The Youngest Prince Copies Skills with Skeleton Soldiers

Chapter 02 - The Test is a Pass

The Youngest Son's room was spacious, befitting his status.

I didn't have a housing system at the moment, but even if I did, it seemed I wouldn't need much furniture.

Except for the bed and a table, there was nothing large, and thanks to that, the ogre before me was taking up most of the room.

“Was it always this big?”

I knew it was large, as a matter of common sense.

I could tell just by looking at the heart that was on the plate moments ago.

It was bigger than my face.

The one who used this as a heart must have had a colossal body, but the pressure was different inside a monitor versus outside.

Then, it was only natural that something capable of exuding such pressure should be hard to obtain.

But what did I just do?

Created a single skeleton soldier.

Procured an ogre's heart with just a word.

And then, ta-da.

A blood-red undead ogre was presented before my eyes.

And as it happened, today.

There was one more thing being presented before the mansion of this Youngest Son.

Knock, knock─

The Head Maid reported from outside.

“Young Master. I apologize for the interruption during your meal, but the family’s Executioner has arrived at the front of the mansion. It seems you must take the test of achievement first.”

“I know.”

I had taken the heart and put it into the skeleton soldier to time it with the Executioner’s arrival.

Though I hadn't expected a giant of this size to be the result.

“Tell the Executioner that I will come out myself.”

“As you command.”

With my hands clasped lightly behind my back, I looked down below the window.

The person below was already looking up at me.

A knight clad in black armor with a flowing black cape.

From the slit of his helmet, a ghastly energy shimmered, taking the form of a purple glow.

The horse ridden by such a knight of death was translucent towards its legs.

It was a ghost horse that trod on empty air, not the ground.

“An Executioner Knight. You look pretty cool in person. It would have been better if you weren't here to kill me, though.”

They were in charge of judgment within the family.

The supreme knight symbolizing the laws of Millesdusk.

The reason such a person came here was simple.

To judge those who were lacking in the achievement of sorcery, said to be the most important thing for the bloodline of Millesdusk.

“Stop glaring. I’m coming now.”

If I wanted to survive, I had to prove my worth.

The problem was that even if I showed off my talent to my heart's content here, I couldn't stop the Executioner Knight's sword from being drawn.

But.

An unavoidable crisis ceases to be a crisis if you don't think about avoiding it in the first place.

“This is a chance to let the Family Head know that the Youngest Son’s stock is still alive.”

It was said to turn a misfortune into a blessing.

If the path ahead for the Youngest Son was filled only with calamities, then through me, they would be turned into fortunes.

Starting right now, as I faced the first disaster.

***

The Head Maid greeted the knight in the garden in front of the mansion, where only dry grass grew.

“Executioner Knight, please wait here for a moment. The Young Master has decided to come himself.”

“……”

Hmph─

The ghost horse exhaled purple flames from its nostrils.

It was akin to the Executioner Knight’s state of mind.

A sign of displeasure.

As if disgusted by the very act of coming here, the ghost horse couldn't keep its hooves still.

It looked as though it wanted to fly up and leave this unpleasant place at any moment.

That, too, was the Executioner Knight’s sentiment.

“The Fifth Son is no longer of the family’s bloodline as of today.”

A reverberation, as if several ghosts were speaking at once, turned into a voice and descended.

“Fearing death, he did not accept his true nature and let his blood rot. The death that was finally deferred has come to find the Fifth Son today.”

The family of Millesdusk purely followed and revered strength.

To be weak was ugly.

And to not even try to become stronger was disgusting.

To call oneself weak while being born into a family that made even death its ally.

It was an unbearable disgrace to the blood of Millesdusk.

“The Fifth Son is coming.”

The Head Maid bowed her head and greeted her master.

The family’s Fifth Son, walking out of the mansion with his hands clasped behind his back.

“It’s been a while, Executioner Knight. I bet the face behind that helmet is as grim as ever.”

“……”

His bantering demeanor was quite different from what he remembered.

His gait, the hand clasped behind his back.

And above all, those eyes.

Pupils redder than blood stared at him without a single flicker of focus.

***

“Fifth Son Dante Black Millesdusk. To test your achievement─”

“Before that.”

I pointed my chin at the Executioner Knight, and the thing he rode.

“Is a family knight’s head allowed to be higher than a member of the bloodline?”

The Executioner Knight remained silent.

But it was as clear as day that a fierce flame of anger was burning in the chest beneath that breastplate.

The knight spoke as if chewing his words.

“…This is a time of judgment. Do not speak of status to the Executioner Knight who holds the family law in his hands.”

“Judgment? A moment ago, didn’t you say you came to test my achievement? Is it judgment or achievement? You’ve been confusing me from the start.”

“Fifth Son. For you, the two are the same.”

Shriiing─

The Executioner Knight drew his sword.

A black sword that seemed to have been crammed with shadows.

A single curse was engraved on the symbol of the strict family law.

Because within the family, only the Executioner Knights were qualified to use the curse of the Judgment Sword.

“Dante Black Millesdusk. Recite your sins.”

Whoosh─!

The invisible blade of the cursed sword pierced my body.

There were no external or internal injuries, but I was definitely stabbed.

The curse pierced my soul, ate away at it from within, and finally devoured it.

I knew its identity.

‘Curse of Confession.’

It was a curse that made one confess all the sins they had committed, repeat them over and over, and finally vomit out their very soul.

What was Dante Black Millesdusk’s sin?

Hmm. Sorry for being weak?

Then what was my sin?

I don’t know. Playing too many games?

But I knew this Executioner Knight’s sin, fault, and mistake clearly.

“You should have stabbed me with the tip of your blade, not a curse.”

“…!”

The Judgment Sword flinched.

At the same time, an opening was created.

“The talent you desire so much.”

I reached a hand upwards.

Towards my room, to be exact.

“I’ll use it now.”

I reached up high enough to touch a monster that looked as if it were covered in bloodstains.

CRRRRAAAAASSSSHHH─!

The ogre fell, smashing through the outer wall of the mansion.

Its body, packed to the brim with red flesh, was a bomb in itself.

“……”

The ghost horse stepped back into the air.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM─!!

Its arrival was more of a crash landing than a landing.

As dust clouds spread thickly, a new participant had arrived.

“Let me introduce my soldier, the Undead Ogre.”

“……”

The Executioner Knight stared silently at the ogre.

I didn't care what he did.

The giant’s thick thighs weren't going anywhere.

“Is this a passing grade? No, I'm ten years old. Considering my previous level, this is more than enough.”

“…The evaluation is the Executioner Knight's to make. Not yours.”

“How cold.”

He was still cold.

But I had been somewhat upgraded.

I could tell by the fact that his form of address had changed from ‘you’ to ‘thou’.

But considering what I had to do next, even ‘thou’ wouldn’t do.

“Young Master.”

“…What did you say?”

“Call me Young Master. You still haven't dismounted from your horse.”

“The test is not over yet. Thou hast not passed yet, either.”

The Executioner Knight raised his Judgment Sword once more.

***

“As thou sayest, an undead ogre is a very difficult thing to present at the age of 10. But for that very reason, it is suspicious.”

Just last month, a single ailing skeleton soldier was the limit of his abilities.

Suddenly, he had summoned an undead ogre to block my path.

“This is not their own. It was transferred through a dirty and foul path.”

“…Hmm. In the first place, everything our family does is akin to devil worship outside the East. Did you know that?”

“……However, even if it was transferred, the level of control to move an ogre’s body. It is passable.”

If the sorcerer’s mental strength couldn't support it, he wouldn't be able to move it, and he might even collapse himself.

“But to dare deceive the Executioner Knight who symbolizes the family law. It is a grave sin.”

Whoooooooosh─

The eyes of the ghost horse, and the ghastly energy flowing from the slit of the helmet, caught fire.

It soon spread to the sword, making the curse even stronger.

The tip of the sword pointed at the sinner.

“If thou didst create an undead ogre, a high-level combination of bone sorcery and beast sorcery, at the age of 10.”

It was absurd, but if that was really the case.

“This is an unprecedented talent.”

But there was no way.

It was an absurd story.

An undead ogre in just one month.

The family’s incompetent who told such a blatant lie showed only a meaningless smile.

“You’re a good judge of character. As expected of an Executioner Knight.”

“…The games end here.”

I raised the Judgment Sword.

“The sin of trying to deceive the Executioner Knight with an undead ogre received from another. The sin of insulting the test of achievement with it.”

But controlling an ogre at the age of 10 was real.

The potential existed.

“I will commute it to one arm.”

Heeeeeeigh─!

The ghost horse leaped.

It charged forward to question the sin and execute the sentence.

The Judgment Sword does not fail.

Because the one who wields it is an Executioner Knight.

The family law is heavy, and the Executioner Knights are the ones who bear it.

There was no way to block that sword strike here.

The Youngest Son continued to resist, as if he didn't know that.

The ogre spread its giant hands.

“It’s useless.”

The movements of a mere ogre could not be faster than a ghost horse.

I leaped over the massive body in a single bound.

Swoosh─

As if cutting through soft mud, not flesh, muscle, and bone.

Slice─!

The left arm was cleanly severed.

There was no hesitation or reluctance in the blade.

The Judgment Sword, its purpose served, returned to its scabbard.

“Execution complete.”

The execution of the sentence was finished with this.

However.

“The test isn’t over yet.”

Grab─

The ogre, made of red blood, grabbed the horse’s tail.

“This bastard…!”

I had no intention of blocking it from the start.

Trying to block the unblockable was a foolish act.

Instead, I could make the ogre firmly grasp the now-corporeal tail of the ghost horse.

Because this body, which inherited two noble bloods, made even the impossible possible.

“Down.”

[Activating Skill 「Colossal Strength」.]

“…!”

CRRRRAAAAAAASSSSHHH─!!

The horse, its tail caught, was dragged down and drew a semicircle in the air.

The place it would fall was the hard, hard ground.

The ghost horse was caught in the ogre’s grip and slammed left and right.

Bam! Bam! CRRRRAAAAASSSSHHH─!!

It slammed it around enough to have thrown off any rider.

Then, the ogre pulled back its giant fist with all its might.

The dismounted knight.

It threw a punch right at that ghoulish helmet.

Whooooooosh─

“……”

It didn’t connect.

The ogre’s master did not permit it.

A feat possible only because I had a perfect grasp of the attack range.

As the monster pulled back its fist.

“Now we’re finally at the right eye level.”

The Youngest Son, who had been standing behind, appeared.

The Executioner Knight’s dismounting.

He had given up his arm to cause an incident that had only one precedent in the history of the tests.

That precedent was Kulsian Black Millesdusk.

He, who had been a notorious problem child both inside and outside the family, now had a different name.

He was called the Family Head of Millesdusk.

“…Young Master.”

The Executioner Knight finally used the correct title.

“This Executioner Knight offers his greetings.”

“The test. Report the results.”

The result of the test.

It was shocking even to the examiner himself.

“You gave up an arm to bring me down. The decision to forgo defense from the start and prepare only for a counterattack was extremely practical. And….”

I looked up at the ogre.

“It seems this ogre is indeed yours, Young Master.”

The monstrous strength that threw the ghost horse.

It was beyond the norm, even for an ogre.

The level of control to wring out every last muscle in this undead could not be produced by anyone but its master.

“I congratulate you on obtaining an undead ogre at the age of a boy.”

“Stop with the empty words and go get my left arm over there.”

The Executioner Knight brought the severed arm without a word.

He was used to the hierarchy and followed the order, but a question was visible in his eyes.

Why did he want the severed arm?

The reason came out immediately.

“I may be of the Millesdusk bloodline, but I am also of the vampire bloodline.”

Thwack─

The severed ends were pressed against each other.

And if I focused my mana here.

Sizzzzzzzle─

“It sticks back together like new in no time.”

“……”

“I’m saying this after the test is over, but it wasn’t a hard decision to make.”

I hammered in the fact that the test was over, just in case he tried to change his words.

The Executioner Knight quietly helped his ghost horse up.

“I will take my leave now.”

“Do as you please.”

The ghost horse carrying the Executioner Knight disappeared into the night sky.

While staring blankly at his retreating figure, I called out to her who was nearby.

“Head Maid.”

“I will request personnel to repair the mansion. For now, shall I call a family physician separately?”

“That's fine. Just leave one gatekeeper position open at the mansion.”

“…A gatekeeper?”

“Yes. It seems a skilled knight will be rolling in here soon.”

The Youngest Son left only those words and disappeared into the backyard with the ogre.