"Isn't that nice, Rein? You have more people to play with now!" Vianna exclaimed as her eyes narrowed in happiness.

"Mm!" Reivan nodded eagerly, however he was quite troubled on the inside.

On one hand, it was great that he now had someone to interact with that wasn't older than him by quite a lot, on the other hand, his maturity would stand out more when he was put together with actual children.

But still, the pros outweighed the cons.

Friends could help alleviate the boredom of staying indoors all day, only being able to read heavily censored books, and other mundane activities.

There was also another bonus. The children would be more likely to let information slip.

Though they probably wouldn't know much anyway. Being literal kids and all that.

"Rein, just like your dear uncle said, I have some duties to attend to." Vianna gestured toward the two Mercer children. "Why don't you show them around the castle?"

"Sure!"

"Great. Isadora." The Queen sent a glance to the maid who'd just appeared by the door.

Surprise crossed her face at suddenly being called the moment she was about to enter, but the Head Maid recovered pretty much immediately as she curtsied. "Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Watch over the children," Vianna commanded as she eyed her intently. "Hector and Helen are important guests."

"Understood." Isadora bowed in compliance.

"Mm." Nodding, Vianna turned toward Stella. "We can talk more over dinner. You three should join us."

"I would love to!" Stella exclaimed.

"Good, now be on your way and flirt with Roland in some hidden corner of the castle," The Queen gazed at the teenage couple with eyes full of mischief. "The castle is full of people who can sense what you're doing through walls, but don't worry, all of them will know to turn away when you get... steamy."

"..." Roland bit his lip as his face burned in embarrassment.

'Haha. Is this what someone who finds their porn stash laid out on top of their bed after their mom cleaned their room looks like? Not that I've ever experienced that.'

Reivan couldn't help but snicker when he saw his elder brother's face become a tomato. Even Stella's ears were a little red.

"And what are you laughing about?" Roland glared at his little brother in frustration.

Reivan hastily ran to hide behind his mother, waving the two kids over to join him.

"Haha. Can we play Knights n' Thieves?" Hector laughed as he pulled his little sister along with him. "Hellen is really good at hiding!"

"Mm." Helen nodded expressionlessly, though Reivan felt like he could see some excitement in her eyes. But then, the excitement turned into disappointment. "Nobody ever finds me..."

Her forlorn expression made Reivan chuckle, though, to anyone else, it seemed like her expression didn't change at all. If he didn't have [Supreme Insight], he likely wouldn't have been treated to such a cute sight.

'Haha. She seems fun...'

"That sounds good. Teach me how to play," Reivan nodded. "Mother, will we have dinner together?"

"Mm-hm. I won't leave for a while. So I can spend at least the whole week with you!" Vianna stroked her son's face with her fluffy, white fox tail.

"Great!" Reivan exclaimed as he grabbed the two kid's hands and began to lead them outside. "Let's go to the garden!"

"The ones without knights, okay?" Vianna hollered at him.

"Yeah yeah..." he called back, a bit annoyed.

With Isadora and a retinue of armored men following after them, Reivan escorted his new playmates across the castle's halls.

"Hey hey." Hector nudged Reivan with his elbow.

"Hm?"

"Do you always walk around with these many people behind you...?" Hector pointed behind them, where Isadora and a few knights were trailing behind them.

Reivan scratched his cheek as he replied, "Yeah... does that bother you?"

"Not really?" Hector tilted his head in confusion, as if asking why something like that would even irk him. "I just thought that was so cool! You're like one of those Knight commanders that walk around with their own squads!"

Helen bobbed her head as she nibbled on a biscuit that came from who-knew-where.

"Huh." Reivan's eyes widened. "I'd never thought of it that way. I guess it is kinda cool."

'I always just thought they were annoyingly overprotective... I mean, who'd even get inside the castle? There's that scary dude living in the mountain behind it and Ascendants flying around everywhere!'

"Everybody always said that the Royal Family was different from us, but when we talked earlier, I couldn't really tell," Hector's eyes stared at Reivan in amazement. "But if you have all these knights serving you, then you gotta be special!"

'That's some faulty logic right there...'

Reivan couldn't help but chuckle before remarking, "So, you like knights?"

"Of course! They're the coolest!" Hector jumped around excitedly.

One of the knights behind them sniffed proudly, earning a slap on the back of his head from one of his colleagues.

"Yeah, they're pretty cool, alright," Reivan said as he inwardly chuckled at Hector's lack of vocabulary.

It seemed everything he liked was 'cool'.

"Someday, I'm gonna be one too!" Hector struck his chest with pride.

"Mm." Helen gulped down the last of her biscuit before she nodded. "Me too."

Reivan couldn't help but smile as he looked at the two.

"That's nice. Maybe we'll fight together in the future."

"Yeah!"

"Mm!"

The twins nodded in agreement.

'Huh, so it's like Hide n' Seek, but with a twist?' Reivan inwardly remarked after listening to Hector's spirited explanation of how to play Knights n' Thieves.

The "Knight" would close their eyes and count to ten in a loud voice, while the others found hiding spots. Once the Knight was finished counting, he would go around and try to find the "Thieves".

The similarities to the famous earth game stopped here, however.

Thieves weren't eliminated by being seen by the Knight, unlike in Hide n' Seek.

Knights had to "arrest" the thief using any of their limbs to eliminate them. As for thieves, they had to "stab" a Knight's back with either of their hands.

The Thieves can make unlimited attempts, as long as they aren't arrested. They could even go back into hiding.

'It's quite physically demanding... is it meant to be a game that serves as preliminary training for children?'

"You can be the Knight," Reivan magnanimously said to Hector.

'He likes Knights, right? I'll let him have it. I'm the mature one here, after all.'

"Eh? Uh..." Hector fidgeted in hesitation, making Reivan's eyes widen.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Helen smile.

'Eh? Did I get it wrong? Crap.'

"Uh, y'know what? I'll be the Knight. I wanna try it out." Reivan amended as he scratched his head.

"Really?!" Hector beamed while raising his fists in the air. "Okay! Then Helen and I are Thieves!"

"Mm." Helen nodded as she also did the same, but with significantly less energy.

"Then I'll get to counting..." Reivan turned around, covered his eyes, and began counting down from ten in a loud booming voice. "Ten... nine..."

His eyes still closed, Reivan heard Isadora chime in from the side, "Please keep the game within the garden."

"Okay~!"

"Yes."

A few seconds passed and Reivan finally finished his countdown.

"...one!" Reivan turned around and put his hands down, scanning the surroundings as he uttered the Knight's lines. "For the Aizen's peace!"

'Guess they were able to hide properly...'

Since they were unfamiliar with this castle, Reivan thought that perhaps a ten-count was insufficient for them to find a hiding spot. His worries were unneeded, it seemed.

'Well, let's see... I guess I'll start searching over there?' he thought, as he headed to a clump of bushes.

Reivan could easily find Hector and Helen if he used his [Supreme Insight]. Actually, just the information it passively implanted into his mind would be enough, but he willingly suppressed them.

It wouldn't be a game if someone cheated.

'Even if I lose, it's fine. Losing can be fun too.'

Plus, it wouldn't make him feel better about himself even if he won against a bunch of kids.

Powers were off-limits, but Reivan had other methods he could use.

"Hah!" While walking, Reivan suddenly turned around and looked into their guards' eyes. Reivan and the twins weren't the only ones here, they were accompanied by some knights and the Head Maid. Perhaps he could get an idea of where they hid by following those people's gazes?

'This isn't cheating! Anyone can do this after all!' he inwardly tried to excuse his unsportsmanlike behavior.

Before he could even see their eyes, the knights had already turned their heads aside and closed their eyes. Isadora smirked, seemingly impressed by his cunning, but since she was looking straight at him, Reivan couldn't glean any information from her.

"Tch." Reivan clicked his tongue as he heard muffled chuckling from his observers. He gave up on getting any help from them and began searching in earnest.

'Unloyal mutts!' he jokingly cursed in his heart.

Even after a few minutes though, he still couldn't find any traces of the twins. He inwardly praised their hiding abilities, but there was actually a bigger problem...

'Why is this place so freaking big!?'

Even though it was called a "garden", it felt as big as a golf course. Just one that had a bunch of well-trimmed hedges that separated the stone-paved paths from the patches of grassy meadows and some fruit trees near the edges of the garden.

The worse part, was that the garden was already big from an adult's perspective, but it was even bigger from a child's perspective.

As he was walking through the maze of hedges, inwardly whining, that was when it happened.

'Huh?'

Reivan unconsciously turned his head to the right, where he smelled a scent that was different from the ones the leaves and flowers were giving off.

"Huh?" his head tilted at the strange sensation as the scent grew more familiar to him by the second. As he stared into the spot in the hedges where the smell came from, Reivan called out, "Hector...?"

There was no response.

That is, until Hector burst out of the other side of the hedge, the side facing the opposite direction from Reivan, and began running away while screaming.

"How'd you find me...!? Ahhhh!"

"..." Reivan stood there in a daze for a second before snapping out of it. His lips formed into a bestial grin as he jumped over the hedge in an impressive display of physical ability and began chasing after Hector on all fours. "I'm gonna get you!"

"Ahhh! He's gonna catch up!?" Hector looked back and was horrified to find that Reivan had gotten so close. "Also, why are you running like that!?"

"I don't really get it, but I'm faster this way!" he called back as he raced forward like a four-legged animal. Once he was close enough, Reivan put power into his legs and pounced, closing the distance in an instant.

"Woah!" Hector saw it coming and dodged to his right, doing a roll that Reivan felt was reminiscent of a fast roll from Dark Souls.

Since he'd entirely missed his target, Reivan fell to the ground in a heap, but got up quickly and resumed chasing after Hector, who'd resumed running.

Even after multiple attempts, he was unable to catch Hector.

'How is this guy so good...?' Reivan inwardly marveled at the smooth transition between Hector's rolling dodges and running away afterward. 'Did he receive some kind of training or is he just naturally athletic?'

If it was the former, that kind of pissed him off.

'I was locked in here without being allowed to train, so why does he get to do it?'

Even though he was aware that it was misplaced anger, Reivan's annoyance raised his speed up a notch.

Hector saw this and blanched. "Why are you getting faster!?

"I'm gonna rip you apart!" Reivan exclaimed as he dove for Hector's back.

"Ah!" Hector dodged to the left this time and quickly resumed running as he patted away the leaves that clung to him. "Arrest! You're trying to arrest me! Not rip me apart!"

"It's the same thing!"

"No it's not!" Hector yelled in a single breath.

The two continued the chase, with Reivan making frequent leaps and Hector rolling away this way and that to dodge the excited prince.

He'd seen it so much, Reivan was even starting to learn from Hector, trying to roll on the ground after his attacks missed.

A face-plant to the ground was the most frequent result though, which caused his regal clothes to turn into a mess. The Head Maid standing off in the distance frowned at the sight as her fingers twitched. She seemed like she'd swoop down on Reivan any minute now, to strip him of his clothes so she could clean them.

However, the stalemate couldn't continue perpetually.

"Haaah... haaah...!" Hector's breathing turned rough as his lungs screamed for air. He looked behind him in horror to see Reivan chasing after him with the same amount of vigor that he'd had from the start.

Reivan smirked.

'This isn't cheating! It's a side effect of the healing medicine that was forced on me, so I'm not cheating!'

Again, he made excuses for his dishonest conduct.

"Why aren't you... haaah... getting tired!?" Hector exclaimed through ragged breaths.

"It's the perks of being the prince!" Reivan replied as he pounced once more.

"That's so unfair! Hup!" Hector whined before rolling to the right and running away quickly afterward. However, his steps were visibly slower and more erratic.

"I'm gonna get yooooou!"

"You're so enthusiastic!" Hector snapped as he smiled wryly. He must've realized that he couldn't keep this up long, since he began calling for help. "Helen! Hey, Helen! Help me out! I'm gonna get caught! Save me~!"

"Hah! You think she'll make it?! I'll arrest you way before sh--"

It happened again.

A familiar scent that was clearly different from the surroundings wafted into Reivan's nose.

For some reason, it was coming from above him.

Reivan dodged to the side in an imitation of Hector's Dark Souls roll. As he went, he heard a thud near the position he was previously in.

'I did it!'

Reivan inwardly cheered as he successfully executed a (in his opinion) perfect roll. He looked toward the space he previously occupied to find Helen, tilting her head in confusion.

"You... dodged?" she muttered while frowning.

"Where the hell did you even...?" The question in his heart was answered when he noticed that they were near the edge of the garden now. Where all the trees were.

'Are you a monkey!?'

In any case, now was the perfect time to eliminate one of the twins. Hector was long gone by now, but Helen was so close.

Considering their current distance, she'd never be able to get away from him.

"Gotcha!" Reivan exclaimed as he lunged forward with his right arm outstretched, aiming to touch Helen's stomach.

"..." Helen said nothing as she calmly sidestepped Reivan's attempt. As he passed by, she reached forward to try to touch his back.

'Oh no, you don't!'

Just before she could touch him, Reivan exerted himself to kick out with his foot. He was pretty much sacrificing his balance with this move, and would likely fall to the ground even if he succeeded, but if Helen touched him first, it would be game over anyway.

"!" Helen's eyes widened. Judging that the foot would make contact with her before her hand reached Reivan, she immediately decided to retreat. She kicked back to create some distance and dodge Reivan's foot, then did a backroll to widen the gap even further.

As the two six-year-old children got up from the ground, their eyes collided in the air as they observed each other.

'Her reflexes are crazy...'

Reivan's reaction speed as well as his kinetic and dynamic visual acuity was high even in his past life. It was why he did so well in athletics when he was young and games when he got older.

He later found out that it was due to his special ability, [Supreme Insight].

Even with that special ability, he could barely keep track of the previous exchange. And yet Helen was able to react in such a relaxed manner.

Curious, Reivan used insight on her.

Name: Helen Mercer Species: Human Realm: Mortal Age: 6 Sex: Female Favor: (Curiosity) 30 / 100 Threat Level: S+ Might: 8 -> 20 (Temporary) Special Abilities: [Peerless Perfection]

[Overwhelm] Elemental Affinities: [Lightning] [Wind] Extra Skills: [Limit Break]

'S+ threat!?'

His eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he saw the young girl's status. He didn't know which ability increased it, but a Might of twenty was crazy for Reivan. The last time he checked he was only at 9. Which was quite good since the normal adults had 12 or so.

Even if the Ichor he took earlier increased it by a couple of points, Helen still had twice his physical capabilities. Luckily, the gap didn't seem insurmountable.

Now that he was looking at her more thoroughly, he noticed that Helen's eyes had a subtle glow...

Unfortunately, it seemed like Reivan wouldn't have the time to investigate.

"Hiyah!" Helen gave a cute little grunt as she dashed forward, gaze trained on Reivan.

'She's running toward me? Isn't she supposed to run away...?'

In any case, Reivan decided to stand his ground and wait for her with his arms extended. He kept his guard up in case Helen tried something.

And he was right to do so.

The moment that Helen got close enough she threw out her right arm, sending a clump of sand toward Reivan's eyes.

'That's so dirty!? Is she allowed to do that...!?'

Reivan saw it coming, but he also knew that his hands wouldn't be able to cover his eyes fast enough. His only option was to close them as he backed away.

Even with the best set of eyes in the multiverse, he might as well be blind if they were covered.

Luckily, his beastly nose still worked quite well. Helen's scent wafted into his nose as he felt his face get battered by countless grains of sand.

'From the right!'

Reivan sprung into action. He bolted to the left, making sure to immediately face his back away from her direction as he opened his eyes.

Helen was now looking at him with a confused expression.

"Mhm?" She down at her hand, then back toward Reivan. She tilted her head as she muttered, "I'm still not winning...?"

"Haha..." he chuckled wryly. "Yeah, well, you're not exactly making it easy for me here. You're so fast..."

"Mhm." Helen nodded and looked at Reivan with bright eyes. "But you still don't lose easy. This is fun."

Favor: (Interest / Friendship) 30 / 100 --> 50 / 100

"Let's play some more."

Helen flexed her hands as a genuine smile crossed her face.

"Don't lose yet," she sprinted toward him.

"Oh, I won't," Reivan replied defiantly as he smirked.

'This little monster of a kid...' he thought, exasperated. 'But I'm a monster too, you know?'

She was obviously using some sort of special ability to increase her stats. If so, then two could play at that game.

Reivan decided that he didn't need to hold back as much. It just so happened that he'd just unlocked the perfect ability this morning.

[Beast Gate] has been activated. All Physical stats are increased by +100% Might: 10 --> 20 (Temporary)

'In the spirit of fairness!' he inwardly yelled as he darted forward to meet her, surprising the young girl with his speed.

"!" Helen's eyes widened as she rolled to the side to dodge him. When she got up, she dashed to the nearest tree and started climbing, seemingly having given up on running away.

'Hey! That's dangerous! I literally just fell from one y'know!?' he screamed in his heart.

But right before his eyes was a girl climbing up a tree as if it was as easy as breathing.

"What the..." Reivan looked up in wonder as Helen sat on one of the tree's branches, letting her legs dangle. "Hey, that's dangerous y'know?"

"It's fine." she tersely replied with an expressionless face. "I climb trees all the time."

'So you are a monkey, then?'

Reivan sighed. He didn't know if it was okay to be impressed that a noble girl was good at climbing trees.

"And," Helen added. Even though her face didn't change at all, Reivan could see the provocation and smugness in her eyes. "You can't catch me if I'm here."

"..." Reivan felt like the back of his head was struck from the provocation. "Hah? Y'think I can't climb up there?"

"Mm." Helen nodded. "Can't."

"I can," Reivan argued defiantly.

"Can't." Helen's eyes stared into Reivan's daring him to try. She repeated, "Can't."

'This little...'

Despite his mental age, Reivan felt extremely competitive against the little girl. He didn't want to lose.

"Fine." Reivan stomped toward the tree Helen was on. "Watch me."

"Mm." Helen nodded before calling out with a hint of worry. "Careful."

"Thanks. It's fine, though. The Knights can just catch us if we fall." he pointed his thumb behind him, where a few Knights had ran up the moment that it seemed like Reivan would attempt to scale the tree.

Reivan patted his hands together and warmed himself up as he yelled.

"It won't be like earlier!"