I took a look at the rucksack the Termin*tor Paladin threw at my way.
This huge leather bag was filled with water and food, plus a sleeping bag and a shovel, rounded off with a strange-looking mask and the aforementioned medical personnel uniform.
This… was basically a soldier"s gear, minus the gun.
I s.h.i.+fted my gaze away.
What a cold wintery day it was.
The Sacrificial Castle Ronia was slowly being submerged under the white snow. And the convicts were busy shovelling away that snow. Next to them, I could see the real soldiers busy yelling out slogans and catchphrases while jogging in groups.
Not too far, I saw other groups of convicts receiving their gear that included spears this time, and getting all the rules drilled into their heads.
….This, this was without a shadow of doubt, a freaking army.
Right, a real, bona fide army base. G.o.dd*mmit, why did you have to go and make me recall that stupid Nonsan military training camp?!
Holy sh*it!! Oh, dear Gaia, why are you throwing me into this sort of hards.h.i.+p? I"m wallowing in the pit of sorrow for having to do hard labour in my second life, yet you want me to join the army for the second time, too?? How resentful can you be, you cheapa*s G.o.ddess!!
"F*ck me. If you"re putting me through this ordeal just because I swore at you once, then you"ll see. Imma show you what real blasphemy looks like very soon."
Of course, I said that in my head.
If G.o.ddess really existed and could hear me slagging her off, then it didn"t take a genius to figure out that an even worse misfortune would slap me in the face.
Just like how sorcerers needed to chant their spells, Priests needed to wors.h.i.+p, or even go as far as to exalt, the deities they believed in. Which allowed them to exhibit an even stronger level of divinity than before.
When considering that simple point, you could say that G.o.ds must really exist in this world.
"It"s your overall. Please put it on and join the other Priests in their tasks, your highness."
I became utterly dazed by what the Paladin said.
Sure, my status and power might have been temporarily taken away from me, but he actually dared to chuck a rucksack at an Imperial Prince??
Would you look at this crazy m.o.f.o?!
I heard that this guy was a pretty well-known vice captain of the Theocratic Empire"s Paladin Corp.
Not sure what the equivalent Korean military rank was to that, but it couldn"t be higher than, say, a lieutenant-colonel, or at least a colonel. However, seeing him focus only on me did give off the feeling of a non-commissioned officer somehow.
Hey, you! I"m the Holy Emperor"s grandson! If this was South Korea, I"d be like the son of the President entering the army. I don"t expect you to bend over backwards for me, but still, how dare you….?!
"Your itinerary includes, from six in the morning till nine, construction of the fortress, maintenance of the graves, purification of the deceased, and…."
My dissatisfied glare was completely ignored by him as he continued to mouth off my itinerary. Hearing him gave rise to this sense of anxiety in my heart.
There was always someone like this found in every field.
‘I don"t care whose son you are. I"ll simply stick to the field manual."
….Someone with such a mindset.
Someone who didn"t care about looking good to those in power to advance their careers but sticking rigorously to their set of beliefs and toiling away!
Holy moly. I have such a powerful backer yet I won"t get to enjoy a smooth-sailing army life?
What the freaking h.e.l.l. Hey, Theocratic Empire? Why aren"t you more corrupt? Please, where is the military corruption that"s so ripe seemingly everywhere?
"Eh-whew, never mind."
I spat out a lengthy groan and picked up the rucksack.
By the way…. Hmm?
I turned my head to the side, to a place a bit further away - the Ronia fiefdom"s city centre. For some reason, I caught the disgusting whiff coming from there.
"….Are there undeads within the city, too?"
My quiet question to no one caused the Paladin to tilt his head. "What do you mean, your highness?"
"Well, it"s a bit faint, but there"s this stink, and…."
It was then, a wagon emerged out from the city. And it was packed full of dead bodies.
"……."
I wordlessly stared at the corpses, prompting the Paladin to speak up. "Every now and then, you"ll see people dying after failing to adapt to the environment, during the process of training, or from hard labour, your highness."
I heard that in actual truth, more people died from hard labour than from the ‘Tide of Death" itself.
The domain of the convicts with no human rights, that was what Ronia was, basically. What a perfect way to deal with serious offenders, that.
"But, I can"t just blame it on the atmosphere, though. Hopefully there ain"t no zombies hiding in the middle of the city," said I.
The Paladin nodded his head confidently. "Something like that won"t happen, so please rest easy. There may be cases of prisoners dying from hard labour, but they"ll still be afforded the proper funeral process."
What a relief, then.
I still felt this uneasy air coming from the middle of the city, but it was simply too faint. It could"ve been just the atmosphere or something.
"Why don"t you strengthen the city"s public order just in case?" I suggested quietly.
"….The city"s public order, your highness?" The Paladin tilted his head, looking somewhat puzzled, but nodded his head in the end. "Understood. There should be times when corpses are not recovered promptly and left to rot unattended. If a portion of that turns into undeads, that could spread anxiety among the fiefdom"s citizens."
Ohh! And here I was, thinking you were an uptight fool, but I guess you were actually a type that listens to others" advice.
"If you don"t have anymore questions, please start with your task, your highness."
As soon as I was done praising him, I wanted to swear right back at him.
Well, I should do what I was told, at least for the time being. I didn"t want to get smart with him and then get saddled with even tougher jobs, instead; Since I was a Priest as well as the Holy Emperor"s grandson, my jobs should be on the lower end of the toughness scale.
I fully opened the rucksack and pulled out the mask and the coat. Funnily enough, I recognised the mask. "Hey, it"s that bird beak mask."
The white background, two holes for one"s eyes, and the protruding beak - it was a mask that actually existed during Earth"s middle ages, and also an item that appeared in the game, too.
I heard that people during the medieval times believed they wouldn"t contract the bubonic plague by putting this mask on. Of course, most still kicked the bucket anyway, since there was no such effect on the mask itself.
Looking at this thing, I suddenly felt that regardless of the world, people thought in similar ways.
Wasn"t there any proper equipment, rather than this decorative toy? "Hey, man. Does thing even have any special effects?"
"It contains a filter imbued with a purification magic, as well as charcoal and sand, etc. It can purify most poisons emitted by an undead or diseases it might carry, your highness."
Huh. So, it"s this world"s version of a gas mask, then?
As expected, the treatment Priests got was a step above that of the convicts. Even our equipment were properly sorted out, too.
I put on the beak mask and the fur-lined robe. I looked around to catch the sight of other Priests within my now-narrowed field of view.
Everyone was wearing the exact same get-up.
I couldn"t help but recall the army once more. If you stood in line with your head cleanly shaved, you wouldn"t be able to tell who was who, and that was the exact feeling I got right now.
"Please perform the same duty as your colleagues, your highness," said the Paladin.
"Same duty, is it?"
The Paladin nodded his head. "Currently, we have quite a few who have died from the diseases as well as from overwork."
Work already?
I spat out a lengthy sigh under my mask.
The Paladin spoke up to there before turning around to leave to command the convicts. Thankfully, it seemed that he wasn"t going to monitor me 24/7.
Was that his way of showing me some consideration, I wondered.
I continued to look around and spotted the familiar villagers. There were quite a lot of people gathered there as a matter of fact, which indicated that refugees from other villages beside the one near the monastery had arrived in the fortress.
There must"ve been well over several thousands a.s.signed to perform all sorts of manual labour. Unlike the convicts, these villagers were citizens of the Theocratic Empire, so they were provided with proper winter clothing.
Men were either carrying heavy luggage or maintaining/fixing up various equipment, while women were handing out food.
"Imperial Prince-nim?"
I quickly s.h.i.+fted my gaze to discover the familiar silver-haired, crimson-eyed girl carrying a basket. She also spotted me and quickly jogged to where I was.
Maybe the cold weather was to blame as the tip of her nose and her cheeks were all red. Whitish steam escaped from her lips. She stood there wordlessly, her eyes wide open.
Hang on, how did she recognise me when I was wearing a mask and the thick robe? Could it be that "I"m the Imperial Prince" was written on the back?
Just before I could sneak a glance at my back, she pulled something out from the basket and presented it to me. "Please…. eat this. It"s still warm."
It was a baked sweet potato.
Charlotte carefully wrapped a few in a piece of cloth so that their warmth could be retained for longer and gave them to me.
"Oh! Thank you. Work hard, okay?"
I received the sweet potatoes and lightly waved my hand at her. She bowed her head slightly and went away to distribute the rest.
I took a bite out of the sweet potato. So sweet. And warm, too.
A smile automatically bloomed on my lips.
A little while later, I headed to the public cemetery located in the city"s centre along with other Priest. We cleaned out the snow and dug out the burial pits. Wagons carrying corpses arrived.
Convicts carefully examined each to make sure that none had been zombified and then they carried the corpses to lower them in the pits.
Priests extended their hands towards the graves and while holding onto the holy scriptures, they recited something or rather.
What the h.e.l.l? That"s the proper purification ceremony?
It was actually more c.u.mbersome and complicated than I thought. I only silently prayed for the dead as written in the books I found in the monastery, but it seemed that I was doing it all wrong.
However, I looked through [Mind"s Eye] and confirmed that the souls had been purified, so silent prayers must"ve been enough.
Alright, then. Should I get cracking, too? I"ll just pretend to work before giving up halfway.
"Oii, mate. Hey, man!"
I stopped shovelling and looked behind me. That"s where I spotted a certain group among the Priests that proved to be especially lazy - as in, not bothering to do any work whatsoever. They actually used corpses as chairs to sit around, even.
They had long discarded the shovels and were busy chatting among themselves.
I sneaked a glance at other soldiers. For some reason, they didn"t seem to care. Well, most of these ‘soldiers" were actually convicts. Also, commoners. These Priests might be criminals in their own right, but no soldiers here could dare to order them around even in this place.
I slung my shovel over my shoulder and approached the group.
"You should take it easy, fella. It"s not like we"ll be rewarded for working our b.u.t.ts off in this place, anyway."
A well-built boy around 16, 17 years old said that to me.
He was right, though.
Forget about being rewarded, working my a*s off would only make my muscles ache come tomorrow morning.
I sneaked a glance at the Paladin. He was too busy issuing commands to other convicts that he didn"t seem to have any leeway to mind this side. Meaning, he shouldn"t care if I kicked back and took it easy.
"I guess you"re right."
I nodded my head. The boy Priest removed his mask and took out something to eat from the rucksack. He then drank some water before spitting it out. "Urgh, man. Isn"t there booze in this place?"
He glanced at the soldiers in dissatisfaction, prompting one of them to hesitantly approach us to sneakily hand over a certain bottle.
"Oh, ohhh! Nice. That"s right, fella! G.o.ddess Gaia will bless you with her graces. Your crimes will soon be washed away."
"T-thank you."
The soldiers bowed their heads. The Priests chased the soldiers away with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"G.o.dd*mmit, what the eff is up with this c**p? I should"ve been promoted to the second year in the Academy by now. To think I"d be punished for something so small like that. F*ck."
He then began chugging down the alcohol. Maybe it was stronger than he thought, because his complexion reddened almost immediately and he began staggering a bit.
He spoke a bit forcefully, probably worried about how he looked to the others here. He then pushed the booze towards me. "Why don"t you have a sip too, brother? It"s pretty d*mn good!"
Well, you"re only giving me this because you couldn"t handle it.
He was pretty quick with his bluffs, I must say.
I took the bottle. I was feeling thirsty anyway, and this would be my first time tasting alcohol ever since coming to this world, too.
I took off my mask and took a gulp. A strong taste stung my throat and nostrils. Heat rushed all over my body at the same time.
Hiya~! This was actually pretty good! Did I make a mistake by throwing away the booze the manservant brought along? It could be the cold, though, that enhanced the booze"s taste.
"How about it? It"s good, right?" Asked the Priest.
"Yeah, it"s not bad," said I while handing the bottle back to him.
"Haha, we should help each other out when we can, right? I can see that you"re an offspring of a n.o.ble household, as well. Which family is it?"
"I"m….."
….The Holy Emperor"s grandson.
If I said that out loud here, how would everyone else look at me afterwards?
Would they look at me as if I was an unsightly mangnani? Or would they start prostrating before me? I was kind of getting curious of their potential reactions.
"I"m from a small n.o.ble family out in the sticks."
Since I was curious, I decided to go with bluffing myself.
"Haha, you were a country b.u.mpkin, then! I knew it. There"s no way that high-ranking folks would be sent here." The Priest laughed loudly and continued to act as my conversation partner. "Alright, then. Even if we"re stuck in this place, getting acquainted with each other may bear fruit at a later date. Your name is?"
"It"s Allen."
"Pleasure, Allen. I understand that you"re embarra.s.sed about your last name, so you don"t have to tell me."
I shook his extended hand.
"Great. If you wish to spend your days here as untroubled and as safe as possible, then you gotta listen to what I say, alright? My name is Heis, the oldest son of Count Hedron that serves His Majesty, the n.o.ble and great Holy Emperor of the Theocratic Empire."
I was quite impressed by his declaration.
Oh, ohh!! So, I"d really get to spend my time here relaxing without a care in the world, then? I guessed that there was no need now to come up with other excuses.
Well, my status and power had been stripped from me, but it"d be a different story with the eldest son from a Count"s household; even Paladins wouldn"t dare to treat him poorly, right?
I grinned brightly and spoke. "I"ll be in your care, then."
"You made the right choice. Indeed. Very good."
I settled down on the ground. The corpses might belong to convicts, sure, but I still wasn"t so keen on sitting on them.
Heis next to me yapped on and on nonstop.
It was as if he was the hero from some fairy tale; he said that he used divinity magic spell when he was merely three years old, and was called the genius of sword when he was seven - he continued to tell the tales that would"ve better suited munchkin webnovels.
I relaxed somewhat while listening to his tales, only to hear another Priest start a conversation out of the blue.
"Lord Heis, is it true that you"re here because of some sort of punishment from the Academy? I heard that you decided to bestow a ‘blessing" to a lowborn girl. But rather than feeling grateful, she instead took revenge….."
Heis flinched nastily and stared at that Priest as the latter continued on.
The former"s expression hardened quickly. "Uh? That? Ah, uh, well…. Haha! You"re right. Actually, it"s so unfair, right? D*mn, why am I in the wrong for raping a maid doing lowly ch.o.r.es around the Academy?"
I stared at him.
Heis must"ve sensed my gaze because he suddenly exploded into a peal of loud laughter as he carried on. "I mean, maids can only continue to survive because we take good care of them, no?"
The Priest asked him. "So, like, what happened?"
"Uh? ah, that? Uh, so the thing was…." Heis began stuttering for some reason. Before long, though, he seemed to have recalled something and spoke up in a hurry. "O-of course I tried to lie with her. She, she got scared and began begging me then. ‘Please let me go~, spare my life~!" Hahaha! I got so excited after hearing her go like that, you know! I guess I"m a hopeless pervert, eh?"
I ended up frowning slightly after hearing him.
He must be bluffing from the way he said those things. But then again, seeing how he was sent here as his punishment, he probably did try to rape a maid exactly like a mangnani son of a n.o.ble family.
I was in no position to criticise him, but well, I kinda found him a bit of an eyesore.
< 015.="" imperial="" prince="" is="" toiling="" away="" -4=""> Fin.