That Teron hated him was something Leopold knew perfectly well, but coming face-to-face with him gone so utterly white made his stomach twist.
Leopold had rarely been hated in his life. A prince who was righteous and kind, clever and handsome on top of it all.
Anyone who disliked such a man had to be some kind of oddball, and that oddball was none other than Teron Meyer.
Leopold, cowed, could only look at him for a while. Speaking would only earn him some insolent curse in return, so he was afraid to say anything more. As the silence settled, a single drop of filthy water plopped down onto their heads where they stood beneath the dark bridge.
Leopold opened his mouth.
“Teron, let's get out of here first.”
The children had eaten all the bread and, at a glance from Leopold, had already scattered. There was no one left beneath the bridge but the two of them.
“It's dark and it stinks here. Whatever this is, let's step out and then think it over.”
Fortunately, Teron followed him quietly.
Even after they emerged from beneath the bridge, their surroundings were still dark.
The rain had stopped, but the sun was slowly setting, and it was very humid.
Under the gloomy weather, the glares of the paupers sprawled on the ground were vivid. Leopold murmured.
“Coming to this place always leaves me feeling low. It's a shame that even the most developed capital in the kingdom overflows with slums.”
“...Do you come here often? To this place?”
Teron asked in a hoarse voice. His face was hidden beneath his robe. For some reason Leopold felt pleased, and he let out a small laugh.
“Yes. I try to walk through here as often as I can.”
“Don't do that.”
“What?”
To Leopold, who frowned and asked back, Teron muttered low.
“The slums are a dangerous place for a prince to visit. Wandering around anywhere with no escort is about as close to idiocy as you can get.”
“...Are you worried about me right now?”
He asked back, dumbfounded. And then he ran straight into Teron Meyer's murderous glare. Leopold couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
“This is the greatest moment of my life!”
Leopold bowed his head and cackled. What on earth kind of lunatic was this? Secretly doing volunteer work in the slums, running his mouth at me the way he does, and yet here he was, worrying about me too.
When Teron went on glaring at him endlessly, Leopold reined in his laughter and answered him in a delighted tone.
“You must not know that I've held the top rank in swordsmanship at the academy. I appreciate the concern, but I'm capable enough to walk around on my own, so you can rest easy.”
“Even so, that's just skill that shines among children. You can spew such ignorant words because you don't know how petty and hideous men with nothing left to lose can be.”
Teron Meyer's rude, insolent way of speaking was the same as ever, but Leopold no longer found it unpleasant. Partly he'd grown used to it, and partly it was because he didn't dislike what the words actually said.
“That's not true. I don't say this to boast, but I'm plenty strong. The knight commander himself once judged that my skill wouldn't fall behind the royal palace swordsmen. Isn't that enough?”
“Are you a sword master?”
“No, not that.”
Teron let out a sigh.
“Then just listen to me.”
Why had Teron Meyer tried to commit that filthy crime in the slums?
Because it was all something he'd seen and learned.
No matter how much of a mess the kingdom was, kill people by the hundreds and you'd become a wanted criminal in an instant. A way to kill enough people without being caught, to build up the basics of black magic?
That was to slaughter the vagrant children in the slums.
In fact, it was a foregone conclusion that the black mages Yuan and Arnold, and the others who could no longer kill openly, would soon take to wandering the slums. It was only that Teron had beaten them to it.
Teron Meyer's head had gone past aching and started to spin.
Leopold Deluah was as unbearable to look at as ever. He didn't want to say a single word to him.
But Teron didn't know whether Leopold was stronger, or whether the black mages of the present day were stronger.
However strong Leopold might be, he was sixteen right now.
Not only was he a child, he wasn't a sword master yet, either.
What if he wandered the streets like a fool, ran into a black mage, and suddenly dropped dead?
In his past life the man had lived safely to nineteen, sure, but was there any guarantee that fate wouldn't change?
He was distraught enough to lose his mind. Leopold looked at Teron's gloomy expression. His face was still pale as ever, and there wasn't a trace of light in his ash-gray eyes.
“At the very least, don't wander through the slums. To your eyes they're just pitiful, wretched subjects, but the reality is different. Don't put on airs when you aren't even a sword master yet.”
“A sword master is a realm no man can reach. And, why exactly? Are you worried about me, Teron?”
“Think whatever you want, and listen to me.”
“I'd rather not. I truly can't understand why I should listen to a classmate as ill-mannered and rude as you.”
Leopold shot back in a cheerful tone. Teron trembled with rage.
Even through all of it they had been walking along steadily, and they, no, Teron Meyer, nearly stumbled because Leopold suddenly came to a stop right where he was.
“Hold on.”
Leopold spoke, frowning.
“What's that sound?”
From the entrance of a cheap tavern some distance away came a fairly loud voice. It seemed to be a place set up by a pimp from the pleasure district.
A crowd had gathered around a kindly-looking woman and a man who wore a sword at his hip like a mercenary.
Teron could hear what they were saying too.
“How on earth are we supposed to live in this fear? When people are dropping dead in droves like this, shouldn't the palace be doing something about it?”
At the words “people dropping dead in droves,” Teron turned his head. Leopold was already moving toward the spot, one step at a time.
Slipping away while Leopold had gone off over there would have been the wisest choice... but Teron simply couldn't do it. Right now he was extremely sensitive to any talk of people dying.
Leopold, without a shred of fear, pressed in close among the crowd. He listened quietly to what they were saying.
“A while back, in our neighborhood, Eris's three sons went off to play in the mountains and got wiped out, remember! We told them again and again to be careful, and the kids never listened!”
“You think it's just the kids? What did the woodcutters do to deserve it? Are they supposed to starve to death?”
“James, you go up there and catch it. You call yourself a mercenary. Take the bounty on the monster and buy us a round.”
“There's a time and place for jokes. That's just telling me to go die.”
Teron listened to the whole exchange and silently tapped Leopold on the back. When he turned around, Teron gave him a look. It meant, let's go back.
Monster or whatever, he didn't care, so long as it wasn't a black mage. He just wanted to get back to the academy as fast as possible.
“Teron, listen. This is plainly happening in the capital, and yet I knew nothing about it. That's outrageous.”
Teron sighed. Do as you please, then. There was no reason and no justification for going along with the man anyway. Just as Teron was about to turn his back without a hint of regret,
Leopold broke into a beaming, deep smile and cheerfully called out to the crowd.
“Do monsters appear around here?”
The face of a woman listening beside him reddened for a moment, then she nodded. From the fact that she wore clothes that, though worn, were tidy, she was surely an employee of this tavern.
“Yes, that's right. Monsters have been coming out of Rande Mountain, which connects the capital to the outside, so the people living there get wiped out, and the hunters and herb-gatherers are starving because they can't make a living.”
“...That's terrible.”
“A bounty gets put up whenever a monster appears, but who'd try to hunt them? They're the sort of things you'd need royal-knight-class fighters to kill! Everywhere else aside, the capital ought to be looked after by the kingdom's people, don't you think?”
Even at these disrespectful, borderline treasonous jabs at Deluah, Leopold stayed unruffled. Smiling brightly, he nodded and even offered a word of comfort.
“Don't worry too much. It's dangerous, so don't go anywhere near the mountain.”
“What a kind young man. Thank you.”
Leopold stepped back just like that and whispered to Teron.
“Let's go.”
“What do you mean...?”
“Let's go catch it. The monster.”
He wore a mischievous, impish smile. Within his gently curved eyes, blue irises sparkled.
Teron Meyer refused in a single stroke.
“No.”
