The Prince from Another World Wants to Save the World

Chapter 30: The Mad Prince’s Route (5)

The dungeon beneath Berit Castle was filled with citizens who had dared to resist the exploitation of their lord, Count Talisman. They were in a pitiful state.

The Empire’s laws prohibit imprisoning more than five people in one cell, yet dozens had been crammed into each dungeon cell, most of them starving as they hadn’t been properly fed.

It took half a day to free all of them, heal those who were near death with recovery magic, and feed them with porridge made from grain flour.

In the end, out of 210 prisoners, 172 were saved.

The 38 who perished had either died before my arrival or were beyond saving, even for the world’s greatest Archpriest.

I instructed the soldiers to retrieve the bodies of the deceased and return them to their families for proper funerals.

“Even though I came so quickly, I couldn’t save everyone.”

Watching the corpses being carried away on stretchers, I couldn’t help but sigh. It was my first time executing the “Mad Prince Route” this early in a regression, in the very first year…

Still, I had to be satisfied that I minimized unnecessary sacrifices.

During a previous regression, I tried this route in the fourth year. At that time, the issue wasn’t the deaths in the dungeon; by then, more than half of Berit’s 60,000 residents had already perished.

Because of that disaster, I had to personally subdue the Empire’s strongest knight who had gone mad… just the memory of it brings a cold sweat. I should stop thinking about it altogether.

“What in the world were you thinking?”

The dungeon that once held over 200 people now contained only one. I glared at Count Talisman, who was curled up behind the iron bars, and asked.

“How do you even sleep at night, knowing you’ve stacked people in the dungeon like a pile of bricks? If you were going to kill them, you should have at least done it quickly.”

“Pile of bricks…? What are you talking about?”

“Is that what concerns you right now? Seriously, you’ve crossed the line, Count Talisman. You won’t get away with this.”

“The one who won’t get away with this is you!”

Talisman winced from the pain in his broken leg and shouted.

“No matter what, Your Highness can’t escape the consequences of this! I am the lord of Berit, appointed directly by the Emperor. What you’ve done here is nothing short of treason against His Majesty!”

“Still got some fight in you, huh?”

I smiled, imagining how he’d look in three days’ time.

“But what will you do? Whether or not I’ve committed treason, you’ve got bigger things to worry about. How long do you think it’ll take for word to reach Emperoroad? Five days? Ten? But how long do you think you can hold out here? Why do you think I didn’t kill you but instead put you in this cell?”

“W-what are you planning…?”

Talisman’s face turned white as he squirmed.

“Are you going to torture me?”

“Why would I get any pleasure from torturing you? You’ll simply get a taste of your own medicine. The prisoners in the dungeon were suffering, and the rest of the residents in Berit are starving as well.”

“So what? Don’t you understand the purpose of Berit? The whole point of this land is to exploit the residents and keep them weak.”

“I know that. But that policy was established a hundred years ago.”

“And that’s going to change now?”

“Everything is going to change.”

It has to. If it doesn’t, then in about 10 years—actually, more like 9 years and 6 months—the invasion from the Otherworld will happen again, and the world will be destroyed once more.

“But none of that matters right now. What’s important is that I’m angry. So, I’ll treat you the same way you treated your people.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

“What’s your name?” I asked the guard I had brought in from outside to oversee the situation. He snapped to attention and replied sharply.

“I am Lavin, a soldier stationed at Berit Castle, Your Highness!”

“Alright, Lavin. From now on, you’re in charge of watching Count Talisman. Ignore anything he says and make sure he doesn’t escape. And give him water three times a day.”

“Understood! But, by water, do you mean…”

“Just water. You know, drinking water?”

“Um, yes, but…”

“People can survive for about 50 days on just water. You understand what I mean, right?”

For a moment, Lavin’s eyes widened as he gave an unexpected response.

“I am not an outsider brought here by the count, Your Highness. I’m from Shurte Village in northern Berit!”

“Huh? And?”

“Three people have already starved to death in Shurte this year. I just thought Your Highness should know.”

Ah, I see.

It wasn’t an unrelated response at all. It was a perfectly determined answer. I nodded with a smile and left the dungeon.

* * *

“I used all the elixirs before I even passed the first village.”

It was already dark by the time Meredith arrived at the lord’s castle, explaining why she had been delayed.

“So, I returned to the mansion, loaded the horse with as many elixirs as it could carry, and came back. But then, I used them all again at the second village. If I had gone back again, I wouldn’t have made it to Berit Castle before nightfall, so I decided to press on. I’m completely empty-handed now.”

“Well done. I saw some interesting things in the count’s private storage. Could you use any of that to make something?”

I led Meredith to the hidden vault in the count’s quarters. She bit her lip as she looked at the vast collection of goods.

“There’s a lot of silver here. Was this all taken from the people of Berit?”

“Most likely. But we won’t touch the money. This wasn’t about wealth.”

“And here are antlers from the White Light Forest deer. They’re a rare alchemy material, but even in their raw form, they’re highly potent.”

Meredith pulled out a piece of white antler from a sack. Though I knew the answer, I pretended to ask.

“Really? What effect do they have?”

“Well… they’re especially beneficial for men.”

“For men? How exactly?”

“For… well, vitality and… uh, stamina…”

“Stamina, huh? Sounds like it’d be great for the starving people of Berit.”

“No, it’s not suitable!”

Meredith immediately shut the sack’s opening, her voice rising.

“Giving this to malnourished villagers would be dangerous! But with the ingredients stored here, I should be able to create something that has a similar effect to a stamina potion, or at least something close to it.”

“Alright, I’ll leave it to you.”

I waved as I left the count’s secret vault.

Of course, the ingredients here wouldn’t be enough to care for all of Berit’s 60,000 residents.

But it should be enough to tend to the most severely weakened individuals. I popped a sugar bar into my mouth and sprawled across the count’s plush bed.

* * *

The next morning, the sound of screams echoed from the dungeon into the castle courtyard.

“Please! Just give me food!”

“Bring Prince Claude! I was wrong! I admit I was wrong!”

“Someone save me! They’re going to starve me to death!”

“Where’s the head chef?! I paid so much to bring him here! I want rosemary braised meat! No, a rose syrup cake!”

I made my way down to the entrance of the dungeon but stopped when I heard the count’s desperate cries.

“If he still has enough energy to beg for cake, he’s not hungry enough yet.”

For a man who starved others, the only fitting punishment is to starve him in return. He won’t truly understand the horror of what he’s done until he suffers it himself.

“I expected you to act recklessly, Your Highness, but…”

Stepping outside the front gates of the castle, I spotted Kyle, who had just arrived with several loaded wagons, inspecting the cargo.

“This is shocking, even for you. Do you know how startled I was when I heard the news?”

Kyle sighed and shook his head as he spoke. I slapped one of the wagons, smiling.

“Why are you so surprised by something like this? Or… are you against helping Berit? Do you dislike this region or something?”

“I hold no special feelings toward Berit.”

Kyle shook his head calmly, showing no sign of being swayed.

“I’m just concerned about the damage you’ll suffer from this, and how it will affect your reputation. Berit is so closed off that we might be able to manage for now, but within three or four days, the entire Empire will hear about what happened here.”

“I’ll handle that. I plan to surrender before the rumors spread.”

“Surrender? Do you mean you’ll return to Emperoroad and turn yourself in?”

“Exactly. I’m heading back to Emperoroad tonight.”

I glanced to the southwest, toward the horizon.

“In the meantime, I need you to stay here and continue our work. First and foremost, distribute the food to the people of Berit.”

“It won’t be easy. The supplies we brought from the Gusf Trading Company alone won’t be enough to feed all the residents.”

“What about what we brought from the estate?”

“That’s even less.”

“There’s also food stockpiled in the castle. I had the soldiers distribute about 20% of it yesterday

, but I don’t trust them to manage it properly.”

“How much food remains in the castle?”

“If we gather everything, there should be about 3,000 sacks left.”

“With that, we could manage for a while… maybe ten days, but no longer.”

“That’s all we need. After that, I’ll take care of the rest.”

Kyle thought quickly, then nodded.

“Understood. What’s your second order?”

“The second task is to make sure Count Talisman stays alive, but only just.”

“…Excuse me?”

Kyle’s face twisted in disbelief. I chuckled as I heard the faint cries of the count echoing up from the dungeon.

“I locked him in the dungeon yesterday, and I’m starving him. Part of me wants to turn him into ogre feed, but… that would be disrespectful to the ogres. Besides, killing him would cause more problems later.”

“You made the right choice. Count Talisman is a high-ranking noble from one of the Empire’s founding families. He wields considerable power and influence. If you killed him, the consequences would be severe.”

“That’s why I’m not going to kill him just yet. Within three to five days, his family will send people here, even faster than the Imperial Army or any formal response.”

“I agree. So, do I just need to hold out until they arrive?”

“No, ignore them.”

I crossed my fingers in an X shape.

“Tell them you’ve received direct orders from me, the prince, and that without a royal decree or orders from the Imperial Government, you can’t release the count.”

“That’s… a difficult task.”

Kyle considered the weight of the request.

“What if the Talisman family resorts to force? If they hire powerful mercenary knights, the troops here won’t be able to stop them. Besides, I don’t have the authority to command the forces here.”

“Leave that to Meredith. I’ll leave her here.”

“Meredith? You mean the tall maid who always carries elixirs?”

“Meredith can summon spirits. The one she summons is called Pebble Spirit, but it’s about the size of an ogre. It should be able to handle most knights.”

“What in the world… Very well, I’ll follow your orders.”

Kyle didn’t seem convinced, but he nodded anyway. I looked up at his serious face with a smile.

“If things get too dangerous, don’t push yourselves too hard. You can release the count if it comes to that. Starving him isn’t worth risking your lives over.”

“Thank you for your consideration. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“And spread the word through the Gusf Trading Company. Let everyone know what I’ve done here, the punishment I’ve inflicted on Count Talisman, everything.”

“You mean… you want me to manipulate the information?”

“No, just tell it exactly as it is.”

“That will spread your infamy far and wide…”

“That’s fine.”

I raised my chin, my expression firm.

“Let those who see my actions as villainous think whatever they want. Spread the truth of what I’ve done. Understood?”

“Hmm. Are you trying to separate your allies from your enemies?”

He’s sharp, as always. I nodded and turned toward the count’s quarters where Meredith was working.

But in this case, it’s not the enemies that matter.

What’s truly important is making a strong impression on those who can become allies.

Especially Knight Master Davi, the Empire’s strongest knight, who’s likely seething with inner turmoil at this very moment.