The Extra Prince Sets Out To Conquer The World

 White breath escapes following the exhalation.

In a world entirely white, a pink-haired girl, Ilyu Arisa, laughed merrily.

“Nyahahaha! It’s so cold! Are there really people living here? Forget people, it doesn’t seem like even monsters could properly live here!”

On a certain day in May, which could undoubtedly be called spring, a heavy snowfall was hitting the Bastille Mountains.

It was because they were getting closer to the seal guarded by the Sage of the Winter Wood.

The central area of the Bastille Mountains was an extreme land where no living creature could survive.

“Instead of laughing, I-I’d appreciate it if you dug a c-cave quickly, our cute little birdie.”

The middle-aged man in a suit, crouched behind Arisa, shivered and winked creepily.

At the man’s desperate request, Arisa also shivered and said,

“I’m digging hard right now. Nyahahaha! Wait!”

In front of Arisa, white skeleton soldiers were wielding pickaxes and shovels, digging up the frozen ground to make a shelter.

“If you want to dig so fast, pick up a shovel and help too! Old man!”

“Ahem! Do you think these frail arms can shovel? And don’t call me old man. I have a name, Javan, so don’t say such sad things. Our cute little birdie.”

He hoped to be called by his code name, ‘Arcana 00, The Fool’, if not his real name.

Despite Javan’s wish, Arisa snorted.

“Nyahahaha! It’s already cold, don’t call me birdie and give me goosebumps! Nyahaha- Achoo! Cold! When are the others coming!”

At Arisa’s shout, Javan shrugged his shoulders.

“Who knows? For now, the only ones who definitely answered they’re coming are ‘Lovers’, ‘Chariot’, ‘Hanged Man’, and ‘Devil’, but they all have no sense of time and do as they please, so I don’t know.”

They might come after everything is over, Javan thought self-deprecatingly.

“Tsk, at least ‘Tower’, ‘Magician’, ‘High Priestess’, ‘Empress’, and ‘Justice’ are quick and decent. Why were we assigned such uncooperative fellows?”

“Nivel, the ‘Tower’, as well as ‘Magician’ and ‘Empress’, can’t move because of the Queen’s impeachment case they still haven’t resolved. ‘High Priestess’ has other business.”

Especially Nivel was in a difficult situation as her base, the Shadow Tower, was suddenly under attack by Count Wiesel.

“What about Justice? The official document to execute the operation should have reached them too, right?”

At Arisa’s question, Javan shook his head.

“They refused, saying breaking the seal that blocked the hole to another world was an act that would throw the world into chaos. Justice isn’t very just, are they?”

Having said that, Javan slapped his own knee, saying it was quite a good pun.

“Nyahahaha! Then who isn’t acting for the world? What a selfish fellow.”

“Well, our little birdie isn’t exactly acting for justice, right?”

Arisa cleanly ignored Javan’s self-deprecating question.

“Then, at most, seven people will carry out the operation?”

Since ‘Lovers’ were two people, it was seven including Javan and Arisa.

“That’s right. However, the operation will be executed when at least four people gather, so I don’t think there will be a situation with seven people.”

“Nyahahaha! Having to fight the Sage of the Winter Wood with four people in this land is the worst suicide mission.”

Even if all seven launched a surprise attack, more than half of them were likely to die. Four was no different from a meaningless suicide attack.

“Ahahaha, that’s why I personally requested support from ‘Strength’ and ‘Moon’ using my connections. Of course, they’re fellows who ignore even our lord’s orders, so whether they’ll come is, puhachoo! unknown. Kheup!”

Javan, who shrugged his shoulders, wiped his runny nose with a handkerchief and urged her to quickly complete the shelter.

Arisa told him to shut up if he wasn’t going to help and diligently moved the skeleton soldiers to dig the ice cave.

*******

When my explanation ended, the three people who had been quietly listening to me seemed to have something to say to me.

Precia was the first to raise her hand and speak.

“According to your strategy, Young Master, my role is the most important… Will it be alright?”

Precia hesitated, burdened by taking on a key role in my strategy.

Well, in the novel, she went through a grim real combat experience for 3 years, whether she liked it or not.

Her mind was preoccupied with guilt for not being able to protect Prince Yuan, but that experience served as sufficient nourishment.

The current Precia doesn’t have such experience, so it’s natural for her to lack confidence.

“It’s okay, Silua and Gilbert will be there even if you make a mistake. And considering that, I chose ‘Unicorn’ as the first target. Hunt Unicorn to gain experience.”

The core of my strategy was how long we could hold down the great demons’ legs to prevent them from escaping.

There were two main reasons why the successive generations of Sages of the Four Seasons couldn’t catch the great demons until now.

One was the difficulty in pinpointing the base of the great demons, who had an excessively wide territory.

The other was that the great demons, sensitive to mana reactions, could easily notice the sage’s approach.

No matter how strong and outstanding a magician was, they were no match for a skilled hunter, which was the essence of demon hunting.

“Unicorn isn’t as fast compared to other great demons. If we approach while concealing our mana, we can sufficiently catch it before it runs away.”

Even the fastest ‘Lightning Steps’ was difficult to catch, but so were ‘Mist’, which could fly in the sky, and ‘Iron Armor’, which could escape by digging into the ground.

On the other hand, Unicorn formed a pack like wolves, making it difficult for them to escape.

In general, forming a pack was an advantageous way for survival, but when targeted, the pack was nothing more than an obstacle against an overwhelmingly strong foe.

“But the problem is that Unicorn’s swordsmanship rivals superhumans. It won’t be a problem if Yekatrice steps in.”

If it’s Yekatrice, she can kill a knight who has reached the level of a superhuman alone.

In this freezing land, the Sage of the Winter Wood was virtually invincible.

However, she shook her head.

“Dalanta warned me to be prepared for Arcana’s attack. Recalling my experience when I was young, at least three or more executives will ambush us.”

As expected.

If Yekatrice can’t leave the seal, the only ones who can cut off the great demons’ lifeline are Precia and Jade.

But Jade lacks too much experience to properly hold down the great demons’ ankles.

In fact, when he had an intense spar with Precia, it wouldn’t have been strange if Jade had died from a single blow due to carelessness.

“As expected, you’re the only one who can properly hold their ankles, Precia.”

Unicorn’s abilities are probably stronger than the significantly weakened Red Eye.

But it’s definitely weaker than the Red Eye in the novel, which had recovered to its fullest for 3 years.

Even Precia, who still lacks experience, can sufficiently catch it if she has Silua and Jade’s assistance.

“Don’t worry too much. We’ll thoroughly exclude Unicorn’s pack and create a 1-on-1 situation, so rampage to your heart’s content.”

Even with my encouragement, Precia was tense.

“The operation will start around daybreak when Unicorn’s pack, which is nocturnal, falls asleep. Considering the time to move to their habitat, we’ll depart around midnight, so you two should get sufficient rest until then.”

Around midnight, Gilbert will have fully digested the elixir, and it will be after Silua has sufficiently recovered, so it’s the optimal timing to move.

When told to get rest, Precia said she understood but went outside with her sword, saying she would warm up.

She has the stamina to be active for a day or two without sleeping, so it shouldn’t be a big problem.

“Umm… No. Let’s talk later.”

Jade tried to say something to me but headed to his room, saying he would get some sleep.

According to Kübler-Ross’s five stages of accepting death, emotions progress in the order of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

He’s probably in the midst of trying hard to deny the fact that his master’s death is imminent.

When only Yekatrice and I were left in the living room, Yekatrice hesitated, trying to say something to me.

“Ah, are you worried about failure? Don’t worry. Even if we fail, Unicorn is relatively easy to track since it leads a pack. Then I know a superhuman, so I’ll call them to help.”

If that happens, I’ll have to use one of the command rights to utilize the Sword Demon, but I still have four more uses.

In the worst case, I received the right to freely use Demiway five times in order to use him for each great demon subjugation, so I planned to use it without holding back.

Even if I use it four times, I’ll still have one left, so I can use it for the original matter of getting Demiway’s help.

At my explanation, Yekatrice shook her head.

“No, if we fail despite preparing this much, it can’t be helped. Precia’s skills can be seen just by looking at the traces of her fight with my disciple. It’s amazing that she reached the level of a superhuman at such a young age.”

Having said that, she smiled bitterly.

“Among the successive generations of Sages of the Winter Wood, there was one who mobilized the Ten Great Swords of the time to attempt subjugation. So even if we fail, it can’t be helped.”

Of course, the current conditions are incomparably better than that time.

Someone of the level of the Ten Great Swords wouldn’t have stayed in a place like this for months, but I’m prepared to stay for months or even years.

Moreover, unlike other Sages of the Four Seasons, Silua can use magic freely without worrying about attribute issues.

However, the potential of the great demons cannot be ignored, and we have to be careful of Arcana’s attack, so we can’t be overly optimistic.

“What I want to ask the benefactor is something else.”

“Something else?”

She nodded and carefully asked,

“I apologize if I’m wrong, but… Are you perhaps the 1st Prince?”

At that question, I quickly spun my mind.

Since I didn’t particularly reveal anything other than my name, Yekatrice’s guess that I’m the 1st Prince must have originated from Dalanta’s information.

Then why did Dalanta mention the 1st Prince?

I’m stuck.

Then let’s think from a different angle.

Dalanta predicted Arcana’s attack. In other words, he has a route to obtain information about Arcana.

I see. Then Dalanta likely obtained information through that information route that Arcana tried to assassinate the 1st Prince.

In other words, it means he knows the reason why Arcana tried to assassinate the 1st Prince.

To draw a conclusion, Dalanta knows that the 1st Prince is the one who inherited the seal, and he shared that fact with Yekatrice.

Since I showed the seal to persuade Yekatrice, she inferred that I’m the 1st Prince.

It’s a crisis. I might die at Yekatrice’s hands at any moment.

If I were her, I would kill without question and bury the seal again to prevent any unforeseen situations.

Rather than letting the seal fall into Arcana’s hands, it would be wise to kill the benefactor and prevent potential incidents.

Who cares about favors, right?

If that damned benefactor wasn’t me, that is.

Think, think, think.

Think of a reason why she can’t kill me.

…I finished calculating and smiled wryly. This situation can rather be exploited.

“If that’s the case, what will you do? Will you kill me?”

At my question, Yekatrice’s expression hardened.