The Extra Prince Sets Out To Conquer The World

I rode the steel spider doll and followed the march.

The 6,000 dolls were not all moving at once. The dolls were stored in Silua’s mansion, and she was riding as if cradled in my arms.

Currently, I’m only controlling three – the one I’m riding, and the ones Precia and Gilbert are riding respectively.

“The wind is cold.”

As we got closer to the mountain range, the temperature seemed to drop sharply.

I wonder what the monsters are thinking, waking up from hibernation in this temperature.

“Navi.”

At my call, Navi blocked the wind permeating into me. I felt like I could live with the icy wind gone.

“Rami.”

Rami made water and filled Dalanta’s magic kettle.

I leaned my body against the backrest I attached to the doll and boiled water in Dalanta’s magic kettle to brew black tea.

I wanted to relieve the cold by sucking down bottles of strong alcohol, but I couldn’t openly drink while going to battle, right?

I’ll have to mix brandy into the black tea and drink it secretly.

“Ah~! Nice! Silua, you want some too?”

“Sure!”

I poured just black tea for Silua without brandy.

I showed the kettle to Precia and Gilbert and gestured to ask if they wanted to drink.

“I’m fine.”

“I’m also fine, Young Master. But will it be alright?”

Gilbert looked at me with a worried face.

It wasn’t asking if it was okay to drink. No, is he worried about even drinking alcohol? Anyway.

After numerous strategy meetings, my assigned task was to subjugate the monsters inhabiting from the entrance to the waist of the Bastille Mountain Range using magic dolls.

You could say I took on perhaps the most dangerous mission in this operation.

I smiled at Gilbert, who looked anxious.

“It’s fine. If something happens, you’ll protect me, right?”

At my words, Gilbert became even more tense.

It’s true that his burden increased a lot as Precia joined the Red Eyes subjugation corps instead of being my guard.

Of course, I thought it was a needless worry since Gilbert’s turn would only come after breaking through this doll army and the named guard unit Silua moves, but carelessness kills the rabbit.

Since I’m weak, being overly cautious is not enough.

“Gilbert, be careful, but don’t get overly tense. Danger accompanies everything. I’m not the only one in danger.”

Even if I primarily subjugate the monsters, the mountain range is excessively wide.

There will certainly be monsters we miss, and there will be swarms that flee without engaging in battle due to the commotion caused by the subjugation.

Such monsters will inevitably descend the mountain, so the five knight brigades decided to intercept those monster swarms on the plain at the foot of the mountain.

The knights’ role is to directly subjugate small swarms and cut off the waist of large swarms to divide them into easily defendable groups at the strongholds.

And the remaining 13 thousand-man units finish off the monsters while defending each defensive stronghold.

Everyone on the battlefield was in danger, not just me.

“Still, there’s no need for you to take on the most dangerous mission, right?”

At Gilbert’s words, I smiled.

“Sometimes, to win people’s hearts, you have to venture on an adventure.”

Gaining Demiway’s trust and a debt of gratitude is worthwhile enough, but gaining the hearts of those knights and soldiers is also sufficiently valuable.

The soldiers who marched out split into thousand-man units to move to their respective positions.

As we approached the mountain, only 500 knights and about 30 subjugation corps members remained in the procession.

Eventually, upon reaching the mountain, only my group and the subjugation corps continued the march.

“I guess we should part ways now.”

At my words, Demiway nodded.

“Currently, the estimated location of the Red Eyes is to the northeast. Sir, be careful not to be disturbed while we track and subjugate the Red Eyes.”

“Yes, understood.”

In my sight, Precia got off the doll.

She had a heavy expression, perhaps anxious about performing the operation away from me in the danger zone, even though she had diligently participated in the subjugation corps training.

“Young Master.”

“What’s the big deal, we’re not going deep into the mountain range. It’s much safer than facing the Red Eyes, so don’t worry. If you’re worried…”

“You mean I should quickly defeat the Red Eyes and come back, right?”

Precia smiled and nodded as if she knew it all.

I laughed, looking at Precia like that.

“You know well. Then we’ll go up first.”

I controlled the dolls and rode up the mountain. Having a backrest is really comfortable.

********

“Gyaaaaah!”

At the roar resounding through the entire mountain, the Special Forces members tracking the traces of the Red Eyes hurriedly hid themselves, suppressed their presence, and held their breath.

It was a loud sound that hurt the ears even when heard from afar, but up close, it was a roar that felt like being pummeled all over the body.

Some Special Forces members had their eardrums burst and eyes bloodshot due to the mana wave that spread along with the sound.

“!”

They almost screamed in pain and dizziness, but they covered their mouths with both hands to avoid making the mistake of making a sound.

Just a few hundred meters away was the great demon beast “Red Eyes” that had reigned as a legend in the territories near the Bastille Mountain Range for a long time.

According to records, the senses of the great demon beast were no different from those of superhumans, so if they made a mistake, the Special Forces members tracking the Red Eyes could be annihilated.

The squad leader leading the Special Forces members took out binoculars to confirm the loudly roaring great demon beast.

A huge body covered in pure white fur was visible between the trees. Four arms thicker than towering trees, long ears sticking up above the head, and red pupils that stood out due to the white fur.

From a distance, it looked like a rabbit walking on two legs and swinging four arms, so there wouldn’t be two such monsters in the world. It was clearly the great demon beast “Red Eyes”.

“Ptooey!”

The Red Eyes spat out a large piece of bone from its mumbling mouth.

On the ground, there was a deep pit filled with monster blood and a pile of that monster’s bones scattered about, enough to become a deep puddle.

The Special Forces leader swallowed his saliva at that sight.

The vicious, murderous intent naturally emanating from the Red Eyes was also frightening, but it was chilling that up to 3,000 monsters had instantly entered the Red Eyes’ stomach.

It was an amount clearly exceeding the Red Eyes’ body size that it devoured in a short time.

It was absurd, but from his observation, the time the Red Eyes spent “eating” was no more than 10 minutes.

“Its body has grown…?”

The squad leader leading the Special Forces couldn’t hide his shock.

It wasn’t just that its stomach was full.

Overall, its body became thicker, its size grew, and its fur was more lustrous.

It felt as if it was escaping a state of starvation and finding its own body size.

Above all, the energy it exuded before and after the meal was completely different.

“Squad Leader!”

At the Special Forces member’s shout, the squad leader came to his senses and turned his head.

“Ugh!”

Something flew and blew off the squad leader’s ear.

Grasping his blood-covered ear, he confirmed what had flown and stuck into the rock.

“A bone fragment?”

“Gyaaaaah!”

The Red Eyes roared.

“We’ve been discovered! Everyone scatter and save yourselves!”

The squad leader fired a signal flare into the sky and started running away.

Since he was bleeding, it was evident that he would be targeted first, but he ran with all his might.

The further he got from his comrades, the higher the chances of his comrades surviving.

He didn’t know how many would survive, but he hoped as many as possible would.

While running hard, something captured him at that moment.

“Aaargh!”

He felt his whole body being crushed. Looking down, it was the Red Eyes’ hand.

“I’m sorry, son. I can’t go back…”

Splat!

It was a bloody spring day, half a year before the end of his term in the punitive unit.

********

The subjugation corps led by Demiway reached one of the ranger unit’s forward bases installed throughout the mountain range.

It was the closest location to the most recently reported movement of the Red Eyes.

Magic mines to kill monsters descending south were buried all over the forward base, and barbed wire existed to hinder movement, although insignificant.

All were far from a fundamental solution, but the Bastille Mountain Range did not easily allow human access to do more than that.

“Salute!”

The forward base commander and ranger unit squad leader tensed up and saluted upon seeing Demiway.

Demiway returned his salute and asked.

“Any information updates?”

At Demiway’s question, the forward base commander bowed his head with a dark expression.

“According to the most recently updated information, a few hours ago, the Special Forces squad leader and his subordinate Special Forces members, who were on a mission to monitor the Red Eyes slowly descending south in the northeast, were annihilated.”

“Annihilated?”

“Yes, a signal flare was fired, indicating they were discovered by the Red Eyes, and there have been no returnees so far.”

The Special Forces were mostly elites among elites who had survived a long time in the mountain-climbing punitive unit rangers.

If they hadn’t returned even after several hours, they had to be considered all dead.

“Who confirmed the signal?”

At the Special Forces captain’s question, the forward base commander immediately replied.

“The 37th Regular Patrol Squad of the Rangers confirmed the signal. Those who saw the signal immediately retreated and reported.”

No one criticized them for not going to the rescue, even after seeing the signal.

The emergency signal in the Bastille Mountain Range meant to run away immediately, not a request for rescue.

Demiway looked at the map on the forward base wall and checked the regular patrol route, saying,

“Give the bereaved families the remaining severance pay, excluding the reward along with their belongings.”

“Yes, I will process it as soon as we return to the castle.”

The death of capable Special Forces members was regrettable, but most of them were prisoners who chose to serve instead of being executed.

There was no need to grieve.

Moreover, those deployed to the frontline, which was close to death, not even at the foot of the mountain, were mostly those who volunteered.

Those who took on the risk received larger allowances than regular troops, and when they retired or died in battle, a huge severance pay was given in proportion to their period of service.

“The squad leader who died in battle… I was thinking of officially accepting him as a Special Forces member when his term ended. It’s a pity.”

Even if they were pardoned after completing their term in the punitive unit, they were still criminals.

Even if they returned to their hometowns, most of them would be scorned or engage in new crimes, so the capable ones were accepted into the territorial army and their families were helped to settle down.

“Mourning is for after all operations are over. We only think about subjugating the Red Eyes.”

At Demiway’s words, the subjugation corps members loudly replied.

“Yes!”

Then, a heavily injured soldier entered the forward base.

“Cap-tain…! Cough!”

Large bone fragments were stuck in the soldier’s body.

The Special Forces captain recognized the soldier and supported his body.

“Aruta! What happened?! Are you the only survivor from the monitoring squad?!”

The injured soldier was a Special Forces member who had been monitoring the Red Eyes.

“Keuh! The, the squad leader became bait, but that monster…!”

Perhaps having lost too much blood, the Special Forces member held his head and slumped, feeling dizzy.

“No, that’s not what’s important… The Red Eyes… the more it eats, the stronger it gets. And it’s moving southwest…!”

With those last words, the Special Forces member lost consciousness.

Upon hearing the Special Forces member’s words, Precia turned pale.

“No! Young Master!”

Her lord, Yuan, was in charge of starting from the southwest and cleaning up the monsters.