The Seventh Prince Runs Away from Awkward Situations Chapter 63

Bang!

Half a day after Seya was dragged in, the dungeon door finally opened with a rough noise, and three men entered.

Having learned that someone entering meant the beginning of another fear, the children started violently and scattered here and there.

Although it was only within a small room with nowhere to hide anyway.

Moving along with the children, Seya noticed that one of the men was holding a child dressed in rags in his hand.

I must have looked like that when I was dragged here too.

The man threw the child onto the floor of the room just as he had done to Seya.

As the child rolled on the floor with a dull thud, small screams burst out from various places.

Among the men standing on either side of the skinny man, one was the man who had dragged Seya here.

The skinny man pointed at the wall with an expression clearly showing his annoyance.

"All of you, stand against the wall."

At the man's command, most of the children moved in the direction the man pointed.

Whether the newly entered child had some sense or not, he quickly followed the children and stuck to the wall while writhing in pain.

Seya and Mir also mixed in among the children and took their places.

The skinny man scanned the children standing with difficulty against the wall, consumed by fear, and opened his mouth.

"Everyone roll up your sleeves."

While everyone was bewildered by the sudden command for a moment, the other two shouted asking if they couldn't move faster, so everyone hurriedly rolled up their ragged clothes with difficulty.

Among them were Seya, Mir, and Nihil as well.

Nihil, unable to adapt to the sudden change in situation, was glancing around with a bewildered expression.

The bewilderment was soon covered by fear.

Because the man standing next to the skinny man pulled out a sharp dagger from his bosom.

At the sudden appearance of a bladed object, sharp screams burst out from here and there.

Although even that quieted down after one person was kicked hard by the man as an example.

Scratching his head as if annoyed, the skinny man approached the lined-up children.

"Don't do useless things because the ones dawdling will see a more painful sight. First, you. State your age."

"Ele...... eleven years old."

As soon as the child answered, the dagger of the man standing next to the skinny man flashed.

The sound of flesh being cut with a 'seokeok' sound and a scream rang out.

A few children freaked out and broke away from the line, but the men dragged the children back as if accustomed to it.

Merciless violence fell upon two of them as if to show an example.

Thanks to that, among the sounds of crying and screaming, the screaming stopped and only the sound of crying remained.

Merciless and bloody violence continued.

Mir bit his lip tightly, anxious at the fact that the guy injuring the children's arms happened to be the man who had brought Seya in.

As Mir worried, the man standing in front of Seya smirked, raising the corners of his mouth.

"Age."

"11 years old."

At the skinny man's question, Seya answered looking straight ahead.

Taking his eyes off the paper, he scanned Seya.

"11 years old?"

"Then would I be 110 years old?"

Despite Seya's rebellious speech showing he had guts, the man only narrowed his eyes and looked Seya up and down.

Instead of the skinny man, the man holding the dagger shook the small blade at a distance of one knuckles-width from Seya's arm.

The sharp knife tip dangerously approached and retreated from the child's flesh repeatedly.

"I don't know if you're brave or ignorant, but you should show bravado depending on the situation. Actually, since you've already suffered, there's no need to cut again. How about it? If you lick my foot saying you're sorry, I might just let it pass......."

His mean laughter was erased as Seya's spit flew onto his face.

"Retard. Then that guy would be doing the work twice, do you think he'd leave that be?"

The following sneer from Seya was a bonus.

The man wiped his face and roughly snatched Seya's arm.

"You. I'll watch you. Because I'll make you beg to just kill you instead."

The man moved the knife very slowly, as if prolonging the pain.

***

Seeing Mir running towards him as soon as the men left, Seya waved his hand.

"Mir! How is the wound? It wasn't too deep?"

Seya, who asked cheerfully, gradually lowered his voice at Mir's face looking like he was about to cry.

"If they tell you to lick, you can just lick, and if they tell you to bow your head, just bow! You do so well in front of nobles, so why are you acting like this now?!"

"Hey, that and this are different. In front of nobles, that's how we're supposed to act originally."

"You can just think that you're supposed to act like this here too."

Mir was a good friend, but sometimes there were times when he got angry like this.

"I don't like it when you cringe and walk on eggshells when there's no need to lower yourself. We have to crawl on the floor even if we make a small mistake."

Although he knew that most of it stemmed from worry for him, a complaining sound came out without him realizing.

"If I did that all the time, I feel like I'd forget how to raise my head."

At that answer, Mir made a face like he chewed something sour.

"Then you'll lose the head to raise too."

In a sarcastic voice, Seya turned his head.

Nihil, who had approached unnoticed, quietly took a spot between Seya and Mir.

Although he was being sarcastic with difficulty, his face had turned pale white.

It seemed he was forcibly calming his startled heart from the sudden bloodshed.

That's better than a simple coward.

Seya highly evaluated Nihil's guts and returned the sarcasm.

"What? Didn't you say you were going to live here for the rest of your life?"

"Who said I'm leaving? I'm just watching what you guys are doing."

Nihil, who spat out whatever words out of embarrassment, turned his head towards Mir.

"Seeing you sing escape, escape since earlier, it seems you have some ingenious method?"

Mir looked at Nihil's shameless face for a moment, then extended his hand.

"If there's something you want to know, you should pay the price. Where do you get off trying to listen for free?"

At Mir's answer, Nihil's eyebrows shot up.

"No, this isn't right! Is it okay to do this after extracting everything you could from me earlier?"

"Ahem! That was just you spilling it out smoothly. Originally, when making a deal, the rule is not to reveal everything I have."

Seya, who was listening quietly, stopped Nihil who was stepping back and said.

"Spilling it out my ass. You threatened me!"

"Since that was succumbing to violence on your own, it couldn't be helped."

This time Mir chimed in from the side.

Eventually, Nihil made a grinding sound with his teeth and had to declare surrender through his teeth.

"Okay, okay! I just have to give you anything, right? Instead, you definitely include me too, okay? For reference, the only thing I have is this ragged cloth I'm wearing right now."

Mir didn't need clothes like the ones Nihil was wearing either.

"Water. Give me the water you received from rations."

It was a calm demand, but Nihil's face turned white again.

"This isn't just a robber, but a complete thug, isn't he? This is only given once every two days. Then are you telling me to die of thirst for two days, or what?"

Mir covered his ears as if Nihil raging was noisy and turned around.

"Then do as you please. It doesn't matter to us whether you're here or not."

Seya's arm, which went onto the hesitant Nihil's shoulder, pressed down on the child harder.

"Hey hey, think carefully. Opportunities like this don't come often. If you miss this time, you're really risking your life, you know?"

With one smart person and one strong person pressuring him, Nihil had no means to endure.

It was a threat familiar enough to picture how these two had survived outside.

Nihil eventually handed the water pouch he had hung precious at his waist to Mir with trembling hands.

Although Mir poured the water, which was handed over preciously, over the wound without hesitation as soon as he received it.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

Whether the flustered Nihil screamed and lay on his stomach to try and catch the flowing water or not, Mir continued pouring water over the wound.

"Because this way it heals faster. Wounds heal faster when cleaned cleanly."

Mir, confirming that the arm was wiped to some extent, this time rolled up the sleeve of Nihil who was still lying on the floor unable to think of getting up.

And he poured the remaining water on Nihil's arm again.

Around the time the water was sloshing with only half the pouch left, Mir stopped pouring water on the wound.

While Nihil, who had let the water flow in vain, couldn't take his eyes off the water pooled on the floor, Mir took out a small bottle from his pocket this time.

It was the honey Seya had received from the ducal mansion.

And taking a little bit of it out, he applied it immediately to his own wound.

Nihil could only stare blankly at what this unlucky and small guy was doing.

"Our goal is to heal as quickly as possible and get out of here. So bring your arm here too."

While Nihil hesitated, Seya quickly rolled up his sleeve to save time.

When Nihil escaped from Seya's grip, it was after he had already acquired an arm with sweetness added.

"Where did you learn something like this?"

Nihil asked suspiciously, but Mir only looked at Seya who sat silently applying the remaining honey meticulously to his wound.

"Seya, you apply it too."

Around the time the honey almost ran out, Mir snatched the bottle from Seya's hand, scraped out the remaining honey, and spread it on Seya's wound.

"……What is this? You let others apply it like this, so why do you only apply that much?"

At that sight, Nihil made a complaining sound again.

"I don't need it. Mir, just apply it."

Seya tried to pull his arm away, but Mir held onto Seya's arm tightly and finished the treatment meticulously.

Mir had to try hard to suppress the strength naturally going into his hand at the wound made deeper than other children on purpose.

Mir also knew that Seya didn't need this kind of treatment, but he didn't want to just watch him in this state either.

Even while his head was boiling with anger, he could be certain of one thing.

What they are looking for is children like Seya.

A child who is strong, sturdy, heals quickly, and is slightly different from others.

***

The first thing that caught the eyes of the Little Duke meeting Priest Vesper was his smile filling his face.

The Little Duke thought that he would likely not lose his composure even if a sword was put to his neck and he was threatened right now.

"Thank you for your trouble coming all this way."

At his greeting, Tollin's eyebrows shot up.

"……To think you came all the way here, thank you for the utmost hospitality."

It's too extreme even for the utmost.

For someone like Priest Vesper to come out and wait not at the temple entrance, but at the place where the carriage stops.

Tollin examined the mood of Priest Vesper who was smiling broadly alone in an atmosphere that was strangely subdued.

Priest Vesper slowly reached out his hand towards the Little Duke without even glancing at such Tollin.

"To be able to be together at the moment the successor of Piteos becomes a true citizen of Abalan, I am endlessly glad."

"Those are grateful words, Priest Vesper."

At Little Duke's answer, Vesper's eyes crinkled narrowly.

Feeling something ominous from the kind smile, the Little Duke passed by and moved his steps following the priest's guidance.

The identity of the ominous feeling was revealed immediately.

Clang!

Temple knights blocked the path of Tollin who was about to follow the Little Duke.

"Tollin!"

The startled Little Duke called his aide without realizing.

"What is the meaning of this right now?"

Tollin glared at Priest Vesper who was watching him standing behind the knights.

"Sinners cannot set foot in the temple."

Vesper answered without erasing his smile.

"A sinner, what is that right now……!"

"The young master of the Selby family has disappeared."

Child and missing.

While Tollin paused for a moment at the combination of the two sensitive words, Priest Vesper's voice continued.

"I heard he was on his way into the capital to hear something called 'education' hosted by the Piteos family."

"So what of it? The obligation for the Piteos family to take responsibility for everything that happens in the capital is……."

"That would not be a matter for Tollin to decide."

He could know without thinking deeply who the person with decision-making power above Piteos was.

Tollin, who had not lost his reason to the point of not understanding that, had to shut his mouth again resentfully.

Because there was nothing he could do.

There were too many watching eyes, and this place was in front of the temple.

He didn't know what consequences he would have to face if he slipped his tongue even once.

He was too powerless.

Tollin turned his head and met the eyes of the Little Duke looking at him with worried eyes once.

It shouldn't be like this.

He hadn't prepared everything just to send the Little Duke in there alone like this.

Unable to hold back the boiling emotions, Tollin glared silently at Vesper.

Priest Vesper's gaze, which was casually accepting Tollin's fierce glare, turned behind him.

The sound of a horse urgently stamping the ground approached, and dust clouds began to rise.

It was a galloping horse.

Cutting through the people, the horse stopped in front of Tollin.

The news he brought was desperate.

"Lord Tollin, you must return to the mansion immediately. His Highness the 1st Prince is said to be visiting the mansion."