Ch. 61

“Hm? You’re sitting down?”

“Don’t bother me. I’m about to do something important.”

“Sitting down? Something important?”

“Do you know what mental unification is?”

From now on, it was a battle of time and mana.

The key was how long I could hold out while summoning Undine.

To minimize the amount of mana being drained, I had to directly control the flow myself.

It was a kind of pruning process, and it required an extreme level of concentration.

So much so that I couldn’t even talk.

If someone didn’t understand how difficult this was, they could try turning a faucet on full blast and blocking every splashing droplet with their hands.

Despite that focus, the amount of mana I could save was less than 10%.

“Listen carefully. I don’t know when Undine will find the knight, so I have to conserve every bit of mana. I don’t have a lot of mana, you know. Because I’m still young! But I’m still pretty amazing.”

“Oh, I see…”

“You want to get out of here safely too, don’t you?”

While trying to concentrate on the mana flowing out, the unfamiliar boy said something strange.

“Not really… I don’t care either way.”

“What? Are you dying to be sold off as a slave?”

“It’s not like anyone’s waiting for me. They might not even notice I’m gone.”

This brat is seriously getting on my nerves!

Why’s he talking in such a pitiful voice?

“What about your mom?”

“She passed away.”

“…Sorry.”

Damn. I think I touched something I shouldn’t have.

“My father doesn’t really like me. Maybe he even hates me…”

The boy started rambling pitifully, but my focus was only on the amount of mana leaking out.

Just then, Undine must’ve exited the building and canceled [Invisibility], because the mana consumption decreased.

Everything had gone smoothly so far.

But I couldn’t let my guard down yet.

The farther Undine got from me, the more mana it would consume, and whether she could find the knights and lead them back here was the real issue.

My mana had to hold out until then, but over 20% was already spent. In just five minutes.

“Maybe they’re even happy I ran away. I’m useless anyway… When I went to Father’s house, no one welcomed me. My older brothers really hate me.”

“…”

“I even have half-siblings now. I was so happy at first… but they hate me too. They called me a vulgar brat.”

Even though I kept my eyes closed and didn’t respond at all, the boy continued muttering to himself.

He seemed unbearably lonely, anxious, and miserable.

“My mom was the only one who loved me. But she got really sick… and one day, she suddenly said that since I have a father, I should go to him.

She brought me to that house… and told him that I was his son… then she passed away right after that.”

I wasn’t good at comforting people.

And this really wasn’t the time to be listening to this guy.

But it bothered me, no matter how much I tried to ignore it.

This is bad—I need to focus!

“I was happy living with Mom in the forest… but Father’s house is scary. It’s weirdly huge… and there are so many people. The servants there look at me strangely… They keep whispering and insulting Mom. Hic!”

Argh! Now he’s crying right next to me—how distracting! This brat!

“Hic… Mom… sniff… I… I didn’t need a father or that huge house.

I always get lost, you know? I have to sleep alone in my room… All they do is make me study… I hate that house without Mom.”

From the way he talked, it sounded like his father was a noble.

He had multiple half-siblings, lived in a large estate with servants—yeah, definitely a noble.

“I don’t like Father either. I don’t get it. Why didn’t he come when Mom passed away? She kept calling for him… Hic, sob… Mom…”

Hey, just so you know, I’m actually a sensitive girl too, okay? You’re making me want to cry with you, so seriously, knock it off!

Just as I was twitching my lips, trying not to say anything, a familiar voice chimed in.

“Poor thing. So that’s why you ran away?”

Naturally inserting herself into the conversation was Iruze. This wench! When did she wake up?!

I clenched my teeth in frustration, but instead of snapping at her, I just shut my eyes tighter.

Okay, stay calm… deep breaths… My remaining mana had already dropped below 70%.

And now the mana drain was increasing explosively, like a stream merging into a river.

Where the hell are you wandering, Undine?!

“Yeah. I found some old clothes I used to wear and slipped out in them. Once I changed, no one recognized me.”

“Where’s your house?”

“In the mountains! That’s where I’m headed. I learned swordsmanship from my mom there.”

“No, I mean your current house.”

These two were just having a nice little chat while I was the only one struggling.

Can’t they read the room?!

“It’s in this city, and it’s huge. You could probably see it from anywhere.”

“It’s that big? What’s your father’s name? I’ve memorized most noble families. Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Iruze Feiru, Junior Division of the Alchemy Department at Drike Academy.”

“Iruze.”

“And this is Geenie. Geenie Crowell.”

Oh, wow. Thanks so much for introducing me too.

“My name is Epiros. Mom used to call me Ash.”

“Epiros? Sounds noble. What’s your surname?”

“Oh, you mean the thing in front of the name?”

“No, it goes after the name.”

“My full name is Aaron de Von Epiros. My father’s full name is Aaron de Von Kan—Megalloprophis.”

Megalloproph… Huh? That’s kind of long. What did he just say? Aaron de… Von?

Despite everything, I had been listening, and I nearly lost control of my mana—not just a slip-up, but almost a full reversal.

‘Aaron de’ was the royal surname of the Elan Union.

And ‘Von’ meant he was of direct royal blood.

“Cough.”

I was so shaken that I completely lost control for a moment and started coughing like I was going to puke.

I hurried to stabilize myself, but I’d already wasted a lot of mana, and I was drenched in cold sweat from the effort.

The metallic taste in my mouth was proof of internal damage.

‘No way. There’s no way this clueless guy is royalty. He’s probably just a compulsive liar.’

I tried to convince myself—but it wasn’t easy.

Because there hadn’t been a trace of falsehood in Ash’s voice.

Aaron de Von Epiros.

In the Empire, royalty or imperial family members placed the surname first and the given name last, to signify that they belonged more to the nation than to themselves.

“Come on, you’re joking, right?”

“What?”

“That’s the name of the Emperor! So you’re saying you’re a prince? Pffft, no way!”

Apparently just as shocked, Iruze burst into loud laughter.

Right. It makes no sense.

I literally stepped on that guy’s back earlier. No way that quiet, mumbling pushover is a prince.

This is a slave trader’s prison for crying out loud… Meeting a prince here? Seriously?

“It’s true! Why won’t anyone believe me?”

“If you’re a prince, then I’m a dragon!”

“Wow, you’re a dragon?”

God, I hate this. I just want to be alone. This is all too ridiculous.

* * *

“It worked!”

“Hm? What did, Geenie?”

Without warning, a huge amount of mana drained out of me.

Roughly a third of what I had left.

If I was right, Undine must’ve delivered the message to someone.

I couldn’t help but smile. It felt like I could finally breathe.

“Undine must’ve called for help. She’s bringing someone! Now we just have to wait!”