Chapter 7: I need to upgrade

Crown Prince Alexios’s mansion was built near the capital.

It was located far from where the emperor usually resided, a result of the crown prince’s own strong will to rest comfortably when he was off duty.

“We’ve arrived. It’s right over there.”

Before long, the mansion appeared.

Perhaps because Marina had run ahead to announce the prince’s arrival a little while ago.

The servants residing in the mansion were already out, waiting for their master’s arrival.

-His Highness has returned!!

-Crown Prince! Congratulations on your safe return!

“What do you think? Isn’t it magnificent?”

“What is?”

“The people cheering for me. I feel the greatest sense of fulfillment at times like these.”

He knew it wasn’t a good answer for a politician and statesman.

But Alexios found it hard to hide his excitement.

Moreover, he felt that the young man next to him would already know his true feelings even if he tried to hide them.

‘If I’m going to get caught anyway, it’s better to just be upfront about it.’

“Now, let’s go through. I’ll introduce you to the people of the mansion.”

Alexios passed through the crowd and entered the mansion.

A small number of people, including the head butler, were waiting for him.

“Your Highness.”

“Ah, Marcus. Sorry for the delay. Have you been waiting long?”

“That’s not what’s important right now. I heard there was an incident in Germano, what on earth happened…”

A well-groomed old man began to nag the crown prince as soon as he saw him.

His name was Marcus. He was in a position to oversee and command all the servants, as well as manage the finances.

He had served him for a long time, so even the crown prince couldn’t easily ignore him.

“That’s enough for today. I’ll tell you the details later.”

“However-“

“Enough. Can’t you see a guest is standing next to me? You should be preparing to serve him instead of doing this. Now, go!”

“…”

The head butler stiffened his face and turned his back.

A sense of dissatisfaction could be felt, but given the situation, he didn’t press the matter.

“Wait!”

Just as he was leaving, the crown prince called him back.

“? What is it?”

“Do you happen to know what’s for dinner tonight?”

“…We are planning to roast a suckling pig with seasoning.”

At the reply, the crown prince showed a surprised reaction for some reason.

“…Ha, I see. It was true.”

“…? Are we done now?”

“Ah, yes. We’re done. You may go now.”

“……”

The head butler, his face still stiff, hurriedly left.

As he moved away, Alexios chuckled.

“Anyway, that man never changes, no matter how much time passes.”

“Is that so?”

“Indeed. He’s a very stuffy person. But there are few like him when it comes to managing the mansion.”

“He seemed angry for some reason.”

“It’s a daily occurrence. Now, I’ll introduce the next person.”

Soon, a sturdy, broad-shouldered man approached from the side.

He was a tall, giant man with impressive red hair.

“Your Highness.”

“Ah, Ignil. You’ve come out to greet me.”

“I’ve heard the news. They say you’ve been through a lot.”

“What’s there to go through? It was only a day. There was nothing much out of the ordinary.”

The giant’s name was Ignil. A famous mercenary and adventurer.

He met the crown prince by chance, built a friendship, and is now staying at the mansion as a houseguest.

“If I had known things would turn out like this, I would have followed you.”

“Haha! Indeed! That would have been nice.”

“Anyway, since we’ve exchanged greetings, I’ll be on my way. As for the guest over there… I’ll greet him again next time.”

Ignil left after leaving his regards.

He just stated his business and disappeared; he was truly a man who acted as he looked.

After that, all sorts of people came to see the crown prince and talk.

Alexios greeted them and briefly introduced Noah, who was next to him.

“Whew, I think that’s about enough for introductions.”

“It feels like things have been unnecessarily dragged out.”

“That’s how imperial connections are. It takes this long just to say hello.”

An hour later. After everyone had left, only the two of them remained.

There was no one else around.

At that point, the crown prince glanced around and asked Noah.

“So, what do you think?”

“About what?”

“What else. I’m asking if there are any suspicious people.”

There was a reason the crown prince deliberately made a big deal of things.

On the way to the mansion, he had received a tip from Noah that he would catch all the hidden spies.

“I’d like to hear your answer now. So, were there quite a few hiding?”

“Yes.”

“!”

For a moment, the crown prince’s expression hardened.

Of course, he had expected this.

But now that it was true, he couldn’t hide his surprise.

“So it was true… Who are they?”

“It’s not an individual. There are quite a few, more than you think.”

“…That many?”

“Yes. I think it’s at least over forty?”

“……”

The crown prince was in shock for a moment.

Oh sh*t, that’s a bit more than I thought.

I knew they were there, but isn’t this a bit much?

This isn’t some ant nest…

“Your Highness?”

“S-sorry. I was just a little surprised.”

The crown prince forced a smile while washing his face with his dry hands.

Still, perhaps because he had been surprised a lot, his recovery was quite fast.

The shock was relatively less than when he heard that he was not the emperor’s biological son.

‘I don’t know if I should be happy about this.’

“…I understand. I want to thank you for your help, but could you tell me their names first?”

“What are you going to do?”

At Noah’s question, Alexios clenched his fist tightly.

“What do you mean, what? Of course, I have to catch them. If there are bugs crawling around in the house, what homeowner would just stand by and watch.”

“Are you going to report it to the head butler?”

“I suppose I’ll have to, right?”

Managing the servants was the head butler’s role. Even the crown prince couldn’t easily touch that right, so the punishment also had to be left to him.

“Your Highness.”

“Why?”

“The head butler is also one of the traitors.”

“……”

“To be precise, he’s one of the imperial separatists. You must not entrust this to him.”

“……”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m, I’m fine. I was just a little dizzy.”

The crown prince forced a smile and repeated the dry face-washing motion again and again.

“I-I see. So the head butler was also one of the traitors.”

“Are you surprised?”

“Me? No? Not at all?”

The crown prince pretended to be nonchalant.

After all, the world of men is all the same.

Even though he was a man who had managed the mansion for over 40 years, and someone he had followed like a semi-uncle, it was natural for a person to betray.

…No, it had to be that way.

Otherwise, he couldn’t control this feeling right now.

“Hoo… life is fcking sht.”

“What will you do now?”

“What do you mean… Now I have to catch even more bugs.”

“Are you planning to proceed alone?”

“No way. I’ll have to entrust it to trustworthy people, including Marina, right?”

The crown prince considered his next choice.

The first person that came to mind was, of course, Ignil.

He was an adventurer who had saved him from a horde of goblins and orcs in the past. With his skills, which he had witnessed firsthand, he could surely trust his back during a major undertaking.

-Your Highness, just trust me.

-I always trust you, Ignil.

“Your Highness.”

“What is it?”

“I’m just saying this just in case, but Ignil is also a traitor.”

Stab! The imaginary Ignil plunged a dagger into Alexios’s back.

“……”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m… fine.”

The crown prince repeated the dry face-washing motion again, and again, and again.

He couldn’t even manage a smile anymore.

His handkerchief was now damp with sweat.

“…Hey. Noah.”

“Yes.”

“Is there anything left that would surprise me? If there is, just tell me now.”

He wished he could just faint and get it over with.

But he couldn’t, even if he wanted to.

After hearing the names of the traitors, he was afraid his throat would be slit in his sleep.

“Actually, there’s not much left.”

“…Really? That’s a relief!”

“Yes. That Ignil is a member of a cult cooperating with vampires. That the head butler Marcus is an imperial separatist and a double agent for the Berta family. That your escort knight Marina’s family is walking a tightrope, weighing their options between you and the emperor. And finally, that some of the servants inside the mansion are members of the cult who were recommended by Ignil. That’s about it for now.”

“……”

“Your Highness?”

“……”

…

……?

---

‘He’s completely lost it.’

I inwardly clicked my tongue as I looked at the crown prince sitting there blankly.

Just telling him a few truths had made the man completely lose his mind.

He was even drooling from the corner of his mouth.

From a distance, a half-wit. Up close, a half-wit. No difference.

‘And I even held back on a few things.’

At first, I thought it was a pointless act, but now I see it wasn’t unnecessary consideration but an excellent judgment.

‘If I had told him everything, he might have really died standing up.’

I briefly considered tapping the crown prince’s cheek, but in the meantime, the silent Wyrcana spoke to me, sounding pathetic.

-What a pathetic human.

‘Who? The crown prince?’

-Who else could it be.

Wyrcana grumbled in frustration.

I… can’t deny it.

-How can he live with so many enemies in his own house. At this point, that crown prince is more amazing than the traitors. Even sleeping in a beehive wouldn’t be this uncomfortable.

Wyrcana’s tone was slightly sharp.

The emotion in its voice was also a bit complicated, a mixture of pity for the crown prince and dissatisfaction with me for helping such a person.

-I still don’t understand. Is there really a need to waste your time on such a person?

‘I understand what you mean. However, to defend the crown prince a little, he was in a situation where he couldn’t help it.’

-What kind of situation could it be?

‘Simple. The powers that were supposed to protect him were forcibly scattered by the emperor.’

Normally, it’s impossible for the crown prince’s mansion to be neglected like this.

This was possible because the prince’s surroundings were forcibly destroyed under the emperor’s initiative.

‘Normally, people like that would be filtered out in advance through the imperial intelligence unit. But, as you know, the current emperor doesn’t look kindly on the prince.’

-You mean he deliberately placed such people around him?

‘It makes the cleanup much easier. After killing the crown prince, they’d bring up the identities of the servants and acquaintances. They’re quite useful as disposable pawns, aren’t they?’

This is what actually happened in the original story.

After Crown Prince Alexios died a meaningless death, the imperial family pointed to the servants and houseguests inside the mansion as suspects in the incident.

There was no need for a proper trial. Instead of wasting time, the empire forcibly dragged them out and beheaded them in the streets for all to see.

-The crown prince died due to their conspiracy, people, let’s avenge the prince!

With this one statement, all suspicious doubts about the crown prince’s death were washed away.

The residents found a place to vent their anger without any problems, and the mercenaries and adventurers found a place to make money.

What’s more, by identifying and avenging the culprits, they also cleaned up some troublesome nobles, even raising the authority of the imperial family.

Finally, the emperor cleanly laundered himself from all suspicion and doubt.

In this process, the empire began to creak, and this did not improve until the destruction of the star.

‘But, not anymore.’

Everything I just said was completely shattered by the crown prince surviving.

The emperor misstepped, and I gained a valuable connection in the crown prince.

This is the kind of reward that makes crashing an airship worth it.

If it weren’t for this, I wouldn’t have even tried to save him in the first place.

Why would I go to such lengths for some pretty-boy b*stard. Right?

‘Anyway, that’s the situation.’

-Hmm…

‘And although he looks dumb, he’s not incompetent in a real fight. We’ll be the ones profiting, not losing anything.’

-That sounds a lot better.

Only then did Wyrcana’s tone soften a little.

It seems it much prefers a dry calculation of gains and losses over a half-hearted defense.

No, perhaps it just liked the expression ‘profiting’.

Since one of its main bodies was in the form of a wyvern.

‘And one more thing. There’s good news for us.’
-Good news? What is it?

To the puzzled Wyrcana, I showed the list of traitors I had compiled so far.

‘Look closely, these are the cultists inside the mansion.’

-Cultists? Why them?

‘They actually have bloodstones.’

-…Bloodstones?

‘Yeah. To be precise, they each have a bloodstone embedded in their hearts.’

Bloodstone. This is one of the valuable resources that exist in the world of Old Tales.

It’s a jewel with a blood-red color, and it uniquely contains strong magical power.

Compared to a magic stone of the same size, its efficiency is at least twice as high.

Above all, this bloodstone is one of the essential materials used to strengthen Wyrcana.

‘Enlarging it, making weapons or internal facilities. Or even increasing its output.’

Just what comes to mind is this much. The uses for bloodstones are endless.

And they are just as difficult to obtain. Excluding naturally generated ones, most of those available on the market are made by cultists by grinding up people.

‘In the original work, they traveled all over the world selling their labor to get this.’

[The Ship That Shines on a Holy Night] is a mobile side story. In the game, this was used to strengthen Wyrcana— to be precise, the player’s base.

As expected, I have no intention of following such a stupid act.

‘Am I crazy to travel the world doing communal labor? That’s not something a sane person would do.’

In the first place, I’ve already set a trap.

What is it?

The crown prince.

‘The emperor will continue to attach stupid people to him. I just have to wait for the right time and occasionally wipe them all out.’

The prince will gather the mobs, and I’ll go and clean them up.

Simply put, it’s a kind of auto-hunting.

Do you see the grace of the generously giving emperor and the crown prince who acts as a tanker himself?

My heart was so full I felt like I was going to cry.

Just… thank you…!!!

‘Anyway, I’ve roughly tallied the numbers, and it seems we can get at least 15.’
-A-are you sure?

Was the number too large? Wyrcana asks back, flustered.

Am I sure?

Of course, I’m sure.

I deliberately only mentioned the ones with bloodstones embedded in their hearts.

The number can only increase from here, not decrease.

‘Got it? Let’s just subtly incite the crown prince and catch all those guys. Then, we’ll secretly take the bloodstones.’

-…And then? What will you do after that?

‘What do you mean, what? Are you asking because you don’t know?’

I quickly crumpled the paper with the names on it and swallowed it.

Good, evidence destroyed.

‘Don’t you think you need an upgrade soon, too?’
-…
‘Let’s at least mount a cannon first, if nothing else.’

Now that I’ve safely rescued the crown prince, I need a new goal.

First, to create a huge flying base and mobile fortress.

This is my second goal.

Shouldn’t I have at least the minimum military power to protect myself?