How the Prince Makes Friends – Chapter 151

Author: isuzuuy

‘Kill it.’

‘…What do you mean?’

‘It was quite irritating.’

‘…….’

‘Why are you hesitating? Haven’t you been doing this all along?’

‘…There’s a puppy the Second Prince brought with him. I’ll take care of that one first…’

‘No. That one is what irritates me. The white one.’

‘…….’

‘Besides, haven’t you already killed countless young beasts?’

‘…But a beast’s cub and a human child are different.’

Evan wanted to retort, asking if the man had any idea how much that little creature could talk, but he kept his mouth shut.

‘I’ve heard people call it a divine creature or a sacred beast. If you simply think of it as a beast in human form, there shouldn’t be any difficulty.’

‘But…’

‘It would be best to kill it quickly. Well, honestly, I suppose it wouldn’t matter if you took your time. But the more attached you become to it, the more troublesome things will get, won’t they? For that half-breed, and for you as well, Sir Evan…’

‘…….’

‘You… have a younger sister, too, don’t you?’

‘…I under…, stand.’

‘If you wish to protect your younger sister, you will have to obey without question.’

Bang!

Evan slammed his beer mug onto the table. By now, half the table was covered with empty beer mugs.

Those red eyes, which had curved so gracefully, wouldn’t leave his mind. The metallic taste of blood lingered in his mouth, where his lips had finally burst after he lost control of his temper.

‘…Damn it…’

The tavern owner watched him cautiously before collecting the empty mugs. Evan hadn’t ordered any food, but someone had quietly left a plate of grilled skewers on the table.

I’m not getting drunk at all.

Perhaps ordering the beer he was most accustomed to had been a mistake. Evan drained the rest of his mug and called for the owner, asking for the strongest liquor they had.

‘…Do you have enough money?’

At the cautious question, Evan’s brow twitched slightly. But considering how much he had already drunk, he took out his purse and handed it to the tavern owner.

‘Is it not enough?’

‘…No. What about something to eat?’

‘Don’t need it.’

‘It’ll upset your stomach.’

‘Just bring me the liquor.’

If only he could disinfect the filth inside him with alcohol.

Evan lifted the beer mug he was still holding, hoping to soothe his aching stomach, only to find it empty. He roughly ran a hand through his hair.

‘Haa…’

Our little kitty is waiting for me.

He had gone out to see Aril, but he couldn’t bring himself to head back, and had been sitting in a tavern for several hours already.

By now, the sun was slowly sinking, its deep red glow spilling across the sky. The sight of that red reminded him of the Queen’s eyes, and a torrent of emotions surged up inside him.

I should have accepted it when my master tried to reject me from the knight examination. He must have had a good reason for doing so.

Who did I think I was?

Where did everything go wrong?

***

One day, his master had told him to take the apprentice knight examination and handed him the enormous sum of fifty gold coins.

He said he would be too busy to visit for a while, but Evan had seen him off, promising that he would continue training diligently on his own.

However, not long after his master left, his father, who had gone hunting, returned after suffering an accident.

It was the kind of accident… that was all too common for a hunter.

Evan had no time to grieve. His mother, who had been looking after his younger sister at home, began to waste away after seeing his father return with barely enough of him left to recognize.

To make up for his father’s absence, Evan hunted even harder. Even when he and his father had both been earning money, things had been tight. Now he would have to work twice as hard.

One day, when his life consisted of nothing but hunting and training, Evan went to bed early because he was a little tired.

As always, once the moon rose, Aril’s incessant cries began to ring out, but he ignored them. It seemed her medicine had run out again. His mother would take care of it.

He was simply too exhausted to worry about even that little thing.

But the cries of the child, which seemed to pierce straight into his brain, made it difficult for Evan to fall asleep.

He considered getting up, but there was nothing he could do even if he did. Without medicine, all they could do was endure it until the child grew so exhausted that she collapsed on her own.

Through the cries that sounded almost like screams, he could occasionally hear his mother’s voice trying to soothe Aril. No, rather than soothing her, it sounded more like pleading.

‘Baby, please… Please stop crying. Please…’

‘Waaaah!’

But the only result was that the little one cried even harder, as though she might choke on her own sobs.

Irritated, Evan pulled the blanket over his head. The thin sheet did little to block out the noise, but at least he wanted to put some distance between himself and it.

‘Waaah, uh, ugh…’

Then the child’s cries grew quieter. No, rather than quieting down, they sounded as though something was blocking them.

Evan tried to ignore it and go to sleep, but a chill ran down his spine. He cautiously lowered his blanket to look.

The thin moonlight filtering through the curtains illuminated his mother’s silhouette. And he could also make out Aril, choking in her mother’s hands.

‘……!’

Evan threw off his blanket and rushed out, grabbing his mother.

‘Mother, please don’t! Mother! Please!’

‘Waaah! Hic, waaah!’

With her airway freed, Aril began crying again.

‘Let go, Evan! I was wrong to try to raise this child! How could we possibly afford to care for a sick child? What is this little thing worth that I can’t give up on her, even though it’s making you suffer like this…!’

His mother had been unable to get a proper night’s sleep for days, no, for nearly five years since Aril was born. She was utterly exhausted.

They had never gone hungry, yet the skin beneath her eyes was deeply sunken, and her wrists were so thin that Evan felt they might snap if he squeezed them.

‘Mother, I-I have money! The money my master left me! It’s a lot! We can even pay for Father’s funeral, which we haven’t been able to afford yet, and Aril’s medicine will be taken care of for quite some time!’

In the end, Evan had no choice but to hand over the money his master had given him for the knight examination.

Master will be disappointed if he finds out.

Of course he’ll be disappointed.

But selfishly, rather than being overwhelmed by the thought that he might disappoint his master, Evan was devastated by the reality that he could no longer become a knight like him. He sobbed his heart out where his mother couldn’t see.

Perhaps because his regret was too great, the next day, Evan couldn’t bring himself to give up just yet. He paid for six months’ worth of Aril’s medicine in advance, then headed to the place where applications for the apprentice knight examination were being accepted with the remaining ten gold coins.

‘Ten gooold?! Are you out of your mind?! Get lost!’

‘I-I’ll find a way to earn the rest! P-Please, just let me submit my application in advance.’

‘Hey, I said no! And don’t even think about borrowing money somewhere else! The moment you borrow it, your life is over! Even if you’re lucky enough to become an apprentice knight, do you think getting promoted is easy? There are plenty of people who spend their entire lives as nothing but knights’ errand boys!’

‘P-Please, isn’t there anything you can do?’

‘Hah! Unless your talent suddenly explodes and you miraculously become capable of wielding Aura…’

‘I-If I can use Aura, can I become a knight?’

‘Of course! Aura users are incredibly rare! The nobles—no, even the Royal Palace would immediately accept an Aura user as a knight… Wait, how old are you?’

‘F-Fifteen.’

‘Fifteeen? With that build? I thought you were at least eighteen! You’re still a greenhorn! How long have you been learning swordsmanship?’

‘I’ve been learning properly for about three years.’

In reality, he had only received lessons once or twice a month, but he’d still learned swordsmanship. And it had been taught to him by none other than the Deputy Captain of the Royal Knights, so Evan was rather proud of it.

‘Then train for another ten years or so. Or bring me fifty gold.’

‘B-But…!’

‘Off you go now, kid. I’ve entertained you long enough. Oh, and keep in mind that there’s only one month left until the knight examination application period closes.’

‘Th-Then, how does one learn to use Aura?’

‘If I knew that, would I be sitting here instead of being a knight?! Now get out of here!’

After being kicked out, Evan headed straight home without looking back. He grabbed his true two-hander and went into the forest.

Aura… If only I could produce Aura…

Then I could become a knight. A wonderful knight like my master.

Evan could never forget the time he had been chased by orcs. More precisely, he could never forget the sight of his master, shining brilliantly as he cut down the orcs in a single stroke.

For the next month, he did nothing but swing his sword like his life depended on it. He also hunted more monsters in preparation for when his money ran out. Bigger and stronger ones.

There wasn’t a day when the smell of monster blood left his body. He had pushed himself so hard that he had nearly died several times, yet there was no sign of Aura appearing. At times, he even began to doubt himself.

Then, when a faint golden haze finally rose from his body, Evan didn’t have time to reflect on some sudden revelation. He simply slung his true two-hander over his shoulder and ran as fast as he could.

‘Mister! Mister!!’

‘Who are you calling mister, you brat?!’

‘Aura! Aura! I’ve produced Aura! P-Please, let me submit my application for the knight examination!’

‘Aura, my foot! Do you think something like that can just appear so easily?!’

‘I-It’s true! L-Look at this!’

But no matter how hard Evan tried, the Aura that had appeared by chance refused to show itself again.

‘You little punk! I know it’s the last day to apply, but don’t think you can just get in here without paying!’

‘I-I’m not lying! I really did produce Aura! Golden Aura!’

‘Then go ahead and show me!’

But in the end, Evan failed to produce Aura before the application deadline.

‘Ah…’

Tears welled up in his eyes. Was this really the end? Would he truly never become a knight like his master?

‘You brat! Why is a man crying?! I’ll give you one more hour…!’

‘A monster!’

‘A monster has appeared!’

‘……!’

At the word monster, Evan instinctively grabbed his sword and ran toward the source of the commotion. The man behind him shouted something, but Evan couldn’t hear him properly.

He heard something crashing. When he reached the source of the noise, he found a troll.

Trolls were large and sluggish, but their skin was tough and their regenerative abilities exceptional. Only knights could fight them. A crowd of guards had gathered, but all they could do was lure the monster elsewhere or buy time until a knight arrived.

Evan had never fought a troll before, either. The one before him was slightly smaller than the trolls he knew, but he didn’t dare imagine that he could defeat one.

Still, if its hide was so tough that he couldn’t wound it anyway, wouldn’t it be better to hit it with his own heavy, oversized sword?

As he was thinking this, he saw a child fleeing from the monster trip and falling to the ground.

‘Waaah!’

At the sound of the little child’s cries, Evan rushed forward on instinct. For just a moment, he felt as though his sword had become lighter than usual.

Slice!

He was briefly delighted by the familiar sensation traveling through his hands, but a split second later, a burst of blue fluid splattered across his vision.

Splash!

Then something warm poured down over his head. Evan hurriedly retreated, wiped his face with his sleeve, and raised his sword again.

But just as he was about to turn around, a heavy thud rang out, and a powerful tremor traveled through the soles of his feet.

‘……?’

As Evan stood there in confusion, someone murmured in the silence.

‘I-Is it dead?’

‘I-It is! The troll is dead!’

‘Was that a knight? Has a knight arrived?’

‘Oh, heavens! Laura! My baby!’

‘Mooom!’

Evan stood there dumbfounded for a moment.

Did a knight arrive while I wasn’t looking? Where is the knight? If I ask him how to use Aura, will he teach me?

But then Evan shook his head and returned to the man who was accepting applications for the knight examination.

He had vaguely heard the man say he would wait another hour. If he just kept trying a little longer, he might be able to do it. Searching for a knight whose whereabouts he didn’t even know would be a waste of time.

‘Here. Take the application form.’

‘……?’

Evan tilted his head as he looked at the application form suddenly held out to him.

‘You don’t need to see my Aura?’

‘Didn’t I see it earlier? It was a brilliant golden light, just like the sun.’

‘…What do you mean…?’

‘You know the deadline has already passed, right? Hurry up and fill it out.’

‘Y-Yes!’

Evan hurriedly began filling out the application. He didn’t quite understand what was going on, but it was a good thing.

‘Why do you want to become a knight?’

At the man’s sudden question, Evan stopped writing and thought for a moment.

Why did he want to become a knight?