Chapter 88 - The Real Prince?

Those noises had to be Minze and his gang. With my current abilities, I could defeat them all—but I had to consider the consequences of killing Minze.

"Go hide."

Better to be smart than impulsive. I’d learned from earlier mistakes and adjusted my mindset. I gestured for the ostrich to hide.

It cawked and ran up the hill, pretending to be a wild animal. As for me, I climbed into a crevice and ducked behind rubble.

Less than a minute later, horse hooves thundered closer. A team of six horsemen stopped near the hill.

Minze sat in the middle, clearly in command.

Oh dear. When did my classmates pledge allegiance to this fool? Were they really that dumb?

One student dismounted, investigating the remains. He compared notes with his map and shook his head.

"Just a regular hill. I sense nothing unusual."

Crap. A tracker?

Minze barked: "Try harder! Find everything! Animals, people, or that red‑cloth rebel!"

"Yes, my lord."

The man scanned the area. His eyes locked on the crevice I’d climbed. He reached for the edge, starting to climb.

I inhaled deeply, unsheathing my mist sword.

CAWK!

On top of the hill, Cawk‑Cawk flapped his wings. His body exuded black flame, red eyes sparking trails of fire.

"A monster?!" Minze exclaimed.

Cawk‑Cawk opened his beak and spat a fireball at the crowd.

The minions scoffed, raising halberds, spears, and swords. Musou energies condensed into ice shards, flying rocks, and water balls, intercepting the fireball.

It shattered. Elemental bullets streaked toward the ostrich. Cawk‑Cawk yelped and ducked, dodging the bullets by a hair’s breadth.

The tracker looked up, distracted.

I sprang from hiding with my sword. The blade punctured his neck. With a twist, arteries and windpipe severed. I clamped his mouth shut, dragging him into the crevice.

To erase evidence, I condensed a small fireball and dropped it on the body. As expected, the fireball devoured it. However, I accidentally touched it as it moved toward me.

I felt intense gravity within. Then the fireball fizzled, dispersing. A second later, an item manifested.

A meatbun. A very warm and fragrant one that only expensive Chinese restaurant offered. However, there was a difference... an ingredient difference.

Oh, hell no. I wasn’t eating that. You knew, and I knew, what it was made of. I would rather eat a dog than THAT.

Meanwhile, Minze and four others laughed at the panicking ostrich, ignoring their missing comrade.

I wished I knew how to use a bow. I could have sniped those idiots right there. But rookie me would only embarrass myself trying.

So, I slipped out of the crevice and into the forest behind the hill. As I faded into the shadows, Minze’s voice carried.

"Where is that jester, Alphonse? I told him to use his tracking skills, not laze around!"

Poor Alphonse. He was dead. I hadn’t wanted to kill him, but he was a threat. Sorry, buddy.

Then Minze shouted.

"Hey, Alphonse! Don’t you want another elf child? You never stopped bragging about how you pound a little elf girl and killed her on the bed in front of her mother! I’ll sell you a new pair once we raid another elf village. How about it?!"

Okay. I changed my mind. That SOB deserved it, so did Minze.

Also... what were you, Minze? Jeffrey Epstein?!

Their laughter echoed through the forest while my blood pressure spiked. I opened my inventory and swapped my halberd for the composite bow.

No arrows. Could musou energy substitute? Testing it, I pulled the bowstring.

It was too heavy. The sharp string nearly cut my fingers.

Forget sniping. Solid Snake’s method was a better choice.

I detoured, trailing behind the group. Emerging from the bushes, I saw them dismount, except Minze. They followed Alphonse’s trail, peering into the crevice. Minze kept his eyes on Cawk‑Cawk, who cowered atop the hill.

Alone already? Well, well, well.

Instead of throwing a fireball and exposing myself, I thought of Aki’s method. Suffocation.

I drew my sword, pointed from a distance, and imagined crude oil. A mass manifested, floating at the tip.

"Go," I whispered.

The oil mass flew toward Minze.

But he tilted his head. It missed. He turned, eyes locking on me.

"Naive little rat. Very naive. I sensed you the moment we arrived."

Oh dear. Plot armor. He was a playable villain for a reason. His karma or causality protected him. Or maybe he was just that good. In‑game, he was just a spoiled man‑child. Maybe here, he had actually trained.

Minze shouted: "The rebel is here!"

Welp. No more holding back. I condensed a fireball in my hand.

Minze laughed, charging straight at it. His body turned black, shadow enveloping him.

He had a second core, a dark element. Fire was his primary, but he had never cultivated it, weakening his growth. In the game, the prince was an idiot. He trained dark abilities for debauchery, not combat. Against real level‑4 knights, he could easily get one‑shotted.

But the Minze in front of me?

That bastard transformed into a streak of shadow, instantly reappearing behind me.

This was not Minze I knew.

I blocked his backstab with my mist sword, shoving the fireball toward him.

His glowing white flame eyes tracked my hand. He blinked, reappearing five meters away, displeased.

Again, Minze in the game didn’t have this ability. It belonged to another main character, who mastered assassination techniques. Only shadow-element main applied this techniques to their game characters!

"You... You didn’t exist in the game." Minze muttered.

Goddammit. I knew it.

Someone possessed the prince. Aki wasn’t the only otherworlder here.

Minze’s expression hardened. He asked again:

"I was grateful you killed that obvious wench Aki for me, but you... Who are you? You’re not from this world, are you?"

I raised my mist sword, pointing it at him.

"The same goes for you. You must be a transmigrator or a reincarnator. Which one is it?"

Minze smirked.

"I don’t need to reveal my identity to a dead man like you."

Four of his minions, alerted by the commotion, returned. Weapons drawn, they surrounded my flanks.