n.o.ble Reincarnation Chapter 3 - The Child Prince"s Baton

After my two brothers went back, I kept practice-swinging the sword in my room.

The name of this thing was…yes, Leviathan.
The Blade of the Sea Demon, Leviathan.

Each time I swung it, the sword would leave a secolored afterglow in its wake.
Since I was still six, it was a bit hard to handle. But, it looked flashy and cool swinging it, so I kept hold of it.

And above all else, it was my brother"s — the Crown Prince"s present to me.
I had to show them that I was treasuring the present if I wanted to suck up to them and live a happy life.

Then again, it wasn"t enough just to carry it around in my home.

"Someone come here."

Calling a servant over, I sheathed the demonic sword.

"…Hm? Is anyone there?"

I thought it was strange that n.o.body came at my call.
I was the Thirteenth Prince as well as the master of this residence.
A servant would always be at my beck-and-call.

But n.o.body came.
Wondering what happened, I looked at the door. A single male servant was standing there, his face the very picture of "terrified."

"What"s up?"
"N-Nothing, sir. Pardon my rudeness…"

The man hurriedly entered the room.
His face was pale, and his body was shivering.
Clearly something was wrong.

"What happened?"
"T-That sword…"
"This sword? Ah."

I remembered what happened when my brothers came over.
Just like now, my brother"s servants had been afraid.

Right after I made that realization, the man started talking about exactly the same subject.

"Whenever I look at that thing, my whole body feels as if it"s encased in ice and a thousand needles are piercing through me."
"I see, so it really is the effect of the demonic sword. Uhhh…what did my brothers do…"

I remembered what it was like when I received the sword and put it back in its case.

"How about now?"
"Ahh…It"s a bit better…"
"That"s good then."
"So this is what they call a demonic sword. It"s amazing for you to be able to swing the thing around as if it"s nothing, Master."
"Which is why His Highness the Crown Prince gave it to me. More importantly, can you hold it when it"s in the case? Put it away if you can."
"Certainly!"

His face was still somewhat pale, but it was leagues better than what he came here like.
At my orders, he took the sword case and left the room.

As his subst.i.tute, a maid stood outside the room and knocked.

"Master."
"Hm? Oh, it"s Zoe. Come in."

If there was a single maid that made the most impression on me, she would be Zoe.
She looked to be twenty. Her work as a maid couldn"t be described as extraordinary, but she helps me with my bath every day, so she"s made quite the impression.

"What"s up? You came here without my beckoning. Did something happen?"
"Yes…Um, I would like to take some time off."
"Huh?"

As I was originally a commoner in my previous life, so there were some misunderstandings in my new life, this being one of them.
To a servant, "take time off" means "quitting the job." At first, there were some troubles with me not knowing why,

Knowing what I knew now, that prompted a question on my part.

"Why do you want to quit?"
"Um, my parent"s land was flooded by the early spring floods."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, everything we owned is gone, and my mother has nothing to eat. So I"ll go to the red-light district…and um, sell myself."
"That"s enough."

I thought for a little bit.

In the past six years, I studied how to behave as a n.o.bleman and as a prince.
I looked for the optimal solution among my studies.

"Your only relative is your mother, is that correct?"
"Yes, and—"
"That"s enough. Summon your mother to the capital."
"Huh?"
"Your mother will be…oh yeah, the back gatekeeper. Ten leeng a month."
"Master!?"

Zoe was shocked.
I had just remembered that there was no gatekeeper for the back gate, so I gave her mother the job.

Ten leeng a month was the average income of a man in the capital.

"I have a few houses in the western side of the capital. Use one for your family."
"…Thank you very much!"

She was so surprised that it took nearly a dozen seconds for her to return from the skies.
And when she came back, she groveled at my feet and thanked me.

"Don"t worry about it. Just get your mother here from the countryside."
"Yes! Thank you very much!"

Zoe went flying out of the room in the greatest of spirits.

I did this for her because of two reasons.

The first was because Zoe was my maid.
If it got out that one of my maids sold herself into prost.i.tution, my repuation would fall.
I would almost certainly be reprimanded by my brothers or even my father the Emperor.

Something like the honor of a prince.

The other reason was — my possessiveness.

A servant of mine is my servant for life.
They can only leave in death or when I personally kick them out.

Compared to the loose change of some ten leeng, keeping my servant from quitting and selling herself to a brothel was much more important.

"…Dylan."
"Yes, I am here."

At my command, a man in his late thirties came in.
His beard was like pieces of thread hanging off his chin.

He had the position of a butler-type person in my manor.

"You sure came fast."
"I saw the whole thing. You are amazing, Master. That was an act worthy of my greatest praise."
"Since you overheard us, let"s cut to the chase. Do you know about the flood?"
"The one in Dussol."
"Buy what land you can buy there. Merchants will come running to prey on the homeless victims. Before that happens, help them."
"…"
"Why do you look so surprised."
"Because I am surprised."

Dylan spat my words right back at me.

"Master, it was the first flood since you were born, yet you handled it splendidly. Moreover, our conversation right afterwards."
"…"
"I was surprised at how well it was done."

Things like this never happened before I reincarnated.

"No, that was foolish of me. His Highness the Thirteenth Prince is the son of His Highness the Emperor, wise beyond the realm of mortals. It is rudeness on my part to be surprised at such a meager feat."
"Yeah, yeah, just do it."
"Around half a million leeng will be necessary."
"Granted. Now go."
"Yes—also, Master."
"What is it."

Dylan"s eyes were dead serious.

"Thank you very much."
"Yeah."

With a nod, Dylan left the room.

Ah, come to think of it, Dylan came from that area too.
By the time I remembered that fact, Dylan was already long gone.

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