How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 63

Crunch, crunch.

An unusually loud crunching sound kept coming from the watchtower atop the city guard headquarters.

After handing a cookie to Bella, who had been staring intently at it, Rianus looked down from the watchtower.

“Neil, look over there. You can see the market we passed through this morning so clearly. Ah!”

Rianus flinched when he saw a child walking hand in hand with their mother trip over a stone and nearly fall. Fortunately, the child was held securely by their mother and didn’t hit the ground.

“Nerr, you certainly have good eyesight.”

Even at a distance where an ordinary person would have seen nothing more than a slight stumble, Rianus had been able to observe the market with remarkable clarity.

Nihil, who had pulled his hood over his head at some point, crunched on a cookie and pointed toward a standing sign in front of a shop.

“Can you see the writing on the sign in front of that yellow building?”

Rianus followed Nihil’s finger with his eyes, squinted slightly, and struggled to read the words aloud.

“U-Um… ‘All… in… gred… ients… pre… pared… to… day…’ Hmm, I’m not sure.”

“It’s impressive enough that you can distinguish the writing from this distance.”

“What does it say?”

“‘We’re closing early because we’ve sold out of all the ingredients prepared for today.’ Business must have been good.”

“Wow! Sir Evan, can you see it too?”

“…I can’t even find the sign.”

Evan, who was still searching for the yellow building Nihil had mentioned, answered with an awkward expression.

He glanced at Bella, wondering whether she had managed to spot the sign. He would feel a little offended if he were the only one who couldn’t find it.

However, Bella had never intended to look for the sign in the first place. She continued crunching on her cookie until Evan looked at her, at which point she quickly hid it behind her back as though she had no intention of letting anyone take it away.

Evan stared at her foolish-looking behavior with narrowed eyes, brushed the cookie crumbs from the corner of her mouth, and looked down from the watchtower again.

“You can’t find it because you’re only looking right in front of you. Look farther up.”

Nihil’s words were full of disdain, as though he couldn’t believe Evan still hadn’t found it.

Evan raised his gaze a little farther and finally spotted a pale yellow building in the distance.

It was so far away that all he could make out was the childish sign hanging above the building: Fairy Rest Stop. There was a white wooden board in front of the shop, but the writing on it was completely illegible.

Evan circulated his mana. A golden glow, similar to his aura, gathered in his eyes, and only then did the tiny writing come into faint focus.

“Tsk. If you can read that with the naked eye, you’re not human.”

Evan clicked his tongue as he looked at the sign, which bore exactly the sentence Nihil had recited.

Nihil immediately tattled to Rianus.

“Nerr, your knight just said you’re not human.”

“…! N-No! That’s not what I meant! You! Why would you put it like that?! Your Highness, that’s not what I meant at all…!”

Caught off guard by Nihil’s sudden attack, Evan stammered in a panic, even forgetting that he was supposed to avoid addressing Rianus as “Your Highness.”

Rianus lowered his head, muttering as though his feelings had been hurt.

“No… I suppose I can understand why he’d think that… I am a quarter-elf, after all…”

“Tsk. How disrespectful.”

With Nihil adding to the criticism beside him, Evan broke out in a cold sweat as he tried to explain himself.

Meanwhile, when the guard they had knocked unconscious began to stir, Evan didn’t forget to smack him on the back of the head to knock him out again. There was no denying that he was an excellent knight.

Rianus eventually burst out laughing. He wanted to tease Evan some more, but he simply wasn’t very good at hiding his emotions.

“Neil, I think I understand why you like teasing Sir Evan.”

“You’re also one of my favorite targets.”

“……”

Nihil handed the speechless Rianus another cookie.

Rianus obediently accepted it and took a bite.

Evan found him adorable and gently patted his little head before speaking.

“So, all I need to do is check whether any missing-person reports have been filed?”

“Yeah, puppy, do that. Nerr, could I ask you to go undercover?”

“Huh? Me?”

Rianus’s eyes widened at Nihil’s sudden request.

Nihil turned to Bella and continued.

“Take the kitty with you.”

“Oh! What should I do? I was getting so bored!”

Bella, who had grown tired of guarding them from the shadows, lit up with excitement and could barely contain herself.

Evan, on the other hand, seemed uneasy and lifted Rianus into his arms.

“What are you planning to make the young master do?”

“You’re more suitable than I am for talking to the children.”

“That may be true, but… You should both go together instead.”

Even if Bella followed Rianus after transforming into a cat, Evan still wouldn’t feel at ease.

Of course, even if Nihil accompanied Rianus, there would still be two children instead of one. Nevertheless, Evan thought it would be more reassuring than leaving the prince alone.

Nihil seemed to disagree, however, and shook his head.

“Then we won’t have an excuse to get him out.”

“You’re planning to get him out yourself?”

“Exactly. It would be troublesome if they found out he had another guardian. We could sneak him out, but either way, we need to spend a night in Sharton. The more attention we attract, the more restricted our movements will be.”

“Do we really have to go that far…?”

“No, Sir Evan. I can do it!”

“But, young master…”

“I’ll do it!”

Rianus’s eyes blazed with enthusiasm.

The thrilling undercover mission was about to begin.

I’ve always wanted to do something like this!

 

***

 

A child wandered around in front of the city guard headquarters, holding a cat in their arms.

Children usually came to the guards when they wanted help finding their parents, so the guards standing watch paid the child little attention.

Their appearance was filthy. They wore a pair of old, ill-fitting shoes that clearly didn’t belong to them, and their body bore signs of abuse.

One eye was wrapped in a bandage, as though it had been injured as well. From every angle, the child looked like someone who had been abandoned.

Yet despite being ignored, the child hesitated to leave.

When the cat in their arms meowed and licked their cheek, the child adjusted their hold on it and timidly approached a guard.

Only then did the guard acknowledge the child, as though he had just noticed them.

“Hey, little one. What’s the matter?”

“I-I lost my big br-brother.”

“Your brother?”

“He told me that if anything happened, I should go to the guards and wait… So…”

The child’s clear green eyes rolled nervously as they watched the guard’s expression. The cat in their arms meowed with a rather pitiful look on its face, too.

“Could I wait for my brother inside?”

“Of course. Where did you lose him?”

“I-I don’t know. I was playing with Kitty, and when I looked around, my brother was gone.”

“I’ll let you know when he arrives. Come with me.”

The guard exchanged a glance with the fellow standing watch beside him before leading the child inside. As they walked, he asked a few questions.

“Are you and your brother far apart in age? What does he look like?”

“He’s about as tall as me, and his hair is a little darker gray than mine. He always wears a hood.”

“Did he say he was going somewhere?”

“I don’t think so… But maybe I didn’t hear him.”

“Are you going to keep the cat with you?”

“C-Could I? I’ll hold it tightly so it won’t wander off.”

Perhaps thinking the guard would take the cat away, the child hugged it more tightly and looked up at him pleadingly. The cat meowed and clung to the child’s arms as well.

The guard smiled gently, guessing that the child might have lost track of their brother while chasing after the cat.

“You have to take good care of it, all right?”

“Y-Yes! I will!”

“Sit here and wait. Are you hungry? Would you like some bread?”

“Thank you. I already had lunch, so I’m fine without any bread.”

“You are?”

The guard tilted his head in puzzlement. He had never seen a child turn down food before.

Realizing his mistake, Rianus hurried to explain.

“M-My brother is really good at finding food. But if you’re offering, I’d be grateful to accept it. My brother didn’t get to eat much.”

Rianus faithfully followed Nihil’s instruction to blame his brother whenever he didn’t know what to say.

Fortunately, the guard didn’t seem particularly suspicious. He handed Rianus a small loaf of bread, briefly explained the situation to another guard, and went back outside to resume his watch.

Rianus settled into the chair provided and did exactly as Nihil had instructed: he sat still and stared blankly into space without doing anything.

If Nihil’s prediction was correct, it wouldn’t be long before a guard approached him again.

How much time had passed?

While Rianus gently stroked Bella, who was still in cat form, a guard who had been standing relatively nearby approached him.

“Little one, are you waiting for your brother?”

“Yes.”

“You’re the child who was wrongly accused of stealing bread earlier today, aren’t you?”

“Oh, yes!”

Now that he thought about it, this was the guard who had been with the man who gave him the copper coin.

“Why aren’t you eating the bread? Oh, right. The baker gave you some bread earlier, didn’t he? Did you enjoy it?”

“Yes, yes. I’m saving this bread for my brother.”

“You must be close to him.”

“Yes! We’re really close. He takes good care of me.”

Rianus smiled shyly as he spoke.

His innocent, clear smile made the guard smile back without even realizing it. He gently patted Rianus’s head.

“Was that little boy with you earlier your brother?”

“Yes!”

“Isn’t it boring waiting for him?”

“It’s really boring. I wish he’d hurry up and come back.”

“There are some other children in the room farther inside. Would you like to play with them? I’ll be sure to tell you when your brother arrives.”

At last, Rianus realized the moment he had been waiting for had come. He was about to agree immediately, but then remembered Nihil’s repeated instructions. He took a deep breath and asked again after a brief pause.

“…There are other children?”

“That’s right. Children around your age.”

“Then… okay.”

Rianus nodded and followed the guard.

Perhaps because he was a little nervous, he had tightened his grip on Bella without noticing. When she began to wheeze, he quickly loosened his arms.

The place they arrived at wasn’t a dark, gloomy dungeon, but a rest area and sleeping quarters for the guards.

As the door opened, a dozen or so pairs of eyes turned toward Rianus.

Some seemed wary of the unfamiliar child, while others looked curious.

The room wasn’t particularly small, but with around twenty children gathered inside, it felt extremely cramped. This was despite all the furniture having been removed to make room for them.

Rianus quickly surveyed the room. The children were sitting in groups of two or three, or sometimes five or six, forming roughly four or five separate clusters.

After telling Rianus to wait there, the guard turned and left.

A boy who looked to be around thirteen or fourteen approached him.

“I’ve never seen you before. Who are you?”

“My name is Nerr.”

“Who asked for your name? Which gang are you with?”