Chapter 226 – A Journey with the Prince!

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The day after we took Shia back to her village after she had guided us to Langs.

With Rienna and Fule, I headed back to Langs in order to meet Remlik, the Vader prince.

A short distance away from the walled city.
The handsome man with long blonde hair was standing under a tree with dead leaves.

Remlik turned his head as he noticed our approach.
And so I waved back at him.

“Ah. I was starting to worry that you would not come.”

Remlik said with a slight smile.

Perhaps he had sensed some anxiety in my expression.

Yesterday, I saw many demihumans in Shia’s village. And they lived in poverty, and were used terribly by the Vader people.

Indeed, I was worried. What if we found something on our journey, and it went to not just Remlik, but the other Vader people…

And so I had to confirm something with him.

“You are alone, aren’t you?”
“I am always alone. You do not need to worry about me being followed. I am known for being able to hide my whereabouts.”

Remlik said with a hint of self deprecation.

I checked for magic energy around us, but could sense no one else.

There were nothing like assassins here.

“I see. In that case, please guide us. But where are we going?”
“Over there. That mountain. Mount Leorl.”

Remlik said as he looked far into the distance.

The southwest side of Langs. Behind a vast field, a tall mountain loomed.

It was about the same height as the mountain with the teleportation gate—the one near the Sylphium forest.

The sides of the mountains were rough and rocky. And there was snow covering the peak.

While it was an impressive mountain, it was not very unusual-looking. That was Mount Leorl.

But Fule looked at it in surprise.

“Th-that huge mountain!?”
“It will take a very long time to climb that…”

Rienna added, but Remlik shook his head.

“Oh, no. We are not climbing it. It is at the foot of the mountain. There is an entrance into the mines.”
“Mines? Is it still being used?”
“No, it was abandoned.”

Remlik answered, and Fule immediately looked disappointed.

“There’s definitely something there…”
“Yes. Poison bats, hole worms and other monsters have made it their homes.”
“Ugh. I don’t know what those are, but it sounds troublesome.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve been there several times now. I know which places have the fewest monsters. Besides, they are weak enough that I could deal with them by myself.”

I had little doubt of that.

In Langs, he had disarmed multiple enemies without breaking a sweat.

On top of that, his sword and armor were made of mithril.

And since we could also use magic, we would likely not struggle when it came to combat.

Remlik said to us in a confident, reassuring voice,

“Don’t worry, I will protect you. You are my important guests, after all.”
“I will trust your words, prince.”

Fule said, and Remlik nodded.

And like that, we started to head towards Mount Leorl.

We made our way down the stone road that extended towards the southwest.

On the way, we passed by different demihumans, and they all had dark expressions.

They did not even look at us, but carried their heavy burdens as they trudged towards Langs.

No one was in the spirit to laugh or smile now.

Besides, we had only just met Remlik.

And we were hiding our identity too.
It became a little awkward to speak with him…

Still, as we walked on in this oppressive atmosphere, I decided to ask him something that would not be uncomfortable.

“Mount Leorl, huh? It is very big… You would think there is some kind of rare ore to be found there. What can you dig up?”
“Mostly iron, copper, tin, coal, gold, silver and precious gems.”
“I see.”
“Hmm? You don’t seem to be surprised. Isn’t gold, silver and precious gems rare?”

Apparently, Remlik thought that my reaction was a little odd.

Those were things that human merchants would be overjoyed to obtain…

But I had seen them so much in Sheorl that it had dulled my senses.

And so I was about to say something frantically, but then Rienna calmly answered for me.

“Well, in our profession, we see them all of the time.”
“Yes, yes. It is not exciting unless the precious stone is a diamond. And silver and gold can be mined anywhere. It is the amount that is important… Is this place really worth going to?”

Fule answered, doing her best to sound like a pompous merchant.

“Haha. You may be disappointed then. I see. You want to find some rare ore. And you’ve seen so much already.”

Remlik answered. And then he asked us a question.

“If you are so knowledgeable…then perhaps you have seen the great silver somewhere as well? You know that my sword is made of it, don’t you?”
“Uh, yes.”

Yesterday, Remlik had told us the Vader legend and talked about the great silver.

And so he knew that we called that metal ‘mithril.’

But he would also wonder why we had been able to recognize it.

Before I could answer, Rienna did it for me.

“Your armor and weapon had a shine that was different from ordinary silver or platinum, prince. And so we thought that perhaps…”
“I see. You have a good eye. Well, in Vader, it is not unusual for royals or great nobles to own something made of the great silver.”

Remlik said as he looked down at his sword.

“And let me ask you one more thing. Have you ever seen swords and armor made of the great silver…outside of Vader?”

He asked.

He must have guessed that we had seen mithril multiple times before.

After all, I had looked at his armor right after he started to talk of the great silver yesterday.

I would not have noticed it so soon if I didn’t know.

I really was bad at acting…the truth comes out so easily.

That being said, there was nothing I could do about the past.

But should I answer honestly…

Fule then came to the rescue.

“Even if we did, why would we tell you about something so valuable?”
“Haha. In Vader, people would trade in their own lands to acquire such things. The value should be just as high in other countries.”
“Yes. And we do not know if someone is listening to us now. And they might try and attack us.”

Remlik nodded in agreement.

“Everyone has their secrets. I am sorry for asking such questions.”

Remlik answered with a laugh.

Secrets, huh?

He must really think there was something strange about our sudden appearance.

However, he was still trying to befriend us like this.

And while I could say very little about us or Sheorl, I was happy that he understood we had good intentions.

As I thought of such things and walked, I suddenly detected magic energy from up ahead.

A few human figures. And creatures with many legs chasing after them.

The ones that were being chased must be demihumans. As for the monsters, they were probably those scorpion creatures again.

Rienna and Fule seemed to notice it as well, as their expressions changed.

They wanted to go and help.

However, we might not make it in time if we walked.

It would look unnatural, but should we run…

“Remlik. Sorry, but…”

I started to say, but then saw that Remlik’s hand was already reaching for the sword at his belt.

So he had noticed it as well.

“Sorry…! I will go on ahead!”

And then he dashed forward.

And so we chased after him.

Eventually, we saw the demihumans running towards us from the road up ahead, and the group of scorpion monsters behind them.

Remlik—sure was fast.

He was already far ahead as he ran.

However, that was when one of the demihumans, a small boy, tripped and fell.

And then a scorpion monster lifted its pincer to strike down at him.

Remlik accelerated even faster, but I doubted he would make it.

So it was our time to act.

I extended my hand to the scorpion and unleashed fire magic.

It looked like an ordinary fireball. However, it was fast and had much more force.

The fire magic slammed into the side of the scorpion’s belly.

And like that, it collapsed to the ground.

“Brilliant!”

Remlik said, and then he charged into the horde of over a dozen scorpions.

As his blade cut through the monsters, we used our magic to protect the demihumans from the poison liquid that the scorpions were unleashing.

Rienna said,

“It looks like…there is no need for us to use attack magic.”
“Yes. He really is strong.”

Before Fule had even finished her words, there was no longer a moving scorpion.

Aside from the first one, Remlik had killed all of them with his mithril sword.

While they were scorpion monsters, they were each larger than a human.

Remlik seemed to have killed them by piercing through the soft gaps between their thick shells.

“Good… Were you hurt?”

Remlik asked as he offered a hand to the fallen child.

“N-no.”

The boy was stunned by Remlik’s skills with a sword.

However a man who appeared to be the boy’s father quickly came and pulled him to his feet.

And then he bowed his head to Remlik.

“…Now, let’s go.”
“Uh, yes. Father.”

While the boy looked like he wanted to say something, he was pulled away by his father, and they left with the other demihumans. The others also did not say anything to Remlik before leaving.

Perhaps they knew that there was something different about him.

Yesterday, the villagers in Shia’s village had also expressed anxiety concerning Remlik.
Getting involved with him could make them targets for other Vader people.

And Remlik seemed to realize this as well.
So perhaps it was always like this.

In any case, Remlik showed no signs of being bothered. He waved cheerfully at the boy and turned at us with a bright expression.

“What do you think? Satisfied? I shall be able to protect you when we enter the mines.”

He said proudly. And so Fule answered mischievously.

“You say all that, but it was our Lord Heal who killed the first one.”
“Lord Heal…”
“Ah.”

Fule realized her mistake. That being said, it was not a big deal.
After all, it was already quite clear that I was a central figure in the group.

“Fule. There is nothing to hide. Remlik already knows that I am the leader.”
“Yes, yes. No need to hide at all. I am not some evil prince.”

Fule laughed.

“That is exactly what an evil person would say.”
“How rude! I am nothing but goodness.”

Remlik retorted with puffed out cheeks.

He was so friendly that the idea of hiding anything from him started to feel ridiculous.

Remlike looked at me and grinned.

“More importantly, I think Heal is the one who looks like a villain. Walking around with two beautiful women.”
“Oh, you flatter me, Prince Remlik.”
“Hoho, you had good taste, prince.”

Rienna and Fule seemed to take it as a complement.

And like that, we continued our journey.

While we traveled, our conversations with Remlik did not end.
Mostly, it was inconsequential things… He asked about our relationship to each other, or told us about things that happened in the palace.

By evening, we found ourselves looking up at Mount Leorl.

Next Chapter

The Cave King will live a Paradise Life -Becoming the strongest with the mining skill?-