How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 75

Ever since Dan’s “saliva-marking incident,” Nihil had been leading the way with Rianus in his arms, the little prince still sulking slightly.

Jane and Dave watched Rianus, who was nestled in Nihil’s arms with a somewhat pouty expression of his own, with complicated looks on their faces. When their eyes met, they smiled awkwardly.

Nihil patted Rianus’s back and spoke.

“Nerr, how long are you going to stay sulky?”

“Neil is… too lenient with children.”

Neil is my friend!

Rianus wrapped his arms tightly around Nihil’s neck and buried his face against him.

He didn’t want to share with Nihil. Nihil was his precious friend, too, so why should some little brat he’d met for the first time today get to lick him?!

The problem was that his friend was too kind and too pretty. There was simply no way anyone could dislike him.

Once they returned to the palace, Rianus would make sure to teach him. He had to learn not to let other people touch him so carelessly! Not like that, not, not, okay? He couldn’t just let someone touch him like that when they’d only just met! Thank goodness Dan was still young. What would have happened if a fully grown adult had done the same thing?

And even if the other person was a child, physical contact should only happen after they’d grown closer. He would also explain properly that Nihil needed to learn to say no firmly when he didn’t like something.

But whether his friend understood how he felt or not, Nihil merely chuckled.

Then again, maybe he hadn’t rejected Dan because the child was young and cute? He’d let him do it because he didn’t mind! Nihil liked cute things, after all!

Grrr.

Rianus felt a sudden surge of indignation. He didn’t know why he was so upset, but he was.

So he sank his teeth into the crown of Nihil’s head.

“Ah, wait—Ri—Nerr, what are you doing?”

“Nomnomnomnom!”

“Your hood is dirty. Don’t put it in your mouth.”

Was that really the problem?!

Rianus abruptly lifted his head and called out to Nihil in a firm voice.

“Neil!”

“Yes?”

“You need to learn how to say no!”

“No.”

“……”

…Right. He didn’t need to learn how to say no after all.

“Nerr, I don’t mind, but be careful. If you startle the person carrying you, they might drop you.”

“……Okay.”

Rianus grew a little dejected. Then he caught the eyes of the two boys, who were trying hard not to laugh. Embarrassed by his own behavior, he lowered his head—only to meet the gaze of Bella, who was staring up at him with unnaturally sparkling eyes from near his feet.

“Myaaaang~ Myaaaaoong, mya-myak!”

Rianus thought Bella seemed to want to say something, so he asked Nihil.

“What’s Kitty saying?”

“She wants you to bite her, too.”

“……”

“But Nerr, you mustn’t bite Kitty. That’s yucky.”

“……”

“Mya-mya-mya-mya-myak!”

The cat protested with a series of loud meows, but Nihil didn’t seem to have misunderstood her and was deliberately arguing with her. Rianus was too embarrassed to lift his head.

Nihil pressed his lips together to hold back his laughter, then patted Rianus as though nothing had happened and addressed the boys.

“No matter what happens, the two of you must never get separated.”

“I-I’ll t-take good c-care of them.”

“And if you do get separated from us, follow a cat.”

“Myaaaaoong~”

At Nihil’s gesture, the cat trotting beside them with her tail swaying let out a small meow.

Dave looked at Nihil’s remarkably clever cat and asked, “So we should follow this cat?”

“No. Any cat will do. Just follow one if you see it.”

“Hmm… All right.”

“And if an adult who knows me and my little brother appears, you can follow them, too.”

“…? Do you have guardians?”

“Lastly, don’t ask about us, don’t try to find out anything about us, and no matter what happens, don’t mention us to anyone. Forget every conversation we have, too.”

“……”

Nihil spoke again to the boys, who looked rather uneasy.

“I’ll protect you when I can, but my little brother’s safety comes first. If anything happens to him, I’ll abandon you without hesitation. So act accordingly.”

“O-okay. I-I’ll make s-sure not to g-get in the way.”

“Good.”

Nihil even gave them the chilling advice that if anything happened, he would take care of all the aftermath, so they shouldn’t hesitate to stab someone without mercy if necessary.

Then he called Rianus.

“Nerr.”

“Hmm?”

“Let’s change your name.”

“Huh… Again? To what?”

“Better safe than sorry. Jul, Shul, Shil, Shel, Shuri, Shulle. Which do you like?”

“Um… What’s the basis for choosing a name?”

“I just rearranged the sounds of your name. If you don’t like any of them, I’ll come up with something else.”

“No, it’s fine. Let’s go with Shel.”

“All right, Shel.”

Having his name changed in a matter of seconds, Rianus worried about whether he would get used to it. But when he thought about it simply, all he had to do was respond whenever Nihil called him, whatever name he used. So it shouldn’t be a problem.

As people gradually began to appear around them, Nihil set Rianus down and carefully pulled his hood tight around him.

“Shel, I know you’re tired, but stay alert and keep your ears open.”

“Okay.”

“If you feel unwell, tell me immediately.”

“I’ll remember.”

“Kitty, go greet the other kitties and meet up with Doggy.”

“Myaowk!”

The cat gave a brief reply before disappearing somewhere. The boys wondered where this mysterious “Doggy,” whom Nihil occasionally mentioned, could possibly be, but they didn’t dare ask.

How long had they been walking? The street grew increasingly lively. During the day, they had seen only a few listless people, but now that night had fallen, many were shouting, laughing, and chatting noisily. Garish, multicolored lights dangled haphazardly overhead, bright enough to hurt their eyes.

Nihil frowned. It seemed that he and Rianus were attracting an unusual amount of attention.

He had come out without a plan because the rumors about missing children bothered him, but the attention was so blatant that it was almost stranger that the rumors had remained mere rumors.

Even though they were doing nothing but walking down the street, numerous gazes followed them with an unsettling intensity. Some people were even trying to follow them discreetly.

If Jane and Dave hadn’t been behind them, they might already have been kidnapped.

Of course, if those two hadn’t been with them, Nihil wouldn’t have been walking openly through the streets like this in the first place.

Nihil let one arm hang loosely at his side and secretly signaled Doggy with his hand. But perhaps intrigued by the unusual gesture, the curious little kitten promptly grabbed his hand.

“Shel…”

“Yes!”

Rianus, who had been reminding himself to respond immediately no matter what name his friend called him, answered at once.

He wanted to communicate silently with hand signals, just like his friend. Looking like a secret agent was so cool!

He was about to ask if he could learn the signals, but his cool friend spoke first.

“Shel, are you keeping your ears open?”

“Y-yes……”

Rianus answered a little awkwardly. He was keeping his ears open. The problem was that he couldn’t make much sense of what he heard.

He couldn’t tell whether the words were coming in fragments, making it impossible to connect them into sentences, or whether he was simply hearing things incorrectly.

Most of the conversations were completely unrelated snippets: someone had won a certain amount of money, someone had cracked another person’s skull, someone had swindled money out of someone else, and so on.

But a few words kept recurring here and there. Unfortunately, they were words like rabbit, sugar, and snow powder—such cute, harmless-sounding terms that they seemed completely out of place in the brutal streets of Sharton. Rianus began to wonder whether he was hearing things correctly.

Perhaps rabbits really did live in Sharton Street. It wasn’t far from the forest, after all, so rabbits might occasionally wander into town.

Then again, perhaps they weren’t talking about rabbits but axes. Maybe they weren’t hunting rabbits at all, but hunting with axes.

And just because someone was an adult didn’t mean they had to dislike sugar. Sweet desserts were always delicious!

Just then, Nihil murmured in a low voice, as though he had read Rianus’s thoughts.

“Shel, I’ll tell you this in advance. You’re the rabbit.”

“…Huh?”

Rianus tilted his head. He was a person—or rather, a quarter-elf—so why was he a rabbit?

“This seems a little dangerous… Should we go back?”

“Huh? Already? But…”

Rianus’s shoulders drooped in disappointment. They hadn’t even carried out a proper undercover mission yet.

He had promised to return to the palace immediately if things became difficult or dangerous, but they hadn’t encountered any danger so far. They had only just come outside!

As Nihil wondered how to comfort the thoroughly dejected Rianus, he spotted Kelvin approaching from a distance with his gang after noticing them.

“Shel, come here.”

Nihil immediately pulled Rianus toward a secluded alley. The boys, who hadn’t yet noticed Kelvin and his gang, followed in confusion.

Soon, they heard footsteps that sounded almost like a light jog. Kelvin and his gang swaggered into the alley.

“What’s Scaredy-Cat Jane doing out on the streets at night? And look, Traitor Dave is with him, too!”

Jane’s expression hardened as he quickly pulled Dave behind him. The little ones also scurried behind him for shelter.

“…What… Do you want to?”

Jane spoke slowly, pausing between words to keep himself from stuttering. He was responsible for protecting these children now, so he couldn’t afford to look weak.

But Kelvin seemed to find his struggle even funnier and snickered.

“Whoa, why so serious? I’m terrified!”

“What… do… you… want?”

“I’m just curious! You’re always hiding away at night, never coming out. What could possibly have dragged your heavy butt all the way here? What’s this, have you opened an orphanage?”

Kelvin glanced at the little children peeking out from behind Jane and smirked. Then he crouched down to meet their eyes.

“Hello, little one! We’ve met before, haven’t we? It’s so… nice to see you again. And is that little one beside you your friend?”

As he spoke, Kelvin held out a piece of candy.

“Do you like candy? Here, I’ll give you some. Want to come with big brother?”

“W-what… are you… p-planning?”

Jane once again blocked Kelvin’s view with his whole body. Kelvin had tried to lure the children away even during the day, so there was no doubt he was up to something suspicious.

…Of course, there was no way these little kids would be lured away by something as simple as candy, but still…

“Planning something? I’m just being nice, that’s all. Hey, little one, I’m sorry I scared you earlier. Will you accept my apology?”

“I’d like to receive that apology, too.”

“……!”

The reply came from behind them.

The boys turned around in surprise and saw the bear-like man from earlier swaggering into the alley, chewing something in his mouth.

“Hey, buddy. You broke my arm and then just ran off. What kind of behavior is that, huh?”

At the man’s appearance, the boys’ faces stiffened. Earlier, he had said his shoulder was dislocated, but apparently his arm had been broken as well.

Of course, whether it was his shoulder or his forearm, the man still looked thickset and sturdy.

Jane hadn’t done anything to the man; it was Kelvin and his gang who had wronged him. But there was no telling whether the man would bother distinguishing between them, so Jane couldn’t help but tense up.

I have to protect the children…!

Thinking this, Jane glanced discreetly behind him.

But behind him, only Dave stood there nervously clutching the hem of his clothes.

“……?”

The children… Where did they go?

Realizing that the space around his feet was empty, Jane gave Dave a subtle look, silently asking where the little ones had gone. But Dave seemed to realize only then that the children had disappeared, too, and began looking around with wide eyes.

I’ll protect you when I can, but my little brother’s safety comes first. If anything happens to him, I’ll abandon you without hesitation. So act accordingly.

Jane’s eyes trembled violently. Dave’s expression visibly stiffened, as though he had remembered the same thing.

…Did we just get abandoned?