A clear sadness lay in her calm, sunken eyes. I had never seen Ms. Jea look at me that way before, so I was a little flustered.
“I think the imperial house may have misunderstood because of my background—because I’m royalty. They may have thought that you were associating with me, Mr. Isan, and that you had become one of my team members.”
“What does that have to do with the imperial house making a move?”
“I mean, from the nobles’ perspective, they may already think you’ve placed yourself in the imperial faction. And they may have moved quickly in order to make that a certainty.”
Only then did I understand what she meant. Right, it was a situation even I could have figured out. Besides, wasn’t the manor I’d received also under Ms. Jea’s name?
Calling it a gift sounded nice, but the person on the title was Ms. Jea. It seemed they had simply added my signature over it to give it a slight sense of joint ownership, but even that had its limits.
So if one backed it up with this and that investigation, the conclusion would be that I had become Ms. Jea’s man.
It was almost laughable. I had intended to keep my distance from both the royal house and the imperial house, and instead a misunderstanding had arisen.
As I was wondering what to do about it, the gate yard staff member spoke cautiously.
“Um, His Highness the Third Prince has personally arrived... If we keep delaying...”
At the words “Third Prince,” Ms. Jea’s expression twisted sharply. I figured there had to be another story there. She really was a woman with a lot of circumstances, so I couldn’t help but ask.
“What kind of person is he?”
“Hoo. He’s the one most greedy for the imperial throne.”
“...Mm.”
Court intrigues flashed through my mind in a rapid blur. Imagining myself running around in the middle of that was horrifying.
“It’s fine for me to refuse, right?”
Ms. Jea slowly nodded.
“However, the Third Prince may take offense. Because he came in person, only to be refused...”
I nearly snapped back, “So what if that bastard is a prince?” It sounded exactly like something said by a person who had lived his whole life with the world going his way. Though by that logic, Ms. Jea would be similar as well.
“I have no intention of getting involved with the authorities.”
For a moment, I did think that if I caught the prince’s eye and became his right hand or left hand, I might be able to land a serious blow on that damned official bastard who had humiliated me before—was he the Minister of War? Anyway, that guy whose name I couldn’t even remember. But I couldn’t ruin my life just for revenge.
So I looked at the gate yard staff member and asked.
“Can’t you just say I died? That I departed this world after the unfortunate incident of a merman’s spear piercing my heart?”
The gate yard staff member broke into a cold sweat and could only laugh awkwardly. Right, he wouldn’t have the courage to tell that kind of lie. Besides, for all I knew, he might be cursing me inwardly for speaking so carelessly about the son of the emperor, a man with absolute power in this world.
It felt like things had gotten thoroughly tangled.
I understood why Ms. Jea felt so sorry. I needed a way to refuse without offending him.
Just as I was wondering what method there might be, a group of people crossed through the gate. This had gone beyond mere rudeness; it was practically tyranny.
The gate yard staff member recognized them and spoke quietly.
“That is the Third Prince’s party. The person at the front is His Highness the Third Prince, Igang.”
So what was coming had come. It seemed he had truly hated waiting. Ms. Jea said to me,
“Don’t meet his eyes. Just answer whatever he asks. If you clearly convey your intentions, he won’t make unreasonable demands.”
I told Ms. Jea I understood, then examined the group approaching us from afar. The reason the Third Prince could be so confident was probably because of the few people behind him.
The guards looked far too relaxed for people who had crossed a gate. They were likely the imperial house’s real power, people who had built up skill and experience by traveling through high-grade gates.
When they drew close, Ms. Jea was the first to acknowledge him and offer a greeting.
“I greet the Third Prince.”
The Third Prince more or less brushed off Ms. Jea’s greeting with a casual wave and looked at me. She had told me not to meet his gaze, but I didn’t want to act servile. And I did have one justification.
The fact that I was not originally a person of this world.
I was certain they must have investigated me, so I looked at him openly. He didn’t seem to care much either, but the problem was that one of the guards following behind him flared up and shouted.
“Impudent! Will you not show proper courtesy at once!”
Seeing a look of “amusement” appear on the Third Prince’s face at those words, I looked at the shouting guard and said,
“Why don’t you tell me why I should before you start yelling? You’re going to burst my eardrums. Besides, even His Highness the Third Prince is keeping quiet, yet a lackey is mouthing off. How strange, Your Highness.”
Bluntly speaking, if I had to show courtesy, it would be to the Third Prince. I honestly couldn’t understand why this nobody was stepping forward and trying to order me around.
“What did you say?!”
The Third Prince stopped him as he was about to step forward in anger.
“You know who I am, and yet you still have not shown courtesy. May I interpret this in another way?”
“In my world, to be honest, nobles disappeared a long time ago. A simple greeting is all there is.”
“I heard. That you came from another world. But since you have come here, should you not follow the etiquette of this place?”
He was right. There was a saying: when in Rome, do as the Romans do. But if I did that, I would really end up getting roped in by the Third Prince in the unluckiest way possible.
So I said,
“I’m a wild man. Just someone who wants to live freely.”
“For that, many conditions must support you. Do you have them?”
Right. At the center of all those many things would be power. But if a prince wanted me badly enough to come here like this, that was proof that I had power. Among the men who had followed the prince here, there were surely some stronger than me. But I didn’t think the prince would use them to treat me roughly.
It was a battle of wits, and feeling like I was gambling, I said,
“I have a bit of humble strength. I wish to use it to be free. Would that be insufficient?”
“Strength. I heard you possess something good. Yes. If you have strength, then a certain degree of freedom can be guaranteed. But even that is not eternal.”
Then the prince glanced behind him and said,
“These are people who believed in an insignificant man like me and wished to support me. They must have once had thoughts like yours as well. But look. Do any of them seem unhappy?”
Was he trying to say that if I followed him, I would be happy? Whatever his intent, I decided I should speak clearly to the Third Prince.
For now, it felt like conversation was possible.
“I am extremely grateful for the offer. However, I am not suited to belonging somewhere. As I said before, because the world I lived in is different, I am still in a state where I have not adapted to this world’s ways. I understand that the nation has granted someone like me a certain grace period.”
I had mostly thrown that out to probe him. After all, I was the first case of an awakened one coming to this world. It was obvious that no laws had been prepared yet, and nothing had been decided about how they would handle me.
But an outsider like me had displayed exceptional ability in the assessment, so the various court ministers and the imperial house were probably weighing things in their minds and thinking hard.
Bluntly speaking, even on Earth, there were fewer than ten New Humans at Gap—what people commonly called G-rank. Yet one of my attacks, which hadn’t even been at full power, had measured as Gap here. If I truly went all out, most of my evaluations would likely come out as Gap-rank.
So, with confidence lifting my chin, I spoke boldly.
“I do not know how much time the nation has granted me, but could Your Highness not grant me that much time as well?”
It was a roundabout way of asking whether he lacked even that much leisure, and the Third Prince seemed to understand, letting out a small laugh. But apparently, the others behind him thought differently.
A man walked forward with his face full of anger, drew his sword, and said,
“In whose presence do you dare speak so recklessly? I shall cut off your head and punish the insolence you have committed against His Highness!”
Then, before the Third Prince could say anything, he charged at me. He was certainly fast.
It was a teleportation-like speed that none of Ms. Jea’s team members could have kept up with, but to my eyes, it just looked like he was running toward me a little quickly.
I couldn’t understand what kind of being that demon I had captured was, for a mere one percent of its ability to grant me this much power. But since I had obtained this power, I had no intention whatsoever of letting it sit and rot.
I lightly raised the Death God Spear and, matching the timing of his charge, swung it with added rotational force.
Just as he too gritted his teeth and moved to meet it head-on, I caught a glimpse of the others around the Third Prince surrounding him protectively.
And then came the collision!
With a thunderous boom, his sword shattered into pieces, and the shaft of the spear continued through, striking him in the chest and sending him rolling across the ground in a pathetic, unbelievable scene.
I had not gone all out this time either. I had merely swung a little harder than I had during the test.
When this happened, I saw some strange desire kindle in the Third Prince’s eyes and thought, Ah, damn.
Wondering if I had overdone it, I approached the man lying on the ground and groaning.
“My hand slipped a bit too far. Sorry.”
“H-how dare you...”
He was trembling with rage. He seemed to feel humiliated, but from my perspective, he was no different from someone who had made things even more difficult for me. So I looked at the Third Prince and said,
“His injuries seem serious. How about taking him for treatment first?”
“You are confident. Worth my attention.”
“Ah... ahaha.”
Feeling awkward, I scratched my head. The Third Prince, watching me, spoke to another awakened one protecting him.
“Have Hyeonmu seen by a physician.”
A man answered that he understood, hurried over, helped the fallen “Hyeonmu”(?) up, and left through the gate. I wondered if perhaps he had given each of his subordinates the name of one of the Four Guardian Beasts.
And then, just in case, I imagined that if I followed the Third Prince, I too might be called something like that, and my hands and feet curled up in embarrassment.
“I shall return for today. And after the time set by the nation has passed, I will come find you again. If you maintain the same insolence then as you did this time... you will be able to have an interesting experience.”
“I am overcome with gratitude. Your Hiiighness!”
I said it with a bit of playfulness, like a scene from a historical drama, but I could see the Third Prince withdraw with an expression that seemed rather satisfied.
It was a short happening. However, the result spread with tremendous force.
Ms. Jea’s team, who rushed over to me and began asking all sorts of questions, and even the gate yard staff member, who realized the situation was anything but ordinary and disappeared somewhere.
But as I saw Ms. Jea looking at me with an uneasy, anxious expression, I found myself thinking that I should make time later to have a deep conversation with her.