The Extra Prince Sets Out To Conquer The World

Centurion Hans, who had guided us, greeted with a cheerful laugh.

“Ahahaha! Oh my~! I apologize for the mistake. I thought you were dispatched from the royal palace. I got an earful from the Special Forces Captain.”

“Were you scolded a lot?”

At my question, Hans giggled and lifted his shirt to show his abdomen.

On his stomach was a large, bluish bruise.

“I just got hit once. Well, no one here has a weak body, so taking a few hits doesn’t matter, but I can’t get used to his nagging. That’s why you can’t become a Chiliarch, if only you fix that habit of jumping to conclusions, he could bring you to the Special Forces right away, when will you come to your senses…” (TN: Chiliarch – commander of a thousand men)

Hans chattered like a machine gun.

The continuous chattering was enough to make one’s head spin.

Hans.

Right, I thought I saw that name somewhere, he was a member of the Special Forces confronting the Red Eyes in .

He was the one who drove half the unit members to their deaths with a big mistake and caused Precia to meet Jade.

I remember the Special Forces Captain’s evaluation of him was ‘good-natured and skilled enough to be a Chiliarch, but a fellow who could only be used as a perpetual Centurion due to his habit of being hasty and jumping to conclusions’.

“I understand your troubles. So please guide us now.”

“Oh my, I talked too much in front of esteemed guests. Is there anywhere you’d like to go first?”

At Hans’ question, I glanced at Gilbert and answered.

“Let’s go to the training grounds. I’d like to see the skills of Blantzbarg’s warriors, said to be superior to any other territory.”

Hearing my answer, Hans laughed cheerfully.

“Ahahaha! That’s a good idea! If you came for training, you’ll often fight together with the warriors of this region, so it’s good to know each other’s skills!”

Hans guided us directly to the training grounds located behind the lord’s castle and explained the defense units.

“Our defense forces in Blantzbarg territory are divided into three and deployed throughout.”

As Hans said, the defense forces were divided into three. The regular main unit consisting of professional soldiers and knights.

The reserve unit that normally lives as civilians, such as explorers, hunters, and retired soldiers.

And the penal unit made up of prisoners brought from all over the country after committing crimes.

At Hans’ explanation, Precia seemed interested and asked what she was curious about.

“Isn’t the penal unit difficult to handle?”

At Precia’s answer, Hans shrugged.

“I don’t manage the penal unit, so I’m not sure, but my friend there says it’s fine because everyone knows they won’t survive long if they don’t follow orders. It’s a neighborhood where monsters are crazier than humans.”

The penal unit stayed and fought at the very front lines, so the survival rate was particularly low.

In the novel, Precia was transferred to the Ranger unit, considered the worst among the penal units.

The Ranger unit had to patrol the mountains every day, so it was a place that frequently clashed with monsters.

It was a punishment too harsh for the crime, but Precia herself didn’t mind due to the guilt of not being able to protect Prince Yuan.

Rather, an environment where she could fight all day without a break might have been salvation for the female protagonist Precia.

“Captain Hans! Who are those neat-looking people behind you?”

Arriving at the training grounds, the soldiers stopped sparring and spoke with a smile.

“Hey! You ruffians! These people are the Commander’s guests! Be careful, if you act rudely, you’ll get beaten to death!”

At Hans’ warning, the soldiers retorted with a snicker.

“Hey! Be accurate with your words! It’s not us who gets beaten, but you, Captain!”

“That’s right! That’s right! It’s always our Captain Hans who gets pummeled by the Special Forces Captain!”

At the soldiers’ words, Hans shouted angrily.

“If you know, then cause less trouble, you rotten lot!”

“Ahahaha! Making such an unreasonable request, that’s unlike Captain Hans!”

“Captain Hans causes the most trouble! Are you pushing it on us?”

Seeing Hans and the soldiers playfully bickering, Precia spoke, infusing magic power so only I could hear.

-The quality of the soldiers is excellent. Ordinary soldiers can’t handle magic power, but the soldiers here seem to know how to handle magic power without exception. Honestly, they’re better than mediocre knights.

I nodded.

They were the soldiers of the regular main unit.

Each of them had survived for at least several years, up to over a decade.

On the battlefield of the Bastille Mountains, if you survive a day, you’re recognized as a warrior; if you survive a month, you’re treated as a comrade-in-arms to entrust your back to at any time; and if you survive a year, you’re praised as a great fighter.

They weren’t the Rangers who climbed mountains all year round, so the aforementioned titles weren’t very relevant, but they still weren’t people to be ignored.

In name, they were soldiers, but they played the role of knights, and the ones actually playing the role of soldiers would be the penal laborers and the reserve forces assisting them.

“Ahem! Anyway! The guests are knights from outside who deliberately came during this period for training.”

At Hans’ words, the soldiers applauded.

“The outsiders are doing something special.”

“Indeed, impressive.”

The soldiers’ gazes contained both disdain for weak outsiders and admiration for the courage to come here voluntarily during a dangerous period when even the territorial people evacuate.

Whichever it was, the gazes stemmed from the perception that outsiders were weak.

They couldn’t be blamed for that.

They too would be treated as uncivilized country bumpkins if they went to the capital.

People living in a place tended to reject outsiders without ties.

“I don’t know how long you’ll stay, but if the guests fight on the same battlefield, wouldn’t it be good for both sides to know each other’s skills in advance? So I brought them here.”

At Hans’ words, the soldiers applauded with a laugh.

“Ahahaha! That’s good! Who’s going out?”

“I’ll step up!”

Among the soldiers, a familiar face appeared. It was Jack, the soldier guarding the castle gate when we came to the lord’s castle.

Indeed, he was Hans’ direct subordinate, so when I asked to call a higher-up, he brought Hans.

“Show the outsiders your skills properly!”

“I bet 30 duples on Jack winning!”

“I bet 50 duples!”

The soldiers started a betting ring without even seeing who among us would come out.

Precia frowned at the soldiers’ attitude.

“The military discipline is lax.”

Hans held his forehead as if embarrassed by his subordinates.

“Haha, I guess we tend to let loose definitely when we let loose, since we often fight with our lives on the line. Still, it’s embarrassing.”

“No, it’s fine. As long as the soldiers fight well.”

At my words, Hans nodded.

“Thank you for understanding.”

I placed ten silver coins on the betting table, which was extremely skewed towards Jack, and said,

“Since a bet has started, I’ll bet on us winning.”

Suddenly, silver coins were placed on the betting table, and the soldiers looked at me in surprise. Then they laughed boisterously.

“Ahahaha! The outsider is gutsy!”

“Wow! We’ll win big this time!”

The soldiers were already excited to hold a party with my silver coins.

“Is the gutsy one going to be my opponent?”

At Jack’s question, I shook my head with a playful smile.

“Gilbert.”

At my call, Gilbert stepped forward and responded vigorously.

“Yes! Give me your order!”

“Win.”

“I shall obey your command!”

At my order, Gilbert emitted a fighting spirit.

Precia, who had overseen Gilbert’s training for the past month, also silently watched, judging there was no problem.

“Gilbert oppa! Fighting!”

Sillua jumped up and down, cheering for Gilbert.

Gilbert and Jack faced each other, pointing training wooden swords with iron cores at each other.

Jack, who had looked down on Gilbert, tensed up at Gilbert’s spirit.

“Both of you, remember this is just a spar. Begin!”

At Hans’ shout, the two clashed swords.

Thwack-!

A dull sound rang out in the training grounds as they were wooden swords.

Although they didn’t infuse magic power into the swords since it was a spar, the force contained was sufficiently powerful.

Jack cockily struck up Gilbert’s sword and swung down consecutively.

Gilbert calmly tilted his sword to deflect the slashes without panicking.

Jack continued to attack Gilbert as if pushing him back.

“Ahahaha! Attack faster, Jack!”

“Don’t go easy on him!”

The soldiers cheered and rooted for Jack’s attacks.

At a glance, it seemed like Jack was one-sidedly pushing, but Gilbert’s expression was stable.

Rather, Jack, who was attacking, frowned as if things weren’t going as he thought.

Seeing such Gilbert, I asked Precia.

“How is it?”

“Stable. He’s not being careless and calmly grasping the opponent’s strength. The training you ordered seems to have definitely helped.”

“It must have been your excellent guidance rather than mine.”

Gilbert, who hadn’t moved a single step, suddenly emitted a fighting spirit and struck down Jack’s sword as if crushing it.

“Ugh!”

As he struck down with unexpected force in an instant, the tip of Gilbert’s sword touched Jack’s forehead without being able to deflect it.

“Stop!”

As Hans raised his hand and stopped them, the two halted the spar and retrieved the wooden swords.

“Jack, it’s your defeat. Do you admit it?”

“…Yes. I admit it.”

As Jack conceded, the soldiers looked at Jack with dumbfounded faces as if they hadn’t expected it.

“Technique rather than strength?”

At my question, Precia shook her head with a smile.

“No. He precisely struck down the part where the opponent couldn’t deflect the force. Repeatedly engaging in real combat-like battles against multiple opponents seems to have trained his judgment, dynamic vision, and boldness to survive.”

“No, to survive, you say. Was the training that intense?”

Precia looked at me as if asking if I didn’t know.

Indeed, every day for the past month, he came back half-dead, carried by dolls.

If it weren’t for Divet’s medicine and Geor’s recovery magic circle, I thought he would have died at least a hundred times.

At that gaze, I fake coughed and swept the money on the betting table into my pocket.

“Alright! I won the bet, so I’ll take this money. Thanks to this, I’ll eat we~ll!”

The amount each person bet was spare change, but with nearly a hundred people betting, quite a sum was gathered.

At my smile, the expressions of the soldiers, except those who bet on the opposite outcome, distorted.

“L-let’s do it again! We can’t end it like this!”

“I’ll step up this time!”

“No! It’s me! The Centurion unit next to us will laugh at us like this!”

At their reaction, I asked Gilbert.

“They say that, so?”

“I can do more.”

At Gilbert’s answer, I placed silver coins on the betting table again and smiled.

“Chicken out if you’re scared.”

At my blatant provocation, the soldiers roughly placed money from their pockets on the betting table.

“Scared! We are the warriors of Blantzbarg!”

“Even if I have to advance my monthly salary, I must drink the alcohol bought with those silver coins today!”

What simple fellows.

Now it had degenerated into a matter of pride.

Then, as you wish, let’s strip these guys of their monthly salary.

As Gilbert picked up his sword, the soldiers lined up in front of Gilbert one by one.

The second opponent dropped his wooden sword from the impact transmitted to his wrist while clashing swords with Gilbert.

“Next.”

The third opponent surrendered after Gilbert caught him from behind.

“Next.”

The fourth opponent engaged in a drawn-out battle but lost due to lack of stamina.

“Next.”

He faced the soldiers one by one and gradually won.

I don’t know when the guy who trembled before the assassins targeting me grew this much.

This bro is moving.

The more Gilbert won, the fuller my pocket became. I should buy him something delicious later.

“Ahaha! I’m rich! Betting on the underdog is victorious!”

Besides me, the soldier named Jil, who had also bet on the underdog, cheered with the prize money.

“Well done! Gilbert! Devastate their monthly salaries!”

Jil and I put our arms around each other’s shoulders and cheered for Gilbert.

Thus, Gilbert became a legend in the Cradle of the Sword Demon by defeating 36 soldiers.

It stopped at 36 because they ran out of money to bet.

I stripped them of even their lunch money.