9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 186 - The Young Prince (2)

And the most powerful and ancient fear humans feel is fear of the unknown.

***

“Cough! Cough! Hagh! Gah!”

The child coughed violently as he opened his eyes. His chest felt like it might split apart from the pain, and breathing was difficult as if his lungs were filled with water.

“You’re awake?”

An unfamiliar, hoarse voice thick with phlegm spoke to him.

“Cough! Cough! Hah, who are you?”

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw a grimy middle-aged man. With his thick beard and gaunt frame, his worn robe gave him the appearance of a devout monk.

“Someone who lives in this underground lair. And also the person who saved your life.”

The man pointed at the child’s chest. No wonder it felt constricting—rags had been wrapped tightly around his torso to stabilize broken ribs.

The child thought about the risk of infection, then realized this was a sewer and dismissed the concern from his mind.

“Thank you.”

He tried to sit up but had no strength at all.

“Just lie still.”

The man rummaged through a pile of trash and lit a small campfire. As the surroundings brightened, his filthy face was clearly revealed.

“Don’t worry about the thugs. This is my hideout, so it’s safe.”

He brandished a sharp skewer.

Squeak!

A rat that had been trying to gnaw at the child’s toe died with a shriek. The man skillfully skinned it and roasted the meat over the fire.

“Eat up. You need to eat well to recover quickly.”

“Thank you, I—”

“Just call me mister.”

“Yes, mister. I’ll eat well.”

The child slowly tore off pieces of the rat meat skewered on the stick. It was disgustingly tough and flavorless.

The man brought food through theft or begging. When those weren’t options, he hunted rats or insects in the sewers to feed and care for the child.

The child’s recovery was unbelievably fast. Within less than ten days, all the bruises had faded and he could run around as usual.

“You’re all healed now. You can move around freely, little one.”

“Thank you for everything.”

The child politely bowed and stood up.

“What, leaving so soon? Do you have any way to make a living out there?”

“I can’t burden you any further.”

The man grabbed the child’s hand and sat him down on the dirty blanket.

“At least wait until tomorrow before you go. The sun’s already set.”

One day became two days, two became three, three became a week, and a week became a month.

The child learned begging and theft alongside the man. Surprisingly, he had a talent for pickpocketing too.

Sometimes they’d go out to the Mire River flowing through the city to fish, or catch animals in the grasslands.

Returning to the sewers for their meager meals, all sorts of quiet sounds would drift to them.

The crackling of the campfire, the drip-drop of water droplets falling from the sewer ceiling, the squeaking cries of baby rats.

Listening to these sounds somehow made him feel strangely comfortable and at peace.

***

That day, their luck was particularly good.

Thanks to finding an almost perfectly preserved cake and cheese in a trash bin, the two returned to the sewers early from their “work.”

“Ahem! Cough! Cough! Koff!”

While lighting a fire and eating dinner, the man coughed violently and spat up phlegm mixed with blood.

“Your cough is getting worse.”

“Hah, no need to worry. It’s a chronic condition.”

The man deflected the topic while grilling cheese over the fire.

“But now that you mention it, how did you end up in that state? I held back from asking while you were hurt, but I’ve been curious.”

“……”

The child blinked while feeling the warmth of the campfire.

“It was an initiation. They told me to stab someone in the throat. I just did what I was told.”

“I see.”

Instead of being surprised, the man simply nodded.

“Mister, why are people afraid of me?”

At the child’s question, the man fell into thought for a moment.

How much time passed? The man who had been throwing logs into the fire opened his mouth.

“This is about someone I knew.”

His voice was light and matter-of-fact.

“That guy was a mercenary captain. He followed some lord’s orders to hunt down bandits. Of course, they were only called bandits—most of the time they were innocent people.”

“……”

“Apart from getting blood on his hands, it was a pretty decent life. Work with a sword is easier the simpler your nature is, and that guy was exactly that type. He even got himself a fox-like wife and a rabbit-like child.”

The sound of breaking twigs gradually grew louder.

“And there was this lord’s son. A complete bastard who only cared about himself.

It was a cold winter day with heavy snow. The guy came home after wiping out bandits as usual, only to face a horrific scene. His wife being violated and his child crying. The perpetrator was the lord’s son.

Naturally, he chased down that bastard as he fled with his face pale as death and beat him to death. Then he took his wife and child and left the territory.”

The man looked at the child who was absorbed in the story and chuckled.

“They settled in Lüdelheim and lived peacefully. His family’s wounds gradually healed. During that time, the guy would observe high-born young masters, pick out the trash, kidnap them, and kill them repeatedly. It was revenge for his wife, or perhaps a ritual to cleanse himself of the guilt of failing to protect her.

But one day, his wife caught him in the act. She cried and screamed at him. ‘You murderer!’ When he tried to approach, she swung a knife and ran away with the child. Leaving the guy all alone.”

His voice, thick with phlegm, grew deeply sunken.

“The wife must have known. That the guy loved her with his very soul. That he could never harm her. But she felt extreme terror. Do you know why?”

“I don’t know.”

The child shook his head.

“People fear what they cannot understand. And they try to destroy that existence. Fear manifests as violence. Like a hedgehog, like a pufferfish, they raise their spines to protect themselves from an unknown opponent. It’s a deeply irrational act.”

“……”

The child thought it was a reasonable story. It aligned with the truth he had vaguely realized.

Fear and violence.

They were like two sides of the same coin.

“That’s how it is, little one. You’re different from ordinary people. Just as you can’t understand people’s fears, people can’t understand you. That’s why they hate you.”

“But I don’t hate people even when I don’t understand them.”

“And that’s another special thing about you.”

The man’s face reflected in the firelight was thin and weathered.

“Little one, the truth is I don’t understand you either.”

He stroked the child’s golden hair that had grown dull and brittle.

“How could I understand someone like you who’s had a piece of their heart torn away? No one will ever understand you. Remember that. That’s how you’ll survive.”

“……”

The man rustled through a bundle of newspapers. He’d collected them from the park to use as kindling.

“There was an advertisement like this.”

「Mysterious Circus Troupe!

The fattest man in the world!

The ugliest woman in the world!

The most frightening beast in the world!

The most spectacular aerial acrobatics in the world!

The most dazzling magic show in the world!

Meet all of this for just 100 pelts!」

He could see flashy illustrations and garish text in the small advertisement box.

“Circus troupes gather all sorts of peculiar oddballs. If it’s a place where people in your situation come together, it might be a little easier to live.”

The man placed the newspaper scrap in the drowsy child’s hand.

“Sleep well.”

The next day when the child woke up, the man had already passed away.

Looking at the man’s body that had grown cold, the child briefly pondered what he should do.

He’d actually already known the man was a fugitive criminal running from someone. Though the child had been born broken in some way, his perception was very sharp after all.

He looked down at the newspaper scrap the man had pressed into his hand.

A moment later, the child took some clothes and a bit of cash he’d found in the hideout and left the sewers. For the first time in his life, he boarded a train.

***

Though he traveled alone, he was never caught by police or bad adults.

The clothes found in the hideout were ordinary and clean, and fit the child perfectly. It was almost as if the man had bought them in preparation for such a day.

Getting off at a station in some provincial city, the child headed outside the walls. A large, colorful circus tent had been erected on the city’s outskirts.

“What? You want to join our circus troupe?”

The kindly ringmaster looked at the child and tilted his head.

“I’m brave.”

“Hmm?”

“And I’m light on my feet. I’m athletic too. I can do any kind of acrobatics.”

From his time with the man, if the child had learned one lesson, it was that he was an utterly alien existence. So much so that he couldn’t even share a sense of kinship with a serial killer.

Having experienced all sorts of things and still not knowing how to wear even a minimal mask would make him a fool.

Instead of ranting ‘I don’t know fear!’ the child decided to hide himself as much as possible.

The ringmaster took the child to the practice tent.

“If you’re really fearless and athletic, walking to the other side should be a piece of cake. The safety equipment is perfect, so don’t worry too much!”

Standing on the high platform, the child looked down at the narrow board. The rope tied around his waist and the soft mat spread below.

He stepped forward without any hesitation. Moving nimbly across the ten-setin board without the slightest wobble.

Troupe members who’d gathered to watch the applicant murmured.

“Not bad.”

When the magician expressed admiration, the tightrope walker nodded.

The child became the circus troupe’s youngest member.

After testing him in several acts, the ringmaster promoted the child as ‘the brave little prince from a distant land.’

The child would ride on lions performing tricks, pass through blazing hoops without batting an eye, or stick his arm into crocodile mouths. Jumping down from tall poles and landing was so easy he could barely suppress yawns.

The audiences were wild about the child.

His handsome appearance and heart-stopping performances were enough to captivate everyone’s attention.

And the elegant gestures that the child couldn’t erase no matter how much he acted—or rather, didn’t bother to erase.

The aristocratic refinement and composure revealed in every hand gesture and footstep mixed with the brilliant circus backdrop to create a strange allure.

The child traveled to various countries and cities with the peculiar people he’d never seen before in his life.

‘The fattest man in the world’ was certainly incredibly fat, and ‘the ugliest woman in the world’ was certainly so ugly you couldn’t bear to look. The dwarf was shorter than the child despite being an adult, and the magician could perform all sorts of amazing tricks.

But the one who always received the most attention was the child—’the prince from a distant land.’

“Hey, Prince! Payday came. This month was pretty good too.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it, you’re our troupe’s biggest draw. Why don’t you ask the ringmaster for a bonus or something?”

The circus people treated the child kindly.

The ringmaster always checked on the child’s health and asked in a warm voice if he had any difficulties. The performers would joke around with the child in a friendly way or always share any tasty snacks they got.

His pay came regularly too.

Of course, compared to the money the child brought in, it was a drop in the bucket, but the child didn’t care whether his salary was tiny or huge.

The child wanted only one thing.

‘I wish people would stop bothering me.’

Within days of joining, he realized the circus was far from that wish.

Audiences fascinated by the child would sneak into the dressing room demanding autographs or throw bouquets of flowers wildly.

But that much was tolerable. The circus troupe—these people here—were generally comfortable.

***

Three years passed.

The child learned many skills.

Horseback riding, aerial acrobatics, knife throwing, dancing, how to handle animals.

The circus used lions, crocodiles, dogs, and elephants in their acts.

The most recently added animal was snakes.

The child would enter a cage with snakes tamed by the trainer and perform the feat of sitting peacefully among dozens of serpents.

From massive, beautiful pythons to tiny thread snakes that could fit in your palm.

He would stroke the snakes coiled around his arms and legs, feed them dead mice, and display their scales that glittered different colors depending on the angle.

Audiences would cheer hotly at that strange beauty, even while being disgusted and repulsed.

It was in some rural village in Schufaben, on a small forest clearing where they’d pitched their tent.

Since it happened to be a day off with no audiences, the child entered the snake cage.

He was practicing as usual when, while the trainer was away, he noticed one fierce-looking snake.

Must be a new one. Did it get mixed in from the forest?

The moment he thought that, the snake struck his hand at lightning speed.