A week had passed since the incident where Herscherik had left the capital to travel to Meria’s home town. During that week, Herscherik packed by day and gathered all sorts of documentation on Grim’s rule from the various departments in the castle with Kuro in tow. It was a busy week for the little prince, but he even managed to sneak out into the castle town after hearing from Kuro that the fruit stand couple wa worried about him.
The couple had welcomed him like Herscherik was their own. Of course, Louise’s husband remained outwardly stoic, but he ruffled Herscherik’s hair with his large hand as Louise embraced him. When they asked him why he hadn’t been showing up, Herscherik only said that he had been struck with a headache, fever, and dizziness (not mentioning the kidnapping, of course). This led to Louise worrying even more about his health. As a token of her well-wishes, Louise gave him some pastries, while her husband, for some unknown reason, gave him a stuffed bear. On another note, when Herscherik saw this stoic man’s ears redden as he handed over the bear, Herscherik realized why Louise had fallen for him.
On the day of his departure, the formation of Herscherik’s travel party was as follows: the carriage carrying Meria and their belongings trailed Herscherik’s carriage, which were both surrounded by 25 guards in all, including a captain of the Knights’ Order and the coachmen of the carriages themselves.
After a week on the road, the prince’s angelic face twisted in discomfort atop his secured carriage.
“Are we there yet, Kuro?” he exhaustedly asked his butler of service Schwarz, aka Kuro.
Kuro sighed at his master’s question, not even trying to hide his annoyance. “Nothing’s changed in the past ten minutes, Hersch. You know we’re still a week away.”
They had planned for a leisurely two-week’s ride to Meria’s home town. Reminded of the hard truth that they were only halfway through it, Herscherik’s face turned even greener.
“You’re so mean, Kuro... And I feel sick.” The prince groaned and buried himself in the pile of cushions, prepared by the very butler he had just criticized. The young prince, however, was too worse for wear to even thank Kuro for his display of loyalty. “Why is it so bumpy...?” he managed to squeeze out before fighting back a wave of nausea rising up in his throat.
“We’re in a carriage.” Kuro shut him down.
Herscherik, the highest-ranking individual on the entire travel party, had fallen victim to carriage-sickness.
I always got sick in my last life, too. Ryoko had always gotten carsick every time she wasn’t driving and even on trains. Roller coasters were out of the question. Whenever she had to travel, her only defense tactic was to set an alarm on her phone and drift off into dreamland. Even that tried-and-true method of defense was impossible while sitting in a carriage rolling down an unpaved road. Just as Herscherik began to entertain the idea of asking Kuro to forcibly knock him out, his butler of service held out a canteen.
“Water. It should refresh you somewhat.”
“Thank you...” Herscherik accepted it, grateful to Kuro for taking care of him despite his dismissive tone. Taking a sip from the canteen, he gave Kuro a stealthy glance. He’s a bona-fide butler, now. No one would believe that he used to be a spy. Kuro, who now donned a well-tailored black uniform, looked far from being an ex-spy with a dubious background and more like a member of the nobility.
Since assuming the role of butler of service, Kuro had adopted the pseudonym of Schwarz Zweig and the background of being a son of the Viscount Zweig. There was no truth in that, of course, but after Rook pulled some strings and the king accepted Kuro’s role, there was no room for opposition. Naturally, Herscherik kept his mouth shut, too. Kuro seemed to have a natural talent for every skill required of a butler, from table and speaking etiquette to paperwork and self-defense. “Infiltration’s not the only trick in my bag,” he had said when Herscherik couldn’t help but ask him about how Kuro had so easily taken on his new role. Sneaking into places in the dead of night wasn’t his only tactic as a spy. He had disguised himself as a servant in a noble’s manor, a waiter in a café, and even a prostitute in a brothel to collect the information he needed. His job was to blend into any environment so he could manipulate conversations so that people revealed the information he needed. Of course, his job often ended up requiring more violent measures as well, so he could definitely handle a handful of street thugs. Herscherik even guessed that Kuro was stronger than the royal guards who rode with them. Kuro’s job had always been to accomplish the mission by utilizing any and all techniques that best served his agenda. In fact, his successful career had brought him to where he was today.
Those are some high stats... Herscherik thought as he returned the canteen to Kuro and buried himself back into the pile of cushions. He couldn’t help but feel the same sense of defeat he had felt countless times in this world. Why did everyone around him seem so perfect while he had no talent for anything?
After another week of wallowing in his sense of defeat, powerlessness, and carriage sickness, Herscherik finally arrived at Meria’s hometown, formerly ruled by the late Ruseria.
“Welcome, Prince Herscherik!”
When Herscherik’s party arrived in town as the sky was painted sunset orange, they were greeted by Count Grim, who had entrapped Ruseria in the first place, and all of his servants. The sight of all of his servants lined up in a uniform bow was an impressive sight. Moreover, Grim knew how to draw attention to himself. He wore what must have been a top-shelf fur over his shoulder and at least one ring on each finger, every single one made with either gold or silver and jewels. His gut had grown since Herscherik had last encountered him. The count’s skin seemed to glisten more, too, as well as the top of his balding head.
Keep going bald... Keep going bald... Herscherik silently cursed, though he let none of it crack through his flawless, princely smile. “Count Grim, thank you for welcoming us on such a short notice.”
Both the female and male servants let out a sigh at Herscherik’s adorable smile.
“It must have been an arduous journey. I hope Your Highness didn’t encounter any monsters,” Grim asked, with a smile and audible concern.
Herscherik’s dropped his smile and replaced it with an uneasy look. “We did, a few times. I’ve never seen them before.”
Over the course of the two-week journey, they had been attacked by monsters, which were essentially animals that gained magic and grew feral. The monsters that Herscherik saw through the window of the carriage were terrifying and reminded him of a particular horror game. The first horde of monsters they had encountered were wolf-like beings with black fur and eerily glimmering blood-colored eyes. These monsters were easily taller than Herscherik. Kuro had explained to him, as the prince curiously watched through the window, that monsters grow in both size and physical capabilities compared to other animals. Monsters had the instinct to seek out prey with as much inner magic as possible in order to bolster their own magic and physical strength. Naturally, many monsters set their eyes on humans, since almost all people had Magic Within. The Knights’ Order of Gracis regularly deployed monster-hunting teams to various locations, and some regional lords hired mercenaries to deal with them. That being said, the intelligence of monsters was not too different from that of wild animals, which limited how threatening they could be even in packs. While exceptionally powerful monsters would appear occasionally, people dealt with monsters like they were especially troublesome animals for the most part. The monsters that attacked Herscherik’s party were no match for the royal guards and were dealt with in a manner of minutes.
Herscherik didn’t enjoy recalling that scene, though. They don’t just vanish like they do in video games... He felt a little sick thinking about it, in fact. The knights had tossed the monster carcasses to the side of the road or into the woods, which was a gruesome sight that reminded him again of that particular horror game.
While Ryoko was a serious gamer, horror games were the only genre she had steered clear of. Once, she tried a horror game that was recommended to her only to have a dream that night that was scary in more ways than one—a skeleton soldier chasing her down with its weapon in one hand and an invoice in another. The number on the invoice was so realistic that Ryoko double checked her papers at the office the following day to find that she had nearly forgotten to process a payment. Despite that silver lining, she had never felt thankful for the existence of either horror games or sentient skeletons.
“I’ve never seen them in the capital, so I was really surprised.” Herscherik shuddered at the recurring imagery of the monsters in his head.
“Of course, of course. I am relieved to see that Your Highness has arrived safely. It is late in the day, and Your Highness must be tired. Please, enjoy some rest at the annex I’ve prepared until dinner is prepared.” Grim pointed to a building atop a hill on the other side of a patch of woods. “There is plenty of room for the royal guards, of course. I’ve prepared a humble feast for tonight, which should be ready at six o’clock. I hope to see you at the main hall at that time.”
“Six o’clock,” Herscherik repeated as he checked the time on his watch that he produced from his pocket. It was a few minutes past four. “I will escort my nanny to her home, then. I’ll be back in time to... Count Grim?” Herscherik turned to the quiet Grim. The count’s all-too-obvious smile was nowhere to be found, replaced by a colorless and frozen expression. Herscherik cocked his head at the sudden change in Grim the instant he had looked away. “Is something the matter, Count Grim?”
“N-No! Nothing is the matter, Your Highness. I look forward to seeing you tonight!” Grim rushed to cover up the shift in his attitude.