The atmosphere of the third prince was too serious to dismiss as a joke.

A proposal to be your own person.

It was a proposal that the crown prince and Daria had also received, but they felt different from the third prince.

If the crown prince and Daria were more political, the third prince was different.

It was a feeling that I really wanted to be my own person, not political.

friends, or family.

The 3rd Prince asked me to do something like that.

‘What are you looking at and saying that to me?’

It was embarrassing for him to say that to me.

Why do you trust me and say that?

No, don’t you think before you say something like that?

I couldn’t say I was close with him yet.

It was bad if we didn’t get along, we were just getting to know each other.

Now I’m thinking a little ‘Oh, this guy is a bit pitiful’, but I can’t believe he’s suggesting that I become his own person.

You didn’t think I would accept that offer.

“Well… .”

“… .”

The third prince stared at me.

I looked at him with expectant eyes, waiting for my answer.

I had no intention of accepting it, but eyes full of such expectations were quite burdensome.

“May I ask what you were thinking when you said that?”

I want to know what the 3rd prince thinks.

If it wasn’t for crucian carp, he wouldn’t have made such an offer knowing that I and him weren’t on good terms.

“it can not?”

The third prince looked at me with pitiful eyes.

To his face, I said, as if it was natural.

“It’s not possible.”

“… .”

He bowed his head at my firm answer.

The reaction was not as violent as I thought.

He nodded as if he had expected it, digging up the dirt with his index finger.

“I knew. That I can’t even be friends… Why am I like this… .”

Seeing him murmur softly, I touched my throbbing forehead.

Once he became negative, he was criticizing himself endlessly.

It wasn’t me who would change my mind just because I was like that, but even so, that figure felt so pitiful.

‘It’ll turn, really.’

Why should I be worried about what he likes when he has been pouring out harsh words on me?

‘If it’s bad, it’s bad for no reason. What do you mean?’

Why don’t villains have such villains?

From the outside, there is no such thing as trash, but from the inside, a pitiful person who feels sympathy.

The 3rd prince was exactly that pair.

Growing up without receiving love, he is clumsy in expressing his feelings.

And he is very sensitive to issues related to ‘his people’.

To the 3rd prince, Daria was his person.

I don’t know what she did to him, but the thought was imprinted on him.

Thinking that I had taken such a person, he was furious and attacked me.

However, that doesn’t make the mistake go away.

“sorry. I have no idea… .”

After learning the truth about the 3rd prince, he looked more like an immature child than a bad one.

I am an immature child who does what comes to mind because the distinction between right and wrong is not clearly defined.

The 3rd prince only realized after I told him that his violent behavior was wrong.

I couldn’t leave it like that forever.

‘It’s a bit dangerous in that state here.’

At least in this forest, you had to have a positive mindset.

Negative thoughts and emotions are a great force for black magicians.

They are the ones who stimulate the trauma of the enemy and collapse the mind, so if you already have this mindset, it was obvious that you didn’t even see the situation when you met the black magician.

“But I can be your friend.”

This was similar to the Crown Prince and Daria.

I promise to be his person, to be a friend who can always help instead of getting married.

They accepted the offer as well, and have maintained good relations until now.

There was nothing different about being the third prince.

I don’t know if he’s a scum that can’t be rehabilitated.

‘But it will cost a lot for friends.’

I had no intention of becoming friends for free.

He invested in Daria and received help from the Crown Prince.

Above all, they had a lot to rip off in the not-too-distant future, not now.

“Really… ?”

The complexion of the 3rd prince, who had been dark, noticeably brightened.

Perhaps he was so happy to be friends with me, he came closer to me with his sparkling eyes.

“Of course not for free.”

“… ?”

“To be honest, the first impressions of me and the prince are not good. You know that, right?”

“Yes… .”

His brightened face darkened again.

He could hear his muttering, blaming himself for his past actions.

I ignored it and continued talking.

“There are conditions.”

“condition?”

“Yes. If you accept the conditions I have suggested, I will be your friend.”

“… What are the conditions?”

Contrary to what I thought he would accept right away, he was infinitely cautious.

I think I thought I could put a condition he couldn’t agree to.

It was the right choice.

If I had shouted ‘I’ll listen to anything!’ right there, I would have been a little disappointed.

I don’t know what conditions I might put on him, but he wasn’t worthy of anything because he couldn’t discern even that much.

If you can’t even think about that much, no matter how much you help, you’ll soon hit your limit.

You may not even be able to draw the main battle and end.

Even though he has the status of a prince, you have to think that he is the third prince.

The odds of him beating the two before him and becoming crown prince are slim.

It might be better to invest in the current crown prince or the second prince.

Even so, if you want to invest in him, you must at least think about it to some extent.

That way you’ll be able to get it right.

“at first… .”

The third prince’s eyes widened as he listened.

***

Once a month, the Count visits the Mage Tower to deal with overdue work.

He sees the current level of wizards, gives them the knowledge they need, checks the magic circles and barriers installed in the mage tower, and shows his face to the apprentice wizards.

Apprentice wizards are delighted just by looking at the face of the mage master and gain the driving force of their lives.

The Mage Tower Master was a living legend in the magic world.

His reputation as an archmage at a young age and active in warfare was still widespread.

A role model for apprentice wizards, and a god-like being, Count Millennium.

“… !”

The only thing he was wary of was that there was no opponent unless he was a sword master or a great wizard.

‘Dark magic?’

black magicians.

Among magicians, they are called heretics, and those who dig up unclean things.

Regardless of the level of power, the Count was wary of and rejected black magic itself.

One of the reasons why he put a barrier on his territory was because of black magic.

“Lord of the Magic Tower? Are you anywhere uncomfortable?”

The old wizard looked at the count frowning with concern.

He was having a meeting with the elders of the Mage Tower.

“not. Take a break for a while.”

“All right.”

“I will serve the car.”

At the Count’s words, the elders nodded and got up and started moving.

‘Why do I feel dead mana? Did the black magician show up?’

The Count’s face was serious.

I felt things that shouldn’t be felt in the forest used for hunting events near the manor.

dead mana.

The mana, 90% of which was made up of fraud, had the property that if ordinary people accepted it, they would die with great pain, as if they drank extreme poison.

However, if you accept a small amount of dead mana, it gives you a drug-like hallucination and momentary pleasure.

So, there were cases where drugs made by remodeling dead mana were sold in the dark.

That too at a very expensive price.

Dead mana is so hard to come by that it takes enough money to run a small city for a year to buy a small amount.

The problem is that even magicians secretly consume it, leaving the general public.

At first, it may be pleasant for the pleasure, but the dead mana gradually encroaches on the magician’s circle, eventually leading to death.

‘Almost all the warlocks must have died then.’

Only warlocks can create dead mana, and those warlocks almost all died in the war.

The Count himself took the initiative and almost wiped it out.

So, the number of dead mana being released into the market also decreased.

I haven’t seen any traces of a warlock in the last 10 years.

Now come and show yourself.

‘I’ll have to step in.’

You can ask Gerard or other wizards for a favor, but Gerard is not good with warlocks.

Gerard is the strongest one-on-one, but it is difficult against hundreds of undead.

You might be able to kill all the warlocks, but you might miss a few undead and cause great damage to the estate nearby.

However, it was not trustworthy to send another wizard.

Unless he was as strong as Count Skyla, he could have been defeated by them.

Warlocks have more psychological attacks than physical ones.

If done wrong, they could become warlocks.

So it’s best for him to step out.

If that were the case, I’d be confident enough to wipe out any number of warlocks.

It is difficult to deal with him unless he is an archmage like him, and there is no archmage among black mages.

Because the archmage who uses black magic died because of Gerard and his collaboration.

‘Well? Why is hatchling… .’

When he had the idea to step out, he sensed signs of a busy hatchling running around.

He looked angry as if he felt dead mana while walking around the forest.

“Come to think of it, the silver dragon hated warlocks to the extreme.”

Other wizards are not trustworthy, but hatchlings are different.

Even if it’s a hatchling, it’s a dragon.

It was a hatchling born with the mana of a 6th circle wizard from birth, but recently the amount of mana has increased overwhelmingly.

Even if it wasn’t enough to catch up with his, it was clear that he had a huge amount of mana.

In addition, I was taught by him, although not for a long time.

It has enough power to deal with the warlocks in the forest over there.

‘If Raymond is with me… .’

After calculating what would happen, the count nodded with a satisfied face.

Those two are enough.

In addition, judging from Hatchling’s reaction, he will somehow lead Raymond to the forest.

I don’t know if it was in the past, but if it was Raymond now, I wouldn’t leave it alone even if I saw that warlock.

“Lord of the Magic Tower. The time has come.”

“yes. Let’s start the meeting again.”

The elders returned to their seats, and the Count began the meeting.

He no longer cared about warlocks.

I was confident that Hatchling and Raymond would handle it well enough.

Even if things went wrong, he had the power to solve them.

“Let’s end the meeting here. When the deputy chief comes back, talk about the contents of today’s meeting.”

“All right.”

After the meeting, he came down from the magic tower.