The Crown Prince Who Raises a Side Character

#23 New Adventurer Bern (21) – Fishing

A man could die from unfairness alone, perhaps.

Malcolm, the woodcutter of Frentia, hadn’t been able to shake that thought lately.

-You damned b*stard!! Just one hour, you couldn’t stay awake for just that short time!? My daughter is gone because of you!!

-If you couldn’t handle it, you could have woken someone else! Couldn’t you even manage something that simple!

-Die! You piece of garbage! Just die already!!

Malcolm was wronged.

So wronged it felt like madness brewing within.

Having lost his parents early in life, Malcolm had lived, leaning solely on his sister for support in this world.

Thus, when the mysterious disappearances began in Frencia, Malcolm burned with a more intense resolve than anyone else.

No matter who or what it was, he would never let anyone lay a hand on his sister. He would protect his only family with his own two hands, no matter the cost.

How could *he*, of all people, who held such a vow so dearly, fail to resist a mere moment of drowsiness and endanger her?

He had moved constantly throughout his watch, fighting off the sleep. He even chewed on a medicinal herb, bitter and sour beyond bearing, but effective at keeping him awake.

His mind was clear, his eyes wide.

He felt he could stay awake through the entire night without issue, not just a brief guard duty.

And yet, why…?

“…my memory seems to have been cut off. I was clearly awake, circling my sister, I *know* I was. Then I felt a wave of dizziness, and when I came to, I was face down on the floor. The others, whose families had also vanished, immediately started beating me.”

He desperately tried to explain the situation, but no one believed him.

They simply thought he was making excuses to cover up his negligence, for failing to resist sleep.

The pressure to conform was terrible.

At first, Malcolm had refuted and fought back against those accusing him, but with each repeated condemnation and resentment, his spirit was slowly being eroded.

Now, he couldn’t even trust his own memory.

The guilt, the idea that his sister might have disappeared because of him, was driving him to the brink. Bern’s words, that he would “reveal the false accusation,” sounded so sweet.

Sweet enough that he was now pouring out his heart to these outsiders, who’d arrived so late at night, unannounced.

After hearing his story, Bern turned to Blanca.

“Ms. Blanca, are you familiar with magic that induces sleep?”

“…Does that mean someone magically lulled him to sleep before committing the act?”

“Sleep, you see, often steals upon a person without them even realizing they are becoming drowsy. And these folk here have been slowly worn down, their stamina and minds gnawed away for quite some time. If someone were to suddenly lose consciousness, it would be difficult to realize that it was due to outside interference.”

Blanca nodded, agreeing with Bern’s deduction.

“That does make sense. I’ve never learned it myself, only know it from theory, but I’ve heard that mid-level sleep spells and above can have the added effect of blurring the memory of events leading up to the slumber.”

If the culprit had used that sort of magic, it could explain Malcolm’s feeling that a chunk of his memory was simply excised.

The problem was that this was all just conjecture.

“But, without any proof, will people even believe us?”

“There is proof. Magic always leaves behind its own unique traces, and a skilled mage can investigate them. And we just happen to have such a mage right here.”

“Huh?”

Blanca glanced around, puzzled.

Where’s this other mage besides me?

Just then, Renya, who caught her eye, suddenly launched into a fit of dramatic exaggeration.

“Oh, sister! How much longer will you continue to astound this humble brother? To think you possessed such an ability!”

What insane drivel is this now?

Blanca, poised to firmly deny that she had any such ability, was stopped when Bern grasped her shoulder.

“We have faith in you, Blanca. As the best mage in the Eastern Branch, I know you can do it.”

“Uh, um, err…”

It was easy to get caught up in the immense goal of subjugating the Lich, but Blanca was fundamentally a rather grounded and diligent person.

She didn’t needlessly exaggerate her own abilities, and she usually looked down on adventurers who made all sorts of boastful and exaggerated claims on a daily basis.

So, she should firmly say No here. She had to declare that such a thing was beyond her.

But, the hand Vern placed on her shoulder, his voice softly whispering beside her, kept trying to unravel Blanca’s resolve.

And so.

“…Of course. It’s quite a difficult task, but if it’s me, I can certainly do it.”

In the end, Blanca uttered the very ‘bluff’ she so detested.

Falling for a bad man was this dangerous.

*

Fortunately for Blanca, Vern didn’t actually demand she find the culprit using only the traces of magic.

He simply didn’t make it obvious, since it didn’t suit his prosecutor persona, but Vern’s magical knowledge, systematically taught in the imperial palace, surpassed Blanca’s.

He naturally knew that the current Blanca lacked that level of skill, even if it might change later.

But, how would it look to others who didn’t know the intricate details?

“People keep falling asleep. It’s not just from exhaustion, but because of magic?”

“That magician named Blanca. They say she has the best magical skills in the Eastern branch. The Guild promised generous treatment to try and recruit her as a direct member, but she turned it down and remained an adventurer.”

“It seems she’s going around meeting victims who lost family members due to unnatural drowsiness, starting with Malcolm. They say she’s finding the culprit by using some kind of trace only a magician can see?”

Throughout Frencia, which was suffering from missing persons cases, rumors about Vern’s party, or more precisely about Blanca, spread quickly.

And the more the rumors spread, the paler Blanca’s face became, to the point it was almost indistinguishable from the color of her hair.

“V-Vern. Is this really okay? If it gets out that I don’t actually have the ability to see traces of magic, I won’t be able to handle the aftermath…!”

But Vern remained relaxed.

“It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that the culprit ‘believes’ we have that ability.”

“Are you sure it’s human?”

“Even if it’s not human, I’m certain it’s at least a sentient being. And one that’s quite familiar with the inner workings of the city. There are too many unnatural circumstances to simply assume it’s random kidnappings without any information.”

Bern’s prediction was that the fellow gathering information in the city would invariably react in some manner if he learned a formidable mage was on the prowl, hunting down traces of his spells.

“But if he’s a skilled mage, he’s likely aware how difficult it is to retrace a spell’s origin. Would he really believe a mere Class 3 adventurer possesses such skill?”

“Yes.”

“How so?”

“Well, I am capable of easily subduing a representative knight from some domain – quite a capable individual by any measure. Wouldn’t it be natural for him to assume his associate is of similar caliber?”

It was, in a sense, an arrogant statement.

Yet when Bern uttered it, it felt less like boastful pride and more like the declaration of an obvious truth.

“While there’s a slim chance he might shrink back, fleeing or going into hiding, we can employ new methods if that happens, so there’s no need to fret too much. If my predecessors wasted at least a month, having the same time limit means we’re hardly pressed, wouldn’t you say?”

Bern shrugged.

His attempt at playful levity felt somewhat out of character, eliciting a soft chuckle from Blanca.

“You’re right. It’s only just begun; no need to tremble over the outcome already.”

Blanca felt the tension and pressure draining from her shoulders.

As had always been the case, she trusted that with Bern by her side, they would find a solution one way or another.

Whether fortunate or not, the turn to Bern’s prepared ‘new methods’ never came.

Precisely on the second night after commencing the investigation, the fish took the bait.

*

The night in Frensia was profoundly still.

But it was not a stillness born of tranquility, but one pregnant with the apprehension of impending events.

The proof lay in the buildings of any size within the city, all ablaze with lamplight. Those unable to afford oil or candles clung desperately to bonfires, striving against sleep by any means possible.

A truly foolish endeavor, mused the man overlooking the city.

Whether one stood guard, kept a light burning, or locked the doors, such precautions were meaningless against him.

If he so desired, the guard would succumb to slumber, the flame would sputter and die, and the door would swing open.

Such was the magnitude of his magical power.

Petty human contrivances could scarcely hope to resist it.

Indeed, only magic could stand against magic.

Thus, unlike his usual demeanor, the man approached his destination with cautious deliberation.

A small estate near the Lord’s manor.

Protected by towering walls and iron bars, it was a fortress that would daunt even the most audacious thief, but the man remained unconcerned.

For the unmaking of those barriers was not his task.

From within his garments, he withdrew a black, orb-like object, and with it, unleashed his magic.

His own mana, drawn into the orb, swelled to many times its original strength, then transformed into a mist, seeping into the estate’s interior.

The sounds of life that had resonated from within faded, and presently, the estate gates creaked open from the inside.

A woman, seemingly in her early twenties, with sky-blue hair and hauntingly vacant eyes, stepped out.

*The magic to induce dreamwalking.* *The magic to puppet an unconscious body.*

The former to lull his impediments to sleep, the latter to compel his target to move of their own accord.

These two spells were the driving force behind his ability to abduct victims, unhindered by any obstacle.

High, thick walls, or sturdy, bolted gates, were rendered meaningless when the inhabitant themselves opened them from within.

Even in situations where escape was near impossible for the victim alone, he could simply manipulate those around them to cooperate and move together.

The more individuals he lulled to sleep, the more he controlled simultaneously, the greater the drain. So he tended to target easier prey. But if he truly desired, he could easily conquer a manor guarded by over a hundred sentinels. Such was the absurd potency of his spells.

“Came to check just in case, but it seems the rumors were false after all.”

He’d been ready to bolt the moment things went south, but it seemed that wouldn’t be necessary. The man relaxed his posture.

“Well now… Hmm. A more intriguing bounty than I anticipated.”

Before him stood an adventurer, disarmingly vulnerable, and far more beautiful than he had imagined. A smile crept onto the man’s lips.

It was the instant his fingertips grazed her cheek.

“Remove your hand, wouldn’t you?”

A voice laced with politeness, on the surface.

But beneath that, a temper that promised fire and brimstone.

Before his brain could fully process the sound, an earth-shattering impact slammed into his abdomen.

“Gah!”

A body blow of pure, concentrated force, unleashed from a body honed and strengthened by magic.

The man’s body folded in half as the precise blow landed squarely on his solar plexus. Blanka, without a moment’s hesitation, began pummeling his face with the flat of her scabbard.

Thud!

The man sprawled onto the floor. As Blanka moved to quickly restrain him…

Mana erupted from a bead clutched in his free hand, and the man’s body began to sink into the shadows as if dissolving into water.

“Urk?!”

Blanka recoiled in shock, frantically trying to grab him, but his body was completely consumed by the shadows before her fingers could grasp anything.

Immediately afterward, as if the shadows themselves possessed sentience, they raced across the floor and walls, fleeing with astonishing speed.

The reason the man had sought her out without a full grasp of Blanka’s power was simple.

He had calculated that this, his third enchantment, would at the very least guarantee his escape in the worst-case scenario.

Hidden within the shadows, he fled, and he thought.

“Damn it, he feigned being enthralled on purpose, just to reel me in. Had he resisted from the start, I’d have noticed something was amiss right away. But for him to be capable of this… he might be far more skilled than I imagined.”

To fortify the city gates, barring the enemy’s entry, and to deliberately open them, drawing the enemy in before fighting, were worlds apart in terms of difficulty.

It wasn’t merely the sheer quantity of force, Blanca’s magical power exceeding his tenfold, but rather the quality of it. His magical skill was on a completely different level; that was the more plausible explanation.

‘Best to abandon this city now. Though the offering is a bit lacking, I can hastily conclude the ritual—’

Just as the man was formulating his future plans,

*Thwack!*

With a sudden jolt of pain, the man was forcibly yanked out of the shadow realm.

“How…!”

The red-haired youth standing before him… the man stared as if witnessing something impossible.

The two spells he’d used earlier were fundamentally mid-tier. Even enhanced by the ‘treasure’ gifted by his master, a Rank 4 mage, or one close to it, could easily shrug them off.

He had boasted of being able to conquer even the lord’s mansion, but he hadn’t actually attempted it, precisely because Gudrun, Frentia’s premier knight, would likely have resisted those two spells.

But this final spell, *’Manipulation of the Shadow Beast,’* was an exception.

It was a true high-tier spell, not one he’d learned and cast, but rather a spell that controlled a magical lifeform inherently bound to the treasure he’d received from his master.

The Shadow Beast was immune to any damage from simple physical attacks and only took about 1/10th damage from attacks imbued with magic.

And yet, this swordsman before him had inflicted a fatal wound on the Shadow Beast with a single strike, dragging him forcibly from the beast’s belly.

How such a thing was even possible… he simply couldn’t comprehend it.

Or could it be that this adventurer was an existence belonging to the same echelon as his master?

“Who in the—”

“—Seems you have many questions, and the feeling is mutual.”

The red-haired adventurer cut the man off.

Bern quietly added,

“The stories can wait. For now, you should sleep.”

*Thwack!*