Chapter 21
After dealing with my military duties, I left the Ministry of Military Affairs with Brother Henry.
It was a little after noon, the peak of the heat had passed, but the sun was still high and I didn't want to stay outside forever.
"Do you want to make a stop somewhere?"
Brother asked me from the carriage.
"How about Keith's place?"
"Oh your favorite songstress place. Okay then."
He agreed.
He ordered the coachman to head for Keith's establishment, and the two carriages started to go side by side.
The servants followed on both sides.
The main street of the city was wide enough for the carriages to be used by the nobles.
Even with two carriages going side by side, it didn't feel narrow, but rather wide enough to allow another carriage to pass from the other side.
"By the way. Noah, you've never been in a real battle before, have you?"
"No, brother I haven't."
As I answered, I kept looking at the status out of the corner of my eye.
Name: Noah Ararat
Wise Prince
Gender: Male
Level: 1 / ∞
HP F+F MP F Strength F+E Stamina F+F Intelligence F+F Spirit F+F Speed F+F Dexterity F+F Luck F+F Fire F Water E+S
Wind F Earth F Light F Darkness F
At the age of twelve, my level still remains at one.
This is because of the imperial family's regulations.
Imperial children often die prematurely, that is, when they are babies.
On the surface, it is believed that they often die of smallpox and other plagues.
Anyone who knows anything about princes will point out that they are separated from their mothers as soon as they are born and are raised by nannies and other servants, so they do not receive their own mother's milk and have low immunity.
Some of the "Gossipers" and "those who know the truth" advocate poisoning as a result of power struggle.
In any case, it is a fact that many children of the imperial family die prematurely, and in order to secure an heir, princes are not allowed to go into battle without the emperor's order until they are fully grown.
Because of this, I'm still at level 1.
By the way, Brother Henry's children also died prematurely, he had more than ten children, but now there are only three.
"You're twelve years old now, it's about time. It's probably better for you to have experienced a bit of actual warfare before entering the territory."
"Well, if His Majesty allows me to I am always ready to go."
"Hmm,…. you do have that demon sword, so it shouldn't be too difficult."
"Speaking of which, brother, when was your first battle?"
"My –"
As he was about to answer, the horse neighed and the carriage came to a sudden stop.
He slumped forward in the carriage, grabbed the edge and managed to keep his posture.
And suddenly – I didn't have time to ask about the situation.
"P-Please, help me!"
A girl about my age was on her knees in front of the carriage, and she looked at me as if she was asking for help.
The girl was dressed in tatters and her hair was shaggy.
She was not wearing any shoes, and looked like she had just escaped from somewhere.
A few seconds after the girl, several more boys and girls came running out of the alley.
They were all dressed the same.
A little later, the adults came out in pursuit.
There were about a dozen of them, and their faces showed the arrogance typical of people immersed in the underground business.
"You made us go through all this trouble!"
"Now, Get over here!"
"Nooooooo!"
"G-Get off me!"
The men grabbed the boys and girls and tried to drag them into the alley they had escaped from.
There were a few witnesses on the main street, but they all looked distant and indifferent.
"Noah."
"I understand."
I nodded to my brother, then jumped out of the carriage and interrupted the altercation.
"Halt your steps."
"What? What the hell?"
"Don't stick your nose in our business, boy."
"Registration?"
"What?"
"Registration? Certificate? What's the name of your store?"
I asked three questions in a row.
The men gulped for a moment, unable to answer.
I glanced back at my brother and made eye contact with him.
That's what I thought.
These guys are black market slavers.
"It's not registered? You do know that under imperial law, deals without registration is a felony, right?"
"Shut up! He's just a kid, get him!"
When one of the men shouted, another guy let go the escaped slave and tried to grab me.
I extend my right arm out to the side, and Leviathan appears on my right arm, where before there was nothing.
Inside my wrist, there is a bracelet that holds Leviathan.
It was custom-made, and I made Leviathan as small as a needle so that it would fit perfectly.
Previously, I had hidden it in my ears, but now it was even more concealed and transportable.
I wielded the leviathan.
It cut the man's shoulders, trailing a light blue afterglow.
Blood spurted out like arrows, and the man's arms hung limp.
"Well done."
Brother cheered behind me.
"I just cut through the the muscles. Don't do it again, it's going to get ugly."
"Gaaah...."
"Hey. What do you want …..?"
Visit readel.me for extra chapters.
"No need to worry! It's only one kid, he can't do shit if he's attacked all at once!"
The men followed the desperate order and came at once.
I again wielded the Leviathan.
Even though I was still level 1 and my abilities were not yet up to par, but I would not fall behind a roughneck like him.
I used the swordsmanship I remembered from Leviathan to cut off the limbs of all of them and rendered them powerless.
"""Ohhhh!!?"""
Almost simultaneously with the fall of the last one, the onlookers around us shouted in admiration.
"What kind of move is that?"
"That's so cool. ... It looked like that of a master...."
"Where did this young man come from?"
While listening to the onlookers, I called out to the boys and girls who were sitting or crawling on the ground here and there, puzzled.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yes..."
The girl who had stopped our carriage and had been the first to escape answered.
"I see. These guys are black slavers?"
"Yes, we're all…"
"Whoa, that would be enough."
The girl nodded and was about to tell me the reason why she had run away
Yet another man appeared from the back of the alley.
He was short, and unlike the roughnecks before him, this one didn't seem to be eating off the strength of his arm.
However, the murkiness in his eyes and the insidiousness in his voice were several times greater than the roughnecks.
He walked right up to me, looked me straight in the eye, and gave me a short bow.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness the Wise Prince."
"Who are you?"
"I am a person who makes a living from children like these. I'd prefer not to give my name to ...."
"Why ...?"
"Because I am the property of His Highness the First."
The man then smiled wickedly.
"…You said the First Prince?"
"That would be so."
The man nodded again.
I see, he's not a ruffian.
He knows me, and he's threatening me to stay out of it because the First Prince – my brother – is his backbone. (TN: backer in this case but backbone sounds cool to me)
A few options crossed my mind.
I looked around, there were many onlookers.
I turned to Brother Henry.
"Brother, do you know this man?"
While asking, I gave him a wink.
He was puzzled for a moment, but he responded to my question, "No, I don't know him."
"My brother doesn't seem to know you. And neither do I."
"Of course not, my lord, someone like me…"
I didn't let him say any more.
I intimidated the man with Leviathan, which was still drawn.
The man who was exposed directly to the killing intent of the Demon Sword blew bubbles and fainted.
I let him say those first words intentionally so that the onlookers around us could hear it properly.
"How dare you deceive me, pretending to be my brother's servant!? You may be able to fool others, but you can't fool me and my brother."
"Was he a fake?"
"I mean, who are these two men?"
"I know them. That's the Wise Prince, the patron of Alice."
"So what they said was true? Those guys are fake?"
Apparently, some of them knew me, and the rumor quickly spread in the direction I was leading.
I turned to my servant, who had been standing beside the carriage the whole time.
"Capture these men and take them to the First Prince's residence. Inform them that they are 'insolent for duping my brother's name in public.'"
"Yes!"
"Take the children to my residence for now, we'll listen to them later."
The servants put ropes on the fallen men and took them along with the runaway boys and girls.
After a short break, I jumped on the carriage and my brother said to me in a whisper that only I could hear.
"Well done, Noah, you've handled it well."
"It can't be helped."
I sighed.
"I can't cut him off if he's under my brother's command. If I did, brother would resent me, and it would be true that he was a black market slave trader. The best thing to do is to assume it's a fake and let brother deal with it."
"Fufu."
"What's the matter, brother? You're laughing all of a sudden."
"I was just thinking that your methods are always unexpected and amazing."
Brother laughed with great joy.