85. Beggar Siblings – The Prince’s Return

“Next!”

The guard at the gate shouted as he let a merchant group through.

The entrance to the Conrad Kingdom was packed with dozens of carriages waiting in line. Some people were heard complaining, “It looks like we won’t be going today.”

War had broken out between the Austin Kingdom and the Belita Kingdom.

The guards searched each carriage one by one to ensure nothing was being smuggled out, and the inspections dragged on endlessly.

Those waiting frowned in displeasure, but the soldiers felt the same way.

“No. What’s the point of all this checking? Since there’s a war in our kingdom and weapon prices have skyrocketed, if they’re bringing them in, they’d be doing so for a reason, not taking them out.”

“If they say check, we check. Why are you thinking so much? Just get to the next turn! Can’t you see the line? Don’t you want to get off work?”

“Ugh, damn it.”

Grumbling, the soldier waved for the next group to come forward.

But it was certainly a strange group.

Seeing ‘Maggere’ pulling the cart, they looked like farmers, but the man driving the cart was wearing dual swords.

“Show us your exit permit.”

“Here it is.”

The guard’s eyes narrowed as he took the document handed to him by the young man.

‘This guy’s eye color is unusual. Golden? Wait a minute, I feel like I’ve seen this in some official notice before?’

While the guard tilted his head in confusion, he suddenly remembered an old notice.

– Capture the young man who has a boyish stature and golden eyes, who was once a beggar.

“Please wait a moment. Captain, could you come here for a second?”

“Ah, what is it?”

“Doesn’t that man look like a wanted criminal? I think I saw him in an official notice before…”

The soldier called the captain furrowed his brow, exasperated.

Here we go again.

“Hey. Are you still not over that? Do you know how many times someone you thought was a criminal turned out to be innocent? I’ve had complaints filed against me for wasting time catching busy people, which led to disciplinary action, and you’re bringing this up again?”

“But still, wait. Here’s the notice… this one!”

“Shut up! When was this notice from? Last summer. You really are something. Remembering a notice from nearly a year ago.”

“Look here. It says to capture the young man with golden eyes…”

“Yeah. It says he was a beggar with a boyish stature. Does he look like a boy to you? Does he look like a beggar?”

“At that age, he could’ve grown taller… he can make money now…”

“By that logic, we should capture everyone in line here. There’s a bald guy over there, just shave his head and he’ll be fine, and if he gains weight, that solves everything.”

“…”

“I’m busy as it is, so stop with the useless nonsense and quickly check the permit and let them through.”

“But…”

At that moment, the subject in question interjected.

“Is there something wrong?”

“No, it seems my friend got a bit confused. Hand it over! Let’s see… hmm? This isn’t an exit permit… oh dear, you’re a temporary knight, aren’t you?”

The captain, recognizing the big stamp of the 2nd Knights Division on the document after snatching it from the clueless rookie, casually saluted.

He shot a glance at his junior, signaling with his eyes to take note.

“It says you’re on your way to drop off your younger sister, is the person in the back your sister?”

“Yes.”

“Then who’s the other person? Ah, here’s an ID. She’s a free citizen and… I’m sorry, but could I see your sister’s face? It’s hard to check since she’s wearing a hood… whoa!”

As the girl in the cart removed her hood, both the captain and the suspicious soldier gasped.

Beneath her adorably round forehead, with an air of languor on her chin—as if she had just come back from vacation—was a youthful face that shone like sunlight.

The soldiers were enchanted by her twilight-like golden eyes, momentarily forgetting to speak.

The young man urged, “Can we pass through?”

“Whoaa… Yes, yes. Please go ahead.”

“Thank you. Take care.”

The two guards stared vacantly at the cart as it moved away.

From behind, a merchant called out, “Excuse me? Are you not working?” but it fell on deaf ears.

The first to regain his composure was the captain, nudging his junior with his elbow and sneering.

“Hey. What would have happened if you had arrested that person? Huh? I just saved you from being smashed by a knight!”

“She’s really pretty…”

“This kid still hasn’t come to his senses. Well, she was pretty. In my life, I’ve never seen someone so beautiful…”

“Excuse me! Are you not checking? Our schedule is tight, this is ridiculous!”

Just then, the merchant, unable to hold it in, rushed over, ruining the lingering moment between the two soldiers.

Annoyed, the soldiers turned on the merchant.

He faced a thorough inspection for alleged illegal modifications to his cart and exceeding loading capacity, and ended up paying a fine.

Leah, Leo, and Kasia headed south along the border between the Conrad Kingdom and the Orun Kingdom.

Thanks to the achievement of ‘First Overseas Trip,’ the Magere pulling the cart may not be as fast as a horse, but managed to pick up pace towards Sir Bart.

The Conrad Kingdom was oddly flat with hardly any mountains.

It seemed as if someone had smoothed the land, with soft rolling hills and vast plains stretching before them, making it impossible for their cart to stop.

However, two months after entering the Conrad Kingdom, the cart finally came to a halt.

The sea had stopped Leo’s party in their tracks.

“Wow! Water! Brother, there’s so much water!”

Leah, seeing the ocean for the first time, lifted her dress and splashed her feet joyfully. While Kasia and her sister wandered along the deserted beach, Leo gazed at the vast horizon, lost in thought.

The Tracking Skill still pointed south. He had expected Sir Bart to be moving back and forth between the Orun Kingdom, hiding near the border and evading pursuit, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

‘He must have escaped by boat.’

During their travels within the Conrad Kingdom, they had heard news about Sir Bart.

There was a bounty on Sir Bart and the knights he led.

They had rampaged through Duke Tertan’s territory multiple times a year, and last year had even murdered Duke Tertan’s grandson, Palace Tertan, leading to their pursuit.

Duke Rupert Tertan had mobilized not only the knights of the nobles but also the royal 3rd Knights Division to take him down, it was said.

The number of knights pursuing him was reported to be as high as three hundred, so it surely must have been an intense chase.

‘They needed that many against just seven people, given that they faced off against a dozen knights…’

That was a simple calculation, but in reality, the knights guarding Palace Tertan were all common knights, which played a big role.

The seven being chased were all knights on the level of Katrina. Especially Sir Bart, being a knight far beyond that, would not be stopped by merely fifteen common knights.

‘But why hasn’t such a powerful knight been able to do anything more than raid the duke’s territory?’

Leo pulled out the necklace hanging around his neck.

The necklace had three blue droplets engraved on it, with unknown characters etched into each droplet’s surface.

That same pattern was engraved on Sir Bart’s sword. It was reasonable to speculate that he was a royal guard closely related to the prince and princess.

It seemed he was motivated by a desire for revenge against Duke Rupert Tertan, who had helped chase Leah and Leo away…

“Leah! Sister Kasia! It’s time to head out!”

Leo pushed away his questions.

He could learn more if he met Sir Bart.

With the ocean to their right, the cart lost the effect of the ‘First Overseas Trip’ achievement and moved slowly toward the east.

*

Early in the foggy dawn, a fishing boat docked at Noyar Port.

The port echoed with the creaking sounds of tied boats.

Though it was still early, the day wasn’t looking good, making it hard to find people at the port.

Like most small ships that couldn’t dock without an anchor, the arriving fishing boat approached the pier and tied a thick mooring rope to a wharf post.

What stepped off the boat were not freshly caught fish or happy fishermen.

But five silent men.

All of them stepped onto the dock with eyes burning with the desire for vengeance.

As the men who had disembarked turned back, the last man to step down, a gaunt figure, nodded.

They moved quietly, and the gaunt man followed his companions, grinding his teeth.

‘Damn Duke.’

The man with prominent cheekbones and a haggard appearance was Bart, once a royal guard of the Yeriel royal family.

‘Instead of killing the grandson, I should’ve gone to the capital and finished him off there.’

Bart expected that by killing Palace Tertan, Duke Rupert Tertan would finally rush out from the capital. Though he hadn’t moved even after raiding his territory, he thought this time he wouldn’t be able to stay put.

But surprisingly, the duke remained seated in his mansion in the capital once again.

The notion that he treasured his grandson turned out to be false.

While he was relieved to have cut off the duke’s lineage, it was a wrong choice that cost him two comrades. A comrade who had long lived only for revenge was gone without realizing his dream.

‘I’m sorry.’

To be honest, with their current skills, they could’ve rushed to the duke’s mansion and killed him. They wouldn’t survive, but hadn’t they lived with only that hope?

However, upon receiving news that the duke’s grandson was coming all the way to the Orun Kingdom to meet Lady Hirie Gaidan, all he could think about was killing him first.

At that time, it felt like it was supposed to happen that way. He became blind with the chance encounter of fortunate information, thinking they could easily draw out the duke and capture him.

All of that was a misunderstanding.

What glory would come from killing the duke easily and surviving?

Bart raised his head in the dense fog, squeezing his eyes shut.

Although he was a bit late from killing the grandson and being chased, it was finally time to put an end to the ten years of wandering.

Now he would rush to the capital, kill the duke, and appease the spirits of the late prince and princess, as well as those of his fallen comrades, and put an end to this futile, wandering life.

– Thunk.

As Bart reminisced about the long years of fame and disgrace, he bumped into the man in front of him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“…What? Why did you stop?”

“…”

When he opened his eyes, he saw that his companions had all stopped, trembling in fear.

Surprised by his companions’ strange reactions, Bart turned to see what they were looking at.

And he too trembled in shock.

– The Prince!

The figure of the prince appeared above the hazy mist.

Those unchanging golden eyes, blonde hair mixed with the blue that marked the bloodline of the Yeriel royal family, thick eyebrows, a nose reminiscent of the king’s, and a sharp jawline…

Was this what he would look like grown up, the one he lost around the age of six who he couldn’t protect?

Some knights began to tear up, wanting to kneel in front of the prince’s ghost, while others rubbed their eyes as if they couldn’t believe it.

Bart felt a surge of emotion, wavering on the edge of tears, but he suppressed the urge.

Had the prince come to leave some final words?

Was he now showing himself to encourage them as they aimed to kill Duke Tertan?

But… the prince before him somehow felt like he was alive.

Bart, startled by the stir in the air, quickly regained his composure, but that calm was shattered once again.

“Sir Bart.”

“Wha, Prince?”

The knights gasped.

This wasn’t a ghost.

The prince, whom they had only dreamt of, was approaching through the mist.

“Yes, it’s me. Leo de Yeriel.”

Flustered, the knights instinctively half-kneeled and looked back at Bart.

With a trembling voice, Bart asked, “Is there, is there proof? I need proof that you’re really the prince.”

In truth, he didn’t need evidence. This man was surely the prince.

But having lived consumed by revenge, he might have lost his rationality and misjudged things. Maybe his longing for the prince made him see only what he wanted to see.

Besides, he couldn’t believe it.

How could the prince appear like this?

It was hard to believe he was alive, and how on earth had he found them, evading the duke’s pursuit?

This could be a sweet deception from the devil. The thick fog might be casting some strange magic.

However, Bart fell to his knees and cried out as the prince reached for something.

“I greet you, your highness!”

“I greet you, your highness!”

His comrades followed suit, kneeling and shouting.

What the prince pulled out was a small white necklace. It was something the prince had worn in his childhood.

With evident proof, emerging through the ten years of time that had been forgotten, the knights burst into tears.

Their lord was alive.

Bart and the knights bowed, pleading for them to end their lives for failing to protect their lord, while they cried uncontrollably.

[ Achievement: Master-Servant Relationship – ‘5’, As long as their loyalty remains unshaken, those who have sworn allegiance will trust and follow Leo. ]

The returned prince tried to comfort the knights, but the tears pouring from the middle-aged men showed no signs of stopping.

Leo also felt a lump in his throat and couldn’t quite understand why.