Chapter 152

Chapter 152 – Chapter 29: War Destruction #3

“9th Prince is headed to Curtis . He is going there to support the 3rd Prince and 4th Princess . ”

Henry completed his short oral report regarding the new information which had just arrived from the Demon King’s Palace .

Instead of reaching for the report, Richard, the draconian captain, just simply stared at his nephew’s—at Henry’s face . Henry was hiding it with a solemn expression, but there was a deep feeling of relief and pleasure .

The plan to measure the 9th Prince’s strength using Jiks had failed . Henry was delighted about this fact, while Richard felt somewhat confused .

It was due to the fact that the 9th Prince had won against Jiks .

‘I still can’t imagine it . ’

He didn’t know how the 9th Prince had won against Jiks . Had the 8th Princess helped him or had she simply watched from behind?

Richard didn’t consider the possibility that Jiks wouldn’t have managed to escape after losing . He could find out information from Jiks’ scattered subordinates, but that was too cumbersome and time-consuming . Apart from Jiks, Richard’s arm had no reach in Evian .

Richard was even more puzzled about the 9th Prince’s consequent successes .

He had taken all the bases with a stormy approach and rescued the senior general, Vandal . That alone was amazing, but the 9th Prince had even led the troops directly into a massive fight against the barbarian king and his army .

It was already at a standard of being an active leader . He could even believe that ‘9th Prince’ had been written mistakenly in the report, instead of ‘1st Prince’ or ‘2nd Prince’ .

The 9th Prince’s growth went against common sense . Although he had played a prominent role at Enger Plains, there was a huge difference between what he had done at Enger Plains and what he had done at Evian .

How had he become stronger so suddenly?

When one considered the situation with common sense, this was simply impossible . The 2nd Prince had been born with a monstrous talent, but even he wasn’t at this level . In just half a year, an incompetent prince had been reborn as an advanced general .

‘He was hiding his skills . ’

Richard could only think of that . However, even so, this wasn’t a perfect answer .

‘Too strong . ’

Right now, the 9th Prince was only 14 or 15 years old . Compared to his age, he was excessively strong . Even when it was taken into account that the report had been inflated, the 9th Prince was at least at the level of an intermediate general .

‘There is a reason why the sword duke has shown interest in him . ’

The 9th Prince’s activities weren’t things he could do simply because he was strong . It was clear he had considerable talent in military matters as well .

Many people thought the 9th Prince was borrowing the power of the 6th and 8th Princesses, but Richard didn’t think so . The 6th and 8th Princesses didn’t have such talent . Their talents stood out in their respective fields, but they weren’t all-rounders . In fact, until now, the two people hadn’t been involved in such activities .

There was the possibility that 9th Prince’s aide had this power, but that was a useless story . The 9th Prince’s aide was an orc—a soldier he had met on his first mission outside . Given the average intellect of the orcs, the possibility that the 9th Prince’s aide had military talent was close to zero .

The 9th Prince’s achievements were completely due to the 9th Prince’s power . Not only did the 9th Prince have considerable individual abilities, he had strong military capabilities as well .

It was huge . The 9th Prince had suddenly become prominent in a very short amount of time . There wasn’t even a chance to step on that growing bud . By the time Richard had realized it, the 9th Prince had already obtained the power to turn the three factions into four .

All the children who weren’t interested in the position of the demon king were in his faction . The most surprising thing was the support behind the 9th Prince . Why did the 3rd and 4th Queens give their support to the 9th Prince instead of their own children?

Richard became more stimulated the more he thought about it .

‘Amazing, amazing . ’

Richard was interested in the 9th Prince and really wanted to observe him .

Richard’s gaze glided over the short sentences in the report . Then he stared at Henry, his nephew who had a strong loyalty toward the demon king, and thought carefully before opening his mouth .

“Captain, if we observe Curtis, then we will be able to gauge 9th Prince’s ability . ”

Everything at Evian had been too sudden . Moreover, Jiks had been smashed at the beginning, so there was no way for them to observe the 9th Prince . However, this time was different . Richard could send some people to keep a watch on the 9th Prince .

Therefore, Henry’s words were quite valid . He didn’t need to use radical measures like a surprise attack to explore the 9th Prince’s capabilities .

However, Richard shook his head slowly .

“Well, I wonder if that will happen . ”

“Captain?”

“4th Princess is responsible for Curtis . It is doubtful she will give any opportunities to 9th Prince . ”

This situation was different from what had happened at Enger Plains and Evian . The 9th Prince was being dispatched as support for the 4th Princess, so there was a limit to how big of a role he could play .

Henry’s eyes widened as he realized this . Rather than scolding his honest nephew, Richard turned his gaze toward the map of the Demon World on his desk .

On the eastern front where Evian was located, there was a major uproar due to the barbarian king . How about the western front? Would something also happen in Curtis?

Richard’s gaze moved further on the map to beyond the Western Limit Line .

&

As always, the transportation was successful . In-gong opened his eyes at Curtis’ transportation formation and saw a guide soldier standing before them .

After standing for a moment to ease through the transition, the guide soldier came up to In-gong and Felicia and bowed .

“It is a pleasure to meet 9th Prince and 6th Princess . ”

The guide soldier was a black-haired young man, who was very handsome and tall . Both of his eyes were moist, which could confuse people . He wasn’t a local soldier but an incubus, who was one of Anastasia’s subordinates .

“Your Highnesses, I am Carlos, and I will guide you around Curtis . ”

‘He is a watchdog . ’

The reason why an incubus, and not a local soldier, was sent was obvious . Felicia narrowed her eyes and asked Carlos,

“Where is Unni right now?”

“There are some suspicious movements near the limit line, so she is going to the front . ”

According to the additional information gathered from the Demon King’s Palace, there had already been several small encounters at the Western Limit Line . There were no full-scale engagements, but both sides scouted each other’s power repeatedly .

“Then are we going to the front?”

Carlos frowned slightly at Carack’s question . He acted restrained in front of In-gong and Felicia, but he seemed displeased . He went on to ignore Carack, who was an orc .

‘You shouldn’t ignore the orc . ’

While In-gong was thinking this, Carlos corrected his expression and told In-gong and Felicia in a polite tone,

“4th Princess has specifically assigned a defenseless area to 9th Prince and 6th Princess . I will take you there . ”

At the special request, In-gong and Felicia looked at each other . The two of them shared the same thoughts .

“As expected, it is a bad area . Are we going to be kept in the rear?”

Just like Evian, Curtis wasn’t the name of a city but the name for the entire western front .

The transportation formation connected to the Demon King’s Palace was located to the east end of Curtis . Currently, Anastasia and Victor had arrived earlier and were able to move to the northwest using the transportation formations .

However, In-gong’s party was now moving in a carriage toward the southwest, rather than the northwest . It was still the west, but the south-west area wasn’t connected to the Western Limit Line . In other words, it was a quiet area with a low chance of an enemy attacking .

This was because Anastasia hadn’t accomplished any great merits since being sent to Curtis . Now that In-gong had appeared, it was inevitable that Anastasia would feel displeased . It was natural for her to put In-gong in the rear, so that he couldn’t build up any merits .

From Enger Plains to Evian, In-gong had always been in charge . However, this time, he was just a helper . It was Anastasia’s role to oversee the royal children dispatched to Curtis, so she had the choice of whether or not to ask In-gong for help .

“Well, I guess it is hard to go against Anastasia in this . ”

Felicia said with a frown . Carack smiled from opposite her and said,

“But if you’re going to be safe, the rear doesn’t seem that bad . Especially when looking at Prince’s state right now . ”

Carack said, and all eyes in the carriage turned toward In-gong .

In-gong was fitting a bracelet onto Felicia’s wrist . As one of the items collected during his tour of the Demon King’s Palace, it was a one time charm to defend against physical attacks .

“Now, the last one . ”

Next to the blue bracelet was a red bracelet . To be exact, it was the 12th magic item . In addition to Felicia’s arms, several magic items of various colours were hanging around her neck, from her ears, waist and so on . All of them had belonged to In-gong .

“Prince, isn’t this a little too much? There should be a harmony, harmony . ”

Not only were there too many, the colours didn’t match each other . It was a natural result of equipping the magic items randomly .

“Uhh, is that so?”

In-gong shrugged as he looked at Felicia . She was still pretty, but that was because Felicia was so beautiful that her beauty outshone everything else .

There were two different coloured necklaces and six different coloured bracelets on both of her arms . Additionally, she wore earrings, ankle bracelets and other accessories which created a bizarre image . To be honest, Felicia’s beauty wasn’t enough to cover everything .

As In-gong stared at Felicia with narrow eyes, Delia said with a smile,

“It shows how much 9th Prince values 6th Princess . ”

This was because the accessories were all defensive magic items . After the fight against the Famine Knight, In-gong was interested in Felicia’s defense .

Carack nodded and said,

“Delia, you should tell Prince bluntly . ”

In-gong looked like he didn’t understand . Delia hesitated a bit before smiling awkwardly .

“For Her Highness’ reputation, it is a little…”

It was obvious that she would be called a fashion terrorist . Felicia laughed . So far, she had been standing still like a doll, but she spoke at this moment,

“Well, I am a little unbalanced . Still, Shutra prepared these for me, so shouldn’t I wear them?”

Her voice and eyes weren’t lifeless . She was looking at In-gong with a touched exprssion, like she was about to say Caitlin’s ‘amazing’ .

Carack looked at her appearance and shook his head .

“If Prince Silvan were here, he would be wailing . ”

Silvan would be filled with envy, then Felicia would hit him on the head with a fan .

In-gong laughed and scratched his jaw .

“Uhh, I guess I should make some adjustments . I think it is a good idea to commission Amita to modify it . ”

“Will Amita do it?”

Felicia asked In-gong with a gentle smile .

“Their tail will pound on the floor . They will grunt but wouldn’t they agree in the end?”

In-gong’s gaze turned back to Felicia, and Carack interrupted again .

“Prince, if Prince asks, then even Princess will agree . You are correct . ”

It was like that . Felicia blushed and refuted,

“I-it isn’t like that . Don’t you think, Delia?”

“Uh, um, yes . That’s right . If Princess says so, it is the case . ”

“Delia!”

Delia’s tone was inconsistent with her words . In-gong smiled as he saw the grouchy Felicia and said,

“Anyway, I’ll ask Amita . ”

“Um, I feel like that raccoon is somewhat pitiful . ”

“It’s okay, I think they are adapting to it these days . There isn’t as much resistance as there used to be . ”

Animals were creatures of adaptation, and a raccoon was like that as well .

Unlike Evian, which was a wasteland, Curtis was a land of rain and greenery . After studying the scenery outside the window for a while, Felicia asked In-gong,

“It will be two days until the reinforcements arrive… Until then, we have no strength, so we just need to stay in the rear . Shutra, do you know anything about the place we’re going to?”

Felicia had wandered all over the Demon World, but this was her first visit to Curtis . Moreover, the place where the party was headed was the fringe of Curtis .

It was the same for In-gong . However, In-gong had intelligence from Knight Saga . To the southwest of Curtis was the land of giants with a huge forest . So, there was a reason why In-gong could remain cheerful despite being sent to the rear .

“It is a fairly interesting place . ”

As he stared out the window, In-gong searched through his memories . The surrounding landscape was changing bit by bit .