As I was despairing, the imperial prince made an effort to find the light himself.
How admirable, how grateful I am.
But whenever he hears the word ‘cultist’, that light goes out.
That…
that is what I fear so much.
I’m always sorry.
That this unworthy father must pass on an unworthy world, that I couldn’t create a better world for him…
For that, the answer is set.
“May I take temporary command authority?” “…I will give you 4 knights…
no, 8.
However, if you suffer even the slightest injury, I will deliver an appropriate punishment.” “That is sufficient.” My son smiled bitterly.
If I had my way, I’d follow him and chop off the cultists’ heads, but that’s probably not what my son wants.
*** With this, I’ve secured the cliché safety device.
The runaway of clueless children and a murder case are always bound to be followed by a crisis.
An epiphany gained by overcoming a crisis?
I just want to live a long, safe life.
I returned to my room and called for Lily.
“Lily~ Just two sets of commoner’s clothes for me!” “What?
Imperial Prince, not at this hour!” Lily glared fiercely and objected, but my following reply left her stunned.
“I came with His Majesty’s permission.” “Wha…?” Leaving the dazed Lily behind, Lancelot spoke.
“Huh?
You got permission?
How?” “This big brother has his ways.” “Whoa!
Your dad is the best!” …Calling the emperor ‘your dad’…
this Imprudence Specialist is always freshly impudent.
With a blank face, Lily muttered something like, ‘Permission…?’, ‘An imperial order…?’, ‘Everyone here is crazy…’ and brought out two sets of commoner’s clothes.
“Heeing…
Imperial Prince, can’t you not go?” “Tsk!
It’s for the sake of the world, the world.” “Yeah, that’s right!
It’s for the world!” I was annoyed by Lancelot’s confident declaration and threw a word at him.
“Oh, by the way, I didn’t get permission for you.” “What?” “For you to go out, you either have to get permission yourself or just sneak out.” At that, Lancelot pondered deeply for a moment.
“I have to go!
For the world!” The world, my ass.
His dopamine system just weighed the options and chose the side with more vigor.
I chuckled and changed our hair color to brown.
“Ready, Lan?” “Of course, Liam.” And so, the great adventure to find Boss Assassin’s friends began.
*** Between alleyways reeking of a foul stench.
The buildings are all decaying, and vagrants are staring into empty air, having lost their minds.
In a place lit only by the moonlight, two brown-haired boys are fearlessly strolling the streets.
As if there’s no tension, they are chatting quietly with each other.
“Strange…
It’s about time…” “About time?
Did you find something?” “No, it’s about time we hit a medium or a big hit.” “Medium hit?
Big hit?
What are you talking about?” “It’s just a thing.” Ignoring Lancelot’s question mark, I was walking down the street thinking we might be dressed too cleanly for commoner’s clothes, when a variety of vagrants popped out from an alley.
A Tubby one, a Scrawny one, a Muscle-mon, etc.
“Aigoo~ Where are such clean-cut young masters headed?” “They’re pretty-faced, we could make some money selling them off.” “Hehehe, don’t worry, young masters~ If you’re lucky, who knows, you might be sold to a pretty noblewoman.” I guess they’re human traffickers.
They’re not the ones I wanted, but it wouldn’t be bad to clean them up.
It seems finding them from the get-go was a bust.
“Tsk, a medium hit.
Go, Lancelot!
Fight for justice!” “Uhaha!
For justice!” After listening to the thugs’ classic line, I threw out Lanquetmon.
Lancelot excitedly went on a rampage, slicing and dicing the thugs’ limbs left and right.
“Wh…
What!
Aaaargh!” “S-Save me!
Aaaargh!” “Leave about two of them alive!” “Haa, aaht!” Lancelot looks happy.
‘He is listening, right…?
Anyway, that guy’s crazy too.
Is he unfazed even after seeing blood?’ As I was falling into deep regret, wondering why my one and only friend was so unhinged, Lancelot grabbed two of the thugs by their heads and forced them to kneel before me.
It was the Tubby and Scrawny one combo.
The Tubby one, trembling in fear, tried to grab my trouser leg, so I gently stomped on his hand.
“Aaaaargh!” “Such a baby…
Now, raise your hand if you’ve seen a suspicious person, a corpse with its heart ripped out, or any building, person, or object that gave you a weird feeling nearby.” At that, the Scrawny one raised his hand, trembling.
Then the Tubby one shouted.
“Me too!
I know something too!
If you just let me live…” “You didn’t raise your hand.” “Huh?” -Crack!
As I twisted my hand in the air, the Tubby one’s neck turned a half-circle backward.
The Scrawny one’s body, who had seen it from the side, trembled like crazy, but as if he had caught a lifeline he could never let go of, he absolutely did not lower his hand.
“Alright then, explain.” “A…
a month ago!
Priests from the Church of Light in white priest robes came to the slum and handed out bread and water!” “The Church of Light often comes for relief activities, right?
What, did you get a stomachache after eating the bread?” The Church of Light, with its bishop of the Empire and the largest number of believers, regularly comes out for service.
“N-No!
At first, we ate it excitedly, but gradually, some of the people who ate the bread disappeared.” “How many people ate it?” “That, I don’t know well…” At that, I raised my hand.
“Hee-ik!
Half!
More than half received it.” If it’s half, you could just see it as a coincidence.
“That’s not all!
Some of the people who ate the bread devoured it like they were possessed by a ghost or something, and then their eyes started to look vacant!” This was some useful information.
“Ah~ So you’re saying it seems like some of it was drugged or had dark magic cast on it?” “I’m sure of it!
I saw those whose eyes had changed get up at dawn and head somewhere!” I saw a clue to the case.
“You should have said that sooner.
Now, start guiding.” “Y-Yes!” We followed the guidance of the trembling Scrawny one and headed deep into the slum.