The Fragile Prince

Azrael listened to my story with deep concentration, and as soon as I finished, he let out a sigh filled with regret.

The knights behind him also made low sounds of lamentation.

“I was one step too late…. I should have moved faster.”

Feeling sorry that I had only stood by and watched, I fidgeted with my fingers.

“Anyway, thank you for letting me know. If it has already come to that, there is no need to go there now. Since they swept away the crystals, I have no choice but to try and reclaim them during the next negotiation.”

“What are those? Looking at their behavior, they seemed more important than jewels. Are they precious? Rare minerals?”

Azrael nodded.

“They are a kind of item akin to a soul. In our world, wounds to this physical body are not directly related to death. As long as the crystal is safe, one can obtain a new body as many times as needed. However, if the crystal is destroyed, that person can no longer be revived. It is, quite literally, true death.”

My eyes widened at those unexpected words.

So, they use this setting in Knights of Dark Ages to prevent the infinite generation of NPCs caused by the daily wars.

It was quite a novel setting.

“That is fascinating. As expected, the world where the Prince lives is different from the place I lived.”

“For me, it is fascinating that the world you lived in was not like this.”

“The place where I live is peaceful. For starters, people do not really die.”

As I replied nonchalantly, Azrael smiled again.

“Right, that was how it was. I think that is why I liked the world you lived in.”

In that expression, I thought I saw a hint of weariness.

As I hesitated on how to respond, Azrael asked me.

“Andrealphus, where were you heading? If it is alright with you, I would like to invite you to the place where I live. What do you think?”

Of course, I accepted immediately.

Why can’t I talk to my friends right now?

If I could have sent a whisper to a friend, I would have bragged to everyone on my friend list about how lucky I am.

“You will make me delicious food from the Prince’s hometown, right?”

“Of course.”

I am a successful fan. I am such a successful otaku!

Hey! I am someone who got invited to his favorite character’s house!

I am someone who gets to eat food made by his favorite character!

Now, should I take a moment to introduce Azrael?

There is likely no one who does not know that Azrael is a prince of a kingdom in the game Knights of Dark Ages.

Azrael is the Fourth Prince, who has no relation to the throne, and he has been gifted with a natural talent for the sword since he was young.

Because of that, he was a character with the ‘genius’ attribute, having held the position of Commander of the First Knight Order that protects the royal family since he was fifteen.

He has outstanding looks, high intelligence, and a great personality, and he is even a master of the sword—one of the strongest beings in the world of Knights of Dark Ages, both in name and reality.

In this game, where ill-mannered users frequently hunt NPCs whenever they feel like it, he was also the only NPC who had never been killed.

There were often rumors that his strength was related to royal secrets or legendary artifacts.

Even though Knights of Dark Ages was a new game without additional scenario updates, no one had conquered all the quests yet.

So, in reality, no one knew for sure if he had truly never died, or what kind of quest his strength was connected to.

Some speculated he was an NPC who gave a quest for a hidden class, but no user had received such a quest from him yet.

Others claimed the developers gave him ridiculous stats to ensure he wouldn’t perish since he was an NPC of the nation where users start their tutorial.

However, since there was no reason to give such stats to Azrael, the Fourth Prince, instead of the Crown Prince or the King, that theory was nothing more than speculation.

Anyway, Azrael possessed an overwhelming beauty and stats that constantly sparked rumors of being overbalanced, winning only victories in the battles he participated in and receiving the full love of the users.

Hmm. Yes. Stats that constantly spark rumors of being overbalanced…….

I frowned, staring intently at Azrael’s stat window visible before me.

[<Angel of Death> Azrael]

[Health: 14,500]

[Mana: 14,500]

Then, I turned my gaze to glare at the quest window floating in front of me.

[Event Quest: Azrael’s Supporter]

[You have become Azrael’s supporter.]

[Help the Fourth Prince Azrael and assist him in fulfilling his mission!]

[Quest Failure Condition: Azrael’s Death]

[Quest Success Reward: ???]

[※ Upon failure, you cannot retry the quest.]

No matter how much I glared at Azrael’s stat window and my quest window, the text within them did not change.

Azrael looked at me as I suddenly stared up at him with dissatisfied eyes, asking with his gaze what was wrong.

No, it is not that I plan on killing my favorite character….

But how can I not let a character with such glass-like health die?

It was a health pool where he might die from the recoil if I just used a skill a bit thoughtlessly.

In recent maps, even ordinary resident NPCs have around 70,000 HP, yet the character said to be one of the strongest in the world has only 14,500.

14,500. No matter how many times I looked, the value did not change.

Is the person in charge of the collaboration crazy? Do they think this is Knights of Dark Ages?

I covered my eyes with both hands as my vision went dark at the sight of Azrael’s health, which looked like nothing more than a baby bird’s.

It is dark, truly dark.

In the previous event, my baby bird Prince Azrael’s health was in a blurred state.

I praised my past self, recalling how I had cleared the quest by layering multiple shields to protect him thoroughly so that not a single hair on his head would be hurt.

If I hadn’t pushed through like that, I might have killed him a few times.

“This person is my friend, Andrealphus. Previously, when I was lost in a crack between dimensions, I received a great favor from him. I would like you to treat him as you treat me.”

Azrael’s knights seemed unable to understand how a stranger who suddenly appeared could be his friend.

Well, that makes sense. I would feel the same way.

Azrael then introduced the knights, who were still wearing their helmets, one by one.

“And Andrealphus, these knights are the elite of my direct knight order. In order: Simon, John, Saul, Judas, and Levi. Since I cannot take the entire order with me everywhere I go, these five always move with me.”

“I see.”

I nodded half-heartedly.

I wasn’t confident I could memorize all the names, but I decided to keep the ones that reached my ears in my head for now.

They are common names in fantasy-themed games, I thought, feeling no particular impression.

Azrael seemed satisfied with having introduced the knights to me briefly.

“Then shall we depart? It will take quite a while to reach the capital. I hope you won’t find it boring.”

Azrael reached out his hand toward me.

“Excuse me, my Lord.”

One knight raised his hand.

“Is your friend going to move with us from this moment on? I do not know what kind of person your friend is, but our current mission… I believe it would be difficult for anyone who is not a seasoned warrior to accompany us.”

“I agree.”

“He is right.”

“And above all, he stands out too much. In a situation where enemy troops might be nearby, it is impossible to travel with someone so conspicuous.”

Only then did I become conscious of my own outfit and felt embarrassed.

From head to toe, I was in a pure white, fluttering outfit.

I even had a pure white unicorn with me.

Although the unicorn’s horn was not visible when not using skills, making it look like an ordinary horse, a horse this white was certainly… conspicuous.

Even though I had worried about how my outfit would be evaluated before entering the first village, I hadn’t even thought of it when I met Azrael.

Azrael looked back at me, flustered by the intense opposition from his knights.

It seemed he hadn’t particularly noticed my outfit either.

“That….”

“Uh….”

Azrael and I spoke at the same time, then fell silent.

“You can speak first.”

“No, the Prince should speak first.”

Yielding the turn to speak to each other, I quickly rolled my head.

The problem was whether I, a white-dye fanatic, possessed any clothes other than white ones, and whether I possessed any dyes other than white dye.

“If it is alright with you, I will lend you my cloak, so would you mind wearing it? As for the horse…. what should we do?”

“I would be grateful if you lent it to me. First, I will change into clothes that won’t show under the cloak. I can just send my horse back…….”

“Then you alone will be without a horse. How about rubbing some dirt on it to make the color less conspicuous?”

At those words, the unicorn, which had been quiet until now, became extremely enraged as if it were about to have a fit.

The neighing and huffing sounds were clearly filled with dissatisfaction to anyone’s eyes; it felt like if I agreed, the unicorn would kick me with its hind legs and leave.

Of course, regardless of the unicorn’s extreme rage, I didn’t want to be kicked by it, nor did I want to soil a summon that I had spent a fortune on to dye a shimmering pure white.

So, I decided to give up my physical comfort and send the unicorn back.