The Extra Prince Sets Out To Conquer The World

On a wide-spread spring day, a girl cautiously stepped out the door.

The house located near the market alley wasn’t very big, but it was much better than the shabby single room made of planks that the girl had lived in before.

The girl took a deep breath and moved her steps toward the market street.

Until recently, taking a deep breath would make her lungs hurt as if they were tearing, but not anymore.

It wasn’t just her breathing. The girl was happy just to be able to walk on her own feet without anyone’s help.

“Ronia! Long time no see.”

A middle-aged man with a rough appearance called out to the girl, Ronia Asan, who was strolling through the market alley in the early morning.

“Ah, Director! Hello!”

Ronia bowed to the man in greeting.

Ronia knew well that it was thanks to him that she and her brother, who were orphans, were able to eat even hard bread and potatoes by giving her brother small jobs.

“Yes, I’m glad to see you’ve become much healthier. Gilbert will be happy, too.”

The director of the labor office smiled kindly and patted Ronia’s head.

“Thank you. It’s thanks to you, Director.”

Ronia’s gratitude was sincere.

If it weren’t for him, she would have starved to death long ago instead of getting sick.

“Right, you said you were staying with the old lady at the tobacco shop while Gilbert went to earn money?”

Although Ronia’s brother Gilbert had left to become a guard knight for the prince, no one around her believed it.

They just thought Gilbert had lied so his young sister wouldn’t worry as he went to make money in a foreign land.

Ronia didn’t like that perception, but she didn’t insist that her brother had become a knight.

She knew it would only sound like a childish and unreasonable stubbornness to the adults around her.

“Yes, my body is still weak to work, but I want to help with the shop’s work if there’s anything I can do!”

At her lively words, the labor office director was pleased but also gave a warning.

“Ronia, your heart is beautiful, but for children, growing up healthy is helping adults. If you overdo it and get hurt, Gilbert will be very sad.”

“Yes, I’ll be careful!”

“Good, see you next time when you visit the old medicine man.”

At Ronia’s lively answer, the labor office director smiled and headed to his workplace by the river.

Ronia bowed in greeting and walked to the tobacco shop as if taking a stroll.

Aladrine was worried that tobacco smoke wasn’t good for a child’s health, but Nedrian was happy to have a cute little sister.

“Hmm hmm~ Hmm~”

Ronia hummed and looked around the market street bustling with merchants.

To her, who had been lying down and observing the clouds outside the window for a long time, everything was new and interesting.

“Ronia! Did you eat breakfast? Have an apple before you go!”

“Ronia, are you going to the tobacco shop? Eat this with the grandmother there.”

The market merchants greeted Ronia with delight when they saw her.

Ronia politely thanked the adults who gave her apples or bread as they greeted her.

The reason Ronia was on good terms with the market merchants despite not being able to go out for a long time was all thanks to Gilbert.

Gilbert, who could be said to be kind to everyone in a good way or in a bad way, had a friendly personality and was well-connected.

Although Ronia was awkward with people as she didn’t meet them often, she smiled and talked so as not to be a burden to her brother, Gilbert.

Even at a young age, she understood that the reason she and her brother could maintain their livelihood was because the market merchants helped them little by little, knowingly or unknowingly.

As she passed through the market street and moved toward the alley leading to the tobacco shop, Ronia noticed an old man collapsed on the ground, wearing a worn-out hooded cloak.

Ronia hesitated for a moment in front of the old man who looked like a beggar at a glance, and then asked,

“…Grandpa, are you okay?”

Because if it were her brother, he would have reached out to help without question.

“…Hungry…”

“You’re hungry?”

Ronia handed the apple she had just received from the greengrocer lady to the old man.

She thought that since she received it out of goodwill, the greengrocer lady wouldn’t think badly of her for using it to do a good deed.

The old man who received the apple ate it hurriedly.

“Aah~! I’m alive! Thank you, little miss. I’m a traveler, and my money and food just ran out. I should have gotten plenty of food from that fellow Dalanta when we parted ways.”

The old man, who had been laughing sloppily, got up from his spot and dusted off the dirt on his body.

“I’m giving this to you as a token of my gratitude, little miss.”

The old man handed over a shining crystal.

The crystal, which looked precious at a glance, was a treasure that would make any magician drool.

Ronia shook her head and refused the crystal.

“No. I can’t accept something that looks so precious for just an apple.”

“No. In the desert, even plain water is more precious than expensive jewels. To me, who has been starving for three days straight, that apple is worth a thousand gold…”

The old man, who had been talking with a smile, suddenly stared intently at Ronia.

“Little miss. By any chance, were you very sick in the past?”

“What? …Yes, that’s right.”

“Could it be blocked meridians?”

At the old man’s guess, Ronia nodded her head in surprise.

“Little miss, how old are you?”

“I’m… thirteen years old.”

Ronia felt something uncomfortable with the old man’s question.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

The old man grabbed Ronia’s wrist.

“Hey, let go!”

Ronia was startled when the suddenly shabby homeless old man grabbed her wrist and tried to shake her hand off.

However, the old man’s strength was stronger than that of a decent adult.

“Oh my, to think there’s such a young and perfect body.”

At the old man’s exclamation, Ronia got goosebumps all over her body.

“No, I don’t like it! Don’t! Help me!”

“What? Ah, no! It’s a misunderstanding!”

The old man was startled by Ronia’s scream.

At that moment, the door of the tobacco shop opened and Nedrian came running out.

Nedrian was furious to see the shabby old man gripping Ronia’s wrist.

“Let go of Ronia! You perverted old man!!”

Nedrian threw a dagger at the old man, and the old man let go of Ronia’s hand and dodged Nedrian’s dagger.

At Nedrian’s shout, the market merchants who were preparing to open their shops came running.

“What’s going on?!”

Nedrian quickly took care of Ronia and shouted.

“That perverted old man tried to kidnap Ronia!”

Nedrian, who had been on the run for a long time since childhood, naturally thought of kidnapping.

“No! I, as the Sage of Summer Fruit, just…!”

The old man tried to make an excuse, but the market merchants were furious at Nedrian’s words.

“Kidnapping?!”

“Kidnap that little child?!”

“Kidnap Gilbert’s sister?!”

The market merchants glared at the old man with wooden boards and clubs as if they were going to kill him.

As the commotion arose, a soldier who happened to be patrolling appeared.

“What’s the commotion!”

Seeing the soldier, the old man thought it was fortunate and spoke to the soldier.

“Right now, people are misunderstanding me absurdly….”

“That perverted old man tried to kidnap Ronia!”

At the greengrocer lady’s shout, the soldier was surprised and exclaimed,

“He tried to kidnap Gilbert’s sister?!”

“Ah, no! I…!”

Before the old man could make an excuse, the soldier took the leather sheath off the spearhead and pointed it at the old man.

“How dare you attempt kidnapping in broad daylight!”

“It’s a misunderstanding, I tell you!”

At the old man’s shout filled with spirit, the soldier hesitated and looked at Ronia.

“It’s a misunderstanding?”

At the soldier’s question, Ronia shook her head.

“That old man said I have a young and perfect body!”

It was true.

However, the old man was flustered. Those words didn’t have a strange meaning but meant a body perfect for learning magic.

But contrary to the old man’s intention, the soldier and market merchants were furious at Ronia’s statement.

“To such a young child!”

“Look at that! I’ve seen someone who needs to be beaten to death!”

The market merchants began picking up stones lying on the ground and throwing them at the old man.

Each one wasn’t much, but when many of them threw stones at once, even the old man couldn’t handle it and had no choice but to use magic.

When the old man flicked his finger and used a magic barrier, the market merchants shouted in shock.

“A magician?! Why is a magician…?”

“He’s a black magician! It must be that a black magician is trying to kidnap a child to use as a sacrifice!”

“Indeed! Those words about a perfect body meant perfect as a sacrifice!”

To ordinary people, magicians were frightening beings.

Naturally, as a magician was kidnapping a child, their thoughts naturally extended to black magic.

“Ah, no! I just wanted to take this child as my disciple…!”

Puu-woo-woo-!

Before even listening to the magician’s excuse, the soldier blew the emergency bugle.

At the sound of the emergency bugle, soldiers rushed in from the nearby security outpost.

It was thanks to the nearby security outpost where guards stayed due to the high traffic near the market.

“A black magician is trying to kidnap Gilbert’s sister!”

At someone’s shout, the rushing soldiers drew their spears and swords.

“Gilbert’s sister?!”

“The sister of that kind boy?!”

“Anti-magic shields to the front! Keep the citizens back because it’s dangerous!”

The well-trained soldiers formed a formation to face the magician old man, and the old man began to run away with tears in his eyes.

“The black magician is flying away!”

“How dare he target the sister of a kind fellow like Gilbert!”

“Don’t let him get away! Catch the black magician!”

“Evil magician!”

The old man was bursting with anger at the absurdity of the soldiers chasing him.

“Damn it, I finally found a successor candidate like Dalanta and Yekatrice! I could have retired!”

One of the great Sages of the Four Seasons, the Sage of Summer Fruit, Dmitrikron Zapka, had no choice but to leave the place, promising to be back another time.

*****

The royal palace was literally caught in a whirlpool of political strife where one couldn’t see an inch ahead.

Between the royal faction trying to depose the queen, the aristocratic faction trying to protect the queen, and the neutral faction watching in between their tug-of-war, Marchioness Assazhad of the Empire was walking a fine line in supporting the aristocratic faction without interfering in internal affairs of another country.

If Marchioness Assazhad had openly supported the aristocratic faction, the king would not have stayed still and would have launched a political offensive.

However, her movements were too subtle to point out.

All Marchioness Assazhad did was briefly show her face at banquets held by aristocrats of the aristocratic faction, or guide knights who sought her teachings on their own.

The king also held banquets to celebrate the visit of the delegation, but each time, aristocrats of the aristocratic faction naturally participated, causing its meaning to fade.

Of course, aristocrats of the royal faction also tried to attend the aristocratic faction’s banquets to fade their meaning, but Marquis Marchioness Assazhad politely declined the banquets held by the royal faction’s aristocrats, preserving their meaning.

“She’s like a sly fox.”

The king sighed. He thought, no wonder she receives the emperor’s favor.

Horazon, who was guarding the king’s side, also nodded.

“But unlike her actions, she’s quite a skilled person.”

“Is that so? How does she compare to you or Marquis Blantzbarg?”

At the king’s question, Horazon chuckled.

“Far below. No matter how superhuman, how can you compare them?”

The king smiled at the confident answer. But he sighed at the following words.

“But if you compare her to the Duke of the Realm, Blue Claw, or Twilight Sword, Marquis Marchioness Assazhad seems to be more outstanding.”

The three people Horazon mentioned were the superhumans of the kingdom who followed the Sword Tiger and Sword Demon.

“The Duke of the Realm is old, so his prime was long ago, but aren’t the other two young?”

The Twilight Sword was so young that it wouldn’t be strange to call him a child. However, the king thought that the knight ‘Blue Claw’, who had been a match for the young ‘Red Fang’ Horazon, could not be ignored as a powerful person.

“Well, that’s roughly how it looks. Both of them will have something they’re hiding, so we’ll have to see who’s taller or shorter.”

Horazon retreated a step for the sake of his lord’s mood, but his thoughts remained unchanged.

Although the atmosphere was refreshed with some small talk, the king was deeply worried about the current situation.

If more than half of the neutral faction switched to the aristocratic faction on the issue of impeaching the queen, there was a risk that not only would the impeachment fail, but the queen’s position would expand instead.

In the end, politics was a power struggle between factions.

Amidst deepening concerns, a messenger arrived from the north.

It was a messenger who had brought a letter from Marquis Blantzbarg, who had recently requested to borrow Horazon.

Upon the messenger’s arrival, the king was momentarily worried.

Marquis Blantzbarg was a prominent leader of the neutral faction. If he sided with the aristocratic faction on this issue, the royal faction would greatly lose power.

However, contrary to the king’s worries, it was filled with content to cheer about.

It thanked the king for sending a ‘royal knight’ whose help enabled them to subjugate the ‘Red Eye’.

In the current situation, this letter meant that Marquis Blantzbarg was siding with the royal faction.

The king was greatly pleased but also puzzled.

“A royal knight?”

It was because he had never dispatched a knight.

It was a moment when the political situation surrounding the queen became even more complicated.