Chapter 187: Skill Synthesis (6)

I burnt the fruit crawling with worms as calmly as I could, then followed Ren to see the children. Now that I thought about it, there was no way I wouldn't notice the brain worms' mana. Of course, it was too late for regrets. The milk was already spilled.

People had eyes in the front of their face so they could look onward. As such, I walked facing onward.(E/N: I think this is a saying?)

"Crown Prince... You have a pretty cute side."

"Shut your mouth, Ren."

"Scream again, Rookie. One more time."

"Shut your mouth, Lebuik."

I was annoyed that I seemed to have dispelled the last remaining awkwardness between them. When my eyes got sharp, they finally became quiet as we headed to where the children were sleeping. Of course, they weren't too far off. They were in a mud hut that Ren seemed to have made. Lebuik lost the lighthearted smile she had and examined the sleeping children.

"Lina, Uruto, Demi... With just Your Highness' power, they..."

"I lost two children on our way. I still can't forget the way they looked at me."

Ren remarked calmly and patted the children's heads. There were three beastman girls and two beastman boys. Two of the humans were girls and the other was a boy.

I expected them to be 15 or 16 on average, but all eight of them seemed to be somewhere between 10 and 12. Perhaps, they were even younger. Ren's situation was indeed grave... Thinking about how long they'll need before they could grow strong enough to enter the dungeon by themselves, I sighed.

"Ren oppa?"

"Sleep, Teeke."

"Un."

A human girl who woke up closed her eyes again after seeing Ren. Ren brushed the girl's hair and looked up. His eyes flashed sharply.

"I'll show you the map to the coast, Crown Prince."

"I want to hear Ren's plan."

"Do as you wish, Your Highness."

Lebuik and I retorted and nodded our heads. Ren also nodded in response, then suddenly looked back at Lebuik.

"Don't call me that, Sir Lebuik. There is no country anywhere in this continent."

"But Your Highness—"

"Call me Ren. That is the only name I have left. You don't need to address me with an honorific either."

"H-H-H-How could I dare call Your Highness' name! T-T-T-That would be like if we were lovers..."

"... Lovers?"

"It's just calling each other by name. Stop overreacting...."

It was clear as day that Lebuik was in love with Ren, but as expected of Ren who was single his entire life, he couldn't catch any one of Lebuik's signals. Come on, Ren! Why do you think Lebuik came back after she abandoned this world!? It's because she has a lingering attachment, you idiot! I felt like going crazy from wanting to shout this out loud.(E/N: Says you shin)

"Crown Prince, you look like you want to say something...?"

"No, I know I'm not in the position to say something like that, so I decided not to..."

"Crown Prince is truly mysterious..."

Your head is more mysterious!

"Kuhum, Your Hi... Ren-nim, I still cannot, not use an honorific. I hope Ren-nim understands..."

"Don't talk respectfully either. Talk to me as if I was Crown Prince."

"I-In that case... Okay. Is that... good?"

"Excellent. I'm happy, I feel like I've gotten closer to Sir."

"Ren-nim..."

Lebuik's breathing became unpleasantly rough. I wanted to leave so she could express her carnal desires, but it seemed she still had a hint of humanity left as she restrained herself.

"I, I'm not a knight anymore, so please leave out 'sir'. Just call me Lebuik."

It felt like she was just trying to advance their relationship by changing the way Ren called her, but I stayed silent and just looked at the map Ren opened. Ren seemed to be hesitating, but with Lebuik's persistent persuasion, he conceded and decided to call her by her name. Lebuik immediately messaged me.

[I can die happy! Re, Ren-nim is calling me by my name... Thank you for bringing me, Rookie!]

You don't need to thank me, just go die.

The distance between the forest we were in, Celbitz, and our destination coast, Mileet, was about 1,000 km. To hide our tracks as much as possible, we would travel through mountain ranges. However, there was about a 50 km long distance from the end of the mountain ranges to the coast where we would be in a completely open area. There, we had to be ready to face attacks from the enemy. I couldn't help but sigh thinking just how Ren would have made it without me.

"We'll move about 50 km per day. Thankfully, the children are well-trained for their age, so they can keep up. They were all members of the royalty or the nobility, so they can read, write, and even wield mana. The beastman children are especially outstanding. If needed, they can run while carrying the human children on their backs. Huhu, they're truly admirable."

"Is that how you've been traveling through the forest until now?"

"That's right."

I bitterly smiled traveling a thousand kilometers just on foot... I could only laugh in vain. I checked the map again and took out a piece of paper to draw on. Eight small circles and five large triangles. Written with mana, the markings didn't solidify but floated around like ice on water.

"Let's speed up. We should be able to since we're explorers."

"That's true, but what about the children?"

"We'll carry them."

I took the small circles and placed them on the triangles. Ren, who was looking at the paper, asked carefully.

"Crown Prince, there are other dangers in the forest other than the El Patiz. It's full of strong monsters and monsters that like to ambush. If we're carrying the children, how are we supposed to react? If it wasn't for that, I would have carried them in turns."

"Hear me out. To protect the children from ambushes, we'll put Lotte in the back."

I took a black triangle representing Lotte and dragged it behind the other shapes. In her human form, Lotte was a lot more mobile and still retained her strengths as an attacker. She would be able to deal with most situations by herself. Even if we met with someone on par with Luka continent's Demon Army Commander, I believed she would be able to hold on. Of course, to ensure her maneuverability, she wouldn't carry any children.

"That's not enough. We might be safe from enemies ambushing us from behind, but what about the front? I can tell that this woman is strong, so wouldn't it be better to put her in the front to charge forward without caring about our back?"

"Then we'll have a point of weakness. You can leave the front to me. To be honest, I'm the strongest out of anyone here."

I dragged the golden triangle representing me and placed it in the front. Ren nodded in response, while Lebuik's eyes narrowed.

"What? You may not know, but I'm a level 69 explorer! I acknowledge that you're strong enough to work as a Dimensional Mercenary, but in terms of strength, I—"

"Lebuik, this... Crown Prince is the guild Revival's master."

"What!? You mean, the savage who toys with an administrative guild master!?"

"Oi, you, meet me outside."

5 minutes passed before we got back on track. Ren let out a dry cough, trying to ignore the giant bump on Lebuik's head.

"Since Crown Prince will be in charge of the front, Lebuik and I will have to carry four children each."

"No, the two of you have to guard the sides."

I placed two of the triangles on the left and right sides. There was now one large triangle and eight small circles in the middle. Ren tilted his head.

"Crown Prince, sorry, but I'm bad with puzzles."

"Rookie, stop beating around the bush and get to the point."

"It's simple. We'll let someone else carry them."

There were five triangles from the beginning. Realizing this now, Ren tilted his head. I grinned and summoned Ruyue. She immediately took my mana, materialized into her humanoid wolf form, and jumped on me.

[Shin!]

"Hi, Ruyue. I'm sorry, but can you materialize in your wolf form?"

[But I like the beastman form more!]

"Please."

[Okay!]

I liked that Ruyue listened to whatever I asked her to do. I was thankful that she met a master like me and not one with lecherous intentions.

When Ruyue transformed into a giant wolf form, Ren and Lebuik nodded their heads, finally understanding what I meant.

"So she can transform into different forms. Amazing. She was a beautiful girl, and her wolf form is just as beautiful."

"... Grrr."

Lebuik seemed to be burning her competitive spirit at Ren's words, but because I was too lazy to say anything, I just ignored her.

"Ruyue should be able to carry all the children on her back. She has the intelligence to protect them from falling off, and more importantly, she's quick and silent when she travels."

[Shin is praising me!?]

"Of course, Ruyue is amazing."

[Ehehehe.]

I scratched Ruyue's chin. Ren looked jealous for a moment, then went back to a serious expression.

"So we'll leave the children to her and focus on guarding them."

"Exactly. Much better, right?"

"... Crown Prince really is amazing. I don't have the words to express my admiration for Crown Prince's abilities."

"Ren is amazing too. No one will be able to win against Ren's desire to protect these children."

"Kuuk, don't flatter me."

Ren blushed and turned his head. His lion ears were twitching, unsure of what to do. Lebuik began to glare at me this time. Wait, was she considering me a competitor!?

Before the sun rose, Ren woke up the children one by one. They all got up silently without a word of complaint, immediately stretching and dusting off their bodies. As if they promised beforehand, they became shocked after seeing me, cheered after seeing Lebuik, and exclaimed in surprise after seeing Ruyue.

"Who's this cool oppa?"

"What a cool armor! Between Hyung1 and Ren, who wins?"

"Ren oppa is still cooler!"

"Unni, you were alive?"

"Knight noona, I wanted to see you!"

"Look, look! A cool wolf!"

"Wow! What a beautiful fur!"

"Could it be ancestor-nim from the myths?"

"So soft...!"

"Wolf-nim, did you come to protect us?"

Thinking just how overwhelmingly popular Ruyue was, I looked at Lebuik. She was somberly looking at the morning sky.

"I, I'm a deserter... but still, losing to a wolf..."

"They're kids, Lebuik."

"Hu, I only have Ren-nim."

"Why don't you confess already?"

After breakfast, we put all the children on Ruyue's back. I could handle Ruyue's materialization with Peruta Circuit's natural mana recovery, so I didn't even need to drink Mana Potions. However, the children seemed hesitant to ride on Ruyue.

"Riding on this Wolf-nim's back..."

"No, Wolf-nim will get our bad luck!"

"What soft fur!"

"Guys, Ruyue doesn't mind you guys being on her back, so don't worry."

[I hate everyone other than Shin, but I'll allow it since you guys are kids!]

"Wolf-nim talked!"

"Wolf-nim really was an unni!"

I asked Ren why the children treated Ruyue so respectfully.

"The beastman empire's founding mythology starts with the meeting of a golden lion and a silver wolf. That's probably why the children like the girl so much."

"Is that why Ren likes Ruyue too?"

"Uk, n-no! I didn't have any impure thoughts! I just thought she was beautiful!"

"Stop, Lebuik!"

"... Lebuik?"

Ren tilted his head and turned around. Lebuik, who was holding her claymore, quickly hid her hands behind her back and smiled.

"It's nothing, Ren-nim!"

"Crown Prince, did Lebuik do something?"

"No, nothing. So Ren, what do you think about Lebuik?"

"Mm, Lebuik is extremely beautiful and strong. She became my guardian knight at a young age. Even during a war, many soldiers became lovesick because of her."

Lebuik threw her weapon down, put her hands on her cheeks, and squirmed. I sighed in relief and stopped Ren.

"That's enough."

Ren suddenly grinned and whispered in my ears.

"... Are you interested in Lebuik, Crown Prince? Now that I think about it, you did bring her here... Should I introduce you to her?"

"How did you come to that conclusion, you idiot!"

We didn't have the time for such petty conversations. Once the children got on Ruyue, we quickly set off. Ren was the slowest, so we had to slow ourselves down for him, but we were traveling about 7 times as fast as when Ren was alone.

Like Ren said, we had to deal with the forest's monsters. Most of them were quite grotesque, and usually popped out from the ground or jumped down from the trees. However, the reason I made a formation that thoroughly protected the children wasn't to protect them against monsters. Forest monsters no longer posed any threat to me.

[Kiaaaa!]

[What are you trying to achieve by entering this forest!?]

An orangutan-like monster with a melted body that seemed to have bathed in hydrochloric acid jumped down from a tree, while another monster that looked like a spider magnified hundreds of times and wrapped in iron armor popped out of the ground. Ren and Lebuik both held up their claymores and prepared to face them. I, on the other hand, simply stared at them with my eyes.

They became stone and clunked down.

"Ek!"

"What's this!?"

"What do you mean? They're stone. What, you've never seen Evil Eyes of Petrification before?"

I replied with a hint of sassiness and broke the petrified monsters with my spear. Then, I urged them on.

"Let's hurry! Don't just stand there dumbfounded!"

"This is the first time I've heard of Evil Eyes of Petrification!"

"Say it earlier if you have such an ability!"

I ran forward as I snickered at the party members who were touched by my ability. They gritted their teeth and followed suit. Whenever monsters appeared, I turned them to stone, and we marched forward as we broke them.

In the end, we covered 700 km in just one day. There was only 300 km left until our destination.

1. Hyung = older brother (male to male) ↩