CH 29

“Hello. Umm, how are your injuries?”

“………”

I spoke in Rubrum language, to the three people in front of me who looked like a parent and children wearing rags. They stared at me and gave a slight bow.

Even I can tell, they are on alert.

Mika’s finger pointed to a group of parent and children-like figures sitting in the corner of the church. However, their robes that lined up there were clearly larger than those of a normal Rubrum person, and the figure in the middle was smaller, while the other figure was even much smaller.

I wasn’t sure why Mika had picked those three people. But it’s Mika we’re talking about. While thinking that Mika must have noticed something, I approached them fearfully.

It’s very reassuring to have Mika by my side.

I know that they are wary of me, but for now, I should proceed with the conversation since I had approached them first.

The challenge for me here was how to deal with someone whose the “facing a prince” card won’t work on them.

In terms of people who are not very friendly toward me, Tillois rises among the most recent examples. In the end, it turned into a strange situation, but even though I’m such a recluse prince, I’m still a member of the royal family, their lord. Tillois would have behaved accordingly.

However.

For the refugees, a prince from another country must be an unknown entity.

Moreover, they are people who had fled from the power driven by the oppressive rule of the empire. They are people who might be fearful, frightened, angry, sad, and I don’t really know, but they might be harboring all kinds of negative emotions.

I should have started the experiment.

There’s one good thing. It’s that the other party probably does not have prior information that I’m a recluse slug prince.

It’s a situation that makes me feel very empty when I say it, but if it weren’t for the information that I was a recluse slug prince, I would be a beautiful prince with a praiseworthy appearance.

No, it’s not that… I consider myself to be beautiful, please keep this in mind. And so, there is one thing that is required of me.

Bluffing.

I understand.

Eventually, I want to become a prince with substance, not just a bluff. No, I will become one! But for now, it was all about whether I could get through this like a prince without them realizing that I was a slug on the inside.

I clenched my fist and continued to speak.

“Do you have any relatives in Pluvia? Does it seem like you can find work here?”

“……..We two are, escaped, slaves.”

“You two… What about that child?”

When I asked that, the man in the biggest robe said that in a low voice.

Then he flipped off his hood and showed me his ears.

That’s right, his ears.

I gasped and gulped involuntarily.

The man’s head was topped with pinned, triangular gray ears. I know now why the man speaks in a broken Rubrum language. The man had a deep scar over his left eye and was one-eyed.

But the man looked me straight in the eye, without hiding his wolf-like ears or his scars. It was as if he was watching me to see if there was a hint of fear or contempt in my eyes.

“This child, our master.”

The smallest figure stepped forward. The child, hood off, looked to be a person from Rubrum, and only about seven or eight years old.

However, he was standing in front of me with his big golden eyes moistened and his shaking hands outstretched, as if he was protecting them. Then he said in a fluent Rubrum language,

“Your Highness the Prince. I have heard that there is no slavery in the Kingdom of Pluvia and that refugees will be protected. They may look different from us, but they are living beings just like us. Please give them the same protection as us, the Rubrum people.”

I’m amazed at his firm insistence.

I didn’t know who this child was, but he was clearly the child of a properly educated and wealthy family.

He is still such a small child. His voice cracked sometimes, and his big golden eyes seemed ready to burst into tears at any moment.

Still, I could tell straight away that he was trying to protect them.

I tried to imagine my body looking as big and sturdy as possible, and I put on my best face. I don’t really know what I was going to do, but I was determined to take on it like a master carpenter of some workshop. In my mind, I imagined myself looking muscular, with tanned skin and gleaming white teeth, then I opened my mouth.

“Yes. It’s okay. They are human beings, too. I’ve never been to the New Continent, and I’ve never seen them, but they are the ones who live there, aren’t they?”

“Y-yes. Your Highness the Prince, they were just unlucky enough to be brought to Rubrum. My father and mother insisted on the rights of the beastmen, and they died. Please do not repeat the same mistake in the Kingdom of Pluvia.”

Hearing those words, I gasped.

Until now, I was supposed to be some big brotherly master carpenter, but I was squeezed back to the size of a slug in an instant. I had transcended the status quo of being accepted as a bluffing big brother. Biting my lip, I at least tried not to let my emotions out.

Machina said earlier that he only heard good things about the emperor, and yet this boy has been desperate to tell me what’s going on, even if he hasn’t stated it explicitly. I wonder how much courage it takes to do that while the other Rubrum people who have fled are keeping their mouths shut.

Even though he had lost his parents.

(Death to those who defended the beastmen… The oppression is to that extent?)

I almost tear up seeing the small hands spread out in front of the two beastmen, so I quickly swallow my spit instead. My eyebrows are about to drop, so I made them stay in place by squeezing my eyes.

I shouldn’t show emotion here. I must not let my personal feelings get in the way of the official business.

I must not be affected by the smallness of the other party, or the small size of their body.

My words and my actions— are the words of the country.

“I see. I will take your word for it. If you say you are the master, then I will ask you. Do you have any relatives here?”

“N-no. From now on, I was thinking that he, Figero, will be an adventurer. Then Lucreo and I will do some menial work somewhere.”

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Taluha.”

“Taluha is good! He not do bad!”

A beastman child, one size larger than Taluha, said this to me, glaring at me sharply.

He was a beastman with gray ears and blue eyes, just like the man with one eye. He protected the small Taluha on his back and threatened me as if a wolf snarled at me.

I might have led him to believe that Taluha would be punished because I asked his name.

Even though he must have had a hard time in the Rubrum Empire, he still tried his best to protect his master. A warm feeling slowly spread through my heart.

They may be of different races, human and beastmen, and have different statuses, but I could tell right away that these three had reached this point by protecting each other.

I was surprised at how Mika could figure that out from so far away, but they were certainly the perfect match for what I was looking for.

A powerful-looking beastman father and son, and an educated-looking Rubrum child.

They also don’t have proper work yet.

Even if this man called Figero were to make a living as an adventurer, he would have to leave the two young children alone while he is out. Moreover, the two people waiting for him are a Rubrum child and a beastman. Perhaps their daily life would be more difficult than they thought.

The three are people who support each other, even though they are of different races.

It’s like seeing the future that I wish for in a form of reality—.

I thought that I shouldn’t separate these three people.

When I realized it, it just came out of my mouth.

Since this was not the official will of the country, I remembered to only say it in a small voice.

“It’s okay. I won’t do anything to Taluha. In fact, I’m looking for someone to take care of some magical plants, how would you three like that?”

“Huh?”

“In addition to the salary, it comes with a house. The location is a little further north from Edessa, and the workplace is in the yard in front of the house… you see.”

I still have to get the place from now on, but that’s where the bluffing brother in me is going to get it done! I tried to show off my skills.

I’m a prince. There was no way I could not secure land and a house.

It might be a little dangerous to let them stay in the suburbs of Edessa. But I would like to think that it is somewhat safer than Figero raising two children as an adventurer.

While thinking that it would be nice to have a connection with them, I smiled at them to try not to frighten them. Then, I saw Taluha and Lucreo’s faces turn red.

Hmm? What is it? I tilted my head and they looked at each other, and then, as if determined, Taluha asked me.

“Is there any coercion of sexual things…?”

“Not at all!”

So that’s the part they’re concerned about… No, it’s an important part, I thought as my eyes were about to turn into a blank stare. Then for some reason, Mika said no instead of me. Behind the two of us, the one-eyed man called Figero burst out laughing.

In this way, I found a foothold in the Lambert territory for research on magical plants that can thrive in the desert.

“Does Your Highness, umm, have any strange hobbies…?”

“Not at all!”