when facing the flagship alone. We’ll be unilaterally bombarded due to the difference in the range of the magic cannons and sink into the sea.”

“Where can we escape until the support from Stone Coffin Island arrives?”

“If we’re lucky, we might barely make it to Seungjeon Island…”

The captain said quietly, avoiding my gaze.

Perhaps he was thinking of somehow reaching Seungjeon Island, abandoning the ship, getting out of the range of the cannons, and waiting for support from Stone Coffin Island.

“We must not go to Seungjeon Island.”

“What do you mean!”

“Can Seungjeon Island withstand their shelling?”

“… The area near the harbor will be destroyed.”

The captain’s judgment was clouded by the life-threatening situation he was experiencing for the first time.

As far as I had observed him, he had never participated in a battle where his life was threatened. All he had done was shout “Fire!” at petty pirates.

I explained to the captain why we should not go to Seungjeon Island.

“One, 90% of the residents of Seungjeon Island live around the harbor. Are you saying we should kill them all?”

“…”

“Two, Cho Bayley is known as a 6-star pirate. If we land on Seungjeon Island, will he just watch from that ironclad ship?”

“Ah…”

The captain had a blank expression.

I looked around at the crew who were listening to the conversation. Everyone’s faces were dark, as if they were about to die.

I shifted my gaze to the large map attached to the situation room. It was a tactical map detailing the waters around Seungjeon Island.

I pointed to a place near Seungjeon Island, where two large rocky islands were side by side.

The passage passing through the two islands was called ‘Dragon’s Maw’ because it looked like the teeth of a dragon.

“We’re going here.”

“That’s impossible!”

The captain immediately protested.

“The currents around Dragon’s Maw become abnormally fast at night, and the direction of the currents changes frequently. There are also many reefs! Even the locals of Seungjeon Island don’t go there often! Above all…”

I know.

That’s why we’re going there.

I interrupted him and looked for Loire.

“Loire!”

“Yes? Yes!”

He was next to Reina, momentarily flustered, but soon answered loudly.

“You know this place well, right? Right?”

There’s no way he wouldn’t know.

It was there that Loire had achieved amazing feats in the ‘future’. He cautiously opened his mouth.

“Yes, I used to go fishing near there secretly from my mother.”

“You saw the speed at which the pirate ships were approaching earlier, right? Can the Kaikanic ship reach Dragon’s Maw faster than them?”

Loire looked out at the sea outside the situation room for a moment.

“If we navigate the sea route well, I don’t think they’ll catch up, at least.”

The captain immediately screamed.

“Y, you can’t be serious! You’re going to entrust the navigation of the Kaikanic ship to a kid who was a fisherman until a few days ago!”

It’s so noisy.

I felt like it would be more helpful to just put him to sleep since there was no time.

“Absolutely not! Above all, Dragon’s Maw has… Ugh!”

Thud.

I cleanly knocked the captain unconscious with a hand strike infused with mana.

“Gasp! Captain!”

The crew rolled their eyes, not knowing what to do at my sudden action.

I spoke to them.

“Unfortunately, the captain has temporarily lost consciousness. Therefore, from now on, I will command the Kaikanic ship. If you have any complaints, come find me later.”

Everyone became mute.

To motivate them, I spoke to the signalman.

“Contact Stone Coffin Island. Tell them that if the Kaikanic ship sinks, the Fifth Prince has promised to feed the crew’s families for life. And tell them to come running at full engine power. Also, make sure to tell them that if they delay and show up late, I’ll kill them all.”

The situation room was still silent.

“Aren’t you answering──!!”

I used mana to shout so loudly that the Kaikanic ship shook.

“Understood!”

“We will obey!”

Only then did everyone start moving busily.

Satisfied, I nodded and took Loire to the helmsman.

“Helmsman, consider this guy’s words as my words and follow them unconditionally.”

“Yes, sir!”

He answered immediately at the sight of me raising my hand and speaking. I was going to knock him out like the captain if he resisted, but I saved the trouble.

“Are you really okay with this, Your Highness?”

Loire asked me.

I quite liked the fact that he didn’t show much emotional turmoil in a potentially deadly situation.

“Why? Are you not confident?”

“No, I will definitely succeed. That’s how my family and friends can live, right?”

“Yes.”

And a little later.

“The distance isn’t closing!”

“How can this be!”

The helmsman and the crew looked at Loire with trembling eyes at the result that occurred just by Loire asking to move the ship’s wheel a few times.

Suddenly, a conversation I had with Loire on the deck on the way back to Seungjeon Island after the recent pirate suppression came to mind.

– Loire, what are you looking at so intently?

– Ah, I was just thinking that we could get there faster if we went that way.

– Aren’t we going straight to Seungjeon Island now? If we go that way, we’ll be going around, right?

– Uh… The sea route is shining so brightly.

The survivor who announced the existence of ‘Lord Loire’ in the ‘future’ also left a similar record.

‘It was as if the sea was guiding him, wasn’t it?’

I didn’t bother to ask in detail.

Even I had a series of things that were difficult for others to understand: past life, regression, ghost hand, status window….

There was something more important than that now.

I quickly moved my ghost hand and requested information from Genie [an AI assistant, like Siri or Google Assistant].

┕ Give me the dates, times, and coordinates in detail when the dragon’s ascension [waterspouts] was observed in Dragon’s Maw in the past year. In chronological order.

「Understood. First….」

There is a rumor that dragons live in Dragon’s Maw.

The waterspouts that soar into the sky from time to time and the tornadoes that form in the sea created such rumors. The residents of Seungjeon Island call it the dragon’s ascension.

I quickly scanned what Genie was telling me. I activated my brain using mana and found a pattern in the erratic records.

There would be days when the records were missing even though waterspouts had occurred, and there were also simple records that only stated the month and day without the time and coordinates.

Perhaps because I was so focused, the surrounding vision and sound were blocked. It was as if I was standing alone in front of a chat window full of records related to waterspouts.

A pattern in the irregularity.

Order in chaos.

Like a monk seeking truth, I searched for it.

And.

The missing records began to be filled.

The appropriate numbers filled the empty time and coordinates.

“Your Highness!”

I snapped back to reality at Loire’s call.

“There it is! That’s Dragon’s Maw!”

I raised the corners of my lips, looking at the place that looked like a dragon was opening its mouth.

“Thank you, Loire. And I’m sorry.”

“Yes?”