'Ladies and gentlemen. We got him.'

Reivan recalled a particular meme in his past life as he watched the look in the merchant's eyes. "It seems you understand the value that a station has, Mr. Adamantes. Or perhaps you already had it in mind a long time ago? I suppose it's expected of an experienced businessman like yourself."

"No, no. This much is..." Kalman regained his composure quickly but was visibly more cordial. "I don't presume you'll give me this privilege for free, hm?"

"Of course not."

The rotund gentleman chuckled, seemingly not finding Reivan's bluntness offensive in the slightest. "Perfectly understandable. And I imagine you won't demand anything specific from me either. That way, I may accidentally expend more effort than I have to."

Reivan smiled widely, revealing a set of pristine white teeth. "It's almost as if you can read my mind, Mr. Adamantes."

"No, I am no imperial esper, Your Highness. Just a merchant." Kalman clasped his hands behind his back and nodded. "And please, call me Kalman. As you said earlier, let us be friends."

"Yes... I am very excited to see the Star of Fortune's sincerity. Perhaps I'll be so moved that I'll throw in a few sky arks and the tech behind the trains."

Kalman's expression fell, turning solemn. "Surely, you jest."

Reivan chuckled before shaking his head.

'It's only a matter of time before the republic figures out the train. I mean, it literally leaves a trail of steam behind as it travels... and some of their inventions incorporate parts of it already.'

Roland — and even Rodin, who was the king when trains were brought to the republic — knew that Arkhan would eventually figure out the steam engine or build something similar. Even if trains weren't brought to Arkhan, just the mere fact that republican citizens visiting Aizen would bring home stories of the steam-powered vehicle would reveal its secrets eventually. And that was if one ignored the fact that certain aspects of magitech already used something akin to gears.

As such, Rodin had lent a few locomotives to Arkhan as a gift of "goodwill".

Sure, Aizen profited from this arrangement since they still owned the trains and controlled ticket prices, but the benefits to the republic simply could not be compared to such chump change. It was only natural for the gesture to be appreciated.

'To think that Father also partly intended for the trains to help the republic against the empire, but then the two nations suddenly got all friendly...'

It was one of the few times Rodin's decision had a somewhat negative outcome. Not that Rodin would have done it any differently even if he had known.

Considering the eventual revelation of the steam engine's secret, it made sense to capitalize on it as much as possible. And so Aizen now had a one-time-use "Cripple the republic's logistic situation" card, to be employed if war ever erupted.

More importantly, Aizen now had a perfectly good reason to station troops within Arkhan. Under the guise of protecting the kingdom's holdings and clearing monster nests around train tracks, knights remained in the republic, gathering information openly in broad daylight. Of course, their knights were likely being monitored, but that was an acceptable trade-off.

Perhaps the republic's focus on watching the knights would divert their attention away from the kingdom's spies.

"If what you say is true, Your Highness..." Kalman smiled widely, his full cheeks flexed and showed off two little dimples. "Then I must truly show some sincerity."

Reivan nodded. "Have you any idea as to what to give?"

The merchant shook his head. "We barely know each other, Your Highness. Decisiveness is important in business, but one cannot harvest wheat before it is ready, as they say. I will have to take a step back for now and consider my options."

"I see." Reivan shrugged. "If you truly run out of options, perhaps you can give me a certain someone's slave key?"

Kalman froze for a moment before erupting in raucous laughter, drawing curious looks from everyone around them. It took half a minute for him to finally cease, his breathing somewhat rough. The merchant wiped away the tears at the corner of his eyes as he shook his head.

"I see that His Highness likes to joke."

Reivan performed a theatrical bow, like one that a theater actor would make after a show. "I'm glad you found it amusing."

Kalman grinned before turning around. "Well, I think that should be it for now. I shall come to visit you some other time, Your Highness. Once you are less busy, perhaps. Maybe we'll strike a deal at that time."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"Please do so... May the cold winds bring warm news, Your Highness."

Reivan nodded. "Same to you."

As quite possibly the richest merchant in the continent moved to converse with some of his acquaintances, Reivan sent a questioning look toward his sister. "You could've talked a little more, you know?"

Jiji shrugged. "You seemed to be doing fine on your own. I was looking around and taking note of which politician got along with whom."

Reivan sighed and let it go, fiddling with one of the buttons on his royal regalia as he looked around. "I thought such a great man would try to eat me up, but he was surprisingly fine."

"Perks of being born as a powerful nation's prince. Nobody wants to leave a bad impression."

"True enough."

Perhaps because Reivan and Jiji were basically done greeting all the politicians and Kalman Adamante, the various merchants who managed to squeeze their way into the welcome party through connections took this as their chance to greet the two royals.

This included Elsamina too.

'Ah, it's my Elsa! She looks so good in a dress robe... Not that she doesn't look good in practically everything and nothing.'

Reivan's lips curled up as he swiftly assessed Elsa's gown-like black dress robe. Although it revealed practically no skin, the wearer's body lines were so alluring that the robes still emanated considerable sex appeal — and doubly so for him since he was already familiar with every inch of skin underneath. She adorned herself with a tasteful amount of jewelry that complemented her appearance, and her beautiful red hair was styled up to reveal her snow-white neck.

Elsa's appearance easily left Reivan entranced. She was the apple of his eye and all he could think about was her.

"Ah." Reivan snapped out of it when their eyes met. He cleared his throat and smiled.

But who would have known that Elsa's eyes would narrow instead? Her brows furrowed for a moment before her face grew impassive.

Reivan knew her enough to know that she was looking at him like he was dirt. He'd seen her look like that once upon a time when a bird's crap landed right in front of her on one of their many dates. Rather than twisting her face in a grimace, Elsa was one of the people who expressed their true emotions through their eyes after all, all while their face remained neutral — a good talent to have for a businesswoman, Reivan mused.

'Ah. Wait a minute...'

Perhaps having sensed the lascivious sentiments behind his gaze, Elsa casually turned around and headed for the exit. As Reivan was swarmed by businessmen he knew nothing about, at the corner of his eye, Elsa left.

'Man... This is not good. Now she has a horrible impression of my true identity!'

Reivan didn't know whether to bite his lip in frustration or puff his chest out in pride. After all, he was the prince of Aizen, but instead of being flattered by his interest, she was turned off instead.

'Well, one thing's for sure. She really loves me... Hehehe...'

Now he felt stupid for all those times he felt anxious about whether she was being faithful or not. They were short moments of weakness, but with this, he had obtained the greatest proof of her faith.

If Elsa would even reject the attention of a prince, then she would do the same to everybody else.

Everybody but him, of course.

'Now that I think about it, this is going to be hilarious when I finally reveal my true identity...'

Reivan shook some old man's hand as he mechanically responded to whatever the man was saying. All he could think about was how meeting up with Elsa would be easier since she was in the same town. Perhaps good things really did happen to good people, seeing as how he was blessed with such a serendipitous development.

He decided that the first thing he would do after he got out was to track her down and surprise her.

 

---

 

Reivan was not, in fact, able to do as he pleased.

He tried to go off on his own, but Jiji had managed to grab him by the collar, stopping him in his tracks with Helen's aid. The stone-faced genius was all too happy to help out when she realized where he was headed.

Anyway, even though the welcome banquet was over, he still had official duties such as the blessing of the Royal Embassy of Aizen building. Priests from various religions, large and small, had been sent here weeks ago to handle preparations and they were all eager to finish the blessing so they could go home.

Reivan felt somewhat dejected but he mostly understood. With resigned acceptance, he got inside their carriage with the intention of going through the motions.

“We should’ve just ridden this carriage from the start,” Helen commented with nonchalance as she helped Grand Minister Greteliana aboard. “The carriage earlier was bleeding too much mana. I mean, it wasn't our resources being spent, but it hurt to look at.”

Jiji, who had already climbed aboard earlier and even claimed the seat next to Reivan as her own, scoffed. “Let them show off their little mana-powered magitech. Enchanted artifacts are still superior.”

“Ah, that’s better…” Greteliana sighed in pleasure at the plush seating of the Aizen-made carriage. “Well, Princess Jiji, artifacts require much more skill and control over mana to create… They are also prone to exploding if the creation process fails. Which happens quite a lot, actually.”

“I suppose you're right…” Jiji nodded with a sheepish smile. “I get around five reports of exploding apprentice workshops every week. It’s good that we have spare Ascendant Knights to help protect them. Otherwise, we’d never have veteran artificers — they’d all die during apprenticeship.”

Reivan chuckled as he watched Helen close the door after coming inside. “That’s if they sign up for an apprenticeship at all. It’s funny how before a branch of the knight order was delegated to protecting state artificers from their work, their profession had a higher fatality rate than knights.”

“A thing of the distant past.” Greteliana giggled, looking out the window.

Seeing that everyone inside was ready, Reivan knocked on the carriage’s steel walls. A moment later, there was a crisp snap from outside and the carriage surged into motion, pulled by a few huskies they had brought over from Aizen.

‘I wonder how Fuyu is doing…’

Reivan briefly recalled his own husky, who had literally snorted at the notion of leaving the icy habitat in Aizen. The giant lazy hound proceeded to ignore his attempts at coaxing, electing to attend to his harem of female huskies instead.

‘Arrogant prick… Why can’t he just behave like Hector’s husky? It’s not like I neglect him, either.’

Rather, he actually wanted to visit Fuyu at the frozen habitat more often, but the husky had made sure to let him know that his constant visits were an annoyance.

On the other hand, Fuyu also got pissy if he visited too infrequently.

Suddenly in a bad mood over wondering why his oversized dog didn’t want to accept his loving head pats all the time, Reivan reclined and crossed his legs with a frown. He was about to air out his frustrations by asking his fellow passengers when Valter suddenly spoke to him telepathically.

“Your Highness, we have a slight situation.”

“Hm…” Reivan controlled his expression so the others wouldn’t notice. He then used the dream crystal embedded into a ring on his thumb to reply telepathically. “Danger?”

“Not at all. But it could be troublesome in other ways.”

“Details, please.”

“There is a relatively large group of men with concealed firearms along our intended route.”

Reivan tilted his head and whet his dry lips. “Firearms…? Like... Like normal guns? With normal bullets?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re sure those aren’t some mystery tech that can actually penetrate a knight's flesh? Like the turrets mounted on Arkhan's golems?”

“I have confirmed that their firearms are of ordinary make and lack any supernatural alterations. All of the bullets they have with them are gunpowder-based as well.”

“Uh-huh…” Reivan rubbed his chin, taking a moment for consideration.

‘Are they actually idiots? Guns? You’re going to try killing a knight prince with guns…?’

Honestly, rather than feel alarmed, afraid, or taken aback, Reivan was offended that they brought such ordinary weapons. Whether they intended to assassinate or just terrorize, it didn't change the fact that his unexpected assailants left him very confused.

‘I wonder who sent them…?’

It was obviously not the Arkhan.

If the republic wanted to provoke a war by attempting an assassination, they would not have done it with guns. Nor would they have waited this long and even gone to the trouble of hosting a welcome banquet for him. They would have attempted to poison him at the banquet, attacked Fenrir en route to the capital, or just swarmed him with battlemages as soon as he got off the sky ark.

And if they ever planned to just annihilate their entire party before the truth came out and blame it on some unknown force? The fact that such a powerful unknown group was allowed to roam freely in the republic's capital to attack a foreign delegation could be interpreted as the republic being complicit.

Hence, it made sense to assume that these idiotic men weren’t sent by the republic’s government.

‘Hm... Well, in the end, it doesn’t really matter who sent them.’

Reivan had half a mind to just ignore their so-called “ambush”. Unenchanted bullets fired from mundane firearms would never penetrate even the carriage’s walls. But then he remembered something.

“Valter,” Reivan called out to his guardian knight’s mind.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Do you think those bullets could hurt the huskies pulling the carriages…?”

There was a moment’s pause as Valter probably considered the matter. But it only took a mere few seconds before a conclusion was reached.

“We selected relatively younger huskies since they seemed much more inclined to leave the habitat. The old ones stubbornly refused after all, just like the one you were taking care of. So yes, some of the huskies pulling the carriages may be put at risk.”

Reivan nodded with a sharp gaze. “Alright. Kindly have a few of our hidden guards apprehend the assailants quietly. Bring them to the embassy's dungeon. I’d like to have a word with them. Perhaps we can cut up their heads and discover a new species of monkeys. Oh, and I’d like you to personally keep a lookout since this might all just be some convoluted distraction for a real attack.”

“Understood, Your Highness.”

The shadow under Reivan’s feet squirmed for a fraction of a second before returning to normal. Nobody but the shadow’s owner and a bored-looking Helen noticed though.

Reivan made a shushing gesture to silence Helen before she could ask what happened. “By the way, I heard the republic's capital has some kind of folk dish they make out of marinated fish innards.”

“Oh my.” The Grant Minister’s brows raised. “Truly?”

Jiji’s ears shot up as her eyes narrowed. “I’m both slightly revolted and intrigued…”

As he distracted the two weaker passengers, Reivan soon heard Valter’s voice in his mind.

“The ambushers have all been apprehended and shall be delivered to the embassy. There are no signs of further attacks.”

Reivan smirked as he nodded to Jiji.

“I hope their innards don’t look half as disgusting as I imagine.”

 

---

 

‘Well, they certainly splurged on this.’

Reivan lovingly stroked a very friendly husky’s furry head as he looked up at the gates of the embassy, catching a glimpse of the building where he was supposed to stay for a while.

The easiest way Reivan could describe the embassy was that it looked like something the Romans would have designed to house gods.

Aizen’s Embassy was a melding of ancient charm and modern marvels. The structure bore intricate designs reminiscent of Roman architecture, with arched doorways, marble pillars, and detailed carvings showcasing the nation's rich history. However, seamlessly integrated into this traditional facade were state-of-the-art enchantments and technological conveniences.

Outside the structure, seemingly flaunting the nation’s wealth, lay a magnificent lawn adorned with mirror-like ponds that appeared to contain a piece of the sky. One could not overlook the massive seven-layered fountain in the middle of the front lawn, with paved marble paths snaking around it.

Most noticeable, of course, was the gigantic golden statue of a very angry wolf, looming over them all from its place at the top of the embassy.

“So this is where…” Jiji squinted at the beastly statue. “This is where all the gold in the treasury went. Well, we don’t have much use for gold, but still… That was a lot of gold.”

“You think that’s entirely made of gold?” Reivan raised a brow. “Surely not.”

Grand Minister Greteliana giggled, a gloved hand covering her mouth. “Did Your Highnesses not know? That statue is indeed made entirely out of gold. The Grand Minister of Northgard sent all her goldsmiths to help craft it. She was boasting about the honor for weeks...”

Reivan stared up at the statue and thought about how much one of the beast’s teeth would cost. The intricately detailed statue must have been twenty meters tall and more than thrice as long.

“Wouldn’t there be attempts to break some of it off?” He mused out loud. “It’s a bold and idiotic move to do so, yes, but people have done far more foolish things for much less.”

‘I mean, the internet is full of dumb people doing stupid things for virtual pats on the head. In this case, they can get enough gold to last them for years if they succeed.’

Reivan quickly got bored of looking at the colossal effigy, so he was about to suggest that they proceed with the blessing when a small crowd of people exited the embassy building as if waiting for their arrival.

‘I guess those are the priests…’

With a resigned sigh, Reivan said goodbye to the huskies who had pulled their carriage. The entire Aizen delegation had gotten off their own carriages so it was about time to go in.

“Grand Minister,” Jiji whispered. “Did your… Uhm, did your sect send someone for the blessing?”

Greteliana shook her head with a humble smile. “We are a mere lifestyle sect. We do not believe in any particular god, but rather, worship the human body instead. As such, we have no ways or ceremonies for blessing buildings.”

Jiji nodded, looking somewhat relieved in Reivan’s eyes. “I see…”

With Sormon priests taking the lead, the various religious representatives took turns blessing the embassy. They offered various types of prayers embodying different kinds of wishes, such as for fair weather to grace the premises or for the safety of all people who resided within.

Reivan found them all surprisingly interesting and so he enthusiastically watched it all play out.

His only gripe was why it took too damn long.

It was dark outside by the time Reivan and the others finally got to go inside. There were already professional maids and manservants waiting for them within, ready to escort each of them to their respective accommodations. The interior, unsurprisingly, was made to mimic the royal palace, with suits of armor and weapon racks here and there — even though all the weapons and armor the knights used came from their Soul Armaments.

Reivan managed to sneak away from Jiji and Helen’s eyes by having Valter suddenly suck him into the darkness when they weren’t looking. After the familiar sensation of sinking into the void, Reivan found himself in what was obviously a dungeon.

“Your Highness.”

Two of the many Ascendant knights charged to guard their delegation in secret saluted upon his arrival. In addition to their usual knight uniforms, they wore masks that hid the lower half of their faces.

“At ease, Sirs.” Reivan nodded at them. “So? Where are they? And how many are there?”

Valter was the one to answer in their stead. “They are deeper inside, knocked out. As for their numbers, there were forty including their leader — who we woke up for interrogation just as you arrived.”

“Any difficulties? Something like some poison in their mouths in case they were caught or something.”

“There were no problems, Your Highness.”

“I see.” Reivan gestured for Valter to lead the way as he joked. “Perhaps they thought they’d succeed. Hah!”

This was met with silence by the relatively serious knights around him but Reivan didn’t mind, shrugging to himself before following Valter deeper into the dungeon.

‘The fact that we have a dungeon at an embassy building…’

Reivan had to admit that it was all much cleaner than the dungeons he’d read or seen across various media in his past life. But the dungeon also wasn’t anything similar to what they had at Grimharbor Penitentiary.

Smooth gray stone floor, a ceiling with glowing orbs embedded into it, and marble walls with glowing blue symbols pulsing with light. Metal doors arrayed the hallways, and Reivan could sense life behind them. Although dimly lit, no grime or dust could be seen through his eyes.

Eventually, Reivan was led into a room that looked made for interrogation. The only source of light was one luminous glass orb at the center of the room, shining directly over a brown-haired man tied to a metallic chair, blindfolded and gagged.

Valter took his spot directly behind the man. “Here is the leader of the ambushers, Your Highness.”

Reivan nodded and watched as the other two Ascendant knights stood at different corners of the room, beyond the light and right next to tables where all the confiscated firearms seemed to have been dumped. After a brief scan of the room, Reivan picked up one of the guns and strode forward, scrutinizing the man on his way.

 

 

‘Pathetic. And why the hell does he hate me so much when we’ve never even met?’

Reivan sighed as he casually tossed the gun back into the pile. He’d much rather be cuddling with Elsa or Helen right now, instead of interrogating some bastard. With the desire to get this over with even faster, he gestured for Valter to return the captive’s vision and speech.

“Gah!” The man named Arvil gasped once his mouth was freed. He squinted at the light, but as soon as his eyes grew accustomed to the surroundings, his gaze fell on Reivan — or rather, his gray hair — and yelled. “It’s you! The foreign pig! Get out of our lands!”

“Well, now..." Reivan couldn’t help but chuckle at the man’s hostility. "You're a little bundle of sunshine, huh?”

'Man, he looks like he wants to tear me apart. It's kind of amazing, in a way...'

It was as if an ant suddenly learned how to talk and started cussing you out for accidentally stepping on his entire family — rather than feel sorry, one would simply be left stunned at the fact that an ant could talk despite its anatomy.

‘Whatever. The reason why this guy hates me isn't relevant to me… Or rather, I think I can make a good guess either way.’

At the mention of “foreigner” and “getting out of their lands”, it was quite obvious that the man had some form of twisted patriotism.

Reivan sighed and casually dodged a glob of spit that the man spat at him. “You know your actions could spark a war between our nations, right?”

“A war we would win!”

“Well, I suppose everyone’s entitled to their own opinion.” Reivan shrugged. “What makes you think so, though? You got some juicy info for me, or no?”

“Is there even any other question?” Arvil sneered, his blue eyes bulging out of their sockets as he glared daggers at the foreign prince. “You pigs from Aizen lord your superiority over us, but I, a true son of the republic, know better! We are not the weakest of the three nations! United, we are strong!”

“And that’s why you welcome war?”

“Why wouldn’t I...!? The republic is supreme! The republic will stand victorious! Our golems will trample over your knights! A rain of spells will shatter the castles you’re so proud of! Just you wait!”

Reivan nodded in contemplation for a moment before tilting his head. “You do not look like a golem or a battlemage though. Will you even participate in this war that you welcome?”

“I…” Arvil faltered for a moment, and even after a few more seconds passed, no answer came.

That was all Reivan needed to lose every last bit of respect for the man — as little as it already was. Even if the fool's opinion was uninformed and reckless, had the man possessed the bravery to serve as the vanguard for his countrymen, that alone would have been worthy of respect.

‘Those who have never participated in war wish for it the loudest.’

Reivan felt continuing the conversation would be pointless, so he moved on to extracting information. “We captured forty idiots, including you. Do you have more conspirators?”

“Why should I tell you, pig?” Arvil snickered and shook his head.

“C’mon. Humor me. You can just lie. Who knows? I might believe you. Or at least tell me if it’s higher than a thousand.”

“Eat shit.”

Reivan stared at the man for a moment before placing a finger on Arvil's chest. “Are you sure?”

The man looked down at the finger on his chest, seemingly gauging if it was close enough to bite. Then he looked up and grinned. “If you think you can threaten me with death, you’d best give up unless you want the kingdom’s violence to spread all over the papers tomorrow.”

“Hm…” Reivan retracted his finger and grabbed Arvil's chin instead, raising the man’s face up to get a better look at it. “Interesting. And how have you arranged for this information to reach the other people’s ears? Can we not just disintegrate all of your bodies, erasing all traces? Even if the republic comes here for an investigation, I can get rid of all traces of your existence. And I assure you, there are people here who will do a far better job than me.”

A look of fear flickered in Arvil's eyes as he struggled to free his jaw from Reivan’s fingers. But how could his meager efforts possibly bear fruit in the face of Reivan’s strength?

Forced to look up, Arvil seemingly gathered every ounce of bravado in his body as he scoffed. “We obviously have people who are ready to report it to the relevant authorities.”

'Huh. He's not lying. So I guess they weren't totally going into this without a plan.'

“I see." Reivan squeezed his fingers a bit harder, feeling how little resistance the man's jawbone offered. "So you’ll report that you tried to attack foreign dignitaries with firearms?”

Arvil sneered through. “Firearms? What firearms?”

“...So that’s how you intend to play things out?” Reivan couldn’t help but chuckle at the realization that these fools wanted to pretend the guns weren’t theirs. “It is true that there is no concrete proof that these guns actually belong to you. If you just deny until the end, we don’t have anything to prove otherwise.”

“Right? That’s why it’d be better if you just let us g—”

“But what proof do you have that we attacked you?”

“W-what—”

“If we just get rid of you and the guns, and then we deny the accusations of whoever you tasked to report things, then wouldn’t we also get away with it?” Reivan frowned in thought, trying to see a way out for them. But truly, he couldn’t think of anything.

“That’s…” Arvil sputtered for a moment as his mind seemingly raised in search of an answer. “O-Our countrymen will obviously believe us over some pig from another country…”

“Is that right…” Reivan let the man’s jaw go and sighed. “Well, even if that is a baseless assumption to have and you have far too much faith in your relevance to the world, I suppose your life wouldn’t be worth a stain of any size on our reputation — microscopic though it may be. Rejoice, for I shall spare your life and set you free after a few more questions.”

“Th-that’s right…” Arvil’s chest rose and fell faster as his lips curled into a triumphant smile. “Fear the power of the people, you noble scum.”

“Yes, yes… Mr. Arvil Bramon. I’m sure the power of the weak majority is very scary in a world where a single person can blow up hills by shouting loud enough. You can continue believing that for as long as you live."

Reivan stepped on the man’s foot with a boot covered in a deep dark mist. The gap between them as living beings was far too wide for any meaningful resistance, so every bit of the man’s magic power was absorbed. And in just a fraction of a second, the man was completely drained of magic power. Of course, Reivan made sure to leave him with a sliver of stamina to prevent the loss of consciousness.

“Wh-what…” The man’s face turned pale. “M-my name... H-how do you know my …”

“Your name? You sure are curious about the strangest things.” Reivan chuckled as he bent down to meet the man’s gaze. “I, as the prince, know a great many things. For your information, I also know how to kill people very slowly.”

Arvil gulped, his voice trembling. “L-Like I said if you think you can threaten me with death—”

“There are things a person can experience that are considerably worse than death, Mr. Bramon. Since we still have time…”

As Reivan’s golden eyes disappeared under a layer of inky darkness, he smiled.

“I will teach you.”