The Crown Prince Who Raises a Side Character

#24 New Adventurer Bern (22) – Clue

#24 New Adventurer Bern (22) – Clue

Bern chuckled, watching the man slump to the floor, face buried and unconscious.

Lucidra, sensing his amusement, asked,

[What is it? What’s so funny?]

‘Well, I just don’t understand. Safety isn’t even secured, and he was already trying to flirt with Blanca. Isn’t that absurd?’

[Men are all the same. Even in the middle of a sword fight, their eyes glaze over at a glimpse of a woman’s skin. What can you expect? That’s why my outfit is all about practicality, you know?]

‘Hoh.’

[…Wait, what did that “hoh” mean just now?]

‘Oh, I just figured your personal taste was, well, like that.’

Half-ignoring the shrieking of the self-proclaimed Grand Demon, Bern retrieved the black orb the man clutched in his hand.

The texture itself was hard and cold, just like an ordinary glass marble. But the magic contained within was terribly murky and dark, like a concentrated lump of greasy sludge.

“Bern!”

Blanca arrived a beat too late, and seeing the fallen assailant and Bern unharmed, let out a sigh of relief.

“I’m sorry. I tried to catch him right away, but I lost him.”

“No, it’s alright. If Blanca-ssi hadn’t played the role of bait, we wouldn’t have been able to lure him out in the first place. Rather, I should be the one thanking you for letting me tag along.”

Even if it was to lull the culprit into complacency, being deliberately ensnared by their spell couldn’t have been pleasant.

Yet, Vern felt a certain respect for Blanca’s willingness to take such a risk.

Blanca, her cheeks faintly flushed by Vern’s unrestrained praise, quickly changed the subject.

“I-It was nothing, really. More importantly, what’s that orb?”

“It’s something this one had. I have a rough idea of what it is, but I’ll give you the detailed explanation once we’re back.”

Vern, lifting his foot that was hooked under the culprit’s abdomen, raised the man’s body into the air. Then, as if handling a mere bundle of baggage, he gripped him firmly.

There was much to be done before dawn.

*

“Ugh…”

“Are you feeling a little more lucid?”

The mansion’s living room.

The man, regaining consciousness, narrowed his eyes, glancing around before exhaling a defeated breath.

His body was firmly bound to a chair.

All his tools had been confiscated, and three adventurers surrounded him, their sharp gazes gleaming. There appeared to be no escape, a complete impasse.

“Did you spread false rumors from the start, just to lure me out?”

“No, if you hadn’t appeared, we were planning to proceed with the reverse-tracking regardless. To be honest, either outcome was largely irrelevant.”

The man’s eyes twitched.

If what the red-haired adventurer said was true, then that meant the blue-haired mage was a monster whose skill rivaled even the red-head’s.

He considered that it might be a bluff, but the red-head acted as if he were stating the most obvious fact in the world.

“Then, I will now ask you a few questions.”

“You think I’ll simply open my mouth and spill everything?”

“Where are the women you’ve seized? Are they still… alive?”

The man’s face tightened momentarily at the redhead’s seeming disregard for his words, but he quickly recovered his composure, adopting a leisurely tone.

“Well, let’s just say, the moment anything happens to me, their safety vanishes with it, wouldn’t you agree?”

– So, if you value the hostages’ safety, you won’t dare harm me.

He spat the threat, desperately trying to seize back control of the situation, but the other party’s reaction was far from what he expected.

“I see,”

She simply nodded, with a calmness that bordered on apathy.

“Ms. Blanca, it seems rescuing the victims will be difficult.”

“Yes. Then we’ll just mark this down as the man having killed them all.”

*Scritch, scratch.*

Blanca casually scribbled away with her pen, and a wave of dizziness washed over the man.

“So, what was your motive for this entire affair?”

Whether she understood the man’s inner turmoil or not, Vern smoothly moved on to the next question.

But the man couldn’t simply move on to the ‘next’ so lightly.

“Listen, it seems you didn’t quite grasp what I said, so let me spell it out for you. If I don’t send a signal by a certain time, my cohorts at headquarters will kill all the women. So, you’ll untie these ropes right now─”

“Hm, it seems you’re under a slight misunderstanding.”

Vern cut him off mid-sentence, and then stated plainly,

“We’re adventurers. And the request we received was ‘apprehend the perpetrator of the disappearances,’ not ‘rescue the kidnapped victims.'”

“…”

“Do you understand? Whether these women you dragged away are dead or alive, it’s hardly a matter of great import to us. Of course, rescuing them unharmed would open avenues for negotiating additional remuneration with the lord, our client, so naturally, rescue is preferable. But looking at the state of this fiefdom, even if we did manage a successful rescue, I doubt the lord would be inclined to offer a generous reward.”

The man almost nodded in agreement at Bern’s words, without even realizing it.

Even to him, an outsider, the lord of Frencia didn’t seem like the sort to readily open his purse for his people.

“Squabbling, matching wits with you – it all consumes time and energy. So let’s just proceed as if you’ve killed all the victims. That way, we can bypass this whole tedious, unprofitable search and rescue, and wrap up this contract nice and neatly.”

*Unprofitable*. *Tedious*. *So let’s just say they’re dead*.

The tone with which Bern uttered each of those words was too nonchalant, considering he was discussing human lives.

The man felt something cold, something insidious, creeping up his spine.

A sensation he hadn’t experienced in a long time, not since gaining power after meeting his master.

Its name was fear.

“Anyway, we’ll skip ahead since you say you killed all the victims. Next up: motive and backers. Anything to say? Were you taking orders from a neighboring lord, or perhaps someone paid you to ruin this Frencia?”

“I… I…”

“Hmm, seems like a no. Very well, we’ll mark down ‘no particular motive’.”

“Elder brother, shouldn’t we at least give him a chance to speak?”

“Must we? Frankly, even this interrogation is a waste of precious time.”

“If the subject becomes cooperative, a chance to easily increase the reward could arise, couldn’t it?”

“Hmph. Blanca, what are your thoughts?”

“Honestly, unless it’s an exceptionally valuable find, it won’t affect the reward much. There’s also no guarantee that what he says is true. If we waste time chasing false leads, we’ll lose the opportunity to take on other contracts during that time, resulting in a loss.”

“She makes a point, Renya. Let’s stick to the original plan.”

“Tch, nothing for it, then. Understood, Elder brother.”

Money, profit, gain.

The words spat from the adventurers before him held nothing else.

Humanity, morality, honor, pride.

They seemed to have cast such concepts aside long ago.

The man’s gaze drifted toward the report that Blanca was scratching away at.

That report.

What would happen after it was finished?

The red-haired adventurer before him, Bern, didn’t seem particularly interested in his answer.

If an interesting response came from the asking, all the better; if not, they’d simply rewrite it to suit their desires.

Thus, there were no threats or torture.

But, was that truly a good thing?

If these people cared so little for the lives of the kidnapped victims, would they truly be concerned with preserving his?

More than that, the instant the man misspoke, the contents of that ‘report’ would become nothing but lies.

The color drained from the man’s face as that thought settled in.

This was no time for negotiation or anything of the sort.

He was certain that the moment those questions from the red-head – however many remained – ceased, he too would die.

His mouth opened in a rush.

“Wait, just wait a moment!! I’ll tell you everything! There’s information that would interest you and the guild!! I can even testify in front of others, if needed, I mean, I will!!”

*

‘Hmm, to think such a simple performance would have this much effect. He’s weaker than I expected.’

[No, even someone with a strong mind would have a loose tongue after that.]

The arrogant man’s demeanor flipped like a coin in short order.

The air of subtly trying to regain the upper hand, despite being captured, melted away like snow. He babbled, volunteering information even before being asked.

According to the man, he’d originally been nothing more than an unremarkable, unaffiliated mage.

But then, a ‘Master’ appeared before him, bestowing power in exchange for a constant supply of living sacrifices.

Blanca frowned at this. “Living sacrifices? Then, the kidnapped women are all dead, aren’t they?”

“N-not necessarily. For the ritual my Master is preparing, offering a multitude of lives at once is crucial.”

Meaning they’d be kept alive, at least until they could all be killed during the ritual itself.

Bern asked, “Were you the only one collecting these sacrifices?”

“No. I know there are other disciples of Master scattered throughout the Kingdom of Birka. Each with their own methods, but all offering sacrifices to him.”

In this single region of Frencia, the number of young women who had vanished already exceeded fifty.

If it was happening across the entire kingdom, the total number of victims would be staggering.

Which made it all the more perplexing.

Just what kind of being was this Master, and what ritual required so many living souls?

“That’s—”

It was the moment the man was about to speak of him.

Wooom!

The black orb Bern had retrieved suddenly began to vibrate violently, bursting through the leather pouch that contained it and leaping into the air.

As if unleashing the power contained within, it exuded a terrifying magical force, transforming in an instant into a black sword that pierced the man’s throat.

No, it sought to impale.

“Predictable, far too predictable. As if to disregard me entirely.”

Had Bern not drawn his sword and deflected in the nick of time, it surely would have.

Clang! Claang! Clang-clang!

The obsidian blade danced through the air, weaving, lunging to pierce the man, yet Bern, unflinching, met each erratic strike with perfect parries.

Whooom!

Realizing it could not overcome Bern as it was, the sword shuddered, then transformed into a colossal beast, charging at the man.

Even were Bern to cleave the beast with his blade, its immense bulk and overwhelming presence would not diminish, but crush both man and swordsman alike.

Kraaack!

But Bern, again, shattered that expectation.

The instant he understood the beast intended to push through, even as it was cut, he gripped his sword sideways, swinging it like a batter, and sent the monster careening.

Even as it tumbled, the monster shifted, re-forming to continue its assault, but Bern ceded no further opportunity.

His sword traced dozens of paths.

The swordsmanship, transcending a net, becoming a curtain of blades, an overwhelmingly dense aura of cutting power, did not just dissect the monster, but utterly annihilated it, pressing it into oblivion.

While all were struck mute by the transcendent skill, Bern alone clicked his tongue.

‘My arm stings.’

Even with specialization focused in one direction, replicating the Crown Prince’s techniques with an avatar body had its limits.

Using sword ki instead of sword aura, reducing the overall output of the attack, and still the recoil reverberated through him.

Unlike any opponents he’d faced until now, that shadow beast, even for Bern, was not easy to deal with casually.

Not that he could ever lose, not even by the longest shot, but only that his vital informant’s head might be forfeit.

“The trope of a villain being offed by the mastermind just as they’re about to spill the beans is so overdone, I’d rather skip experiencing it myself.”

Having utterly finished off the shadow beast, Bern turned his gaze fully upon the man.

“Continue with what you were saying.”

The man’s lips trembled.

Bern’s indifferent stare made him feel like his legs were about to give out. Yet, the fear of incurring Bern’s displeasure by hesitating pushed him onward.

“My master’s name… is Mortius. Mortius Barmor. A lich who seeks to transcend to a new realm through a ritual involving a thousand sacrifices.”

Blanca’s eyes widened.