The Youngest Prince Copies Skills with Skeleton Soldiers

Chapter 05 - Heads or Tails

The Confederation ‘Malice’ that ruled Dusk Citadel.

Dozens of their soldier ants, the Supervising Soldiers, surrounded the area.

A Supervising Soldier with a golden brick on his soldier's helmet spoke.

“I don’t care what reason you have for destroying this place. In fact, I don’t even care that you destroyed it. Burn it, blow it up, I don’t care.”

Because empty spaces were always filled quickly.

And the ones who burned and blew things up were usually the ones who filled the empty spaces.

With their own money.

From the management's point of view, it was a gain since the building was renovated without spending a penny.

From the terrorists' point of view, it was a gain since they got a new base.

It was a structure where both sides could hold hands and dance, but the situation now was subtly different.

“You are committing a pointless slaughter. The owners of the buildings you destroyed have no connection to each other, and they are far apart.”

In other words, the sorcerer in the hood over there was enjoying irresponsible pleasure.

Click-clack─

The Supervising Soldier aimed the pressurized poison gas sprayer.

Just a pull of the trigger and the highly concentrated hydrochloric acid gas would spread in all directions.

Then, a person would melt in an instant.

“If you don't want to end the rest of your life with poison, obediently send the corpses back. You'll have to come with us.”

“……”

There was still no answer.

The Supervising Soldier shook his head.

“Do you think I haven't seen one or two sorcerers like you?”

That monster the size of a house. The ten or so corpses standing next to it.

I didn't know who he was or what he was doing.

But it was obvious that he was some guy who had continued his own experiments somewhere in the Citadel and had gone mad, unable to handle his sorcery.

“I’m telling you just in case you don’t know, but this gas is also perfect for melting corpses. Whatever you do in there, you can’t be faster than this gas.”

This Dusk Citadel was full of crazy people.

So the soldier ants were experts at dealing with such crazy people.

They wore those oak barrels and sprayers to deal with the undead, and gas masks to be free from the poison.

But contrary to the momentum of the Supervising Soldiers, the hooded sorcerer calmly uttered words that were hard to believe.

“A blood member of Millesdusk destroyed Millesdusk's land.”

From under the hood flowed a boy's beautiful yet low, strange tone of voice.

Swoosh─

A pale hand lowered the hood.

Protecting his blood-red eyes with sunglasses.

He revealed his black-purple hair under the yellow sky.

“Is there a problem?”

“…Mi-Millesdusk…!!”

The Supervising Soldiers, without exception, were startled and stiffened up.

The Supervising Soldier who had spoken on their behalf was the same.

The Supervising Soldiers' level ended there.

An individual of a higher dimension walked out from among them.

“My apologies. Our people failed to recognize a member of the ruling clan of the eastern lands and committed a discourtesy.”

It was a middle-aged man in a pure formal uniform, without a gas mask, protective suit, or sprayer.

Proof that he would not be affected by shoddy techniques.

“Had you given us some notice in advance, we would have treated you with the utmost hospitality. It is truly regrettable and I am very sorry.”

The man bowed his head deeply.

As he did so, he scanned the army of corpses.

The blood-red eyes behind the sunglasses simultaneously detected a faint twitch.

He had sensed with his experience that something did not fit with common sense.

The man said.

“If you came for material acquisition, we have organs and undead prepared in advance. Shall I guide you there right away?”

“That’s fine. I’ve finished my acquisition.”

The reason for the twitch earlier was also here.

Excluding the giant red monster, the undead were positioned in various places.

The man remembered.

‘They are all people that the upper echelons thought were worth paying attention to. Rookies who were said to be finishing the missions posted in the Citadel at a terrifying speed….’

Such people were caught by the Youngest Son’s eyes and all turned into undead.

‘From Billy the Twin Guns to Butcher of the Slaughterhouse. Oh my, there’s also Miki of the Harpoon Spear. The upper echelons only presumed their hideouts, so how could he be so accurate.’

Cold sweat formed inside his shirt.

To be honest, even after seeing the hair that symbolized the Millesdusk bloodline, it took him a while to figure out who that person was.

That was how much of a non-entity he was.

The Youngest Son, the Fifth Son among the new generation of the Millesdusk bloodline.

‘But to know the information within the Citadel so well. And those eyes, too. This is not the Fifth Son I know. Something is different.’

The man raised his hand to the Supervising Soldiers.

“You all may withdraw now. I will escort the Young Master. So, Young Master, please quell your anger towards the Supervising Sergeant.”

“Ye-yes…?”

The Supervising Sergeant stepped back in bewilderment.

Thrust─

At the same time, he felt a sharp sensation on the back of his neck.

It was the feeling of a blade's tip, something that no human living in the Citadel could fail to recognize even in their dreams.

“Wh-when did….”

He turned his trembling head to look behind him.

He came face to face with the abyss-like eyes of a red skeleton.

Along with a broken pipe held so close it seemed about to pierce his neck.

“You threatened me with poison gas and said you’d seen many like me. I just wanted to give you a little surprise. You don't have to misunderstand.”

“Th-thank you….”

With a light gesture, the pipe was thrown back onto the roadside where it had been.

As the skeleton soldier that had learned the skills of a 1st-class intelligence agent stepped aside.

The path for the Supervising Soldiers to leave was naturally opened.

‘…Was the situation under the control of the blood member from the start…. For the youngest to be at that level….’

Never look at Millesdusk, never listen to their stories, never speak of them.

The oldest maxim in the Citadel came to mind.

The Supervising Sergeant shivered.

He was glad his protective suit had a diaper function.

Two men were left in the middle of the rubble.

The subordinate among them clapped his hands lightly and gestured towards the main street.

“My goodness. I have kept a distinguished guest standing for so long. It is my fault. Shall we go to the carriage for now? There is a branch office nearby.”

The Youngest Son seemed to ponder, but his answer was negative.

“I have a companion, so that might be difficult.”

A companion…?

He reflexively looked around.

Not only was the Youngest Son’s side empty, but there was not even a hint of a rat nearby.

“Instead.”

“Yes, yes. Please speak.”

“I need you to keep my visit here today a secret.”

“Th-that is….”

“Otherwise, there’s no point in me having walked around with my hood on all day.”

The man bowed his head and said.

“Young Master. How can I not report the visit of a Millesdusk blood member?”

To put it briefly.

“You can't grant any of my requests. Is that it?”

“With my abilities, I am afraid so.”

“Then I’ll have to call your superior.”

“Pardon…?”

Did I hear you correctly? - was the line that seemed to follow, after which.

The Youngest Son’s mouth moved.

“To be able to dismiss the Supervising Sergeant with a single word and guide me to the branch office, you must be at least a branch manager. Right?”

“Th-that is correct, but.”

Dusk Citadel was divided into a total of 26 sectors, from Sector A to Sector Z.

A branch manager was in charge of one of the four sections a sector was divided into.

“This is D-sector, so should I summon your direct superior, the D-sector manager, here?”

“Y-Young Master. Y-you jest too─”

“Ah. Is this not enough? Then how about the Confederation council members who have five managers under them. It’s a call from a blood member, of all things. They’ll definitely come, right?”

“…!”

“Or the families of the Confederation council members who form its core would be fine too.”

As the words continued, the branch manager’s face turned pale.

The names of people he could never hope to even look at in his entire life flowed so smoothly from the Youngest Son's lips.

“Should I call everyone from the uncle of that Confederation council member's family to the youngest aunt of his nephew, and finally even the Confederation Chairman to satisfy my request? Is that it?”

The branch manager barely came to his senses and recited the official line.

“E-even if you are a blood member of Millesdusk…! Your standing as the Fifth Son does not permit you to make such a summons!”

“Hmm.”

He was a politician of the Citadel indeed, his head working hard even while trembling.

“Really? What do you think my standing is?”

“……”

The branch manager remained silent.

His eyes seemed to say, did he really have to say it to know?

I smiled faintly under my sunglasses.

“Then from the standing you think I have, can things like these emerge?”

My hand pointed to the army of corpses behind me.

Not long ago, they were the rising stars of the Citadel, now they were all spirits of the dead.

Silence followed once again.

“You don’t want to be among them, do you?”

“O-of course not….”

At that emotionless question, a chill ran down the branch manager’s spine.

The pupils, gradually revealed beyond the spectacle lenses, were chillingly red.

Along with that blood-red glow came a light remark.

“Shall we make a bet?”

“A-a bet….”

A gold coin was now in the blood member’s hand.

He flipped it.

He caught it lightly.

The coin, its sides unknown, was thrust before the man’s face.

“Choose.”

“…What do you mean, choose?”

“Heads. Or tails. Pick.”

“Young Master…. You cannot decide something with a coin toss like this.”

No.

This wasn't to decide on a summons.

“Don't misunderstand. This is not a request.”

“……. I-I understand. I understand your words well, Young Master. As you wish, I will… to the council member…”

Still, the blood member shook his head.

It wasn't the answer I wanted.

“I said, choose.”

“Young Master…?”

“You’ve already made your judgment. That I am not at a level to summon a Confederation council member. But I said that I could.”

The two opinions were mixed in this coin.

“To take back words spoken in front of a blood member. You’d need a certain amount of luck, wouldn't you?”

His expression turned as pale as the young master before him.

His constantly trembling eyes were drawn to the undead standing behind the young master.

The fear that he might soon be among them enveloped his limbs.

And yet, he had to choose.

Not choosing would be an act of completely eliminating even the fifty-percent chance of survival.

“…I will choose tails.”

The hand opened.

It was a moment as short as a blink of an eye, yet that moment felt like an eternity.

From the little finger to the ring finger, following the joints.

His pupils, shaking in all directions, followed the movement of the hand.

The coin glinted as light struck it.

The coin, which had hidden itself in the light for a fleeting moment.

Soon revealed itself shyly.

“Ha, haha….”

It was tails.

“That’s a shame. It seems this coin was not meant for me.”

The coin once more.

Ting─

Was flipped towards the branch manager.

He caught it in a daze and looked back and forth between the coin and the young master with slightly unfocused eyes.

“Consider it a fee for your trouble.”

“Th-thank you.”

“Then I’ll be here a little longer and leave on my own, so please take care of the cleanup.”

There was one last destination.

Because there were two types of forces I had to create here.

The first was an undead private army. The second was allies made of named individuals.

As for allies, there weren't many at the place I was going now, but the numbers would gradually increase.

And among the named individuals I was going to meet now, one had 「Nation-Toppling Beauty」 in her character keywords.

How could I not see this?

My eyes could even see which side of the coin would land on my hand when it fell.

The person seen through my natural binoculars would be different in some way.

I pulled on my hood and turned around.

The undead were gathered into the spatial artifact, and I walked alone.

“I-I wish you a safe journey.”

In the ruins, now left alone from two.

The branch manager clutched the gold coin and could not leave the spot for a long time.