The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

“No luck this time either.”

“I see…….”

“My deepest apologies.”

Sieg and Sebas gave their report after they came back at dawn.

It wasn’t their fault. Last night, they searched the place I pointed out. I found a blank area after calculating back the sighting information and ordered them to search it but it seems that the other side was still one step ahead of us.

“So we are inferior to them in a battle of brains huh.”

“As long as they can be the one who makes the first move, we are at a disadvantage after all.”

Sebas said that to comfort me but I can’t help but get depressed with all the failures piling up.

If we haven’t found her then it means that our enemies haven’t found her yet either. That’s the only saving grace here but it is also bad news at the same time.

Even if the Imperial Capital is wide, it still has its limit. No matter how well she can escape, she will eventually get cornered. Before that happens, it would be great if Rebecca chooses to contact Leo but the lack of contact so far means that she can’t get close to him.

“Hmm……should I terminate the surveillance around Leo?”

“Nah, that’s not realistic. We don’t know where she might be lurking and if there’s a problem your brother’s movement would be hindered in the first place right, Kid?”

“Exactly. As long as we have difficulty eliminating the other surveillance around him, it’s not a good plan for us to pull ours out.”

I nodded at their opinions.

If he gets caught up in some conflict in the city, depending on how he handles it, Father might step in.

A lot has been happening in the Empire lately and Leo is having great expectations placed on him as the Hero Prince. If something were to happen to him then the Empire will definitely be shaken.

“Can’t help it then. We have to continue as we are.”

“That seems to be the only way.”

“…….Sebas. I am going out. I will leave processing the information to you.”

“Do you need an escort?”

“No. I want to clear my head.”

“You want to clear your head by strolling in the city? You really are a strange prince alright.”

Hearing Sieg, Sebas smiles.

This is something like a habit to me. Strolling the city like a commoner. I can get to know how people live their lives and a break from all the stiff atmosphere refreshes me.

“It’s troubling that you will be heading out without an escort though.”

“Is it really okay? Your brother is one of the candidates for the throne right now right?”

“Nobody would bother to target the Dull Prince. For now, there’s no one foolish enough to target me either. Leo is still investigating the Southern Nobles. If someone targets me it will be considered as an obstruction to his work. If that’s the case then Father will be more eager to investigate the Southern matter and those who targeted me will be the ones in trouble instead.”

“Well, alright I guess. Be careful okay?”

Sieg doesn’t know that I’m Silver.

Although he may have acknowledged me, in terms of fighting power, he still considers me as powerless so his worry about my well-being is sincere.

Really, Sieg is truly a pleasant man to have around huh.

“I will keep your feelings in mind.”

Saying so, I dismiss them and go out.

————————

“Aunty, how much is this?”

“That one? It’s two imperial red copper coins.”

“Two red copper coins? Isn’t it a bit too expensive?”

I point at the red fruit and ask. I remembered that it only costs one coin before.

The imperial coin is the currency used throughout the Empire and is the most circulated currency on the entire continent.

The least valuable one is the Imperial Copper Coin. Red Copper Coin is ten times more valuable than Copper Coin and Silver Coin ten times more valuable than Red Copper Coin and so on.

From the lowest to highest are Copper Coins, Red Copper Coins, Silver Coins, White Silver Coins, Gold Coins, Platinum Coins, and Rainbow Coins.

There are not many Platinum Coins and Rainbow Coins circulating around. The reason is that it can only be used for large transactions between merchants or nations.

In general, the monthly income of the people in the Imperial Capital is around 7 to 8 silver coins. At most, the common coins that are circulating among the common citizens are gold coins.

“Sorry. There are troubles happening here and there a lot lately right? The goods circulation is stalled because of that.”

“Is that so. I see. I will take two of these then.”

“Here you go. That will be four coins.”

I took out four red copper coins from my purse that I hung around my waist and handed them to her.

Then I received two fruits from her and kept strolling around the city while eating them.

The city is lively. However, goods prices are rising because of the major incidents like the monster outbreak and the Southern incident.

“The cause is the succession war huh.”

I exhale and murmur.

It’s not something for someone who is actively participating in the succession war like me can start complaining about. Moreover, I don’t have to work in order to live. This is just ridiculous.

The people’s monthly income is around 7 to 8 silver coins but a prince has at least 3 gold coins provided to him each month as a subsidiary. A normal person can’t have that amount even if they save their whole income up for three months.

For a prince, the more you do, the more you earn and if you get yourself a position, you can get even more salary from it.

The gold coins I gave Lynfia were ten years’ worth of such a subsidiary. The total worth is around three rainbow coins. That much money was necessary to issue a raid quest. It costs around the same amount of money to nominate an SS-rank adventurer for a request. That was the reason for Lynfia’s gratitude.

Silver is fairly cooperative to the guild among the SS-rank adventurers. With me accepting the request directly from the guild, there was no need for the nomination fee.

The reason I do that is because I felt strange to accept such a nomination fee despite the fact that I am already receiving a large amount of subsidiary as a prince.

“I’m still a hypocrite for not doing it for free though……”

While muttering such a thing, I saw a girl with a troubled expression at a stall a little ahead. Her light purple hair was eye-catching but what stood out to me more was a certain characteristic.

The girl’s ears were slightly pointed, the characteristic of a half-elf. Since her clothes have a hood, she probably normally hides it with that.

However, it seems that she was found out by the shopkeeper and is in an argument with him.

“You said that it was only two silver coins earlier!”

“Shut up! It’s a different story for a half-elf! If you want it then pay me two white silver coins!”

The girl’s bag is full of foodstuff so she is probably out to buy groceries today.

It seems that her hood was lowered at the checkout.

The Empire is a country that accepts many demihumans in. Still, that doesn’t mean that there is no discrimination here. I heard that it is considered lucky for an immigrant to be able to find a merchant who is willing to sell them their wares. Among them, it seems that the half-elves can’t even do that. They are that hated.

Neither a human nor an elf, with the exclusive elves hating humans in the first place, they hate the half-elves even more for their mixed blood.

Humans hold the half-elves in disdain because they are different from them and they tend to avoid the Half-elves who are similar to the Elves.

To make the matter more troublesome, it seems that the merchant is not originally from the Empire himself. He probably came in from somewhere else.

I get that from the people’s whispering around me.

“And here I am trying to refresh myself……..”

There are many people who feel sorry for her but no one speaks up.

It’s troublesome so they’re just going to pretend not to see it huh.

After a little pondering, the girl gave up and sighs. She then handed the bag containing the foodstuff back to the shopkeeper.

“Wait a minute.”

It was only on a whim.

I simply don’t like what I see and it would feel bad to leave her alone.

I am lacking sleep so it was easy for me to do it.

I call out to the shopkeeper and the girl.

Then, I grabbed the bag from the shopkeeper and put two white silver coins in his hand.

“Is that enough?”

“Eh? Ah, Uh……..”

“How much do you want? Do you want at least a gold coin to be more amicable?”

“Wh, What! Where did you come from! This is my problem alright!”

“This is the Empire. We accept all demihumans.”

“That got nothing to do with this! Half-elves are neither demihumans or humans anyway!”

“Leave it at that. I already paid. We will be leaving now alright?”

“No! If you really want it then give me a gold coin!”

The shopkeep shows a disgusting smile.

He probably wants to keep milking me because he thought that I am a good person huh.

Idiotic.

The strong prey on the weak, it would be clear for the people with a sense of justice that he is trying to take advantage of me.

With a show of clear high-handedness, voices are rising around us but the shopkeeper opens his mouth again.

“Quiet down all of you! The food circulation to your empire is currently stagnant! I went out of my way to bring my goods here alright!? It won’t even be worth my trouble if I can’t even choose who to sell it to!”

Saying so the shopkeeper reached his hand out for the girl’s bag.

I grabbed his hand and glared at the shopkeeper.

I was already irritated by the lack of sleep but this made me even more irritated.

“I won’t let you complain anymore with this much.”

Saying so, I take out the gold coin with my free hand.

The shopkeeper smiled and reached for the gold coin.

At that moment, a voice came from outside.

“Hey!? What’s going on here!?”

An officer from the city guard said as he made his way here through the crowd.

He is probably on patrol.

“No, it’s nothing, officer. I just closed a deal with him. Everything is alright.”

“Closed a deal…….?”

The patrol officer then looked at me.

His eyes opened wide as he saluted in a panic.

“Y, Your Highness Arnold!?”

“You know me?”

“Y, Yes, Your Highness! I, I am supporting His Highness Leonard after all.”

Saying so, he corrected his posture.

From the way he says it, it seems he is from Leo’s faction or somehow related to it. So it’s impossible to pretend to be Leo here.

Leo is out in the city right now so I guess it is impossible from the start huh.

“You arrived at a good time. Let me ask you this, is it okay to raise the price of your goods just because your customer is a half-elf?”

“T, that’s unforgivable! Our Empire accepts all races and the merchants must pledge to not bring prejudice into their transactions to receive their permit to do business in the Imperial Capital, Your Highness!”

“Then confiscate the permit from this guy. He already raised his price twice now. If you don’t arrest him, Leo will be angry you know?”

“Y, Yes! As you wish!”

“W, wait a minute! I didn’t know he was a prince! Pr, Prince! Please forgive me!”

“That’s not the problem here. You are not being arrested because you offended me. It is because you broke the rule. This is the Empire. Keep the gold coin. Consider it a lesson fee.”

Saying so, I grab the girl’s hand and leave.

I can’t stand out any more than this.

After walking for a while, a voice called out to me from behind.

“U, Um….hand……”

“Hm? Ah, sorry.”

Saying so, I let go of her hand.

It’s rude to hold a hand of a girl I don’t even know the name of after all huh.

When I apologized, the girl shook her head and showed me a cheerful smile.

“No, thank you for helping me. Ah, that’s wrong. Please accept my sincere gratitude, Your Highness.”

“I am traveling anonymously right now. It would be good if you can lay off that kind of stuff. What is your name?”

Perhaps I was too frank as the girl’s eyes turned round.

Then she smiled and held out her right hand.

“Alright. My name is Sonia. Sonia Laspade. As you can see, I am a half-elf.”

“I don’t mind. I’m Arnold. You can call me Al.”

“Un! Then I will call you Al-kun okay!”

And that is how I met Sonia.

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