The Crown Prince Who Raises a Side Character-Chapter 12: New Adventurer Bern (10). Courtesy Depends on the Person

Bern’s expression turned ice-cold.

Normally, when conversing with Lucidra, all he needed to do was consciously direct his thoughts toward her. But this time, he had spoken aloud without realizing it.

"Try using your brain before you speak."

Lucidra protested indignantly.

["Why, what, why? Do you think demon worshippers and witches obsess over sabbaths for no reason? There’s no method as quick, easy, and efficient for gathering mana as this. For someone like that woman, whose natural mana reserves are low, her capacity would multiply in an instant."]

"The problem is the method itself."

Was he supposed to tell Blanca he had a technique to enhance her power, only for it to turn out to be Soul Drain? There wouldn’t even be room for an excuse—that would be outright sexual harassment.

Lewd jokes might be a staple of adventurers’ conversations, but actually pulling something like that on a party member was an entirely different matter.

["Tch. Well, technically, Soul Drain doesn’t have to involve anything like that. As long as there’s direct skin contact, you can absorb life force and mana from your target. Even absorbing the soul and energy of a fallen enemy is classified under the same technique."]

"Hmm. That version sounds much more reasonable. How about 70%?"

["Hold on! This is one of the core techniques that earned me the title of Archdemon! That’s nowhere near enough! It should be 100%, plus an extra bonus!"]

"Now that I think about it, 65% should be sufficient."

["Wait—are you seriously negotiating down while I’m the one giving up something? And why is the percentage going down?!"]

"This is meant to help strengthen Blanca. If you take everything, she might as well not have learned the technique at all. 60%."

["This is ridiculous! To be honest, even if I took 100%, I’d still be at a loss just for teaching it to you!"]

"You don’t need to share the full knowledge or technique itself. If it’s something that can be used like a tool instead, that would be fine. That way, there’s no risk of the knowledge being leaked. 55%."

["That’s easier said than done! Do you think things like that can just be made on a whim?!"]

"Understood. 50%."

["Stop! Fine! I’ll do it!"]

"I’m glad we’ve reached a mutually satisfying agreement."

["You devilish bastard...."]

Bern raised an eyebrow.

If a demon calling someone "devilish" was supposed to be an insult, did that really count as an insult?

About ten minutes later, a small ring popped out from Bern’s shadow.

For something that supposedly "couldn’t be made on a whim," it sure was finished rather quickly.

["I crystallized a portion of my essence. If the wearer slays monsters or humans, it will absorb a portion of their life force and transfer it to them. If they maintain direct contact ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) with their hand while wearing the ring, the absorption rate increases."]

Lucidra’s voice carried a hint of exhaustion—it seemed crafting the ring hadn’t been so simple after all.

"Does it increase total mana capacity, or just the current reserves?"

["Both. If the user’s reserves are empty, it refills them. If they’re full, it expands their capacity."]

"Interesting."

Bern was genuinely impressed.

So, in essence, it was like an RPG system where defeating monsters granted experience and stat increases—except it applied specifically to mana.

For regular adventurers, killing a hundred goblins wouldn’t lead to any noticeable improvement in their abilities. But with this ring, it was practically cheating.

"Are there any side effects or restrictions?"

["No one but that woman can use it. The deal was for something that would help her, after all."]

Bern nodded.

Lucidra likely wouldn’t want her power running loose in just anyone’s hands—it was a reasonable limitation.

["...But seriously, why are you so fixated on her?"]

"Fixated? Me?"

["Yeah. If you’re looking at pure talent and potential, that Blanca girl isn’t anything special. Instead of taking in someone weak and trying to nurture them, wouldn’t it be better to just climb the ranks on your own and team up with people at your level whenever necessary?"]

Lucidra didn’t understand Bern’s reasoning.

Right now, he was just seen as a "promising rookie." But once word of the goblin incident fully spread, his value would skyrocket.

Many powerful figures would try to recruit him under far better conditions.

So why was he going this far for Blanca? They had barely even known each other for long.

Bern answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Because that’s something I can’t do as a crown prince."

["...What?"]

Lucidra’s tone was filled with confusion.

Bern let out a small, bitter laugh.

A crown prince, despite being at the center of power, had more restrictions than anyone else.

He couldn’t leave the palace freely. He couldn’t act on personal whims. Even offering kindness to someone could be twisted into a political tool against him.

A crown prince showing favoritism toward an individual could be exploited in countless ways.

But an adventurer wasn’t bound by such rules.

If they wanted to do something, they could just do it. If they liked someone, they could help them without worry.

That was the dream of the crown prince.

That was the identity of Bern, the adventurer.

"Well, that’s just how it is... Hm?"

Bern tilted his head slightly.

His heightened senses picked up the sound of someone urgently running toward his room.

—My lord! Are you there? My lord!!

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

A frantic voice shouted from outside, accompanied by the sound of intense knocking.

Bern recognized the voice.

When he opened the door, Renya stood there, drenched in sweat.

"Lady Blanca is in danger, my lord!"

Bern’s eyes narrowed.

***

"Blanca, don’t you think you’ve been going overboard lately?"

There’s an old saying among adventurers:

The moment you feel like luck is on your side is the most dangerous moment of all.

It wasn’t just meaningless paranoia—there were plenty of real-life examples to back up the saying.

Luck made people let their guard down, and for adventurers, who constantly lived side by side with danger, that could be fatal.

But...

Even so, wasn’t this happening a little too fast? Blanca let out a deep sigh.

"I don’t know what you’re trying to say, Karina."

Unlike Blanca, who wore an outfit that covered everything except her face, the red-haired woman before her bared her shoulders and upper chest, a smirk playing on her lips.

"Honestly, when I first heard you were hired as a guild receptionist, I was relieved. Even if we weren’t close, we were former party members, so I thought it was good that you’d finally settled down instead of wandering around getting insulted all the time."

But then—Karina continued.

"You threw away that rare opportunity, quitting the receptionist job that most people couldn’t even dream of getting, and instead latched onto some rookie adventurer who’s barely past his fledgling stage. And to top it off, you even fabricated some ridiculous achievements through false reports. Blanca, how did you become so pathetic? You’re embarrassing the rest of us."

Her voice was brimming with unfiltered contempt and disgust.

Finding it all rather dreary, Blanca shifted her gaze toward the people standing behind Karina.

Two warriors. One rogue. A mage—not a priest, but someone capable of healing magic.

All of them were familiar faces.

Amusingly enough, only one of them looked even slightly uncomfortable, averting his eyes. The rest stared at Blanca with a mix of suspicion and resentment, clearly siding with Karina.

"Karina’s right. No matter how desperate you are, making up such blatant lies just drags down our entire reputation."

"I haven’t fabricated anything."

"Hah! So you expect us to believe that just two people exterminated hundreds of goblins?"

"The guild sent an investigation team to verify it."

"Yeah, and you were part of the guild for a short while, weren’t you? Who’s to say you didn’t pull some strings behind the scenes?"

Blanca narrowed her eyes.

Their accusations were absurd. The Adventurers’ Guild wasn’t some easily deceived organization, and throwing around claims like this could even be taken as questioning the guild’s competence and fairness.

If an ordinary adventurer was caught making such remarks in the middle of the street, the guild would be well within its rights to impose penalties.

But these people weren’t ordinary adventurers.

Even within the entire Eastern Branch, there were only a handful of Rank 3 adventuring parties, and this particular group was practically guaranteed to advance to Rank 4 soon.

Unless they outright rebelled against the guild, punishing them just for saying a few words on the street was nearly impossible.

Especially when it was framed as a simple argument between former party members.

"Believe what you want. That’s up to you. Now, if you’ll excuse me—"

"Hold it. We’re not done talking."

Blanca had no interest in wasting her breath, but just as she turned to leave, she was forced to stop.

A series of ice spears materialized in the air, surrounding her in a clear act of intimidation.

Her expression turned cold.

Slowly, she turned back toward the red-haired mage.

"Don’t cross the line, Karina."

"You’re the one who crossed it first. You got kicked out because you weren’t good enough, and now you’re dragging our party’s name through the mud?"

Blanca gritted her teeth.

The old Blanca would have melted away these ice spears with a flick of her fingers.

Back when they were in the same party, she and Karina often competed, fire against ice. Their other party members would joke that they must have been born with the wrong element based on their hair color.

But now, even something as small as this was a real threat.

She could melt the spears, sure. But Karina would just retaliate with stronger magic. And in the end, Blanca would be the one to lose.

"What do you want?"

"Now we’re getting somewhere."

Karina’s smirk deepened.

She looked absolutely delighted at Blanca’s humiliation, as if savoring every moment of it.

"Well, it’s a bit awkward to keep arguing out here in the open. Why don’t we go somewhere more private? It’s been a while—let’s catch up."

Her voice was uncharacteristically gentle.

Just as Blanca was about to reluctantly agree—

"There! Over there! My lord!"

A loud, obnoxiously fawning voice rang out.

A man who practically embodied the image of a third-rate sycophant pointed wildly in their direction as he ran toward them.

The next moment, Blanca felt herself being lifted.

"...Huh?"

Her vision spun as she was abruptly carried away.

A firm arm held her securely.

It took her a second to register—she was being princess carried.

Dazed, she looked up, and muttered,

"...Bern?"

"Are you all right, Miss Blanca?"

"Why...?"

Why was he here? Why was he interfering? Why did he look so serious?

Her why carried many meanings, but she received no answer.

Bern simply checked her over for any injuries. Once he confirmed she was unharmed, he gently set her back on her feet.

"What the hell is that?"

Karina’s eyes widened in disbelief.

The ice spears she had conjured still hovered in place, blocking Blanca’s escape route.

Yet this Bern had somehow effortlessly snatched Blanca away without disturbing them in the slightest.

And more importantly—Karina had no idea how he had done it.

Her gaze darted toward her party members.

If anyone had seen what happened, it would be the warriors. Given their physical training and mana-enhanced perception, they should have at least noticed something.

But they looked just as confused as she was.

They were already on high alert, silently signaling to Karina that something was wrong.

Karina was rattled.

She had heard he was skilled, but even the top Rank 3 adventurers in the branch couldn’t track his movements?

But she was a veteran.

Quickly regaining her composure, she dismissed the ice spears.

If his strength was beyond expectations, then fighting would be the worst possible choice. It was better to talk.

"So, you’re Bern, huh? I think there’s been a misunderstanding. That wasn’t a real attack just now. We were just trying to have a conversation."

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And then, Bern spoke.

"Do you not even know the difference between a conversation and a threat, you moronic piece of shit?"

The atmosphere turned ice-cold.

That was not the tone of the composed, calculating Bern they had seen before.

It was raw, venomous.