Chapter 61 :

Episode 61 - Operation

There was nothing held in his hand that was not precious, and nothing entering his sight that was not beautiful.

Therefore, everything that entered Rasia’s mouth was always the most precious thing, the most beautiful thing, and the safest thing.

Even if it were dangerous, it would not have been a threat to Rasia.

Every single day, dishes prepared with methods meant to bring out the ingredients’ natural flavors, as well as dishes made with efforts to combine rare spices and stimulate the appetite, entered Rasia’s mouth.

But sometimes, very occasionally, he found himself craving food that was a little rougher.

For example, the meat of a mountain beast freshly caught and grilled on the spot.

Ping---!

The arrow that left Rasia’s hand pierced the neck of a hawk flying through the sky.

“I was going to tease you for a while if you missed, so that’s a shame.”

At the mischievous voice, Rasia turned his head and grinned at Dito.

“Did I not say I would feed you until you were full today?”

He was more than willing to indulge a younger sibling’s childishness, even when that sibling said cheeky things.

Because today was truly a good day.

News that the fifth child of the Selby family had gone missing had reached even the imperial family.

The location, the timing, the justification—everything fit perfectly.

By tomorrow, the guards would storm into the Feedus family.

If it had been a secret battle, it would have been a sight no one could even imagine, but now the story was different.

More than anything, Rasia could not control the corners of his mouth from rising at the joy that he might be able to find whatever that damned bastard was hiding in the Feedus family, probably something that would become his cure.

“If you smile any more, your mouth might split open. It seems something good happened.”

Dito said in a voice mixed with laughter.

Rasia glanced sideways at the servant roasting the game beside him.

They said he was deaf and mute, right?

Since he was an object Dito had brought, there would be no unnecessary rumors going around.

Rasia smiled crookedly and opened his mouth.

“You heard it too, did you not? That a great secret incident occurred in the Feedus family. With this much, even the imperial guards storming into their house would not look strange.”

“Well...... I suppose that is true, but if you formally hold them guilty like that, a report will go to His Majesty the Emperor or the Empress.”

At Dito’s answer, the corners of Rasia’s mouth rose even higher.

“That is actually better. If my prediction is correct anyway, those things will have nothing to say even if they are wiped out completely this time.”

Rasia, who had been speaking with his guard down, realized his slip of the tongue in an instant.

The corners of Dito’s eyes lifted.

“Prediction?”

“Uh, that is.......”

Rasia’s eyes rolled around unnaturally.

“It seems something happened that I do not know about.”

Dito said lightly while watching Rasia’s awkward movements.

“Uh...... It is nothing. I just did not like the fellow acting as the proxy.”

Rasia answered, swallowing a sigh of relief at Dito’s seemingly unconcerned appearance.

“I do not know what happened, but if he harmed you, elder brother, then he should naturally receive a fitting punishment. However, be careful. The Feedus family has played the role of the imperial family’s dog for many long years. If you stir them up too much, you may instead suffer harm yourself.”

“Are you saying I would be defeated by those mere sons of bitches?”

Rasia’s brow furrowed at the warning he could not simply let pass.

At his simple and immediate reaction, Dito quietly shook his head.

“Please do not be too impatient. It will not be too late to accomplish everything after you become Emperor, elder brother.”

At his younger sibling’s words, as if he firmly believed Rasia would become Emperor, Rasia’s expression relaxed.

But that did not change Rasia’s resolve.

Living while entrusting the safety of one’s body completely to another person’s hands was a horrifying and shameful thing.

The gazes of the Emperor and the Empress were burdensome to Rasia as well.

So there was only one chance.

He had to seize this one opportunity well and find whatever that damned Seventh Prince had hidden in the Feedus family, probably his cure.

“Do not concern yourself. I will handle this matter on my own.”

The conversation between the two was cut off for a moment just then, as the hawk meat that had been suitably cooked was served.

Rasia inwardly considered it fortunate and tore off a hawk leg at once, putting it into his mouth.

It was tough, dry, and had a subtle gamey smell.

No matter how skilled the mute servant was, there was a limit to the flavor a wild hawk from the forest could produce.

Rasia slightly frowned and kicked the brazier that had been grilling the hawk meat.

The servant, struck directly by the embers without even time to avoid them, hunched his body as much as possible and began trembling all over.

“Terrible.”

Muttering, Rasia brushed himself off and stood.

“To find an animal that suits your taste, elder brother, we would have to search the entire empire.”

Dito stood with him while teasing his picky palate.

“It does not taste the same as before.”

Rasia, who had been muttering blankly, turned back and looked at Dito.

His eyes were sparkling.

As if merely recalling the past put him in a good mood, he wore a comfortable smile on his lips and spoke as though dreaming.

“When we were young, there was a time I lost my way in the forest.”

“I remember. Back then too, elder brother suddenly said you wanted to hunt alone, and I was dragged into it.”

At Dito’s mischievous reproach, Rasia giggled.

“Yes, from then on, you began getting dragged into my affairs often. You were very thoroughly dragged in.”

It was when he had been much weaker than now, in other words, when he was still too young to properly use his power.

When he recalled himself wanting to catch bigger game by his own strength and his younger brother tagging along behind him, even the urgent situation became nothing more than an amusing memory, and Rasia laughed.

“I injured my leg and could not move, and no one could find us, so it became quite a serious matter.”

Though he was speaking about it with a smile now, at the time, it had been serious enough that he thought his life was in danger.

The ground had collapsed, and they had to spend several days in a small space beneath a rock.

His wound healed quickly, but it was the first time he had been injured so severely, and the first time he had bled so much.

The one who saved him as he lay there unable to move even a finger was Dito, who until then had quietly followed behind him.

The boy put his share of meat into Rasia’s mouth, personally poured water in for him, and stayed by his side for a full day.

They said that when people found the two of them, Dito too had collapsed beside him from exhaustion.

They said the cause was that he had overexerted himself too much before his power had even fully bloomed.

And that he must have starved after handing over even the little food they had.

Rasia sometimes recalled Dito’s face looking down at him through his blurred vision.

And that slightly tough meat he carefully pushed into Rasia’s mouth.

Unable to forget the taste of that day, he occasionally came out hunting and tasted the game, but he had never yet experienced that ecstatic flavor again.

“I must have been very hungry.”

“What did you say?”

Dito, hearing the small mutter, asked back.

“That day. The day you first saved me. That day, do you not remember what you actually caught? I feel like I have caught every animal in the imperial forest once, but I could not taste the same meat.”

Rasia furrowed his brow and complained.

Dito too seemed to recall that day as he slowly studied Rasia’s face.

“.......You must have been hungry. I too had run around frantically in the rain that day, so all I know is that it was a small animal.”

“I suppose so.”

“Would it not be better not to know? It might have been a forest field rat.”

Dito said with a smile to Rasia, who smacked his lips as if regretful.

Rasia, feeling nauseated, immediately scrunched up his face.

“Yes, enough. I will never have to starve like that again.”

“When do you plan to visit the Feedus family?”

When Dito changed the subject, Rasia thought for a moment.

This matter alone, he wanted to resolve quietly, by himself.

In other words, he was not very pleased with the idea of another imperial family member interfering in this secret matter.

Even if it was Dito, not this time.

“Do not concern yourself. I will handle it myself.”

Thinking it would be suitable to storm in while the Emperor was busy with the ritual, Rasia climbed onto the saddle.

It felt as though everything would go well.

* * *

Mir calmly explained the current situation, in other words, that whether they went outside or stayed here, both options put them in danger of death, and that to survive, they had to join forces.

“So, to sum it up, we are in a very dangerous situation right now.”

“That’s right.”

Mir nodded at Seya’s simple summary.

“Is this idiot serious? That is not the important part...... Aaaagh!!!”

The child who had been dragged over because he had been here longer than the two of them and seemed smarter than the others muttered a complaint, but after being struck on the crown of the head by Seya’s fist, he closed his mouth.

The child rubbed the top of his head, saying it felt like his skull had been punctured, but Mir ignored him and opened his mouth.

“Even if all of us attack together and knock down the guys standing in front of us, we probably will not be able to get outside. We do not know the way. We have to aim for a single moment when that side lets its guard down.”

“Hey, was there anyone who left?”

“After being treated like this, do you think I would answer obediently...... There were four. One guy who had been injured pretty badly, probably because he resisted hard when he was captured, and three others.”

At Seya’s question, the child who had been muttering in dissatisfaction obediently laid out the answer when Seya silently raised her fist.

Though Seya did not stop glaring at him as if displeased.

“What is that? What is the standard?”

The child stared blankly at Seya’s face as she questioned him, then opened his mouth.

“Kids like you. Ones who resisted hard and got badly injured. You were lucky. A really skinny man warned that man earlier because kids kept getting dragged out. He told him not to beat the kids to death anymore because disposing of them was annoying.”

At the child’s answer, Seya closed her mouth for a moment.

“So just stay quiet. Do not make things bigger for no reason.”

Perhaps thinking Seya had become frightened, the child spoke as if giving advice.

Seya, who had been thinking hard about something, soon opened her mouth.

“So, it means we have to survive as long as possible and get out as quickly as possible.”

“That’s right.”

At her calm answer and Mir’s agreement, the child opened his eyes wide.

“Hey, it is not that simple! And do you really think you can get out of here with just your strength?”

“Then what can we do? Anyway, it means they do not drag out just anyone. If that had been the case, they would have dragged me out earlier as I was.”

“Seya, it is not a lie. I have something in mind too.”

The child, who had been listening to Seya and Mir’s conversation, crossed his arms and looked back and forth between the two of them.

“Do you really believe that just the two of you joining forces can get outside?”

“Then why would we be putting our heads together and thinking like this? I will specially let you join too, so help out a little.”

At the child’s attitude, which had somehow become arrogant, Seya answered as if dumbfounded.

* * *

At Seya’s tone, as if asking why he was asking something so obvious, the child seemed to think for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“I will pass.”

With words of firm refusal.

“What are you talking about? Are you saying you want to stay here?”

At the carefree answer, Seya asked back as if dumbfounded.

“How do you think those guys who were dragged out earlier ended up like that? They made a fuss trying to get out and got beaten to the verge of death. If you just stay quiet, you can live a little longer. If you just stay quiet .......”

The child’s words were cut off by Mir’s sharp question.

“How long are you going to live in a room where sunlight does not even come in, with bread the size of a fist and one cup of water?”

The child, who seemed to have something to say as his lips twitched, soon closed his mouth again.

“There are times when staying still is better. You two should not do useless things either. Just stay quiet. You never know. Someone might come to save us.”

“Are you the idiot here? Did you not hear what that bastard said earlier? That he was going to kill us all anyway.......”

Mir grabbed Seya’s shoulder as she raised her voice in frustration.

“Seya, just let him do as he wants.”

Seya obediently relaxed her shoulder, but she did not stop glaring at the child.

“Hey, what is your name?”

“Why do you want my name?”

The child, who answered irritably, hurriedly opened his mouth when Seya slowly raised her fist.

“Nihil!! It is Nihil!!”

Nihil, remembering the taste of the fiery fist, answered hurriedly.

“Fine, Nihil. Be careful not to change your mind. Because then you will have to pay a very expensive price.”

Though a chill somehow ran down Nihil’s nape at Seya’s warning, the child forced a snort in place of an answer.