How the Prince Makes Friends Chapter 91

The two older children approached Nihil hesitantly. He gestured toward the ground with his chin and gave a brief command.

“Write your names.”

The two shuffled forward as though they were taking a test and wrote their names on the ground. Jane seemed so nervous that the twig in his hand snapped under the pressure.

Crooked letters appeared on the dirt. Nihil corrected the spelling of Jane’s name, then asked, “Jane, what did you do with the money?”

“Th-the c-cat… n-noona has it.”

“Kitty, bring the money.”

“Here it is~!”

Bella hurried over, pulled a money pouch from her clothes, and handed it to Nihil. He took it and immediately passed it to Yvonne.

“Take it.”

“Huh? What is this money? Why are you giving it to me?”

Yvonne’s hands trembled as she held a sum of money she had never touched in her life. But Nihil, who treated gold coins like treasure-hunt prizes, seemed completely indifferent to her feelings and answered casually.

“I found it on the way.”

“……”

Yvonne gaped at his halfhearted answer, seemingly at a loss for words.

Just then, the twins, who had been watching from a distance, came scampering over.

“What’s that? What’s the money for?”

“Money I found.”

“Don’t lie! What money is it? Why is Big Brother Yvonne getting it?”

“What difference does it make to you?”

When Nihil refused to explain, the twins grew angry.

“Big Brother Yvonne, don’t take it!”

“Exactly! You shouldn’t accept things like this!”

The twins eyed the money pouch suspiciously, snatched it away, and threw it at Nihil’s chest. The heavy pouch hit the ground with a thud.

“What are you doing?!”

Rianus, who had been watching from the side, shouted in indignation. But the twins stood in front of Yvonne and yelled sharply.

“We can’t accept suspicious money!”

“Exactly! Everything about you is suspicious, from head to toe! Even that huge old man is suspicious!”

Ella pointed at Evan. He could admit to being suspicious, but he absolutely refused to accept being called an old man, and his face twisted into a scowl.

Jane, who knew where the money had come from, watched anxiously before finally stepping in to stop the argument.

“D-don’t f-fight. I-it’s, um… r-ransom… No, l-labor… wages.”

“What do you mean by ransom, Jane?”

Yvonne asked in surprise at the word ransom. The twins’ faces grew paler by the second.

With a deep sigh at Jane’s explanation, which had left out the subject entirely, Nihil turned to the trembling twins.

“Don’t misunderstand. This isn’t your ransom money. We’re not slave hunters.”

“W-what? H-how…?”

The twins’ expressions grew even stiffer. Rianus’s eyes widened at the sudden use of the imperial language, and he tilted his head.

“Neil, you can speak the imperial language, too? But what do you mean? ‘Slave hunters’?”

Ellen backed away in terror, then tripped over a rock and fell flat on the ground.

Rianus started toward him, asking if he was all right, but Ella blocked his way and shouted furiously.

“Don’t come any closer!”

“…Why are you acting like this?”

“I said stay away!”

“……”

“If you take one more step, I’ll kill you!”

At Ella’s violent reaction, Rianus’s expression stiffened. He lowered the hand he had been about to reach out and took a step back.

Sensing the sudden tension, Evan and Bella approached and stood beside Rianus protectively.

Even then, Nihil simply picked up the fallen money pouch and handed it back to Yvonne.

“Use this to buy food for the children.”

“Huh? Uh…”

“Don’t resort to crime until the money runs out.”

“W-wait. Can’t you tell me what this money is for?”

“This is our ransom money. Jane and Dave helped us with our work, and this is their reward. It was also hush money.”

“Uh…”

Yvonne accepted the pouch in a daze. The twins immediately grabbed the hem of her trousers and screamed.

“Big Brother! Throw it away! You can’t have it!”

“Big Sister, don’t accept it!”

“H-hey, you two, what’s wrong…?”

Yvonne stood there helplessly with the pouch in her hands, unsure what to do. The twins kept shouting that she couldn’t take the money and had to throw it away. Then they sank to the ground and burst into tears.

“D-don’t cry. Why are you acting like this?”

Yvonne looked anxiously between the children, unable to do anything.

She wished someone would explain what was going on. But neither the twins nor Neil, who clearly seemed to know something, said a word.

Nihil watched the twins sobbing and let out a deep sigh. He had hoped to pretend he hadn’t noticed, but that was proving difficult.

“Do you want me to remove your slave brands?”

“…What?”

The twins abruptly lifted their heads. Then they narrowed their eyes again, their expressions wary.

“…What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. I’ll remove the brands if you want.”

“Liar! How can we trust you?!”

“You were crying as if the world had ended, so I just asked. It’s a nuisance for me, too.”

“……”

Nihil gently tugged on Rianus, who was standing beside him with their hands clasped together, rolling his eyes as he tried to figure out what was happening.

Rianus glanced around before whispering quietly, “Can’t you tell me what’s going on?”

“What difference does it make to you?!”

Ella snapped at him. At her outburst, Nihil lowered his voice.

“You’d better treat my little brother nicely.”

“……”

The twins recoiled at the unprecedented coldness in his voice. Nihil turned to Rianus and asked,

“What do you want to do?”

“Huh? D-do about what?”

“The slave brands on their bodies. Should I remove them? If you don’t want me to, we’ll just leave.”

“So those children have slave brands on them right now?”

“Yeah.”

“If you can remove them… wouldn’t it be right to do so? Harpense doesn’t have slavery…”

“Slavery is legal in the Empire. They’re escaped slaves. From the Empire’s perspective, removing their brands without their owners’ permission is no different from stealing someone else’s property.”

“…But we’re in Harpense, so it’s fine.”

Rianus tightened his grip on Nihil’s hand.

The twins looked only a year or two older than him. Even if slavery was legal in the Empire, there was no way the circumstances that had turned such young children into slaves had been entirely lawful.

“They yelled at you and were rude to you. Do you still want to help them?”

“…That’s not something that should depend on how I feel.”

“Right.”

Nihil gently ruffled Rianus’s hair before turning back to the twins.

“Make up your mind. Do you want me to remove them or not?”

“…Is it really possible?”

“Yes.”

“H-how can we… trust you?”

“If you don’t trust me, then don’t do it.”

“……”

The twins exchanged glances. Ella remained on edge, while Ellen tried to persuade her to give it a chance.

When they couldn’t seem to reach an agreement, Nihil spoke again.

“I’m not doing this for nothing. You’ll have to do something for me.”

“…What do we have to do?”

“Hmm… perform for me…?”

At those words, the twins’ faces stiffened. Nihil suspected he had touched a nerve, but continued as though nothing had happened.

“I don’t mean that kind of thing, so don’t worry.”

“…How would you know what that kind of thing is?”

“People who turn twins into slaves all do pretty much the same things. They dress them alike and make them perform like clowns…”

At that moment, a rock came flying at Nihil.

He caught it effortlessly, but Evan was startled by the sudden attack and quickly scooped up both Nihil and Rianus in his arms.

Ella, who had thrown the rock, screamed furiously.

Since Evan didn’t understand the imperial language, he had no idea what was going on, but he could guess that the twins were swearing at them.

Just as he was about to demand an explanation from Nihil, his precious little kitten let out a shrill scream.

“@#$^@$#%!!”

“#^&%#%!!!”

…Should I learn the imperial language?

Evan was bewildered. His cute, gentle, well-behaved little kitten was raging like a baby beast. He had no idea what had made Rianus so angry, but the wildcat who seemed to be the cause of the fight remained perfectly calm.

After shouting for quite some time, the little beast finally began to tear up and buried himself in Evan’s arms. Then he grumbled at the wildcat.

“Neil, get angry for once! Why are you just sitting there listening to them say things like that?”

“They’re not getting away with it because you’re getting angry on my behalf.”

“But still!”

“Okay, okay. Then shall we just go back?”

“……”

Rianus couldn’t answer immediately. Instead, he glanced at the twins.

Ella, who had called his friend creepy and a monster, was still fuming, but she looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment. Ellen, meanwhile, clutched her sister’s clothes and gazed desperately at Nihil.

Rianus hated Ella for insulting his friend. It hadn’t even been a moment since he had said that helping them shouldn’t depend on his feelings, yet a part of him wanted to tell her to remain a slave for the rest of her life.

But then he noticed Dave, who had been watching from a little distance away.

Dave had once hurled cruel words at both Rianus and his friend out of longing for his missing sister and jealousy.

Perhaps there was a reason the twins were so angry. Perhaps they had suffered as much as Dave had.

Rianus forced himself to speak.

“…No.”

A few tears slipped from his eyes.

Did I look even a little more mature, like Nihil?

 

***

 

Nihil rummaged through Evan and Bella’s bags, took a generous supply of the medicinal bottles he needed, and led the twins into the warehouse.

Rianus tried to follow them inside, but Nihil gently persuaded him to stay outside, asking him to explain the situation to Evan, who would be confused without understanding the imperial language.

The warehouse was dim inside, its walls covered with canvas. Light filtered through cracks and holes scattered throughout the wooden boards.

Nihil spoke indifferently.

“Be grateful that my little brother is so ridiculously kind.”

“…Can you really remove the brands?”

“Yes.”

“Th-then I’ll go first.”

Ella volunteered to go first. She didn’t know how the brands would be removed, but if something went wrong, it could be disastrous. More than anything, the bottles Nihil had brought made her suspect he might need to cut into their skin.

But Nihil waved a hand dismissively.

“What a hassle. I’ll do both of you at once. Take off your shirts and turn around.”

“Are you going to have to cut us?”

“I have no intention of hurting you. Your hearts will hurt a little, but bear with it.”

“O-our hearts?”

“Your brands are connected to your hearts. What are you waiting for? Hurry up and take them off. Our little one is waiting.”

The twins exchanged uneasy glances at Nihil’s urging, then turned around and took off their shirts.

Just then, they heard the sound of a dagger being drawn with a shing, and both startled children sprang forward in alarm.

“W-what are you doing?!”

“What?”

Nihil tilted his head, a dagger in his hand. The surroundings were already dark, and with his hood pulled low, he looked downright terrifying.

“W-what are you going to do?”

“I need blood. Sit back down.”

Then he added, “Kitty, get down from the roof unless you want to get scolded.”

“Myaaaaaaow~!”

Sensing the cat’s presence, Nihil looked toward the roof and issued a warning. The cat let out a mournful cry.

She had carefully transformed into a cat and climbed up there, doing her best to conceal her presence, only to be discovered the moment her paws touched the roof.

Once Nihil sensed the cat climbing down, he sliced his palm without hesitation. A red line appeared across his small, delicate hand, and blood began to well up.

He handed the dagger to the still-suspicious and uneasy twins.

“If you’re worried, keep it.”

Ella hesitantly accepted the dagger as she watched blood drip from Nihil’s palm.

Nihil turned toward the two who were still standing there, nervously watching him.

“Sit down with your backs to me. How much more of my blood do you intend to waste?”

At that, Ella sat down first. Ellen hesitated a little longer, but when another drop of blood fell onto the warehouse floor with a soft plip, he finally turned around and sat with his back to Nihil.

“D-do you really need blood?”

Nihil dug his fingernails into his palm to squeeze out more blood, then quietly answered as he drew an intricate pattern on the floor.

“The blood has nothing to do with you. This is my problem.”

He was using blood to conceal the ritual from those things. Normally, he would have used ordinary magic, but the way he wielded mana was somewhat unusual, so he had no choice but to use blood instead.

When Nihil placed a hand on each of the twins’ backs, both of them flinched.

“I’ll make it hurt as little as possible.”