-Seventh Prince POV-
"My prince your father is requesting your presence in the third dining hall" From outside my laboratory door I heard my butler knocking.
"One second Mr. Plackitt I'll be just a minute!" I shouted back while trying to speed up my experiment slightly with time magic. I should have know that was bad idea but what can I say I was in a rush.
*Boom!!*
"My prince! Are you ok?!" Mr. Plackitt breaks through my lab door after the explosion. God now the poor carpenter has to replace that again.
"I'm fine, just a minor mistake." Disabling my mana shield I answer while looking for any surviving materials.
"*sigh* My prince why must your experiments always end in explosions." Sighing in what I can only assume is exasperation he starts to help me search for surviving notes and materials.
"I'll deal with this you hurry along and meet your father, your already late."
"Thank you Mr. Plackitt and sorry!" Rushing out the door I quickly thank him and start heading to the dining hall, after all you don't keep a king waiting.
"Seventh prince." Nodding back to the guards at the door I enter the dining hall. The third dining hall was the one for meetings between my father and his children, but only for official things. Non-official meetings between us happen in the 23rd office on the north side.
"Your late." Looking up from his papers father takes a quick glance up at the clock and back at me.
"Well sit down. Don't just stand there." Quickly sitting down I start to pick certain foods off the mountain in front of me.
"So father why did you call for me?" Finding the croissants I begin to place some on my plate while questioning why I was summoned.
"As you know your being enrolled into the Myriad Races Academy in the central continent in two weeks." Ahh yes the academy, my greatest achievement. Originally father was going to send my older brother the 1st prince to go and meet all the other races royals and nobles. However I managed to convince him otherwise. I was livid when I learned first brother was going, he's a knight for mana's sake!
"The academy is located in Serathin city. A large city with many influences, so you have to have a guard. However you can only bring one follower into the academy and you already chose to bring your butler." I had done that specifically cause I didn't want a guard with me, all the royal guards are split between first, second and third brothers men and I don't want any of them close to me. I may not care for the throne, but being the magical genius I am I was still viewed as a threat.
"So I decided to send a guard the only way I could." No! He wouldn't dare do that. I only have one slot and I refuse to have it used on someone I don't know.
"As you know due to certain racial circumstances extra followers have been allowed in the past. Well I decided since you managed to manifest such a powerful bloodline skill you should use it to your advantage." He can't be serious!
"Father with all due respect you told me I'd be allowed to choose who to bond with myself?" He promised me! He promised mother!
"Yes well things change, you wanted to go to the academy this is the price. Don't worry I got the best of the best for you to bond with."
"I see, thank you Father for giving me the best. I have work to do in preparation, so I best take my leave." Forcing a smile I stood up and made my way out of the dining hall.
Once out of the hall and away from the sight of the guards I dropped my smile. Damn it! A forced bond won't be pretty for me or the person father chose. I refuse to bind someone I don't know! I barely accept slavery and this will be so much worse! I have to make preparations, maybe mothers notebooks will have ways around this. Luckily it takes two days to assemble the binding ritual after the subject has given their mana so I have time to figure it out with them. I still have to hurry however!
-Mc POV-
"So kid, you understand the mission correct?" For fucks sake how many times will he ask!
I'd been in this carriage for nearly five weeks. The capital and by proxy the palace was but a day or so away. And every single day since the first he'd asked the same thing. If I understood my mission. I was beginning to think that it was a brainwashing technique!
(Flashback)
"Why is he so late?" I asked, we'd been standing here for nearly thirty minutes and still no one had arrived.
"I don't know kid. He should be here by now even if his horses were tired?" Next to me stood Grand Elder Umbras.
I was standing just outside the same spatial light house that I came through the first time. This morning at exactly seven Mr. Umbras came to pick me up for my assignment. After a fairly emotional goodbye, at least for assassins with professional training and someone capable of suppressing their emotions at will, with Novem and Tribus we headed off. After a long 3 hour final debrief about the central continent, the nobles and important figures of various races and the history of the academy we headed out to the teleportation platform. And here we'd been waiting for around an hour for someone who should have shown up an hour ago.
After another fifteen minutes a very heavy looking gilded carriage rounded the bend. God my first noble and I already don't like him. The carriage pulled in front of us, the poor horses looking exhausted despite being around level 150 each. The door opened and out stepped a rather heavy looking man wearing extremely gaudy clothing.
"Mr. Umbras I presume?" God that tone of voice. He sounded exactly like what all those actors in WW2 films make German officers sound like, superior to everyone with a stick up their ass.
"Yes, you must be Baron Reltiad. It's a pleasure to meet you." Doing a slight bow Mr. Umbras greeted the man, Baron, with a polite but clearly bored tone. And the man smiled like he was better, did he miss that vocal cue?
"Mr. Umbras no offense to you but why do you have a blind child next to you? I was told I would be picking up a genius guard for his highness the seventh prince?" Wow, an ableist in a world of magic? How is that even possible, while disabled people may still have a disadvantage in the beginning the moment they get a good class they'd be fine.
"Baron Reltiad I assure you that little Zero here is a genius of high caliber." I'm glad Umbras stuck to the plan I suggested, that being unless specifically asked I plan to just pretend I'm blind. After all people will try a lot in the presence of the blind, something I'd learned when I first started wearing the blind fold.
"Hmm, well then I'll be taking the boy. Goodbye Mr. Umbras." Well that was a quick transaction.
Getting into the carriage I realized it was worse then I thought. The blind fold I'm wearing was made by me personally using runic enchantments. It completely blocks my normal sight while enhancing my senses of smell and hearing around three fold. Yes normal sight, my mana vision still functions through it relatively unimpeded although soul sight is suppressed thank god. Anyway the whole carriage stank of sex and alcohol.
"Well then boy, are you aware of the specifics of your mission?" As the carriage began to role he took out a bottle and poured a glass of alcohol. My plan already works, maybe. Maybe he'd drink even without me wearing a blindfold.
"No sir, all I know is I'm to protect the prince at the academy. I was briefed on people of importance who attend the academy, the politics involving them and the central continent, and the academies history."
"Hmm, well let's get to it. Your mostly correct, the only difference is another guard will stay in the city. You will be given a communication token to stay in touch with him. You are to report any big incidents regarding the prince to this guard who will decided what to do accordingly." So I'm doubling as a spy. I wonder as a spy for who though? The king, one of the other princes or maybe someone entirely removed from the royal family.
"This part of your mission is of key importance. Interactions with people of interest, attention of teachers and others all of it needs to be reported." So they want to know his possible connections? That makes the other princes suspicious, all those dramas about fights for the throne may have been right…
"Understood sir."
(End of flashback)
He'd repeated my mission to me nearly everyday for the past five weeks and I was losing it. I was halfway to blackmailing him with the information I gathered so he'd shut up. In other news my plan of being blind to catch others off guard had worked flawlessly. He'd left several letters laying around allowing me to get a good read on the man.
Baron Reltiad was a man who married into status. His wife was from a warrior family who'd gained Baron status during the shattering wars. He was basically terrified of her and yet he cheated anyway. Yes, several letters addressed to multiple lovers, just lying around. I mean seriously in a world of magic who just leaves stuff lying around even if I'm just a 'blind kid'….
Basically outing him to his wife would likely get him killed or at least heavily punished. Warriors do not take betrayal kindly after all. So I had dirt on him and he was pushing me dangerously close to using it. I mean seriously five weeks of the same damn questions! I was going mad, luckily it was almost over.
The next day we finally saw the castle walls in the distance. Huge stone blocks lined together to make impressive 18 meter tall walls, all enchanted and positively thrumming with power to my mana sight. A line roughly a mile long was piled outside the gate, inching forward ever so slightly. Luckily it seemed we had the fast pass, moving past the line and through a second gate I assume was meant for nobles.
The capital was an extremely clean version of what I imagined a medieval European city to look like. Cobbled, but proper, roads with houses that looked straight out of a medieval movie set. Of course from some books on the capital's history I'd read I knew there was a slum around here, although due to the city wide cleaning enchantment it was probably the cleanest slum there ever was.
The palace loomed in the distance, a large imposing building made of or at least covered in some sort of mana heavy black rocks. The palace was blinding to mana vision, in fact due to the protection and cleaning enchanting the whole city glared in my eyesight. I pushed some mana into my blindfold slightly boosting the enchantments so they could block mana vision, after all I was going into the palace and I'd rather not go blind in one eye for real even if it would be temporary.
Entering the palace was a surprisingly easy affair. I mean while the Baron was no threat, his class and previous classes all being civilian type classes, I was a trained assassin. And while the king and queen were far past my pay grade most of the princes and concubines were valid targets. Plus while I'd never seen one I could think of around three different ways to create magic bombs on the spot. Not to mention the actual magic bombs I developed and were sitting in my inventory.
Thinking about it I came to the conclusion that due to the powers available to everyone certain professions weren't as advanced as they could be. I'd noticed during my assassin training that knowledge and usage of bombs, drones or golems in this case and other common tools from my world was extremely lacking. I'd done my world justice in that regard, funny thing was that by doing so I learned a key mechanic of the world. That being, intent matters, I considered the bombs and golems to be part of assassination techniques and so they were added to it. I got neither the golemancy skill nor the bomb related skill I expected. Instead that knowledge and related buffs was given to the assassin techniques skill packet.
We were led through the palace by a maid to a rather quaint looking doorway, I had no idea who I was being led to see. The Baron had been relieved shortly before we got to the door and that made me slightly worried. The maid opened the door but didn't enter, simply holding the door open. Entering the room, that looked like a small office, I saw a fairly old man sitting behind a desk.
"Ah you must be Zero! It's a pleasure to meet you young man." Upon noticing me the old man stood up and greeted me while fluctuating his mana in a way that functioned as a handshake among nobility.
"Hello sir, it's nice to meet you as well. What's your name?" Fluctuating my mana in response I took advantage of one of my most useful abilities, being able to ignore social norms. I was after all a child, it was my right to be blunt when I wanted to be.
"Ah, my name is Mr. Plackitt and I'm the seventh princes butler." So he's like a caretaker then. God I hope this prince isn't some spoiled brat. Unfortunately the prince sent to the magic academy is almost always one good at connections not magic so he probably will be.
"Well lets get going then shall we? Do you need me to guide you?" Oh? The first person so far to offer help for a 'blind' person. Well at least he's nice, maybe the prince will be good as well.
Following along behind him we went through about two hallways and a set of stairs before arriving outside a door. The door smelled of fresh wood, strange considering the age of this castle. Mr. Plackitt knocked softly on the door.
"My prince, your guest has arrived." He yelled through the door. Well so far so good, a spoiled prince wouldn't take a non-royal speaking to them like that.
"Coming, Mr. Plackitt!" From the other side of the door a young voice yelled back. He called his butler by name, with a respectful prefix! This bodes extremely well for his personality.
I heard the door unlock before it swung open. Coming through the door was a boy...? No! Why, why did it have to be a trap?! That's not a 12 year old boy! Don't lie to me god, that right there is an 10 year old girl at best! Wait he's meant to be 12.... A shota trap! What kind of devilish combination is this! This world is just all clichés isn't it?! Shady assassins that work for the government, a prince who is a shota trap, at this point it's all but guaranteed we meet a tsundere or something at the academy! Wait, does this count as foreshadowing?