Chapter 85: 049. Imperial Prince is Hunting Santa -1 (Part One)
**
In the middle of a dark and gloomy night.
A ‘person’ wearing a red robe was deftly jumping between rooftops to move from one spot to another. It had a rotund physique, abundant beard, and even a matching large red pouch too.
This being’s eyes busily darted around here and there. Eventually, those eyes discovered a child still out and about despite the late hours.
A smile spread on the lips of this red-robed being before it quietly leaped off from the roof. It pounced on the child before shoving its victim inside the pouch.
-Woo-wuk?!
The pouch tumbled around. Inside it was filled with other children and they began screaming together.
The red-robed being continued grinning as it leapt back up to the roof, then it dashed away from there.
The commotion prompted the neighbours to open their windows and look up at the sky.
And right there on the rooftop with the pale blue moonlight shining down, was a red creature sinisterly cackling away. But in the blink of an eye, it… vanished.
The stunned neighbours cried out.
“It’s here! The devil has shown up here!”
“Call the garrison!”
“Hide the children! Hurry and hide them!”
The people called that creature the ‘Red Devil’.
They told their children that ‘if they do bad things, the Red Devil will come and devour them’. However, that story wasn’t a fantasy but something based on reality.
An actual red-coloured devil was roaming throughout this city.
**
I spent one more month in Hilda fiefdom after the festival came to an end. Eventually, I had to return to the capital city, Laurensis.
While staring at the distant imperial palace, veins began bulging on my forehead.
“You stinking son of a b*tch of a brother. You just wait for me, cuz I’ll be gifting you with a holy bullet to your head pretty soon.”
As soon as I stepped inside the palace, a rather grand welcoming party greeted me. However, I cleanly ignored all the servants and maids lining up on the corridor and continued to stride away towards my destination.
I also immediately summoned a musket rifle. The Crimson Cross knights were following quietly behind me.
I flung open the door to my dear oldest brother, Luan Olfolse’s private quarters.
“Kkyaaahk?!”
Three very naked maids screamed and hurriedly shielded themselves with the bed sheets.
Huh, someone was busy hoofing it around in a forest hunting down some beasts, but here’s some other fool who’s busy living a dream life with a beastly body.
Since he was a bit of a pretty boy, I guess that he managed to sweet-talk a few gullible ladies.
My stomach began aching in jealousy.
Unlike the tense maids, though, Luan seemed rather relaxed. He laughed magnanimously after spotting me before putting on his clothes in a leisurely manner. “Allen, it’s been a while! I did hear that you’ve returned. I was about to finish up here and head out to welc…”
However, Luan froze up when he saw the musket in my hand.
“…Allen, what are you doing with such a dangerous object?”
“Get those girls outta here.”
I issued a command and the Crimson Cross knights took off their robes and wrapped them around the women, then led them outside the room.
Even if they were religious fanatics, at least they were also behaving like gentlemen, so that was nice.
I closed the door shut behind me and began injecting divinity into the musket.
“Huh? A-Allen, hold on. That’s not a toy, brother.”
Luan’s complexion darkened rapidly. He even stumbled back.
“Don’t worry, big brother.” I walked over to him and then pointed the muzzle at his head. “This bullet contains healing magic, so you probably won’t die. However, since you’re getting hit from a close range, it might hurt just a tiny bit.”
Luan’s eyes visibly shook.
“I’m sure you still find the after-effects of the Resurrection spell unbearable, so as your dear younger brother, allow me to ‘massage’ your head off, okay?”
I snickered and pulled the trigger containing my rage.
**
While exiting from the room, I glanced behind me.
Luan was on the floor, still grunting in pain while holding his forehead. “Allen, isn’t this too much?! How could you do this to your beloved brother?!”
I glared at him, the corners of my lips quivering. “I’m exhausted from the long itinerary. Which is why I’m thinking of taking a lengthy break, and I’d like you to handle all the duties originally meant for me, big brother. If you have any semblance of morals left, then you mustn’t refuse.”
“Mm… Very well. I did commit the sin of deceiving my little brother, so it can’t be helped, I guess.” Luan groaned and nodded slowly. He shook his head and then changed his expression to a grin before continuing on. “In any case, welcome back home, my beloved little brother!”
What the f*ck? You’re having a laugh, aren’t you?
I almost threw up in my mouth just now. Beloved, my ass! Where would you find someone under the heavens heartless enough to send their youngest brother to a lycanthrope hunt?!
I angrily slammed the door shut behind me.
Right, I better stop wasting my mind space on that guy.
I also might as well refuse to do anything for the next month or so, even if I have to resort to throwing a tantrum or something. Only then will I be able to vent some steam.
Since my previously-stuck divinity control was getting better, what I should do now was to focus on learning new magic spells.
I headed to the library afterwards. Found a book, flipped it open, and read it all. One book, two books, then three…
All thanks to the in-game attribute of being a Necromancer, I was able to immediately absorb all the knowledge on display.
It kind of felt similar to ‘reading’ skill books in games. Except that it also felt like a ‘skill’ was being created based on the magic theories as soon as I finished reading all the different books.
Also, if a grimoire proved to be complicated or a part of it was difficult for me to understand, then it would take a lot more effort for me to master what’s contained within. On top of that, I faced quite a lot of problems trying to read and understand grimoires that didn’t fall within the categories of Priests and Necromancers.
And finally, it seemed that even the magic I did master would vary in effectiveness depending on my proficiency with it.
While I immersed myself in studying, something began getting on my nerves quite a bit.
I glanced to my front. And there he was, a certain old man quietly, intensely staring at me from beyond the open gap of the library’s door.
“…”
That old man, he started doing that ever since the festival in Hilda fiefdom.
To avoid being stared at like this, I picked a few grimoires that looked interesting and left the library. While walking down the corridor, I still felt his naked glare stabbing me in the back.
Next morning.
A maidservant opened the door to my room to bring in my breakfast.
However, Raphael was standing beyond the door like a lamp post despite it being an early morning.
Later in the day, as I was walking in the corridors, Raphael silently chased after me while maintaining some distance.
Morning, lunch, in the evening, library, inside my room, within the corridors…
…I kept sensing that stabbing glare all over me.
While shedding thick, cold sweat drops, I stared right back at Raphael.
That intense and quiet stare didn’t even try to hide the ‘greed’ contained within.
At first, I thought he was planning to take his revenge on me for harming his granddaughter or something. Then, since she was his precious granddaughter and all, I figured he was keeping his eyes on me to make sure that I didn’t go around doing all that mangnani stuff again.
But those guesses were all wrong.
Man, I can’t even breathe properly here…
Holy cow. This geezer, is he suffering from dementia or something?!
I tried my best in distancing myself from him after sensing this ominous foreboding.
Later on, I entered the imperial palace’s private baths.
I refused the maidservants who offered to wash my body, but rather, I ordered them to not allow anyone to enter the baths instead.
Once everything was locked and secure, I dipped my weary body in the warm water. But then, my eye muscles began twitching uncontrollably when a certain figure oh-so naturally and silently slipped into the opposite side of the bath.
Who else could it be other than Raphael Astoria?
He settled down on my opposite side, and then continued on with his quiet but intense stare.
I swallowed my dry saliva. “…What is it, your eminence?”
“Your highness…” Raphael finally broke his silence. “…Do you have any thoughts of learning magic from me?”
**
“What the hell is this…? Gimme a freaking… Urgh, seriously…?!”
Inside Luan’s quarters.
We were sitting by his balcony and I was busy expressing my rage.
I originally planned to enjoy plenty of rest for at least a month, but I was now suffering from an unexpected stalker problem.
The First Imperial Prince Luan tried calming me down by pouring some red tea into my cup. “How about you take a step back and calm down first? Raphael merely wishes to teach you, that’s all. Isn’t it a considerable honour? It’s an opportunity to learn from the continent’s number one magic resear…”
“I don’t want to.”
I frowned deeply while taking a sip of the aromatic red tea.
As long as I had access to grimoires, I could learn magic at any time. If I failed to understand a magic theory, I could either ask Alice or check out other related tomes. That’s all.
But then, what were you telling me to do? One-on-one private tutoring lessons from that perverted geezer? Just thinking about that gave me nasty goosebumps.
It was then, a knocking sound came from the door.
Once Luan permitted entry, a maidservant stepped inside. She cautiously studied my mood before whispering something to Luan’s ear.
He replied, “I see. I shall speak to his majesty right away.”
After slightly nodding his head, he dismissed the maidservant.
I commented at that sight, “You seem to be rather busy lately.”
But then again, he had been taking on my duties too. Finding enough time to drink tea like this would be a hard luxury to come by for him.
However, Luan waved his hand dismissively as if there was nothing to be concerned about. “The Black Order is causing trouble again, that’s all.”
The Black Order?
That’s an organisation I also know something about. Wasn’t that the one where Morgana the Witch swore allegiance to… Eh?
A thought suddenly popped into my head.
