The Crown Prince Who Raises a Side Character

#28 New Adventurer Bern (26) – Likes and Dislikes

#28 New Adventurer Bern (26) – Likes and Dislikes

His childhood.

Alsace yearned to be an adventurer.

He dreamed of a life where he fearlessly plunged into unknown worlds in search of romance and treasure, shared memories around campfires with his comrades, and effortlessly solved the problems of those who sought his aid.

Alsus’s father, a retired soldier, scolded him for such notions.

An adventurer was nothing but show; not a proper profession at all.

It would be far more stable to be employed as a soldier somewhere, and if he craved something higher, he should resign himself to hardship and beg to be taken on as a squire to a knight.

As impetuous sons often do, Alsus rebelled against his father’s words.

He ran away from home and became an adventurer, achieving considerable success thanks to his exceptional talents.

He amassed fortunes that common folk could only dream of, and even earned the plausible reputation of being the head of a branch.

But, his dreams could only reach so far.

The skill that had seemed limitless plateaued, then came to a complete standstill.

His earnings were considerable, but when he considered the need to save enough for his retirement during his brief prime, they weren’t so abundant after all.

More than anything, what filled Alsus with despair and rage was the realization that the reputation he thought he had gained was merely a shallow assessment within a small pond.

No matter how much he was praised as a 4th-rank adventurer, or the head of a branch, to the influential nobles, Alsus was nothing more than “a useful peasant.”

He would never forget the noble’s reaction when he had dared to ask for a knighthood from a noble who had condescendingly said, “Tell me what you desire.”

A look and expression filled with contempt and bewilderment, as if looking at someone who didn’t know their place and was asking for something far beyond their station.

Alsus seethed with anger, but he could not bring himself to express it to the noble.

For the noble was accompanied by a knight.

Even if they were both 4th-rank, and both capable of drawing forth ki from their swords, it did not mean that a knight and an adventurer were equals.

A knight, who had received systematic training since childhood, nourished their body with the finest foods, and learned lineage-bound cultivation methods and swordsmanship, possessed far more than an adventurer.

Even if their levels were roughly the same, the underlying foundation was no match.

And more than anything, even if he somehow managed to win against a knight, what would he do about the aftermath?

What of other knights and soldiers under the nobles? If the nobles of Virka, enraged that a commoner raised his sword against nobility, rose up as one to punish him?

Alsace was no longer the naive young boy who indulged in idle dreams.

He was a man, and like a man, he made ‘wise’ decisions.

His pride was crushed, but safety and stability were now in his grasp.

And afterward, his wise decisions continued.

He ignored the pleas of a certain lady to save her daughter, for the one who took her was a scion of a noble house.

He turned a deaf ear to the villagers begging not to be abandoned, for they could not offer compensation sufficient for Alsace’s party to remain.

When he faced a lich in a commission he thought would be easily resolved, he begged for his life instead of fighting to the bitter end. He refused to die displaying some foolish heroism.

As a subordinate—no, a ‘disciple’—of the lich, he cooperated in gathering human sacrifices, but Alsace felt no guilt.

An adventurer was a profession far removed from honor in the first place.

What problem was there in abandoning an honor one had nothing to protect?

“Hey, Alsace. Did you hear? That woman mage, Blanca, they say she’s fallen on hard times because her staff broke. Kicked out of her old party, and apparently struggling to pay back her debts? Some say she might be hired as a receptionist soon.”

It was on one of those days that an unwelcome piece of news reached his ears.

“Is that so? Well, a receptionist is more stable than an adventurer, I suppose. Better than ending up in a bad way from doing dangerous work.”

In truth, Alsace and Blanca barely had any connection.

But the fact that she was single-mindedly pursuing the extermination of the Lich had always been a thorn in the side of Alsace who was working as the lich’s underling.

The thought that he might have to do something about her someday crossed his mind but that he did not have to as she was already fallen on hard times Alsace raised his glass.

However.

One day, a strange young man appeared, turning everything upside down.

「It seems the public order in Frencia is not particularly good. I’m constantly being attacked by armed thugs, so I can’t help but use some simple self-defense techniques, if only for my own safety. Lord, please be careful as well.」

A madman who, to a noble – nay, practically a king within his own lands – offered defiance without hesitation.

A monster who toyed with the knight Gudrun – a knight Alseus could not guarantee victory against even at full power – as if he were a child.

Bern. That red-haired adventurer had resolved the matter of Frencia before Alseus could even begin his sabotage, and if that weren’t enough, he’d managed to rouse the entire Adventurer’s Guild from their complacent slumber.

The mage, whom Alseus had thought crushed and defeated, was somehow exhibiting monstrous abilities at Bern’s side. And people, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, compared Alseus, who had wallowed in the adventurer business for decades, to this callow youth who hadn’t even been adventuring for a year.

Outwardly, Alseus projected an image of magnanimity, of genuine pleasure at the emergence of a promising junior; but inwardly, he seethed with displeasure and unease.

That strength.

Those unconventional actions.

That willingness to embrace the almost delusional dreams of a foolish girl, rather than dismiss them.

He was everything Alseus had once dreamed of being as a boy, but ultimately could not become: a ‘romantic adventurer.’

Someone like *that* shouldn’t exist.

Someone like that – that *kind* of adventurer, ripped straight from the pages of some story – shouldn’t be real.

Because if he *did* exist, then…

Wouldn’t Alseus himself be nothing more than a loser who’d compromised along the way?

In terms of both practicality and emotion, Alseus needed to kill Bern.

He *had* to.

*Thwack!* *Thud!* *Crash!*

At the spectacle unfolding before his eyes, Alseus could only gape in bewildered silence.

‘What… what am I even looking at?’

Each time Bern swung his sword, hordes of monsters with durability surpassing that of common steel were cleaved as easily as bundles of straw.

The tank from Alseus’s party, who could withstand even the charge of a bestialized boar, had his limbs broken and sent tumbling across the ground with a single kick from Bern. The archer who unleashed poisoned arrows was impaled through the neck by his own projectile, returned with impossible skill.

The skeleton mage’s curse struck only the ground where Bern stood, not Bern himself, and the slime, capable of corroding even steel, was crushed to nothing by the force of his blade, spraying its ichor onto the surrounding allies.

‘This is…this is impossible!’

In this magically light-blocked space, it was impossible to see even an inch ahead without the lich’s magic to aid you.

Bern’s vision should be nothing but stark darkness.

And yet, he so effortlessly dealt with the attacks swung and fired by the hundreds of undead surrounding him.

If Bern were wielding aura, if he were trying to overwhelm them with its sheer power, Alseuth would not have been so aghast.

But Bern only channeled mana into his blade to enhance it; he didn’t imbue mana with physical force to swing it, nor did he wrap himself in it like armor to increase his defenses.

Which meant Bern’s level was, at most, the 4th Circle.

Yes, the same 4th Circle as Alseuth.

A fellow adventurer of the same rank was fighting this unfavorable battle alone, relying solely on his skill.

“…Don’t be absurd, don’t you dare!!”

Alseuth’s eyes bulged, and with a violent movement, he pulled a black orb from his cloak.

The ‘Disciple’s Token,’ given to him by the lich, spat out ominous magic, which seeped into Alseuth’s body, causing bizarre sounds to reverberate from within him.

Crack, creak, snap.

Every muscle in his body swelled taut, and veins bulged on his skin like a spiderweb.

Bleeding occurred in various parts of his body, unable to withstand the excessive strengthening, but Alseuth, blinded by rage and excitement, paid it no mind.

CRASH!

Leaping forward, leaving a huge footprint on the stone floor with just his momentum, Alseuth swung his sword with all his might toward Bern.

Clang!

For the first time since entering this space, Bern failed to withstand the attack and was forced back.

Emboldened by that realization, Alsers did not cease, but continued to swing his blade.

“What have I done so wrong! To survive! What’s wrong with cooperating with the Lich, to gain even the smallest advantage?!”

Was it the Lich’s magic, seeping not only into his body, but his mind as well?

Alsers, for reasons unknown even to himself, spewed forth words haphazardly, as if venting years of pent-up resentment.

Bern, undisturbed by his sudden outburst, calmly parried the attacks, his sword a steady rhythm.

“Have you ever seen the faces of those who, after begging you to protect their village from monsters, suddenly forget their promises of payment, once the danger is past?!”

“Have you fought against a criminal organization for a boy who promised a reward for retrieving his parents’ belongings, only to have him vanish without so much as a word?!”

“Have you ever followed a treasure map, given to you by a senior adventurer who swore you were capable, only to fall into a trap and nearly lose your life and every coin you own?!”

“Have you ever fought a duel for a noble lady who wept, begging you to save her from marriage to a scoundrel, only to hear her say that ‘the lowly adventurer tried to force himself on me’?!”

With Alsers’ fervent cries, his blade finally grazed Bern’s body.

The spilled blood, almost immediately, dissolved into motes of light upon touching the ground, but none present noticed.

“All this talk of romance only leads to being wounded by the cold reality! Dreaming of adventure only means being exploited by hyenas! You think you’re any different?!”

As Alsers’ ferocious assault continued, more and more wounds marred Bern’s form.

In Alsers’ eyes, excitement and a base satisfaction lingered.

Yes, the red-haired adventurer was just the same.

Though somewhat skilled, though seemingly special, he was still nothing more than someone destined to be broken by the world’s injustices.

This one, too, would end up the same as─

“—Hmm, finished saying your piece?”

A whirl.

Alsers’ vision inverted.

Like a judo technique performed with a sword, Vern twisted Alserth’s attack trajectory, slamming him bodily into the ground. As Alserth scrambled to rise, Vern crushed his ankle beneath his heel.

Alserth screamed, a sound like a wounded beast, and only then did he realize that he was the only one making any noise in this space.

A sudden thought flashed through his mind, and Alserth desperately tried to reject it.

*It can’t be.* There’s no way such a thing could be possible.

Vern, seeing Alserth’s denial, coldly declared, “Didn’t I tell you? You won’t die until the very end.”

Dumbfounded.

Alserth forgot even the pain in his ankle as he looked around.

The only figure standing in the darkness was Vern.

The rest, including Alserth himself, lay scattered and writhing on the ground.

Vern wasn’t wounded by Alserth’s fierce assault because he lacked the ability to deflect the attacks.

It was merely that, while dealing with Alserth, he had been simultaneously annihilating the other enemies, and that had left him momentarily vulnerable.

Looking down at Alserth, who had lost all will to fight, Vern said, “I understand your life has been… turbulent. Why you felt the need to prattle on about it to me in the middle of battle, I don’t know, but, well, I suppose passion can lead to such things. And if you want my opinion on it… I don’t necessarily think you are ‘bad’.”

Alserth, who never imagined such affirming words could come from Vern’s mouth, gaped in shock.

“To chase a dream, to strive for an unattainable goal, is an incredibly difficult thing. Ultimately, it is your life, and if you have given up on dreaming, who am I to say anything?”

Vern added that he, of all people, had no right to lecture anyone about integrity at this point.

“So, the reason I oppose you is not because you are wicked or wrong.”

“…Then what is it?”

“Preference.”

Without even a sliver of hesitation, Bern declared,

“You, who abandoned your dream and compromised with reality, versus her, who stubbornly refuses to give up even while being mocked by everyone around. It goes without saying which one I find more appealing.”

Silence descended.

Alsace’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly before he mumbled, as if deflated,

“I misjudged you. I thought you were a hero sprung from a fairytale, but it turns out you’re just an arrogant snob.”

“I’d appreciate it if you’d call it humanism. Anyway, well, so, are you ready?”

“Ready?”

Bern pointed with the tip of his blade at a certain undead.

A corpse with all its limbs hacked off, leaving only the torso.

“I expect you to answer my questions swiftly, accurately, and with the utmost courtesy. Otherwise, just as I warned beforehand, I’ll experiment on your body with all the tortures inflicted upon these friends here.”

Bern’s tone was as placid as if he were commenting on the weather, which only made it all the more chilling.

“Then, the first question… hmm, no. Let me rephrase. I shall ask the first question now.”

-Where are the captured victims held?

In the impenetrable darkness,

Alsace felt as though Bern’s eyes, which had no business shining, were gleaming ominously. Unconsciously, he swallowed hard.