The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

After leaving the Ajin company, I get on a carriage together with Finne.

For the time being, Finne is wearing a cloak to disguise herself.

Looking at her, I thought of something.

“Is there something wrong?”

“Finne….how are you around small children?”

“Umm…..D, do you mean my own children!?”

Finne nervously asks me back.

What kind of misunderstanding does she have this time.

“No no. I mean are you fine playing with small children in general.”

“Ah, I see……I’m totally fine! Ah, it doesn’t mean that I’m not fine with my own children you know!”

“I know. Can we take a short detour then?”

“Hau…a detour?”

“Yeah, I am thinking about visiting an old friend.”

Saying so I direct the driver to our destination.

The Imperial Capital has a vast castle town centered on the Castle of the Imperial Sword.

The castle town is divided into several layers and the poorer you are, the farther your house will be from the center of the city.

We headed to the outermost wall of the castle town.

There was a small sword dojo there.

“This place is?”

“It’s a dojo that an old adventurer acquaintance of mine is running. He teaches swordplay to the kids living in the outermost layer of the imperial capital for free.”

“For free?”

“Most of the outermost layer people have to struggle to make ends meet. The way out of that is to become strong as fast as possible but since they have no money to properly learn swordsmanship, he teaches them how to wield a sword for free.”

While explaining so, I look into the dojo from the window.

Finne also took a peek with me.

There.

“Doryaaaaaaa! !”

“ARHGGG! !”

“UOOOO! !”

“TTTTTEEEEEEI! !”

“IDIOT! Oi! KNOCK IT OUT ALREADY! DON’T HOLD BACK JUST BECAUSE THE STICK IS SOFT!”

“….bully?”

“No, he is just playing with the kids…….”

In the dojo, a man is being beaten up by several children.

Light brown hair and eyes, there is a cut scar from his cheek down to his neck, he looked somewhat strong but seeing him getting beat up by the kids like this make that impression completely disappeared.

His name is Gai. When we were children we often played with each other.

Right now he is working as an adventurer while taking care of the children here.

“Sensei. There is someone outside.”

“Ha! Who would fall for such a cheap trick! I don’t see anyone!”

“Ahh, he is looking like he already gave up on you too. He is definitely your acquaintance, Sensei.”

“He is looking at Sensei like that because Sensei is an idiot right!”

“I AM NOT AN IDIOT!”

“Then just turn back and look.”

“These brats…..EEEIII! FINE! I WILL TAKE A LOOK!”

Saying so, Gai turned this way and met eyes with me.

Gai’s eyes opened wide in surprise but the kids behind him are smiling.

When I sigh at him, the kids all attacked him together.

“Now’s the chance! DO IT!”

“I did saw him alright!”

“He really is a big idiot!”

“GUWAA! YOU BRATS! THAT’S A GUEST! WAIT! WAIT A MINUTE! CALM DOOOWN!”

“Fufu……look like they are having fun, aren’t they.”

“Fun huh………”

Well, it doesn’t look like he hated it but having fun is kind of a stretch here. If I have to deal with those energetic kids every day then my bones gonna break.

In the end, the kids never listened to him so Gai smacked them in the head with his fist and head our way.

“YO! Al! Long time no see!”

“Yeah, you look healthy Gai. By the way…..are they alright? It looks like they all fainted though?”

“It’s alright. Don’t look down on the outermost layer kids!”

“Well, it’s fine if that’s the case……..”

The children here are probably a little younger than Christa.

It’s the age that kids are most energetic.

There are only boys in the dojo. Girls are probably attending places that aim toward them huh.

“But why did you come here all of a sudden?”

“Nah, I was just wondering how you are doing. Since I haven’t seen you around lately I was a little worried.”

“Never changed huh! Unlike you guys we are tough! I won’t kick the bucket anytime soon alright!”

Saying so, Gai flexes his bicep.

That’s the arm of a person who wields a sword. Despite its leanness, the muscles needed to do that are tightly packed in there.

His scars also have increased a little. Gai is a B-class adventurer. He is almost at A-class but it doesn’t mean that he is super strong or anything.

“Seems so. I’m relieved. Even so, isn’t this a swordsman dojo? You were just playing with them right?”

“It’s fine! It’s alright to start like this. If they hit someone, it hurts when that someone hit them back. If they can learn that much then it will be alright. It’s not like everyone here will become an adventurer anyway. If they have talents or a dream, they will eventually think about what path they will take themselves. If that’s the case then I can just teach them when the time comes.”

“Like you?”

“Of course! I told you not to look down on the outermost layer kid right. We don’t need to be molded like those nobles. All we have to teach our children is that they will be hit back if they attack someone. If they know that then they won’t blindly attack anyone. They should be taught the pain of that early. If they don’t know that, they will turn out to be like that shady noble who bullied you back then.”

“Gied huh…….Certainly, that guy is a typical example of growing up without knowing any pain.”

While I was making a bitter smile, Gai urges me to introduce Finne with his eyes.

Ah,

I mutter and put my hand over my mouth.

Then I signal Finne to reveal her face.

“Yes.”

“Nnnn, nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn! ! ? ?”

“Yes yes. Be quiet, will you. If you scream now there’s no point that we went out of our way to visit you anonymously right.”

As expected, Gai was taken by surprise and almost screamed out.

Perhaps he is probably trying to shout the word Blau Mowe.

“ ! ? W, What kind of trouble did you bring me this time…..!?

“I didn’t bring any trouble, I’m just on my way back from a business with Finne.”

“Work? With the Blau Mowe!? Don’t get cocky Al! I won’t forgive you!!”

“Wai….m, my neck, my neck……”

“Shut up! Take the grudge of all the men in the imperial capital!!”

“U, Uncle…..”

“A, Um…..Al-sama is going to collapse……”

“Ah, Yes ma’am. But it’s alright. This guy always plays with death so he is surprisingly tough.”

Releasing his hands from my neck, Gai’s face immediately turned into a smile as he turned toward Finne.

This bastard……

Saying something like that.

When I was thinking about such a thing, one of the children came out of the dojo.

He then rushed to Finne and hugged her.

Well, since her eyesight is low, children would find her easy to approach huh.

“It’s a beautiful woman!”

“Hey! You! I’m jealous, you know!”

“Ehehe! She smells so good. Hey Hey, Onee-san, are you Sensei’s girlfriend?”

“Fufu, I wonder?”

Finne said while stroking the kid’s hair without showing any discomfort from being hugged by the kid.

Perhaps he was glad that she smiled at him, the kid hugs her even tighter like he wanted to be spoiled.

Meanwhile, Gai is looking at him while clenching his teeth.

“Seriously? You are jealous of a child……”

“Shut up! You will never understand my feeling!”

“This way!”

“Kya! Umm……”

“It’s fine. Play with them for me.”

“Y, Yes!”

Apparently, Finne still want to play with them more as well.

She immediately entered the dojo and started playing with the children.

Seeing Finne playing with the children, Gai began to shake with jealousy.

“Aaaaaaaaah…..what should I do…..if they don’t stop soon I will want to lop my head off………..but Finne-sama’s smile when she is looking at the children…..Aah what to do……I’m so jealous…….”

“Whether you are jealous or worry about your own body, just make up your mind already.”

“Worry would be better yeah. As I thought, cutting my own head is a little……”

“You just strangled a prince a little while ago you know, you understand that right?”

“It’s fine. If you are the type that cares about something like this, Elna would be the one who gets caught before I do right? So it’s fine, yeah.”

“What kind of reasoning is that…..”

Well, it’s exactly because of that that we are still talking like this though.

Leaving aside when we were children when you become an adult, you would become more aware of your position.

A prince is still a prince even if you have messed around with each other before. There are many who think like that and distance themselves.

Among that, Gai is kind of a special existent.

“How nostalgic. Elna was such a good rival.”

“I don’t think rival is a good word when you lost to her about 200 times already though.”

“It’s 197. Don’t miscount alright.”

“Is that going to change anything……..”

As a child, Gai was like the general of the brats in the outermost layer.

It’s a daily thing for him to go up to the middle and play pranks on people. That’s when I and Elna met him.

If I remember correctly, at first, Gai stole a loaf of bread from a bakery and was hiding from his pursuer. Then Elna found him and beat him up.

Since then, Gai considered her as his rival and challenged her many times, of course, he lost.

But that experience made Gai stronger. It’s true that the outermost layer people are tough. These guys absolutely will never give up.

“So? What did you actually come here for? You didn’t come here just to see me, right?”

“You are strangely sharp sometimes you know. Actually, Leo has been assigned to investigate an incident with the immigrants in the south. I want to ask you about the discrimination at the southern frontier since you are originally from there, what do you think?”

Gai is an immigrant.

His parents were immigrants and he grew up surrounded by discrimination.

Perhaps that might be the source of his rebelliousness.

That’s why Gai was aiming to become an adventurer so that he doesn’t have to deal with the immigrant stuff anymore. Even when Father accepted the immigrants as the Empire’s citizens, the discrimination inside the imperial capital was still going on for several more years.

“Yeah, no doubt. Has it been 11 years since the Emperor declared that us immigrants are citizens of the Empire? For me, it is still just 11 years. The discrimination won’t go away that easily. Especially the mindset of those nobles. They were educated that way after all.”

“……I see. I’m relieved to hear that.”

“Relieved?”

“What happened at the southern frontier was kidnapping cases of the people at the immigrant villages. If no nobles were involved it wouldn’t cause so much problem that the Emperor would have to dispatch Leo. This case worth sending Leo over because there is still discrimination running rampant in the area with the local nobles being involved in the practice. Leo has the ability to solve the case, that’s why the Emperor decided to send him there.”

“You still put your little brother on the pedestal huh. He might be similar to the Crown Prince but people like that don’t come around so easily you know. It was thanks to him that the discrimination inside the capital has lessened to this extent. That person is special…..he was special.”

“That might be the case…..but, Leo also has half the blood of that man you know.”

“The same goes for you right?”

“Leave me alone.”

I said so while making a bitter smile.

In the dojo, Finne is happily playing with the children.

I brought Finne here to give her some time to relax and it seems that’s the right choice huh.

“Aah, that’s right. One of my students is at the castle right now. If you guys meet, take care of that guy for me alright.”

“Student?”

“Yeah, quite a talented child too. I recommended that fellow to take the knight training at the castle. Should be living at the castle right about now.”

“Hee, what’s he like?”

“It’s a she but she’s quite a noisy guy you see. Anyway, she’s quite noisy so you will know when you meet her. She’s super noooooisy.”

Gai’s face was full of smiles when he said that.

I guess he really likes children huh.

In the end, after letting Finne play with the children for a while, I and Finne head back.