Chapter 4: Chapter 2

Lina proved to be a cheerful companion.

Maybe too cheerful.

As we departed Pleasance, Lina having secured her bag of rice for her “darling”—my mind shivered at the thought of that worm being anyone’s darling, let alone someone as beautiful as Lina—she immediately drummed up a one-sided conversation about what she planned to cook with it.

I could not be less interested, but it seemed as though Lina could not tell or did not care as she chittered away. I walked alongside her, my mind on our next destination, a town called Justice, which was probably another lie. Based on how pleasant Pleasence was, Justice was probably overrun by riffraff.

At this point, I did not expect to find a steed anytime soon. I just wanted a nice, hot bath to wash the now-dry mud from my body and clothes. The lack of solid transportation would put Grenna about a month away as long as there were no more distractions.

I glanced at Lina, or rather, I glanced at the bags of food she carried.

At least we have supplies.

As for Lina herself, well… I tuned into her babbling.

“—I once made a rabbit stew I was really proud of. The girls refused to eat it, but my darling ate every last bowl I gave him. He told me it was delicious! I knew adding those acorns was a good idea. I was worried—”

I tuned out.

Right. I’m doing the cooking, then.

“So, what takes you to Grenna?”

I jumped. “P-pardon?” Lina was looking at me expectantly. “Oh, well…” I couldn’t quite tell her that my mission was to kill her darling. “I’m there on princely duties.”

She tilted her head. “Really? What kind of duties does a third prince have? Aren’t the first and second more qualified?”

A flash of annoyance bounced through my skull. She really knew how to hit someone in their sore spot. “My brothers are rather… busy with other matters.” My eldest brother, Claude, was preoccupied with inheriting Cross’s throne. And my second eldest, Fredrick, was preoccupied with ensuring Claude didn’t.

It was a back-and-forth of assassination plots, legal loopholes, and blind dates with commoners that I could no longer be bothered with.

Once, I might have dreamed that they would both kill each other and leave me as the only heir. But after the 42^nd attempt on Claude’s life, I had since given up on that becoming a reality.

Besides, I’d rather not have to deal with the actual duties that came with being king. All the delegation and responsibility. No. It was better to be free of expectation and travel as I wished.

“My brothers are about as qualified for this as a slime is to fly.”

“Is that so?” Lina fell silent. She clasped her hands behind her back and hummed as we walked.

My eyes remained fixed on her. “You’re not going to ask what my duty is?”

“Hm? Nope. You don’t want to tell me. So, I won’t ask.”

I nodded—a wise choice.

We continued walking.

I eyed Lina. Something about her piqued my curiosity. So many strange things happened during our meeting that I couldn’t help but be fascinated. Least of all the strange powers she may or may not have displayed. How could someone travel hundreds of miles and not be aware she was going the wrong way? And why did her smile never falter?

And as far as I could tell, the smile was genuine. That, more than anything, gave me the shivers.

I blew a bit of air through my nose. “Tell me something, Lina, what is it that you want to do in Grenna?”

“I already told you that’s where my darling was.”

“But he’s not there now. He is most likely at the Demon King’s Palace.”

“I know that. Grenna’s the place I told everyone I’d be. And if you’re lost, the best solution is to stay where you are.”

My brain tried to process her logic. It couldn’t, so I gave up. Instead, I asked, “Tell me, honestly, what do you see in that darling of yours?”

Her smile became fond, “It’s a se-cret~!”

“Is that because you don’t know?”

“of course, I know! It’s…” For the first time, her smile disappeared as her face took a quizzical look. “It’s…uh… none of your business.”

“I see.” I could not contain a grin. So, she did feel other emotions, after all.

Lina puffed her cheeks and gave me a dirty look. “I don’t like that smile on your face! My darling is a wonderful person!”

“A wonderful person? I doubt it. From what I remember, he was a sniveling little worm. Or does fighting slimes day after day net you a decent personality.”

“You take that back!” She looked angry. I was testing the waters a little too rashly.

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I didn’t want to end up like the man in Pleasance.

“I suppose I may have been a mite hasty in my judgment. Perhaps he upgraded from a worm to a snake.”

Lina smiled again, “Thank you. He is great, isn’t he?”

Did she not realize that wasn’t a compliment? I wasn’t sure if she knew what her “darling” had been up to these past few weeks—the cruelty he was enacting on the surrounding villages. And soon, it wouldn’t just be the surrounding area. The kind of wrath that boy was capable of would be far worse than the Demon King. He only wanted to rule the world. This boy, if my suspicions were correct, wants to destroy it.

We needed to get there as soon as possible.

“Then I suppose you can’t say what Silva sees in him?”

She shook her head. “We all have our reasons for loving my darling.”

Love, huh? I wasn’t sure if I loved Silva, who’d been with me most of my life, but it caused great distress knowing she loved someone else. Especially him.

In my irritation, I kicked a moderately sized rock on the path into the nearby bushes. It was harder than I had intended, so it pierced the foliage like a magic bullet with a rather odd noise that I could only describe as a hollow donk.

I stared at the bush intently, then, to my utter amazement, watched as a figure fell face-first into the cobblestone. The body twitched but otherwise remained still.

Lina shrieked in surprise.

I instinctively went for my sword, only for my fingers to clasp air. Oh. I forgot. My sword had been stolen, too. But it didn’t matter. The man was out cold.

Lina looked between the prone body of the man and then at me. “Did you know he was there?”

I stared at her. I could only imagine the look on my face, one of blank surprise. “Yes. That was completely intentional.” Let’s go with that.

Together, Lina and I approached the body.

“Is he dead?”

“No,” I said with more confidence than I felt, “he’s only unconscious.”

I prodded him with my foot. It was hard to tell from the back, but the man, covered from head to toe in rags, was quite muscular and probably taller than me. Only his torso was visible as the lower half of his body remained in the bush that he’d been hiding in. His head was obscured by a mane of curly white hair, though he seemed young enough.

Gingerly, I prodded his shoulder with the toe of my boot. The man gave no sign of waking. I moved my foot to brush back his curls and exposed the face beneath.

A chill ran down my spine as I gazed upon his sleeping visage. I leapt back like I’d been burned. “Well, it’s time we were on our way.”

“What. You’re just going to leave him here?”

I backed further away, trying to keep my voice as casual as possible. “Yes, he’s not dead and not our responsibility.”

With that, I began to walk away.

“But he’s hurt. We should at least see if he’s okay.”

“Let’s not and say we did.”

Lina jogged forward and blocked my path.

“What’s got you so spooked?”

 “S-spooked? I resent that. I, Prince Anno, spooked? Not on your life.”

She stared into my eyes. I tried to meet them but tossed my hair as I glanced in several directions. As dense as she seemed, Lina was reading me like a book.

But who could blame me for my fear? After all, most people would wet themselves seeing the dark crack that vertically split his face over the eye. They’d run screaming if they turned his head to see the other parallel crack, which divided the face into thirds.

I’d say I was rather brave by comparison to simply walking away, pants unsoiled, upon encountering someone cursed by the Demon King’s touch.

Their names varied by region, but in Cross, we call them the Deborn. As in those who ceased to be human. We needed to leave. Now.

Lina’s eyes looked past my face and smiled.

“Oh, good. He’s awake!”

My body seized.

Like a rusty gate, my head struggled to swivel as I looked behind me. From the corner of my eye, I could see the large mass of a man getting to his feet and rubbing his head.

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