The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#Chapter 264 Evil Boss Nigel (13) - The Second Prince and the Rose Knife When the First Prince of Shurabasti bestowed mysterious magical beverages to boost his retainers' spirits, everyone's eyes brightened and the palace's work efficiency improved. "Kkiruk, kkiruk, kkiyooooot! How clear the sky is!" "Why is that person acting like that?" "I heard today makes it four days of overtime work?" "Indeed. At that point, it wouldn't be strange to give up being human." There were some who had gone slightly mad from their eyes becoming too bright, but no one criticized them for it. Markanda, a harsh region where only those who could gulp down soup made from water mixed with sandy dust that was somewhat rancid, meat on the verge of spoiling, and dried, withered vegetables could survive. In a place where some people boiled and ate scorpion tails claiming they were health tonics, minor side effects like reason slightly evaporating and hearts racing in exchange for vitality so abundant you could barely sleep didn't even qualify as side effects. "Oh, customer? The boss says that drinking too much of that is bad for your body. If possible, it's better not to exceed one can per day..." "It's fine. The men of Shurabasti are strong." "...If you drink it too often, you develop tolerance and the effects weaken." "......!!" However, Prince Zarka was a meticulous man who could consider even remote possibilities, so indiscriminate distribution of energy drinks was restrained. It definitely wasn't because he was worried the effects would diminish and become unusable in emergencies. "How is the analysis of the energy drink progressing?" "We discovered that the former contains high concentrations of substances similar to certain materials found in qahwa, plus large amounts of sugar as the core components. With sufficient time and facilities, regardless of the taste itself, we should be able to develop a beverage with similar effects." "What about the ice box?" "That's encountering some difficulties. The material composing the box itself is so unfamiliar..." "Hmm, well if at least one side shows results, that's sufficient for a first attempt. Good work." "Thank you, Your Highness." It was while Zarka was praising his subordinates. Suddenly the outside became strangely noisy, and soon someone's presence began approaching with large strides. Bang! The door to Zarka's office burst open, and someone unhesitatingly revealed themselves from beyond. He was a man with height a full head taller than ordinary people, broad shoulders and bulging muscles. He even had a sword at his waist, so judging by appearance alone, he was unmistakably a ruffian who had come to harm someone of high status. However, instead of getting up to flee or preparing to fight, Zarka glared at him and said. "Kushan. How many times do I have to tell you not to barge into other people's offices without notice?" "Hahaha! A stranger? Why be so stiff when your younger brother just wants to see his elder brother's face!" Zarka let out a deep sigh openly. He couldn't help it. This muscle mass that had suddenly barged in before him was none other than Shurabasti's Second Prince. In other words, Zarka's younger brother. Zarka glanced at the guards who were breaking out in cold sweat, unable to either leave alone or drag out their master's brother who had suddenly burst into their master's room, and roughly gestured to signal them that it was okay. Meanwhile, this damn brother was looking around here and there, pretending to search for something. Zarka asked. "What are you doing?" "I heard that elder brother has been giving good things to his subordinates lately. An elixir of power that lets you swing a sword for three days and nights without getting tired just by drinking it?" "Where did you hear such strange rumors again?" "So it's fake?" "It's just a drink that makes you less sleepy like qahwa. Although the effect is better than ordinary qahwa, it can't give you the strength to swing a sword for more than three days." No, would it be possible for this guy? Zarka pondered for a moment. Unlike him who had inherited the late king's excellent side in domestic affairs, the brother before him had inherited the late king's warrior aspect. Despite being a prince in name, he had absolutely no interest in fancy gold ornaments or luxury, and was a man whose daily routine involved mingling with warriors and engaging in sword fights against bandits or monsters that threatened the surrounding security. His talent was also exceptional - in pure martial prowess alone, he had already surpassed his father in his prime and was evaluated as Shurabasti's greatest warrior. Instead, his flaw was being fed up with complex domestic affairs or diplomacy, but Zarka didn't particularly consider that part bad. Unlike other cities in Markanda, the absence of power struggles between brothers was thanks to exactly that aspect of Kushan. "Anyway, so it does give you energy. Then don't be petty and give me some." "That's not particularly difficult... but how much do you need?" "I don't know how much one portion is, but shouldn't there be at least enough for a hundred people to share?" Zarka's eyes narrowed. "I don't have that much right now. You should go to the store yourself like I did and buy it directly." "A store? You didn't call a merchant, but went and bought it yourself, elder brother?" "It's a rather unique store in many ways. I'll warn you in advance - don't cause trouble when you go there. Father already declared not to touch it when you weren't around." "Ooh." Quite intrigued, Kushan widened his eyes and smiled. "Tell me the location. I should go take a look too." *** "Is this the place?" Kushan's eyes lit up in front of the three-story building packed with crowds. Beside him were two subordinates and close friends who had shared hardships in the same warrior group, making it quite a modest entourage for a royal procession. Of course, Kushan didn't consider that a problem at all. His weak(?) siblings might need to bring loads of guards to protect themselves, but he was confident he could take care of his own body perfectly well with just one sword. The reason he brought two people wasn't even for protection, but simply because traveling alone would be boring and he needed hands to carry things. "Wow, this is the first time I've seen so many people flocking to one store." "It seems a lot of things have sprung up while we were away smashing bandits." "There's no need to beat around the bush out front. Let's go in." The store interior was cool, and thanks to a well-organized structure, despite the many people, it felt orderly rather than chaotic. What particularly caught Kushan's attention was the appearance of the employees. 'Ooh, their eyes are really good.' When there's a group, the people within it are bound to be divided. If there are people who passionately give their best to their assigned work, there are also those who just want to leisurely kill time. But in this store, the employees' eyes were all extraordinary without exception. Eyes full of sense of mission, responsibility, and passion. 'Either they've been trained quite well, or the owner's reputation is quite excellent.' Among them, particularly noteworthy were the eyes of a beastkin woman who appeared simply cheerful and innocent on the surface, but had an extraordinary flame burning within. Kushan was impressed. The Baharah Family had many retainers with deep loyalty toward their lord, but that woman's eyes didn't fall behind even when compared to the most loyal and passionate retainer among them. Such a person would unhesitatingly jump into flames for their lord. It had been puzzling that his father, who ruled all of Shurabasti, would bother to mention a mere merchant, but now he could see it was a store worthy enough for that. Besides that, there were plenty of other things worth seeing. Drinks that were absorbed into the body much faster than ordinary water. Food that was easy to carry around and could provide sufficient energy with just small amounts. Even canned food, preserved food that no matter how you looked at it seemed extremely useful for war. "I would have regretted it if I hadn't come here myself." "You're absolutely right. We should have brought more of the guys." At that moment, a warrior who was looking in another direction spoke urgently. "Yo, Your Highness. Look over there." "What is it? What are you making such a fuss about..." Kushan couldn't finish his sentence. As if bewitched, he headed toward the display counter the warrior had been looking at. "...Knives?" Although Kushan was a prince of Shurabasti and an excellent warrior who had examined countless famous swords, the knives before his eyes were even more special. The blade's surface was so clear and clean as to remind one of a mirror, with no rough grain or irregular coloring. The blade was covered with some kind of sheath, probably to prevent damage, but just looking at the overall shape of the sword made it easy to guess its sharpness. What was even more absurd was that such high-quality knives were just carelessly piled up inside some box. "Welcome, customer. Are you looking for kitchen knives?" "Kitchen knives?" "Yes. We sell kitchen knives here." The employee who was waiting nearby explained it that way, but it was completely incomprehensible to Kushan. Even in the Markanda region, there were concepts of combat knives and utility knives, but that distinction was extremely vague. Because in a pinch, either type would have to be used as a weapon. '...Hmm. Listening to it that way, the length and shape are indeed somewhat disappointing for use in ordinary combat. They'd be good for cutting ingredients, but inconvenient for slashing people or monsters.' "Is it okay to touch the knives?" "As long as you don't remove the blade cover, it's fine." Kushan grasped the knife handle and turned his wrist this way and that. The handle, which was neither leather nor cloth, had strange curves that provided excellent stability. 'At this level, even considering the somewhat disappointing aspects, it seems quite usable. ...Hmm?' At that moment, Kushan noticed some knife types were also displayed on the wall. Unlike the regular kitchen knives that had handles exposed and blade parts roughly covered before being stacked in boxes, the new kitchen knives were surrounded by transparent glass-like rectangular material. At a glance, they seemed to have more elaborate packaging than those in the box. Particularly impressive was the vivid rose pattern drawn on the side of the knife. Kushan spoke almost unconsciously. "...That knife, I'll buy it. Take out all the knives in this box too." "Understood." Having urgently purchased the items, Kushan gripped the knives and hurriedly headed to the quarters where the warriors were waiting. "Bring anything that can be cut!" Having given orders to his subordinates, he felt even impatient as he took out the knife with the rose pattern from its cumbersome glass packaging. It was peculiar that despite being glass, it didn't particularly break or crumple, but his mind was entirely focused on the knife. "We've prepared them, Your Highness." Using a hard, flat stone as a testing platform, various objects began to be placed on it. Meat. It cuts. Tree branches. They cut. Thick monster hide. It cuts. Animal bones. They cut. Kushan shouted. "Sword! Bring one of the swords we usually use!" "Yes!" The subordinates placed a sword on the testing platform. The ridiculous experiment of cutting a sword with a knife. However. "It, it cuts!!" "A knife that slices through swords!?" "How is this possible without even using sword aura!!" "Ha, haha! Hahahaha!!" Explosive laughter overflowed from Kushan's mouth. When he activated sword aura, a faint aura bloomed complexly over the serrated blade of the rose-patterned knife. "This is... for combat. All that talk about kitchen knives and cooking was just camouflage." Look at the shape of this blade. This wasn't made for cutting in the first place, but for tearing. If used like in ordinary cooking, the ingredients wouldn't cut well, and you might even slice through the cutting board underneath. But if used as a weapon? Even a slight cut would certainly produce incomparable power to ordinary knives. Logically, there's no way this could be a kitchen knife. It's something made from the start for cutting people! Nodding his head, Kushan concluded it was an undoubtable conclusion. It was the moment when the man who would later be called the Desert Rose Blade met his beloved weapon.