How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 66

Nihil was watching Rianus passionately boast about how amazing his older brother was, chuckling to himself. The way the boy chattered away was unbearably cute.

Whenever Rianus hesitated over one of his not-quite-lies, Nihil didn’t forget to give the wall a light tap to reassure him that it was all right.

Of course, every time Nihil tapped the wall, Rianus’s collection of not-quite-lies grew longer. But Nihil didn’t seem to mind at all. If anything, he happily laughed them off.

Watching this, Evan felt vaguely uncomfortable, as though Nihil were turning the prince into a liar. He opened his mouth with a disgruntled expression.

“Don’t indulge him so much. If you spoil His Highness, are you going to take responsibility for it?”

“What’s there to spoil? Children exaggerate a little when they talk. Besides, shouldn’t someone as important as a prince know how to brag?”

“How is that exaggerating? He’s practically writing a whole novel! Where exactly is this strong, fast, excellent hunter of an older brother?”

“You’re a knight yourself, aren’t you? Surely you’re strong, fast, and good at hunting.”

“……”

Evan was rendered speechless.

Of course, the “older brother” the prince was talking about was the little wildcat right in front of him. But if he really thought about it, couldn’t Evan play the role of the older brother?

Not a bad idea, actually.

To be the older brother of their adorable, precious little kitten! What greater honor could there be?

Evan imagined Rianus following him around, calling him his older brother, and grinned foolishly.

“You really are simple-minded.”

“……”

Damn wildcat.

Realizing he had been made fun of yet again, Evan straightened his face and glared at Nihil. Nihil seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself as he gave a sly smile and spoke.

“Well, as long as I look convincing enough, that should be fine, shouldn’t it?”

Evan narrowed his eyes at that, but soon tilted his head, wondering if Nihil might actually be right.

Come to think of it, the wildcat had carried the prince around for quite a while without any trouble. For a child, he seemed to have considerable strength and stamina. Evan had never seen his skills properly, but he certainly looked like he could move quickly. And hunting… Well, perhaps he could hunt, too.

“Looks like we’ve gathered a reasonable amount of information. It’s about time we went to get him.”

As Evan was turning this over in his mind, Nihil muttered to himself. He picked up a suitably sized pebble and tossed it into the air, catching it several times.

“What are you planning to do?”

“……”

Evan watched Nihil fiddling with the pebble and asked uneasily, wondering if the little menace intended to break a window or something.

Nihil didn’t answer. He stared into the distance as though concentrating on something, then glanced at Evan before speaking in an indifferent voice.

“I can’t let my little brother become a liar.”

With that, Nihil threw the pebble straight into the sky.

The instant it left his hand, there was a thwack! A moment later, something fell to the ground with a soft thud.

“……”

Evan stared stupidly at the fallen rock pigeon.

…He hunts with pebbles?

Of course, it was possible to hunt with a pebble. But people generally used tools. A slingshot, for instance, or at the very least, a primitive throwing sling.

The wildcat rolled his shoulders a few times, as though they were stiff, then jerked his chin toward the fallen bird.

“Go fetch it, puppy.”

“……”

You little wildcat, you really are something else…

 

***

 

Holding the rock pigeon by one wing in a single hand, Nihil approached the guard standing watch in front of the city guard headquarters.

He had sent Evan off to run another errand.

The guards looked somewhat taken aback when a small child who appeared to be only six or seven years old came trudging toward them with his hood pulled low over his head and a dead pigeon in his hand.

Nihil approached the guard Rianus had spoken to earlier and opened his mouth.

“I’m looking for my little brother. Has he come here?”

“Ah, so you’re that child’s older brother.”

Seeing Nihil’s height, similar to that of the little boy who had come earlier, and the hood pulled over his head, the guard nodded, convinced that he must be the boy’s brother.

He couldn’t see much of Nihil’s hair, but judging by the circumstances, he was certain this was the right child. Saying he would show him the way, the guard led him inside.

Every guard they passed glanced at the dead pigeon in Nihil’s hand, but Nihil paid them no attention and simply followed the guard.

“Your little brother should be inside, playing with the other children. But… that pigeon…”

“Dinner.”

“…Dinner?”

“Yeah.”

Nihil looked once at the guard, who was eyeing the pigeon with an uncertain expression, then at the bird in his own hand. Suddenly, he held it out to the guard.

“Hold this for me.”

“Huh? What?”

“The other kids might be scared of it.”

“Uh, all right. I will.”

“It’s our dinner, so don’t lose it.”

“R-right. Understood.”

The guard accepted the pigeon before he quite realized what was happening. He then asked another guard to take over the task of guiding Nihil and headed back with the bird.

The guard who took over the escort duty looked a little awkward, but dutifully carried out his task.

“This is the place. I’ll call your little brother. What’s his name?”

“Nerr.”

“…All right.”

Nihil’s curt, matter-of-fact replies left the guard with a peculiar feeling, though he wasn’t particularly offended. He simply thought the boy was a little unusual.

When the guard carefully opened the break room door, every child inside turned to look at him.

The room had originally been filled with simple furniture and temporary beds, but now it was packed with grubby children.

The guard felt slightly overwhelmed by the sudden silence in the break room. He cleared his throat a few times before looking for Nerr.

“Who’s Nerr? Your older brother has come to get you…”

The moment he said your older brother, every child turned to look behind the guard. They all tried to act as though they weren’t interested, but naturally, they were curious about the person claiming to be Nerr’s brother.

“Nerr, your brother’s here to get you!”

“Yeah!”

When Kane called out to him, Rianus beamed and jumped to his feet.

Beyond the doorway, Nihil still had his hood pulled deeply over his head, peeking inside with only his face visible.

The other children were briefly at a loss for words. Nihil looked nothing like the impressive older brother they had imagined. But Rianus, oblivious to their reactions, didn’t hesitate for a second. He dashed forward and threw himself into Nihil’s arms.

“Big brother!”

“Whoa! Hey—”

The guard was startled by Rianus’s sudden dash and tried to stop him. But when Nihil effortlessly caught the boy, the guard hesitated and withdrew his outstretched hand.

Nihil chuckled softly and patted Rianus on the back as the boy nestled against him.

The warmth of a child’s body was deeply comforting. Before long, the cat leaped up and settled on Nihil’s shoulder as well.

“Nerr, I came to get you.”

“Yeah!”

As Rianus and Nihil enjoyed their reunion, Kane cautiously opened his mouth.

“Nerr, um… is this really your older brother?”

“Yeah! He’s my brother!”

Regardless of the children’s dubious expressions, Rianus rubbed his face against Nihil’s, proudly claiming him as his older brother.

Nihil turned to the guard, who was standing there blankly, and spoke to him, partly to buy the puppy some time to finish his errand.

“Mr. Guard.”

“Y-yes? What is it?”

“Can I play here for a little while before we leave?”

“Uh, sure. Go ahead.”

The guard was a little taken aback. The boy hadn’t asked to stay the night, only to play for a while. Since he had no intention of stopping the children from playing, he readily excused himself and left.

Rianus found Nihil’s behavior a little puzzling, but quickly dismissed his doubts, deciding that his brother must have a reason for it.

Once the break room door closed again, Kane cautiously approached them.

“Uh, hi. I’m Kane.”

“Neil.”

Nihil replied briefly, still holding Rianus in his arms.

Kane looked confused for a moment, wondering what Nihil meant by that short response. Then he realized it was the boy’s name, and his eyes widened slightly.

“Oh, your name is Neil.”

“Yeah.”

“Ah, haha. Ahahaha…”

Unlike the bright-eyed, cheerful Nerr, Nihil was mature and taciturn, leaving Kane to laugh awkwardly.

Despite the awkward atmosphere, the oblivious Rianus squirmed in Nihil’s arms and pulled a bundle of cookies out of his brother’s bag.

“Kane, have some.”

“Huh? W-what are these?”

“Cookies. There aren’t many, but let’s share them with everyone.”

“Oh, th-thanks.”

Kane wanted to ask where Nerr had gotten such a luxurious treat, but somehow, he suspected the answer would simply be, My brother packed them for me. So he decided to accept them without asking.

Since the cookies had come out of Nerr’s brother’s bag, Kane glanced at Nihil, wondering if he might get angry. But Nerr’s brother didn’t seem to care. He simply continued patting Nerr’s back.

Isn’t he heavy?

Kane looked at Nerr’s brother, who was at least two heads shorter than him, and felt a strange mixture of emotions.

To Nerr, the boy might be an older brother, but to Kane, he was just another child. And yet, there was something imposing about him that made it difficult to treat him carelessly.

The way he had caught the child who came running at him so effortlessly, and the fact that he continued holding him without the slightest sign of strain, certainly made him seem as strong as Nerr had claimed.

“Where exactly is this strong, fast, excellent hunter of an older brother?”

Just then, the freckled boy who had argued with Rianus sauntered over. Seeing how small and shabby Nihil looked, he seemed to have gained confidence.

“This little brat kept bragging about his brother, so I thought he’d be amazing, but…”

“……”

“Turns out his big brother’s just another worthless little runt.”

The boy sneered down at Nihil and lightly tapped the top of his head with his fingers.

Indignant, Rianus slapped the boy’s hand away and shouted, “My brother isn’t worthless!”

“Shh, there, there, Nerr. No need to get angry.”

Nihil chuckled softly at the sight of the little seaweed that had become thoroughly swollen and soggy, then patted Rianus’s back to soothe him.

But Rianus found Nihil’s refusal to get angry frustrating. He reached under Nihil’s hood and grabbed his cheek, pulling it to the side.

“But I’m angry! Why aren’t you angry, Neil?”

“Nerr, do you think I’m worthless, too?”

“No! Neil—my brother—is an amazing person!”

“Then that’s all that matters. My worth isn’t determined by that thing’s opinion. It’s exhausting to deal with people like that one by one.”

“Yeah!”

Rianus immediately settled down again, as though he had never been angry in the first place.

The children stared at him in bewilderment at his dramatic change in attitude, but the oblivious Rianus failed to notice the strange atmosphere.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!”

The boy, furious at being ignored, shouted and grabbed Nihil by the shoulder, turning him around.

“Y-you! Are you ignoring me right now?”

Rianus and the cat looked ready to get angry at the boy’s rough handling, but Nihil soothed them both before speaking to the freckled boy.

“I’m holding a child. What if you hurt him?”

“You’re a kid yourself! What kind of nonsense is that? Stop talking like some grown-up!”

“Okay.”

“……”

An awkward silence fell over the break room.

The boy hadn’t expected Nihil to respond like that, and his face flushed red with embarrassment.

When Nihil continued to ignore him, the cat grew impatient. It tapped Nihil on the head a few times, gesturing for him to at least engage with the boy.

Nihil set Rianus down, just in case the boy resorted to violence, then handed the cat to him.

“Keep the cat safe, okay, Meow-Meow?”