Chapter 617: The Druid's Request (1)
“Pleased to meet you, Dave. Or should I call you Zenon?”
As he spoke, Prince Albert removed the hood covering his face.
Upon recognizing his face, Oliver instinctively began to speak.
“Your High—”
Prince Albert raised his hand, signaling him to stop speaking.
Although puzzled, Oliver soon understood why.
Owen was listening in.
Noticing Oliver's gaze, Owen spoke up in an almost apologetic tone.
“Ah… I just met this kid on the way here, and he said he knew you, Representative. He mentioned that you once helped him, and he wanted to pay his respects… Have I made a mistake?”
Worried he might have made an error, Owen asked carefully.
Although Owen was a towering figure within the Fighter Crew, possessing both overwhelming size and strength, his straightforward and gentle nature meant he had likely taken the prince’s little lie at face value.
'Or maybe it wasn't a lie?' Oliver mused silently. After all, Prince Albert had only hidden his status; it was indeed true that they knew each other and that he had been helped by Oliver. Strictly speaking, there was no real lie.
Besides, Owen had probably verified this through his warlock’s sight before bringing him here.
Understanding the situation roughly, Oliver decided to play along with the prince.
“No, it’s true; we do know each other.”
“Oh! What a relief…”
Owen, who had been visibly worried, relaxed.
“I wasn’t sure it was right to address him as ‘Representative,’ so I thought about taking him away, but he insisted on meeting with you alone… I wasn’t sure, thinking he might be some young master. I was worried I had made a mistake, but thankfully, it’s all good.”
Perhaps because of his younger siblings, Owen had a soft spot for kids.
Fortunately, this was not an inconvenience for Oliver.
If he had met Albert somewhere more public, someone might have recognized him as the prince. In that case, rumors could have spread, creating a troublesome situation. Owen’s straightforwardness had, in a way, helped Oliver.
With one question answered, another naturally arose.
Why had the prince sought out Oliver? And why did he come alone, without a single attendant or bodyguard?
Even though he was young, Prince Albert was said to have fulfilled his duty as a prince during the Great Fire of the New World, so this unanticipated and solitary visit was quite unusual.
Surely, he understood the implications of venturing out alone without permission.
Oliver grew curious about why the prince had come here by himself.
“Owen, thank you for handling this well. From here, I’ll take over. Would you mind stepping aside? If anyone asks where I am, please let them know I am handling some business.”
Before their conversation began in earnest, Oliver requested Owen to step back, which he readily did.
Thanks to that, Oliver and Prince Albert were left alone in a back alley of X-District.
“Is your hair back to its original color?”
While Oliver was casting soundproof and camouflage spells to obscure the surroundings, the prince asked this question out of the blue.
At first, he didn’t understand what the prince meant, but he quickly realized.
The first time they met, due to the Burnt One, one side of his hair had been bleached completely white.
“No, I dyed it, Your Highness.”
“Dyed it?”
“Yes. I thought it attracted too much attention, so I dyed it, Your Highness.”
“I see… Though I thought it looked quite good, giving you a mysterious air.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
“Um… Could you stop calling me ‘Your Highness’?”
“Pardon?”
“It’s proper etiquette in formal settings, but it feels a bit uncomfortable here.”
“Ah… Understood… Would it be alright if I asked why you came to X-District alone, Your Highness?”
Oliver asked a very reasonable question.
After all, it was indeed odd for the prince, who had only just arrived, to venture alone into X-District.
Perhaps this was also why Owen hadn’t recognized the prince. People’s eyes, despite their sharpness, often missed things when the situation seemed too unbelievable. Even if it happened right before their eyes, they wouldn’t recognize it.
“Had you arrived just a little later, you might have found yourself in danger. Nights are dangerous as it is, but Landa’s nights are especially so.”
“I judged that it wouldn’t be a problem. I heard that X-District, once one of the largest slums, had become as safe as the areas closer to Landa.”
Oliver couldn’t dispute that because the prince was right.
Except for Y and Z Districts, X-District had indeed improved significantly in terms of safety due to ongoing redevelopment.
This was partly because the dilapidated areas were disappearing with the redevelopment, but more importantly, the Fighter Crew, the Chosen Ones, and mercenaries hired by Forrest acted as a vigilante group, patrolling X-District.
Crime hadn’t vanished entirely, but at least security was as good as in middle-upper residential districts like K, L, M, N, and O Districts.
Considering the past state of X-District, where a communal effort was needed due to the lack of security, this was indeed substantial progress.
But what was remarkable wasn’t X-District’s improvement. It was Prince Albert’s knowledge of it, despite not being a Landa native.
“You seem well-informed?”
“My royal secretaries are competent. They looked into it.”
His answer was genuine, but the more he spoke, the more questions arose.
“You must have quite an interest in Landa.”
“No, not really. I just heard rumors about you.”
Oliver tilted his head in curiosity. Rumors about him? He couldn’t quite grasp what that meant.
The prince hesitated before speaking slowly.
“Didn’t you once say that you value your personal circumstances? That’s why you turned down my recruitment offer.”
“Oh, you’re referring to the new magic institution you’re establishing, under the royal initiative?”
“Yes, that… To be honest, I was a bit taken aback. I found it hard to understand why you’d turn down such an honor. It felt a little disappointing.”
Oliver nearly replied, ‘Everyone has their own reasons,’ but restrained himself. His experience working as a fixer and at the Tower of Magic had taught him to hold back such comments.
“But now I think I get it. You didn’t reject it just because you wanted to. You have your own grand ambitions, like developing the slums to help people and creating your own school… A sort of noblesse oblige, you could say.”
Albert’s voice trailed off, filled with admiration and respect.
It seemed there was more he wished to say, but perhaps out of patience or caution, he chose not to.
Although subtle, Oliver detected the prince’s complex emotions, and it piqued his curiosity, prompting him to respond more candidly.
“Your Highness, I’m sorry to disappoint, but honestly, it’s not quite like that.”
“What isn’t?”
“While it’s true I helped with redeveloping the slums and that I am establishing a new school, that wasn’t my original intention. At least, it wasn’t the reason I turned down Your Highness’s offer.”
“Is that so…?”
“Yes, I ended up doing it sort of by chance. The redevelopment of X-District seemed like a promising venture, and establishing a school was more of a recent decision due to tax reasons.”
Albert’s gaze wavered. He looked like someone who’d just realized that babies aren’t brought by storks but are conceived in a more grounded manner.
Of course, Oliver, having grown up in an orphanage, had known the truth from the beginning.
“But I heard you helped a lot of people. Didn’t you purposefully provide work for refugees in the Contaminated Zone?”
Internally, Oliver couldn’t help but feel a quiet admiration for the royal secretaries’ capabilities.
“That’s true. Whenever I can, I hope to secure housing for them, establish factories, and offer job opportunities. But, Your Highness, it’s not exactly a matter of noblesse oblige.”
“Then, does that mean you have a different reason?”
“Yes, truthfully, it’s a bit selfish. I wanted to see if I could become a better person.”
“A better person?”
“Yes.”
Albert furrowed his brows, his expression caught somewhere between puzzlement and intrigue.
“What does that even mean… wanting to become a better person?”
“Just what I said, Your Highness. I want to be a better person… because being good is, well, good.”
The more Albert listened, the more he seemed to sink into a murky depth of confusion. Understandably so; it was like trying to follow logic where both the means and the end were the same, utterly nonsensical.
As he listened, rather than becoming frustrated, the prince let out a short laugh.
Just as he had during their conversation in the New World.
Prince Albert, who had tried to mimic the speech and decorum of an adult with every fiber of his being, finally let slip a brief but age-appropriate moment.
But it was short-lived; soon enough, he donned his mask of maturity and cloak of royal decorum once again.
“Ah… Excuse me… To be honest, I can’t understand a word of what you’re saying.”
“Sometimes, neither do I, Your Highness. There are moments I don’t know what I’m saying or even what I’m doing.”
Albert gave a small smile.
“Still, I find it not unpleasant. Compared to most people I know, you seem more honest… I rather like that.”
“Are the people around you not straightforward, Your Highness?”
“If it sounded like I was being critical, that’s not what I meant. I don’t mean they’re liars. It’s just that they tend to keep their true thoughts hidden. My family is royalty, and I’m a prince.”
Oliver understood. It was a phenomenon that often accompanied people in high positions.
Albert let out a resigned smile.
“I get why it has to be that way, but it gets tiring sometimes. So, your rather enigmatic yet honest demeanor isn’t so bad. After all, you’re doing good deeds, whatever your reasons may be.”
“Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness.”
“No, thank you. For whatever reason, you’re helping the citizens of the United Kingdom. I may not be the Crown Prince, but as a royal, I want to thank you.”
Albert spoke with a natural warmth that seemed different from his usual reserved demeanor. It was proof of his sincerity.
“Actually, the reason I came here secretly was because my elder brother sent me. He wanted me to meet you.”
Edward X.
“And he wanted it done discreetly. That’s why I came here directly instead of through an intermediary. Meeting with a middleman could have left a trace.”
“Why did your elder brother suggest meeting me?”
“He asked me to try recruiting you once again for the royal institution we’re establishing. It’s going to need talented people.”
“Oh…”
Oliver let out a short sigh. It wasn’t from understanding but rather from a lack of comprehension.
“Don’t worry. I couldn’t just refuse my brother, so I came, but I have no intention of pressuring you.”
“You must hold your elder brother in high regard.”
“Though he had his share of mistakes in the past, and still does occasionally, he is also beginning to show traits fitting for a Crown Prince… Why the reaction?”
“Oh, it’s nothing… I only regret causing Your Highness an unnecessary trip.”
“No, that’s not fair to say. Coming here was entirely my choice. And I also wanted to meet you personally, so I don’t consider it a wasted trip. After seeing you in the New World, I thought you seemed like an interesting person, and I wanted to meet you again.”
“Then I’m glad, Your Highness… How long do you plan to stay in Landa?”
“It seems I’ll be here a while. I have several matters to handle. In fact, today’s visit was partly due to that. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be rather busy, and I might not have another chance to come.”
“It sounds like you’re under a lot of pressure, Your Highness.”
“It’s my duty, so I don’t intend to complain… Besides, most of the tasks will be handled by my secretary and the Central Council representatives who came along as aides, so I won’t need to be overly concerned. I’ll just be taking photos at Landa’s events and giving a few speeches.”
“Every role matters, Your Highness. Your dedication is what’s truly important.”
Hearing this, Albert, for the second time that day, let his expression soften to a natural, age-appropriate look.
His face, usually tense with a sense of duty and restraint, now showed a calm, natural smile. He gave his thanks.
“Thank you… I feel much better.”
“I’m glad to hear that, Your Highness.”
“And, in that spirit, I have a piece of advice for you.”
Albert spoke abruptly.
“You should also meet the aides who came with me.”
“Are they Druids?”
“As expected, you know your stuff. Yes, they’ll likely raise objections to your use of natural magic. It’s unlikely, but to avoid any friction, it would be wise to show some consideration. They’re assisting the royal family at present, and they’re also quite formidable. I truly mean this as advice.”
Albert’s words were sincere, and Oliver acknowledged it with a nod.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
…
Several days later, a large man with green hair, dressed in a suit, spoke up.
“Stop using the power of nature and Druidic rituals.”
Oliver responded.
“No, I don’t think so.”