The days of dull, clouded skies finally cleared, leaving room for the bright sunlight to shine.
The sea reflected the sunlight to form a scenery of countless gems, as far as the eye could see.
Three men were sitting on the embankment.
They were talking while casually moving their fishing poles, cast into the sea.
“Are you really sure you don’t want to go?”
The first one to talk was a man clad in a white lab coat — Rowle Zwelg, the “Hero” nicknamed “Immortal”.
His hair was ruffled as usual, as if he had just got out of bed; he didn’t have the slightest aura one would expect from a “Hero”. Anyone who didn’t know his actual identity would surely think he was just a middle-aged man.
“Sure. Events like that aren’t for me.”
I replied without any second thoughts.
Rowle was referring to a party.
The birthday party of the third prince of the Rinchelle kingdom, Welles’ younger brother.
“I thought that Your Highness came to Rinchelle specifically for that party, though…”
The completely unnecessary remark that interrupted the conversation came from a man in his thirties, a Diestburg knight that introduced himself as a platoon captain. For some reason, I met him rather often in Rinchelle.
“…I don’t feel well. I can’t help it…I guess?”
I then put a hand on the bandages covering my body. After the battle against Velnar, I was treated when we passed through the kingdom of Saldance.
At first, the plan was to have Feli cure me, but, according to her, curing everything with magic would weaken the body’s natural healing capabilities, so it was better to heal while relying on magic as little as possible. And so I became a sort of bandaged mass.
I looked like I was going through terrible pain, but I had already recovered enough to engage in normal daily activities without problems, thanks to my “Spada” and my innate recovery abilities.
So my “not feeling well” was a blatant lie.
“I’m supposed to believe you when you’re fishing dressed all casually like that, Your Highness…?”
The breeze blowing by the sea was rather chilly, but what I was wearing was not a prince-like gorgeous robe, but very simple, casual attire.
The reason was that formal attire would just get in the way and if I wore something that stood out too much, my fake “sick leave” would be found out immediately and I’d be dragged back to the party.
The knight sighed while giving me the side-eye, but I just spat a “shut it!” in response.
“…leaving the party aside, it’s still better for me not to be there right now. It’s all too troublesome to deal with.”
“Aah…hahaha…”
Rowle laughed wryly.
The knight, who couldn’t know what I was referring to, looked confused.
“I am really sorry about that, honestly.”
“It would have happened sooner or later, I guess. But I realized that you guys and Saldance really have a terrible relationship.”
One week had passed since my duel to the death against Velnar. We returned through the kingdom of Saldance, the safest route, but it was a bad move.
The Saldance side was apparently convinced that Welles’ party would be exterminated, so they were shocked at their return and interrogated them about what happened.
There they found a young man covered in wounds, someone they had not authorized to go to the remote island. Together with an unknown ship, which clearly experienced attacks by the sea beasts.
Such circumstances gave birth to a certain theory on the Saldance side. A theory corroborated by the fact that the “Hero” Zerum Barbatos clearly avoided me. Eventually, a certain rumor started spreading.
Fay Hanse Diestburg, the third prince of the Diestburg kingdom, was actually a “Hero” in disguise. He had joined the expedition to assist the prince of a country Diestburg was on good terms with and his older brother, the first prince Grerial. That’s the rumor they started.
Rowle and Welles had been saved by my intervention, but bowed their heads to me many times, apologizing for involving me in the whole affair.
“I understand that they feel guilty for involving Grerial and this whole business. But that was really…wrong.”
I recalled a conversation from a few days ago.
Grerial, Welles, Rowle and I discussed a certain issue.
◆◆◆
<
Though I was sure he didn’t actually want to.
Which made things simple.
<
.
I repeated to myself, while recalling a nostalgic voice.
“I am truly grateful for the proposal, but I plan to turn it down.”
The “Trash Prince” moniker helped get rid of any marriage talks coming my way, but if I became a “Hero” in the eyes of society things would change. Some might even be so uncouth as to bring back marriage proposals that they once turned down themselves.
Such a thing would burden both Grerial and my father. That was why I was grateful for this proposal.
Even so, I did not even consider accepting it.
I kept it vague, but I thought that I would never do so in the future either.
“Is that so….”
“…I’m sorry.”
Rowle probably expected me to answer like that. He looked at his fishing pole and chuckled.
“Then…”
He continued as if he had an alternative ready from the start.
“Could you at least keep an eye out for her?”
Those sudden words surprised me quite a bit. A moment later, I laughed.
“Please.”
Since I knew of someone similar to Lychaine…
Since I knew how that person with the same “sight” ended, my answer could be only one.
“I would have done so even without you asking.”
*That man* died in a really dreadful way. I would never refuse to keep an eye on Lychaine, so she wouldn’t meet the same end. She was also going to become Grerial’s sister-in-law. There were more and more reasons for me to look out for her.
“If you’re really fine with me, though.”
“Yes, of course. Please.”
Our conversation thus wrapped up neatly. Just then…
“Woooohhhhh!!!”
The knight had been listening to us talk, a bored expression on his face, when his fishing pole suddenly bent forcefully, causing him to shout in surprise.
“Gotcha!!! Finally!!”
We had been there for a fairly long time but had barely caught anything, so the knight couldn’t hide his excitement. Honestly, I couldn’t either.
“Oooohh!! T-this one is huge!!”
Rowle, on the other hand, was as composed as before.
“Oooooohhhhhhh!!!!”
The knight was holding on the bent fishing pole for dear life. Rowle addressed him in a calming tone.
“I’m afraid it’s just stuck…”
It was too late, however.
The fishing pole couldn’t endure the knight’s herculean strength and, with a sharp crack, neatly snapped in half before our eyes.
“……….”
Half of the snapped fishing pole fell into the water with a splash, followed by an indescribable silence.
After a few seconds, the knight finally grasped what happened.
“Nnnnnuuuoooooohhhh!!!”
I pretended not to know the man screaming to the sky next to me. Misfortune, however, comes in droves. I was dragged into it soon enough.
“Ah! There! The prince is fishing!!”
“Shit!! They found me!! Rowle, take care of my pole!!”
I could hear Feli’s voice from a distance.
I tried running as soon as I noticed it, but my body was locked in an inescapable hold.
I remembered the sensation. It was like a deja vu.
“He-hey….um….Rowle…?”
“I am still a chemist, you know.”
The grin on Rowle’s mouth was shining bright…despite its evil nature.
I struggled as much as I could, but for some reason could not break free.
“W-wait, let’s talk about this. We’re fishing buddies, aren’t we? They say it’s a bond even stronger than friendship among men…!”
I tried to reason with my opponent, but…
“Stay quiet, you have to recover.”
The reply I received was nothing but damning.
“Damn youuuuuu..!!!”
On that day, the screams of two people shook the air of the coast.
◆◆◆
A few days later, a messenger arrived from Diestburg, carrying the news that my father, Philippe Hanse Diestburg, had been attacked by an unknown assailant. We received the message on our way back from Rinchelle.