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Path to Prosperity - B3 Chapter 1
🕑 Added 2024-10-13 10:00:05 +0000 UTCPercy was in distress. He rushed through the hallway of the royal palace like there was no tomorrow.
Several days passed since his last nightmare, but the grimace of the Devil was still etched on his mind. The nightmares may be no more, but that didn’t mean anything was over. If anything, Percy’s worries skyrocketed now that the nightmares left without warning.
He spent the last few days roaming around the royal library, studying as much as possible about Demons and Devils, and inquired more information about the Demon sightings in the kingdom, their position, numbers, and much more.
The pieces of information he’d acquired from the royal librarian weren’t as bad as he’d expected, but the nightmares had been too real to ignore. Something really bad would happen in the future.
“I know you’re trying to be a good crown prince and that you want to serve the crown with all you’ve got, but you will worry your parents if you keep going like this,” The royal librarian told Percy when the young crown prince returned to the royal library for the Xth time this week.
Percy was as pale as a white sheet, his eyes were red from exhaustion and lack of sleep, and sweat poured down his back.
“I am fine,” Percy responded, “Could you tell me more about the Gifted Ones of the kingdom, the number of Egos – and the separate numbers of commonbirth Egos – and how many Adventurers the kingdom has?”
The royal librarian’s lips parted, but they closed again when he saw the intensity in Percy’s eyes. He squeezed his nose bridge and breathed out heavily.
“I cannot answer that with certainty since I don’t usually request that information from the Guild, and not every Gifted bothers reporting their awakening, but I can give you the rough numbers if that helps you calm down.”
Percy nodded vigorously before adding, “And how is Raewood doing? I asked my father about the town yesterday, but he was busy with something. Did you know the Beastlands are causing trouble again? They couldn’t have chosen a worse timing.”
The royal librarian sighed, and it looked like he had aged by several years the longer Percy bothered him.
“We should have followed the Old King’s advice to give you more access to the network channels,” The royal librarian mumbled before putting on a professional smile, which cracked the moment his eyes landed on Percy’s face again, “I think I should start with Raewood.”
Percy smiled and agreed right away.
“Raewood’s residents are doing fine. There seem to have been a few minor incidents, but the people you’ve asked about are fine. Following your request, the Kingsguard searched for a handful of Adventurers who were about to retire to hire and deploy them to Raewood. They arrived the day before yesterday and have been protecting the town since then,” The royal librarian explained while Percy listened intently, “You also requested to send some gold to those who helped you in the past. The King decided against it, not because they didn’t deserve anything, but because he wanted to thank them instead. He used his personal fortune to give several gold coins to everyone who helped you before.”
That’s good. With Raewood earning the protection of several soon-to-retire Adventurers, it won’t be possible for Lesser Demons to raze Raewood to the ground.
Percy smiled at that. He didn’t know if his nightmares showed the future or if the devil used his memories and worries to create the last nightmare he had, but one thing was sure: He would do everything in his power to stop the nightmares from becoming reality.
“Your other points are a little bit more challenging to put into exact numbers. But the rough numbers should be like this,” The royal librarian was silent for a few seconds and tilted his head, “Roughly one out of ten citizens gains access to mana. That might seem like a lot, but most Gifted are not very talented. Still, one out of five Gifted Ones try their luck at adventuring. The possibility of earning good money by hunting monsters and growing stronger by hunting monsters is too enticing.”
The royal librarian sighed, “Unfortunately, most Gifted who become Adventurers without any prior training end up quitting after a traumatizing event. Either that, or they die in the Wilderness. They expect their livelihood to improve and to become powerhouses, capable of facing Giants head-on unarmed, only to end up getting torn apart by Goblins, Berserk Rabbits, and the like. I heard enough from my friends in the capital’s Guild to say that Bronze Rank Adventurers are the most likely to quit adventuring or die in the Wilderness. It is a shame, but that’s how it is.”
That’s not quite what I expected. There are more Gifted Ones than I’ve anticipated, but if most of them aren’t talented enough to grow stronger and increase their Tier quickly, using them for my plans will be difficult. Nonetheless, there should be enough Adventurers to focus on. The numbers might be on my side for once.
“What about Egos? I know there aren’t many in the kingdom, but what is your guess?”
“My guess? There should be no more than 200 Egos spread across the Kainesh Kingdom,” The royal librarian said after thinking about it for a good minute, “Don’t be excited. More than half of those 200 Egos are either nobles or bastards. If you’re looking for commonbrith Egos, there might be 50 in total, two dozen if you’re searching for unaffiliated Egos. That is still a decent number, but most unaffiliated commonbirth Egos possess Egos that did not attract the attention of nobles, meaning they’re probably not worth approaching because their Ego cannot be utilized in combat, forging, concocting, or enchanting.
Or the young Egos are too difficult to deal with. They might be wild like your friends, the brothers.”
“I wouldn’t consider Erik and Tarlek as ‘wild and hard to deal with’,” Percy responded, shrugging lightly when the royal librarian glared at him.
“Is there something else you want to know?” The librarian asked with a particular ‘Stop asking anymore questions.’ glare.
“No, I’m good,” Percy hinted with a polite bow, “Your answers have been helping me greatly. I have to get to my next appointment.”
That being said, Percy turned around and left.
After wasting several days pondering about what he should do, Percy chose to make his move.
After all, trying hard and facing what lay ahead head-on was much better than running away from the inevitable.
***
After leaving the royal palace, Percy walked through the bustling streets of the capital. He returned to the Dragon Lair shop, the small shop he had established before it became known that he was the crown prince of the Kainesh Kingdom. The last few weeks had been troublesome, especially with the loss of Sabrina.
Sabrina was one of the Demi-Humans he’d helped before. He picked up her and Louis, her brother, and gave them jobs. Unfortunately, the princess and Sabrina clicked well. They clicked too well, which was also why Sabrina was hired by the royal house to study with the princess and become her personal maid in the future. Sabrina learned many new things, and she enjoyed her life to the fullest with the princess as her best friend. That was great, even if it caused problems for the Dragon Lair shop.
Percy was forced to hire a shop manager and a new guard because Louis had also been hired by the crown. Yet, instead of becoming the princess’s bodyguard, Louis trained with the king's Guard to protect Percy in the future.
I have yet to understand how Louis is supposed to protect me in the future. I think I’m doing a great job of protecting myself
Percy thought and shrugged inwardly when he was reminded of his parents’ comment about the need for a personal protector.
He didn’t deem it necessary, but his parents were a bit overprotective, to put it simply.
After reuniting with their lost son, the son they’d presumed dead for a decade, they didn’t dare to leave him out of sight. If Percy hadn’t said anything, the King and the Queen would have deployed half of the Kingsguard to protect him day and night. Fortunately, Percy could convince his parents to leave him be and that it would be dangerous to expose him like that.
Everyone knew that the crown prince had returned, and some servants of the crown shared details about Percy, such as his appearance and personality. However, it was oddly easy to roam the capital without being exposed.
His eyes were vibrant azure, a sign that the royal family, after the Synther house fell victim to their own schemes, should have exposed Percy everywhere, but nobody seemed to pay any attention to it.
Other nobles would have hated being one of many, but Percy loved it.
He didn’t want to be treated special. All he wished for was to enjoy and live his life to the fullest.
Unfortunately, Percy needed more power to attain such a seemingly simple goal.
After all, the Devil was waiting for him.
